building a black-red deck

[gabecvsfn]

hi this is my first post to this forum and im new to magic
iv been playing about a month and i really like black and red cards. heres my deck so far:
black monsters:
1X Giant Scorpion
2X Blood Seeker
1X Gatekeeper of Malakir
1X Vampire Nocturnus
1X Pestilence Demon
1X Pulse Tracker
1X Vampire Nighthawk
1X Viscera Dragger

other black spells:
1X tendrils of corruption
1X feast of blood
2X blood tithe
1X hideous end
2X siphon soul
3X doom blade

red creatures:
2X cosi's ravager
1X tephraderm
1X capricious efreet
1X thorn thrash viashino
1X grotag thrasher
1X manic vandal
1X fire elemental
1X viashino sandstalker

other red spells:
1X volcanic strength
3X lightning bolt
3X searing blaze
1X retribution
1X shiv's embrace
1X shatter
1X magma spray

mana:
2X bojuka bog
2X smoldering spires
1X drowned catacomb

9X swamp
9X mountain


i realize this might not be very impressive. but im trying to do the best i can with what i have. any info on what cards i should get rid of or add, or advice on building a deck in general would be great! thanks

[Mountain]

I'd suggest removing:

1X shatter
1X magma spray

and instead adding to:

4X lightning bolt
4X searing blaze

[gabecvsfn]

yeah, i guess i can remove shatter and magma spray
the only thing is that my friend has this annoying sliver deck, with an argentum armor so magma spray gets rid of his regenerate sliver since its only 1/1, and shatter kills argentum armor. but i guess i should get rid of those. i dont have another lightning bolt tho, so wat else?

also since this list i took out capricious efreet(i have enough big cards and his effect has to happen every turn and its a risky thing) and put in another cosi's ravager. nice suggestions

[magicgame]

I would actually add one shatter so that you have some more form of artifact removal...maybe instead of one of the creatures

I agree with removing magma spray though

[gabecvsfn]

well ill have to get another shatter then but when i do heres wat ill do:
adding: 1X searing blaze, 1X shatter
removing: 1X magma spray, and i think pulse tracker, although i like its ability. sound good?

[SovereignZechs]

Ok look, first you need to decide what kind of deck you want to build. Red, black as a combo and you are playing standard might not be smart to start with. I suggest choosing a color and sticking with it. Running a mono colored deck is easier for a lot of new players.

Choose a central theme, and hold fast too it. Go to deckcheck.org and get to know the kind of decks seeing the most play right now. Get a feel for what making a deck means and knowing what mix can hold its own.

No deck can beat every deck, but you can atleast ARM yourself with pre knowledge.

Know what makes each color tick. Red is all about burn and haste, black about cheap all out removal, and unpredictable creatures. Blue is counter and power/toughness warping. Green is power creatures, or a lot of small creatures that over run you. White is life gain protection, and creature based.

Don't worry too much about exploring backward just yet. Start with scars of mirrodin and m11. Focus on making the best with the current and when you gain Experiance deck building and playing. Delve deeper.

Last thing to leave you with...

Knowledge is power.

[gabecvsfn]

sorry for not responding to this earlier.... my computer crashed and only just got back up and running.... anyway, since this thread iv switched to a mono-black all vampire deck, so if u guys want to give me advice about that its on another thread. btw great post @Sovereign Zechs! very helpful thanks for all ur guys' help