Dark Ascension Event Deck: Gleeful Flames Review - Magic the Gathering Deck Reviews

by ElspethFTW, Old School Duelist

The Gleeful Flames Event Deck for Dark Ascension is a Mono-Red deck built around lots of  direct damage. Let's look at both the deck on its own, as well as what is useful to take away from the deck for use in the future.
 
Creatures (20)
4 Forge Devil
4 Goblin Arsonist
4 Goblin Fireslinger
4 Goblin Gaveleer
1 Hellrider
3 Torch Fiend

 
Non-Creature Spells (28)
4 Artillerize
4 Brimstone Volley
1 Curse of Stalked Prey
2 Faithless Looting
4 Goblin Grenade
3 Infiltration Lens
 
Lands (22)
3 Haunted Fengraf
2 Inkmoth Nexus
17 Mountain

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The creature line-up in this deck is very simple. They're all small creatures that can do more damage than their initial mana cost may suggest. Forge Devil is good for taking out your opponent's smaller creatures, but at the cost of 1 damage to you. Goblin Arsonist is a bit better card, as it deals 1 damage to either a target creature or player when it dies (giving it great synergy with Goblin Grenade!)
 
Goblin Fireslinger has a tap ability to deal one damage to a target player, an okay ability, but nothing special; however, it is also a Goblin, so it's good with Grenade. Goblin Gaveleer is a little 1/1 with trample that gains +2/+0 for each equipment attached to it. Torch Fiend is a nice 2/1 that can sacrifice itself for artifact removal. Hellrider is the boss monster of the deck, a very good rare from Dark Ascension that not only is a 3/3 with haste, but it also causes 1 damage to your opponent each time one of your creatures declares an attack, making all of your little Goblins much more dangerous.
 
For the non-creature spells, you have a full line-up of Artillerize. With it, you sacrifice a creature and deal 5 damage to a target player or creature. When your little Goblins outlive their usefulness, this card really comes in handy. Brimstone Volley is a 3 drop burn spell that can deal 5 damage with its morbid ability. This makes it combo very well with Artillerize, cards like Torch Fiend that can sacrifice themselves for an effect, and of course, Goblin Grenade.
 
Curse of Stalked Prey is one of the more underrated curse cards which allows your Goblins to gain +1/+1 counters each time they deal combat damage to the enchanted player. Faithless Looting allows you to draw a couple of cards and discard two cards that aren't currently useful to you, and it also has flashback, meaning you could easily discard the second copy of Looting if you draw it and use it again later.
 
Goblin Grenade may be the best card in the deck, allowing you to for one mana and the sacrifice of a little Goblin to do 5 damage to anything. Infiltration Lens is an interesting little equipment that draws you two cards any time an attacking creature becomes blocked. It's cheap to play and has a cheap equip cost, making Goblin Gaveleer more of a threat and allowing for easy cheap card draw to keep you ahead of your opponent in card advantage.
 
For the mana base, you have 3 Haunted Fengraf to start. Fengraf is interesting in that it can get creatures back to your hand from the graveyard by sacrificing it and paying 3. The only time that this would seem necessary, however, is if your Hellrider is destroyed and it's the only creature in your graveyard. That mana would be better spent elsewhere, it seems. However, the 2 Inkmoth Nexus are an interesting inclusion. They don't seem to fit into the general theme of the deck, but replacing two copies of the Fengraf for 2 more Nexus could make for an onslaught of flying infect creatures. It's a curious choice for this deck, though.
 
The sideboard is pretty darn good, though.
 
SIDEBOARD
2 Act of Treason
4 Arc Trail
1 Dismember
2 Gut Shot
3 Into the Core
3 Torpor Orb
 
Honestly, I think the Arc Trails are better suited for the main deck and Gut Shot may be, as well. Into the Core is nice artifact removal. The one copy of Dismember may help you take out that one big threat and the two Act of Treason can help you swing for game. Torpor Orb is a great inclusion, as well, as it helps you shut down pesky enter the battlefield effects.
 
My main issue with this event deck, besides the fact that it is a nice cheap budget version of Red Deck Wins is that there are cards in it like Inkmoth Nexus that don't fit the theme of the deck. I'm not a big fan of Torch Fiend and Forge Devil, either, as it seems to me that the direct damage spells are what will win you the game in the end.
 
Having two copies of Hellrider and a couple of Arc Trails in the main deck seem like a better strategy. Overall, though, the deck is pretty balanced. I just think it needs to be played more aggressively than the main deck would suggest. The Torch Fiends seem better in the sideboard. Torch Fiend is decent only because it's a one-drop (it makes you wish Raging Goblin were still in Standard!) 

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Future Value
 
Overall, when this deck was first released, it was well worth your $20 investment if you wanted to play it in Standard before Return to Ravnica dropped in October 2012 and more than half of the deck was no longer playable in Standard. Heck, it was good to have a Goblin deck to play casually.

But really, it was always nice for the 2 copies of Inkmoth Nexus, which are $25 a piece as of November 2016. So if you spent $20 back in the day for these, you did well for yourself. Today, Gleeful Flames decks can be found online for roughly $60.
 
Here's what's still playable in Modern and elsewhere, with their rough market value as of 11/1/2016:
 
2 Inkmoth Nexus - ~$24 each
3 Torpor Orb - ~$2.50 each
1 Dismember - ~$2
4 Goblin Grenade (M12) - ~$1.75 each
2 Faithless Looting - ~$0.50 each
2 Gut Shot - ~$0.25 each
 
Even today, these decks are still worth purchasing just for those few cards. Even though the rest of the deck is pretty much bulk, Gleeful Flames has stood the test of time for value, that's for sure!
 
As a deck, however, today it's really much better to scrap it for spare parts, although it's still a fun little deck for casual play.

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