This is the fourth installment in my series reviewing the cards in Judgment for the purposes of Limited play. You can find the other installments here.

Red

Everyone knows that black got the short end in Judgment. With sixteen cards, only six of which are common, black's offerings are anaemic by comparison to the other colors, but in the bigger picture, you have to take into account the fact that black made up for it in Torment with twice as many cards as white and green, not to mention three of the five best commons in the set. When you look at Odyssey Block as a whole, you must come to one inescapable conclusion: Red just sucks.

Be it the weak creatures, the cards that give your opponents options or a weaker set of kill spells then the red player is used to, Judgment red adds little to an already weak selection in a set where black, white and green each got their turn in the sun, and blue is a lot stronger than red can hope to be throughout the format. Someone's got to be the red mage, and if no one else is picking those cards up, it might as well be you, but I'd recommend you be absolutely certain that you aren't fighting with any neighbors before you go down that road.

The Cards

Fledgling Dragon
So the only problem Shivan Dragon ever had was that it sometimes sat in your hand as you failed to find the mana needed to cast it. Not any more. If you can get yourself threshold, and that's an issue that really can be forced, this is your first pick, red mage. Granted, before threshold it isn't special, but once seven cards have been used and abused, the game ends. Quickly.

Swelter  
There isn't really much that needs to be said here. Swelter is card advantage, card advantage is good, but more importantly, killing two creatures with one card is never bad. It's unfortunate that Swelter is a sorcery, but what can you do?

Lightning Surge
Simple, brute force. The Surge will kill just about any creature you throw it at before threshold, and most of the ones that would have survived afterwards. In addition, its flashback cost, while high, isn't completely unrealistic. In addition to the creature removal aspect, we're talking about a card here that can do twelve damage on its own to your opponent. That's 60% of their initial life total. The other 39 cards in your deck should be able to do the other 40%, don't you think?

Arcane Teachings  
While red got shafted in this block as a whole, this enchantment can make up for a lot. First things first: the target becomes a monster, with the +2/+2 more often than not making it the biggest creature on the table, allowing you either to hold down the fort or attack for massive amounts of damage. If you choose the first option, you can use the Teachings to start taking out opposing one-toughness creatures and phantom counters. As I'll often point out with the better creature enchantments, they can lead to a bad trade with a bounce spell, but there's less bounce now then there's been all year. Get them in bunches.

Firecat Blitz
The cool thing here is the way you can pay the flashback the same turn as the original version of the spell. The Blitz isn't quite the X-spell some will hold it up to be, but it is a strong finisher if you have ten land and five mountains, because you can make thirteen cats in one turn and regardless of their miniscule size, it'll be hard for your opponent to stop all of them, or enough of them to stay alive. Especially good if you have effects that provide alternate benefits when creatures go to the graveyard (Think Last Laugh!), the Blitz doesn't need help: It's strong on its own.

Jeska, Warrior Adept  
Full of power, Jeska doesn't make it higher on this list because she costs four mana and has a toughness of one, but with that in mind, this is a powerful little package. Halberdier isn't a great card, but add haste and the ability to shoot off phantoms and one-toughness creatures right and left and you have a card that's versatile, strong and aggressive: three things that you really want in a card in Limited play.

Dwarven Bloodboiler
This guy seems really powerful to me, if only because three mana for a 2/2 that taps regardless of summoning sickness to give +2+0, but when you look around the environment at all the janky little Dwarven types out there, you quickly realize that you can make a creature really big, really fast. Heck, if you're on defense against those huge green creatures, you can start trading 2/2s for 4/4s for a cost that frankly is so irrelevant that calling it a cost almost feels silly. Don't take him too early if the mana's going to be a stretch, but keep in mind that the Bloodboiler can dominate the table.

Breaking Point  
Slightly better than Browbeat, Breaking Point's non-damage ability is the more relevant of the two in Limited because of the more direct interaction with the field of play. The problem here, though is that red has always been and continues to be one of the more aggressive colors, meaning this will be hard to set up without being obvious. I know if my red opponent had five cards in hand and all their mana, I'd be feeling a little leery.

Browbeat  
Alex Shvartsman went at length into the merits of this card for the purposes of Constructed play a couple of weeks ago, but in Limited, Browbeat is more often than not just going to be a cost efficient Lava Axe, not that that's a bad thing. Doing five damage for three mana is pretty good in the game of twenty points of life, and if your opponent is afraid it's a little too good, instead of the 'good Lava Axe' option, they can opt for the 'bad Ancestral Recall' instead. I don't think you'll be complaining too much if that happens.

Book Burning
Of the 'damage or effect' cards, this may be my favorite, because red has a lot of trouble reaching threshold and this can do it in one fell swoop. In addition to the threshold bonus, flashback and Incarnations come into play here, and while yes, your opponent (or you for that matter) can prevent it from happening, 6 is a lot of damage to take in order to stop anything in this game. Hey, if nothing else, you can cast it when your opponent has six cards in their library...

Worldgorger Dragon  
So, you put this thing into play and essentially announce 'deal with it or die' and they promptly cast Kirtar's Desire. That's the nightmare of it, right? The Dragon is definitely a force to be reckoned with, and if you're in the points lead with your opponent gaining control by the turn, there's nothing like a two-turn clock to end the game, but this thing is definitely dangerous. If nothing else, you're going to hear some great stories concerning this card. It may be better than I've given it credit for here.

Lava Dart  
Cheap and efficient are the best ways of describing this card, which mows down opposing weenies for next to nothing. The Dart doesn't kill regenerators like Engulfing Flames, but the flashback cost is remarkably low, even going so far as to replace the departing Dart in the graveyard. If you have a lot of cards designed to kill small creatures, don't pick this too high, but if you don't, it'll make a strong addition to your deck.

Anger
As Fires of Yavimaya showed us, giving all of your creatures haste can prove to be a pretty massive benefit, but this is no Fires. Anger does give everyone haste, yes, but its worldly incarnation is less than impressive, to the point that may be better not to cast it at all. Really, Anger gets this ranking because you can think of it as an enchantment whose 'casting cost' is 'discard'.

Goretusk Firebeast  
All this burn is going to start adding up, and while this guy definitely looks questionable, as was pointed out to me this week, he isn't much worse than a Lava Axe. Heck, the body it provides will make it better at times. Obviously, one has to use reason when looking at the casting costs of their deck and decide whether it can afford a six casting cost 2/2, but if it can, you could do worse.

Barbarian Bully
The Bully actually isn't all bad. Yes, on the surface it appears to be a Grey Ogre, but its ability is strong enough that it will make a difference, be it in the field or on the life sheet. Simply, once you've gotten your hand to the point where the cards in it don't matter all that much, the Bully is going to start abusing the discard effect, and when that happens, your opponent is going to lose a lot of life one way or another. Granted, its first combat interaction will likely spells the Bully's end, but hey, at least you'll get four points in before it goes to the 'yard.

Spellgorger Barbarian  
So, the best way to utilize this card is to empty your hand of everything else so you don't have to discard for it, but I want my creatures to be aggressive (3/1 for four is not aggressive), fast (waiting until you have no cards is not fast) and versatile (this works on one level. You can discard any of a number of cards you don't want to discard). If you're desperate for a body, this'll do, but there are many levels of desperate, and you'll have to be at or near the top floor for the Barbarian to make the grade.

Liberated Dwarf
Once enslaved, this Dwarf is now better because of the color it meshes with. Red-green makes for a better beatdown combination than red-black does and interacts more with opposing creatures, meaning this little guy is more likely to have a profound effect on the game. It isn't an instant main-decker, but you could do worse.

Soulgorger Orgg  
In the race to twenty, a 6/6 trampler for five can be a more than capable servant, but some costs are too high. Going down to one is next to the supreme sacrifice, but the two are pressed pretty close together, because it's remarkably easy to deal one point of damage. If your deck has ridiculous amounts of life gain and damage prevention, you may want to rethink this stance, but otherwise I'd suggest you trust me on this one.

Ember Shot
Rate the ability, it gets a nine out of ten. Rate the casting cost, it gets a zero out of ten. Combine them and you don't have a card that breaks even. I wouldn't bother, unless the format turns out to be very, very slow.

Infectious Rage
I originally though this targeted a creature of your choice every time, and went off about it in my head, but when I remembered what 'random' meant, this card became a bit of a disappointment pretty quickly. Killing one-toughness creatures isn't exactly red's weak point, and the last thing you want is for your own one-toughness guys to die by your own hand, but I suppose there will be situations where the Rage will prove useful in mowing down blue-white decks and the like.

Dwarven Driller
Recursive land destruction can prove to be an issue in Limited play, but when you offer your opponent an out clause, the idea loses its potency. Simply, I either won't care about the land in question or will save it just long enough to cast the spell that'll win me the game, and as we're talking about an otherwise generic 2/2 for four, the out clause leaves you with what will likely be better in the sideboard.

Swirling Sandstorm
'     '. That's what it does before you have threshold. How good is red at getting threshold? It isn't. If you're red-blue with a lot of graveyard filler and flyers, this could be playable. Otherwise, don't pick it, and hope someone else is dumb enough to give it a try.

Flaring Pain  
A decent sideboard card. Do you need me to tell you what against?

Shaman's Trance  
It will be very seldom that you'll be able to actually cast any of your opponent's graveyard cards, but if you're playing the mirror and notice a lot of flashback, this could make for a solid sideboard card. Eight mana sure is a lot for a Firebolt though...

Dwarven Scorcher
Would you play with a one mana spell that does two to your opponent? If so, you're thinking in the wrong terms. Yes, Limited is at its essence a race to twenty, but a big part of that race is interacting with your opponent and their cards, and simply, this Dwarf doesn't have enough impact on the field of play for it's ability to warrant your playing it too often.

Planar Chaos  
This card just isn't reliable enough for me. It's gone within two turns 75% of the time and despite that it doesn't assure you of anything better than a 50-50 chance of countering your opponent's spell. I'd rather play a nineteenth land.

Burning Wish  
What sorcery are you going to want that you aren't already playing? I suppose you can play a lot of sac lands but not actually use the Kirtar's Wrath in your red-green deck, but that seems like an awful stretch.