The Glitched Goblet
Where Magic Meets Technology
Where Magic Meets Technology
July 21, 2025
Hello! Welcome to my Deck Tech on Clive, Devoted to Fire and Discard. In this article, I will explore the ins and outs of building a mono-red EDH deck around Clive, Ifrit's Dominant, focusing on his ETB and how to maximize his potential in gameplay.
This will surprisingly be my first Mono colored deck. I've always been a fan of three color decks as I just find them more fun personally, but when I pulled Clive in my first pre-release, I knew I had to build a deck around him. Clive is unique in that he has a powerful ETB in addition to being able to transform into Ifrit, Warden of Inferno, a 9/9 Saga Creature that fights something on ETB. Then, he'll add more mana to fuel your spells before transforming back into Clive and refilling your hand again.
tldr; Build a deck around Clive's ETB, focusing on cards that have multiple red pips so that you can draw cards and refill your hand. Play cards that damage opponents when discarding for massive damage. Use clone effects to copy Clive and get multiple ETB triggers.
For those that just want to see the deck, you can find it on Archidekt, Clive, Devoted to Fire and Discard
All in all, Clive, Ifrit's Dominant has some generic abilities. He can help refill your hand, remove a troublesome creature, and add mana to your mana pool. I decided to focus on his initial ETB, which allows you to discard your hand, and draw cards equal to your devotion to red. This means that the more red pips you have on the battlefield, the more cards you can draw when Clive enters the battlefield.
Clive being 6 mana isn't even a downside as that about the time you start to run low on cards anyway. So in true Red fashion, play everything out, and then refill your hand with Clive. I found in playtesting that you'll be filtering through so many cards that you don't really need any tutors.
The deck is built to win through several avenues, which I feel fits the mono-red theme of aggression and chaos perfectly! However, there is a primary win method that can get through some non-combat damage, which is the discard theme. For the most part, you don't even need to transform Clive for this deck to work, but it is a nice bonus if you can get there.
There are several cards that can deal damage to opponents when you discard cards. These are essential to the deck's main strategy, as they allow you to capitalize on Clive's ETB. Here are some key cards to consider:
Brallin, Skyshark Rider - Pings opponents on every discard and get's bigger! Perfect for a late Chandra's Ignition to finish off your opponents.
Glint-Horn Buccaneer - Also pings opponents for each discard and can be used to draw cards as well.
Magmakin Atillerist - Can bing opponents based on the total number of discarded cards.
Now, whenever you cycle your hand, you can deal massive damage to your opponents. It's not difficult to suddenly draw 10+ cards and deal 10 damage to each opponent. The best part is that it's not reliant on the number of opponents you have. It's as effective in a 1v1 as a full group.
Now pinging everyone for 10 damage is great, but what if you could double or even triple that damage? This is where damage doublers come into play. These cards can significantly increase the amount of damage you deal with your creatures.
We get the added bonus of most damage doublers having multiple red pips, which means they also contribute to Clive's ETB. Here are some key cards to consider:
Damage Doublers:
City on Fire - The Dream, triples the damage dealt by your spells and abilities.
Gratuitous Violence - Doubles the damage dealt by your creatures.
Solphim, Mayhem Dominus - Doubles noncombat damage, in addition to being indestructible.
The Rollercrusher Ride - Doubles noncombat damage and can blow up several creatures.
There are also several damage increasers:
Ojer Axonil, Deepest Might - Upgrades your ping effects to match it's power, can effectively quadruple your damage.
Toralf, God of Fury - Takes advantage of access damage dealt to creatures by redirecting it to anything else, even opponents. Can pair well with damage dealing board wipes to end opponents.
Torbran, Thane of Red Fell - Just adds 2 damage to any damage dealt by your red sources.
There are plenty of other damage increasers, but I've found these to be the most effective in my playtesting and allow for multiple avenues of damage. Suddenly that ping for 10 damage becomes 20+!
"We've had one Clive, yes. But what about a Second Clive?" - Pippin, probably
Now's the time to really surprise your opponents. Clive's already on the battlefield, so they don't have to worry about you cycling your hand, right? Wrong! You can use clone and copy effects to create additional copies of Clive, allowing you to trigger his ETB multiple times in a single turn. This can lead to explosive turns where you draw a massive number of cards and deal significant damage.
This is really why I feel like tutors are unnecessary in this deck. If you are missing any of the key pieces, you can just keep cycling your hand until you find them.
Electroduplicate - Has the added bonus of having flashback.
Jaxis, the Troublemaker - Can be blitzed out for a cheap Clive copy, or stay as a repeatable effect.
Orthion, Hero of Lavabrink - Why make one copy when you can make 5!
The Fire Crystal - All around great. Lowers red mana spells, provides haste, and can copy Clive.
In addition to these, you can also use Clive's ability to transform into Ifrit, Warden of Inferno and then back into Clive. This allows you to gain additional mana and refill your hand, making it easier to play your spells and maintain pressure on your opponents.
Now, with this being my first Mono Red deck, there is plenty of wiggle room. In its current state, I have included several cards that can help put pressure opponents, and prevent you from losing valuable key pieces.
Graveyard Recursion:
Feldon of the Third Path - Great for bringing things back temporarily.
Pinnacle Monk - Grabs an instant or sorcery from the graveyard
Underworld Breach - Allows you to play cards from your graveyard. There should be plenty of lands to exile.
Other cards that ping opponents for damage:
Harsh Mentor - Punish opponents and lower their life totals early.
Razorkin Needlehead - Same here, start painful effects and get two pips of red mana.
Sunspine Lynx - Stops the Lifegain decks and can deal a good amount of damage if a doubler is present.
Urabrask // The Great Work - Just great value for consistent binging and value.
Additional Wheel Effects:
Brass's Tunnel-Grinder - One of my favorite cards that can help you cast free spells later.
Decaying Time Loop - A good repeatable spell for wheeling without Clive.
Neheb, Dreadhorde Champion - Discard and get Mana?!
Cavalier of Flame - Another card that can do it all! Haste, wheel, and punish opponents late game? Yes please!
Nibelheim Aflame - A board wipe that can also cycle your hand!
This deck is a blast to play, and the best part is that it has a lot of room to grow and evolve. You can easily swap out cards to fit your play-style or the meta you're in. I currently focus on Clive's ETB, while also incorporating damage doublers and clone effects to maximize your draw potential.
I'm sure that there are plenty of cards that could be added to this deck, and I would love to hear your suggestions! If you have any ideas or cards that you think would fit well in this deck. If you check out the deck on Archidekt, you'll see that I have quite a sideboard of cards.
Some other avenues I've considered:
Thanks for reading, if you like this article, please consider sharing it with others or leaving a comment with your thoughts. Your feedback is appreciated!