Ral
[[Ral, Monsoon Mage]] is a cEDH Izzet storm deck that leverages Ral's ability to cost-reduce instants and sorceries, turning every cast into a potential flip toward ultimate victory. With powerful blue and red spells, this deck seeks to storm off explosively, chaining spells together to flip Ral, ultimate him, and dominate the game with the best instants and sorceries from the library.
This primer provides a comprehensive breakdown of the deck's strategies, strengths, weaknesses, and combos, helping you pilot it effectively to fast and consistent wins.
Why Play Ral, Monsoon Mage?
Strengths
Turbo Storm Combo: Fast, consistent storm lines with multiple win conditions.
Efficient Commander: Ral acts as a cost-reducing [[Goblin Electromancer]] in the command zone with a built-in payoff.
Powerful Card Pool: Access to the strongest blue and red spells for draw, ramp, and interaction.
Unique Playstyle: A mix of spell recursion, coin flips, and explosive storm mechanics create a dynamic experience.
Resilient To Interaction: After getting some crucial spells countered, your flipped [[Ral, Leyline Prodigy]] can refuel your combo turn and push to a win.
Weaknesses
Vulnerable to Stax: Struggles against [[Rule of Law]], [[Drannith Magistrate]], and other stax pieces.
Narrow Color Identity: Limited access to some of the best cards in the format.
Reliant on Ral: The deck's engine depends on resolving Ral early and often.
High-Risk Playstyle: Coin flips and aggressive storming can backfire.
Game Plan
Plan A: Turbo Storm
Your primary goal is to cast Ral early and chain together six instants or sorceries to flip him, ultimate for a pseudo-[[Mind's Desire]], and leverage the free spells to win. Mulligan aggressively for fast mana, rituals, and draw spells to fuel this plan.
Resolve Ral Quickly: Cast Ral as early as possible to begin reducing spell costs.
Chain Spells: Use efficient draw spells like [[Wrenn’s Resolve]], [[Jeska’s Will]], and [[Faithless Looting]] to find more gas.
Flip and Ultimate Ral: Once you've cast six spells in a turn, flip Ral and ultimate him to exile the top eight cards of your library. Cast any instants and sorceries for free.
Win with Combos: Use your ultimate and storm count to assemble a win condition.
Plan B: Card Advantage into Storm
If turbo storming isn't viable, shift to a mid-game setup. Develop your board with value engines like [[Mystic Remora]] and [[Rhystic Study]] while sculpting your hand for a later explosive turn.
Establish Value Engines: Deploy card draw permanents to accumulate resources.
Assemble Mana and Pieces: Use efficient ramp and draw to set up for a decisive storm turn.
Execute Storm Plan: Once resources are amassed, storm off as in Plan A.
Key Cards
Ramp and Rituals
Efficient mana generation is critical to this deck’s success. Use rituals and fast mana to power your storm turns.
Rituals: [[Rite of Flame]], [[Seething Song]], [[Desperate Ritual]], [[Pyretic Ritual]], [[Jeska’s Will]], [[Simian Spirit Guide]].
Artifacts: [[Chrome Mox]], [[Mox Diamond]], [[Lotus Petal]], [[Arcane Signet]].
Card Draw
The deck thrives on cheap and efficient card draw to maintain momentum.
Impulse Draw: [[Wrenn’s Resolve]], [[Light Up the Stage]], [[Reckless Impulse]].
Value Engines: [[Mystic Remora]], [[Rhystic Study]], [[The One Ring]].
Wheels: [[Wheel of Fortune]], [[Windfall]] for mass card cycling.
Interaction
While the deck is proactive, it includes a suite of interaction to protect its combo and disrupt opponents.
Counterspells: [[Fierce Guardianship]], [[Force of Will]], [[Deflecting Swat]], [[Flusterstorm]].
Bounce: [[Chain of Vapor]], [[Otawara, Soaring City]], [[Into the Floodmaw]].
Win Conditions
The deck features multiple routes to victory, ensuring adaptability.
Underworld Breach Combos: Pair with [[Brain Freeze]] and [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]] to mill your library and win with [[Grapeshot]] or [[Lightning Bolt]].
Storm with Grapeshot: Use [[Grapeshot]] to deal lethal damage across the table.
Steal an opponent’s win condition: Use [[Bribery]] to steal a [[Thassa’s Oracle]] after milling your library with [[Brain Freeze]].
Combos and Win Lines
Non-deterministic Storm
Instructions:
Use Ral’s passive ability to cast instant and sorcery spells for [[symbol:1]] less than normal.
Use rituals like [[Rite of Flame]], [[Jeska’s Will]], [[Desperate Ritual]] to create tons of mana.
Cast impulse draw effects like [[Wrenn’s Resolve]], [[Jeska’s Will]], [[Glimpse the Impossible]], etc. to cycle through your deck.
Flip [[Ral, Monsoon Mage]] into [[Ral, Leyline Prodigy]] for a huge payoff of instant and sorcery spells from the top of your library.
Cast a recursion spell like [[Underworld Breach]] or [[Past in Flames]] to recast spells from your graveyard for huge advantage.
Find a payoff spell like [[Mind’s Desire]] or [[Grapeshot]] to finish the game.
Ral Flip and Ultimate
Requirements:
Ral in play.
Six instants or sorceries to cast.
Execution:
Cast six spells, declining Ral's coin flip ability until the sixth spell.
On the sixth cast, win the flip to flip Ral into [[Ral, Leyline Prodigy]].
Activate his ultimate to exile the top eight cards of your library, casting instants and sorceries for free.
Use the free spells to piece together a win condition.
If possible, recast [[Ral, Monsoon Mage]] and flip him again. You will likely need multiple Ral flips in a turn to win the game. Bouncing him back to hand and recasting him or using [[Displacer Kitten]] to reset Ral can help you continue comboing.
Underworld Breach Line
Requirements:
[[Underworld Breach]], [[Brain Freeze]], [[Lion’s Eye Diamond]].
Three cards in the graveyard.
Execution:
Cast Breach.
Escape Lion’s Eye Diamond, sacrificing it for mana and discarding your hand.
Escape Brain Freeze targeting yourself to fill your graveyard.
Loop until you can escape [[Grapeshot]] or win with [[Brain Freeze]].
Hands to Mulligan
Hands lacking ramp or early card advantage.
Overly reactive hands without a clear path to combo.
Conclusion
[[Ral, Monsoon Mage]] is an exhilarating cEDH deck that combines speed, explosiveness, and innovation. With a focus on storming off and flipping Ral for game-ending plays, this deck excels in fast-paced, high-stakes pods. Whether you enjoy flashy combos, rapid gameplay, or the thrill of coin flips, Ral delivers a unique and powerful experience.
References:
DRY HEAT Monsoon Storm
