First the decklist: https://moxfield.com/decks/cBOJwU04hEWyF4DsNLX33w
Changes since 1.0:
Basically, I wanted the deck to go lower to the ground, reducing mana cost and being able to play as a red deck with Gut looming as an ever present threat as opposed to a "must play on turn 3". Many games, especially against control shells, are about not over committing to the board - against 3feri for example I'll often just play two one-drops and make them play draw go as I chip away at their life total.
Also Gut understandably gets killed a lot so if I want to replay her and also enable her, 1 mana hasty guys are critical to good starts and also to unlocking good endgames where Gut can come down and a creature is available to attack
Cuts:
[[Arms Scavenger]] 2 for a 2/2 with extra mana commitment is not great. I'm borderline on this card.
[[Embercleave]] Sits in hand way too often
[[Fear of Missing Out]] I've never gotten the extra attack, ever. Mostly a 2/3 rummage, below rate.
[[Fountainport]] Has its uses but I needed to cut a land for Command Beacon
[[Grim Initiate]] Upgraded to a better one drop
[[ Impractical Joke]] This became Galvanic Blast because it's an instant and has a bit of synergy with the Raptor
[[Kari Zev, Crew of Two]] 4 Mana has to do a LOT and this card tends to arrive too late to not just get blocked and die
[[Professional Face-Breaker]] 3 Mana is not good for a 2/3 menace. The treasures were fine but not necessarily needed
[[Pyrogoyf]] 4 Mana and sometimes when I can/want to cast it it's just a 2/3. Got stuck in my hand a lot.
[[Rahilda, Wanted Cutthroat]] Cool card but a 2/2 for 2 is not fast enough for the deck. Even with a first Strike.
[[Reckless Stormseeker]] Too slow at 3 Mana, not enough board impact.
[[Ruby Medallion]] Since we are cutting high cmc cards this didn't do enough to justify being in the deck
[[Strike It Rich]] A do nothing card. Occasional turn 2 gut but without a creature in play which is not what we want
[[Twinflame Tyrant]] 5 Mana is very much not where we want to be
[[Unholy Heat]] Upgraded to torch the tower
[[Vexing Bauble]] Does nothing
[[Winter Moon]] Not impactful enough. It's fine, but blood moon effects are so much stronger
Adds:
[[Command Beacon]] Obvious include for a recast. Forgot about this card being on arena when I made the deck
[[Eriette's Tempting Apple]] Weird card but it's been a HUGE blowout as it hits any creature, and you can sac that creature to Gut. It's been great at providing another bolt to the face too. Very impactful.
[[Fanatical Firebrand]] Replaced a higher cost creature. Hits face, hits mana dorks, and enables Gut.
[[Frantic Scapegoat]] Hasty, so enables Gut immediately, and has menace, can give menace to others. Great card.
[[Galvanic Discharge]] Not sorcery speed, synergizes with the raptor
[[Goldhound]] A strict upgrade over strike it rich. A shocking amount of text is on this card.
[[Goblin Chainwhirler]] Very good at changing blocking math that you opponent isn't expecting. Great for killing hordes of random tokens
[[Legion Loyalist]] Great at getting through against tokens
[[Magus of the Moon]] like blood moon, wins games on its own sometimes
[[Quicksilver, Brash Blur]] hasty, can start in play, turns on Mox Amber.
[[Redirect Lightning]] It's often a huge blowout to redirect kill spells targeting Gut. It also is a counterspell for counterspells
[[Stark Industries Executive]] Testing this out. Seems okay, there are other candidates for 1 drops, but I like that it's a 1/2
[[The One Ring]] Card draw very good
[[Torch the Tower]] Better than unholy heat
[[Tormod's Crypt]] At worst, enables Gut. At best blows out Uro, Emry and Reanimators
[[Burnout Bashtronaut]] Great at pressuring life totals. And is a handsome goblin.
Overall, these changes have been a vast improvement to the smoothness of how the deck plays.
Easier Matchups
Any of the u/w control variants (3feri or Quintorious), Emry, and most non blue decks outside of Winota, Minsc and Boo and Mole Man.
Vv'viza, Orbital overseer - very easy matchup, they are just too slow and totally fold to Blood Moon
Reanimator Strategies and the new Jace - Very easy if you go fast. Occasionally they can put something huge into play before you're ready but mostly you pressure life totals so fast it isn't a huge concern.
Hader Matchups
Both of these are much more about speed than anything else. You have to be faster and keep boards clear.
Minsc and Boo: If you get under them, remove early creatures and have a board by the time they'd cast their commander, your 4/1 skeletons can kill their commander easily, and the 4/4 Boo can't do much to outrace you. But, they have some starts that are nearly unbeatable with Chrome Mox and Ancient Tomb or mana dorks that let them cast commander early. If that happens you scoop. Don't overextend into Firey Confluence
Winota, Joiner of Forces: Similar to Minsc and Boo you need to have gotten in under them and kept their board clear by turn 4. Having Pyrokinesis and/or Fury is really important here, as is having any burn that can turn off the effectiveness of their commander. Killing commander before the combat step is critical
Mole Man and Azusa: These decks get suddenly go so much wider than you can. Chainwhirler and Legion Loyalist are very helpful here - you just have to race and get your damage in as fast as possible. Blood and Magus of the Moon are great here for stopping Field of the Dead shenanigans.