Bolas's Citadel in Red Deck Wins

[firebrand549]

So I've had a thought, and you may have guessed what it is based on the name of the thread. Could Bolas's Citadel replace Experimental Frenzy in red burn or aggro decks? Right off the bat, I see a few problems, as I'm sure you will have as well. First, it's a 6-mana card, which slows either of those decks way down. However, you can use it immediately to start playing off the top of your library, whereas Experimental Frenzy usually requires you to untap with it to be useful. Also, Runaway Steam-Kin can provide a hefty amount of mana for it in some cases. The second (and in my opinion, larger) problem is that 3 of the 6 mana required is black, which means that even running 4 Dragonskull Summit, 4 Blood Crypt, and only 2 Bolas's Citadel, you'd still draw Bolas's Citadel before you drew 3 black mana sources. Fetch lands could work I suppose, but the fewer lands you have to run that aren't basic mountains, the better. I'm also wondering in how many games would a mono-red deck have enough life on turn 6+ to be able to afford to pay? Anyway, I'm sure for a lot of you that was all recap and not new information, so my questions are these:

(1) Is Bolas's Citadel even remotely playable as a splash in a fast red deck? If so, how would you make it work?
(2) Could Bolas's Citadel work in a Rakdos burn deck where black mana is easier to find?
(3) Is there any real advantage to Bolas's Citadel over Experimental Frenzy?

Thanks in advance for any answers to these questions, if you have built any decks with Citadel used in this way, I'd love to see them!

[WWolfe]

It's hard to splash for a card that has triple mana symbols in it.

[Whitris]

(1) I fear not: 6 mana is simply too much for an explosive aggro deck. Even if you were be able to cast it, you would probably not have enough life to cast anything. Instead, against a control deck, it would probably be countered on the spot, leading to an almost certain loss.
(2) I fear it would find the same problem as in RDW.
(3) Well, in an ideal situation, you would have enough life and it would not be countered. If this was the case, it would be much better than Experimental Frenzy. Otherwise, it's just worse imho.