On that last point i.e. I find feldon of the third path intriguing and fun because reanimator isn't really a mono red thing traditionally and it does it in a quirky way. I'd also recommend not running generic powerful tutors because they're just kinda boring.

This has always eluded me as a competitive player, its odd to try and under optimize a deck. What I've found that helps to some degree is putting thematic or mechanical restrictions on what you can include, limiting to certain sets / time periods, focusing on less common strategies in certain colors