I've had a weird itch for aggro Rakdos since the RTR prerelease. This is a slower burn than most lyzolda decks, but I still tried to keep the cmc low. It's got a stronger focus on card advantage and powerful late-game cards with low costs, like dragonmaster outcast, nezumi graverobber, and taurean mauler.
It's intended to work for multiplayer or 1v1 (it follows both banlists, so no sol ring or mana crypt since they should be banned anyway) - either way, it's all about getting in close and going for the jugular quickly.
I myself have also been itching to build a rakdos go-for-the-throat deck and your list is an interesting peek at the archetype, it does however have a few glaring issues.
1. You say this deck is a "slower burn" but I'm seeing a huge number of cards that seem to be here just because they are 1/2 cmc and not because they do anything for you.
Disclaimer - some of these cards might fit in a strictly 1v1 build, but for multiplayer Rakdos Cackler just doesn't do enough. You might get in for 2-4 damage and then it's just sac fodder for Lyzolda without doing anything on its own.
2. You have several cards that, while good, simply don't fit in this deck.
Winter Orb strikes me the most out of your list as a card that doesn't fit, you have no way to get around the downside and it will stop you from winning easily as much as it stops your opponents if not more because you don't play a single mana rock. Liliana of the Veil and Olivia Voldaren just don't belong in this deck, they are random. Desecration Demon is a bad version of The Abyss and related cards and Onyx Mage is easily replaceable with Basilisk Collar.
You just don't run enough creatures that benefit from Rakdos's ability to justify running him, at best you get 4 off of Grave Titan, but that's pretty much it. Skullclamp is in the same vein, I understand the appeal, but unless you're gonna pay 3 per creature with Lyzolda (which I assume is your intention) it only interacts with about 5 creatures in your deck, most of which I listed earlier. It's a possible include.
3. You deck desperately needs ramp, you don't run a single mana rock.
That should do you for now, though I would seriously consider Sol Ring and Mana Crypt if your meta is not against it. These cards will make your deck noticeably faster.
4. Tutors! I'm assuming you want to see your all-stars (Rakka Mar, Kiki-Jiki, Nether Traitor and it's ilk, grave pact) more often than not, so I would heartily consider making use of blacks extensive tutor package.
5. Card Quality. Remember the all-stars I mentioned in tutors, you should add more. I'm not an expert on lyzolda, but more cards with unleash like Shambling Remains seem very good in this deck. Similarly, cards with either Persist or Undying seem like they would get you great value.
Overall, you have a pretty good core of cards and interactions that you can use to make a great deck, just trim the fat and add more bulk. I hope this has been helpful.
I myself have also been itching to build a rakdos go-for-the-throat deck and your list is an interesting peek at the archetype, it does however have a few glaring issues.
1. You say this deck is a "slower burn" but I'm seeing a huge number of cards that seem to be here just because they are 1/2 cmc and not because they do anything for you.
Disclaimer - some of these cards might fit in a strictly 1v1 build, but for multiplayer Rakdos Cackler just doesn't do enough. You might get in for 2-4 damage and then it's just sac fodder for Lyzolda without doing anything on its own.
2. You have several cards that, while good, simply don't fit in this deck.
Winter Orb strikes me the most out of your list as a card that doesn't fit, you have no way to get around the downside and it will stop you from winning easily as much as it stops your opponents if not more because you don't play a single mana rock. Liliana of the Veil and Olivia Voldaren just don't belong in this deck, they are random. Desecration Demon is a bad version of The Abyss and related cards and Onyx Mage is easily replaceable with Basilisk Collar.
You just don't run enough creatures that benefit from Rakdos's ability to justify running him, at best you get 4 off of Grave Titan, but that's pretty much it. Skullclamp is in the same vein, I understand the appeal, but unless you're gonna pay 3 per creature with Lyzolda (which I assume is your intention) it only interacts with about 5 creatures in your deck, most of which I listed earlier. It's a possible include.
3. You deck desperately needs ramp, you don't run a single mana rock.
That should do you for now, though I would seriously consider Sol Ring and Mana Crypt if your meta is not against it. These cards will make your deck noticeably faster.
4. Tutors! I'm assuming you want to see your all-stars (Rakka Mar, Kiki-Jiki, Nether Traitor and it's ilk, grave pact) more often than not, so I would heartily consider making use of blacks extensive tutor package.
5. Card Quality. Remember the all-stars I mentioned in tutors, you should add more. I'm not an expert on lyzolda, but more cards with unleash like Shambling Remains seem very good in this deck. Similarly, cards with either Persist or Undying seem like they would get you great value.
Overall, you have a pretty good core of cards and interactions that you can use to make a great deck, just trim the fat and add more bulk. I hope this has been helpful.
1) well it's slower burn because of cards like grave pact and kiki-jiki that tend to get left out of 1v1 decklists but are powerful in longer multiplayer games. It's not full-out midrange, though, which is why I left in a few cheap beaters like cackler. Even if cackler never lands a hit, it's still basically a RB electrolyze with some nice benefits (triggering grave pact, only costs 1 if countered, can block/sac, etc), and in multiplayer it should be pretty easy for it to land hits on someone for at least a few turns if not more. Cards like chainwalker should probably get the axe, though, since they're less valuable as sac fodder. Some of those in your list are just too efficient to ignore - like gouger, muckwader, and prowler. They could easily get in double digits of damage before they're sac fodder. high priest is easy to trigger and, although he's pretty weak early, he's got massive potential in the mid game to create just tons of flying death for the low cost of 2, so he's exactly the sort of slow burn card I was talking about. Playtesting might prove otherwise, but he's low cost and high potential impact.
2) lili's always been strong in any deck I've played her in - symmetrical discard is powerful for an aggro deck with a low curve like this, and of course the secondary ability can be nasty attrition, especially when your opponent is forced to play defense. olivia is more low-cost, high potential goodness - say what you will, she's a must-answer threat in any game. desecration demon is interesting for 2 reasons - first, because it's just an insane p/t - cost ratio, and also because no one gets to know where he's headed until it's too late to sacrifice, so I don't anticipate a lot of sacrificing. Either way he's not an abyss, since you don't have to sacrifice anything. Having played with him in limited he's been very powerful against anything except massive token generation. And you could always promise not to swing at the tokens player so they don't tap him down. anyway rakdos is mostly a p/t inclusion (i mean come on, 6/6 flying trample for 4 with almost no downside and a potential big upside and you're wondering why I want it in an aggro deck? Come on.) onyx mage has an additional power that equipment doesn't have - you can make blocking much harder when they're guaranteed to trade, which vastly extends the usefulness of your tempo beaters like cackler since no one wants to trade their 6-drop for it. plus of course synergy with lyz. also, he's a 2-power beater.
winter orb you might have a point - stunting everyone's mana is definitely in my favor but it does put people with lots of artifact ramp at a big advantage. probably a meta consideration.
skullclamp is nuts. take cackler. now it's 4 to draw 3 and deal 2 damage, plus a beater. it also synergizes madly with bloodghast, ichorid, etc. it's 1 mana to go from weak late-game to insane late-game.
3) the curve is low and we're looking to empty our hand pretty quickly. The goal is to drop those efficient beaters like gouger quickly and hit hard while most people are ramping, which this deck doesn't need to because it has such a low curve. obviously sol ring and mana crypt are cheap enough to be worth it, but they're also stupid cards that ruin games, so screw em. I'm fine using the french list as justification to avoid the format's most brainless auto-includes. it's got nothing to do with my meta, i just dislike them and find it obnoxious that they haven't been banned.
4) the tutor package is a bit trim, so I might expand it. grim and seal are both out of my price range at the moment. diabolic, increasing ambition, and diabolic revelation are all a bit too expensive for this curve. cruel tutor just sort of sucks too hard. I'm considering some of the transmuters but I'll see how I feel after some playtesting. tainted pact is a possibility too. Anyway I'm keeping it low until I've got a better feel for how the deck plays.
5) unearth is definitely sweet with lyz (I assume you mean unearth, not unleash), and shambling remains is amazing. Unfortunately the other BR unearthables are a lot more mediocre, and the only other multicolor BR ones have very high unearth costs. Kathari bomber is a maybe, it was inches from making it into the deck, so maybe I'll try it later. sadly there are no multicolor BR undying but I did stick in geralf's messenger since it's very nasty with lyz although the BBB is a pain. in persist, murderous redcap is definitely interesting, it just seems hard to put a 2/2 in the same mana cost as beaters like rakdos, despite the CA potential. thunderblust sorta sucks with sac outlets now that combat damage is off the stack (you know, since 3 years ago...sigh), and clique is ok i guess but 5 is a lot.
Anyway yes, the deck is definitely straddling the line between a 1v1 and multiplayer design. It'll probably take some tweaking to get a good balance, this is just my approximation.
It's intended to work for multiplayer or 1v1 (it follows both banlists, so no sol ring or mana crypt since they should be banned anyway) - either way, it's all about getting in close and going for the jugular quickly.
1 Lyzolda, the Blood Witch
Creatures (39)
1 bloodhall ooze
1 gravecrawler
1 dragonmaster outcast
1 rakdos cackler
1 grim lavamancer
1 kederekt parasite
1 spikeshot elder
1 stromkirk noble
1 bloodghast
1 dark confidant
1 crimson muckwader
1 torch fiend
1 goblin deathraiders
1 gore-house chainwalker
1 nezumi graverobber
1 skirsdag high priest
1 onyx mage
1 nether traitor
1 oona's prowler
1 shambling remains
1 taurean mauler
1 markov blademaster
1 cryptborn horror
1 ashenmoor gouger
1 dross harvester
1 rakka mar
1 abyssal persecutor
1 rakdos, lord of riots
1 olivia voldaren
1 hellrider
1 ichorid
1 desecration demon
1 ashenmoor liege
1 kiki-jiki, mirror breaker
1 urabrask the hidden
1 grave titan
1 terminate
1 go for the throat
1 chaos warp
1 dismember
1 dreadbore
1 tragic slip
1 fire covenant
utility (7)
1 grave pact
1 phyrexian arena
1 skullclamp
1 winter orb
1 mimic vat
1 bloodchief ascension
1 underworld connections
tutor (2)
1 vampiric tutor
1 demonic tutor
equipment (6)
1 umezawa's jitte
1 sword of fire and ice
1 sword of feast and famine
1 bonehoard
1 batterskull
1 nim deathmantle
planeswalkers (1)
1 liliana of the veil
mana (37)
1 volrath's stronghold
1 kher keep
1 hall of the bandit lord
1 rix-maadi, dungeon palace
1 shinka, the bloodsoaked keep
1 shizo, death's storehouse
1 command tower
1 urborg, tomb of yawgmoth
1 ancient ziggurat
1 autie's hovel
1 badlands
1 blood crypt
1 blackcleave cliffs
1 arid mesa
1 bloodstained mire
1 cavern of souls
1 city of brass
1 dragonskull summit
1 graven cairns
1 lavaclaw reaches
1 marsh flats
1 polluted delta
1 reflecting pool
1 scalding tarn
1 shadowblood ridge
1 sulfurous springs
1 verdant catacombs
1 wooded foothills
5 swamp
4 mountain
EDH Primers
Phelddagrif - Zirilan
EDH
Thrasios+Bruse - Pang - Sasaya - Wydwen - Feather - Rona - Toshiro - Sylvia+Khorvath - Geth - QMarchesa - Firesong - Athreos - Arixmethes - Isperia - Etali - Silas+Sidar - Saskia - Virtus+Gorm - Kynaios - Naban - Aryel - Mizzix - Kazuul - Tymna+Kraum - Sidar+Tymna - Ayli - Gwendlyn - Phelddagrif 4 - Liliana - Kaervek - Phelddagrif 3 - Mairsil - Scarab - Child - Phenax - Shirei - Thada - Depala - Circu - Kytheon - GrenzoHR - Phelddagrif - Reyhan+Kraum - Toshiro - Varolz - Nin - Ojutai - Tasigur - Zedruu - Uril - Edric - Wort - Zurgo - Nahiri - Grenzo - Kozilek - Yisan - Ink-Treader - Yisan - Brago - Sidisi - Toshiro - Alexi - Sygg - Brimaz - Sek'Kuar - Marchesa - Vish Kal - Iroas - Phelddagrif - Ephara - Derevi - Glissa - Wanderer - Saffi - Melek - Xiahou Dun - Lazav - Lin Sivvi - Zirilan - Glissa
PDH - Drake - Graverobber - Izzet GM - Tallowisp - Symbiote Brawl - Feather - Ugin - Jace - Scarab - Angrath - Vraska - Kumena Oathbreaker - Wrenn&6
1. You say this deck is a "slower burn" but I'm seeing a huge number of cards that seem to be here just because they are 1/2 cmc and not because they do anything for you.
Examples:
Disclaimer - some of these cards might fit in a strictly 1v1 build, but for multiplayer Rakdos Cackler just doesn't do enough. You might get in for 2-4 damage and then it's just sac fodder for Lyzolda without doing anything on its own.
2. You have several cards that, while good, simply don't fit in this deck.
Examples:
Winter Orb strikes me the most out of your list as a card that doesn't fit, you have no way to get around the downside and it will stop you from winning easily as much as it stops your opponents if not more because you don't play a single mana rock. Liliana of the Veil and Olivia Voldaren just don't belong in this deck, they are random. Desecration Demon is a bad version of The Abyss and related cards and Onyx Mage is easily replaceable with Basilisk Collar.
You just don't run enough creatures that benefit from Rakdos's ability to justify running him, at best you get 4 off of Grave Titan, but that's pretty much it. Skullclamp is in the same vein, I understand the appeal, but unless you're gonna pay 3 per creature with Lyzolda (which I assume is your intention) it only interacts with about 5 creatures in your deck, most of which I listed earlier. It's a possible include.
3. You deck desperately needs ramp, you don't run a single mana rock.
To start:
That should do you for now, though I would seriously consider Sol Ring and Mana Crypt if your meta is not against it. These cards will make your deck noticeably faster.
4. Tutors! I'm assuming you want to see your all-stars (Rakka Mar, Kiki-Jiki, Nether Traitor and it's ilk, grave pact) more often than not, so I would heartily consider making use of blacks extensive tutor package.
5. Card Quality. Remember the all-stars I mentioned in tutors, you should add more. I'm not an expert on lyzolda, but more cards with unleash like Shambling Remains seem very good in this deck. Similarly, cards with either Persist or Undying seem like they would get you great value.
Overall, you have a pretty good core of cards and interactions that you can use to make a great deck, just trim the fat and add more bulk. I hope this has been helpful.
EDH (Commander) Decks
BGW - Karador, Ghost Chieftain - BGW
UBR - Mishra, Artificier Prodigy - Stax and Storm - UBR
BGW - Ghave, Ghuru of Spores - BGW
1) well it's slower burn because of cards like grave pact and kiki-jiki that tend to get left out of 1v1 decklists but are powerful in longer multiplayer games. It's not full-out midrange, though, which is why I left in a few cheap beaters like cackler. Even if cackler never lands a hit, it's still basically a RB electrolyze with some nice benefits (triggering grave pact, only costs 1 if countered, can block/sac, etc), and in multiplayer it should be pretty easy for it to land hits on someone for at least a few turns if not more. Cards like chainwalker should probably get the axe, though, since they're less valuable as sac fodder. Some of those in your list are just too efficient to ignore - like gouger, muckwader, and prowler. They could easily get in double digits of damage before they're sac fodder. high priest is easy to trigger and, although he's pretty weak early, he's got massive potential in the mid game to create just tons of flying death for the low cost of 2, so he's exactly the sort of slow burn card I was talking about. Playtesting might prove otherwise, but he's low cost and high potential impact.
2) lili's always been strong in any deck I've played her in - symmetrical discard is powerful for an aggro deck with a low curve like this, and of course the secondary ability can be nasty attrition, especially when your opponent is forced to play defense. olivia is more low-cost, high potential goodness - say what you will, she's a must-answer threat in any game. desecration demon is interesting for 2 reasons - first, because it's just an insane p/t - cost ratio, and also because no one gets to know where he's headed until it's too late to sacrifice, so I don't anticipate a lot of sacrificing. Either way he's not an abyss, since you don't have to sacrifice anything. Having played with him in limited he's been very powerful against anything except massive token generation. And you could always promise not to swing at the tokens player so they don't tap him down. anyway rakdos is mostly a p/t inclusion (i mean come on, 6/6 flying trample for 4 with almost no downside and a potential big upside and you're wondering why I want it in an aggro deck? Come on.) onyx mage has an additional power that equipment doesn't have - you can make blocking much harder when they're guaranteed to trade, which vastly extends the usefulness of your tempo beaters like cackler since no one wants to trade their 6-drop for it. plus of course synergy with lyz. also, he's a 2-power beater.
winter orb you might have a point - stunting everyone's mana is definitely in my favor but it does put people with lots of artifact ramp at a big advantage. probably a meta consideration.
skullclamp is nuts. take cackler. now it's 4 to draw 3 and deal 2 damage, plus a beater. it also synergizes madly with bloodghast, ichorid, etc. it's 1 mana to go from weak late-game to insane late-game.
3) the curve is low and we're looking to empty our hand pretty quickly. The goal is to drop those efficient beaters like gouger quickly and hit hard while most people are ramping, which this deck doesn't need to because it has such a low curve. obviously sol ring and mana crypt are cheap enough to be worth it, but they're also stupid cards that ruin games, so screw em. I'm fine using the french list as justification to avoid the format's most brainless auto-includes. it's got nothing to do with my meta, i just dislike them and find it obnoxious that they haven't been banned.
4) the tutor package is a bit trim, so I might expand it. grim and seal are both out of my price range at the moment. diabolic, increasing ambition, and diabolic revelation are all a bit too expensive for this curve. cruel tutor just sort of sucks too hard. I'm considering some of the transmuters but I'll see how I feel after some playtesting. tainted pact is a possibility too. Anyway I'm keeping it low until I've got a better feel for how the deck plays.
5) unearth is definitely sweet with lyz (I assume you mean unearth, not unleash), and shambling remains is amazing. Unfortunately the other BR unearthables are a lot more mediocre, and the only other multicolor BR ones have very high unearth costs. Kathari bomber is a maybe, it was inches from making it into the deck, so maybe I'll try it later. sadly there are no multicolor BR undying but I did stick in geralf's messenger since it's very nasty with lyz although the BBB is a pain. in persist, murderous redcap is definitely interesting, it just seems hard to put a 2/2 in the same mana cost as beaters like rakdos, despite the CA potential. thunderblust sorta sucks with sac outlets now that combat damage is off the stack (you know, since 3 years ago...sigh), and clique is ok i guess but 5 is a lot.
Anyway yes, the deck is definitely straddling the line between a 1v1 and multiplayer design. It'll probably take some tweaking to get a good balance, this is just my approximation.
EDH Primers
Phelddagrif - Zirilan
EDH
Thrasios+Bruse - Pang - Sasaya - Wydwen - Feather - Rona - Toshiro - Sylvia+Khorvath - Geth - QMarchesa - Firesong - Athreos - Arixmethes - Isperia - Etali - Silas+Sidar - Saskia - Virtus+Gorm - Kynaios - Naban - Aryel - Mizzix - Kazuul - Tymna+Kraum - Sidar+Tymna - Ayli - Gwendlyn - Phelddagrif 4 - Liliana - Kaervek - Phelddagrif 3 - Mairsil - Scarab - Child - Phenax - Shirei - Thada - Depala - Circu - Kytheon - GrenzoHR - Phelddagrif - Reyhan+Kraum - Toshiro - Varolz - Nin - Ojutai - Tasigur - Zedruu - Uril - Edric - Wort - Zurgo - Nahiri - Grenzo - Kozilek - Yisan - Ink-Treader - Yisan - Brago - Sidisi - Toshiro - Alexi - Sygg - Brimaz - Sek'Kuar - Marchesa - Vish Kal - Iroas - Phelddagrif - Ephara - Derevi - Glissa - Wanderer - Saffi - Melek - Xiahou Dun - Lazav - Lin Sivvi - Zirilan - Glissa
PDH - Drake - Graverobber - Izzet GM - Tallowisp - Symbiote Brawl - Feather - Ugin - Jace - Scarab - Angrath - Vraska - Kumena Oathbreaker - Wrenn&6
KAALIA SMASH!
Intet dreams of times ahead
and more