Hey guys, I've been lurking the EDH forum for a long while now and participating in discussions here and there but I've never actually posted up one of my own decks until now. I started playing EDH a little after the 2013 Commander precons came out after buying the Eternal Bargain deck. Oloro was a fine general for a while, but the deck was so slow and took forever to set up that I took it apart and built a few different ones. The next two were popular commanders in Ghave, Guru of Spores and Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind. Afterwards, I wanted to build a general in a different color combo that I hadn't seen being played that often. I wanted something more original and less combo-y. I had a slight Graveyard theme in my Ghave deck and was looking for another such general that would let me play through the graveyard without being super-reliant upon it as a win-con. I was looking through my binder to see if I missed anything and came across Tymaret, the Murder King from Theros and thought to myself well damn, this is perfect! I've been playing Tymaret for about a month at my LGS and my playgroups EDH night and he's been a blast every time. So many epic game states, interesting interactions and fun plays. Definitely the funnest EDH general I've played with thus far. It's only right that I finally give him a chance to shine here at MTGS with a dedicated thread!
Who is Tymaret?
Tymaret was one of the new legendary creatures introduced in Theros and he comes in Rakdos colors. With a cheap casting cost of merely BR, he'll be out and creating havoc for your opponents from the very start of the game! His abilities both focus upon sacrificing creatures; one of them sacs a creature on your field while he's in play to fling 2 damage at your opponent while the other allows you to recur him from the graveyard to your hand. This second ability is unique in that Tymaret is capable of functioning as a sac outlet from the graveyard and can avoid the complications of having to be recast from the command zone for +2 more mana each time he gets killed. The sweetest feeling is when you steal an opponent's creature, use it to either beat their face in or block another one of their fatties, THEN you sac their creature to recur Tymaret to your hand after they forgot all about him a few turns back. It's always a joy to play Act of Aggression and totally screw with whatever plan they were trying execute. If you want a general that has unique abilities, leads to fun game states, and has an awesome name, then Tymaret could be just what you're looking for!
In general, there are 3 majors ways to win with this deck:
Beat down your opponent with your creatures early and often
Steal your opponents things and make use of sac effects to control the board
Combo off with one of the packages available in this deck
The goal of the deck is not to go infinite every game (thus I don't run all that many tutors), but it's available in case I need it depending on which generals I'll be up against. Personally, I'm not much of an infinite combo guy, but if it comes up naturally in a game, I'll go for it.
Additionally, we have Buried Alive which is often used to grave-tutor Anger, Bloodghast and Gravecrawler into the graveyard. From there, they can easily be played as hasty attackers who double as continuous Tymaret fodder. And even if Tymaret dies, instead of putting him in the command zone, you can simply sac one of these guys to return him to hand, then later replay them for cheap out of the yard!
The common weaknesses for this deck include massive graveyard hate (such as Rest in Peace) and troublesome enchantments. Being in Rakdos colors, enchantments are our worst nightmare as we can't interact with them as effectively as we'd like to. Aside from that, use politics to your advantage! Convince others to get rid of troublesome permanents for you, that's probably your best shot barring an Oblivion Stone, Perilous Vault or Chaos Warp on hand.
A good Tymaret player will know to use politics to survive into the late game in multiplayer, and will go full throttle in a one-on-one game and try to bury their opponent with beats. It's all about playing possum for a bit in a 3+ player game, pinging here and there, making allies then building up into a nice late game where you can come through and take the win. There are so many different ways to play Tymaret. I've gone heavy aggro in 1v1, sometimes I've been the control player with Grave Pact or Dictate of Erebos, and sometimes I've been the combo guy. Versatility is what makes the deck so fun and it's really simple to tweak it to your own specifications. I like using Threaten effects, but you can definitely swap them out for something better in your meta!
To accomplish these tasks, I've incorporated the following cards into this deck:
Gravecrawler - A big combo piece, can be cast from the grave time and time again as long as you have a zombie. Wait, Tymaret's a zombie! Carrion Feeder - One of our sac outlets, real useful for getting rid of your opponents creatures after they've done work for you Viscera Seer - Sac outlet, allows us to scry which is always helpful in a Rakdos colored deck Blood Artist - This deck has tons of murdering and sacrificing of creatures = many triggers for this guy Reassembling Skeleton - He becomes great sac fodder for Tymaret, as he can simply recur himself to the field for another chance to be flung for 2 more damage to the dome Bloodghast - One of the best creatures in this deck due to being excellent sac fodder than comes back for free every time you play a land Grim Haruspex - A baby Harvester of Souls, draws a ton of cards with the sac fodder trio Viashino Heretic - A great card to keep on hand just to hate on any particularly threatening artifacts later in the game Burnished Hart - We'll use any mana ramp we can get Olivia Voldaren - Snipe down annoying creatures, can get big, and continues the theme of using your opponents stuff against them Murderous Redcap - Lots of value here. Usually good for 7+ damage over the course of a game for me Rakdos, Lord of Riots - We'll be in the red zone and flinging guys often, he's pretty easy to get out. Contributes a great amount of devotion for the gods in this deck and he makes it easier to cast all of our best creatures at the top of the curve Crypt Ghast - Mana accelerant, I'll take it! Mogis, God of Slaughter - Seems underwhelming at first glance, but 2 damage time and time again begins to take a toll after a while. If he ever gets online, that's another 7 damage coming from an angry Indestructible Minotaur god of Fury. And being the God of Slaughter, I just had to put him into the MURDER KING'S deck. Purphoros, God of the Forge - One of our biggest combo pieces, with so many creatures entering the battle field over the course of the game, he really puts in a ton of work pinging opponents again and again. I mean if you have Purphoros out already, then a simple play like Bloodghast --> Sac via Tymaret to Fling --> Land Drop --> Bloodghast comes back to field --> Fling again leads to 6 damage straight to the face. Erebos, God of the Dead - We want to murder our opponents. Letting them gain life is a big no-no. Him acting as a source of card-draw is also pretty sweet and it's pretty easy to turn him into a 5/7 roadblock over the course of the game Anger - Giving all my guys haste by solely existing in my graveyard is so awesome with all the big dudes we have in this deck. Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker - Yes, I would like to clone my Grave Titan for another 10 power on the board. Anger in the grave? Sweet. Bloodgift Demon - I like drawing cards Chainer, Dementia Master - He has awesome art, abilities, and he's a great reanimation engine. Zealous Conscripts - Hasty, steals any permanent that an opponent controls until end of turn, and can go infinite with Kiki-Jiki. Love it. Gray Merchant of Asphodel - We spend a lot of life in this deck and don't usualy have a means of recovering it. Until now. Play him in a multiplayer game and make your opponents cry. Oh yeah, he's a zombie too! Grave Titan - So. Much. VALUE! He's an army in a can that makes chump blockers, Tymaret fodder, and he's a vicious 6/6 Deathtoucher. Harvester of Souls - Straight value. I'll take any card draw I can get in Rakdos, and Harvester is amazing. Sire of Insanity - One of the best possible cards to have in a deck like this. We grind out opponents little by little with attacks for 2 and 4 but sometimes we can't get there all the way. Sire helps us close the gap, force a top deck scenario, and effectively neuter opponents from playing anything at instant speed. Fantastic card. IT'S INSANE. Mikaeus, the Unhallowed - He became a real jerk after dying. But I like him. Giving my guys undying is sweet and we get tons of value off our guys that will be sacced again and again. Molten Primordial Threaten everyone, take their things and bash them with it! Then you can spitefully murder stuff and Shock them.
Phyrexian Altar - One of our biggest combo pieces and also a great outlet to generate mana. Thanks for letting me use your Avacyn this turn. Now it becomes B mana to play Gravecrawler. Rakdos Keyrune - A mana rock and a 3/1 first striker from time to time, not bad. Helm of Possession - So I can sac this token created by Grave Titan to take control of ANY creature on the board? Sounds fun! Expedition Map - Usually used to tutor up Urborg, but sometimes you just want to fling a Kobold at people. Kher Keep it is! Sol Ring - It's the ring of the sun. That's all you need to know. Skullclamp - Such value, much card draw. Also it's great being able to equip Tymaret and threaten 3 commander every time since you don't really care if he goes to graveyard ever during the game. Sensei's Divining Top - Filtering your draws is always useful, Top is always sweet Rakdos Signet - Mana fixing rock Talisman of Indulgence - Indulge in more mana! Perilous Vault - O-Stone with exile, so sweet! A way to get rid of pesky gods, indestructible creatures, and those annoying enchantments that are impossible to deal with in Rakdos colors. A must-have. Coalition Relic - Sweet piece of ramp, awesome card!
Animate Dead A lot of stuff will be dying in these games. Why not bring it back? Use an opponent's best creature, sac it, then bring it back later to do your murdering for you. Underworld Connections - The Murder King has his connections in the Underworld. That's how he became king. Phyrexian Arena - We need cards, this does it for us while giving up two pips of B devotion Dark Prophecy - I actually forgot this card existed until I traded for a foil copy. Holy crap it's amazing in this deck. Provides a ton of black devotion and draws a boatload of cards. Grave Pact - Generate crazy amounts of value and clear the board. Tymaret's pact was to just go crazy and kill everyone and everything. He does a pretty good job of it. Dictate of Erebos - I will take a second Grave Pact any day. And I can flash it in?! Crazy good. I can't wait for the day when I have this and Grave Pact in play at the same time. The tears around the table will be delicious.
Beacon of Unrest - I like reanimating things, especially those that I've sacced and thought were pretty sweet. Being able to potentially do it 2-3 times a game is really awesome. Blasphemous Act - Every now and then you just need to murder everything at once. This does the job. Diabolic Tutor - I don't like tutoring for combo pieces to win every game of EDH, so I use the worst one in black to keep myself tethered a bit. Still, sometimes you just need a specific answer when you're in a really tough spot. Demonic Tutor - Alright, sometimes you just need a tutor. I don't stick to my guns. Read the Bones - Great card, I use it in every EDH deck I have that used B Act of Treason - Steal your opponents creatures! Buried Alive - A card to stock our graveyard with useful creatures, usually you go Anger/Bloodghast/Gravecrawler Threaten - Fight for the Murder King! Faithless Looting - Useful for digging for the cards you need, might sometimes hit something relevant to put into a Graveyard. Dreadbore - Nice piece of removal, get rid of pesky planeswalkers and nasty creatures Mutilate - Kill everything. Urborg makes everything a swamp, 4 mana for what is often -7/-7 to the board? Awesome!
Act of Aggression - Instant speed Threaten effects are nice to have Word of Seizing - Instant speed Threaten with split second for ANY permanent? Sign me up! Chaos Warp - The obligatory tuck card. This is more or less our only way to deal with troublesome enchantments Grab the Reins - Yet another instant speed Threaten (except it doesn't untap), or you can make use of that creatures power to deal damage eleswhere. It's all about options with this deck! Murder - Hero's Downfall is always better, but it's MURDER. I can't pass up the flavor here. Go for The Throat If you want to murder things, ALWAYS go for the throat. It only makes sense. Terminate - Always nice to have removal on hand Tragic Slip - Almost always -13/-13. The best way to deal with indestructibles.
Tainted Peak - A dual land most of the time Blood Crypt - A dual land Graven Cairns - Mana Filtering Shinka, the Bloodsoaked Keep - We have a few legendary creatures in here. Tymaret can become pretty scary if he somehow winds up with Deathtouch and First Strike. Murder was never so easy. Command Tower - Every non-mono-colored EDH deck runs this Terramorphic Expanse The only fetchland I can afford. Not bad with Gravecrawler. Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth - Combo-rific. So much you can do with this. Zombie Master can lead to surprise wins, Crypt Ghast can help generate boatloads of mana, and we can always use B with the costs for many of the more expensive permanents in this deck Reliquary Tower - An EDH staple, we draw a TON of cards Shadowblood Ridge - A terrible one-lander, but useful most all of the time. Flamekin Village - I've made a hasty Grave Titan come down and wreck face. Glorious. Bloodstained Mire - An awesome reprint, instant include. Rakdos Carnarium - Bounce. Bounce. Bounce. Temple of Malice - Much Malice, very anger. So Tymaret. Dragonskull Summit - Checklands are great Kher Keep - One of my favorites. So much sac fodder. Shizo, Death's Storehouse - Giving Tymaret Fear is a great way to punch in damage time and time again Ancient Tomb - One of the best lands in the format, much needed ramp!
Ogre Battledriver was underperforming and was usually a dead card for me unless I drew it early and could then start going off with Tymaret recurring Gravecrawlers or having hasty Bloodghasts. Didn't have too many opportunities to maximize value off him. Scourge seems way better as I'll have another flier, a scary threat if it comes in hasty with Anger in the grave, and I wouldn't mind a free secondary attack step late in the game to punch through even more damage. That would be extra gross if Grave Titan were out there as well.
In the two dozen or so matches I've played with this deck, I've only manage to Gravestorm once. It was pretty sweet, but it takes way too many pieces on the field to get it done. Dictate seems like it'll be better value in the long run. It'll be live in both the late and early game, definitely a better card to have.
Been a while since my last update, made a handful of changes.I don't know how I completely forgot about Sire for so long, but the card is insane. I acquired one in a trade not too long ago and tested it out in place of Scourge. Initially I thought that I'd be better off with an additional flier, but Sire is sooooo damn good. Once you've gotten an engine online with Tymaret and likes of Gravecrawler, Bloodghast or Reassembling Skeleton, you are up so far ahead in a topdeck scenario. I love the game states that arise from this guy, he is one of the best cards you could have in any aggro build in Rakdos colors. He becomes even more disgusting if you have a means of continual card advantage such as an Erebos, God of the Dead on board.
Death Baron and Zombie Master were cut because they hardly ever carried their weight. Baron was useless most games, Master was occasionally useful by granting the swampwalk and giving me wrath insurace. But still, too little there. Grim Return has such awesome potential, but I've only pulled it off once to steal an opposing Avacyn. That was super sweet, but once out of a couple dozen matches isn't good enough. Bazaar Trader was hot garbage, never had a threaten effect with him on the board. Finally, Ancient Tomb is just so awesome and necessary for a deck like this. Cutting a swamp didn't matter at all.
Every card I added was a pretty solid addition to the deck. Coalition Relic for some much needed ramp, ditto with Ancient Tomb, Sire of Insanity puts us into a topdeck race which we often win, Mutilate is sweet board control, Perilous Vault helps take care of everything (pick up your copies now!), and Praetor's Grasp is a pet card of mine. Probably getting swapped out for Grim Haruspex ASAP.
Wow, nearly two months since I last posted an update. I picked up a few nice cards in the meantime and had a bunch of games with this deck. First of all, there's a LOT more card draw than there was before. It's just so easy to fill up your hand in the mid-late game with the additions of the Harvester and Haruspex that I finally had to include a Reliquary Tower in here. Before, it was pretty manageable. Nowadays, I sometimes end up with 10-11 card hands pretty frequently once I get my engine going. Dark Prophecy has been fantastic, a constant stream of value and a great source of devotion for both Erebos and Gray Merchant. Phyrexian Altar has just not been doing a whole lot. Sure, it's a nice sac outlet, but I wanted something that would allow me to apply more pressure to my opponents. Finally, Chainer was the last creature addition as he has just been sick nasty reanimating guys left and right. There's nothing quite like saccing and reanimating a Grey Merchant multiple times in one turn and gaining 30+ life.
I just made straight upgrades across the board when it came to my manabase. Cycling lands were something that I was ignoring for a long time, but they've been incredibly useful for me when I'm looking to draw gas in the mid-late game, especially with this deck drawing way more cards.
I'm open to any suggestions. Let me know what you think of my build!
Hey Shamizy, thanks for posting this list, I'm in the early stages of planning out a edh deck with Tymaret, the Murder King and this is a good looking list. I don't have any suggestions on what to add, but just wondering how you find playing this deck in a multiplayer game.
Hey Shamizy, thanks for posting this list, I'm in the early stages of planning out a edh deck with Tymaret, the Murder King and this is a good looking list. I don't have any suggestions on what to add, but just wondering how you find playing this deck in a multiplayer game.
Whoa, a reply! I almost forgot about this list haha.
Most of my games are actually multiplayer at the EDH night at my college and the list runs just fine, it's actually my favorite to bring to the table. It performs way better in a one-on-one setting though, since you merely need to drop one guy from 40 to 0. You definitely need to make use of EDH politics to put yourself in a good position though, as it will be really hard to take out everyone since this deck usually does so via damage. The only solution I've seen to this is to set myself up for the mid-late game rather than try to bash in early. Get in there here and there with a few flings and swings from Tymaret to keep people on their toes then bury them with beats in the late game.
If you can get to the point where you have 6+ mana and have a means of recursion (like Gravecrawler w/Tymaret on field) or continuous card draw (like Erebos, God of the Dead or Underworld Connections), then you can definitely pull it out. The fewer opponents, the more effective this list is. If you're planning on mostly multiplayer, I'd say that more card draw effects would be nice to have. You don't want to run out of gas in a multiplayer match, especially when running a Rakdos general based around damage.
Been a while since the last update, added a couple of things in the last month. Really looking forward to goodies from Khans, namely Grim Haruspex and Bloodsoaked Champion. Both of those cards should be insane with Champion being another recurring threat and Haruspex giving me some sweet sweet card draw while I sac my dudes to fling two over and over.
Awesome strategy shamizy, I think I will make a few personal changes and take Tymaret on a test run
Thanks, I appreciate it!
It's pretty refreshing playing a deck where the Commander can serve as a vital piece of your strategy but doesn't screw you over if you get him tucked away. Hope you enjoy it, among the 7 or 8 decks that I've played within my group over the last year, Tymaret has been the most fun by far.
Actually forgot that she existed haha. I think I have a copy somewhere, I'll definitely try her out in place of Viashino Heretic the next time I play. I don't think she's all that necessary though since the majority of my creatures are black and I already have a ton of other card draw options in my current build. If I want to push Threaten effects some more, then I'll definitely find a slot for her and also bring Phyrexian Altar back.
Yeah, you could always run Mike + Trisk, I just don't like running two card combos most of the time unless they have synergy with other cards in my list. That's why I keep Zealous + Kiki-Jiki, because individually they're both pretty sweet in conjunction with other cards. Also Triskelion is kind of a dead draw without Mike, and I don't overload on tutors to assemble combo b/c I like variety in my games. It's way too easy in black. But yeah, it's definitely there. The deck could definitely be fine-tuned further with tutors, boardwipes and combo-kills, but I like where it's at currently.
I've been playing Tymaret in my play group with more of a token theme to it. I like how you are playing it. I just worry about graveyard hate etc... Most of my playgroup plays annoying decks like Jeleva, Narset, Krenko, Mayael, Norin, Scion of Ur Dragon, most recently Grand Arbiter and Nekusar. What do you think of working on a primer? I would love to see Tymaret come to be an amazing general. I have him and Doran built but I'm probably taking apart Doran for either Savra/Ghave/or Jarad.
Good idea. Once my Finals are done next week, I should have plenty of time to write up a primer
Graveyard hate is really annoying, and also massive lifegain sets me back. One of my friends plays Mayael and every time I've gone up against him with Tymaret, I kid you not, he's stuck a T3 or T4 Rest In Peace. One-on-one, it's almost a death knell, but in multiplayer, I usually play more politically at this point and convince others to get rid of the RIP. Cutting deals is what EDH is all about after all haha. There are a number of combos that can be assembled if your meta is more cutthroat or you find them keeping you from playing Tymaret optimally.
Phyrexian Arena + Gravecrawler + Bitter Ordeal with another zombie on the field leads to exiling everything relevant in their deck (if not the whole deck). You could also replace Bitter Ordeal with Purphoros and just shoot down the whole table at once. Murderous Redcap + Mikaeus, the Unhallowed + Sac Outlet = Infinite Damage, I get it off occasionally. And then there's also the likes of Kiki-Jiki + Zealous Conscripts or just wailing on people with Purphoros on the field and bringing back your recursive dudes (Reassembling Skeleton, Gravecrawler, Bloodghast) over and over again. You'd probably want more tutors then just to assemble these more quickly. I personally don't like running every single tutor available for variance.
Tymaret's greatest utility is being a Sac Outlet unto himself from the graveyard or in your hand. That's why I have the Threaten package all through the deck, it just leads to some really fun plays. Decks that can neuter graveyard interactions make it really difficult to play him effectively as Rakdos is one of the weaker color combinations in all of EDH. I have found Sire of Insanity to be an AMAZING finisher card in my build. Once you've assembled a recursive loop ala Timmy + Gravecrawler, sticking a Sire on an even field puts you so far ahead. Even more so if you have a source of repeatable card advantage out there. Mindslicer could be a good addition in that same vein.
On my short list of cards to test out include Sorin Markov (It's tough being an aggro deck), Dictate of the Twin Gods (Could be good, flinging 4 to the face off repeatable sac sounds sweet), and Mindslicer right now.
I am finishing up Finals, if you want we can coordinate since I've been working on Tymaret since Theros came out. I really like going with a more token based theme since you get value out of purphoros and being able to sac to trigger gravepact effects. Let me know when works best for you via PM. We could even play Worldgorger + Animate Dead for a loop and make infinite mana, then go for a really big Exsanguinate. If you are going to go that route I'd highly advice running a defense grid to stop someone from breaking the combo.
Hey guys, I've been lurking the EDH forum for a long while now and participating in discussions here and there but I've never actually posted up one of my own decks until now. I started playing EDH a little after the 2013 Commander precons came out after buying the Eternal Bargain deck. Oloro was a fine general for a while, but the deck was so slow and took forever to set up that I took it apart and built a few different ones. The next two were popular commanders in Ghave, Guru of Spores and Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind. Afterwards, I wanted to build a general in a different color combo that I hadn't seen being played that often. I wanted something more original and less combo-y. I had a slight Graveyard theme in my Ghave deck and was looking for another such general that would let me play through the graveyard without being super-reliant upon it as a win-con. I was looking through my binder to see if I missed anything and came across Tymaret, the Murder King from Theros and thought to myself well damn, this is perfect! I've been playing Tymaret for about a month at my LGS and my playgroups EDH night and he's been a blast every time. So many epic game states, interesting interactions and fun plays. Definitely the funnest EDH general I've played with thus far. It's only right that I finally give him a chance to shine here at MTGS with a dedicated thread!
Who is Tymaret?
Tymaret was one of the new legendary creatures introduced in Theros and he comes in Rakdos colors. With a cheap casting cost of merely BR, he'll be out and creating havoc for your opponents from the very start of the game! His abilities both focus upon sacrificing creatures; one of them sacs a creature on your field while he's in play to fling 2 damage at your opponent while the other allows you to recur him from the graveyard to your hand. This second ability is unique in that Tymaret is capable of functioning as a sac outlet from the graveyard and can avoid the complications of having to be recast from the command zone for +2 more mana each time he gets killed. The sweetest feeling is when you steal an opponent's creature, use it to either beat their face in or block another one of their fatties, THEN you sac their creature to recur Tymaret to your hand after they forgot all about him a few turns back. It's always a joy to play Act of Aggression and totally screw with whatever plan they were trying execute. If you want a general that has unique abilities, leads to fun game states, and has an awesome name, then Tymaret could be just what you're looking for!
1 Tymaret, the Murder King
Artifact (10)
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Skullclamp
1 Sol Ring
1 Expedition Map
1 Talisman of Indulgence
1 Rakdos Signet
1 Rakdos Keyrune
1 Coalition Relic
1 Helm of Possession
1 Perilous Vault
Creature (27)
1 Carrion Feeder
1 Gravecrawler
1 Viscera Seer
1 Bloodghast
1 Blood Artist
1 Reassembling Skeleton
1 Grim Haruspex
1 Burnished Hart
1 Viashino Heretic
1 Erebos, God of the Dead
1 Purphoros, God of the Forge
1 Mogis, God of Slaughter
1 Anger
1 Crypt Ghast
1 Rakdos, Lord of Riots
1 Murderous Redcap
1 Olivia Voldaren
1 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
1 Bloodgift Demon
1 Zealous Conscripts
1 Chainer, Dementia Master
1 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
1 Mikaeus, the Unhallowed
1 Grave Titan
1 Harvester of Souls
1 Sire of Insanity
1 Molten Primordial
1 Animate Dead
1 Underworld Connections
1 Phyrexian Arena
1 Dark Prophecy
1 Grave Pact
1 Dictate of Erebos
Instant (8)
1 Tragic Slip
1 Go For The Throat
1 Terminate
1 Chaos Warp
1 Murder
1 Grab The Reins
1 Act of Aggression
1 Word Of Seizing
Sorcery (11)
1 Faithless Looting
1 Dreadbore
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Threaten
1 Buried Alive
1 Act of Treason
1 Read the Bones
1 Mutilate
1 Diabolic Tutor
1 Beacon of Unrest
1 Blasphemous Act
Land (37)
1 Forgotten Cave
1 Barren Moor
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Shadowblood Ridge
1 Shizo, Death's Storehouse
1 Kher Keep
1 Dragonskull Summit
1 Temple of Malice
1 Rakdos Carnarium
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Command Tower
1 Shinka, the Bloodsoaked Keep
1 Graven Cairns
1 Blood Crypt
1 Tainted Peak
1 Flamekin Village
8 Mountain
11 Swamp
THE STRATEGY
To accomplish these tasks, I've incorporated the following cards into this deck:
Carrion Feeder - One of our sac outlets, real useful for getting rid of your opponents creatures after they've done work for you
Viscera Seer - Sac outlet, allows us to scry which is always helpful in a Rakdos colored deck
Blood Artist - This deck has tons of murdering and sacrificing of creatures = many triggers for this guy
Reassembling Skeleton - He becomes great sac fodder for Tymaret, as he can simply recur himself to the field for another chance to be flung for 2 more damage to the dome
Bloodghast - One of the best creatures in this deck due to being excellent sac fodder than comes back for free every time you play a land
Grim Haruspex - A baby Harvester of Souls, draws a ton of cards with the sac fodder trio
Viashino Heretic - A great card to keep on hand just to hate on any particularly threatening artifacts later in the game
Burnished Hart - We'll use any mana ramp we can get
Olivia Voldaren - Snipe down annoying creatures, can get big, and continues the theme of using your opponents stuff against them
Murderous Redcap - Lots of value here. Usually good for 7+ damage over the course of a game for me
Rakdos, Lord of Riots - We'll be in the red zone and flinging guys often, he's pretty easy to get out. Contributes a great amount of devotion for the gods in this deck and he makes it easier to cast all of our best creatures at the top of the curve
Crypt Ghast - Mana accelerant, I'll take it!
Mogis, God of Slaughter - Seems underwhelming at first glance, but 2 damage time and time again begins to take a toll after a while. If he ever gets online, that's another 7 damage coming from an angry Indestructible Minotaur god of Fury. And being the God of Slaughter, I just had to put him into the MURDER KING'S deck.
Purphoros, God of the Forge - One of our biggest combo pieces, with so many creatures entering the battle field over the course of the game, he really puts in a ton of work pinging opponents again and again. I mean if you have Purphoros out already, then a simple play like Bloodghast --> Sac via Tymaret to Fling --> Land Drop --> Bloodghast comes back to field --> Fling again leads to 6 damage straight to the face.
Erebos, God of the Dead - We want to murder our opponents. Letting them gain life is a big no-no. Him acting as a source of card-draw is also pretty sweet and it's pretty easy to turn him into a 5/7 roadblock over the course of the game
Anger - Giving all my guys haste by solely existing in my graveyard is so awesome with all the big dudes we have in this deck.
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker - Yes, I would like to clone my Grave Titan for another 10 power on the board. Anger in the grave? Sweet.
Bloodgift Demon - I like drawing cards
Chainer, Dementia Master - He has awesome art, abilities, and he's a great reanimation engine.
Zealous Conscripts - Hasty, steals any permanent that an opponent controls until end of turn, and can go infinite with Kiki-Jiki. Love it.
Gray Merchant of Asphodel - We spend a lot of life in this deck and don't usualy have a means of recovering it. Until now. Play him in a multiplayer game and make your opponents cry. Oh yeah, he's a zombie too!
Grave Titan - So. Much. VALUE! He's an army in a can that makes chump blockers, Tymaret fodder, and he's a vicious 6/6 Deathtoucher.
Harvester of Souls - Straight value. I'll take any card draw I can get in Rakdos, and Harvester is amazing.
Sire of Insanity - One of the best possible cards to have in a deck like this. We grind out opponents little by little with attacks for 2 and 4 but sometimes we can't get there all the way. Sire helps us close the gap, force a top deck scenario, and effectively neuter opponents from playing anything at instant speed. Fantastic card. IT'S INSANE.
Mikaeus, the Unhallowed - He became a real jerk after dying. But I like him. Giving my guys undying is sweet and we get tons of value off our guys that will be sacced again and again.
Molten Primordial Threaten everyone, take their things and bash them with it! Then you can spitefully murder stuff and Shock them.
Phyrexian Altar - One of our biggest combo pieces and also a great outlet to generate mana. Thanks for letting me use your Avacyn this turn. Now it becomes B mana to play Gravecrawler.
Rakdos Keyrune - A mana rock and a 3/1 first striker from time to time, not bad.
Helm of Possession - So I can sac this token created by Grave Titan to take control of ANY creature on the board? Sounds fun!
Expedition Map - Usually used to tutor up Urborg, but sometimes you just want to fling a Kobold at people. Kher Keep it is!
Sol Ring - It's the ring of the sun. That's all you need to know.
Skullclamp - Such value, much card draw. Also it's great being able to equip Tymaret and threaten 3 commander every time since you don't really care if he goes to graveyard ever during the game.
Sensei's Divining Top - Filtering your draws is always useful, Top is always sweet
Rakdos Signet - Mana fixing rock
Talisman of Indulgence - Indulge in more mana!
Perilous Vault - O-Stone with exile, so sweet! A way to get rid of pesky gods, indestructible creatures, and those annoying enchantments that are impossible to deal with in Rakdos colors. A must-have.
Coalition Relic - Sweet piece of ramp, awesome card!
Animate Dead A lot of stuff will be dying in these games. Why not bring it back? Use an opponent's best creature, sac it, then bring it back later to do your murdering for you.
Underworld Connections - The Murder King has his connections in the Underworld. That's how he became king.
Phyrexian Arena - We need cards, this does it for us while giving up two pips of B devotion
Dark Prophecy - I actually forgot this card existed until I traded for a foil copy. Holy crap it's amazing in this deck. Provides a ton of black devotion and draws a boatload of cards.
Grave Pact - Generate crazy amounts of value and clear the board. Tymaret's pact was to just go crazy and kill everyone and everything. He does a pretty good job of it.
Dictate of Erebos - I will take a second Grave Pact any day. And I can flash it in?! Crazy good. I can't wait for the day when I have this and Grave Pact in play at the same time. The tears around the table will be delicious.
Beacon of Unrest - I like reanimating things, especially those that I've sacced and thought were pretty sweet. Being able to potentially do it 2-3 times a game is really awesome.
Blasphemous Act - Every now and then you just need to murder everything at once. This does the job.
Diabolic Tutor - I don't like tutoring for combo pieces to win every game of EDH, so I use the worst one in black to keep myself tethered a bit. Still, sometimes you just need a specific answer when you're in a really tough spot.
Demonic Tutor - Alright, sometimes you just need a tutor. I don't stick to my guns.
Read the Bones - Great card, I use it in every EDH deck I have that used B
Act of Treason - Steal your opponents creatures!
Buried Alive - A card to stock our graveyard with useful creatures, usually you go Anger/Bloodghast/Gravecrawler
Threaten - Fight for the Murder King!
Faithless Looting - Useful for digging for the cards you need, might sometimes hit something relevant to put into a Graveyard.
Dreadbore - Nice piece of removal, get rid of pesky planeswalkers and nasty creatures
Mutilate - Kill everything. Urborg makes everything a swamp, 4 mana for what is often -7/-7 to the board? Awesome!
Act of Aggression - Instant speed Threaten effects are nice to have
Word of Seizing - Instant speed Threaten with split second for ANY permanent? Sign me up!
Chaos Warp - The obligatory tuck card. This is more or less our only way to deal with troublesome enchantments
Grab the Reins - Yet another instant speed Threaten (except it doesn't untap), or you can make use of that creatures power to deal damage eleswhere. It's all about options with this deck!
Murder - Hero's Downfall is always better, but it's MURDER. I can't pass up the flavor here.
Go for The Throat If you want to murder things, ALWAYS go for the throat. It only makes sense.
Terminate - Always nice to have removal on hand
Tragic Slip - Almost always -13/-13. The best way to deal with indestructibles.
Tainted Peak - A dual land most of the time
Blood Crypt - A dual land
Graven Cairns - Mana Filtering
Shinka, the Bloodsoaked Keep - We have a few legendary creatures in here. Tymaret can become pretty scary if he somehow winds up with Deathtouch and First Strike. Murder was never so easy.
Command Tower - Every non-mono-colored EDH deck runs this
Terramorphic Expanse The only fetchland I can afford. Not bad with Gravecrawler.
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth - Combo-rific. So much you can do with this. Zombie Master can lead to surprise wins, Crypt Ghast can help generate boatloads of mana, and we can always use B with the costs for many of the more expensive permanents in this deck
Reliquary Tower - An EDH staple, we draw a TON of cards
Shadowblood Ridge - A terrible one-lander, but useful most all of the time.
Flamekin Village - I've made a hasty Grave Titan come down and wreck face. Glorious.
Bloodstained Mire - An awesome reprint, instant include.
Rakdos Carnarium - Bounce. Bounce. Bounce.
Temple of Malice - Much Malice, very anger. So Tymaret.
Dragonskull Summit - Checklands are great
Kher Keep - One of my favorites. So much sac fodder.
Shizo, Death's Storehouse - Giving Tymaret Fear is a great way to punch in damage time and time again
Ancient Tomb - One of the best lands in the format, much needed ramp!
* 6/25/14
Ogre Battledriver --> Scourge of the Throne
Ogre Battledriver was underperforming and was usually a dead card for me unless I drew it early and could then start going off with Tymaret recurring Gravecrawlers or having hasty Bloodghasts. Didn't have too many opportunities to maximize value off him. Scourge seems way better as I'll have another flier, a scary threat if it comes in hasty with Anger in the grave, and I wouldn't mind a free secondary attack step late in the game to punch through even more damage. That would be extra gross if Grave Titan were out there as well.
* 6/28/14
Bitter Ordeal --> Dictate of Erebos
In the two dozen or so matches I've played with this deck, I've only manage to Gravestorm once. It was pretty sweet, but it takes way too many pieces on the field to get it done. Dictate seems like it'll be better value in the long run. It'll be live in both the late and early game, definitely a better card to have.
* 9/17/14
Scourge of the Throne --> Sire of Insanity
Grim Return --> Perilous Vault
Death Baron --> Coalition Relic
Zombie Master --> Praetor's Grasp
Bazaar Trader --> Mutilate
Swamp --> Ancient Tomb
Been a while since my last update, made a handful of changes.I don't know how I completely forgot about Sire for so long, but the card is insane. I acquired one in a trade not too long ago and tested it out in place of Scourge. Initially I thought that I'd be better off with an additional flier, but Sire is sooooo damn good. Once you've gotten an engine online with Tymaret and likes of Gravecrawler, Bloodghast or Reassembling Skeleton, you are up so far ahead in a topdeck scenario. I love the game states that arise from this guy, he is one of the best cards you could have in any aggro build in Rakdos colors. He becomes even more disgusting if you have a means of continual card advantage such as an Erebos, God of the Dead on board.
Death Baron and Zombie Master were cut because they hardly ever carried their weight. Baron was useless most games, Master was occasionally useful by granting the swampwalk and giving me wrath insurace. But still, too little there. Grim Return has such awesome potential, but I've only pulled it off once to steal an opposing Avacyn. That was super sweet, but once out of a couple dozen matches isn't good enough. Bazaar Trader was hot garbage, never had a threaten effect with him on the board. Finally, Ancient Tomb is just so awesome and necessary for a deck like this. Cutting a swamp didn't matter at all.
Every card I added was a pretty solid addition to the deck. Coalition Relic for some much needed ramp, ditto with Ancient Tomb, Sire of Insanity puts us into a topdeck race which we often win, Mutilate is sweet board control, Perilous Vault helps take care of everything (pick up your copies now!), and Praetor's Grasp is a pet card of mine. Probably getting swapped out for Grim Haruspex ASAP.
* 12/8/14
Altar's Reap --> Dark Prophecy
Praetor's Grasp --> Grim Haruspex
Terror --> Harvester of Souls
Phyrexian Altar --> Chainer, Dementia Master
Mountain --> Reliquary Tower
Mountain --> Forgotten Cave
Swamp --> Bloodstained Mire
Swamp --> Barren Moor
Swamp --> Shadowblood Ridge
Wow, nearly two months since I last posted an update. I picked up a few nice cards in the meantime and had a bunch of games with this deck. First of all, there's a LOT more card draw than there was before. It's just so easy to fill up your hand in the mid-late game with the additions of the Harvester and Haruspex that I finally had to include a Reliquary Tower in here. Before, it was pretty manageable. Nowadays, I sometimes end up with 10-11 card hands pretty frequently once I get my engine going. Dark Prophecy has been fantastic, a constant stream of value and a great source of devotion for both Erebos and Gray Merchant. Phyrexian Altar has just not been doing a whole lot. Sure, it's a nice sac outlet, but I wanted something that would allow me to apply more pressure to my opponents. Finally, Chainer was the last creature addition as he has just been sick nasty reanimating guys left and right. There's nothing quite like saccing and reanimating a Grey Merchant multiple times in one turn and gaining 30+ life.
I just made straight upgrades across the board when it came to my manabase. Cycling lands were something that I was ignoring for a long time, but they've been incredibly useful for me when I'm looking to draw gas in the mid-late game, especially with this deck drawing way more cards.
I'm open to any suggestions. Let me know what you think of my build!
Rakdos The Defiler: A Zero-Sum Game
Varolz, The Scar-Striped
Thanks,
MattHonkylips
Whoa, a reply! I almost forgot about this list haha.
Most of my games are actually multiplayer at the EDH night at my college and the list runs just fine, it's actually my favorite to bring to the table. It performs way better in a one-on-one setting though, since you merely need to drop one guy from 40 to 0. You definitely need to make use of EDH politics to put yourself in a good position though, as it will be really hard to take out everyone since this deck usually does so via damage. The only solution I've seen to this is to set myself up for the mid-late game rather than try to bash in early. Get in there here and there with a few flings and swings from Tymaret to keep people on their toes then bury them with beats in the late game.
If you can get to the point where you have 6+ mana and have a means of recursion (like Gravecrawler w/Tymaret on field) or continuous card draw (like Erebos, God of the Dead or Underworld Connections), then you can definitely pull it out. The fewer opponents, the more effective this list is. If you're planning on mostly multiplayer, I'd say that more card draw effects would be nice to have. You don't want to run out of gas in a multiplayer match, especially when running a Rakdos general based around damage.
[Semi-Competitive] GWUB "NO" GWUB 89%
Thrasios and Tymna aggro-control voltron-combo
"No machinations, no puppet strings, no plots. Just pure, sweeping death."
—Tasigur, the Golden Fang
Thanks, I appreciate it!
It's pretty refreshing playing a deck where the Commander can serve as a vital piece of your strategy but doesn't screw you over if you get him tucked away. Hope you enjoy it, among the 7 or 8 decks that I've played within my group over the last year, Tymaret has been the most fun by far.
Yeah, you could always run Mike + Trisk, I just don't like running two card combos most of the time unless they have synergy with other cards in my list. That's why I keep Zealous + Kiki-Jiki, because individually they're both pretty sweet in conjunction with other cards. Also Triskelion is kind of a dead draw without Mike, and I don't overload on tutors to assemble combo b/c I like variety in my games. It's way too easy in black. But yeah, it's definitely there. The deck could definitely be fine-tuned further with tutors, boardwipes and combo-kills, but I like where it's at currently.
Graveyard hate is really annoying, and also massive lifegain sets me back. One of my friends plays Mayael and every time I've gone up against him with Tymaret, I kid you not, he's stuck a T3 or T4 Rest In Peace. One-on-one, it's almost a death knell, but in multiplayer, I usually play more politically at this point and convince others to get rid of the RIP. Cutting deals is what EDH is all about after all haha. There are a number of combos that can be assembled if your meta is more cutthroat or you find them keeping you from playing Tymaret optimally.
Phyrexian Arena + Gravecrawler + Bitter Ordeal with another zombie on the field leads to exiling everything relevant in their deck (if not the whole deck). You could also replace Bitter Ordeal with Purphoros and just shoot down the whole table at once. Murderous Redcap + Mikaeus, the Unhallowed + Sac Outlet = Infinite Damage, I get it off occasionally. And then there's also the likes of Kiki-Jiki + Zealous Conscripts or just wailing on people with Purphoros on the field and bringing back your recursive dudes (Reassembling Skeleton, Gravecrawler, Bloodghast) over and over again. You'd probably want more tutors then just to assemble these more quickly. I personally don't like running every single tutor available for variance.
Tymaret's greatest utility is being a Sac Outlet unto himself from the graveyard or in your hand. That's why I have the Threaten package all through the deck, it just leads to some really fun plays. Decks that can neuter graveyard interactions make it really difficult to play him effectively as Rakdos is one of the weaker color combinations in all of EDH. I have found Sire of Insanity to be an AMAZING finisher card in my build. Once you've assembled a recursive loop ala Timmy + Gravecrawler, sticking a Sire on an even field puts you so far ahead. Even more so if you have a source of repeatable card advantage out there. Mindslicer could be a good addition in that same vein.
On my short list of cards to test out include Sorin Markov (It's tough being an aggro deck), Dictate of the Twin Gods (Could be good, flinging 4 to the face off repeatable sac sounds sweet), and Mindslicer right now.