I know Rakdos is deceivingly difficult to cast and his abilities seems counter-intuitive (one part aggro, one part end-game) but, personally, I think he's best suited for the former. The deck is an aggro build whose main is to drop Rakdos as fast as possible and beat face. However, the deck's strongest point is that it does not have to rely on Rakdos. I run a good number of mana rocks to be able to cast some of the bigger threats in the list, whether Rakdos is out or not. The deck also contains a fair amount of lifegain to offset some of the life lost from card draw sources such as Spiteful Visions and Dark Prophecy, which punish opposing card draws and refilling my hand after sweepers respectively. The list is pretty tight but I probably overlooked something or other. Note that there are no tutors in here, while strange, I couldn't find the room, and there are no real key cards worth fetching besides some of the draw engines... having just typed that, I'll try to find room for at least 1 or 2 tutors.
Let me know what you think. Thoughts and critique always appreciated!
EDIT: I'm looking for the name of the red enchantment that deals damage equal to power when critter enters play. That should be in here.Warstorm Surge.
While I agree with a lot of what Macabre said, I believe lifegain in Rakdos is very important. Whip of Erebos is great and Exsanguinate wins games. Disciple of Bolas gives you life and cards.
I do run a lot of cards that damage everyone though (Pestilence and Flame Rift, for example.)
I like Reassembling Skeleton in this deck because he can easily be reanimated whenever to provide you a potential damage point on your turn to cast Rakdos.
Finally, I would definitely consider Warstorm Surge and Blightsteel Colossus. They combo well and each do something without the other. Blightsteel can kill one opponent while you send normal damage at another.
Oh and you can check out my list by clicking Rakdos in my signature.
Thank you both. These are some solid suggestions! My only gripe is that I'm on a budget so the Eldrazi are off limits unfortunately, which is shame really. I'm going to have to look for other colorless fatties... Knollspine Dragon is going in though and so is Warstorm Surge. Duplicant is nice, for sure. Barring Eldrazi (well Artizan is cheap so he's going in), what other fat colorless or color light guys would you suggest?
Stuffy Doll can be a thorn in one players side. Blasphemous Act wipes the board and the Doll throws his 13 damage at that opponent. Can also be used politically to get around a players pillowfort.
Also, Sheoldred should be run in almost all, if not all, black decks.
A non-creature to consider is Vedalken Orrery. It allows you to do broken things during your opponents turns.
I know Rakdos is deceivingly difficult to cast and his abilities seems counter-intuitive (one part aggro, one part end-game) but, personally, I think he's best suited for the former. The deck is an aggro build whose main is to drop Rakdos as fast as possible and beat face. However, the deck's strongest point is that it does not have to rely on Rakdos. I run a good number of mana rocks to be able to cast some of the bigger threats in the list, whether Rakdos is out or not. The deck also contains a fair amount of lifegain to offset some of the life lost from card draw sources such as Spiteful Visions and Dark Prophecy, which punish opposing card draws and refilling my hand after sweepers respectively. The list is pretty tight but I probably overlooked something or other. Note that there are no tutors in here, while strange, I couldn't find the room, and there are no real key cards worth fetching besides some of the draw engines... having just typed that, I'll try to find room for at least 1 or 2 tutors.
Let me know what you think. Thoughts and critique always appreciated!
EDIT:
I'm looking for the name of the red enchantment that deals damage equal to power when critter enters play. That should be in here.Warstorm Surge.1x Bloodgift Demon
1x Bogardan Hellkite
1x Carnage Gladiator
1x Crypt Ghast
1x Cryptborn Horror
1x Darksteel Colossus
1x Dauthi Cutthroat
1x Dauthi Ghoul
1x Dauthi Horror
1x Dauthi Slayer
1x Dauthi Warlord
1x Dimir House Guard
1x Disciple of Bolas
1x Falkenrath Aristocrat
1x Generator Servant
1x Godo, Bandit Warlord
1x Gray Merchant of Asphodel
1x Kederekt Parasite
1x Keldon Marauders
1x Lightning Reaver
1x Lyzolda, the Blood Witch
1x Magmaw
1x Manaforge Cinder
1x Mogis, God of Slaughter
1x Mogis's Marauder
1x Nihilith
1x Ob Nixilis, the Fallen
1x Phylactery Lich
1x Pontiff of Blight
1x Psychosis Crawler
1x Rakdos Shred-Freak
1x Servant of Tymaret
1x Shepherd of Rot
1x Steel Hellkite
1x Stormblood Berserker
1x Stronghold Overseer
1x Thrull Parasite
1x Urabrask the Hidden
1x Armillary Sphere
1x Charcoal Diamond
1x Coldsteel Heart
1x Fellwar Stone
1x Fire Diamond
1x Quietus Spike
1x Rakdos Signet
1x Sol Ring
1x Sphere of the Suns
1x Swiftfoot Boots
1x Wayfarer's Bauble
1x Whip of Erebos
Enchantment (7)
1x Curse of the Pierced Heart
1x Dark Prophecy
1x Dauthi Embrace
1x Exquisite Blood
1x In the Web of War
1x Seal of Fire
1x Spiteful Visions
Sorcery (6)
1x Living Death
1x Read the Bones
1x Rift Bolt
1x Sign in Blood
1x Temporal Extortion
1x Torrent of Souls
1x Hatred
Land (35)
1x Blood Crypt
1x Bojuka Bog
1x Command Tower
1x Dragonskull Summit
1x Graven Cairns
12x Mountain
1x Opal Palace
1x Rakdos Carnarium
1x Sulfurous Springs
13x Swamp
1x Temple of Malice
1x Temple of the False God
I do run a lot of cards that damage everyone though (Pestilence and Flame Rift, for example.)
I like Reassembling Skeleton in this deck because he can easily be reanimated whenever to provide you a potential damage point on your turn to cast Rakdos.
Finally, I would definitely consider Warstorm Surge and Blightsteel Colossus. They combo well and each do something without the other. Blightsteel can kill one opponent while you send normal damage at another.
Oh and you can check out my list by clicking Rakdos in my signature.
MuzzioU XenagosGR NahiriW GitrogGB MarathGRW MarchesaUBR JenaraGUW KarlovBW TazriWUBRG
Retired: RakdosBR
Also, Sheoldred should be run in almost all, if not all, black decks.
A non-creature to consider is Vedalken Orrery. It allows you to do broken things during your opponents turns.
MuzzioU XenagosGR NahiriW GitrogGB MarathGRW MarchesaUBR JenaraGUW KarlovBW TazriWUBRG
Retired: RakdosBR