As a 4-mana beatstick with drawback, Abyssal Persecutor is better. It requires no setup, just that you kill him once he's reduced your opponent to 0 life.
If you count having to kill Persecutor as "setup", it's still better than Rakdos, since you have a longer time window to do it. Rakdos needs damage to be dealt in the same turn. Persectuor can be killed any time after he's done his work.
I don't think there is a point in casting another creature after Rakdos. People focus too much on his last ability like it's what defines him and somehow forget that he is a 6/6 Flying Trampler for four mana... Anything after that is pretty win more. Any competitive deck that features Rakdos should have him as its top end, not as some finicky ramp strategy.
Some things going on in Rakdos' favor is that he dodges a lot of the most common removal in the format, only really suffering to Path to Exile, and barring creatures only Tron variants play, nothing really beats him toe to toe. He also doesn't get chump blocked by Lingering Souls, which is great.
As for getting him into play some times people try and get too cute with bad cards, when just a simple wide agro strategy with Haste creatures works just as well. No opponent expects Rakdos, and after the first time they will be on complete tilt. There are even some agro creatures that facilitate Rakdos, like Keldon Marauders, which might I add is perfectly on curve with Rakdos if they don't remove him. Play it, it swing on your next turn, and on the following turn it dies to Vanishing and triggers its damage ability allowing you to cast Rakdos.
I honestly do think there is room for Rakdos in the Modern format, it's a cheap threat with simple hoops to jump through that is a must answer.
After seeing the feedback the consensus is that I should be focusing on having Rakdos be the curve topping wincon to the deck. That makes sense given how powerful he is on his own.
Having said that, you could probably use a few artifact creatures in the build; you're still getting free colorless mana, afterall.
I hate the mindset in these threads of "it does not exist, so it's bad ! Play combo / twin / BGx."
Or even better: "Every deck wins t4, so it's bad ! "
We know that "going bigger" is a perfect strategy vs Junk. Thats why you play Batterskull or Wurmcoil against them.
Against fast combo, you playing black ! You can play Thoughtseize and / or IoK.
The mana works as well, you have Urborg and allied fetchlands.
So now lets summarize the pros:
- Going big is good against junk. Trample beats all the Lingering Souls Tokens.
- Targeted discard deals with fast combo. If you want it main or just 4x in the side is up to you and testing
- We have, additionally, good cards like Liliana, Chandra, Terminate, Fulminator Mage.
I'm writing on my smartphone right now, so throwing together a sample list is a bit hard, but I will do it when i'm home.
It does not look that bad to me like people make it look like !
As a 4-mana beatstick with drawback, Abyssal Persecutor is better. It requires no setup, just that you kill him once he's reduced your opponent to 0 life.
If you count having to kill Persecutor as "setup", it's still better than Rakdos, since you have a longer time window to do it. Rakdos needs damage to be dealt in the same turn. Persectuor can be killed any time after he's done his work.
My thoughts exactly. Abyssal Persecutor Is easier to cast and offers the same body for combat purposes. Having him die afterwards can be as simple as an opponent stopping him before he does too much harm or turning one of your removal effects on him. Heck even Killing Wave becomes a decent option with him to either close the last bits of damage or get rid of Percy.
Alternatively, you can play Desecration Demon if you are squeemish about having to get rid of Percy. He can be super chump blocked, but in the type of all-out aggro/ burn set up in which you wanted to play Rakdos even that just clears the way for the earlier aggro elements.
If you want Rakdos just for the damage he presents, there are better options. The only part of him that seems valuable is his cost reduction effect. Perhaps he would make a more stable Goryo's Vengence/ Reanimator strategy.
I think running Gut Shot was probably one of the better suggestions I've seen here so far. Means you can hit him on curve with a spell if you don't have critters swinging through.
If you run abyssal persecutor maybe you combo it with fling for a potential 2 turn finish.
that could work. Abyssal persecutor is horribly under played in aggro decks. Atleast its less complicated than rakdos.
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If you count having to kill Persecutor as "setup", it's still better than Rakdos, since you have a longer time window to do it. Rakdos needs damage to be dealt in the same turn. Persectuor can be killed any time after he's done his work.
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If not artifact creatures then some Dragons would help: Stormbreath Dragon, Thundermaw Hellkite
Decks I'm playing in Modern right now:
URB Grixis Reveler (http://www.mtgvault.com/supast4r7/decks/modern-grixis-reveler/)
UB Faeries (http://www.mtgvault.com/supast4r7/decks/ub-fae-2/)
UW Azorious Control (http://www.mtgvault.com/supast4r7/decks/modern-ojutai-control-2/)
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Or even better: "Every deck wins t4, so it's bad ! "
We know that "going bigger" is a perfect strategy vs Junk. Thats why you play Batterskull or Wurmcoil against them.
Against fast combo, you playing black ! You can play Thoughtseize and / or IoK.
The mana works as well, you have Urborg and allied fetchlands.
So now lets summarize the pros:
- Going big is good against junk. Trample beats all the Lingering Souls Tokens.
- Targeted discard deals with fast combo. If you want it main or just 4x in the side is up to you and testing
- We have, additionally, good cards like Liliana, Chandra, Terminate, Fulminator Mage.
I'm writing on my smartphone right now, so throwing together a sample list is a bit hard, but I will do it when i'm home.
It does not look that bad to me like people make it look like !
My thoughts exactly. Abyssal Persecutor Is easier to cast and offers the same body for combat purposes. Having him die afterwards can be as simple as an opponent stopping him before he does too much harm or turning one of your removal effects on him. Heck even Killing Wave becomes a decent option with him to either close the last bits of damage or get rid of Percy.
Alternatively, you can play Desecration Demon if you are squeemish about having to get rid of Percy. He can be super chump blocked, but in the type of all-out aggro/ burn set up in which you wanted to play Rakdos even that just clears the way for the earlier aggro elements.
If you want Rakdos just for the damage he presents, there are better options. The only part of him that seems valuable is his cost reduction effect. Perhaps he would make a more stable Goryo's Vengence/ Reanimator strategy.
Standard: lol no
Modern: BG/x, UR/x, Burn, Merfolk, Zoo, Storm
Legacy: Shardless BUG, Delver (BUG, RUG, Grixis), Landstill, Depths Combo, Merfolk
Vintage: Dark Times, BUG Fish, Merfolk
EDH: Teysa, Orzhov Scion / Krenko, Mob Boss / Stonebrow, Krosan Hero
UB Tezzerator
UBW Gifts
B 8Rack
Legacy
RB Goblins
that could work. Abyssal persecutor is horribly under played in aggro decks. Atleast its less complicated than rakdos.
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Decks: "Name one! I probably got it built In one of these boxes."
---------------------------------------------------
Vintage will rise again! Buy a Mox today!
---------------------------------------------------
[I]Some call it dig through time, when really your digging through CRAP!
Merfolk! showing magic players what a shower is since Lorwyn!