Rakdos has always been an under appreciated archetype in standard for the last couple years. With the new additions of Demon of Dark Schemes, Harnessed Lightning and the best planes walker in Standard in Chandra, Torch of Defiance this archetype is set to grind out your opponents. We lose languish and Kolaghan's command but that won't stop us from being a part of the meta!
Land Base Smoldering Marsh : 4 Each- The basics Foreboding Ruins : 4 Each- The basics Cinder Barrens : 4 Each. Gets us both colors, Evolving wilds could be used here. Blighted Fen : 2 Each- Game goes long and having access to a sac effect is huge. Mountain : 4 basics Swamp : 8 basics
Creature Choices Demon of Dark Schemes : 0-2 Each- People call this Flying Massacre Worm and could potentially steal Emrakul from graveyard decks. Kalitas, Traitor go Ghet : 0-3 Each- Excellent against Aggro and provides essential life gain. Goblin Dark-Dwellers 4 Each : Easily the best card in the deck. Menace and able to 2-1 again and again. It gets a little worse without Kolaghan's Command but still powerful.
Other Creature Options Dragonmaster Outcast : Late game threat to pump out dragons Noxious Gearhulk : Kills creature but lackluster only doing one thing Combustible Gearhulk : People say this is the worst Gearhulk but it might be okay in the right shell. Mindwrack Demon : 4/5 Trample Flyer is great but this deck doesn't use delirium enough to make this see play.
The Spells/ Walkers Chandra, Torch of Defiance : 2-4 Each- Needs to find the right shell but a walker that needs to be answered Ob Nixilis, Reignited : 0-2 Each- Great way to get pure card advantage and kill opposing creatures. Liliana, the Last Hope : 2-4 Each- Great way to get shrink opposing creatures and get back late threats. Harnessed Lightning : 1-4 Each- Great way to gain energy and kill big creatures. Grasp of Darkness : 2-4 Each- Great answer to get around Avacyn and kills almost everything in the meta. Unlicensed Disinegration : 1-2 Each- Easier to cast than Murder but no upside of Bolt. Ruinous Path : 3 Each- Great for answering any problematic threat with awaken upside. Transgress the Mind : 2-4 Each- Early hand disruption and great to exile cards they can't get back. Live Fast : 3-4 Each- Best card draw for black that helps us gain energy to fuel Harnessed Lightning.
Enjoy the Grind!
This archetype has lots of strong elements to it but Combining a third color is definitely viable!
Feel free to make suggestions and share your success with this archetype.
I like your list, but i am not sure about Demon of Dark Schemes.
Of course this is a great control card, but My feeling is this card loose a lot of power when sharing a deck with Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
you will exile opponent's creature.
the problem is if you remove DDS, other cards giving you energie become useless.
You can easely replace Harnessed Lightning by Incendiary Flow, but this is quite more hard with Live Fast.
I don't think kalitas with the demon will be as big a problem as you think, even if you exile all of their best stuff (which is good and gives you tokens) you can still bring back your own kalitas once he dies, or dark dwellers and get anither free spell
The list from Saheen Soorani goes really too slow...
I tested a lot last week Vs many Metagamed deck, and I always lost because lack of speed...
You can't Run all aggro deck, can't run GB, Machine gun, spirit,etc...
So for now this list will stay uncompetitive as long as you we won t be able to win time - -"
The first one allows Life, chump and draw, and ca come back with Liliana, the last hope. It also die (and draw) on DDS, which is quite synergic.
At least it enable the 3damage on unlicensed desintegration
This card is really a must have in thos pacK,and can save your life VS machinegun
Ofcourse, if you play FF, you must play some unlicensed desintegration.
1 grasp? I'm sorry it's still one of the best removal spells in the format. The deck runs other ways to deal with those "larger" creatures. Grasp deals with any form of Smuggler Copter decks and performs quite well vs Delirium decks since those aren't very fast and Demon out of side can wreck them.
Also the lack of transgress, or any other discard is a bit sketchy, as that was the best way to deal with problem threats proactively. I don't think the familiar is pulling enough weight in the mid to late game to justify no discard. How else do we deal with other control decks, or combo for that matter. Without blue, discard is our only answer to non creature problems
Following Shaheen Soorani on twitter, he is splashing a third color just for creature lands. He tried grixis but decided Mardu is slightly better and will try new sideboard cards.
This is the deck Ive been running the last week or so. Its so efficient against aggro decks that are running the meta right now.
Looks decent. I've been surprised on MTGO by how much non-aggro there is being tested. Lots of Marvel decks at the moment, and that deck is painful for control to beat. Depending on the meta, another Lost Legacy may be needed in your SB. I wouldn't leave home without 2 in RB. I would also consider dropping 1 Transgress the Mind for another Ruinous Path. Resolved walkers can really ruin our day as we generally don't have enough creatures to effectively pressure them. I play 3 and I still find myself pinging them with Chandra to keep them off ultimates.
This is the deck Ive been running the last week or so. Its so efficient against aggro decks that are running the meta right now.
Looks decent. I've been surprised on MTGO by how much non-aggro there is being tested. Lots of Marvel decks at the moment, and that deck is painful for control to beat. Depending on the meta, another Lost Legacy may be needed in your SB. I wouldn't leave home without 2 in RB. I would also consider dropping 1 Transgress the Mind for another Ruinous Path. Resolved walkers can really ruin our day as we generally don't have enough creatures to effectively pressure them. I play 3 and I still find myself pinging them with Chandra to keep them off ultimates.
Lost Legacy is great, but it creates such feel bad moments. Ill try a 2nd to help the Aetherworks match up so I can pick off their big targets. Decks that id like it to be good against, Colossus and Control, are immune due to their pay offs being artifacts. Bedlam Reveler has been a great card. Ive won many a midrange/control match up off the back of it. Putting lots of spells in the gy is easy with this deck.
I feel this deck has a place in standard. My first deck I constructed in this new format was BR Midrange/Control. People have laughed at the over-hype of Chandra, Torch of Defiance. When she in a deck like this, she is unreal. I feel playing a turn 2, Transgress the Mind or Grasp of Darkness followed by Liliana, the Last Hope and then into Chandra is so powerful it's insane. Pairing Liliana with Goblin Dark-Dwellers is insane and having the advantage that Chandra's +1 gives you with GDD's Is very efficient. I found using Chandra with many kill, card draw, ect spells that are 3 mana or less she's best. I will say that this decks largest weakness is that it doesn't have any man-lands and I totally agree with the rout that Shaheen Soorani took by adding white. Which also gives you access to cards like Fragmentize and Fumigate if needed. It also opens the door for Radiant Flames which was an all-star in my list tonight.
I must also point out a card I'm surprised people are not mentioning is Collective Defiance, I found this was very good in my testing. I mean this deck really only needs to get to 6-7 mana and those long grindy games, being able to hold 3 land in hand and then cast this off a Chandra Exile was very good (I also played Drownyard Temple in my version so it got fancy at times. Which also brings up the possibility of cards like Tormenting Voice, also making Collective Brutality a tad better.
If I hadn't discovered my HULK SMASH list, this is defiantly the deck i'd be playing (I haven't yet acquired Liliana's but I would have had I not got Gearhulks).
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BGUSULTI ELEVENSBGU
hatred
I will flay the skin from your flesh,
the flesh from your bones,
and scrape your bones dry,
and still you will not have suffered enough!
Quote the Ryxsyn;
NeVeRMoRe!
You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain!
-Harvey Dent
The rest was pretty much removal and the All star was definitely Liliana the Last Hope. Hangarback and Garrison acted as early threats that scaled well in the late game, I won a lot of games with Hanwir, the Writhing Township.
I gave up on it because with rotation I lost languish which was always extremely helpful, and Kolaghans Command was another great way to recur threats. And I realized how awesome Chandra could have been for it but I was not willing to shell out 40 for it. Now that she is on the decline I might pick up 2 or 3 and give this deck a whirl.
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Rakdos has always been an under appreciated archetype in standard for the last couple years. With the new additions of Demon of Dark Schemes, Harnessed Lightning and the best planes walker in Standard in Chandra, Torch of Defiance this archetype is set to grind out your opponents. We lose languish and Kolaghan's command but that won't stop us from being a part of the meta!
2 Demon of Dark Schemes
2 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
4 Goblin Dark Dwellers
7 Planeswalkers
3 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
3 Liliana, the Last Hope
1 Ob Nixilis Reignited
19 Spells
4 Grasp of Darkness
4 Live Fast
4 Transgress the Mind
3 Ruinous Path
2 Harnessed Lightning
1 Unlicensed Disintegration
1 Oath of Liliana
4 Smoldering Marsh
4 Forboding Ruins
4 Cinder Barrens
2 Blighted Fen
4 Mountain
8 Swamp
3 Essence Extraction
4 Galvanic Bombardment
1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
1 Ob Nixilis Reignited
1 Diabolic Tutor
2 Lost Legacy
3 Mind Rot
Land Base
Smoldering Marsh : 4 Each- The basics
Foreboding Ruins : 4 Each- The basics
Cinder Barrens : 4 Each. Gets us both colors, Evolving wilds could be used here.
Blighted Fen : 2 Each- Game goes long and having access to a sac effect is huge.
Mountain : 4 basics
Swamp : 8 basics
Creature Choices
Demon of Dark Schemes : 0-2 Each- People call this Flying Massacre Worm and could potentially steal Emrakul from graveyard decks.
Kalitas, Traitor go Ghet : 0-3 Each- Excellent against Aggro and provides essential life gain.
Goblin Dark-Dwellers 4 Each : Easily the best card in the deck. Menace and able to 2-1 again and again. It gets a little worse without Kolaghan's Command but still powerful.
Other Creature Options
Dragonmaster Outcast : Late game threat to pump out dragons
Noxious Gearhulk : Kills creature but lackluster only doing one thing
Combustible Gearhulk : People say this is the worst Gearhulk but it might be okay in the right shell.
Mindwrack Demon : 4/5 Trample Flyer is great but this deck doesn't use delirium enough to make this see play.
The Spells/ Walkers
Chandra, Torch of Defiance : 2-4 Each- Needs to find the right shell but a walker that needs to be answered
Ob Nixilis, Reignited : 0-2 Each- Great way to get pure card advantage and kill opposing creatures.
Liliana, the Last Hope : 2-4 Each- Great way to get shrink opposing creatures and get back late threats.
Harnessed Lightning : 1-4 Each- Great way to gain energy and kill big creatures.
Grasp of Darkness : 2-4 Each- Great answer to get around Avacyn and kills almost everything in the meta.
Unlicensed Disinegration : 1-2 Each- Easier to cast than Murder but no upside of Bolt.
Ruinous Path : 3 Each- Great for answering any problematic threat with awaken upside.
Transgress the Mind : 2-4 Each- Early hand disruption and great to exile cards they can't get back.
Live Fast : 3-4 Each- Best card draw for black that helps us gain energy to fuel Harnessed Lightning.
This archetype has lots of strong elements to it but Combining a third color is definitely viable!
Feel free to make suggestions and share your success with this archetype.
List: Saheen Soorani
http://www.starcitygames.com/article/33729_Control-Like-Youve-Never-Seen.html
I like your list, but i am not sure about Demon of Dark Schemes.
Of course this is a great control card, but My feeling is this card loose a lot of power when sharing a deck with Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
you will exile opponent's creature.
the problem is if you remove DDS, other cards giving you energie become useless.
You can easely replace Harnessed Lightning by Incendiary Flow, but this is quite more hard with Live Fast.
A solution may be to add some filgree familiar for life-chump-draw, and if needed add one more Ob Nixilis Reignited for more draw
i will also add some Flaying Tendrils coz GW token will be in the place and this may be nice to recast it with GDD.
Modern: WURG Twin
Standard: Mardu Planeswalkers
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/standard-type-2/deck-creation-standard/661834-mardu-planeswalker?comment=1
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Charlotte/Greensboro area, NC
Pm me for details
Modern: WURG Twin
Standard: Mardu Planeswalkers
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/standard-type-2/deck-creation-standard/661834-mardu-planeswalker?comment=1
Monthly Proxy Legacy
Charlotte/Greensboro area, NC
Pm me for details
I tested a lot last week Vs many Metagamed deck, and I always lost because lack of speed...
You can't Run all aggro deck, can't run GB, Machine gun, spirit,etc...
So for now this list will stay uncompetitive as long as you we won t be able to win time - -"
My solution is too add some filigree familiar, and replace som grasp of darkness by unlicensed desintegration
The first one allows Life, chump and draw, and ca come back with Liliana, the last hope. It also die (and draw) on DDS, which is quite synergic.
At least it enable the 3damage on unlicensed desintegration
This card is really a must have in thos pacK,and can save your life VS machinegun
Ofcourse, if you play FF, you must play some unlicensed desintegration.
In some way this card is better than Grasp of darkness because can it kill Mindwrack Demon, Sylvan Advocate Ulvenwald Hydra, Ishkanah, Grafwidow while Grasp of D will be a dead card...and letting you only Ruinous path for avoid dieing
and 3CCM, so can come back on GDD.
Il also put 4 Harnessed Lightning quite better for instant kill for 2CCm and provides us some energie
Here's my list.. I find it quite better (and faster)than the first one
2 Demon of Dark Schemes
2 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
3 Goblin Dark Dwellers
4 Filigree familiar
8 Planeswalker
2 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
3 Liliana, the Last Hope
2 Ob Nixilis Reignited
1 Grasp of Darkness
4 Live Fast
3 Ruinous Path
4 Harnessed Lightning
4 Unlicensed Disintegration
25lands
4 Smoldering Marsh
4 Forboding Ruins
4 Cinder Barrens
2 Blighted Fen
4 Mountain
7 Swamp
what do you think about?
thx
Modern: WURG Twin
Standard: Mardu Planeswalkers
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/standard-type-2/deck-creation-standard/661834-mardu-planeswalker?comment=1
Monthly Proxy Legacy
Charlotte/Greensboro area, NC
Pm me for details
2 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
2 Liliana, the Last Hope
Creatures:
4 Goblin Dark-Dwellers
3 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
2 Noxious Gearhulk
1 Demon of Dark Schemes
Spells:
4 Live Fast
2 Ruinous Path
2 Unlicensed Disintegration
4 Transgress the Mind
4 Grasp of Darkness
4 Harnessed Lightning
3 Aether Hub
1 Blighted Fen
2 Cinder Barrens
4 Foreboding Ruins
5 Mountain
4 Smoldering Marsh
7 Swamp
Side-Board:
1 Chandra, Flamecaller
2 Collective Brutality
4 Essence Extraction
4 Galvanic Bombardment
1 Lost Legacy
1 Ob Nixilis Reignited
2 Weaver of Lightning
This is the deck Ive been running the last week or so. Its so efficient against aggro decks that are running the meta right now.
WB Eldrazi and Taxes BW
Looks decent. I've been surprised on MTGO by how much non-aggro there is being tested. Lots of Marvel decks at the moment, and that deck is painful for control to beat. Depending on the meta, another Lost Legacy may be needed in your SB. I wouldn't leave home without 2 in RB. I would also consider dropping 1 Transgress the Mind for another Ruinous Path. Resolved walkers can really ruin our day as we generally don't have enough creatures to effectively pressure them. I play 3 and I still find myself pinging them with Chandra to keep them off ultimates.
Lost Legacy is great, but it creates such feel bad moments. Ill try a 2nd to help the Aetherworks match up so I can pick off their big targets. Decks that id like it to be good against, Colossus and Control, are immune due to their pay offs being artifacts. Bedlam Reveler has been a great card. Ive won many a midrange/control match up off the back of it. Putting lots of spells in the gy is easy with this deck.
WB Eldrazi and Taxes BW
I must also point out a card I'm surprised people are not mentioning is Collective Defiance, I found this was very good in my testing. I mean this deck really only needs to get to 6-7 mana and those long grindy games, being able to hold 3 land in hand and then cast this off a Chandra Exile was very good (I also played Drownyard Temple in my version so it got fancy at times. Which also brings up the possibility of cards like Tormenting Voice, also making Collective Brutality a tad better.
If I hadn't discovered my HULK SMASH list, this is defiantly the deck i'd be playing (I haven't yet acquired Liliana's but I would have had I not got Gearhulks).
hatred
I will flay the skin from your flesh,
the flesh from your bones,
and scrape your bones dry,
and still you will not have suffered enough!
Quote the Ryxsyn;
NeVeRMoRe!
You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain!
-Harvey Dent
The creature suite was
4 Hnagarback
4 Hanwir Garrison
2 Kalitas
3 Goblin Dark Dwellers.
The rest was pretty much removal and the All star was definitely Liliana the Last Hope. Hangarback and Garrison acted as early threats that scaled well in the late game, I won a lot of games with Hanwir, the Writhing Township.
I gave up on it because with rotation I lost languish which was always extremely helpful, and Kolaghans Command was another great way to recur threats. And I realized how awesome Chandra could have been for it but I was not willing to shell out 40 for it. Now that she is on the decline I might pick up 2 or 3 and give this deck a whirl.