Today we're taking a good, long look at Rakdos in the form of a modified burn deck by the name of Rakdos Deck Wins. It's basically Burn + Black but there's a bit more to it than that. Firstly, the inclusion of Bump in the Night allows the deck to have twelve (!!!) Lightning Bolts. Bump is Modern Burn's stand-in for Chain Lightning, and it does it's job well. Secondly, the inclusion of Dark Confidant allows for a better late-game. Once you've whittled your opponent's life total down and you've run out of burn spells, drop your Bob and then take a moment to enjoy the expression on your opponent's face as you show him the two burn spells you topdeck a moment later. You've never seen a Bob this dangerous.
Rakdos Deck Wins is not a new thing. RB Aggro/Burn was previously competitive during Lorwyn Standard, when cards like Ashenmoor Gouger and Demigod of Revenge ate life totals like Reese's Pieces. Not long after that, in the time of Zendikar, RB Vampires was a marginally successful aggro deck. It sought to mix the burn of Red with aggressively costed Black vampires like Vampire Lacerator. Red and Black is a solid combination. The two even compliment each other thematically: both are single-minded, ambitious, and have been known to cause copious amounts of property damage and loss of life.
The list we will be using tonight was created by a close friend of mine, Zelderex. I don't see him much these days. I wish I did, because he's one of those people that I always want to brew with. We're birds of a feather, you could say, in the way we both want to stand out. We played RG Shamans, we played BU Rogues, and so on. I noticed when we saw less of each other (although I knew what I did to cause it, and am not proud of having done it). Our final match together was his Rakdos Deck Wins against my Zombie Loam. Zelderex would win that match two-to-one. The final game was decided one a fatal error on my part, if I remember correctly. But such is life.
I may have been unhappy with losing, and I probably had a few choice words to say about it, but I respected it. Twelve Lightning Bolts is absolutely nothing to scoff at, and Bob was a very effective way to keep gas in the tank. It was an excellent brew on his part and he deserved every win he got with it.
Onto the list:
Rakdos Deck WinsMagic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards | ||
---|---|---|
Land: 3 Mountain 3 Scalding Tarn 3 Arid Mesa 4 Blood Crypt 2 Lavaclaw Reaches 2 Dragonskull Summit 4 Blackcleave Cliffs 1 Graven Cairns Creatures: 4 Goblin Guide 4 Keldon Marauders 3 Dark Confidant | Instants: 4 Lightning Bolt 3 Magma Jet 3 Flamebreak 3 Flames of the Blood Hand Sorceries: 4 Rift Bolt 4 Bump in the Night 4 Lava Spike 2 Blightning | Sideboard: 4 Rain of Gore 4 Smash to Smithereens 4 Combust 1 Flamebreak 1 Blightning 1 Dark Confidant |
It is indeed very rough around the edges. It's not tuned or even completely thought out. I'm fairly sure this is a rough draft. I know for a fact that it's outdated because the post I retrieved this list from is more than a month old. A lot has happened since December 15th. But tuning and precision aren't what Red and Black are about. It's time we put our balls to the wall and gave this wild animal a whirl.
So we load up Trice.
Our first opponent is a player by the username of rukulu. His deck is some silly Bant thing with an infinite combo consisting of Puresight Merrow and Paradise Mantle. He equips it with the Mantle, taps it for a mana, then uses that mana to pay for the Merrow's untap ability. Considering this is a Merfolk we're talking about here it's pretty obvious where he's going with this. My opener has two Keldon and some tapped lands. I decide that it's slow but good enough.
I win the roll and lead with Lavaclaw Reaches. Rukulu plays a Hallowed Fountain untapped (if memory serves) and casts Steelshaper's Gift for his Paradise Mantle. On my turn I cast Keldon Marauders and pass. He plays a land, his Mantle, and a Pithing Needle naming Grim Lavamancer. Good thing I don't have any of those (although I should). On my turn, I attack with Keldon, play another, and then Bolt him. He's at nine life now.
He follows that with Puresight Merrow and passes. One Marauders dies, I attack with the other, and Blightning him. He untaps.
Okay, what happens next is very controversial. Puresight Merrow allows him to look at the top of his library and then exile that card if he so chose. He does this once, twice, three times, and then plays the Merfolk that gains him a life each time he untaps a Merfolk. Problem is, when activates the Merrow, he draws a card, then exiles a card from his hand. So it went like this: draw, exile, draw, exile, draw, slam wincon. He proceeds to gain infinite life or whatever. I just kind of sit there for a moment. I wasn't sure what had just transpired. Did he just blatantly cheat? Does he not know how to Scry 1 in Trice? How can I possibly be sure of what just happened?
I could not withhold my suspicion. I told him, "You know how suspicious that looks, right?" I did not accuse him of cheating. I didn't know if he did or not. I didn't want to just condemn the guy without thinking. I told him I had no opinion one way or the other and that I just felt that what he did was suspicious. Regardless, I conceded. Infinite life against a Burn deck? I'll pass, thanks. Rukulu promptly leaves the game. I don't feel mad this time, because I feel there's a possibility that I accused an innocent man of unsportsmanlike conduct.
I still don't know what to think. Did he cheat or is he just unfamiliar with the game? Did I comdemn an innocent player? I'll be perfectly honest with you: I think he was cheating. I think we was trying to pull one over on ol' feathers. You had to have been there. He drew and really slammed that Merrow down with conviction. What was the point of even using the Merrow those few times if he already had the life-gainer in hand? The sequence of events can only lead me to one conclusion: he dug for the wincon.
But it's best not to dwell. Let's find another opponent.
I only played one more game with the deck: against UW Tron, piloted by a fella named Karbs. The first game begins with Urza's Power Plant and an Expedition Map. I drop a Blood Crypt and suspend Rift Bolt. Karbs plays a Ghost Quarter followed by casting Azorius Signet. Bolt somes down. I play another land, Bump him, drop a Guide, and attack. My opponent cracks his map on his turn for an Urza's Tower and plays it, then passes. I attack, but my Guide is Repealed. I suspend another Rift Bolt and cast Lava Spike. Karbs just has a Seachrome Coast this time. I'm glad he has all the land he wants, because I'm stuck on two. I attack with Goblin Guide but it's blocked by a flashed in Snapcaster Mage.
Karbs drops Engineered Explosives with two charge counters. I finally draw another land (Lavaclaw) and try to Magma Jet him, but it's Remanded. On my opponent's turn, he plays a Map, cracks it for Urza's Mine, and plays it. He follows this up with Thirst for Knowledge, discarding something probably useless. I finally resolve a Magma Jet and scry a pair of lands; I ship both to the bottom. He Gifts for Slaver, Timely, Condesend, and Remand. I give him the counterspells. When I try to follow this up with Keldon Marauders, it's Remanded.
Karbs Gifts again, this time for two Eldrazi and two counterspells. I give him the Eldrazi and concede.
Going into game two, I side in Bob, Blightning, and Smash. Out go three Keldon Marauders and Flamebreaks. My opening seven are god awful and I ship 'em for a new six. They look better. I start a seventeen with a fetchland and Goblin Guide. Not so bad, because my opponent starts with only one more than that. He plays a Seachrome Coast and Explosives for one. Lovely. I play a Mountain, attack, and slam a Bob. Power Plant, Signet, pass. Fearless. Bob gives me a Blood Crypt and I draw Bump in the night. I play it and attack. A flashed in Tiago takes care of Dark Confidant. Karbs plays Urza's Tower and a Signet. I play Magma Jet at the end of his turn, keeping Smash and Keldon Marauders on the top.
I Smash the signet and Karbs cracks his Explosives. I Bump him and pass. He activates the Urzatron, plays a Map, cracks it for Tower, and pass. I draw and ship the turn right back. He plays Eye of Ugin, ships it back, but not before taking Flames of the Bloodhand to the face. On my turn I Spike his last few points of life for a victory.
I keep my deck as is going into the third game. My opener is good; Blood Crypt, Mountain, Goblin Guide, Rift Bolt, Smash to Smithereens, Lava Spike, and Bump in the Night. Karbs begins with Hallowed Fountain. I play Crypt untapped and take him to eighteen with Goblin Guide. He plays Urza's Tower and Expedition Map. I Smash the Map and attack into Path to Exile. He plays Urza's Power Plant and ships the turn back. I play Bump, Lava Spike; the Spike is Condescended, so I suspend Rift Bolt and pass the turn back.
He plays a Mine to activate the Urzatron and passes the turn back. On my turn, he Gifts for Timely Reinforcements, Wurmcoil Engine, Academy Ruins, and fourth card that I never saw because Trice promptly crapped the bed. It didn't really matter what the fourth card was anyway; I was stone dead to Wurmcoil and Ruins.
So Rakdos Deck Wins is good. The addition of black is a move in the right direction, but it may not make Red Deck Wins what it once was. Especially now that Vexing Devil has made Boros finally playable and brought Zoo back from the dead. However, R(x)DW is still placing respectably in Daily Events (just ask ol' Blippy). Would I play it in a Daily myself? No. I despise Burn.
Tune in next week for competitive Pokemon (featuring Han Slowbro).
I really hope next article is not about pokemon, though...