I have a problem I'm hoping the community can help me with. Back when Return to Ravnica was announced, I decided I would make ten EDH decks, one for each guild. I'm a huge Vorthos, so I'm trying to make these decks as flavorful and thematic as possible, and yet I'm also quite the Spike, so I'd still like to retain the ability to be competitive. So far I have the following:
Azorius - General TBD - Bounce/blink OR Taxes/Prison
Rakdos - General TBD - Theme TBD
Gruul - General TBD - Thundering Fatties
Orzhov - General TBD - Bleeder
Dimir - General TBD - Mill/Clone/Steal
Boros - Aurelia, the Warleader - Kings of Combat
Simic - General TBD - Theme TBD
I'm not very concerned about the Gatecrash guilds right now; once we know the set, I'll be able to get a better feel about how I want those decks to go, especially Simic since the guild is undergoing a reimagining of sorts by WotC. Right now, my focus is on Rakdos. I have absolutely no idea where to start when it comes to building an on-theme Rakdos deck that's also able to be competitive in a multiplayer setting. My current instinct is to go control, and build around their "Do what feels good/burn it all down" philosophy by going B/R Punisher with Kaervek the Merciless as guildleader. I've tried Rakdos, Lord of Riots, but I'm not in love with the tension between running enough enablers and fatties to play and take advantage of his abilities. So, I turn to my fellow EDHers and pose the following question: If you wanted to build a thematic Rakdos deck, one that embodies the ideals and philosophies (or lack thereof) of Rakdos, what would you do?
Burning the world while enabling hellbent shenanigans? What's not to like?
Oh. Hellbent shenanigans. Yeah. . .
When I made Malfegor, I used him two fold: A way to control the boardstate, and a way to sculpt your graveyard. Red/Black are perhaps the best colors to refill your hand, and operate from the yard at the same time. Use black's tutors to protect things in your hand until the moment you're ready to go off.
The important thing is this: Build your deck so your hand is very resilient. +Draw effects are essential, because hellbent largely sucks. Then make sure you run cards that put your opponents into hellbent mode as well. Rakdos Augermage, and the aforementioned Cinderhaze Wretch are champs at this sort of thing. You've also got some of the best skullclamp abuse in the format, so keep that in mind as well.
Malfegor has always been in the back of my mind, and I think he is a good pick. If I went that route, I'd want to avoid relying too heavily on the graveyard, if only because I'm already doing that with the Golgari, and it's important to me that the decks feel different from each other.
I have no compunctions about including some of the more frowned upon strategies in Commander such as mass LD or discard, if only because it feels on theme given who I'm building around. I'm not sure if I want to combo out, since it implies to me a level of organization that I'm not sure Rakdos has, but I might be willing to reconsider depending on how things go.
Bloodchief Ascension + Ankh of Mishra and then use Wheel Effects. Throw in Uba Mask to be even worse. Eventually play Kaervek. No one will have enough life left to play spells to stop you.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
"[Screw] you and the green you ramped in on." - My EDH battle cry. If I had one. Which I don't.
How about Forsaken Wastes to really put everyone on the clock? I like the Rakdos idea of everyone rushing uncontrollably toward 0, with the Rakdos player being the one who really doesn't care. Theme song:
"It's the End of the World As We Know It, And I Feel Fine"
Thanks for reminding me about Forsaken Wastes Sheldon, I had forgotten about that one. The more I think about it, the more I like Punisher as my archetype of choice. I think that Kaervek makes the best choice for a commander.
Is there any one card that just screams Rakdos? (Pun not intended)
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Selesnya - Trostani, Selesnya's Voice - Big tokens/populate
Izzet - Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius - Counterburn/Wizard tribal
Golgari - Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord - Graveyard shenaniganry
Azorius - General TBD - Bounce/blink OR Taxes/Prison
Rakdos - General TBD - Theme TBD
Gruul - General TBD - Thundering Fatties
Orzhov - General TBD - Bleeder
Dimir - General TBD - Mill/Clone/Steal
Boros - Aurelia, the Warleader - Kings of Combat
Simic - General TBD - Theme TBD
I'm not very concerned about the Gatecrash guilds right now; once we know the set, I'll be able to get a better feel about how I want those decks to go, especially Simic since the guild is undergoing a reimagining of sorts by WotC. Right now, my focus is on Rakdos. I have absolutely no idea where to start when it comes to building an on-theme Rakdos deck that's also able to be competitive in a multiplayer setting. My current instinct is to go control, and build around their "Do what feels good/burn it all down" philosophy by going B/R Punisher with Kaervek the Merciless as guildleader. I've tried Rakdos, Lord of Riots, but I'm not in love with the tension between running enough enablers and fatties to play and take advantage of his abilities. So, I turn to my fellow EDHers and pose the following question: If you wanted to build a thematic Rakdos deck, one that embodies the ideals and philosophies (or lack thereof) of Rakdos, what would you do?
Burning the world while enabling hellbent shenanigans? What's not to like?
Oh. Hellbent shenanigans. Yeah. . .
When I made Malfegor, I used him two fold: A way to control the boardstate, and a way to sculpt your graveyard. Red/Black are perhaps the best colors to refill your hand, and operate from the yard at the same time. Use black's tutors to protect things in your hand until the moment you're ready to go off.
Some of my favorite tactics:
Playing Malfegor, discarding Epicenter and Past in Flames.
Building up a combo win:
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker and Cinderhaze Wretch in the yard, + whatever activated abilities you want, but they aren't needed, with Necrotic Ooze on the field.
Making sure you topdeck Reforge the Soul the turn after you land Malfegor.
Hell, just a surprise Living Death.
The important thing is this: Build your deck so your hand is very resilient. +Draw effects are essential, because hellbent largely sucks. Then make sure you run cards that put your opponents into hellbent mode as well. Rakdos Augermage, and the aforementioned Cinderhaze Wretch are champs at this sort of thing. You've also got some of the best skullclamp abuse in the format, so keep that in mind as well.
I have no compunctions about including some of the more frowned upon strategies in Commander such as mass LD or discard, if only because it feels on theme given who I'm building around. I'm not sure if I want to combo out, since it implies to me a level of organization that I'm not sure Rakdos has, but I might be willing to reconsider depending on how things go.
Pristaxcontrombmodruu!
"It's the End of the World As We Know It, And I Feel Fine"
Is there any one card that just screams Rakdos? (Pun not intended)