I know some of your decisions are based on being a timmy, but would you consider some more standard stax cards, like Smokestack or Thorn of Amethyst (obv not Ensnaring Bridge lol)? I also think cards like Contamination would be great if you have enough colour rocks along with Bitterblossom or something. What do you think?
You can't just ram Smokestack anywhere you feel like it and expect it to work. How do you expect this deck to combat its symmetry?
Bitterblossom would be best because it also acts as a Rakdos enabler otherwise and also some of the other standard stax fodder like Bloodghast or Nether Traitor work for this deck as enablers. Bloodghast might seem out of place, but on turn 3 not too many people want to block it with their mana dork, so it's a win even if it's blocked. Also, with the way most stax cards work, they hurt you after the opponents, so you could very well just get rid of them right away and be happy wit the small effect if you can't sustain them just yet. The main reason I asked was because you can play a major stax deck in almost any colour (idk about green and colourless) absolutely regardless of commander, so if he really wanted to, he could build a Rakdos, Lord of Riots deck with all that fun AND be a fully functional stax list.
EDIT: Also, he's playing black. If he can't make it work, then that's a very different issue.
I see you have a hard-on for Stax. I have no idea what gave me that impression...
Anyway, this isn't going to be a traditional Stax list of Smokestack. Rakdos gets them to discard their answers so they're unable to deal with my very large creatures. My very large creatures then deal with the rest of their permanents, either by out-sizing and outclassing or using Annihilator. A lot of permanents people use for success are creature-based and not many of them are 5/5s by the time Turn 6 happens, so whatever creature they have usually gets sacrificed in a block to not take damage.
While Rakdos has a superior throughput of threats compared to many other decks, it doesn't run symmetry breaking cards. Sure, Bitterblossom would be great for the deck but it's quite costly dollar-wise. Then if I run Contamination I'll be unable to play any of my red sourced cards.
Also, how can you seriously suggest Dark Confidant when the average CMC for the deck is above 4 and includes multiple 6+ drops, including 10 and 11. The whole purpose of Graveborn Muse and Phyrexian Arena is to limit the damage while still drawing cards. If I were to run a broken card draw engine it would be Necropotence which I am currently toying with the idea but I'm uncertain if it combined with my opponents aggression would make for a successful combination. That and the amount of incidental self-discard makes Necropotence a dangerous combination.
Also, with the suggestion of Bottomless Pit and other discard-based outlets, those are things I would need to pay full price for. In comparison, Stronghold Rats have Shadow to guarantee a hit Enabling Rakdos, the discard strips them of answers and I only pay 1 Black mana for that it the game goes late. The Bottomless Pit or Necrogen Mists or Painful Quandary cost full points. In comparison, I have a Scythe Specter for more damage and discard. I am also contemplating Herald of Anguish to hammer this home. In the end, all of my discard based creature still turn sideways to end the game when they're rendered useless. How are they rendered useless? Because I tutor up Sire of Insanity to make everyone be stuck in topdeck mode for the rest of the game. The only discard Enchantment I use is Creeping Dread and that's due to its ability to Enable Rakdos. If it didn't have the life loss text it wouldn't be in the deck or belong there.
I know, I know. It's practically blasphemy. Kokusho is really good, so good that he was on the EDH ban list which I thought was wrong, I didn't think he was that broken. With the removal of the X creatures in my list (i.e. Grenzo, Dungeon Warden/Maga, Traitor to Mortals), the life loss creatures stopped being so relevant unless they can do massive damage like Gray Merchant of Asphodel. Gray Merchant is a threat because his ability comes down right away, Kokusho's only occurs if he's killed. Sure, it's a nice ability but it's possible that his ability may never come into play in which case he's just a 5/5 Flyer. In fact, I remember having a debate with a buddy who pooh-poohed Kokusho because he doesn't hit as hard as Gray Merchant. My initial instinct was to jump to Kokusho's defense but upon reflection, he's right - Gray Merchant scales and scales quite high (my current record was draining for 17 which killed two players and let me swing for lethal at the last target). With that in mind, I could do better with any other 5/5 Flyer which Herald of Anguish comes in as a prime example.
Herald has Improvise, which I probably won't be using on principal of my Mana Rocks going towards mana symbols and I won't be using the Sacrifice an Artifact ability either. What Herald provides is a much superior creature type with Demon, allowing for Blood Speaker fetch and recovery. What he does, unlike Kokusho, is not be a french vanilla Flying threat by causing the table to pitch a card. This fits right into the Staxdos Strategy, a great deal of the permanent-based threats can be outclassed by my creatures, it is the spells that always make them troublesome. Having another way to make the table lose cards that could be answers to my horde is exactly what I'm looking for. Granted, I will admit that Kokusho curved in a superior fashion, being a 6 mana threat is something the deck can regularly cast. Hitting seven mana is a mite harder without Rakdos' discount. Overall, I think Herald fitting into the strategy, being part of the Blood Speaker value engine and having an effect that impacts immediately makes him a better choice for Rakdos than Kokusho.
A simple change as part of Rumpy pointing out above that upgrading my land base isn't too costly. I figure this will be one of the last Swamp cuts in comparison to Mountains for a while.
I'm advocating against using burn, even if Gut Shot is the best example of what could work. Just means I need to be clearer and going to have to rewrite based on the definition of Stax. Thanks!
I'm advocating against using burn, even if Gut Shot is the best example of what could work. Just means I need to be clearer and going to have to rewrite based on the definition of Stax. Thanks!
Yeah, no worries! It really is stax lite, and there's nothing wrong with that! It just means it's more easily played in casual environments. I've played it in both casual and 75% and it does work in both. The deck is a blast to play and you've done a great job here!
Also, I've seen this suggested elsewhere and apologies if it's been asked, but do you run Burnt Offering?
I really like this idea. Kudos on the originality and on the iron will to keep it going this long.
My two cents:
If I were to play this Rakdos deck in my EDH meta, it would get obliterated because Rakdos would die so quickly, followed by the damage or lifeloss outlet. I do, however, think it can be changed to fit more dire circumstances.
Let's go with the discarding theme, which is something our guild does very well. It also works well with our Commander because he likes to dump our hand, no matter how steeply costed.
Contrary to what you argue, I think that cards like Necrogen Mists and Bottomless Pit have a critical role in the deck. They are something simple and stable that gives you the same value even if you don't find land drops and your Commander keeps dying, and they work wonders when paired with a card like Corpse Augur. Cunning Lethemancer is even a creature. Bloodchief Ascension can easily hurt opponents without Rakdos, and win you the game with him. All of these work for sure better than cards like Archfiend of Depravity or Kothoped, Soul Hoarder which are clunky and conditional at best, and don't really advance your game plan aside from being fatties.
So I'd say the wise gameplay with Rakdos would be to play it only if you can gurantee a play with it in the same turn, especially in early turns, i.e. Cryptolith Fragment for 3 damage (-1 mana) + Rakdos (4 mana) + Solemn (1 mana).
Along with that, Hellbent works stupidly well. The infamous Infernal Tutor becomes viable as another Demonic Tutor, which you should have. Gathan Raiders is a cool discard fattie, easily cast for 0 with Rakdos but still viable without him, enabling madness and can be 5/5. Blood Scrivener draws more stuff. Hollowborn Barghest is godly. Keldon Megaliths can be an OK Rakdos enabler, especially at your upkeep. Gibbering Descent is meh, but shows us how easily Madness and Hellbent work together.
Of course, we won't be restricting ourselves to them - there's a ton more that can be abused with Rakdos. Browbeat is the worst of a 3 mana Concentrate or Lava Axe, and with Rakdos neither is ever a bad option. Chandra, Torch of Defiance is a must-have if you can afford it.
So that's my idea. I hope you read through it some time and give it some thought.
If you're short and to the point, here's suggestions relevant for everything:
Hazoret the Fervent. She's a creature so her cost is reduced, indestructible so lives after a board wipe (our vulnerable spot), starts swinging for tons when you're short on cards, AND she's a discard outlet that ALSO causes damage. I'd say she's nearly perfect for Rakdos - even if you don't listen to the rest of my advice, PLEASE TEST HER.
How do you get to 9 mana to cast Dragonstorm without rituals and other cost reducers to help get there and storm out? Rakdos's ability only reduces the casting cost of creatures.
I'm advocating against using burn, even if Gut Shot is the best example of what could work. Just means I need to be clearer and going to have to rewrite based on the definition of Stax. Thanks!
Yeah, no worries! It really is stax lite, and there's nothing wrong with that! It just means it's more easily played in casual environments. I've played it in both casual and 75% and it does work in both. The deck is a blast to play and you've done a great job here!
Also, I've seen this suggested elsewhere and apologies if it's been asked, but do you run Burnt Offering?
No, I do't run Burnt Offering though it was under consideration. Previously, I was having problems hitting the high mana counts so I thought that it would help. After adding the Disruption through Discard, my board gets messed with less, I'm able to hit for high damage and play out my fatties. Is it something you recommend?
I really like this idea. Kudos on the originality and on the iron will to keep it going this long.
My two cents:
If I were to play this Rakdos deck in my EDH meta, it would get obliterated because Rakdos would die so quickly, followed by the damage or lifeloss outlet. I do, however, think it can be changed to fit more dire circumstances.
Let's go with the discarding theme, which is something our guild does very well. It also works well with our Commander because he likes to dump our hand, no matter how steeply costed.
Contrary to what you argue, I think that cards like Necrogen Mists and Bottomless Pit have a critical role in the deck. They are something simple and stable that gives you the same value even if you don't find land drops and your Commander keeps dying, and they work wonders when paired with a card like Corpse Augur. Cunning Lethemancer is even a creature. Bloodchief Ascension can easily hurt opponents without Rakdos, and win you the game with him. All of these work for sure better than cards like Archfiend of Depravity or Kothoped, Soul Hoarder which are clunky and conditional at best, and don't really advance your game plan aside from being fatties.
So I'd say the wise gameplay with Rakdos would be to play it only if you can gurantee a play with it in the same turn, especially in early turns, i.e. Cryptolith Fragment for 3 damage (-1 mana) + Rakdos (4 mana) + Solemn (1 mana).
Along with that, Hellbent works stupidly well. The infamous Infernal Tutor becomes viable as another Demonic Tutor, which you should have. Gathan Raiders is a cool discard fattie, easily cast for 0 with Rakdos but still viable without him, enabling madness and can be 5/5. Blood Scrivener draws more stuff. Hollowborn Barghest is godly. Keldon Megaliths can be an OK Rakdos enabler, especially at your upkeep. Gibbering Descent is meh, but shows us how easily Madness and Hellbent work together.
Of course, we won't be restricting ourselves to them - there's a ton more that can be abused with Rakdos. Browbeat is the worst of a 3 mana Concentrate or Lava Axe, and with Rakdos neither is ever a bad option. Chandra, Torch of Defiance is a must-have if you can afford it.
So that's my idea. I hope you read through it some time and give it some thought.
If you're short and to the point, here's suggestions relevant for everything:
Hazoret the Fervent. She's a creature so her cost is reduced, indestructible so lives after a board wipe (our vulnerable spot), starts swinging for tons when you're short on cards, AND she's a discard outlet that ALSO causes damage. I'd say she's nearly perfect for Rakdos - even if you don't listen to the rest of my advice, PLEASE TEST HER.
I hope this giant wall of text helps you somehow! I'm curious to see how it goes
I don't like Symmetric Discard that I don't get a benefit from, I might be pitching my Enablers when Rakdos is dead or fatties when Rakdos is alive. While it does damage to my opponents from Bottomless Pit and its ilk, I find that the early game Rakdos functions more like a well oiled machine. If he gets disrupted early, I lose a lot of momentum - which is why the goal is to always get him out on Turn 4, 5 at the latest. That way I'm ready to replay him as fast as possible in Turn 6. Which is why a lot of my Disruption can be turned off, with Creeping Dread being an exception due to its ability to Enable Rakdos. With my early game being so streamlined, I don't want to add early drops that may or may not provide me with a benefit plus a lot of these Madness cards stop working from my own Nullstone Gargoyle. Also, a lot of these pain suggestions happen during not my Upkeep. Sure, Bloodchief Ascension is great but it isn't dealing damage on my turn to Enable Rakdos. At seven mana, Hollowborn Barghest doesn't fit into my deck's requirements of Gas or Stax past 4 mana.
I am intrigued by Pain Magnification, as that does a lot of incidental work for me. I've placed it in the Tinkering Section.
I think Hazoret the Fervent is great in a 'burn build' where you deal damage then play your Fatties, provide them with Haste and go to town. With your suggestions of pitching my hand, you suggest more Artifact mana. I don't have that problem because I am able to turn off the Discard at will (i.e. not attack with Stronghold Rats) - so I frequently am OK with the few mana rocks I do have.
Blazing Specter is a card that occasionally crops up, but unlike my Stronghold Rats or Scythe Specter, it doesn't make my main target Discard. Sometimes the most threatening player to my ability to play has Defense that I can't penetrate for one reason or another, the other Discard Creatures hit them as well. Scythe Specter is also large enough for it to kill or trade out everything but large creatures; the Rats get a pardon due to Shadow and providing a solid way for Rakdos to get Enabled.
Defiler of Souls costs triple colors, the only other creatures that do that are Demon of Dark Schemes and Myojin of Night's Reach. I think they're worth it, massively handling problems for me that I don't think a Sheoldred, Whispering One #2 can't. I've also said that I'm not too impressed with Sheoldred, keeping her around for the Sac. Unfortunately for me, the Defiler hits my own Creatures which aside from it and Rakdos, I only have Kaervek the Merciless (whom I am thinking of cutting) and Sire of Insanity as my multicolored creatures. That just makes me too vulnerable to an effect I can't turn off. This is another reason why I don't use Magus of the Abyss, though it might be a better fit than my Fleshbag Marauder who I feel hasn't been pulling his weight lately.
Deathbringer Thoctar is a card I occasionally toy with adding. Overall, it just doesn't do anything too exciting for me to find room for it.
I don't want Everlasting Torment because I don't want someone able to kill my Creatures by continually tossing up weenie Blockers that eventually Wither my Creatures away. It's hard to get big damage if your army of 5/5s and 6/6s are more like 1/1s and 3/3s.
Lightning Reaver is played straight out of a Burn Build. Also, it's shock is EOT, which I can't use to discount my Creatures. Price of Progress is another Burn Build type of card. Perfect if you damage, play creatures and then attack - I don't, I do the opposite, in fact.
The Maguses are pretty funny additions. I also am a Black Biased deck, Magus of the Moon would hurt myself more than I think you realize. Both scream 'burn build' to me; damage for reductions, play out Creatures with Haste. I'm not willing to spend card slots on this setup, I'm in it for more of a long haul. For example, what can you cut in my build for all of these suggestions?
I don't think Dragonstorm is too useful considering I run two Dragons. The whole point is of my Disruption is being Creature-type Agnostic, it just happens that Eldrazi and Demons are good at that.
I don't think extra combat and Haste works out too well. It's a similar problem that I had when I transitioned away from a Burn Build and into Disruption. In a Burn Build, Haste is important because you play spells that deal damage, letting you play your Creatures for free who swing in. If you're going with Extra Combat, you're playing Spells that reduce how much mana you have available for when you want to play Creatures. Then because you haven't done damage yet, there's no reason to have Haste. Your creatures swing in, then do so again due to the Extra Combat. Unfortunately, you're stuck with only Colorless Creatures because you spent your mana on those extra phases.
I think Extra Phases and Haste are counterproductive. Drop one or the other.
Nykthos but I think you're right if you're hitting for 9 off that thing you prob won already.
I don't run a Nykthos because I do not want the chance of screwing myself on Turn 4. I don't think I would get that much benefit from it either; sure, it can give me 4-7 Black mana easily but I'm only paying for a few mana symbols at a time.
Tree replaced Solemn because I do not desire the basic land fetch in addition to draw upon death. Solemn isn't truly contributing to the Staxdos Strategy. Tree of Perdition would Enable Rakdos, but more importantly, make it very easy to kill a player. Rakdos' power alone halves their new life total. If Rakdos becomes answered, the Tree can swap life totals over two turns to be considered life loss and re-Enable Rakdos. Granted, this would be setting up for a slower start, I believe the benefits may outweigh the costs.
Also, a report card: Animate Dead and Kaervek the Merciless are cards I feel like they're not pulling their weight. Dead will probably be replaced by some utility spell, the question with Kaervek is whether or not to go with an expensive Eldrazi or set my sights on a more affordable creature. The issue with a lot of the 7 drops is that they're easy to Enable with Rakdos but awkward if I don't have him. Meanwhile, Pathrazer of Ulamog or It That Betrays heavily invests into my strategy. I've made peace with the idea of spending a few mana on the Eldrazi Titans and that's how I justify the difference between a 7, colored drop versus a 10 colorless. With 7, I'm paying 2 and getting a five cost reduction. With an Eldrazi, I can get the benefit as far as free, but sometimes I pay a bit more due to partial reductions. Dealing 8 damage is pretty easy and then there's no difference between Kozilek, Butcher of Truth and Kaervek, plus I'm willing to pay 5 mana for Kozilek but can I say the same for Kaervek? The only issue with going with a high cost Eldrazi is sometimes being locked out; the question now is bravery or caution.
I was watching the latest SCG Commander VS because it had Rakdos in it. I saw that Jeremy was running some weird big mana version that didn't run burn either, just a generic goodstuff Rakdos. Anyway, he played some amazing tech: Tectonic Instability. It's another way to ruin Control's day which means I'm free to lay haymakers and best of all, it comes down before Rakdos. Considering how often you just tap out in Rakdos, playing a land isn't bad.
Thinking about my deck a bit more, I've been finding Chromatic Lantern to be lacklustre. It's a decent mana rock but it doesn't advance my Stax or Creature game at all. The deck doesn't need color fixing, it's a good blend right now.
I already expressed my doubts of Chromatic Lantern, I'd prefer if it was a 2 drop rock but considering I'm running both in Rakdos' colors, I rather have better technology. Pain Magnification is that. Most of my creatures have more than 3 power, plus the random Trample means that even blocks can't stop some of this. Considering how often my Mass Discard hampers my opponents, this could be another way to keep peoples' hands' empty. Not many decks can survive under the continual threat of an army of Spectres.
Animate Dead doesn't go on curve and it didn't contribute to either A) Disruption B) Acceleration - Sure, it's nice to get a Creature back but that doesn't get me the results I want exactly. I stumbled across Tectonic Instability when I watched a SCG VS and thought it was a brilliant way to lock out Control decks. They tend to run more Lands, more Ramp and generally want their mana open. If this resolves, they suddenly need to make terrible choices that help my gameplan either way.
Hey so this is not exactly Stax-related, but it is Rakdos related, and I figured as the resident Rakdos expert I'd bounce something off you
So i completely agree about your diagnosis that Rakdos, Lord of Riots is amazing until you get wrathed and then you're down a ton of cards and you just sit there while everyone else develops their stuff and you durdle. And then even if you do play him again and go a little nuts, they've caught up to you and you're insane plays just aren't as insane anymore. Stax seems like a decent way to mitigate the problem, by, as you say, keeping everyone in the early game so your advantage continues to matter.
In my case, i felt like stax didn't really suit my style, but I wanted to get around the things you mention, so I figured I'd just run a ton of reanimation. One thing I'm sure you've noticed is that with Rakdos online, junk like Gravedigger is just Raise Dead, and the creature you get will cost so little that he may as well be Reanimate (with the extra and relevant bonus of you getting the cast triggers off Eldrazi). So i just packed the deck with stuff like that and focused on ETB effects when picking fatties, together with a few sac oulets like Falkenrath Noble and my personal most favorite card Krovikan Horror.
I've had a decent amount of success with the plan so far, and to be honest out of my wins I think only a small percentage have been from combat damage. Most of the kills are from Gray Merchant coming back over and over, Stalking Vengeance or Vicious Shadows just burning people out, etc. (though admittedly this is after a good number of heavy attacks). I've also found that even going into the late game, I always have stuff to do, since as the game gets longer, your reanimation just gets more and more targets and if Rakdos sticks for even a turn you can kind of just explode by vomiting the graveyard back onto the field. And getting him back is easier when you have more Animate Dead effects, since you can bypass commander tax and the damage requirement.
Hey so this is not exactly Stax-related, but it is Rakdos related, and I figured as the resident Rakdos expert I'd bounce something off you
So i completely agree about your diagnosis that Rakdos, Lord of Riots is amazing until you get wrathed and then you're down a ton of cards and you just sit there while everyone else develops their stuff and you durdle. And then even if you do play him again and go a little nuts, they've caught up to you and you're insane plays just aren't as insane anymore. Stax seems like a decent way to mitigate the problem, by, as you say, keeping everyone in the early game so your advantage continues to matter.
In my case, i felt like stax didn't really suit my style, but I wanted to get around the things you mention, so I figured I'd just run a ton of reanimation. One thing I'm sure you've noticed is that with Rakdos online, junk like Gravedigger is just Raise Dead, and the creature you get will cost so little that he may as well be Reanimate (with the extra and relevant bonus of you getting the cast triggers off Eldrazi). So i just packed the deck with stuff like that and focused on ETB effects when picking fatties, together with a few sac oulets like Falkenrath Noble and my personal most favorite card Krovikan Horror.
I've had a decent amount of success with the plan so far, and to be honest out of my wins I think only a small percentage have been from combat damage. Most of the kills are from Gray Merchant coming back over and over, Stalking Vengeance or Vicious Shadows just burning people out, etc. (though admittedly this is after a good number of heavy attacks). I've also found that even going into the late game, I always have stuff to do, since as the game gets longer, your reanimation just gets more and more targets and if Rakdos sticks for even a turn you can kind of just explode by vomiting the graveyard back onto the field. And getting him back is easier when you have more Animate Dead effects, since you can bypass commander tax and the damage requirement.
Your suggestion to add more recursion has been coalescing as an idea to make Rakdos even better, with shermanido37's suggestion of more discard. I wasn't willing to use the Discard Enchantments because I'd have to pay full price and they would make me Discard too many of my own threats. Your suggestion of adding Gravedigger cards would completely rebalance the scales. I'm not quite sure what to cut or change to suit it, but it would push the deck even further towards a Stax-like strategy. You've given me some serious food for thought. I'm thinking of essentially dropping the two Eldrazi Titans because they're hard to cast, focus more on Discard and Recursion so that I can navigate the hate better. My deck currently gets hated out pretty harshly, so I want to increase the hate to the degree that only Rakdos can survive in this environment.
The new spoiled card of Neheb, the Eternal also has made me start questioning this possibility. He's essentially a second Rakdos. The deck already is focused on causing as much pain as possible and then deliver spells in the 2nd main. What makes Neheb special is I can use this mana on anything. Enchantments, Creatures, Sorceries, whatever. The deck has a Black bias, but even if he's just a 'bad' Rakdos that's a lot of mana to be spent. Instead of lowering spells by 10, I have 10 mana I can then sink into casting Black Creatures by tapping two Swamps. Or Black Enchantments, such as Painful Quandary. Plus, he really helps pay for Commander Tax with Rakdos. Afflict is also great, because he can't be chumped either.
His spoiling made me think of what choices I should be making towards revamping the decklist, towards even more Stax and more Reanimator.
Keep in mind that this set includes two grave hate cards that can go into all decks.
As a Karador player, I can advise you to never rely on overextending into the graveyard. If your play your hand so that you absolutely have to get Phyrexian Delver into play next turn, and an opponent Bojuka Bogs you, you're in for a bad time.
But yes, utilizing the graveyard as a Plan B is almost always a good idea.
My problem right now is figuring out what to cut and what to add. I guess Delver is a great choice, I can slap that down on T5 after discarding something nasty.
For example, it might be blasphemy but cut all of the Eldrazi as their Annihilator might be too slow. Perhaps have the deck's curve cap at 9 mana, as Nullstone Gargoyle and Void Winnower are relatively easy to cast and tend to win me the game. Instead, those slots go into Bottomless Pit and further disruption. At that point, I would also need more draw. I hate when I have to do massive redesigns.
I will also need draw to get myself out of the handless state, so I'm hesitant to cut Corpse Augur and Disciple of Bolas. The Eldrazi are just because they're difficult to cast when things are going badly. Some of my six drops are also pretty questionable. I have a test I use in a lot of my decks which I call the '6 Drop Test': I ask, if left unanswered can this win me the game? To make Rakdos more competitive, perhaps I should be cutting anything that fails that test.
With that in mind, I could turn Sin Prodder into a Dreamstealer. Dreamstealer makes my opponents lose cards, has Menace and lategame comes back as a 4/4 with Menace that effectively Mind Twist if it connects.
Don't cut Disciple of Bolas, that card is MVP. On the other hand, I almost never got any good from Corpse Augur, and I was almost running 40 creatures.
I also don't get replacing a 3/2 menace that draws you cards or burns your opponent with a 1/2 menace specter... Not good enough.
Razaketh, the Foulblooded was just spoiled and I think that goes in the deck. The triple Black is worth paying because he then proceeds to tutor whatever the Hell I want. Turn my Enablers into Stax. Find a Wurmcoil Engine for Sac Fodder and then chain out a bunch of devastating problems and if I'm low on life Gray Merchant of Asphodel is a great solution. He adds a lot of consistency to the deck. He could also find things like Phyrexian Reclamation and Tortured Existence to create card advantage engines.
@ shermanido37: I'm surprised you'd want to cut those cards. Archfiend defends against token swarms; so much that I'm considering adding Archfiend of Ifnir if I go to a discard heavy deck. Tree does amazing work lasering people down. I understand the triple Black for a reason on Myojin but it's the only other hand nuker in the deck, plus with the heavy black bias I don't feel bad. Tectonic Instability is just more hate against Control players. It has been great; especially after my opponents try to redevelop after Keldon Firebombers.
I think I'll need to see full Hour of Devastation before I make the change to even more discard/reanimation.
haha I was just getting on here to mention Razaketh, the Foulblooded. This guy is not only really good for us, but tbh he should just win the game when you cast him if you have even one other non-Rakdos creature and a bit of mana (say, another B and another R). EX: sac that other creature to get Gray Merchant of Asphodel (or Priest of Gix if you need more black). Then sac Merchant to get Artisan of Kozilek. Play Artisan to recur Merchant. Then sac Artisan to get Exhumer Thrull, then play Thrull getting back Artisan. Then sac Merchant to get whatever you like, and play Artisan to recur the Merchant. Sac Thrull to get Stalking Vengeance (or Priest of Urabrask if you want red mana to cast it with), sac the now-haunted Gray Merchant to get whatever you want (maybe Desolation Twin to get huge Stalking Vengeance triggers?) and get back Artisan with the haunt trigger... You get the idea, the engine can just keep going and even just here you have 30+ damage in Vengeance triggers and 3 Gray Merchant activations. I know my chain involved Exhumer Thrull, which you don't run, but anything that recurs Artisan to hand will do the job. And Stalking Vengeance could be replaced by Knollspine Dragon to essentially draw 21+ cards if that's more your style.
Kind of sad it's so good tbh, it's like a one-card combo I guess I'll probably either play it more mellow or just not run him for being to good
Anyway, with regard to the reanimator-shifts, I was surprised to see you wanting to cut Corpse Augur and Disciple of Bolas - those are the great draw engines and ETB effects are exactly what reanimator tends to abuse. Artisan of Kozilek is also another powerhouse, he reanimates, usually for free, and you can easily use his cast trigger repeatedly. Conduit of Ruin has also been really good to me.
Here is my list for what it's worth. It's definitely still in development and needs a lot of work, and any suggestions are welcome. I don't run a lot of the Stax stuff you have, so yours will likely still be quite different if you go for the heavy discard + reanimator, but hey, why not share
Haven't updated in a while because I was discouraged by my attempt at a primer being disqualified despite other primers still standing under what I see to be less effort. I wasn't inspired nor had access to my discard enchantments, so I've mostly kept the same style. The OP hasn't been updated but the list is accurate. Here are the changes I've made:
Ulamog was difficult to hit on pain mana, it is easy to hit 10 which is why Kozilek has stayed in but 11 is much more difficult. Razaketh has been an absolute house, as he allows a sacrifice chain that effectively locks every player out of the game by fetching Wurmcoil Engine, playing Wurmcoil, sacrificing Wurmcoil to get Nullstone Gargoyle, play Gargoyle, sacrifice a Wurmcoil token to fetch Void Winnower, play Winnower and then I can sacrifice another Wurmcoil token to get Artisan of Kozilek that returns the Wurmcoil for more sacrifices. If I have enough life or mana, I might get a Grey Merchant of Asphodel to keep my life total up or Sire of Insanity to lock everyone in topdeck mode.
Neheb has been solid, mostly letting me be more aggressive because I am able to recast Rakdos with ease.
Kiki-Jiki will be helpful with letting me play out even more of my dangerous Creatures. Conduit has been a little disappointing, mostly because it signals to the table even harder that it's time to kill me.
With Necropotence's price bottoming out, I would be foolish not to get it. Pain Magnification has been spotty, so this was an easy swap.
Balthor has screwed me a few times with opponents having massive yards with lots of scary monsters. Instead, I'll put in the Dire Fleet Ravager to help with Rakdos mana but also with a replay, as he can get in easily with Menace and Deathtouch. This is just a hold over slot until something better comes along.
Creeping Dread is slow and unreliable, I wanted more ways to confirm Rakdos' entrance and hence the Lightning-Rig Crew. Sure, they're not as good as Lobber Crew or Nettle Drone but they hit the table and come down on T3 to setup for T4 Rakdos.
With the amount of Demons in the deck, I figure I could add Path for more draw possibilities.
EDIT: I think Bottomless Pit is funny
EDIT 2: Play Dark Confidant, he's perfect here
Bitterblossom would be best because it also acts as a Rakdos enabler otherwise and also some of the other standard stax fodder like Bloodghast or Nether Traitor work for this deck as enablers. Bloodghast might seem out of place, but on turn 3 not too many people want to block it with their mana dork, so it's a win even if it's blocked. Also, with the way most stax cards work, they hurt you after the opponents, so you could very well just get rid of them right away and be happy wit the small effect if you can't sustain them just yet. The main reason I asked was because you can play a major stax deck in almost any colour (idk about green and colourless) absolutely regardless of commander, so if he really wanted to, he could build a Rakdos, Lord of Riots deck with all that fun AND be a fully functional stax list.
EDIT: Also, he's playing black. If he can't make it work, then that's a very different issue.
Anyway, this isn't going to be a traditional Stax list of Smokestack. Rakdos gets them to discard their answers so they're unable to deal with my very large creatures. My very large creatures then deal with the rest of their permanents, either by out-sizing and outclassing or using Annihilator. A lot of permanents people use for success are creature-based and not many of them are 5/5s by the time Turn 6 happens, so whatever creature they have usually gets sacrificed in a block to not take damage.
While Rakdos has a superior throughput of threats compared to many other decks, it doesn't run symmetry breaking cards. Sure, Bitterblossom would be great for the deck but it's quite costly dollar-wise. Then if I run Contamination I'll be unable to play any of my red sourced cards.
Also, how can you seriously suggest Dark Confidant when the average CMC for the deck is above 4 and includes multiple 6+ drops, including 10 and 11. The whole purpose of Graveborn Muse and Phyrexian Arena is to limit the damage while still drawing cards. If I were to run a broken card draw engine it would be Necropotence which I am currently toying with the idea but I'm uncertain if it combined with my opponents aggression would make for a successful combination. That and the amount of incidental self-discard makes Necropotence a dangerous combination.
Also, with the suggestion of Bottomless Pit and other discard-based outlets, those are things I would need to pay full price for. In comparison, Stronghold Rats have Shadow to guarantee a hit Enabling Rakdos, the discard strips them of answers and I only pay 1 Black mana for that it the game goes late. The Bottomless Pit or Necrogen Mists or Painful Quandary cost full points. In comparison, I have a Scythe Specter for more damage and discard. I am also contemplating Herald of Anguish to hammer this home. In the end, all of my discard based creature still turn sideways to end the game when they're rendered useless. How are they rendered useless? Because I tutor up Sire of Insanity to make everyone be stuck in topdeck mode for the rest of the game. The only discard Enchantment I use is Creeping Dread and that's due to its ability to Enable Rakdos. If it didn't have the life loss text it wouldn't be in the deck or belong there.
Mid-Tier: Marchesa Aggro Rose Asmadi Get Dire Tymna Ikra Woke Women Tiana Aura Angel Ruric Thar SMASH Smasher Kraum Mana Positivity Zur Slides
Filthy Casual: WUBRG Jodah WUBRG WUBRG Fatties WUBRG Gahiji Vigilant Vengeance Ezuri Mysterious Morphs
1 Herald of Anguish
1 Kokusho, the Evening Star
Herald has Improvise, which I probably won't be using on principal of my Mana Rocks going towards mana symbols and I won't be using the Sacrifice an Artifact ability either. What Herald provides is a much superior creature type with Demon, allowing for Blood Speaker fetch and recovery. What he does, unlike Kokusho, is not be a french vanilla Flying threat by causing the table to pitch a card. This fits right into the Staxdos Strategy, a great deal of the permanent-based threats can be outclassed by my creatures, it is the spells that always make them troublesome. Having another way to make the table lose cards that could be answers to my horde is exactly what I'm looking for. Granted, I will admit that Kokusho curved in a superior fashion, being a 6 mana threat is something the deck can regularly cast. Hitting seven mana is a mite harder without Rakdos' discount. Overall, I think Herald fitting into the strategy, being part of the Blood Speaker value engine and having an effect that impacts immediately makes him a better choice for Rakdos than Kokusho.
Mid-Tier: Marchesa Aggro Rose Asmadi Get Dire Tymna Ikra Woke Women Tiana Aura Angel Ruric Thar SMASH Smasher Kraum Mana Positivity Zur Slides
Filthy Casual: WUBRG Jodah WUBRG WUBRG Fatties WUBRG Gahiji Vigilant Vengeance Ezuri Mysterious Morphs
1 City of Brass
1 Swamp
Mid-Tier: Marchesa Aggro Rose Asmadi Get Dire Tymna Ikra Woke Women Tiana Aura Angel Ruric Thar SMASH Smasher Kraum Mana Positivity Zur Slides
Filthy Casual: WUBRG Jodah WUBRG WUBRG Fatties WUBRG Gahiji Vigilant Vengeance Ezuri Mysterious Morphs
You mention Gut Shot in enabling Rakdos, but it isnt in the list. Might wanna edit the topic a bit! Good luck on getting primer status!
GB [Primer][Competitive][Stax][Combo] Meren of Clan Nel Toth 95% RETIRED
UW [Primer][Competitive][Combo][Stax] Brago, King Eternal RETIRED
BR Rakdos, Lord of Riots (75%)
G Titania - 75%
W SRAM - Welcome to the cheeri0s jam 95%
U Teferi - stax 100%
R Neheb - janky mono red eggs combo 90%
B Gonti - 50% valuetown
Mid-Tier: Marchesa Aggro Rose Asmadi Get Dire Tymna Ikra Woke Women Tiana Aura Angel Ruric Thar SMASH Smasher Kraum Mana Positivity Zur Slides
Filthy Casual: WUBRG Jodah WUBRG WUBRG Fatties WUBRG Gahiji Vigilant Vengeance Ezuri Mysterious Morphs
Yeah, no worries! It really is stax lite, and there's nothing wrong with that! It just means it's more easily played in casual environments. I've played it in both casual and 75% and it does work in both. The deck is a blast to play and you've done a great job here!
Also, I've seen this suggested elsewhere and apologies if it's been asked, but do you run Burnt Offering?
GB [Primer][Competitive][Stax][Combo] Meren of Clan Nel Toth 95% RETIRED
UW [Primer][Competitive][Combo][Stax] Brago, King Eternal RETIRED
BR Rakdos, Lord of Riots (75%)
G Titania - 75%
W SRAM - Welcome to the cheeri0s jam 95%
U Teferi - stax 100%
R Neheb - janky mono red eggs combo 90%
B Gonti - 50% valuetown
My two cents:
If I were to play this Rakdos deck in my EDH meta, it would get obliterated because Rakdos would die so quickly, followed by the damage or lifeloss outlet. I do, however, think it can be changed to fit more dire circumstances.
If you're short and to the point, here's suggestions relevant for everything:
I hope this giant wall of text helps you somehow! I'm curious to see how it goes
Frankly you run so many dragons that I think you could benefit from a Dragonstorm package including Scourge of the Throne.
How do you get to 9 mana to cast Dragonstorm without rituals and other cost reducers to help get there and storm out? Rakdos's ability only reduces the casting cost of creatures.
GB [Primer][Competitive][Stax][Combo] Meren of Clan Nel Toth 95% RETIRED
UW [Primer][Competitive][Combo][Stax] Brago, King Eternal RETIRED
BR Rakdos, Lord of Riots (75%)
G Titania - 75%
W SRAM - Welcome to the cheeri0s jam 95%
U Teferi - stax 100%
R Neheb - janky mono red eggs combo 90%
B Gonti - 50% valuetown
I don't like Symmetric Discard that I don't get a benefit from, I might be pitching my Enablers when Rakdos is dead or fatties when Rakdos is alive. While it does damage to my opponents from Bottomless Pit and its ilk, I find that the early game Rakdos functions more like a well oiled machine. If he gets disrupted early, I lose a lot of momentum - which is why the goal is to always get him out on Turn 4, 5 at the latest. That way I'm ready to replay him as fast as possible in Turn 6. Which is why a lot of my Disruption can be turned off, with Creeping Dread being an exception due to its ability to Enable Rakdos. With my early game being so streamlined, I don't want to add early drops that may or may not provide me with a benefit plus a lot of these Madness cards stop working from my own Nullstone Gargoyle. Also, a lot of these pain suggestions happen during not my Upkeep. Sure, Bloodchief Ascension is great but it isn't dealing damage on my turn to Enable Rakdos. At seven mana, Hollowborn Barghest doesn't fit into my deck's requirements of Gas or Stax past 4 mana.
I am intrigued by Pain Magnification, as that does a lot of incidental work for me. I've placed it in the Tinkering Section.
I think Hazoret the Fervent is great in a 'burn build' where you deal damage then play your Fatties, provide them with Haste and go to town. With your suggestions of pitching my hand, you suggest more Artifact mana. I don't have that problem because I am able to turn off the Discard at will (i.e. not attack with Stronghold Rats) - so I frequently am OK with the few mana rocks I do have.
Blazing Specter is a card that occasionally crops up, but unlike my Stronghold Rats or Scythe Specter, it doesn't make my main target Discard. Sometimes the most threatening player to my ability to play has Defense that I can't penetrate for one reason or another, the other Discard Creatures hit them as well. Scythe Specter is also large enough for it to kill or trade out everything but large creatures; the Rats get a pardon due to Shadow and providing a solid way for Rakdos to get Enabled.
Defiler of Souls costs triple colors, the only other creatures that do that are Demon of Dark Schemes and Myojin of Night's Reach. I think they're worth it, massively handling problems for me that I don't think a Sheoldred, Whispering One #2 can't. I've also said that I'm not too impressed with Sheoldred, keeping her around for the Sac. Unfortunately for me, the Defiler hits my own Creatures which aside from it and Rakdos, I only have Kaervek the Merciless (whom I am thinking of cutting) and Sire of Insanity as my multicolored creatures. That just makes me too vulnerable to an effect I can't turn off. This is another reason why I don't use Magus of the Abyss, though it might be a better fit than my Fleshbag Marauder who I feel hasn't been pulling his weight lately.
Deathbringer Thoctar is a card I occasionally toy with adding. Overall, it just doesn't do anything too exciting for me to find room for it.
I don't want Everlasting Torment because I don't want someone able to kill my Creatures by continually tossing up weenie Blockers that eventually Wither my Creatures away. It's hard to get big damage if your army of 5/5s and 6/6s are more like 1/1s and 3/3s.
Lightning Reaver is played straight out of a Burn Build. Also, it's shock is EOT, which I can't use to discount my Creatures. Price of Progress is another Burn Build type of card. Perfect if you damage, play creatures and then attack - I don't, I do the opposite, in fact.
The Maguses are pretty funny additions. I also am a Black Biased deck, Magus of the Moon would hurt myself more than I think you realize. Both scream 'burn build' to me; damage for reductions, play out Creatures with Haste. I'm not willing to spend card slots on this setup, I'm in it for more of a long haul. For example, what can you cut in my build for all of these suggestions? I don't think Dragonstorm is too useful considering I run two Dragons. The whole point is of my Disruption is being Creature-type Agnostic, it just happens that Eldrazi and Demons are good at that.
I don't think extra combat and Haste works out too well. It's a similar problem that I had when I transitioned away from a Burn Build and into Disruption. In a Burn Build, Haste is important because you play spells that deal damage, letting you play your Creatures for free who swing in. If you're going with Extra Combat, you're playing Spells that reduce how much mana you have available for when you want to play Creatures. Then because you haven't done damage yet, there's no reason to have Haste. Your creatures swing in, then do so again due to the Extra Combat. Unfortunately, you're stuck with only Colorless Creatures because you spent your mana on those extra phases.
I think Extra Phases and Haste are counterproductive. Drop one or the other. I don't run a Nykthos because I do not want the chance of screwing myself on Turn 4. I don't think I would get that much benefit from it either; sure, it can give me 4-7 Black mana easily but I'm only paying for a few mana symbols at a time.
Now, onto a change:
1 Tree of Perdition
1 Solemn Simulacrum
Also, a report card: Animate Dead and Kaervek the Merciless are cards I feel like they're not pulling their weight. Dead will probably be replaced by some utility spell, the question with Kaervek is whether or not to go with an expensive Eldrazi or set my sights on a more affordable creature. The issue with a lot of the 7 drops is that they're easy to Enable with Rakdos but awkward if I don't have him. Meanwhile, Pathrazer of Ulamog or It That Betrays heavily invests into my strategy. I've made peace with the idea of spending a few mana on the Eldrazi Titans and that's how I justify the difference between a 7, colored drop versus a 10 colorless. With 7, I'm paying 2 and getting a five cost reduction. With an Eldrazi, I can get the benefit as far as free, but sometimes I pay a bit more due to partial reductions. Dealing 8 damage is pretty easy and then there's no difference between Kozilek, Butcher of Truth and Kaervek, plus I'm willing to pay 5 mana for Kozilek but can I say the same for Kaervek? The only issue with going with a high cost Eldrazi is sometimes being locked out; the question now is bravery or caution.
Mid-Tier: Marchesa Aggro Rose Asmadi Get Dire Tymna Ikra Woke Women Tiana Aura Angel Ruric Thar SMASH Smasher Kraum Mana Positivity Zur Slides
Filthy Casual: WUBRG Jodah WUBRG WUBRG Fatties WUBRG Gahiji Vigilant Vengeance Ezuri Mysterious Morphs
Thinking about my deck a bit more, I've been finding Chromatic Lantern to be lacklustre. It's a decent mana rock but it doesn't advance my Stax or Creature game at all. The deck doesn't need color fixing, it's a good blend right now.
Mid-Tier: Marchesa Aggro Rose Asmadi Get Dire Tymna Ikra Woke Women Tiana Aura Angel Ruric Thar SMASH Smasher Kraum Mana Positivity Zur Slides
Filthy Casual: WUBRG Jodah WUBRG WUBRG Fatties WUBRG Gahiji Vigilant Vengeance Ezuri Mysterious Morphs
1 Pain Magnification
1 Tectonic Instability
1 Chromatic Lantern
1 Animate Dead
Animate Dead doesn't go on curve and it didn't contribute to either A) Disruption B) Acceleration - Sure, it's nice to get a Creature back but that doesn't get me the results I want exactly. I stumbled across Tectonic Instability when I watched a SCG VS and thought it was a brilliant way to lock out Control decks. They tend to run more Lands, more Ramp and generally want their mana open. If this resolves, they suddenly need to make terrible choices that help my gameplan either way.
Mid-Tier: Marchesa Aggro Rose Asmadi Get Dire Tymna Ikra Woke Women Tiana Aura Angel Ruric Thar SMASH Smasher Kraum Mana Positivity Zur Slides
Filthy Casual: WUBRG Jodah WUBRG WUBRG Fatties WUBRG Gahiji Vigilant Vengeance Ezuri Mysterious Morphs
So i completely agree about your diagnosis that Rakdos, Lord of Riots is amazing until you get wrathed and then you're down a ton of cards and you just sit there while everyone else develops their stuff and you durdle. And then even if you do play him again and go a little nuts, they've caught up to you and you're insane plays just aren't as insane anymore. Stax seems like a decent way to mitigate the problem, by, as you say, keeping everyone in the early game so your advantage continues to matter.
In my case, i felt like stax didn't really suit my style, but I wanted to get around the things you mention, so I figured I'd just run a ton of reanimation. One thing I'm sure you've noticed is that with Rakdos online, junk like Gravedigger is just Raise Dead, and the creature you get will cost so little that he may as well be Reanimate (with the extra and relevant bonus of you getting the cast triggers off Eldrazi). So i just packed the deck with stuff like that and focused on ETB effects when picking fatties, together with a few sac oulets like Falkenrath Noble and my personal most favorite card Krovikan Horror.
I've had a decent amount of success with the plan so far, and to be honest out of my wins I think only a small percentage have been from combat damage. Most of the kills are from Gray Merchant coming back over and over, Stalking Vengeance or Vicious Shadows just burning people out, etc. (though admittedly this is after a good number of heavy attacks). I've also found that even going into the late game, I always have stuff to do, since as the game gets longer, your reanimation just gets more and more targets and if Rakdos sticks for even a turn you can kind of just explode by vomiting the graveyard back onto the field. And getting him back is easier when you have more Animate Dead effects, since you can bypass commander tax and the damage requirement.
Anyway, I know you already play a good chunk of recursion in Artisan of Kozilek and Tortured Existence and Balthor the Defiled and Demon of Dark Schemes. Just wondering if you ever tried going deeper into that, adding more recursion like Victimize and Exhumer Thrull (who is an MVP for me btw) and sac outlets.
Tymna & Ishai, ie Esper Edric
Crosis Turbotrash
The new spoiled card of Neheb, the Eternal also has made me start questioning this possibility. He's essentially a second Rakdos. The deck already is focused on causing as much pain as possible and then deliver spells in the 2nd main. What makes Neheb special is I can use this mana on anything. Enchantments, Creatures, Sorceries, whatever. The deck has a Black bias, but even if he's just a 'bad' Rakdos that's a lot of mana to be spent. Instead of lowering spells by 10, I have 10 mana I can then sink into casting Black Creatures by tapping two Swamps. Or Black Enchantments, such as Painful Quandary. Plus, he really helps pay for Commander Tax with Rakdos. Afflict is also great, because he can't be chumped either.
His spoiling made me think of what choices I should be making towards revamping the decklist, towards even more Stax and more Reanimator.
Mid-Tier: Marchesa Aggro Rose Asmadi Get Dire Tymna Ikra Woke Women Tiana Aura Angel Ruric Thar SMASH Smasher Kraum Mana Positivity Zur Slides
Filthy Casual: WUBRG Jodah WUBRG WUBRG Fatties WUBRG Gahiji Vigilant Vengeance Ezuri Mysterious Morphs
As a Karador player, I can advise you to never rely on overextending into the graveyard. If your play your hand so that you absolutely have to get Phyrexian Delver into play next turn, and an opponent Bojuka Bogs you, you're in for a bad time.
But yes, utilizing the graveyard as a Plan B is almost always a good idea.
For example, it might be blasphemy but cut all of the Eldrazi as their Annihilator might be too slow. Perhaps have the deck's curve cap at 9 mana, as Nullstone Gargoyle and Void Winnower are relatively easy to cast and tend to win me the game. Instead, those slots go into Bottomless Pit and further disruption. At that point, I would also need more draw. I hate when I have to do massive redesigns.
Currently, my thoughts of cuts are:
1 Sin Prodder
1 Corpse Augur
1 Disciple of Bolas
1 Graveborn Muse
1 Conduit of Ruin
1 Bane of Bala Ged
1 Kaervek the Merciless
1 Ulamog's Crusher
1 Artisan of Kozilek
1 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
With that in mind, I could turn Sin Prodder into a Dreamstealer. Dreamstealer makes my opponents lose cards, has Menace and lategame comes back as a 4/4 with Menace that effectively Mind Twist if it connects.
So, now I got to think of what should I add.
Mid-Tier: Marchesa Aggro Rose Asmadi Get Dire Tymna Ikra Woke Women Tiana Aura Angel Ruric Thar SMASH Smasher Kraum Mana Positivity Zur Slides
Filthy Casual: WUBRG Jodah WUBRG WUBRG Fatties WUBRG Gahiji Vigilant Vengeance Ezuri Mysterious Morphs
I also don't get replacing a 3/2 menace that draws you cards or burns your opponent with a 1/2 menace specter... Not good enough.
In my opinion your best cuts are Ulamog's Crusher and Graveborn Muse. Otherwise I'd recommend Archfiend of Depravity, Tree of Perdition, Myojin of Night's Reach (Triple colored), Tectonic Instability.
@ shermanido37: I'm surprised you'd want to cut those cards. Archfiend defends against token swarms; so much that I'm considering adding Archfiend of Ifnir if I go to a discard heavy deck. Tree does amazing work lasering people down. I understand the triple Black for a reason on Myojin but it's the only other hand nuker in the deck, plus with the heavy black bias I don't feel bad. Tectonic Instability is just more hate against Control players. It has been great; especially after my opponents try to redevelop after Keldon Firebombers.
I think I'll need to see full Hour of Devastation before I make the change to even more discard/reanimation.
Mid-Tier: Marchesa Aggro Rose Asmadi Get Dire Tymna Ikra Woke Women Tiana Aura Angel Ruric Thar SMASH Smasher Kraum Mana Positivity Zur Slides
Filthy Casual: WUBRG Jodah WUBRG WUBRG Fatties WUBRG Gahiji Vigilant Vengeance Ezuri Mysterious Morphs
Kind of sad it's so good tbh, it's like a one-card combo I guess I'll probably either play it more mellow or just not run him for being to good
Anyway, with regard to the reanimator-shifts, I was surprised to see you wanting to cut Corpse Augur and Disciple of Bolas - those are the great draw engines and ETB effects are exactly what reanimator tends to abuse. Artisan of Kozilek is also another powerhouse, he reanimates, usually for free, and you can easily use his cast trigger repeatedly. Conduit of Ruin has also been really good to me.
Here is my list for what it's worth. It's definitely still in development and needs a lot of work, and any suggestions are welcome. I don't run a lot of the Stax stuff you have, so yours will likely still be quite different if you go for the heavy discard + reanimator, but hey, why not share
4 Rakdos, Lord of Riots
Creatures
1 Manaforge Cinder
2 Shepherd of Rot
3 Sin Prodder
3 Moriok Replica
3 Burnished Hart
3 Lobber Crew
3 Pilgrim's Eye
3 Nettle Drone
4 Falkenrath Aristrocrat
4 Blood Speaker
4 Gravedigger
4 Krovikan Horror
4 Disciple of Bolas
4 Balthor the Defiled
4 Corpse Augur
5 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
5 Bloodgift Demon
6 Phyrexian Gargantua
6 Conduit of Ruin
6 Exhumer Thrull
6 Demon of Dark Schemes
6 Sire of Insanity
6 Harvester of Souls
6 Oblivion Sower
6 Soul of Innistrad
7 Knollspine Dragon
7 Butcher of Malakir
7 Myr Battlesphere
7 Stalking Vengeance
7 Sandstone Oracle
7 Sepulchral Primordial
7 Abhorrent Overlord
8 Bogardan Hellkite
8 Baleful Force
9 Nullstone Gargoyle
9 Artisan of Kozilek
10 Desolation Twin
1 Skullclamp
2 Star Compass
2 Rakdos Signet
3 Cryptolith Fragment
Instants
2 Terminate
2 Rakdos Charm
3 Corpse Dance
6 Cauldron Dance
Sorcery
1 Faithless Looting
3 Victimize
3 Painful Lesson
3 Read the Bones
4 Diabolic Tutor
6 Grave Upheaval
Enchantment
1 Tortured Existence
2 Lim-Dul's Hex
2 Animate Dead
3 Retreat to Hagra
4 Diabolic Servitude
4 Flameshadow Conjuring
5 Palace Siege
6 Warstorm Surge
7 Vicious Shadows
Land
0 Evolving Wilds
0 Piranha Marsh
0 Cinder Barrens
0 Bloodfell Caves
0 Urborg Volcano
0 Command Tower
0 Leechridden Swamp
0 Rakdos Carnarium
0 Akoum Refuge
0 Sunscorched Desert
0 Swamp (15)
0 Mountain (14)
Probably cuttable: Flameshadow Conjuring, Warstorm Surge, Manaforge Cinder, probably a bunch of others
MVPs/Suggestions for reanimator strategies: Exhumer Thrull, Sepulchral Primordial, Diabolic Servitude, Victimize, Soul of Innistrad
Considering adding: Goblin Bombardment (free sac outlets are good), Honden of Infinite Rage (non-creature Rakdos enabler), Priest of Gix (free manas), Dance of the Dead (Animate Dead #2)
Tymna & Ishai, ie Esper Edric
Crosis Turbotrash
1 Razaketh, the Foulblooded
1 Neheb, the Eternal
1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
1 Kaervek the Merciless
Neheb has been solid, mostly letting me be more aggressive because I am able to recast Rakdos with ease.
1 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
1 Necropotence
1 Dire Fleet Ravager
1 Lightning-Rig Crew
1 Path of Ancestry
1 Conduit of Ruin
1 Pain Magnification
1 Balthor the Defiled
1 Creeping Dread
1 Swamp
With Necropotence's price bottoming out, I would be foolish not to get it. Pain Magnification has been spotty, so this was an easy swap.
Balthor has screwed me a few times with opponents having massive yards with lots of scary monsters. Instead, I'll put in the Dire Fleet Ravager to help with Rakdos mana but also with a replay, as he can get in easily with Menace and Deathtouch. This is just a hold over slot until something better comes along.
Creeping Dread is slow and unreliable, I wanted more ways to confirm Rakdos' entrance and hence the Lightning-Rig Crew. Sure, they're not as good as Lobber Crew or Nettle Drone but they hit the table and come down on T3 to setup for T4 Rakdos.
With the amount of Demons in the deck, I figure I could add Path for more draw possibilities.
Mid-Tier: Marchesa Aggro Rose Asmadi Get Dire Tymna Ikra Woke Women Tiana Aura Angel Ruric Thar SMASH Smasher Kraum Mana Positivity Zur Slides
Filthy Casual: WUBRG Jodah WUBRG WUBRG Fatties WUBRG Gahiji Vigilant Vengeance Ezuri Mysterious Morphs