Really...I cut Knollspine because I thought it was too clunky and expensive. The effect does seem like it could be worthwhile based on how much combat damage this deck can dish out.
- Speaking of Grenzo, he's been nothing short of amazing. The first time I cast him, X was equal to 23! And I still had enough mana untapped to activate him four times!
This is exactly what the deck is supposed to do. Knollspine is has been amazing for me and I've never looked back. Even if you "only" draw 4-5 cards it's worth it, as it's pure card draw and this deck should be doing damage every turn one way or another.
Really...I cut Knollspine because I thought it was too clunky and expensive. The effect does seem like it could be worthwhile based on how much combat damage this deck can dish out.
- Speaking of Grenzo, he's been nothing short of amazing. The first time I cast him, X was equal to 23! And I still had enough mana untapped to activate him four times!
This is exactly what the deck is supposed to do. Knollspine is has been amazing for me and I've never looked back. Even if you "only" draw 4-5 cards it's worth it, as it's pure card draw and this deck should be doing damage every turn one way or another.
Hi guys,
I have plenty of free time, even at work, thus I am spending whole days thinking of how to build my favourite commander:flame::flame:.
After lots and lots of playtesting matches on cockatrice, I am still not sure about cards like: Soul of Innistrad, Avaricious Dragon,Black Sun's Zenith.
Moreover, don't you feel that Rakdos, not only due to it's demonic flavour, needs a bit more global damage spells? Earthquake,Slagstorm, or evenFiery Confluence, etc? How do you cope with commanders such as Narset, Enlightened Master? I find it extremely frustrating and hard to overcome a waterfall of OP and FREE instants and sorceries pulverizing my whole table.
Hi guys,
I have plenty of free time, even at work, thus I am spending whole days thinking of how to build my favourite commander:flame::flame:.
After lots and lots of playtesting matches on cockatrice, I am still not sure about cards like: Soul of Innistrad, Avaricious Dragon,Black Sun's Zenith.
Moreover, don't you feel that Rakdos, not only due to it's demonic flavour, needs a bit more global damage spells? Earthquake,Slagstorm, or evenFiery Confluence, etc? How do you cope with commanders such as Narset, Enlightened Master? I find it extremely frustrating and hard to overcome a waterfall of OP and FREE instants and sorceries pulverizing my whole table.
- Haven't had a chance to play with Soul of Innistrad yet, so I can't comment on it at this time.
- My meta is full of large green monsters, so Black Sun's Zenith is a little too slow for me, but if you need to clear up smaller stuff, it's probably a fine choice.
- Fling effects are not the least bit appealing. They rely too much on getting a fatty into play before they are effective. Rakdos enablers need to be cheap and available BEFORE you cast him.
In my opinion Knollspine Dragon is the most powerful draw engine for Rakdos. I had never let me down. It is an autoinclude for me.
Have you considered Wound Reflection instead of Exquisite Blood? In multiplayer game.. damage flying around! I believe the latter kind of clashes with Platinum Emperion, which you could exchange for new Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger. It's only 2 colorless mana more expensive from Emperion, however you aquire a ton of a utility.
As far as Stalking Vengeance is concerned, it is an excellent "semi-anti-wrath" card. When it pops out on the battlefield, mass creature destruction might be bloody painful for our opponents (also works fine with Deathbringer Regent included on your list, don't you think?)
What are your thoughts of Dusk Urchins and Corpse Augur? Worth trying? The latter might be a hard punch in the lategame, but IMO Rakdos craves for card draw engines, and this two are at least worth mentioning.
In my opinion Knollspine Dragon is the most powerful draw engine for Rakdos. I had never let me down. It is an autoinclude for me.
Have you considered Wound Reflection instead of Exquisite Blood? In multiplayer game.. damage flying around! I believe the latter kind of clashes with Platinum Emperion, which you could exchange for new Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger. It's only 2 colorless mana more expensive from Emperion, however you aquire a ton of a utility.
As far as Stalking Vengeance is concerned, it is an excellent "semi-anti-wrath" card. When it pops out on the battlefield, mass creature destruction might be bloody painful for our opponents (also works fine with Deathbringer Regent included on your list, don't you think?)
What are your thoughts of Dusk Urchins and Corpse Augur? Worth trying? The latter might be a hard punch in the lategame, but IMO Rakdos craves for card draw engines, and this two are at least worth mentioning.
I'm starting to see more 7+ guys in the list now, and it's important to remember that Rakdos won't always be there to help get these big guys into play. I'm sure Stalking Vengeance is just as good as all the rest, but I'd like to pump the brakes a bit on the really big stuff that is less likely to be cast without help.
As for the last two (note that I'm not including anything already in the list):
- Dusk Urchins seems way too slow. For that cost, I'd rather cast Phyrexian Rager, Read the Bones, or any number of other draw spells that happen right away instead of several turns from now.
- Corpse Augur is also competing with a lot of other solid spells. The first one that comes to mind (no pun intended) is Syphon Mind. It's certainly playable, and post-Rakdos it becomes something of a black Ancestral. I think I'd still play Syphon Mind over it, but it's very close.
Been a while since this thread has been updated, but the deck has stayed together the whole time. Couple quick notes on the new list:
- Added the Mikaeus/Triskelion combo, after a few too many games that lasted more than an hour. The rule in my group has been that if all the combo pieces can hold up reasonably well by themselves, and they happen to assemble an infinite loop together, that's OK. Since I'm not going all-in on assembling such a thing, it has yet to become egregious.
- Added a couple more ways to give Rakdos and friends haste. There were too many games where I would try to cast Rakdos with or without other fatties and then cross my fingers that they survived long enough to attack.
I like some of your tech, like Sunbird's Invocation, but many other cards seem counter-intuitive with your game plan. For most of them, there exists a card that does its job better, usually with no different in price.
I like some of your tech, like Sunbird's Invocation, but many other cards seem counter-intuitive with your game plan. For most of them, there exists a card that does its job better, usually with no different in price.
What exactly do you mean by this? I usually try to do a pretty good job of researching Gatherer and other lists for all of the good things, but if I'm totally missing something important, I'd like to know.
The main question I ask myself when I look at cards in decklists is, what does this card do for your game plan?
The second question I ask myself is, how good is this card if you're losing/behind? How does this card address the deck's weaknesses, or its own weaknesses?
Your game plan is to get Rakdos on the table and get giant, terrifying threats into play. Your weakness is that the deck completely flops when Rakdos dies, at least until you can cast him again.
How does Hangarback Walker play into that? How does Triskelion play into that? How does Ogre Battledriver play into that? Phyrexian Gargantua? Overseer of the Damned? These are cards that do nothing on their own.
You want removal? First play Terminate, Hero's Downfall. Then consider giant, inefficient demons.
You want card draw? Erebos is fair enough, but Gargantua is just expensive, underwhelming, sad. There's Kothoped, Soul Hoarder, Harvester of Souls as engines, Combustible Gearhulk and Sandstone Oracle as better one shots.
I would easily even play the new Arguel's Blood Fast over it since it can transform into Temple of Aclazotz in a pinch - saccing your giant creatures for a lot of life is a great plan B!
You want haste? Play Fervor that doesn't die to every wrath, or Anger that doesn't care if it does. Both are cheaper.
You want giant threats with an X cost? In my opinion, if you were to rely so heavily on Rakdos, even Endless One is better than Walker in your deck, but they both pale in comparison to Walking Ballista.
The same can be said for a lot of other good, but not good enough, cards.
I read that Grenzo totally kicked ass with a ton of counters! But how's he been without Rakdos? Casting this guy for 6RB does not seem plausible here.
A personal preference is to stay away from Whip of Erebos. Artifact + Enchantment is two card types for more cards that can kill it. If looking at pure reanimation Chainer, Dementia Master is hands down better since the creatures stay on the field, and giving your creatures lifelink isn't good enough on its own to argue that this card stays. Maybe consider Liliana, Death's Majesty? Eye of Ugin isn't good here. You're not Eldrazi Winter so it doesn't help you mana-wise, and you will almost never use the tutor ability. It's a land that doesn't produce anything, which is possibly the worst for getting Rakdos out early. Chandra, Pyromaster is cute, but vulnerable. If you're looking for the psuedo-draw use Outpost Siege, if you're looking for enablers use Piranha Marsh, Leechridden Swamp, or Angrath, the Flame-Chained.
Recommendations: Steel Hellkite - you are RB, so you can't touch enchantments. But this can, and it can cost you 0! Plus it's evasive and can chunk nicely! Gray Merchant of Asphodel - practically every black deck runs this card and it's boring, but it helps cushion your life total, and it enables Rakdos. Ob Nixilis, Unshackled / Ob Nixilis, the Fallen - the first is great at punishing Green Sun's Zenith, and the second enables Rakdos for free. Indulgent Tormentor - you draw, Rakdos is enabled, or they sac. Bad for them either way. Underworld Cerberus - I don't know about your meta, but mine would go through hell trying to block this guy. Then when he dies, he brings back all our threats for us to play again! Hazoret the Fervent - Hasty indestructible that chunks, and can also enable Rakdos. I think it should definitely be tested. Quicksilver Amulet - Sheoldred stuck in hand? Well flash her in at opponents' end step to get your creature back gurantee!
That's enough of a wall of text for now. I hope you found all of this helpful!
That was quite a wall, but I appreciate all of the feedback. I'll try to address some of the points in my own wall:
- Cards on my shopping list that I have yet to acquire: Walking Ballista, Angrath, the Flame-Chained, Hazoret the Fervent
- You brought up an excellent point about life without Rakdos. When he isn't out there, my turn likely consists of just casting one big, slow guy. Unfortunately, there's not a whole lot to be done about that. Quicksilver Amulet comes to mind, but paying an initial investment of 4 mana just to reduce the cost of some guy from 6-8 down to 4 isn't much of an improvement. The real all-star here is Neheb, the Eternal for providing an alternate means of generating huge mana, albeit after combat.
- Whip of Erebos has been terrific. The reanimation is one thing, but being able to give all my fatties lifelink is not something to be taken lightly, especially when this deck's first goal is to do some amount of damage to all players (including myself).
- Triskelion is mostly there for the combo with Mikaeus. The games in my local group tend to last over an hour at times, and sometimes I need a way to definitively end them.
- Hangarback Walker is a card that is good with or without Rakdos. He can come down as early as turn 2 and start growing himself, or wait until after Rakdos connects and come down much bigger, for free. I like the fact that he has no colored mana symbols in his cost. He's also way better than Endless One, who is too vanilla for my liking.
- Phyrexian Gargantua has also been solid. 4/4 draw 2 is a solid card, and it has the upside of potentially being cheaper. I could see Kothophed or Harvester of Souls working as well.
- I cut Combustible Gearhulk a while ago and did not add Indulgent Tormentor because I'm not a fan of giving my opponents a choice...they almost always choose the one I don't want. On that note, Sin Prodder is close to being cut as well.
- I've never been a fan of Anger. It takes a fair amount of work to setup, and invites a Bojuka Bog to come and wipe my yard after it gets set up.
- Chandra, Pyromaster has the advantage of being both Piranha Marsh and Outpost Siege in one card. That plus the fact that she's not the scariest planeswalker out there make her a fine choice.
- Eye of Ugin and Sanctum of Ugin can probably go away. I used to run more Eldrazi because they're colorless and can come down for free post-Rakdos, but I've been cutting them in favor of more 6s and 7s that are a little easier to cast without Rakdos.
I'm also thinking about removing all of the Eldrazi from this list. They represent the epitome of "good with Rakdos, unplayable without him". That, and they keep making new 6 and 7 drops that would be cool in this list. I just picked up a copy of Etali, Primal Storm and Scourge of the Throne. More to follow...
The thing is that all my tips aren't perfect since your meta is likely different than mine. Perhaps different stuff would work in your playgroup. What decks do you mostly face?
You're in EDH. Your opponents will likely have access to the best card engines in the game - Sylvan Library, Rhystic Study, Mind's Eye, Consecrated Sphinx, Sire of Stagnation. Phyrexian Gargantua will definitely not keep up with those.
Chandra is much more vulnerable than Outpost Siege.
Amulet is mostly there for the 6-11 guys. If you find yourself with a lot of 5 drops, never mind.
Honestly, if you need a way to close out a game, maybe you could consider something like Glistening Oil? Heartless Hidetsugu? There's got to be a way of finishing out the game without cards which are dead otherwise like Trike.
Update: this deck is getting overwhelmed with the number of quality playables, which is usually a sign that it's time to hang it up and try something else (RIP Sydri).
- Now that standard is finally rotating, I managed to pick up a copy of Hazoret the Fervent.
- Meteor Golem has replaced Noxious Gearhulk as a much better and easier to cast removal spell.
- I'm still a bit light on card draw, so Combustible Gearhulk and Skyline Despot have pushed themselves to the top of the testing pile.
- I've recently been impressed with the sheer power of Kaervek the Merciless and Hellkite Tyrant, so I'm trying to find room for them as well.
- Still looking for copies of Demonlord Belzenlok and Sarkhan's Unsealing. Might also need to try Liliana's Contract for the random upside of free-wins (if my demon count gets high enough).
Cuts are once again difficult as ever. At one point I considered going all colorless, because the colored mana symbols can be a choke point, but that just led to over-commitment. I also considered cutting all the Eldrazi because they were too difficult to cast sans Rakdos, as opposed to other 6 and 7 drops that were tough but still possible.
Yeah, it's super cheap and hits all players. Slight downside that it hits you as well as your opponents, and doesn't have the tiny upside that Nettle Drone or Lobber Crew has of randomly untapping an extra time, but it's still a solid enabler. On that note, might as well review the rest of this set...
- Spawn of Mayhem: It's like they took an enabler and a payoff and mashed them together. Unfortunately, the sum is not as great as the parts. Top it off with the typical standard mythic price tag and this probably won't be on the radar for a while.
- Amplifire: Can't guarantee that this will survive long enough to grow, doesn't come with any other upside or ability. No thanks.
- Mirror March: While it would be nice to randomly pump out a half dozen Grave Titans, it's really tough to justify too many expensive non-creature spells. It'll probably go on the list near the likes of Vicious Shadows.
- Spear Spewer: Reviewed above, worth a spot.
- Bedevil: A solid, versatile removal spell. Once the price tag comes down, it'll likely be worth a spot.
- Captive Audience: If you absolutely must punish that one guy at the table...but srsly, not a fit here.
- Cult Guildmage: Cheap enablers who's activated ability costs extra mana don't fit the mold.
- Judith, the Scourge Diva: Better suited for a go-wide deck.
- Rakdos, the Showstopper: After going through all of these steps to make a board full of giants and dragons, randomly blowing some of them up is not a thing I want to do.
- Theater of Horrors: There are far better ways to draw extra cards and ping the opponents.
- Rakdos Locket: At 3 mana, it probably won't make the cut, but the appeal of adding colored mana and being able to cash it out for two cards later on is appealing.
- Tome of the Guildpact: I like love the idea here, and will be investing in several copies of this card (thank God it doesn't appear to be standard playable). Unfortunately, I don't think I have enough ways to trigger this (currently only 6 multi-color spells in the deck as of this writing, plus the commander himself).
...so, not exactly the best set for this commander, but this deck already has a ton of playables.
So, I tried my first game with Rakdos and I wasn't very impressed with my list. I gotta say, its a tricky deck to build. The strategy isn't very linear and its not in a good way. A lot of the little pingers feel really bad outside of Rakdos. Otherwise its just a Ramp deck which is fine.
Having said this, I'm not giving up, I think I can find a way to build him more to my satisfaction. I'm thinking of reducing the the masspingers only the best ones, and trying to get that damage in another way such as just some good ol creature damage. Thoughts?
So, I tried my first game with Rakdos and I wasn't very impressed with my list. I gotta say, its a tricky deck to build. The strategy isn't very linear and its not in a good way. A lot of the little pingers feel really bad outside of Rakdos. Otherwise its just a Ramp deck which is fine.
Having said this, I'm not giving up, I think I can find a way to build him more to my satisfaction. I'm thinking of reducing the the masspingers only the best ones, and trying to get that damage in another way such as just some good ol creature damage. Thoughts?
Yeah, there are definitely a lot of hoops to jump through in order to get paid off. Rakdos was never supposed to be the easiest or most efficient commander to play with, so you kinda have to accept that known risk up front.
You could try to play some old-fashioned attacking creatures, but that just adds the combat step as an additional set of hoops to work through for your payoff. One nice part about the Nettle Drone style enablers is that they are generally pretty subtle and will only get blown up if someone really wants to go out of their way to disrupt you and only you.
Idk if it removes a hoop or if it just changes the hoop from pingers to tramplers. At least bigger tramplers would be more relevent outside of Rakdos. Or at least I think they would. Idk. It's just a thought I'm gonna explore. The idea is to make it more of a generic ramp into bigger creatures deck that works with or without Rakdos
Idk if it removes a hoop or if it just changes the hoop from pingers to tramplers. At least bigger tramplers would be more relevent outside of Rakdos. Or at least I think they would. Idk. It's just a thought I'm gonna explore. The idea is to make it more of a generic ramp into bigger creatures deck that works with or without Rakdos
Pingers just need to survive until the turn you want to cast Rakdos. Tramplers and other more traditional creatures need to survive, attack, not get blocked, and deal damage (i.e. no fogs).
Also, traditional attacking creatures as your enablers mean that you can't give Rakdos and other payoffs haste. For example, I'm currently running Urabrask, Garna, and Dragonlord Kolaghan all for their global haste effects.
Finally, the trample keyword isn't exactly a Rakdos-colored keyword. You're more likely to find that in green creatures, which you don't get here.
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- Archetype of Aggression gives everything trample, but what does that really do for you? Your smaller creatures won't have enough power to trample over any potential blockers, and if you already cast your big stuff, what's the point anymore?
- Doom Whisperer is a fine card, but there's a long list of large bodies in the 5-7 cc range that are just as effective. Is this really that much better than Bloodgift Demon, or Kothophed, Soul Hoarder, or Massacre Wurm, or Noxious Gearhulk? None of these guys made my current list, but any of them could be just as good as the next one. It's worth a spot on the list, but that's about it.
- Embermaw Hellion is probably best reserved for decks that go wider, like Krenko, Mob Boss. When you already have a deck full of dragons, having each dragon deal one more damage is not much of an upgrade.
- Geode Golem: in a deck full of Grave Titans, by the time you would benefit from a hit from this guy, wouldn't you rather just hard-cast a Grave Titan?
Doom Whisperer - 5CMC means its a lot more relevent outside of Rakdos. Ramping to 6-7 without Rakdos is waaay slower than ramping to 5.
Embermaw makes your red pingers like Lobber Crew twice as effective. Edit: And a dragon dealing 1 more damage is still 1 more cost resuction for an Eldrazi.
Geode Golem - eithor he helps you play Rakdos or Rakdos helps you play him. I like artifact creatures in Rakdos because they can be played for free.
Archetype of Agression - just because you played big stuff doesn't really mean much if you can't get the damage in. It could be a meta thing but I play against a lot of wide decks like Hapatra and Locust god that can block non tramplers for days.
All of the above are tramplers under 6cmc meaning they can enable Rakdos, be relevent without Rakdos, yet still appreciate a rakdos discount.
Anyway, I'm not saying they're must haves. I was just curious to hear what you thought. Thanks for the input
I'm going to reply to this with a quote from you.
This is exactly what the deck is supposed to do. Knollspine is has been amazing for me and I've never looked back. Even if you "only" draw 4-5 cards it's worth it, as it's pure card draw and this deck should be doing damage every turn one way or another.
Point well taken. I'll put Knollspine back in.
Yeva (88/92 foils)
Raff
Scarab
Rakdos
Wort ($50 budget, 94/97 foils)
Trostani
I have plenty of free time, even at work, thus I am spending whole days thinking of how to build my favourite commander:flame::flame:.
After lots and lots of playtesting matches on cockatrice, I am still not sure about cards like: Soul of Innistrad, Avaricious Dragon,Black Sun's Zenith.
Moreover, don't you feel that Rakdos, not only due to it's demonic flavour, needs a bit more global damage spells? Earthquake,Slagstorm, or evenFiery Confluence, etc? How do you cope with commanders such as Narset, Enlightened Master? I find it extremely frustrating and hard to overcome a waterfall of OP and FREE instants and sorceries pulverizing my whole table.
Also, have you tried cards like Fling, Soul's fire, Essence Harvest combined with pumped up Malignus or Hamletback Goliath? With Eldrazi creatures or even Rakdos itself they can do significant amounts of *precombat* dmg.
- Avaricious Dragon wasn't all that special the last time I drew it, either, so it's arguably worth cutting.
EDIT: based on previous advice, I'm putting Knollspine Dragon back in for Avaricious Dragon.
- Haven't had a chance to play with Soul of Innistrad yet, so I can't comment on it at this time.
- My meta is full of large green monsters, so Black Sun's Zenith is a little too slow for me, but if you need to clear up smaller stuff, it's probably a fine choice.
- Fling effects are not the least bit appealing. They rely too much on getting a fatty into play before they are effective. Rakdos enablers need to be cheap and available BEFORE you cast him.
Yeva (88/92 foils)
Raff
Scarab
Rakdos
Wort ($50 budget, 94/97 foils)
Trostani
Have you considered Wound Reflection instead of Exquisite Blood? In multiplayer game.. damage flying around! I believe the latter kind of clashes with Platinum Emperion, which you could exchange for new Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger. It's only 2 colorless mana more expensive from Emperion, however you aquire a ton of a utility.
As far as Stalking Vengeance is concerned, it is an excellent "semi-anti-wrath" card. When it pops out on the battlefield, mass creature destruction might be bloody painful for our opponents (also works fine with Deathbringer Regent included on your list, don't you think?)
What are your thoughts of Dusk Urchins and Corpse Augur? Worth trying? The latter might be a hard punch in the lategame, but IMO Rakdos craves for card draw engines, and this two are at least worth mentioning.
I'm starting to see more 7+ guys in the list now, and it's important to remember that Rakdos won't always be there to help get these big guys into play. I'm sure Stalking Vengeance is just as good as all the rest, but I'd like to pump the brakes a bit on the really big stuff that is less likely to be cast without help.
As for the last two (note that I'm not including anything already in the list):
- Dusk Urchins seems way too slow. For that cost, I'd rather cast Phyrexian Rager, Read the Bones, or any number of other draw spells that happen right away instead of several turns from now.
- Corpse Augur is also competing with a lot of other solid spells. The first one that comes to mind (no pun intended) is Syphon Mind. It's certainly playable, and post-Rakdos it becomes something of a black Ancestral. I think I'd still play Syphon Mind over it, but it's very close.
Yeva (88/92 foils)
Raff
Scarab
Rakdos
Wort ($50 budget, 94/97 foils)
Trostani
- Added the Mikaeus/Triskelion combo, after a few too many games that lasted more than an hour. The rule in my group has been that if all the combo pieces can hold up reasonably well by themselves, and they happen to assemble an infinite loop together, that's OK. Since I'm not going all-in on assembling such a thing, it has yet to become egregious.
- Added a couple more ways to give Rakdos and friends haste. There were too many games where I would try to cast Rakdos with or without other fatties and then cross my fingers that they survived long enough to attack.
Right now, I'm looking to find some room for Etali, Primal Storm and Cyclops of Eternal Fury. Any ideas would be helpful.
Yeva (88/92 foils)
Raff
Scarab
Rakdos
Wort ($50 budget, 94/97 foils)
Trostani
Kozilek, the Great Distortion (another great draw spell).
Underworld Cerberus is a card that I always wanted to see run in Rakdos.
I like some of your tech, like Sunbird's Invocation, but many other cards seem counter-intuitive with your game plan. For most of them, there exists a card that does its job better, usually with no different in price.
What exactly do you mean by this? I usually try to do a pretty good job of researching Gatherer and other lists for all of the good things, but if I'm totally missing something important, I'd like to know.
Yeva (88/92 foils)
Raff
Scarab
Rakdos
Wort ($50 budget, 94/97 foils)
Trostani
The second question I ask myself is, how good is this card if you're losing/behind? How does this card address the deck's weaknesses, or its own weaknesses?
Your game plan is to get Rakdos on the table and get giant, terrifying threats into play. Your weakness is that the deck completely flops when Rakdos dies, at least until you can cast him again.
How does Hangarback Walker play into that? How does Triskelion play into that? How does Ogre Battledriver play into that? Phyrexian Gargantua? Overseer of the Damned? These are cards that do nothing on their own.
You want removal? First play Terminate, Hero's Downfall. Then consider giant, inefficient demons.
You want card draw? Erebos is fair enough, but Gargantua is just expensive, underwhelming, sad. There's Kothoped, Soul Hoarder, Harvester of Souls as engines, Combustible Gearhulk and Sandstone Oracle as better one shots.
I would easily even play the new Arguel's Blood Fast over it since it can transform into Temple of Aclazotz in a pinch - saccing your giant creatures for a lot of life is a great plan B!
You want haste? Play Fervor that doesn't die to every wrath, or Anger that doesn't care if it does. Both are cheaper.
You want giant threats with an X cost? In my opinion, if you were to rely so heavily on Rakdos, even Endless One is better than Walker in your deck, but they both pale in comparison to Walking Ballista.
The same can be said for a lot of other good, but not good enough, cards.
I read that Grenzo totally kicked ass with a ton of counters! But how's he been without Rakdos? Casting this guy for 6RB does not seem plausible here.
A personal preference is to stay away from Whip of Erebos. Artifact + Enchantment is two card types for more cards that can kill it. If looking at pure reanimation Chainer, Dementia Master is hands down better since the creatures stay on the field, and giving your creatures lifelink isn't good enough on its own to argue that this card stays. Maybe consider Liliana, Death's Majesty?
Eye of Ugin isn't good here. You're not Eldrazi Winter so it doesn't help you mana-wise, and you will almost never use the tutor ability. It's a land that doesn't produce anything, which is possibly the worst for getting Rakdos out early.
Chandra, Pyromaster is cute, but vulnerable. If you're looking for the psuedo-draw use Outpost Siege, if you're looking for enablers use Piranha Marsh, Leechridden Swamp, or Angrath, the Flame-Chained.
Recommendations:
Steel Hellkite - you are RB, so you can't touch enchantments. But this can, and it can cost you 0! Plus it's evasive and can chunk nicely!
Gray Merchant of Asphodel - practically every black deck runs this card and it's boring, but it helps cushion your life total, and it enables Rakdos.
Ob Nixilis, Unshackled / Ob Nixilis, the Fallen - the first is great at punishing Green Sun's Zenith, and the second enables Rakdos for free.
Indulgent Tormentor - you draw, Rakdos is enabled, or they sac. Bad for them either way.
Underworld Cerberus - I don't know about your meta, but mine would go through hell trying to block this guy. Then when he dies, he brings back all our threats for us to play again!
Hazoret the Fervent - Hasty indestructible that chunks, and can also enable Rakdos. I think it should definitely be tested.
Quicksilver Amulet - Sheoldred stuck in hand? Well flash her in at opponents' end step to get your creature back gurantee!
That's enough of a wall of text for now. I hope you found all of this helpful!
- Cards on my shopping list that I have yet to acquire: Walking Ballista, Angrath, the Flame-Chained, Hazoret the Fervent
- You brought up an excellent point about life without Rakdos. When he isn't out there, my turn likely consists of just casting one big, slow guy. Unfortunately, there's not a whole lot to be done about that. Quicksilver Amulet comes to mind, but paying an initial investment of 4 mana just to reduce the cost of some guy from 6-8 down to 4 isn't much of an improvement. The real all-star here is Neheb, the Eternal for providing an alternate means of generating huge mana, albeit after combat.
- Whip of Erebos has been terrific. The reanimation is one thing, but being able to give all my fatties lifelink is not something to be taken lightly, especially when this deck's first goal is to do some amount of damage to all players (including myself).
- Triskelion is mostly there for the combo with Mikaeus. The games in my local group tend to last over an hour at times, and sometimes I need a way to definitively end them.
- Hangarback Walker is a card that is good with or without Rakdos. He can come down as early as turn 2 and start growing himself, or wait until after Rakdos connects and come down much bigger, for free. I like the fact that he has no colored mana symbols in his cost. He's also way better than Endless One, who is too vanilla for my liking.
- Phyrexian Gargantua has also been solid. 4/4 draw 2 is a solid card, and it has the upside of potentially being cheaper. I could see Kothophed or Harvester of Souls working as well.
- I cut Combustible Gearhulk a while ago and did not add Indulgent Tormentor because I'm not a fan of giving my opponents a choice...they almost always choose the one I don't want. On that note, Sin Prodder is close to being cut as well.
- I've never been a fan of Anger. It takes a fair amount of work to setup, and invites a Bojuka Bog to come and wipe my yard after it gets set up.
- Chandra, Pyromaster has the advantage of being both Piranha Marsh and Outpost Siege in one card. That plus the fact that she's not the scariest planeswalker out there make her a fine choice.
- Eye of Ugin and Sanctum of Ugin can probably go away. I used to run more Eldrazi because they're colorless and can come down for free post-Rakdos, but I've been cutting them in favor of more 6s and 7s that are a little easier to cast without Rakdos.
Couple of changes following this post:
- Out: Eye of Ugin, Sanctum of Ugin. In: 2 basics for now (not interested in more tapped lands with no upside like Cinder Barrens or Urborg Volcano.
I'm also thinking about removing all of the Eldrazi from this list. They represent the epitome of "good with Rakdos, unplayable without him". That, and they keep making new 6 and 7 drops that would be cool in this list. I just picked up a copy of Etali, Primal Storm and Scourge of the Throne. More to follow...
Yeva (88/92 foils)
Raff
Scarab
Rakdos
Wort ($50 budget, 94/97 foils)
Trostani
You're in EDH. Your opponents will likely have access to the best card engines in the game - Sylvan Library, Rhystic Study, Mind's Eye, Consecrated Sphinx, Sire of Stagnation. Phyrexian Gargantua will definitely not keep up with those.
Chandra is much more vulnerable than Outpost Siege.
Amulet is mostly there for the 6-11 guys. If you find yourself with a lot of 5 drops, never mind.
Honestly, if you need a way to close out a game, maybe you could consider something like Glistening Oil? Heartless Hidetsugu? There's got to be a way of finishing out the game without cards which are dead otherwise like Trike.
I still think swapping Piranha Marsh and Leechridden Swamp with 2 swamps is good.
Yeva (88/92 foils)
Raff
Scarab
Rakdos
Wort ($50 budget, 94/97 foils)
Trostani
- Now that standard is finally rotating, I managed to pick up a copy of Hazoret the Fervent.
- Meteor Golem has replaced Noxious Gearhulk as a much better and easier to cast removal spell.
- I'm still a bit light on card draw, so Combustible Gearhulk and Skyline Despot have pushed themselves to the top of the testing pile.
- I've recently been impressed with the sheer power of Kaervek the Merciless and Hellkite Tyrant, so I'm trying to find room for them as well.
- Still looking for copies of Demonlord Belzenlok and Sarkhan's Unsealing. Might also need to try Liliana's Contract for the random upside of free-wins (if my demon count gets high enough).
Cuts are once again difficult as ever. At one point I considered going all colorless, because the colored mana symbols can be a choke point, but that just led to over-commitment. I also considered cutting all the Eldrazi because they were too difficult to cast sans Rakdos, as opposed to other 6 and 7 drops that were tough but still possible.
Yeva (88/92 foils)
Raff
Scarab
Rakdos
Wort ($50 budget, 94/97 foils)
Trostani
BChainer, Dementia Master(Big Mana/Reanimator)
BRRakdos, The Showstopper (Mass Life Loss/Ramp)
BUThe Scarab God (Zombie Tribal/Control)
BWKarlov of the Ghost Council (Life Gain)
BGJarad, Golgari Lich Lord (Stompy/Dredge)
BRGProssh, Skyraider of Kher (Tokens/Non-infinite Combo)
Yeah, it's super cheap and hits all players. Slight downside that it hits you as well as your opponents, and doesn't have the tiny upside that Nettle Drone or Lobber Crew has of randomly untapping an extra time, but it's still a solid enabler. On that note, might as well review the rest of this set...
- Spawn of Mayhem: It's like they took an enabler and a payoff and mashed them together. Unfortunately, the sum is not as great as the parts. Top it off with the typical standard mythic price tag and this probably won't be on the radar for a while.
- Amplifire: Can't guarantee that this will survive long enough to grow, doesn't come with any other upside or ability. No thanks.
- Mirror March: While it would be nice to randomly pump out a half dozen Grave Titans, it's really tough to justify too many expensive non-creature spells. It'll probably go on the list near the likes of Vicious Shadows.
- Spear Spewer: Reviewed above, worth a spot.
- Bedevil: A solid, versatile removal spell. Once the price tag comes down, it'll likely be worth a spot.
- Captive Audience: If you absolutely must punish that one guy at the table...but srsly, not a fit here.
- Cult Guildmage: Cheap enablers who's activated ability costs extra mana don't fit the mold.
- Judith, the Scourge Diva: Better suited for a go-wide deck.
- Rakdos, the Showstopper: After going through all of these steps to make a board full of giants and dragons, randomly blowing some of them up is not a thing I want to do.
- Theater of Horrors: There are far better ways to draw extra cards and ping the opponents.
- Rakdos Locket: At 3 mana, it probably won't make the cut, but the appeal of adding colored mana and being able to cash it out for two cards later on is appealing.
- Tome of the Guildpact: I
likelove the idea here, and will be investing in several copies of this card (thank God it doesn't appear to be standard playable). Unfortunately, I don't think I have enough ways to trigger this (currently only 6 multi-color spells in the deck as of this writing, plus the commander himself)....so, not exactly the best set for this commander, but this deck already has a ton of playables.
Yeva (88/92 foils)
Raff
Scarab
Rakdos
Wort ($50 budget, 94/97 foils)
Trostani
Having said this, I'm not giving up, I think I can find a way to build him more to my satisfaction. I'm thinking of reducing the the masspingers only the best ones, and trying to get that damage in another way such as just some good ol creature damage. Thoughts?
BChainer, Dementia Master(Big Mana/Reanimator)
BRRakdos, The Showstopper (Mass Life Loss/Ramp)
BUThe Scarab God (Zombie Tribal/Control)
BWKarlov of the Ghost Council (Life Gain)
BGJarad, Golgari Lich Lord (Stompy/Dredge)
BRGProssh, Skyraider of Kher (Tokens/Non-infinite Combo)
Yeah, there are definitely a lot of hoops to jump through in order to get paid off. Rakdos was never supposed to be the easiest or most efficient commander to play with, so you kinda have to accept that known risk up front.
You could try to play some old-fashioned attacking creatures, but that just adds the combat step as an additional set of hoops to work through for your payoff. One nice part about the Nettle Drone style enablers is that they are generally pretty subtle and will only get blown up if someone really wants to go out of their way to disrupt you and only you.
Yeva (88/92 foils)
Raff
Scarab
Rakdos
Wort ($50 budget, 94/97 foils)
Trostani
BChainer, Dementia Master(Big Mana/Reanimator)
BRRakdos, The Showstopper (Mass Life Loss/Ramp)
BUThe Scarab God (Zombie Tribal/Control)
BWKarlov of the Ghost Council (Life Gain)
BGJarad, Golgari Lich Lord (Stompy/Dredge)
BRGProssh, Skyraider of Kher (Tokens/Non-infinite Combo)
Pingers just need to survive until the turn you want to cast Rakdos. Tramplers and other more traditional creatures need to survive, attack, not get blocked, and deal damage (i.e. no fogs).
Also, traditional attacking creatures as your enablers mean that you can't give Rakdos and other payoffs haste. For example, I'm currently running Urabrask, Garna, and Dragonlord Kolaghan all for their global haste effects.
Finally, the trample keyword isn't exactly a Rakdos-colored keyword. You're more likely to find that in green creatures, which you don't get here.
Yeva (88/92 foils)
Raff
Scarab
Rakdos
Wort ($50 budget, 94/97 foils)
Trostani
You might be surprised how much black creatures and even artifacts that have trample
BChainer, Dementia Master(Big Mana/Reanimator)
BRRakdos, The Showstopper (Mass Life Loss/Ramp)
BUThe Scarab God (Zombie Tribal/Control)
BWKarlov of the Ghost Council (Life Gain)
BGJarad, Golgari Lich Lord (Stompy/Dredge)
BRGProssh, Skyraider of Kher (Tokens/Non-infinite Combo)
A few tramplers I found that I do kinda like are: Archetype of Agression, Doom Whisperer, Embermaw Hellion, and Geode Golem. Thoughts?
BChainer, Dementia Master(Big Mana/Reanimator)
BRRakdos, The Showstopper (Mass Life Loss/Ramp)
BUThe Scarab God (Zombie Tribal/Control)
BWKarlov of the Ghost Council (Life Gain)
BGJarad, Golgari Lich Lord (Stompy/Dredge)
BRGProssh, Skyraider of Kher (Tokens/Non-infinite Combo)
BGU [Primer] Sidisi, Brood Tyrant BGU | BG [Primer] Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest BG | G [Primer] Polukranos, World Eater G
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- Archetype of Aggression gives everything trample, but what does that really do for you? Your smaller creatures won't have enough power to trample over any potential blockers, and if you already cast your big stuff, what's the point anymore?
- Doom Whisperer is a fine card, but there's a long list of large bodies in the 5-7 cc range that are just as effective. Is this really that much better than Bloodgift Demon, or Kothophed, Soul Hoarder, or Massacre Wurm, or Noxious Gearhulk? None of these guys made my current list, but any of them could be just as good as the next one. It's worth a spot on the list, but that's about it.
- Embermaw Hellion is probably best reserved for decks that go wider, like Krenko, Mob Boss. When you already have a deck full of dragons, having each dragon deal one more damage is not much of an upgrade.
- Geode Golem: in a deck full of Grave Titans, by the time you would benefit from a hit from this guy, wouldn't you rather just hard-cast a Grave Titan?
Yeah, it's one of many things I haven't found room for yet.
Yeva (88/92 foils)
Raff
Scarab
Rakdos
Wort ($50 budget, 94/97 foils)
Trostani
Doom Whisperer - 5CMC means its a lot more relevent outside of Rakdos. Ramping to 6-7 without Rakdos is waaay slower than ramping to 5.
Embermaw makes your red pingers like Lobber Crew twice as effective. Edit: And a dragon dealing 1 more damage is still 1 more cost resuction for an Eldrazi.
Geode Golem - eithor he helps you play Rakdos or Rakdos helps you play him. I like artifact creatures in Rakdos because they can be played for free.
Archetype of Agression - just because you played big stuff doesn't really mean much if you can't get the damage in. It could be a meta thing but I play against a lot of wide decks like Hapatra and Locust god that can block non tramplers for days.
All of the above are tramplers under 6cmc meaning they can enable Rakdos, be relevent without Rakdos, yet still appreciate a rakdos discount.
Anyway, I'm not saying they're must haves. I was just curious to hear what you thought. Thanks for the input
BChainer, Dementia Master(Big Mana/Reanimator)
BRRakdos, The Showstopper (Mass Life Loss/Ramp)
BUThe Scarab God (Zombie Tribal/Control)
BWKarlov of the Ghost Council (Life Gain)
BGJarad, Golgari Lich Lord (Stompy/Dredge)
BRGProssh, Skyraider of Kher (Tokens/Non-infinite Combo)