MTG Salvation

Hi all, I am looking to get back into mtg after many years out. I would like some critique on my deck list I have made. This deck is meant to come in cheapish to start, but add pieces and more money later to make it better. I love black and red together due to what they add to their play style. Without further ado, the decklist:


sideboard:

• 4 extirpate
  
• 2 dreadbore
  
• 3 skullcrack
  
• 2 shattering spree
  
• 4 inquisition of kozilek
  

Thanks in advance to any and all advice!

Hey I just saw this and figured I'd give some suggestions. IMO you should drop the playset of Demigod of revenge because a fast play deck like this doesn't want to be held up by drawing five drops with no mana to cast them... With the space you could add like Rakdos Shred Freak which is another 2 drop haste or could even add 2x rakdos's return to deal damage and keep their hand empty of responses..
Hope this helps

https://www.mtggoldfish.com/articles/budget-magic-93-30-tix-modern-rakdos-aggro
This a decent starting point.

Some more good creature options:
Diregraf Ghoul, Soul-Scar Mage, Bloodsoaked Champion/Dread Wanderer, Spike Jester/Goblin Deathraiders, Asylum Visitor, Gifted Aetherborn,
Forerunner of Slaughter and Scrapheap Scrounger.
Grim Lavamancer can be decent as well but without fetch lands it is worse.

Smuggler's Copter would be good here as well.

Sin Prodder can help somewhat with card draw (or damage) over Sign in Blood.

I'd drop the Liege and Demigod as they are very slow.
Some decent 3-drops can be: Hanweir Garrison, Olivia, Mobilized for War, Lathnu Hellion, Hellhole Flailer and Shambling Remains.

As a curve-topper Rakdos, Lord of Riots can be pretty good.

Here is my take on a budget-friendly (except for the lands) Rakdos Aggro deck:


Rise // Fall (Fall half) is better than Blightning imho due to the random nature of the discard and costing 2-mana instead of 3, it is the closet we can get in Modern to Hymn to Tourach (without jumping through hoops for Whispers of Emrakul).
I've added a couple of Blue shocklands to cast the Fall half as it can be pretty useful as well

Some other cards to consider can be:

#Hazoret the Fervent for the curve-topper 4-drop slot: it is big, hasty and indestructible but legendary and lacks evasion
(though the ability to ping for 2 makes up for it).

#Goblin Rabblemaster for the 3-drop slot: it can close out games quickly but is easily walled off or removed and doesn't provide value from the GY like Shambling Remains.

#Another 3-drop option can be Sedraxis Specter since there is a lite Blue splash in the deck already.

#Possible replacements for Asylum Visitor can be:
1) Pack Rat which is less aggressive but better if the game goes longer (or in case of flooding).
2) Forerunner of Slaughter which can give itself (or Smuggler's Copter/Scrapheap Scrounger) haste with some extra mana.
3) Gifted Aetherborn which can gain life and trade with any creature.

Hey guys! I've just stepped back into the world of MTG and I'm keen for Rakdos Aggro as I've always played Red and Black.

I have this build in mind. Not 100% sold on Brutal Hordechief, but I think it could help deal that extra damage needed when swinging in with the aggro over just having 4 Hellhole Flailers or something.



Let me know what you think! Cheers!

I'd recommend replacing some of the weaker cards:

#Rakdos Cackler isn't good, it is basically a Diregraf Ghoul that can never block instead of not being able to block once.
There are so many better 1-drops: Monastery Swiftspear, Soul-Scar Mage (especially with Grim Lavamancer)
and Dread Wanderer.

#Rakdos Shred-Freak is basically a strictly worse Ash Zealot which is easier to cast.
Personally I prefer creatures like Scrapheap Scrounger and instead Forerunner of Slaughter (especially with Smuggler's Copter).

#Hellhole Flailer isn't terrible but as a 3-drop I think you can do better with creatures like:
Goblin Rabblemaster (hits hard quickly), Olivia, Mobilized for War (evasive and can give haste to other creatures) or Hanweir Garrison
(makes a lot of tokens).
Even Lathnu Hellion (which can only attack twice) seems better with the haste + 4-toughness.

#Brutal Hordechief is a weak 4-drop that is only good when you're ahead and terrible without a board full of creatures and Rakdos, Lord of Riots is really powerful but situational and sometimes can't be cast if you can't deal damage (after your creature/s got removed).
Falkenrath Aristocrat is better than both imho (great synergy with Bloodsoaked Champion) and another good option is Hazoret the Fervent but it shot up in price recently so it is no longer an affordable card.

Awesome, yeah I definitely will make some changes to it then haha. The Scrapheap Scrounger, Forerunner of Slaughter and Smuggler's Copter trio look great actually. I'll pick some of those up for sure! I think Bloodsoaked Champion and Dread Wanderer could be good to have keep coming back too. Cheers for the options! I need to get Blood Crypts too Must expand the budget a little I think!

So I'm in and out of changes for this deck. It seems solid and I'm just about to pull the trigger on buying the rest of the singles i need for it. I have Gatekeeper in for both a body and a kill, (ahem...one of my fav cards since it came out also, and helped win me heaps of games). But I'm wondering if it's too mana heavy for Rakdos Aggro? I usually play it in mono black which curves out at 4cmc also and suits fine. Plus I'm running a swamp heavy build since I don't have more than 1cmc red source in all the red cards. I'm open to other suggestions though.

Would Desecration Demon be too slow for the deck to help curve out the 4cmc curve along with Falkenrath Aristocrat?

Claim // Fame seems fun with Keldon Marauders and Monastery Swiftspear, but should I focus on more tech? I was thinking since it's aggro, that having creatures out whenever I can would be the way to go. In saying that, having Bloodsoaked Champion, Monastery Swiftspear and Keldon Marauders to sac to Falkenrath Aristocrat and then using Claim // Fame to bring them back is pretty sweet!

Here's the current decklist anyway.

Gatekeeper of Malakir is pretty slow imho and the body is really weak, you have enough remval as it is imho.
I'd prefer Gifted Aetherborn as it is a pseudo-removal with its deathtouch and can gain life.
A more aggressive option can be Bloodrage Brawler that can discard a recursive creature.

Desecration Demon isn't the best 4-drop for this deck imho, those are Falkenrath Aristocrat and Hazoret the Fervent.
Another one which might be decent can be Rakdos, Lord of Riots but I wouldn't play too many 4-drops in the deck.

I prefer a recursive threat like Scrapheap Scrounger to some EtB/Ltb damage of Keldon Marauders.
With enough recrsive creatures (Bloodsoaked Champion, Dread Wanderer, Scrapheap Scrounger) Claim // Fame doesn't seem necessary.
I'd rather have Smuggler's Copter instead for looting and evasion.

Awesome, thanks for the response. Yeah that was my concern that he could be a bit slow for aggro as good of a card as he is. But Gifted Aetherborn and Scrapheap Scrounger will fit in both this and my mono black decks, so they'll both get added to the cart before I pull the trigger haha.

Hazoret would be wicked, just a bit out of budget ATM. I've looked at Rakdos, Lord of Riots. I may look at 2 of him at the most and keep Falkenrath Aristocrat at x4.

I think having x3 Scrapheap Scrounger or Gifted Aetherborn will be good as somewhat "utility" 2 drops and x4 Keldon Marauders for the aggro, which will fee up a spot for a 3rd Claim // Fame.

Cheers for the help D90Dennis14! Much appreciated!

I suppose the other question is that does an aggro deck need Inquisition of Kozilek? Having a first hand with Inquisition, Monastery Swiftspear and/or Bloodsoaked Champion would be tricky to choose what to play first. Inquisition is an excellent first turn card, but is getting the aggro on board more important or can it wait one turn?

Going in blind I'd go with a creature turn 1 if I can to curve out, than preferebly a 1-mana creature + IoK.
Than in game 2/3 when you know what you're up against you can make your decision based on the match-up.

Maybe it is worth trying to add some more Burn to the deck for reach.
Some interesting options seem to be: Brimstone Volley, Stoke the Flames or Flame Javelin that can deal more damage than Lightning Bolt.

Hey, i hope this project is going on, because i want to build something similar and would appreciate any feedback!
My idea is similar to D90Dennis14's and i would also top my curve at 3 (thus "sacrificing" Falkenrath Aristocrat). I would play 20 lands, 12-14 spells and 26-28 creatures. My creatures of choice would be a mix of recursive threats like

• Bloodsoaked Champion
  
• Scrapheap Scrounger
  
• Dread Wanderer

and strong must-answer threats like

• Pack Rat
  
• Goblin Rabblemaster
  
• Smuggler's Copter

.

Hello again! Looking at old standard, i tried a version of BR Eldrazi Aggro. It was worse than i imagined, especially without Eldrazi Temple, so i won't go further with that experiment.
Have you tried your lists? How did they performed?

Hi, it's me again! I found this list today and i rhink that it kinda supports our theory: cheap recursive creatures with a disruption package can be quite good in this meta. https://www.mtggoldfish.com/articles/instant-deck-tech-wb-zombie-copter-modern