As some of you may know I created the original mono-red aggro deck known as "ramunap red" two years ago in Amonkhet standard. After reading the new set's spoilers my mind immediately went to work to create the new aggro deck that will define the format, but this time it's not mono red but Rakdos (black/red)
After putting the deck together and playing a few BO1 games on Arena I'm certain that with a few tweaks this deck will be able to beat almost every other deck in Standard because it has a good game against both mono-red aggro decks as well as Esper control decks and with the sideboard it can take on midrange Golgari or Dimir decks as well. Not to mention that it will eat other control decks up for breakfast.
The sideboard is a bit wonky right now since the deck is in the infant stages and I will not get to play it live until this Friday, and the sideboard will also have to change depending on your meta as well.
What is interesting about this deck is that the mana cost of main deck spells ends at 3 mana, so it is a very fast deck. In the sideboard we have a couple of 4 mana costing spells but that's about it.
Time for an explanation of the cards:
Creatures:
Gutterbones - my friend is also running a Rakdos version of this deck and he swears by this card and plays 4 of them, I am only playing 2 of them so far to test and I don't think that the deck needs 4 of them in my version. Footlight fiend - the little fiend that could, this is a 4 of in my deck due to the fact that he can take out x/1's or even x/2's if they block, he can of course be sacked to fireblade artist to do a total of 3 damage and more if judith is out so he is just a crazy one drop. Dreadhorde butcher - the glue that makes the deck dangerous and resilient,he can be played on turn 2 to hit the opp and grow by 1, he can be sacked for a lot of damage, and also he is great even midgame. he is the reason that I decided to make this deck after seeing the spoiler. Fireblade artist - he's not much of an artist but he rocks, once the deck hits 4 mana it can drop two of these with haste, or one of these and butcher and go to town. He helps up the sac effects in the deck to deal damage to the player and is overall a great 2 drop. Hackrobat - this is the sleeper creature of the deck, she is amazing on turn 2 after a footlight fiend attack, she is pretty good midgame as she can trade and kill a bigger creature due to deathtouch or do a lot of damage if not blocked and pumped. Judith, the scourge diva - she is the leader of this motley crew of creatures and we all know what she does, pumps people and deals a lot of damage when my guys die. If an opponenet chooses to wrath the board he will probably die once that card resolves and all my creatures go to the graveyard. Mayhem devil - he is an anomaly, he is a three mana 3/3 which is nothing to scoff at, he can block and trade with x/3 creatures and he can do incidental damage when I or the opp has to sac a permanent.
Spells: Fungal infection - this is to clear the board of elves, or other pesky 1/1 creatures and make a token that can be sacked, it's a good spell even mid-game for some surprise shenaningans and it's great against mono red to help kill viashino pyromancer albeit after he desls his etb damage. Spark harvest - a 1 mana kill any creature or planeswalker is great, and I don't mind sacrificing my creatures to do that. Heartfire - doing 4 damage to anything for 2 mana as an instant is great, normally it wouldn't be good to sac creatures but in this deck the card shines, if you sack a footlight fiend you do 5 damage if you sac a butcher you do a lot more, also with judith out the damage increases and this card can win the game even if the opp is at 8-9 life. The flame of keld - it is an amazing card, obviously not on turn 2 but on turn 4 or 5 when you run out of steam you can drop this and watch the opp sweat and calculate how much damage he will take once the 3rd counter is put on the saga. This enables some crazy plays on it's 3rd turn and it has won me numerous games if even only to activate theater of horrors and do 3 damage instead of 1. Angrath's Rampage - the strongest removal spell at 2 mana in standard, this obviously clears the board of creatures for us to attack, it kills planeswalkers and so on. Theather of horrors - this is useful when cast on turn 4 or after and you run out of threats, it is a threat itself as it can deal damage and enable spectacle and it helps draw extra cards. The deck's curve ends at 3 mana, so once you get to 6-7 mana this enchantment carries the rest of the game.
Sideboard cards (tentative sideboard):
Carnival//Carnage - my friend plays them maindeck, I prefer them in the sideboard against mid-range and control decks that need to play answers to my threats and then hope to draw more cards, but a turn 4 carnage can stop them in their tracks. Drill bit - also against control decks, I should be doing damage every turn so this should only be cast for the spectacle cost, or maybe the full cost after turn 5-6 would be ok too. Plaguecrafter - he was originally main decked but was replaced by mayhem demon, he is great at clearing the board of creatures, planeswalkers and making opponents discard if they don't have either and also he can be a good sac effect for my creatures. He is also good against mid-range or control decks. Tibalt, rakish instigator - he will help win against white decks that like to gain life, or maybe also Esper variatns and of course golgari decks that also like to gain life, he can be sacked to heartfire to deal some damage as well. Of course, the devil tokens also deal damage when they die and they can be sacked to other spells for more shenaningans. Duress - self-explanatory, to help against control and midrange decks and help take out planeswalkers from opponent's hands. Spawn of mayhem - also great against midrange decks and may be ok against aggro decks to put a big 4/4 flying body out on turn 3. Gruesome menagerie - I am playing one of these in the sideboard just to test it out against midrange decks or Esper control, if they wipe the board and tap out, or tap out for a Teferi I can cast this and get 3 creatures back and put the pressure back on them.
As you can see this is a very dangerous deck to face off against and it has a good game against the existing decks in the format and will be able to deal with any planeswalker heavy decks that will pop up in the near future. The deck can win from nowhere and even if the opponent is at 10 or so life he could die instantly on the next turn.
It is a very fun deck to play and I can't wait to see it used at a major tournament in the near future by some pros and of course the credit not being given although this is the first posting of this deck on the net.
After one FNM last week where I went 2-1 and lost to the mirror match and a few matches on Arena I have changed the deck to this version, this the 2.0 version.
hello, considering redeeming for this deck on arena, i’m curious about your game 1 against rdw. looking at both your original post and your update, i think you are definitely moving in the right direction. i typically play best of one, but i’m also curious about including cry in the sb, seems antisynergistic.
additional question, if you were to play the same deck bo1 what changes would you make to the mb, if any?
I tested him but I settled on 3 theaters and 2 sagas. He doesn't add much to the deck and the deck doesn't need more 2 drop creatures since I have enough things to do on turns 2-3-4.
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hello, considering redeeming for this deck on arena, i’m curious about your game 1 against rdw. looking at both your original post and your update, i think you are definitely moving in the right direction. i typically play best of one, but i’m also curious about including cry in the sb, seems antisynergistic.
additional question, if you were to play the same deck bo1 what changes would you make to the mb, if any?
I also play bo1 usually and mono red is a 50% win chance, depending on who goes first and what the draws are.
Cast down helps a lot now, as does Spawn of mayhem since he is not easy to kill.
Cry is mostly to deal with mono white, they have many small creatures, knights and such so without a pump spell you can wipe their whole board. Usually my creatures will die by attacking and then I can cry.
Theaters are bomb in control match ups, they are mvp. I beat an esper deck that had two teferis out and azcanta against my two theaters, I actually out drew him by getting access to 3 cards a turn.
They are insane if the opp doesn't kill them.
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Footlight is unplayable, use diregraf ghoul
Theatre is a do nothing control card
Ravenous Chupacabra is worth at least 3 slots
Also, where is your playset of
bedevil?
Footlight is unplayable, use diregraf ghoul
Theatre is a do nothing control card
Ravenous Chupacabra is worth at least 3 slots
Also, where is your playset of
bedevil?
This is not an edh deck but a competitive standard deck, if you don't understand the difference don't comment.
Theater of horrors is the best card in this deck, it gives it staying power and it helps it win against esper and other mid-range and control decks.
Why does the deck need bedevil? And chupacabra is too expensive at 4 mana and also doesn't fit the deck theme well, due to flame of keld most of the creatures in the deck must be reddish. And don't ask why flame of keld is there.
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Dont know what you mean by the edh comment, all cards i mentioned are standard legal.
Your deck is trying to play an aggro core with random control cards and jank enchantments thrown in. Bedivil is good because it targets pretty much anything at instant speed rather than letting your opponent choose.
Dont know what you mean by the edh comment, all cards i mentioned are standard legal.
Your deck is trying to play an aggro core with random control cards and jank enchantments thrown in. Bedivil is good because it targets pretty much anything at instant speed rather than letting your opponent choose.
Again, if you have never played this deck, or against it then don't comment on it.
Which cards are control cards in this deck, do you even know what control means?
Bedevil doesn't target everything, if you read the card you'll notice that, also the deck runs many other cards at three mana so there is no space for bedevil in the deck, that's why it's not in there.
I tested it and it just didn't make the cut, I prefer the two mana removal spells better,and angrath's rampage can deal with artifacts too, so no need for bedevil. Just because you think a card is playable doesn't mean that it should be in every deck.
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After testing this, how do you plan on getting around an opponents chandra, fire artisan
It smashed me every game i played against red with this. Secondly, I'm also not a fan of the theater. How does it help you in the control matchup that much? Because of its mana cost, it happens to be up against a counterspell or a mortify if cast on curve or the player can remove it in resp to you getting any cards.
It doesn't play like an aggro deck at all. Only 7 one drops has me not getting one on turn 1 every time like it should.
It leans more like a midrange style deck. What do you think of [c]chandra, fire artisan[c] over the theater. Seems to play better with the creature defense, judith and is more consistent card draw than theater as well as a faster clock and harder to remove permanent.
I enjoyed the red deck you made, this one seems to not do well against the meta atm. I also see no reason to play hackrobat. The card is a limited bomb. It is pretty lackluster in constructed. Especially with only 7 ways to trigger the spectacle on turn 2.
Also, no need to be so defensive. You explained your reasons for the inclusions/exclusions. That is pretty much all you need to do.
I'm not sure what you're talking about with Chandra. The deck runs Angrath's rampage main and also plaguecrafter and the elderspell in the sideboard now, so planeswalkers will just get destroyed or sacrificed, no need to attack them.
The theater is key in outdrawing control decks, as I said before I was able to beat a control deck that had Azcanta flipped and both Teferi's out while I had 2 Theaters out. It helped me draw extra cards and once I dealt 1 damage to the opp I had access to like 7-8 extra cards under both theaters. They are very hard to kill for control decks cause they're usually busy killing your creatures and once you hit 7-8 mana you can easily cast multiple spells off of the theathers.
There's no way that Chandra is better than theater in this deck but you're welcome to try testing her.
As for hackrobat, she is really good at any point in the game because she's basically a 2 mana 2/3 that pumps and hits for 4 if the opp has no blockers or she trades with any size blocker due to deathtouch.
Tamiyo is a headache for this deck, but it's possible to get around it and just attack her to kill her or use heartfire on her.
Personally I see a lot of promise and potential with an aggressive Rakdos build for Standard, especially as we begin to approach rotation after which most of key Red aggro cards will be gone.
I have a similar version of a Rakdos deck, and just recently found your article as I'm trying to improve mine.
I am a huge fan of Theatre and you really can't see Theatre's power until you play it in a deck like this. I've been running 3 copies.
Certainly run 4 copies of dreadhorde butcher, and running a changeable number of Foot fiends (2-3), Fireblade artists (2), and Judith's (1-3).
The bread & butter of my deck has been Mayhem devil + Plaguecrafter. I run 4 copies of each.
I've achieved some astonishing wins in combination between the devil, plaguecrafter, all the sac. spells, and recently the addition of Dark Dweller oracle. So far the Dark Dweller over-performed when paired with Mayhem devil.
One thing I'm missing (and will add) is Heartfire. Not sure why I didn't test that one right away - I was worried having too many sac. dependant spells, but I am going to shift from 2 to 4 fiends to support 2 copies of Heartfire.
I like your idea of using Fungal infection - I've been using Skulduggery instead which I do enjoy in aggro but Fungal is more effective here.
I do run 2x Ravenous Chups - it's just an extremely efficient creature, however I may experiment cutting it for something more synergistic to the sacrifice theme.
All versions of my deck have also ran the new Angrath - it's not the ideal 4-slot card but it's done work and I haven't had the chance to cut it yet. The menace clause is great to help finish off players, and extra bodies to sac. are nice as well.
I recently tested one copy of Dreadhorde Invasion and really like it so far. You can look at it as a free 1/1 to sac. each turn!
I've had a roughly 65% win rate with this deck in about 20-25 games which is not bad, though I'm not playing at the highest tiers yet.
Anyways let me know your thoughts and if think a heavier focus on Mayhem devil is a good idea, or you think I'm going in the wrong direction?
I just finished building mine, and I like it a lot. Theater of Horrors is the centerpiece of the deck. Very good card and I want to enable it as much as possible as it is the card that holds "all the garbage" together. It lets you stay in the game when it gets long and also lets you deal damage once you have excess lands.
The basic plan is deal as much damage as possible until they stall you, and after that sit and chump block to finish them. Tibalt, Rakish Instigator is very important to have in the maindeck because it gives you multiple creatures and stops any lifegain that would otherwise be annoying.
Mulliganing is very important as this deck NEEDS to reach 3 mana in order to function.
Rankle is four mana, currently only carnage is at 4 in my deck.
I really like the aggro version of the deck, so I'd prefer to stay at 3 mana or less.
The knight may fit at 2 mana, but I'm not sure if I can fit other knights in to take full advantage of him. Maybe the one mana rare guy with haste would work to make the deck almost all hasty.
I'll have to test it, the loss of the land hurts.
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Now that I've looked at Stormfist Crusader more carefuly, its the best Spectacle enabler we can play and is especially good in an aggro deck, where your opponent usually doesn't have a lot of time to take advantage of the extra cards.
Combined with Theater of Horrors you're drawing 3 cards every turn and probably even casting all those cards since they're low costed.
Yeah stormfist crusader 2nd turn into theater 3rd turn seems pretty effective. You can put pressure by attacking, get extra cards, play a land on curve on the 4th turn and go to town.
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Theater is insane if you can use the exiled cards every turn, I remember in one game I had two active theaters and I out drew an azorius deck with two teferis out and won the game.
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Yeah, even excess mana is good. Can't wait for rotation so I can start testing the Knight
I'm going to test bonecrusher giant too, looks like a really good removal spell and a big creature the turn after.
Yesterday I played for a bit on Arena and went 3-1. The first 3 people scooped by turn 4,the 4th one was a close match but I lost to a mass manipulation taking all 3 of my creatures, if he didn't cast that I would've won the next turn.
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I'm still testing it, I went 4-1 out of 5 rounds in the arena standard tourney, i lost to simic.
First turn goose into second turn oko is a problem, I should've attacked oko but I hit the player instead.
That turned out to be a big mistake, I think I need more removal or direct damage.
In the first 3 matches all my opps scooped by turn 4 though.
The deck is very oppressive when going first.
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As some of you may know I created the original mono-red aggro deck known as "ramunap red" two years ago in Amonkhet standard. After reading the new set's spoilers my mind immediately went to work to create the new aggro deck that will define the format, but this time it's not mono red but Rakdos (black/red)
After putting the deck together and playing a few BO1 games on Arena I'm certain that with a few tweaks this deck will be able to beat almost every other deck in Standard because it has a good game against both mono-red aggro decks as well as Esper control decks and with the sideboard it can take on midrange Golgari or Dimir decks as well. Not to mention that it will eat other control decks up for breakfast.
Without further ado I give you:
4 Blood Crypt (RNA)
4 Dragonskull Summit (XLN)
6 Mountain (RIX)
7 Swamp (RIX)
3 Fungal Infection (DAR)
2 Spark Harvest (WAR)
3 Heartfire (WAR)
3 The Flame of Keld (DAR)
2 Theater of Horrors (RNA)
4 Angrath's Rampage (WAR)
4 Dreadhorde Butcher (WAR)
4 Fireblade Artist (RNA)
2 Mayhem Devil (WAR)
3 Hackrobat (RNA)
4 Judith, the Scourge Diva (RNA)
2 Gutterbones (RNA)
3 Drill Bit (RNA)
2 Plaguecrafter (GRN)
3 Carnival // Carnage (RNA)
2 Spawn of Mayhem (RNA)
2 Duress (GRN)
2 Tibalt, rakish instigator
1 Gruesome menagerie
The sideboard is a bit wonky right now since the deck is in the infant stages and I will not get to play it live until this Friday, and the sideboard will also have to change depending on your meta as well.
What is interesting about this deck is that the mana cost of main deck spells ends at 3 mana, so it is a very fast deck. In the sideboard we have a couple of 4 mana costing spells but that's about it.
Time for an explanation of the cards:
Creatures:
Gutterbones - my friend is also running a Rakdos version of this deck and he swears by this card and plays 4 of them, I am only playing 2 of them so far to test and I don't think that the deck needs 4 of them in my version.
Footlight fiend - the little fiend that could, this is a 4 of in my deck due to the fact that he can take out x/1's or even x/2's if they block, he can of course be sacked to fireblade artist to do a total of 3 damage and more if judith is out so he is just a crazy one drop.
Dreadhorde butcher - the glue that makes the deck dangerous and resilient,he can be played on turn 2 to hit the opp and grow by 1, he can be sacked for a lot of damage, and also he is great even midgame. he is the reason that I decided to make this deck after seeing the spoiler.
Fireblade artist - he's not much of an artist but he rocks, once the deck hits 4 mana it can drop two of these with haste, or one of these and butcher and go to town. He helps up the sac effects in the deck to deal damage to the player and is overall a great 2 drop.
Hackrobat - this is the sleeper creature of the deck, she is amazing on turn 2 after a footlight fiend attack, she is pretty good midgame as she can trade and kill a bigger creature due to deathtouch or do a lot of damage if not blocked and pumped.
Judith, the scourge diva - she is the leader of this motley crew of creatures and we all know what she does, pumps people and deals a lot of damage when my guys die. If an opponenet chooses to wrath the board he will probably die once that card resolves and all my creatures go to the graveyard.
Mayhem devil - he is an anomaly, he is a three mana 3/3 which is nothing to scoff at, he can block and trade with x/3 creatures and he can do incidental damage when I or the opp has to sac a permanent.
Spells:
Fungal infection - this is to clear the board of elves, or other pesky 1/1 creatures and make a token that can be sacked, it's a good spell even mid-game for some surprise shenaningans and it's great against mono red to help kill viashino pyromancer albeit after he desls his etb damage.
Spark harvest - a 1 mana kill any creature or planeswalker is great, and I don't mind sacrificing my creatures to do that.
Heartfire - doing 4 damage to anything for 2 mana as an instant is great, normally it wouldn't be good to sac creatures but in this deck the card shines, if you sack a footlight fiend you do 5 damage if you sac a butcher you do a lot more, also with judith out the damage increases and this card can win the game even if the opp is at 8-9 life.
The flame of keld - it is an amazing card, obviously not on turn 2 but on turn 4 or 5 when you run out of steam you can drop this and watch the opp sweat and calculate how much damage he will take once the 3rd counter is put on the saga. This enables some crazy plays on it's 3rd turn and it has won me numerous games if even only to activate theater of horrors and do 3 damage instead of 1.
Angrath's Rampage - the strongest removal spell at 2 mana in standard, this obviously clears the board of creatures for us to attack, it kills planeswalkers and so on.
Theather of horrors - this is useful when cast on turn 4 or after and you run out of threats, it is a threat itself as it can deal damage and enable spectacle and it helps draw extra cards. The deck's curve ends at 3 mana, so once you get to 6-7 mana this enchantment carries the rest of the game.
Sideboard cards (tentative sideboard):
Carnival//Carnage - my friend plays them maindeck, I prefer them in the sideboard against mid-range and control decks that need to play answers to my threats and then hope to draw more cards, but a turn 4 carnage can stop them in their tracks.
Drill bit - also against control decks, I should be doing damage every turn so this should only be cast for the spectacle cost, or maybe the full cost after turn 5-6 would be ok too.
Plaguecrafter - he was originally main decked but was replaced by mayhem demon, he is great at clearing the board of creatures, planeswalkers and making opponents discard if they don't have either and also he can be a good sac effect for my creatures. He is also good against mid-range or control decks.
Tibalt, rakish instigator - he will help win against white decks that like to gain life, or maybe also Esper variatns and of course golgari decks that also like to gain life, he can be sacked to heartfire to deal some damage as well. Of course, the devil tokens also deal damage when they die and they can be sacked to other spells for more shenaningans.
Duress - self-explanatory, to help against control and midrange decks and help take out planeswalkers from opponent's hands.
Spawn of mayhem - also great against midrange decks and may be ok against aggro decks to put a big 4/4 flying body out on turn 3.
Gruesome menagerie - I am playing one of these in the sideboard just to test it out against midrange decks or Esper control, if they wipe the board and tap out, or tap out for a Teferi I can cast this and get 3 creatures back and put the pressure back on them.
As you can see this is a very dangerous deck to face off against and it has a good game against the existing decks in the format and will be able to deal with any planeswalker heavy decks that will pop up in the near future. The deck can win from nowhere and even if the opponent is at 10 or so life he could die instantly on the next turn.
It is a very fun deck to play and I can't wait to see it used at a major tournament in the near future by some pros and of course the credit not being given although this is the first posting of this deck on the net.
EDIT: updated the sideboard.
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Mtg Lifestyle
After one FNM last week where I went 2-1 and lost to the mirror match and a few matches on Arena I have changed the deck to this version, this the 2.0 version.
6 Mountain (RIX) 195
2 Heartfire (WAR) 131
6 Swamp (RIX) 194
2 The Flame of Keld (DAR) 123
4 Blood Crypt (RNA) 245
4 Dragonskull Summit (XLN) 252
4 Footlight Fiend (RNA) 216
4 Dreadhorde Butcher (WAR) 194
4 Fireblade Artist (RNA) 172
2 Spawn of Mayhem (RNA) 85
3 Hackrobat (RNA) 181
3 Theater of Horrors (RNA) 213
4 Angrath's Rampage (WAR) 185
4 Judith, the Scourge Diva (RNA) 185
3 Gutterbones (RNA) 76
3 Cast Down (DAR) 81
3 Plaguecrafter (GRN) 82
2 Banefire (M19) 130
3 Cry of the Carnarium (RNA) 70
2 Tibalt, Rakish Instigator (WAR) 146
1 Gruesome Menagerie (GRN) 71
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Mtg Lifestyle
additional question, if you were to play the same deck bo1 what changes would you make to the mb, if any?
I tested him but I settled on 3 theaters and 2 sagas. He doesn't add much to the deck and the deck doesn't need more 2 drop creatures since I have enough things to do on turns 2-3-4.
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Mtg Lifestyle
I also play bo1 usually and mono red is a 50% win chance, depending on who goes first and what the draws are.
Cast down helps a lot now, as does Spawn of mayhem since he is not easy to kill.
Cry is mostly to deal with mono white, they have many small creatures, knights and such so without a pump spell you can wipe their whole board. Usually my creatures will die by attacking and then I can cry.
Theaters are bomb in control match ups, they are mvp. I beat an esper deck that had two teferis out and azcanta against my two theaters, I actually out drew him by getting access to 3 cards a turn.
They are insane if the opp doesn't kill them.
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Mtg Lifestyle
Theatre is a do nothing control card
Ravenous Chupacabra is worth at least 3 slots
Also, where is your playset of
bedevil?
This is not an edh deck but a competitive standard deck, if you don't understand the difference don't comment.
Theater of horrors is the best card in this deck, it gives it staying power and it helps it win against esper and other mid-range and control decks.
Why does the deck need bedevil? And chupacabra is too expensive at 4 mana and also doesn't fit the deck theme well, due to flame of keld most of the creatures in the deck must be reddish. And don't ask why flame of keld is there.
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Mtg Lifestyle
Your deck is trying to play an aggro core with random control cards and jank enchantments thrown in. Bedivil is good because it targets pretty much anything at instant speed rather than letting your opponent choose.
Again, if you have never played this deck, or against it then don't comment on it.
Which cards are control cards in this deck, do you even know what control means?
Bedevil doesn't target everything, if you read the card you'll notice that, also the deck runs many other cards at three mana so there is no space for bedevil in the deck, that's why it's not in there.
I tested it and it just didn't make the cut, I prefer the two mana removal spells better,and angrath's rampage can deal with artifacts too, so no need for bedevil. Just because you think a card is playable doesn't mean that it should be in every deck.
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Mtg Lifestyle
It smashed me every game i played against red with this. Secondly, I'm also not a fan of the theater. How does it help you in the control matchup that much? Because of its mana cost, it happens to be up against a counterspell or a mortify if cast on curve or the player can remove it in resp to you getting any cards.
It doesn't play like an aggro deck at all. Only 7 one drops has me not getting one on turn 1 every time like it should.
It leans more like a midrange style deck. What do you think of [c]chandra, fire artisan[c] over the theater. Seems to play better with the creature defense, judith and is more consistent card draw than theater as well as a faster clock and harder to remove permanent.
I enjoyed the red deck you made, this one seems to not do well against the meta atm. I also see no reason to play hackrobat. The card is a limited bomb. It is pretty lackluster in constructed. Especially with only 7 ways to trigger the spectacle on turn 2.
Also, no need to be so defensive. You explained your reasons for the inclusions/exclusions. That is pretty much all you need to do.
As for the bedevil vs angrath's rampage debate, mana does have a lot to do with it. Although, tamiyo, collector of tales certainly needs to be considered.
The theater is key in outdrawing control decks, as I said before I was able to beat a control deck that had Azcanta flipped and both Teferi's out while I had 2 Theaters out. It helped me draw extra cards and once I dealt 1 damage to the opp I had access to like 7-8 extra cards under both theaters. They are very hard to kill for control decks cause they're usually busy killing your creatures and once you hit 7-8 mana you can easily cast multiple spells off of the theathers.
There's no way that Chandra is better than theater in this deck but you're welcome to try testing her.
As for hackrobat, she is really good at any point in the game because she's basically a 2 mana 2/3 that pumps and hits for 4 if the opp has no blockers or she trades with any size blocker due to deathtouch.
Tamiyo is a headache for this deck, but it's possible to get around it and just attack her to kill her or use heartfire on her.
Here's the latest iteration of the deck:
5 Mountain (RIX) 195
2 Heartfire (WAR) 131
7 Swamp (RIX) 194
2 The Flame of Keld (DAR) 123
4 Blood Crypt (RNA) 245
4 Dragonskull Summit (XLN) 252
4 Footlight Fiend (RNA) 216
4 Dreadhorde Butcher (WAR) 194
4 Fireblade Artist (RNA) 172
2 Spawn of Mayhem (RNA) 85
3 Hackrobat (RNA) 181
3 Theater of Horrors (RNA) 213
4 Angrath's Rampage (WAR) 185
4 Judith, the Scourge Diva (RNA) 185
3 Gutterbones (RNA) 76
2 Cast Down (DAR) 81
1 Banefire (M19) 130
4 Plaguecrafter (GRN) 82
1 Banefire (M19) 130
2 The Elderspell (WAR) 89
2 Tibalt, Rakish Instigator (WAR) 146
1 Gruesome Menagerie (GRN) 71
1 Carnival // Carnage (RNA) 222
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I have a similar version of a Rakdos deck, and just recently found your article as I'm trying to improve mine.
I am a huge fan of Theatre and you really can't see Theatre's power until you play it in a deck like this. I've been running 3 copies.
Certainly run 4 copies of dreadhorde butcher, and running a changeable number of Foot fiends (2-3), Fireblade artists (2), and Judith's (1-3).
The bread & butter of my deck has been Mayhem devil + Plaguecrafter. I run 4 copies of each.
I've achieved some astonishing wins in combination between the devil, plaguecrafter, all the sac. spells, and recently the addition of Dark Dweller oracle. So far the Dark Dweller over-performed when paired with Mayhem devil.
One thing I'm missing (and will add) is Heartfire. Not sure why I didn't test that one right away - I was worried having too many sac. dependant spells, but I am going to shift from 2 to 4 fiends to support 2 copies of Heartfire.
I like your idea of using Fungal infection - I've been using Skulduggery instead which I do enjoy in aggro but Fungal is more effective here.
I do run 2x Ravenous Chups - it's just an extremely efficient creature, however I may experiment cutting it for something more synergistic to the sacrifice theme.
All versions of my deck have also ran the new Angrath - it's not the ideal 4-slot card but it's done work and I haven't had the chance to cut it yet. The menace clause is great to help finish off players, and extra bodies to sac. are nice as well.
I recently tested one copy of Dreadhorde Invasion and really like it so far. You can look at it as a free 1/1 to sac. each turn!
I've had a roughly 65% win rate with this deck in about 20-25 games which is not bad, though I'm not playing at the highest tiers yet.
Anyways let me know your thoughts and if think a heavier focus on Mayhem devil is a good idea, or you think I'm going in the wrong direction?
The basic plan is deal as much damage as possible until they stall you, and after that sit and chump block to finish them. Tibalt, Rakish Instigator is very important to have in the maindeck because it gives you multiple creatures and stops any lifegain that would otherwise be annoying.
Mulliganing is very important as this deck NEEDS to reach 3 mana in order to function.
4 Ember Hauler
1 Mayhem Devil
3 Fireblade Artist
4 Footlight Fiend
2 Judith, the Scourge Diva
4 Fanatical Firebrand
Other 22
4 Shock
2 Heartfire
4 Lightning Strike
3 Tibalt, Rakish Instigator
4 Light Up the Stage
4 Theater of Horrors
Lands 20
4 Blood Crypt
4 Dragonskull Summit
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Swamp
10 Mountain
2 Bladebrand
3 Fry
2 Chandra's Pyrohelix
2 Act of Treason
4 Lava Coil
2 Goblin Chainwhirler
EDIT: Updated to the current version
The land is a big hit, but the other cards can be replaced easily, I will be piloting this deck in the upcoming early standard season.
There is a rakdos card that will fit this deck coming in eldraine.
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I'm currently playing a more midrange version and I think Rankle, Master of Pranks could be very good for it
I think its gonna be a good idea to play 4 Lava Coils maindeck too, at least in midrange, the card is gonna be great in this format
I really like the aggro version of the deck, so I'd prefer to stay at 3 mana or less.
The knight may fit at 2 mana, but I'm not sure if I can fit other knights in to take full advantage of him. Maybe the one mana rare guy with haste would work to make the deck almost all hasty.
I'll have to test it, the loss of the land hurts.
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Combined with Theater of Horrors you're drawing 3 cards every turn and probably even casting all those cards since they're low costed.
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http://www.starcitygames.com/articles/39126_My-Top-5-Sleepers-In-Throne-Of-Eldraine-Standard.html
Theater is insane if you can use the exiled cards every turn, I remember in one game I had two active theaters and I out drew an azorius deck with two teferis out and won the game.
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I'm going to test bonecrusher giant too, looks like a really good removal spell and a big creature the turn after.
Yesterday I played for a bit on Arena and went 3-1. The first 3 people scooped by turn 4,the 4th one was a close match but I lost to a mass manipulation taking all 3 of my creatures, if he didn't cast that I would've won the next turn.
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Between the cat's own Ping + Judith and/or Mayhem Devil seems like it could do stuff...
What's your current list Xaltair?
First turn goose into second turn oko is a problem, I should've attacked oko but I hit the player instead.
That turned out to be a big mistake, I think I need more removal or direct damage.
In the first 3 matches all my opps scooped by turn 4 though.
The deck is very oppressive when going first.
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