I didn't see any other discussions of this card. I love the depth that light up the stage can give red. How do we feel about theater? Does it provide Rakdos the depth it needs? Does it make it a difference if the cube is powered or unpowered?
Eh, I think I'd rather just play the mono-colored versions of this effect, arena and frenzy. I don't think this card cracks into a guild section, even with Rakdos being fairly weak, when there are mono-colored version of cards that are pretty close to this effect (and arena is just better). And that's even with me categorizing Cackler as a R card rather than rakdos.
Yeah, I know everyone plays the cackler, I don't know. It just never seems to see any play in my group. Most of my rakdos section now supports aristocrats, so I have been thinking of pulling the cackler for something else.
I have even toyed with playing footlight fiend in his place. rakdos cackler just doesn't seem to do much or seem flexible.
Yeah, I know everyone plays the cackler, I don't know. It just never seems to see any play in my group. Most of my rakdos section now supports aristocrats, so I have been thinking of pulling the cackler for something else.
I have even toyed with playing footlight fiend in his place. rakdos cackler just doesn't seem to do much or seem flexible.
That's basically why I categorized it as red. It's exactly what R aggro wants, but it's a pretty boring guild card and no mono-B deck is ever gonna want it, not are many flavors of decks running R and B cards.
So, I have decided to cut murderous redcap, and keep the cackler in order to run theater of horrors. Rakdos is so weak compared to some of the other guilds, I really want to try out some new stuff. I actually think that some of the best rakdos cube cards are printed in this set.
Judith, the scourge diva, Bedevil, and maybe theater, though not to the extent of these two. Judith is probably one of the top 5 Rakdos cards ever, and Bedevil is an upgrade over terminate and dreadbore.
I don't think Bedevil is necessarily an upgrade to Dreadbore. I also don't think is all that weak either. It's a pretty strong guild overall.
Agree with all of this, Rakdos is one of the few guilds that I feel some of the cards I don't play are also great. Dreadbore is the sort of card you want to splash for in red deck as it offers an effect doesn't have access to, but not so much in black. If Rakdos is heavily aggro the cheaper cost is a big difference.
mjrsea, you are referring to different metrics in your comment. Are you interested in ranking the guilds by strength of decks in those colors, strength of the gold cards or depth of the gold cards?
By strategy I mean that boros just wants to attack mostly, and in general, much like gruul, plays pretty fair magic. Lightning Helix and boros charm are good cards, but I don't think they are as busted as some of the cards in dimir, azorius, golgari,
For both Gruul and Boros there are 2-3 cards that are head and shoulders above the others, and then it is just personal preference, bloodbraid elf, dragonlord atarka and ajani venjeant, boros charm, lightning helix. The other slots in the guilds are pretty flexible I feel because the cards are noticeably worse than these. Furthermore, decks built in these guilds all kinda look the same.
I think Rakdos has a similar problem, but not as bad as these two. rakdos cackler is played in most cubes and what is it? A 2/2 that can't block. So, it is a bad savannah lions. I think Kolaghan's command is good, and the rest is flexible. Although after playing with her, I think judith, the scourge diva might be a new Rakdos must have as she enables both aggro and aristocrats. Red cap is fine, as is dread bore, but am a huge fan of bedevils flexibility to kill artifacts and planeswalkers.
Size of cube helps play a big role in how noticeable a guild's weakness is. I think in a larger cube, you are forced to play more slightly suboptimal cards, and therefore, the weakness of individual guilds are less noticeable. In a small cube where you see most of the cards in a draft, suboptimal cards really stand out.
Lastly, and I emphasize this is just my opinion, I think a lot of cubers are reticent about trying out new cards. Instead, I feel, they use old standbys. I like like changing things up. Letting my playgroup see new cards. I don't want them overly comfortable, and always able to draft the same deck, and I love it when they see a new card and go, "what is this?" and try something new around built around it. As a result, I am nearly always tinkering with my cube.
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I have even toyed with playing footlight fiend in his place. rakdos cackler just doesn't seem to do much or seem flexible.
That's basically why I categorized it as red. It's exactly what R aggro wants, but it's a pretty boring guild card and no mono-B deck is ever gonna want it, not are many flavors of decks running R and B cards.
375 unpowered cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/list/601ac624832cdf1039947588
Judith, the scourge diva, Bedevil, and maybe theater, though not to the extent of these two. Judith is probably one of the top 5 Rakdos cards ever, and Bedevil is an upgrade over terminate and dreadbore.
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I think pretty much all the blue guilds are the best, with Rakdos, Selesnya, Gruul, and Boros at the bottom.
I think the different is that Boros actually has decent Boros cards, but that the Boros strategy is not that strong.
Gruul probably has the overall worst guild cards.
Thoughts?
Agree with all of this, Rakdos is one of the few guilds that I feel some of the cards I don't play are also great. Dreadbore is the sort of card you want to splash for in red deck as it offers an effect doesn't have access to, but not so much in black. If Rakdos is heavily aggro the cheaper cost is a big difference.
mjrsea, you are referring to different metrics in your comment. Are you interested in ranking the guilds by strength of decks in those colors, strength of the gold cards or depth of the gold cards?
What do you mean by Boros strategy?
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For both Gruul and Boros there are 2-3 cards that are head and shoulders above the others, and then it is just personal preference, bloodbraid elf, dragonlord atarka and ajani venjeant, boros charm, lightning helix. The other slots in the guilds are pretty flexible I feel because the cards are noticeably worse than these. Furthermore, decks built in these guilds all kinda look the same.
I think Rakdos has a similar problem, but not as bad as these two. rakdos cackler is played in most cubes and what is it? A 2/2 that can't block. So, it is a bad savannah lions. I think Kolaghan's command is good, and the rest is flexible. Although after playing with her, I think judith, the scourge diva might be a new Rakdos must have as she enables both aggro and aristocrats. Red cap is fine, as is dread bore, but am a huge fan of bedevils flexibility to kill artifacts and planeswalkers.
Size of cube helps play a big role in how noticeable a guild's weakness is. I think in a larger cube, you are forced to play more slightly suboptimal cards, and therefore, the weakness of individual guilds are less noticeable. In a small cube where you see most of the cards in a draft, suboptimal cards really stand out.
Lastly, and I emphasize this is just my opinion, I think a lot of cubers are reticent about trying out new cards. Instead, I feel, they use old standbys. I like like changing things up. Letting my playgroup see new cards. I don't want them overly comfortable, and always able to draft the same deck, and I love it when they see a new card and go, "what is this?" and try something new around built around it. As a result, I am nearly always tinkering with my cube.