Gadrak in the 99

[Dunharrow]

I was inspired by Pokken's search for a mono-red commander and got myself a Gadrak, the Crown-Scourge as I thought it was a cool card.
I am not really in the mood to make a new deck right now, so I was thinking about putting him in another deck.

I just don't know if it is worth it. What do you think?

My Marchesa, the Black Rose deck doesn't have any artifact synergies and I am not sure if the extra mana is worthwhile. I feel like Gadrak goes best in a deck that would have Pitiless Plunderer, Pawn of Ulamog and Sifter of Skulls. I have these in my Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim deck as they can fuel chains of sacrificing things (imagine with a Deathrender in play).

Have any of you seen some good synergies? Maybe more like a Korvold, Fae-Cursed King deck?

[duducrash]

I got one in a pack and I think I'll try in Alesha, Who Smiles at Death aristocrats build. I think the card its probably better suited to be played in Mardu aristocrats builds. Controling the sac side of the deal means you get a say in the deaths, its extra value and all that. I think I'll slot mostly for the treasures.

[toctheyounger]

Have any of you seen some good synergies? Maybe more like a Korvold, Fae-Cursed King deck?

This was my thought for him. He'd be pretty great in that build.

[darrenhabib]

There is a "Modular" artifact Marchesa, the Black Rose deck I've seen that is actually pretty sweet. It uses things like Arcbound Ravager, Arcbound Reclaimer, Crystalline Crawler, Mindless Automaton, Scrapyard Recombiner, Steel Overseer to make use of the +1/+1 counter synergy.

Now that I look at Gadrak I could probably make use of it in my Greven, Predator Captain deck. High power to casting and I can get a treasure each time I sacrifice another creature..yeah good actually.

[Treamayne]

My first thought for him was a RBx build, with Karn, Silver Golem and Dark Prophecy effects; to turn the treasures into draw effects when needed. If you have an anthem effect, you can cascade the first activation by making a creature, sacking for the 1 mana to make the next treasure a creature and still get the draw trigger to boot.

[OCPunisher]

Have any of you seen some good synergies? Maybe more like a Korvold, Fae-Cursed King deck?

This was my thought for him. He'd be pretty great in that build.

Korvold would probably work, but you could say that about any card these days. Marchesa looks like another solid fit since it presumably wants to sacrifice creatures for profit already.

[toctheyounger]

Have any of you seen some good synergies? Maybe more like a Korvold, Fae-Cursed King deck?

This was my thought for him. He'd be pretty great in that build.

Korvold would probably work, but you could say that about snort any card these days. Marchesa looks like another solid fit since it presumably wants to sacrifice creatures for profit already.

Yeah, you're not wrong. If it's cardboard, Korvold, Fae-Cursed King can probably use it.

[Dunharrow]

My first thought for him was a RBx build, with Karn, Silver Golem and Dark Prophecy effects; to turn the treasures into draw effects when needed. If you have an anthem effect, you can cascade the first activation by making a creature, sacking for the 1 mana to make the next treasure a creature and still get the draw trigger to boot.

So maybe someone like Judith, the Scourge Diva ? But bear in mind that Gadrak's trigger is for non-token creatures. That's why Marchesa and Alesha are coming up - they don't really care for tokens either!

[pokken]

I had good luck with a ludevic and tymna affinity deck that would have liked gadrak as a beefy synergistic attacker.

[TheAmericanSpirit]

Have any of you seen some good synergies? Maybe more like a Korvold, Fae-Cursed King deck?

This was my thought for him. He'd be pretty great in that build.

You'd think so, right? Sad thing is, King Korvold has some many other better things to do than cast a creature who can't attack and only generates value at EOT. And most of those other payoffs can trigger off tokens, another thing Gadrak can't do.

At three mana, you're competing with A LOT. I think he's more up Daretti's street or in other homes that support his artifact reliance because Gadrak is best as a cheap 5/4 flyer, not as a combo piece. He just has too many clauses to really "go off" with anything.

[Dunharrow]

Have any of you seen some good synergies? Maybe more like a Korvold, Fae-Cursed King deck?

This was my thought for him. He'd be pretty great in that build.

You'd think so, right? Sad thing is, King Korvold has some many other better things to do than cast a creature who can't attack and only generates value at EOT. And most of those other payoffs can trigger off tokens, another thing Gadrak can't do.

At three mana, you're competing with A LOT. I think he's more up Daretti's street or in other homes that support his artifact reliance because Gadrak is best as a cheap 5/4 flyer, not as a combo piece. He just has too many clauses to really "go off" with anything.

I find this surprising. Don't the treasure tokens draw you cards? So every time you sac a creature for value, you are getting extra card draw and mana. I know it's EOT but it still seems decent.
You are right that the body is useless.
I also understand that Gadrak doesn't combo but a lot of people don't want to combo out.

[toctheyounger]

This was my thought for him. He'd be pretty great in that build.

You'd think so, right? Sad thing is, King Korvold has some many other better things to do than cast a creature who can't attack and only generates value at EOT. And most of those other payoffs can trigger off tokens, another thing Gadrak can't do.

At three mana, you're competing with A LOT. I think he's more up Daretti's street or in other homes that support his artifact reliance because Gadrak is best as a cheap 5/4 flyer, not as a combo piece. He just has too many clauses to really "go off" with anything.

I find this surprising. Don't the treasure tokens draw you cards? So every time you sac a creature for value, you are getting extra card draw and mana. I know it's EOT but it still seems decent.
You are right that the body is useless.
I also understand that Gadrak doesn't combo but a lot of people don't want to combo out.

I see both sides. Gadrak probably works ok for Korvold, but Korvold doesn't necessarily work well for Gadrak. Most of my sacrifice in my Korvold deck is lands which won't work for Gadrak at all.