Rakdos, Rip Their Face Off

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BaronCappuccino
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Post by BaronCappuccino » 3 years ago

I like what you're going for here. I'm running Judith, the Scourge Diva, and we have a good handful of cards in common - namely, the big power plays like Razaketh, the Foulblooded and K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth that really let you do some cheating. Anyhow, in the vein of cards that really speed up your powering out of useful fatties, Bolas's Citadel has been worth its weight in gold for me. With Sensei's Divining Top in play, you can effectively cast your whole deck - life permitting. At worst, you swap your top card for Top, and pay a life to draw on.

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Tevesh
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Post by Tevesh » 3 years ago

BaronCappuccino wrote:
3 years ago
I like what you're going for here. I'm running Judith, the Scourge Diva, and we have a good handful of cards in common - namely, the big power plays like Razaketh, the Foulblooded and K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth that really let you do some cheating. Anyhow, in the vein of cards that really speed up your powering out of useful fatties, Bolas's Citadel has been worth its weight in gold for me. With Sensei's Divining Top in play, you can effectively cast your whole deck - life permitting. At worst, you swap your top card for Top, and pay a life to draw on.
Well, aren't I a dummy. Yeah, Citadel should be bonkers:
Changes 09/29/20
Approximate Total Cost:

With Ikra-Tymna being totally sent to the farm, I freed up my last Demonic and as this deck speeds up again, I need better tutors. This is making me think of whether to push Rakdos up again, as it seems to kill the table with big men and if I'm not completely shut down, I can combo off. With the deck's speed, the utility recursion was simply too slow - my guys need to be put back into play, not jump through hoops to do so.

With Tortured Existence making room for Demonic Tutor, Phyrexian Reclamation leaves for Bolas's Citadel. This deck is all about cheating in fatties and if I'm going to hard cast something, it should be Bolas's Citadel to keep going to town on my opponents. I'm a little skeptical but I'd be stupid to not give this a try.

With the deck getting faster, it means there's more hate thrown towards Rakdos and thus I need to protect him. I think Malakir Rebirth's low opportunity cost is worth it. I also cut a second Swamp to try Castle Locthwain to give this card draw source a try for when I blow my load into a blowout. We'll have to see if two Swamps eliminated will be OK for the Castle.

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BaronCappuccino
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Post by BaronCappuccino » 3 years ago

Another card not in the list that I preordered and was shipped Friday was that Feed the Swarm - the ability to handle a problem enchantment is a demon's wet dream. For recursion in my own deck, creature recursion alone wasn't really going to cut it, so I went for Yawgmoth's Will and Underworld Breach. A lot of times, I feel like my big scary artifacts like Bolas's Citadel and The Cauldron of Eternity, and especially in my case, Thrumming Stone, will end up in the graveyard. Fortunately, your deck isn't particularly fragile in that regard. The cool synergy of Will and Breech are that you're casting the cards as if they're in your hand, so things like K'rrik and Rakdos himself will do their thing.

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Tevesh
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Post by Tevesh » 3 years ago

BaronCappuccino wrote:
3 years ago
Another card not in the list that I preordered and was shipped Friday was that Feed the Swarm - the ability to handle a problem enchantment is a demon's wet dream. For recursion in my own deck, creature recursion alone wasn't really going to cut it, so I went for Yawgmoth's Will and Underworld Breach. A lot of times, I feel like my big scary artifacts like Bolas's Citadel and The Cauldron of Eternity, and especially in my case, Thrumming Stone, will end up in the graveyard. Fortunately, your deck isn't particularly fragile in that regard. The cool synergy of Will and Breech are that you're casting the cards as if they're in your hand, so things like K'rrik and Rakdos himself will do their thing.
I'm not used to combo life, so Underworld Breach is definitely a "D'oh!" moment for me. I don't have the shecklebucks to buy a Yawg Win.

I'm surprised you're running Cauldron of Eternity. Tucking each of your Creatures that dies is exactly why I don't run it.

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BaronCappuccino
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Post by BaronCappuccino » 3 years ago

I run it because it goes infinite with Grenzo, Dungeon Warden and Ashnod's Altar, which were both independently good cards. I figure, my goal is to kill my opponents off of Judith, the Scourge Diva's triggered ability, and being able to loop apostles infinitely is a nice option to do so. Grenzo is just another cheatyface, and Ashnods at the very least undoes commander tax for the price of a single apostle.

EDIT: My usual intention is 6x apostles → Razaketh → anything I want, so I feel like having lots of intermingling combo pieces that I can kinda zen out on and finish up whatever I happen to draw into most isn't a bad idea.

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Tevesh
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Post by Tevesh » 3 years ago

BaronCappuccino wrote:
3 years ago
I run it because it goes infinite with Grenzo, Dungeon Warden and Ashnod's Altar, which were both independently good cards. I figure, my goal is to kill my opponents off of Judith, the Scourge Diva's triggered ability, and being able to loop apostles infinitely is a nice option to do so. Grenzo is just another cheatyface, and Ashnods at the very least undoes commander tax for the price of a single apostle.

EDIT: My usual intention is 6x apostles → Razaketh → anything I want, so I feel like having lots of intermingling combo pieces that I can kinda zen out on and finish up whatever I happen to draw into most isn't a bad idea.
Well, I might go in that direction; hell, this change pushes the 'Combo Factor' further:
Changes 10/10/20
Approximate Total Cost:

Animate Dead is always going to cost 2 and will Reanimate any Creature; that's pretty damned good but I think that Nullpriest does a better job despite all of the restrictions. Nullpriest can only Reanimate my Creatures but I find that my quality of Creature to be higher than most of my opponents. Furthermore, this is an extra body I can fetch out in a Razaketh, the Foulblooded chain. There have been times when my life total was too low to go off and I think Nullpriest will help, specifically because it is a body that doesn't cost me life like a Phyrexian Delver. This means I can use the Nullpriest to bring back Gray Merchant of Asphodel or something else to pad my life total to keep forcing the Combo through. Nullpriest's Menace also means it can come down early and swing-in on a lightly defended player to enable Rakdos.

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Post by shermanido37 » 3 years ago

Not to mention that Menace is a good ability to have early game to ensure hitting the opponents' faces and casting Rakdos.

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Tevesh
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Post by Tevesh » 3 years ago

Got my mitts on a Breach:
Changes 12/14/20
Approximate Total Cost:

I realized I had forgotten Sanctum of Stone Fangs when it was initially spoiled until some decklist reminded me of its existence. At first, I thought to cut Nettle Drone but I realized I have way more Colourless spells than I do have Multicoloured, though Lobber Crew frequently triggers off of Rakdos being cast. In the end, I think having 7ish Colourless beats 4 Multicoloured. What made me lean this way is that the Drone can attack if I have less than 3 opponents at the time and someone is open. Crew can only go pew. Sanctum's Drain effect will be nice; I want more of this, not less which is why I left Lim-Dûl's Hex alone.

Pox has done some amazing work over the years but it is getting less and less impressive as time goes on. Pox only does work when I'm slightly ahead or I'm really behind. It's sweet spot is erratic and difficult to parse. After seeing Underworld Breach in action in other decks, I think it is way easier to use and does some really nasty stuff too - perfect for what my boy Rakdos is attempting.

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Post by shermanido37 » 3 years ago

Why do you have Mindblade Render? I feel like that card is dead much more often than Pox.

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Tevesh
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Post by Tevesh » 3 years ago

shermanido37 wrote:
3 years ago
Why do you have Mindblade Render? I feel like that card is dead much more often than Pox.
Easy way to get some early poke and card draw. It's a second tier Rakdos enabler. At least, that's the theory; I haven't seen the card in action so I don't know what to make of it.

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Post by Tevesh » 3 years ago

Mana upgrade and friend:
Changes 01/11/21
Approximate Total Cost:

I value keeping Rakdos alive more than wrathing a board, so I axed Force of Despair for Deflecting Swat.

Badlands are bad but not as bad as Mountain.

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Post by Tevesh » 2 years ago

More explosiveness factor:
Changes 06/06/21
Approximate Total Cost:

I can cheat out a Burning-Rune Demon which can then fetch me Combo Pieces, allowing the deck to go off and kill the table. Bolas's Citadel is more sustained style of Draw and that's not what the deck is really looking for, at least that's what I remember from the last time I played. I did think of cutting Vilis, Broker of Blood but he can be cast for 3 while the Citadel must always be cast for 6.

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Post by Tevesh » 2 years ago

Cutting strings:
Changes 06/17/21
Approximate Total Cost:

Mindblade Render required me to get in there and lose a life to draw a card. That might be very difficult very quickly as any 0/2 chould chump her all day. In her stead comes Keen Duelist who will draw me cards unconditionally. Getting Bobed by my opponent's topdecks shouldn't be too terrible, as I might be hitting lands or choose someone close to death because they get damaged off of my cards which do tons of damage. In a way, it's less reliable than the Render if I'm ahead but cutting strings on cards is a good way to raise your floors. I'll have to see how often the Duelist whiffs when I need damage to cast Rakdos.

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Post by Tevesh » 2 years ago

Stax is dead, Long Live Rakdos!:
Changes 12/15/21
Approximate Total Cost:

My wins with this deck involve consistently searching up an Infinite with Gray Merchant of Asphodel and Chainer, Dementia Master, usually aided by Razaketh, the Foulblooded. I don't need to lock out the board anymore, I don't search for these pieces at all. Between K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth being printed and other absurd cards that Wizards keeps pumping out, it is more efficient to kill the table with an Infinite than try to lock it out and turn sideways. I am a little saddened. The deck was unique and now it's gone more basic but that's a consequence of too many obviously good cards Wizards prints. Each of those four I would run in a vacuum, combined they win me the game.

So, I put in Massacre Wurm to help with a weenie swarm that might overwhelm me. Varragoth goes in as a Demon that Vampiric Tutors, helping further cement my deck's Comborific finish. Fast mana of Moxen and a Prismatic Vista round out the mana improvements.

I cut the four integral Stax pieces for this speedier, leaner and meaner way.

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Post by shermanido37 » 2 years ago

Disappointing, but understandable. My main Ephara list can't really rely on stax alone for the same reason, so there's also a hard lock to win the game, along with a few soft ones. Others opt for combo finishes, but it's clear that decks need to be more adaptive in their approach these days.

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Post by Tevesh » 2 years ago

Merry Christmas, you filthy animals:
Changes 12/25/21
Approximate Total Cost:

Dread and Ob Nix are vestigial cards from when this was Staxdos, I've abandoned that plan for the Combo Finish. In their place comes two 2-drop mana rocks. I have no illusion that they'll get Rakdos out faster, barring a T1 Spear Spewer or Mox nonsense. I still need to get a pain outlet out, but what the rocks do is leave mana open for a spell to rescue Rakdos like Bolt Bend or Undying Evil, maybe get a one pip monster squeezed out.

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Post by Tevesh » 2 years ago

More tutors:
Changes 12/26/21
Approximate Total Cost:

If I'm going off with Chainer, Dementia Master then I need more ways to search him up. Sidisi comes in as another Demonic and the fact that she kills herself means I can use her repeatedly with Chainer or other Reanimators to find the pieces I need to win. I looked high and low for the cut, initially thinking of Varragoth, Bloodsky Sire but he easily tutors for me even if I have to jump through hoops. At that point, I started at the top of the mana value and went down the chain. The cards were either draw or wraths until I hit Etali; he's fun, I'll miss him but he doesn't help me win.

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Post by Tevesh » 2 years ago

Alternative Combo:
Changes 04/05/22
Approximate Total Cost:

If I'm a Combo deck, I might as well embrace it. Terror of the Peaks enters as an alternative way to win the game. I figure if I'm going more all-in on rushing the win, then I don't need as much clearance. Balefire Dragon gets the axe. The benefit of Terror replacing him is that I can still shoot troublesome Creatures with ETBs and I'm no longer chained to dealing combat damage.

And Ancestral Statue comes in as the other half of a two-card finish. I did look high and low for cuts, thinking about Tree of Perdition but I realized that's one of my Enablers which I don't want to axe. I settled on Neheb because while I like his ability to filter my cards, I'm not too impressed with him making Red Mana. This deck lives and dies on Black Pips, Red Mana isn't impressive. I also have an alternative win with Nettle Drone. Redundancy is king.

Sandstone Oracle can be free but it requires my opponents to have full grips to really leverage. And if they've got full grips, I might be in a situation. Imperial Seal comes in as another tutor to fetch whatever I need. It's one drop means I can really smooth out my openings if I need to tutor for a Land or Enabler for Turn Two.

Mountain is not as good as Blightstep which can also be Red in a pinch.

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Tevesh
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Post by Tevesh » 1 year ago

It ramps harder:
Changes 06/23/22
Approximate Total Cost:

Cryptolith Fragment, you've been with me for awhile and we've had good times, but someone younger and prettier has come along and they've swept my heart away. Descent hits my opponents very hard and creates Treasures that I get to immediately pay off. I've had so many turns where I was one or two mana short, so I hope to really abuse the 'Break in Case of Emergency' nature of Treasures over Cryptolith's ping plus mana. Don't worry, I did manage to flip the Cryptolith, so that Achievement has been unlocked.

Wild Magic Surge hits more permanent types than Bedevil. I just hope the RR isn't going to be my downfall.

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