Carnival Hellsteed

Creature — Nightmare Horse

First Strike, haste

Unleash (You may have this creature enter the battlefield with a +1/+1 counter on it. It can't block as long as it has a +1/+1 counter on it.)

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Archenemy	Legal
Arena	Legal
Block Constructed	Legal
Canadian Highlander	Legal
Casual	Legal
Commander / EDH	Legal
Commander: Rule 0	Legal
Custom	Legal
Duel Commander	Legal
Highlander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Modern	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (8)

Austin_Smith_of_Cards on The Final Act

5 years ago

I really appreciate the theme of a Rakdos deck purely from cards from the Ravnica blocks.

Carnival Hellsteed and Chaos Imps are beaters probably worth looking into as well as Rakdos Guildmage and Rakdos Pit Dragon .

SeekerofSecrets on

6 years ago

If i was going to build around this I'd:

-2 Carnival Hellsteed

-2 Underworld Cerberus

+1 Tymaret, the Murder King

+1 Gore-House Chainwalker

dump the current spell package except Dying Wish

+4 Lightning Bolt

+4 Terminate

+2 Duress

+3 Dreadbore or Vampire's Bite maybe?

That would give you a pretty decent aggro build! kill threats, smash face. Nice and simple.

And hey now Chasmolinker I have a soft spot for slivers ;)

patv4343 on Olivia Control

6 years ago

Cards I looked up to add to deck: Riot Spikes
Underworld Cerberus
Unlicensed Disintegration
Deathbringer Thoctar
Visara the Dreadful
Beseech the Queen
Grave Betrayal
Neko-Te
Heartstone
Darksteel Plate
Ashenmoor Liege
Carnival Hellsteed
Cryptborn Horror
Daretti, Ingenious Iconoclast
Defiler of Souls
Fists of the Demigod
Grenzo, Dungeon Warden
Manaforge Cinder
Morgue Burst
Olivia, Mobilized for War
Pain Magnification
Rakdos Ringleader
Let me know cards you thing I should add cause I know you got some better ideas!!!

dbpunk on

6 years ago

Archetype of Aggression would help you more than Bloodfray GiantCarnival Hellsteed and Cryptborn Horror don't do as much as they should for their cost/conditions. Have you considered War Elemental and Kolaghan, the Storm's Fury instead?Also, Rakdos Ickspitter, Gore-House Chainwalker, and Splatter Thug could easily be cut out for effects that boost other, better creatures. Not to mention that haste providers like Mass Hysteria become dead draws once you have a way to put +1/+1 counters on creatures entering the battlefield (such as Drana or Necropolis Regent). Also, Caldera Hellion, Mephidross Vampire, Retribution of the Ancients, Grenzo, Dungeon Warden or Flesh Carver?

Urethra_Franklin on Devil's Revenge

6 years ago

I playtested against the deck a bit, and it seems a bit slow for an aggro deck. A little inconsistent, too. But that will be fixed as you tune the list. As for suggestions:

Rakdos Cackler is a solid card, so having 4 of it makes a lot of sense. You could also bump up the number of copies of Vexing Devil. A lot of players will just pay the life and be done with it, so it helps you burn them out. Goblin Guide and Monastery Swiftspear are also solid choices for 1-mana creatures (Monastery Swiftspear does need a lot of non-creature spells to work super-effectively, so keep that in mind).

I would also recommend replacing a lot of cards with more mana-efficient versions. Aggro decks generally don't have a lot of cards with more than 3cmc, so those would get cut first (except for Demigod of Revenge. that card is great for this color combo). Cards like Traitorous Instinct, Bloodfray Giant, Firefiend Elemental, Assassin's Strike, Carnival Hellsteed, Chaos Imps, and Minotaur Aggressor are way too expensive (in terms of mana cost) for what they do. You could look at the cards you have, find the effects you want (such as discard, creature removal, etc.), then search for cards that do the same thing but for less mana. That way, your deck makes an impact on the game much sooner.

Then, you could remove a lot of the singles you have in the deck. The more of a particular card you have, the greater the chance of you drawing that card. In your deck, you currently have 4 copies of Rakdos Cackler, which gives you a greater chance of drawing one than you would have of drawing a Temur Battle Rage, for instance. When you're building a deck, you want as many copies as possible of cards that you really want to draw early on and fewer of cards that are either situational or expensive.

Hopefully that helps a bit!

vbfabled on Champions of the Pit

7 years ago

Super cool deck, I love decks that have strong themes like this!

As for suggestions, I like Carnival Hellsteed and Nightmare for flavor.

Pascal11 on

7 years ago

First casualty of the upgrade, Carnival Hellsteed replaced by Kaervek the Merciless

dreamistt on Traitorous Black Rose

7 years ago

I would make the deck revolve more around Marchesa, protecting her via shroud/hexproof while abusing the Dethrone ability to make unblockable creatures bigger and bigger. (basically, I would go more aggro...)

Flavor-wise: Bite of the Black Rose, Vial of Poison, Crown of Doom (fits with Dethrone and it can't come back to you), Whispersilk Cloak (Marchesa loves the touch of whispersilk)

Stab them in the back: Benthic Infiltrator, Deathcult Rogue, Dimir Infiltrator, Invisible Stalker, Latch Seeker, Mindmelter, Neurok Invisimancer, Shadowmage Infiltrator, True-Name Nemesis, Stronghold Overseer (<3)

Potentially useful creatures: Mardu Shadowspear (annoying), Flesh Carver (sac outlet and more), Blind Zealot, Shadowborn Demon.

I could find some use/space for: Marchesa's Smuggler, Lazav, Dimir Mastermind, Indulgent Tormentor, Defiler of Souls, Prince of Thralls, Merciless Executioner, Nefarox, Overlord of Grixis, Olivia Voldaren($$$)

UGH: Butcher of Malakir, Grave Pact, Dictate of Erebos

Unleash!: Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch, Carnival Hellsteed

Sac Outlets: Demonmail Hauberk/Grafted Wargear, Barrage of Expendables, Blazing Hellhound, Culling Dais, Bloodthrone Vampire, Vampiric Rites, Tymaret, the Murder King

Marchesa + sacrifice enabler +: Act of Treason, Threaten, Traitorous Blood, Word of Seizing, Conquering Manticore, Dominus of Fealty, Harness by Force, Mass Mutiny, Molten Primordial (it even has a crown!), Zealous Conscripts, Slave of Bolas, Soul Ransom

Draw Engines: Staff of Nin, Greed (remember dethrone won't work if you are the one with most life), Read the Bones, Sign in Blood, Bloodgift Demon

Removal: Murder, Syphon Flesh, Killing Wave, Innocent Blood, Bone Splinters

Extras: Glaring Spotlight, Invisibility/Aqueous Form, Teleportal, Rakdos Riteknife, Reign of the Pit, Soulblast (finisher?), Ring of Xathrid, Treacherous Urge, Jinxed Idol

Chaos: Rite of the Raging Storm, Whims of the Fates