Ruin Raider
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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
Gladiator Legal
Highlander Legal
Historic Legal
Historic Brawl Legal
Legacy Legal
Leviathan Legal
Limited Legal
Modern Legal
Modern Beyond Horizons Legal
Oathbreaker Legal
Pioneer Legal
Planar Constructed Legal
Planechase Legal
Quest Magic Legal
Tiny Leaders Legal
Vanguard Legal
Vintage Legal

Ruin Raider

Creature — Orc

Raid — At the beginning of your end step, if you attacked with a creature this turn, reveal the top card of your library and put it into your hand. You lose life equal to the card's converted mana cost/mana value.

DankMagicianD on Die, Snowflake!

2 years ago

Last, the cuts. Fellwar Stone was replaced by a more reliable signet. Outpost Siege was just too clunky compared to similar effects. Titan Hunter and Crimson Honor Guard proved too unreliable at triggering for their mana cost. Charging Tuskodon died because my five drops needed trimming and he's too much of a glass cannon. Cleansing Nova has been replaced by more efficient options. It's modal use rarely came up compared to its clunky mana cost. Ruin Raider has proven to be much more effective at killing me than providing card advantage. Curse of Stalked Prey was fun, but often too low value compared to a signet or equipment. A shame, as I really like the card. Finally, Rite of the Raging Storm and Xantcha, Sleeper Agent weren't used well. Giving my opponents creatures does not guarantee they will use them the way I want. Better to give their existing creatures options, to make it seem like it's more their idea.

mrweaselman on Booty Raiders

2 years ago

You're going to want to set your format to I believe Pioneer, with the cards you're running at the moment.

Take out Brineborn Cutthroat and Protean Raider. They're not all that good in pirate tribal. Take out Wily Goblin for more card draw like Chart a Course, it's going to be better late game and you're not really trying to ramp into a big finisher a turn early anyways.

If you go 4 Forerunner of the Coalition you can basically go toolbox with a similar list to what you have. Otherwise I would down to 6-8 separate pirate cards.

Imo the best pirates are Spectral Sailor, Dire Fleet Daredevil, Kitesail Freebooter, Ruin Raider, and Admiral Beckett Brass. Probably 3-4 of each of those + 4 Forerunner of the Coalition for toolbox, and 1 of each other pirate you want to include.

Fiery Cannonade is better in the sideboard. Swap in against tokens or small creature aggro.

While not explicitly pirates, Angrath, the Flame-Chained is better than Angrath, Minotaur Pirate. I try to stay away from the planeswalker deck planeswalkers. Although you could run Angrath's Fury and keep the deck like the precon I suppose.

Peligrad on Favorite non meta creature

4 years ago

I'm not sure what constitutes "meta' but Ruin Raider goes in all of my decks and I'm the only one in my playgroup that runs it.

Llanowar Tribe and Somberwald Sage are crazy efficient (though greedy) ramp.

People scoff at greedy/vulnerable cards like that, but even if they stick one round a lot of times that's enough value to put you way ahead. And if you load your whole deck with greedy powerful shenanigans, sooner or later something sticks.

Peligrad on Greed or Erebos, God of …

4 years ago

I play a lot of black and have gotten away from both of these cards.

I find that Dark Tutelage Ruin Raider Dark Confidant and of course Phyrexian Arena and Necropotence are cards that I prefer and end up bumping out the others. I even will play Twilight Shepherd over these two.

People are afraid of paying life equal to the CMC, but your average CMC in an optimized list is going to be around 3 for your spells and then you'll have 35ish lands. So on average you'll end up paying about 2 life per card, which exactly what these two cards charge you.

Frankomancer on A Bottle of Rum

4 years ago

Ha, I like the consistency to theme with your sideboard. I think Deadeye Tracker, Kitesail Freebooter, and Dire Fleet Daredevil would be very good additions to it that still go with the pirate motif, though. I'd also personally replace the Dire Fleet Neckbreakers with Ruin Raider or more Fell Flagships to make your deck even more grindy and durable to control!

multimedia on RRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

4 years ago

Hey, nice budget version of Brass.

Cards a $1 or less each to consider adding:

Lands

Pirates

Repeatable Draw

Evasion

Command Tower is one of the best lands for multicolored decks in Commander and it's $1. Pirates have to do combat damage to a player to trigger Brass this makes Pirates who have flying/other evasion important because they can more easily attack and not be blocked thus do combat damage to a player. Wonder can give all your Pirates flying as long as it's in your graveyard and you control one Island. More Pirates with flying/other evasion makes Bident and Mission good repeatable draw since for each Pirate who does combat damage to a player you draw a card.

Cards to consider cutting:

  • Walk the Plank
  • Cancel
  • Heartless Pillage
  • Thaumatic Compass
  • Vance's Blasting Cannons
  • Dusk Legion Dreadnought
  • Lightning-Rig Crew
  • Storm Fleet Swashbuckler
  • Headstrong Brute
  • Rigging Runner
  • Storm Fleet Aerialist

Good luck with your deck.

multimedia on A Pirate's life, Pilfer, Pillage and Plunder

4 years ago

Hey, good start, nice Dockside Extortionist and Vampiric Tutor :)

Consider more one/two drop Pirates especially ones with flying? More overall one/two drop Pirates helps to assemble a battlefield of Pirates to attack the turn you play Brass.

Forerunner of the Coalition is a Pirate tutor and it can also be a repeatable source opponents' lose life when a Pirate ETB. Ruin Raider can be repeatable draw at your end step with attacking Pirates. Anger and Wonder are good with Pirates especially Wonder giving them flying evasion. Giving all your Pirates including Brass flying can be a win condition with attacking Pirates. Brass is much better when she has haste letting her attack the turn you cast her. Pirates who can attack the turn you play them can help to trigger Brass's gain control ability quicker.

Buried Alive can tutor for both Anger/Wonder as well as one other creature and put them all into your graveyard. Can also use Buried with Phyrexian Reclamation and/or March of the Drowned as a way to tutor for Pirates put them into your graveyard and then recur them to your hand. Reclamation can be helpful repeatable recursion for Pirates since Pirates are going to die over the course of a game.

Marchesa, the Black Rose is not a Pirate, but she can be a repeatable source of reanimating Pirates. Dethrone is an attacking ability where as if a Pirate attacks your opponent with the most amount of life then that Pirate gets a +1/+1 counter. With Marchesa if that Pirate dies then it will come back to the battlefield at your end step. Metallic Mimic is a Pirate when it ETB who interacts well with Marchesa since Mimic can put a +1/+1 counter on another Pirate when it ETB.

Adding some more ramp can help game play:

Some budget lands (each $5 or less) to consider adding:

These are budget land options, but of course there's many other better options for lands that are more expensive.

Good luck with your deck.

multimedia on Karlov/Sorin Blessed

4 years ago

Continuing my advice, streamlining high CMC cards becomes an important step when choosing what cards to cut. Streamlining means you cut unnecessary high CMC cards, four CMC or higher that are not vital for your deck. Some cards that are redundant, there's two or more cards that do the same thing and one/more of them are not as good as others. Tutors help to break high CMC card redundancy because you can use them to get the better high CMC card thus leaving out others. Streamlining starts at the top of the mana curve and then work your way down.

When streamlining, the cards that are not selected doesn't mean these cards are bad, they're less needed in your deck than others. For streamlining your deck I would look to decrease cards from the 4, 5 and 6 CMC spots.

You've recent update is good, other cards to consider cutting:

  • Temple of the False God: will not tap for mana until you have four other lands. That's not good enough when you want to be casting low CMC cards and extort.

  • Armillary Sphere: isn't ramp since it puts the basic lands into your hand not onto the battlefield. Playing a mana rock that is ramp instead of this will help.

  • Life's Finale: has great artwork, but is lackluster for a creature board wipe especially at 6 CMC. Tutoring for and putting creatures into your opponents graveyard will most of the time backfire in Commander since reanimation and recursion are popular.

  • Hedron Archive: can get repeatable draw from other sources and four drop colorless ramp is not what you want with Karlov.

  • Ray of Distortion: not needed because you have Heliod's Intervention and/or Crush Contraband, two better cards for the instant effect of destroying an artifact or enchantment.

  • Mire in Misery: sorcery speed makes this a lackluster removal spell.

  • Burnished Hart: is too slow as ramp since the basic lands you search for ETB tapped. For six total mana you get two basic lands that ETB tapped and don't even get a body because you have to sac Hart to get the lands. Just about any mana rock that ETB untapped is more helpful than Hart.

  • Fountain of Renewal: effect is limited, only happening once at your upkeep and that's all it does. There's more impactful repeatable life gain in your deck.

  • Beacon of Unrest: there's too many five drops here and Beacon is the worst of them. The potential repeatable reanimation is not really worth five mana. It is nice that this spell can reanimate any opponents creature or artifact, but even so for five mana that's not really helping your strategy with Karlov. For five mana you would be better off casting Exquisite or Bond or a tutor to get one of them.

  • Solemn Simulacrum: can be great for midrange strategies, creature dying/reanimation strategies, but it doesn't fit here since it's too high CMC for ramp.

  • Sangromancer: is the least good source of repeatable life gain. It's too situational for a four drop, only triggering when opponent does one or two specific effects.

  • Underworld Connections: requires tapping the enchanted land to draw which means you can't use mana from that land on your turn. There's better repeatable draw sources here.

  • Kaya's Wrath: has too difficult to make colored casting cost.

Some upgrades to consider:

Scheming Symmetry and Open the Armory are excellent cards to add for streamlining, they can do a lot here for their budget prices and low CMC. Scheming can tutor for any card and has great interaction with Bolas's Citadel since it puts the card you tutor for on top of your library. Yes, you choose an opponent and they also get to tutor for a card, but that is a cost you pay for having to use an alternative budget one drop unconditional tutor. Armory gets one of the best cards with Karlov, Shadowspear. Seriously, this card does everything you want to make Karlov a threat.

Mask of Memory is an underrated source of budget repeatable draw. It goes well with the voltron strategy of attacking with Karlov and equip 1 to draw two cards is nice. Equipment is good with Karlov and by adding Mask of Memory then Open the Armory can tutor for one of four different effects that can be repeatable with equipped Karlov: Shadowspear/Basilisk Collar for lifelink, Mask of Memory for draw, Sword of the Animist for ramp, Lightning Greaves/Swiftfoot Boots for protection.

If adding Serra Ascendant and Walking Ballista then I wouldn't cut Ranger of Eos since it can tutor for both of them and that's a powerful play for a four drop. If not adding Ascendant or Ballista then Ranger could be cut. Divine Reckoning can be a powerful board wipe with Karlov because it doesn't kill him and it can clear the battlefield of an opponent with many blockers. Yes, each opponent gets to keep their best creature, but most likely Karlov will be bigger than all the other creatures on the battlefield.

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