A Demon's Dance

Commander / EDH* BR (Rakdos)

moejin

Creature (21)

• 1x Ancestral Statue
• 1x Azra Oddsmaker
• 1x Blightsteel Colossus
• 1x Cryptborn Horror
• 1x Dark Confidant
• 1x Dire Fleet Ravager
• 1x Erebos, God of the Dead
• 1x Geode Golem
• 1x Hangarback Walker
• 1x Heartless Hidetsugu
• 1x Nettle Drone
• 1x Platinum Angel
• 1x Platinum Emperion
• 1x Purphoros, God of the Forge
• 1x Razaketh, the Foulblooded
• 1x Spear Spewer
• 1x Stonecoil Serpent
• 1x Tectonic Giant
• 1x Terror of the Peaks
• 1x Thermo-Alchemist
• 1x Walking Ballista

Enchantment (7)

• 1x Impact Tremors
• 1x Necropotence
• 1x Outpost Siege
• 1x Phyrexian Arena
• 1x Pyrohemia
• 1x Theater of Horrors
• 1x Warstorm Surge

Land (36)

• 1x Ancient Tomb
• 1x Barren Moor
• 1x Blood Crypt
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Dragonskull Summit
• 1x Exotic Orchard
• 1x Fabled Passage
• 1x Forbidden Orchard
• 1x Forgotten Cave
• 1x Graven Cairns
• 1x Leechridden Swamp
• 1x Luxury Suite
• 10x Mountain
• 1x Reflecting Pool
• 1x Shinka, the Bloodsoaked Keep
• 1x Smoldering Crater
• 10x Swamp
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

Artifact (15)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Bontu's Monument
• 1x Cryptolith Fragment  ^Flip
• 1x Expedition Map
• 1x Fellwar Stone
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Lotus Petal
• 1x Memory Jar
• 1x Mind Stone
• 1x Phyrexian Altar
• 1x Rakdos Signet
• 1x Scroll Rack
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots
• 1x Talisman of Indulgence

Commander (1)

Sorcery (15)

• 1x Cathartic Reunion
• 1x Damnation
• 1x Dark Deal
• 1x Demonic Tutor
• 1x Diabolic Intent
• 1x Diabolic Tutor
• 1x Dreadbore
• 1x Faithless Looting
• 1x Flame Rift
• 1x Gamble
• 1x Grim Tutor
• 1x Jeska's Will
• 1x Reforge the Soul
• 1x Toxic Deluge
• 1x Vandalblast

Instant (5)

• 1x Dark Ritual
• 1x Go for the Throat
• 1x Slaughter Pact
• 1x Soul's Fire
• 1x Terminate

---

Maybeboard

Creature (35)

• 1x Blood Artist
• 1x Bloodgift Demon
• 1x Burnished Hart
• 1x Crypt Ghast
• 1x Endless One
• 1x Flayer Drone
• 1x Goblin Engineer
• 1x God-Eternal Bontu
• 1x Grim Haruspex
• 1x Hazoret the Fervent
• 1x Hellkite Tyrant
• 1x Indulgent Tormentor
• 1x Judith, the Scourge Diva
• 1x K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth
• 1x Knollspine Dragon
• 1x Master of Cruelties
• 1x Mayhem Devil
• 1x Metalwork Colossus
• 1x Myr Battlesphere
• 1x Oblivion Sower
• 1x Pawn of Ulamog
• 1x Plague Spitter
• 1x Rune-Scarred Demon
• 1x Sidisi, Undead Vizier
• 1x Sifter of Skulls
• 1x Smothering Abomination
• 1x Solemn Simulacrum
• 1x Spawn of Mayhem
• 1x Tectonic Giant
• 1x Triskelion
• 1x Urabrask the Hidden
• 1x Vial Smasher the Fierce
• 1x Viscera Seer
• 1x Walking Ballista
• 1x Zulaport Cutthroat

Land (16)

• 1x Bloodstained Mire
• 1x Cabal Coffers
• 1x Canyon Slough
• 1x Desert of the Fervent
• 1x Desert of the Glorified
• 1x Emergence Zone
• 1x Evolving Wilds
• 1x Exotic Orchard
• 1x Forbidden Orchard
• 1x Polluted Mire
• 1x Ramunap Ruins
• 1x Shinka, the Bloodsoaked Keep
• 1x Shizo, Death's Storehouse
• 1x Spinerock Knoll
• 1x Terramorphic Expanse
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

Artifact (9)

• 1x Blasting Station
• 1x Chrome Mox
• 1x Cloudstone Curio
• 1x Coalition Relic
• 1x Commander's Sphere
• 1x Crucible of Worlds
• 1x Fellwar Stone
• 1x Krark-Clan Ironworks
• 1x Spine of Ish Sah

Sorcery (11)

• 1x Anger of the Gods
• 1x Bubbling Muck
• 1x Buried Alive
• 1x Chain Reaction
• 1x Dark Petition
• 1x Dead of Winter
• 1x Decree of Pain
• 1x Diabolic Tutor
• 1x Mana Geyser
• 1x Razaketh's Rite
• 1x Sizzle

Instant (9)

• 1x Burnt Offering
• 1x Chaos Warp
• 1x Fire Covenant
• 1x Fling
• 1x Rain of Filth
• 1x Rakdos Charm
• 1x Seething Song
• 1x Slaughter Pact
• 1x Soul's Fire

Enchantment (3)

• 1x Furious Assault
• 1x Manabarbs
• 1x Pestilence

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Tevesh Szat, Doom of Fools

---

Who would of guessed that playing against eldrazi tribal isn't fun?

Rakdos, Lord of Riots

I am fully aware of the "popularity" behind this version of Rakdos for everyone's favorite annihilator tribal enabler as well as being the largest registered deck in Black/Red; and how over the years people think that every single Rakdos, Lord of Riots deck is a random assortment of land cards and big tentacle monsters that instantly gets shafted whenever a single aspect of the deck is targeted with removal or countered before it can even hit the field.

While my version of Rakdos is stuck in limbo between jank and actually competent from my personal "restrictions" on keeping an even CMC of 3 and equal mana pips, I believe that I have found a decent middle ground that is fun to play while still retaining its inherent explosive plays if the other players are to busy dealing with the local S H A R E D simic player and their ten minute turns of dumping their deck onto the field.

How to pilot Rakdos, Lord of Riots

Play Rakdos as early as possible (please don't cast it if the blue player has mana open and is sliding his fingers across his islands) and use his mana reduction cost for creatures to either "cheat" out cards like Dire Fleet Ravager and Heartless Hidetsugu for their global damage either on ETB or tap that further helps to reduce the cost of your creatures, Platinum Angel and Platinum Emperion for the bandaid they place over your gouged chest as you hemorrhage your own life, or to drop either Walking Ballista, Hangarback Walker, Stonecoil Serpent, or Blightsteel Colossus if you really want to send a special message to a player at the table.

You always want to see a pinger either in creature form (Thermo-Alchemist)or artifact/enchantment form (Bontu's Monument/Impact Tremors) or a way to tutor one up in your opening hand as they are one of the few ways to guarantee a Rakdos on turn 4 or possibly 3. If you can't for some reason get Rakdos to stick to the field, there is enough rocks and lower CMC creatures in the deck that can help you scrap out a win by eventually getting enough mana to play your cards normally.

While I don't enjoy the idea of having an infinite combo in a deck that isn't tuned for maximum efficiency, Ancestral Statue's combo lines are a way to quickly close out a game if you are racing against an opponent that is trying to do the same. All you need is to have dealt four damage your turn and have one of these creatures (Nettle Drone/Purphoros, God of the Forge/Terror of the Peaks), enchantments (Impact Tremors/Warstorm Surge) or the artifact Bontu's Monument on the field and if the statue sticks after its first ETB- you win. Is it a cheap move? Yes, by all accounts- and if you don't like the inclusion of an infinite combo in the deck slot it out for Solemn Simulacrum or any other 4 CMC card with equal mana pips.

Congratulations you now know how to play Rakdos, Lord of Riots. Now we can finally get to sending more emails to Wizard's for not being inclusive enough and making an attractive female legendary demon.

Date added	3 years
Last updated	3 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	11 - 0 Mythic Rares 32 - 0 Rares 17 - 0 Uncommons 20 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.00
Tokens	Spirit 1/1 C, Thopter 1/1 C