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Optimized Rakdos, Lord of Riots

Commander / EDH*

sonnet666

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Playtest v1
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Land (31)

MLD (5)

Combo (3)

Haste (2)

Ramp (16)

Enablers (9)

Draw (7)

Disruption (3)

Commander (1)

Commander: Rakdos, Lord of Riots

Tutor (11)

Removal (8)

Aggro (3)

Recovery (1)

Maybeboard

Aggro (4)

Land (3)

MLD (2)

Draw (1)

Recovery (1)

Combo (4)

Ramp (3)

Haste (2)

Tutor (1)

Disruption (3)

Enablers (3)

Removal (3)

Optimized decklist of Rakdos, Lord of Riots created for [List - Multiplayer] EDH Generals by Tier, by thegigibeast.

This deck is mainly an aggro deck that attempts to use Rakdos's ability to drop huge creatures that demand answers early in the game (i.e. Kozilek, Blightsteel, anything with Annihilator), and then follow those creatures up with some sort of disruption that keeps those answers from ever materializing (MLD, mass discard, etc).

Card choices explianed:

Pretty simple stuff here, mostly dual lands and fetches. This deck has MASSIVE color density requirements, so any utility land that doesn't produce colored mana are sort of a no go. Notables include:
Decks focused around their commander need a way to get that commander out quickly. Most of the rocks in this section are meant to give you a good chance of getting Rakdos out on turns 2 to 3. Preference has been given to colored mana producers, with the exception of Sol Ring and Mana Crypt.

Notable cards in this section:- Burnt Offering , at the cost of a single creature, this ritual lets you translate a hand full of gas from something like Knollspine Dragon into a instant army. Couple this with some MLD and you should win within a turn or two.- Cryptolith Fragment   , a mana rock that also enables Rakdos.- Sword of Feast and Famine, makes sure you always have enough steam to capitalize on Rakdos's ability second main phase. Plus it's just really badass. Like, I want a sword that can starve nations...

Arguably the most important cards in the deck, these guys make sure that you'll be able to cast Rakdos asap, and stick around to do a pretty good job of reducing the cost of creatures pre-combat, which can be helpful if you have a haste-granter and want to attack that turn. (Note Seeing as this deck is weak to boardwipes, it's probably best to hold one of these guys up in your hand if you can spare it. Having Rakdos stuck in the command zone post-Damnnation really sucks.)
  • Goblin Fireslinger Pinger that can be played turn 1 in order to ensure an early Rakdos.
  • Tormented Soul also ensures an early rakdos, but needs to rely on the combat step.
  • Shepherd of Rot, Lobber Crew , Thermo-Alchemist, and Cryptolith Fragment   , pingers that hit everyone are especially useful, since Rakdos's ability reduces cost by the sum of all life lost by opponents.
  • Vial Smasher the Fierce, a new addition, Vial Smasher is a little less reliable in terms of getting out Rakdos, but makes up for it by being able to accidentally-all-over a random opponent with massive damage.
  • Pestilence and Pyrohemia, These are a little expensive as initial investments, but they make up for it by being repeatable boardwipes for small creatures, massively reducing the cost of your creatures for each mana spent, and doubling as win condition if you're ahead in life.
  • Heartless Hidetsugu, A bit expensive, but Rakdos is, at its core, an aggro deck, so halving the amount of life you need to chew through more than makes up for Hidetsugu normally costing 5 mana.
  • Sorin Markov, normally I feel an un reducible 6-mana pseudo-sorcery that doesn't generate card advantage isn't worth including in an optimized list, but I'm making an exception here since -3'ing this guy here is likely going to be enough to kill a player same turn, and will reduce the colorless cost of literally everything to 0.
  • Lightning Bolt, sometimes you just need some quick damage that doesn't need to go though your boardstate, for that, we have the classic. Kills utility creatures, gets Rakdos back out for you after a board wipe, and is generally very stylish.
This deck doesn't really like boardwipes seeing as it's the aggro, but you need some way to get rid of your opponent's stuff:Balefire Dragon
  • Chaos Warp, Duh. Red catch all for problem permanents. Required for problem enchantments.
  • Dread Cacodemon , I'll take a Plague Wind for , sure!
  • Fire Covenant, one sided, selective, instant-speed fieldwipe that uses the resource we're most likely ahead in. Fantastic card.
  • Balefire Dragon, deal six damage to an opponent's board, over and over again. This guy will draw a lot of hate if you don't already have a haste granter.
  • Steel Hellkite, a) you will probably cast this for free, and b) it's necessary to get rid of permanents you otherwise couldn't touch (enchantment suck :P).
  • Terminate, instant speed kill spell with no restriction. Red/Black staple.
  • Vandalblast, doesn't need explaining.
  • Viashino Heretic , repeatable artifact removal that also enables Rakdos.
    • The super spike-y section of the deck. These are to ensure you opponents' have no way to respond while you steamroll over them. Mass land destruction accomplishes this by taking away the mana to cast spells, while the disruption section focuses on keeping those spells away entirely.

    MLD:- Blood Moon Magus of the Moon, the classics, shuts down or slows down many multicolored decks. Board these out if facing a lot of multicolor- Boom/Bust , never play Boom.- Impending Disaster , either you play it late and people go freak out about getting rid of it, or you play it early and troll people into slowing down their plays while they look for removal. Either way you'll be developing your board in the meantime.- Keldon Firebombers , should only ever cost . Not as backbreaking, but should slow down most decks, especially green ones.- Myojin of Infinite Rage , this is just about the only Commander deck where this is even remotely playable and it's awesome.- Winter Orb, not exactly MLD, but close enough to win you the game. Don't play early.

    Disruption:- Myojin of Night's Reach and Sire Of Insanity, getting rid of peoples hands for 2 or 3 mana is generally a good way to stop them from having responses. - Ob Nixilis, Unshackled and Stranglehold, stopping tutors is just generally disruptive. Combo player will focus on getting rid of these to the exclusion of all else, leaving you plenty of time to reduce their life down to 0.- Void Winnower and Nullstone Gargoyle, casting these for 0 is hilarious. They stop your opponents from casting spells they most need to to deal with your army. Void Winnower boosts your aggro, and Nullstone Gargoyle doesn't effect you very much since this deck is so creature heavy.

    Because card advantage is card advantage.
    These are aggressive cards without a defined category:

  • Lightning Greaves and Fervor, Haste is very helpful for this deck, as it lets you attack with Rakdos a turn early and will let you surprise people with huge creatures if you can accumulate enough non-combat damage. It's not a requirement though, since dropping thingssecond main phase is going to be your more common scenario anyway. Just always keep in mind the possibility of field wipes, and don't over commit to the board.

  • Artisan of Kozilek, a big annihilator two creature to cast for free that also gets you something out of the yard. Great if you've suffered a setback.

  • Bane of Bala Ged, pseudo-annihilator that can come down super early with Rakdos.
  • Blightsteel Colossus, the ultimate threat creature.
  • Emrakul, the Promised End, controlling a player's turn is probably the third most powerful effect in MTG after "you win the game" and "target player loses the game," so being able to cast it for 0 mana is absolutely fantastic.
  • Wurmcoil Engine, the only pure aggro in this deck, this card is french vanilla at its finest. Most of the time you're dropping this for 0 the first turn you attack with Rakdos.

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    Revision 1 See all

    (3 years ago)

    Date added 7 years
    Last updated 3 years
    Legality

    This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
    Rarity (main - side)

    26 - 0 Mythic Rares

    40 - 0 Rares

    15 - 0 Uncommons

    12 - 0 Commons
    Cards 100
    Avg. CMC 3.67
    Folders EDH fun, Commander, decks, stuff, Current cEDH Optimized Builds, Intresting commander decks, edh, Intrstng, army, Rakdos
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