Sideboard


Maybeboard

Sorcery (8)

Instant (2)


Let The World Burn

This is Deck Tech of my Rakdos Aggro deck. It's mostly adapted to Kitchen Table games, though I'm currently working on a Modern-Legal version. The goal is simple: Destroy EVERYTHING. This deck is quite simple on the surface, but player experience will have a large impact on its performance.

This deck is not built to be competitive, but it is powerful nonetheless. Most casual decks are no match for it, and it can pack a punch even against most decks in Modern. The deck aims to win by Turn 6, though it's possible to win as early as Turn 3 if you get the perfect hand and good draws. This deck can maintain its momentum past Turn 6 if it's up against another Aggro Deck, but Midrange and Control decks can usually overwhelm it if the game lasts too long.

Time to Wreak Havoc

This deck excels in dealing quick bursts of damage, and like with all Aggro decks, the goal is to take down your opponent as fast as possible. One of the most effective ways to accomplish this is combining creature damage with burn effects, forcing your opponent to defend themselves from two separate damage sources. This is the typical "Red Deck Wins" strategy.

Our main attackers are Monastery Swiftspear, Yahenni, Undying Partisan and Drana, Liberator of Malakir. These three can chip in a lot of damage over time if left unchecked.

The primary early-game attacker is Monastery Swiftspear. Haste allows it to attack on turn 1, and Prowess pairs well with the all burn spells in this deck. Quick and efficient, Swiftspear is one of the best early-game creatures in Aggro decks.

Yahenni, Undying Partisan also has haste, and grows stronger with each creature that dies on you opponent's side. This effect allows Yahenni to grow into a large powerhouse, and the ability to gain indestructible makes it very difficult for your opponent to prevent attacks with removal. Yahenni is also the only creature that has a reasonable chance of surviving fights with large creatures that Midrange and Control decks might bring to the table.

Finally, we have Drana, Liberator of Malakir. She has Flying and First Strike, making her a very potent attacker that's rather difficult to block. She can also be vital if you're up against a lot of flyers. Drana's ability can make all of your creatures even stronger, and having First Strike means that this ability activates before any of your other creatures deal damage. This allows you to deal increasing amounts of combat damage, often forcing your opponent to take Drana down with a removal spell, which indirectly protects your other creatures.

Drana is the only creature in the deck that doesn't have Haste, making her the slowest damage dealer in the deck. Yahenni and Swiftspears form the core of your combat damage, while Drana functions as an evasive support creature that keeps chipping in damage.

This deck's direct damage is a mix of Burn spells and creatures with triggered abilities. Here you can find the quick bursts of damage as well as access to constant direct damage.

Lightning Bolt and Lava Spike are obvious choices for burn decks. These spells are the standard rate for burn spells: 3 damage for . Spikes should usually be played when they fit the curve, though it's usually a good idea to use them in Main Phase 2.

Serrated Scorpion can deal some damage in the early game, while functioning as a blocker in the mid-game. It also deals damage and gains you life when it dies, which pairs well with Yahenni, Undying Partisan's second ability.

Finally, the most potent form of burn in this deck: Liliana, Defiant Necromancer + Vexing Devil . Vexing Devil is a very potent burn card on its own: for only 1 red mana, you can either get a 4/3 creature or deal 4 damage to your opponent. However, when you combine it with Liliana's -X ability, it becomes a winning condition. Either your opponent allows you to keep it on the battlefield, or they take so much damage from it that your other burn spells can finish off your opponent. If your opponent lets it stay on the field, you can instead use Serrated Scorpion as sacrifice fodder to deal even more damage while gaining life. Liliana's +2 ability is only used if there's nothing to reanimate or Liliana would die from the -X ability. Her -8 ability is almost never used in this deck, but it can be useful in very specific situations.

Arguably the most well-known removal card in the game, Terminate, is our main way of dealing with threats that your opponent brings to the table. Daretti, Ingenious Iconoclast can create blockers and then sacrifice them to repeatedly destroy your opponent's creatures and artifacts. Again, the final ability is almost never used, but can be extremely valuable when playing against an artifact deck. Reanimate can then bring those destroyed creatures under your control, giving you access to large end-game creatures even though this deck has none. Reanimation might not be something that many Aggro decks use, but being able to destroy your opponent's creatures and then use them to smack your opponent's faces is quite hilarious.

Finally, we have card draw. This deck contains 2 different cards for maintaining your hand: Faithless Looting and Demonic Tutor. The ability to tutor for any card is always nice, but the main way to maintain a steady flow of playable cards is Faithless Looting. Cheap cost and access to Flashback make this card the optimal card for drawing more cards in this deck. It can be used to set up your graveyard with a big creature that you can reanimate, or to discard excess lands. Having 2 of them in your hand is not bad either, since you can play one and discard another while still having access to both of their Flashbacks.

Speaking of lands, this deck is running 18 of them in total. When drawing a starting hand, it's important to check for Swamp or Mountain. It's possible to play with only 1 land, so if you have either of these and at least 2 cards you can cast with it, you're good to go. 2 lands, 1 basic and either Dragonskull Summit or Graven Cairns is ideal for staring hand. 3 lands can also be alright, but 4 is too much. In addition, only having a Dragonskull Summit or Graven Cairns is not a good start, since it's quite important to be able to cast something on turn 1. This deck wants to get 3 lands into play as soon as possible, but missing 1 or 2 land drops isn't going to cost you the game. After you have 3 lands in play, its important that those lands can produce 2 black or 2 red mana at once. Some combinations that can achieve this are Mountain + Swamp and either Dragonskull Summit or Graven Cairns. Playing your 4th and 5th land can be useful, but 6 lands is the absolute maximum that you want on the board. The remaining land should be discarded with Faithless Looting to draw cards that you can actually cast.

The original deck list is not legal in Modern, so I have listed my recommended replacements here. They are also listed in this deck's maybeboard.

Faithless Looting -> Tormenting Voice

(Basically a weaker Faithless Looting. It's more expensive to cast and has no flashback, but you only discard 1 card.)

Daretti, Ingenious Iconoclast -> Kolaghan's Command

(Universal card in the format with multiple uses. All-around solid piece for a deck like this.)

Reanimate -> Unearth

(While it cannot reanimate creatures from the opponent's graveyard, Unearth can still target any creature in this deck and it doesn't cost any life to cast. Cycling is also a nice emergency option.)

Demonic Tutor -> 2 cards from the Sideboard

(I usually use Duress or Bump in the Night, but Sweltering Suns can also work here.)

The Sideboard in this deck could definitely use some work, and the legalized version still has 7 slots free. Any suggestion are welcome!

That's all folks. Hope you enjoyed my little deck tech.

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57% Casual

43% Competitive

Date added 3 years
Last updated 3 years
Key combos
Legality

This deck is not Modern legal.

Rarity (main - side)

6 - 0 Mythic Rares

18 - 2 Rares

14 - 0 Uncommons

12 - 8 Commons

Cards 60
Avg. CMC 1.52
Tokens Construct 1/1 C Token w/ Defender, Emblem Liliana, Defiant Necromancer, Zombie 2/2 B
Folders 1. 60-card Decks (Casual / Modern)
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