Need help rebuilding an old favorite
Modern Deck Help forum
Posted on March 24, 2022, 12:49 p.m. by Metroid_Hybrid
Several years ago I put together a strictly Rakdos-themed Aggro deck built around Fists of the Demigod, Psychotic Fury, Ashenmoor Liege, and having a "transformative" sideboard. Many users on T/O at the time seemed to like it as much as I did. But unfortunately, one day I accidentally left it at an LGS shortly before it permanently closed, and was never able to get it back...
Now half a decade later, I'm looking to rebuild. However, over the past 5 years many new creatures have been printed that have rendered my old list, quite frankly, obsolete..
I'm probably going to keep all of the non-creature spells (except maybe Madcap Skills), but I'm likely to replace all of the creatures except the playsets of Rakdos Cackler & Spike Jester, and the singles of Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch and (of course) Ashenmoor Liege.
With so many new options, compounded by the fact that I haven't played any Modern in years, I find it difficult to settle on a particular direction...
Please advise...
Rakdos Sligh Beats - RakdosDeckWins..
Modern
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(As far as the sideboard is concerned, I'm probably going to replace Blightning with Sovereign's Bite)
Metroid_Hybrid says... #3
lagotripha: Thank you for the detailed meta breakdown. However, I only mentioned my time away from the format as additional context, and it doesn't necessarily mean I'm completely ignorant. But as a result you've completely breezed past what I was actually asking.. That is, what combination of creatures mentioned would make the most sense at a glance? Or to word it differently... Should I go 'all-in' on "Menace-tribal", or should I max-out on creatures with Haste, or some combination of both? And what do you think about the ETB creatures mentioned as well? Which would give the most decks the most problems?
I'm not trying to make this a Tier-1 contender, so to speak, but rather I'm trying to make this particular off-meta archetype as strong as possible. I'm leaning towards the "Menace-tribal" angle at the moment, but I wanted to get some input before committing to anything..
March 24, 2022 7:53 p.m.
lagotripha says... #4
You're going to need a combination, probably of all three, and you're going to need to find an engine to make it provide a lot of value - get ready for a lot of playtesting before you go out and get cards.
Hive of the Eye Tyrant, Sudden Edict and cabal therapists are the most likely suspects for menace. I'm not sure about haste - I feel like supporting cards for reach are most important there.
The problem isn't the tier 1 decks, but that really strong cards get pushed down to teir 2 because of that, and so on, so you find yourself fighting someone's Resurgent Belief/Bloodbraid Marauder deck, or varous flavours of Ravenous Squirrel.
The sheer variety of what can be on the other side of the field aside from the usual suspects is big, and each wants you to have different cards or one of the big new universal answers.
Personally, I'd go with 'all of the creatures that are cheap and match the curve' and swap playsets every FNM. Unpredictability is a massive edge if it prevents your opponents knowing the correct line.
Best of luck with the brew, but there aren't easy answers to this one until you get an idea what you are going to be playing against.
lagotripha says... #2
Over the last few years, modern has changed a lot, and the cards printed in MH2 have really pushed the game's power curve higher.
A lot of the budget brews I did 5 years ago are no longer viable, and even teir 1 decks need serious work-overs. There are options, but its important to look at how your local meta has changed rather than leaning too hard on generic advice.
The most important cards to get to grips with to know how the metagame has shifted;
Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer - card advantage, ramp, it goes in every deck that can afford it, until wizards finally gets around to a banning.
Solitude,Grief and the rest of the cycle made flicker effects very good.
Expressive Iteration - its card advantage that is defining R/U
Counterspell has been printed into modern.
Prismatic Ending (and recently, March of Otherworldly Light) has replaced Path to Exile as it hits all nonland cards, making enchantress/noncreature combos more vulnerable.
Dauthi Voidwalker, which is killing graveyard interactions.
Mishra's Bauble is out there pretending to be Gitaxian Probe, making every deck 4 cards smaller or more when it can be cast from the graveyard (though less now Luurus is banned).
Triomes, fetches for multiple colours, treasures etc mean that there are a lot of '4-5 colour good stuff' type lists, or two colour decks just splashing for one card.
Hammer time is no longer a meme.
Crashing Footfalls/Living end got some incredible cascade/cycling cards, so have a plan for lots of creatures early.
'Competitive' B/R is mostly just jamming voidwalker, pilferer then thoughtsieze/lightning bolt.
All of that said, there are options.Black/Red has just got a glut of tokens, that point to artifact sacrifice or similar shenanigans - I've had fun messing around with Glaze Fiend/Slaughter-Priest of Mogis. I can't say its competitive, but its not completely out of the running.
Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar/The Underworld Cookbook. He offers removal, life gain graveyard synergy and card advantage.
Kalain, Reclusive Painter creature buffs, tokens and ramp.
Oni-Cult Anvil makes 1/1 artifact tokens and pings.
Rakdos Headliner points to more discard strategies, but doesn't yet have enough support cards.
Brew hard, and best of luck finding something that works for your modern group.
March 24, 2022 1:33 p.m.