Cryptolith Fragment

Back:

Aurora of Emrakul  Flip

Combos Browse all Suggest

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
Oathbreaker Legal
Pioneer Legal
Planechase Legal
Quest Magic Legal
Tiny Leaders Legal
Vanguard Legal
Vintage Legal

Cryptolith Fragment

Artifact

Cryptolith Fragment enters the battlefield tapped.

: Add one mana of any color to your mana pool. Each player loses 1 life.

At the beginning of your upkeep, if each player has 10 or less life, transform Cryptolith Fragment.

Spell_Slam on This Is Going To Hurt

6 months ago

Good list! I got some ideas for my own, so thanks!

In terms of enablers, Keen Duelist and Descent into Avernus are quite strong. Walking Ballista (and to a lesser extent Hangarback Walker) also makes a great enabler in the early game or a giant threat in the mid/late game. Cryptolith Fragment  Flip is great as a ramp spell that fixes and also enables casting Rakdos. I am also playing Insolent Neonate, which has worked out surprisingly well, though there may be better options out there. I see you're not running Heartless Hidetsugu, which I think is a must-have for this deck. It makes dumping out your hand and killing every opponent trivially easy.

When it comes to payoffs, I really like playing as many colourless cards as possible to really take advantage of Rakdos. I see you're missing Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger and Emrakul, the Promised End in your top-end. In terms of other colourless cards, I like Duplicant as a potentially free removal spell, Wurmcoil Engine for the value, Myr Battlesphere for early damage output and Steel Hellkite as a flying threat that can wipe out huge chunks of the board.

When it comes to coloured payoffs, I stopped playing cards that cost more than or in their costs, as they wouldn't play well with the Rakdos discount. I do like Sheoldred, Whispering One, Knollspine Dragon and Balefire Dragon.

With Whip of Erebos and Exquisite Blood in the deck, is seems like Sanguine Bond would be a great include as a combo finisher.

In terms of cuts, Lightning Bolt seems like an easy one to let go. I stopped playing haste-givers because I found myself playing creatures post-combat most of the time anyways, so something like Rising of the Day could be an easy cut. Read the Bones seems like a really weak card that could be replaced with better card draw or recursion (Necropotence?). I see the combo with Tectonic Hazard and Death-rattle Oni, but that seems pretty niche otherwise and could be replaced with more reliable/repeatable enablers instead. Spawn of Mayhem seems pretty awkward in this deck, as you'll rarely be able to cast it before turn 4 even with Spectacle (and we know what turn 4 is for! :) ). The triple-black on Bloodletter of Aclazotz and Dread Cacodemon are pretty restricting, in my opinion. Indulgent Tormenter seems very unreliable and probably not worth the cost.

Jet Medallion and Ruby Medallion are not at their best here, as they reduce colourless costs instead of adding mana, which means that with Rakdos out they may not even do anything.

Whirl on Flori(da M)an, Says He Can "Cast Spells"

1 year ago

This looks like a deck Fiendish Duo would love to call home.

You have many noncreature spells, maybe Firebrand Archer would fit? Seems a bit better than Thermo-Alchemist, unless you really don't like that 1 toughness on the Archer.

Drakuseth, Harsh Mentor and Hellrider could also be interesting. And Cryptolith Fragment  Flip is a fun little lifelosin' mana rock.

DreadKhan on unthinkable apocalypse

1 year ago

I'm not certain the Commander has enough explosive power to consistently win vs 2 decks, but I have very good results in 1 v 1 with my Rakdos deck, and it often has spare cards by the end of the game, be it wipe or removal, because the deck just runs so much of those, with lots of the removal hitting more than 1 target (I love stuff like Phyrexian Purge, Fire Covenant, Make an Example, and Volcanic Offering can each be a terror of a card, and a deck running all of them has lots of pinpoint removal that will clear lots of stuff out. Ashes to Ashes and Reckless Spite also exist fwiw, and if you aren't certain you'll have creatures out, Tergrid's Shadow can do a bit of work, as can Plaguecrafter or Demon's Disciple, cards Sedris can recur for 2B even. Another value card is Dredge the Mire, which can cheat in the 3 worst creatures in people's graveyards, note certain creatures will kill you if you control them, so check before playing! Necromantic Selection not only clears the field, it also gives you back the best thing, this is extra juicy if you use some sort of Indestructible creature(s) that won't die. If you consistently have a fairly big creature, or one with Deathtouch and Lifelink, Chandra's Ignition is one sided by definition, one of many cards that shines brightly with Basilisk Collar (which is also very good with Jaya Ballard, Task Mage or even good old Banshee, Jaya's 6 damage wipe really is amazing if you've got Collar on her, though it'll kill her too). If you expect to have multiple opponents, Goad is a very strong effect, Karazikar, the Eye Tyrant is potentially pretty solid, lots of card draw. There is also Kardur, Doomscourge that will force everyone's hand. Spectacular Showdown is a great card if you've actually got a board of your own to finish people off, keep in mind that on your next turn, you not only won't have been attacked by any pre-existing creature, everyone else will have swung for the fences with Double Strike, and they will likely have nothing left to defend with, making your Double Strikers very effective. Another Goad source that is great with a creature heavy board is Agitator Ant, which is hilarious a lot of the time. If you're using Goad effects, War Tax can let an opponent have a way around them, if there is a tax to attack Goad fails, and War Cadence is absolutely devastating with Goad, even a tax of 1 to block can make blocking impossible for weenie decks, and you can use either on anyone's turn.

As you've got access to Blue, there are a few non-Rakdos tricks you can use, the most hilarious I know of is Mass Diminish, note that it lasts until your next turn and have a good laugh. There is also Sudden Spoiling, which is powerful but lasts for that turn, or Polymorphist's Jest, which is similarly a 1 turn solution. I use Mass Diminish more aggressively, to make a player hyper-vulnerable to attackers (and make them unable to counter attack), getting two casts is just savage. Visions of Duplicity can create some chaos with it's two casts, Cultural Exchange is obscene if someone else has better creatures. Bident of Thassa is glorious if you want both of it's effects, forcing people to attack is incredibly mean, and this doesn't require you to run a weenie like Goblin Diplomats, but that's also a fun card fwiw. If you're going to run Oriq Loremage, you might slip in a huge creature to Unearth, something like Dragon Tyrant can be huge and not break the bank, Double Strike and Firebreathing are really good together, and you won't have to pay the upkeep with Unearth, he's dead before that matters.

I was looking at your land count and average Mana Value and I think you probably are running too few lands at this point, it's very tempting to cut them, but 30 is probably too few for a MV that is over 2.5. You might get away with adding 2 mana ramp, but I'd still aim for at least 36 lands (or MDFCs that count as a land, you probably already have the best two MDFCs in those colours, but people also run Malakir Rebirth  Flip) to ensure you can consistently cast stuff. There is a smattering of ways you can run less lands/ramp, but these all come with downsides, but in Grixis you can run 4 solid Bounce Lands, Dimir Aqueduct and Guildless Commons should be in here as well if you want a lower land count, these let you hit another land drop when you draw them. You might also run stuff like Thran Dynamo or Worn Powerstone to help you hit higher MVs sooner, ramping by only 1 mana feels bad compared to hitting a land drop most of the time, there is also Gilded Lotus, but hitting 5 mana can be rough. Coalition Relic can charge for 1 turn, Skyclave Relic is super versatile/rugged, and Everflowing Chalice can be huge if you want, 6-10 mana is absurd but sometimes comes up. Cantrips like Ponder and Preordain are also good at digging for a land, but I know in Talrand it stings pretty bad when you Preordain and don't find a land and I needed one. As for some cards to remove, I'll take a look, but if I'm trying to build a deck that can handle attention, I look first at cards that will hurt only 1 player, unless that card will almost certainly end that player, either right away or in a few turns.

A few to consider removing (I may be missing why you have them in, so user discretion is advised or something): Archive Trap, Outpost Siege, Palace Siege, Ponder, Preordain, Haunting Echoes, Cruel Ultimatum (this seems insanely hard to cast, and hits only 1 player, unless you can copy it I'd run Captive Audience if I want to hose one player hard), Cranial Extraction, Cormela, Glamour Thief, Kess, Dissident Mage, Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger, Lobber Crew, Loyal Subordinate, Nekusar, the Mindrazer, Obeka, Brute Chronologist, Phenax, God of Deception, Runo Stromkirk  Flip, Spear Spewer, and Thermo-Alchemist.Some maybe cards include Angrath, Captain of Chaos, and Cryptolith Fragment  Flip (for another land, maybe a better rock, there is Thought Vessel, but fixing is sweet in Grixis).

Hope some of this is helpful!

multimedia on Rakdos, Lord of Riots Demon Tribal

2 years ago

Hey, with Rakdos as Commander then consider some effects that make an opponent lose life without attacking? Rakdos can't be cast without first an opponent losing life and effects that cost no additional mana as well as being repeatable are nice since you want to use your mana on your turn to cast Demons or draw. Get repeatable value while also making your opponent or each opponent lose life.

Cryptolith Fragment  Flip is ramp and an enabler for Rakdos. Plague Spitter is a hidden gem, repeatable 1 damage to each creature at your upkeep can wreck opponent token strategies especially Spirits who are flying blockers against Demons and opponent's green mana dorks. Lower mana cost options, less than 4 mana, are better since they can potentially be cast before Rakdos.

With Rakdos as Commander and playing Demons you need less ramp because he's a source of ramp for Demons. For this reason I would make draw more important then ramp. Still play some ramp, but more draw lets you draw Demons to cast using Rakdos mana cost reduction.

For more draw my advice is make cards with repeatable effects a priory for upgrades. Draw spells that are a single effect are fine too, having both is best. Seize the Spoils, Big Score and Unexpected Windfall is loot (draw and discard) and ramp with treasures, that's really helpful for Demons to get three effects with one card.

If you're interested I offer more advice in another comment. Would you like more advice?

Triton on Wrapping Up a Deck!

2 years ago

FormOverFunction I have Pestilence in the deck! Had to make good use of my Revised version- one. I have a soft spot for old bordered cards! ;)

Cryptolith Fragment  Flip is very popular but the EtB tapped effect is a bit off-putting but it’s definitely on my mind!

FormOverFunction on Wrapping Up a Deck!

2 years ago

Cryptolith Fragment  Flip might be worthwhile as well. I’m a fan of the natural disasters... and I’m not very good at Magic: the Gathering... so I would probably try to force something like Cyclone or Pestilence in there LOL. Probably end up wedging something crazy in there like Cosmic Horror too, just to make sure no one would confuse the deck with all those eldrazi-doldrum decks. Your deck sounds fun! Let us know how it goes!!

Load more