Rakdos Keyrune

Artifact

{T}: Gain {B} or {R}.

{B}{R}: Rakdos Keyrune becomes a 3/1 black and red Devil artifact creature with first strike until end of turn.

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
Modern Beyond Horizons	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Pioneer	Legal
Planar Constructed	Legal
Planechase	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Tiny Leaders	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (46)

Czarnian90 on Hellegion, Shadows and Flames (Raphael)

5 days ago

Another small update to the deck. Once again, more big black demons are leaving. This time it really hurts, as these are strong cards that have worked quite well. However, I often find myself holding too many of them in hand, and the new cards offer slightly more support.

Demon of Fate's Design is excellent and its abilities can be very helpful. But this time I went for the more manageable mana cost of Doom Whisperer.

More mana reduction comes with the replacement of Rune-Scarred Demon by Ob Nixilis, the Fallen. It's cheaper and a very strong card. The bigger demon had great synergy with fetching Balrog, Rakdos, or Dreadfeast Demon to hand. Still, Ob Nixilis is more playable and better fits the theme.

The next two changes might seem unbalanced. Two large and powerful demons are being replaced by support spells. In both cases, the goal is to bring more stability to the deck, and if I have to cut something, it's the higher-mana black demons.

Eater of Hope and Bringer of the Last Gift make way for Bedevil and Rakdos Keyrune. Removal and mana ramp are always needed. While Eater of Hope is a solid removal option with some resilience and the ability to trigger sacrifice effects, it’s still quite slow to cast in this deck. Bringer of the Last Gift is ultimate and fun, but the deck needs some simplification. There are still enough powerful cards. Rakdos Keyrune is a bit slower, but it can also bring a body to the field for damage or sacrifice fodder.

Czarnian90 on Hellegion, Shadows and Flames (Raphael)

1 week ago

After several more battles, things have begun to shift within the Hellegion. While the Balrog couldn’t even be bothered to wake, another giant is slowly taking the stage. Rakdos’s power and strength are rising, and so is his influence within the Hellegion. It’s becoming very likely that he’ll soon demand the position of commander.

Several black demons have stepped back, leaving Hellegion in search of their own designs. Who knows if they’ll return or reappear in another deck. I’ve heard whispers about Liliana — she would probably welcome some of them.

Feaster of Fools, Goremand, Arbiter of Woe, Dreadhound, Archfiend of Spite, and Embodiment of Agonies have departed. Perforating Artist no longer amuses Rakdos with his petty tricks, and the skeletons have turned to dust.

Rakdos’s growing presence is felt in cards like Rakdos, the Showstopper and Rakdos Joins Up. Juri, Master of the Revue joins to us, and there's now more spotlight for Judith through Judith, Carnage Connoisseur.

Belzenlok’s influence deepens with Rite of Belzenlok, and someone powerful has joined the Hellegion — Ardyn, the Usurper. Though his price is high and he leans heavily into black, I decided to accept his services.

But other beings circle the fire, waiting for their moment.

As Rakdos’s power swells, cards like Rakdos, Patron of Chaos and the guild’s signature mana rocks — Rakdos Cluestone, Rakdos Keyrune, Rakdos Locket — are seeing more attention to support the shift toward a stronger Rakdos color identity.

Infernal Grasp is another devilish trick straight from the pit.

The paths ahead are unclear. Dark beings still linger at the edge, ready to offer their power to the Hellegion — for a price: Skirsdag High Priest, Doom Whisperer, Overseer of the Damned, Spawn of Mayhem, and others...

I also cracked a Mount Doom recently and added it to the deck. I think it fits quite well here.

Czarnian90 on Hellegion, Shadows and Flames (Raphael)

3 weeks ago

Commander Update: Shadows Rise, Flames Burn

After several games against tough opponents, I’ve made a few changes to the deck and, more importantly, swapped the commander of the Hellegion. The Balrog, Durin's Bane is still very much part of the deck—playing him as a commander was fun and flavorful, but I wanted a leader who can impact my board more directly and help set the pace of the game. The Balrog remains a force of nature, and having him lurking in the deck, ready to be unleashed, still feels great. I believe he’ll continue to be a major threat even when he's not always leading the charge.

Raphael, Fiendish Savior steps in as the new commander, supporting the game plan more consistently. He helps stabilize the board, buffs my army, and sets the stage for the Balrog’s arrival. I run several cards that can fetch him straight from the deck—Blood Speaker, Demonlord Belzenlok, Rune-Scarred Demon, Icon of Ancestry, Ob Nixilis, the Hate-Twisted, and others—so even as a lurking horror, he’s never too far away.

I also added more damage-dealing spells for better control and direct pressure on opponents. Beyond classics like Devil's Play, Terminate, and Dreadbore, I’ve added Hell to Pay and Rakdos's Return to punish hands and boards alike. On top of that, I doubled down on devil token synergy and death-triggered burn effects. These little fiends now serve not just as blockers or sac fodder, but as a win condition on their own—especially when paired with Raphael’s lifelink boost. Every dying devil becomes pain for the enemy and healing for me.

I’ve now included four versions of Ob Nixilis — yes, it’s a bit much, but each fills a unique role. This one Ob Nixilis, the Hate-Twisted punishes card draw and bolsters removal. Tibalt, Rakish Instigator is still here too, classic devil support: fueling tokens and preventing opponents from healing the damage my demons and devils dish out. They don’t live long, but if timed right, their impact is massive.

I’ve also added some recursion (Oversold Cemetery) and a spicy alternate wincon in Liliana's Contract.

Some bigger demons were swapped out for stronger synergy or pure flavor—welcome Asmodeus the Archfiend, Balor, Kardur, Doomscourge, and others to the Hellegion.

Sadly, a few cards had to go — Imskir Iron-Eater, Archfiend of Sorrows, some regenerating skeletons, and a handful of artifacts are no longer marching with the legion.

I still have a few cards waiting on the bench—Burn Down the House, Rakdos Keyrune, Doom Whisperer, Overseer of the Damned, Skirsdag High Priest, Spawn of Mayhem, Breath of Malfegor — and I’ll be testing space for them soon.

In the long run, I’d love to add some heavier hitters and staples like Kindred Dominance, Altar of Shadows, Bontu's Monument, Krav, the Unredeemed, Rite of Belzenlok, Demonic TutorGC, Sudden Spoiling, Grave Pact, Dark Prophecy, Attrition, Vilis, Broker of Blood, Razaketh, the Foulblooded, Pestilence Demon, Lord of the Void, Archfiend of Depravity, and especially Karlach, Fury of Avernus.

We’ll see where the Hellegion marches next—and who joins, or falls, along the way.

Balaam__ on Balaam__

6 months ago

I combed through the first Ravnica sets and found a few more legendofa, along with a bunch of probably not’s.

•Conjured Currency

•Skull Rend

•Orzhov Charm

•Prophetic Prism (the Gatecrash printing, idk the abbreviation)

•Simic Charm

•Alive / Well (the Well part, obviously)

•Wear / Tear (the Wear part, obviously)

---

Probably Not’s

•All the Keyrunes. Again, I have no idea what the WotC-invented lore is, so I’m not sure if these keyrunes are small objects being held and looked at in the first person, or if they’re something entirely different. In any case, there are no hands shown so I doubt these qualify.

•Azorius Keyrune, Golgari Keyrune, Izzet Keyrune, Rakdos Keyrune, Selesnya Keyrune, Boros Keyrune, Dimir Keyrune, Gruul Keyrune, Orzhov Keyrune, Simic Keyrune

•Faerie Impostor hand, but I think the angle is too low to be any kind of FPP.

•Giant Growth definitely first person, but no hands, only shadow.

•Street Spasm I think that round portion under the hand is the top of a helmet, so not first person, but it could possibly be a big shoulder pauldron or something so I’m not 100% sure.

•Hands of Binding might qualify, but the angle is a bit off.

•Naturalize the angle is also too far removed from FPP I think.

DreadKhan on

1 year ago

Well, I had a bit of time so I took another look!

I feel like Bond of Revival isn't enough value for 5 mana, and the effect probably doesn't scale especially well. Disentomb seems small, I would usually prefer to have a more impactful card, and a 1 drop that you can't play early is often annoying in my experience. I'm not sure why you're using Expanded Anatomy, I doubt you'd miss it. Introduction to Prophecy is really bad if you have access to Black spells, paying a few life to get more cards in hand is a good deal. Do you have big enough creatures to justify Thud in here? If you don't expect to have a huge creature (power high enough to kill a player with a decent life total) I'd cut it. Ebony Charm seems like a strange choice, the evasion isn't the best and the exile effect feels very small for Commander, where you usually want effects that deal with an entire Graveyard (if not everyones). Effects like Enthusiastic Study aren't usually very good, and Learn doesn't work so you just loot IIRC, which isn't enough added value. If you're going to run Get the Point I think you should look at stuff like Ravenous Chupacabra, Nekrataal, either kills something but each leaves a body you can sacrifice, and both cost less mana. Same with Reach of Shadows, there are wildly better cards you could use that are still cheap. If you're going to sacrifice a creature for Rescue From the Underworld I think you could just run Victimize, it's bigger and less mana.

I'm looking through here and I've noticed you have a relatively large number of single target single card discard effects, in my experience these scale very poorly in multiplayer. I think you could keep the best one or two, but you don't need so many of them I feel.

Another potential issue here is that you have a LOT of redundant sacrifice outlets, I'm not sure you really need that many when you have your Commander, I think I would look for cards that offer a payoff for sacrifices, there are lots of cards in Rakdos that care about death triggers, any of them is probably better than something like Voracious Null when your Commander offers a great sac outlet.

I'm not sure if you'll really have problems or not, but if you find you are short of mana you could probably add a few mana rocks, Rakdos Keyrune is pretty versatile, Phyrexian Totem is potentially a creature as well. There are Charcoal Diamond and Fire Diamond, there is Mind Stone, and many more that are 2 or 3 mana. I find decks that have enough lands are probably better in most situations, but having a few mana rocks can be good sometimes.

DreadKhan on Claim The Dark

1 year ago

Just checked your lands, you probably should look for some lands that don't enter tapped. Either way IMHO you'd be better off running budget fetchlands like Evolving Wilds over non-Basics like Guildgates, there are effects that will punish you for having non-Basics, and you don't need heavy fixing in here. You really, really want to use 1 drops and untapped lands in Modern, I took the liberty of looking up a few possible fits (relatively budget), Blackcleave Cliffs (pricey but good turn 1), Blightstep Pathway  ^Flip (pricey), Foreboding Ruins (good with lots of Basics, dirt cheap), Sulfurous Springs (great with your life gain, very cheap), budget Basic fetching lands are worse than untapped duals, but most people already have multiple Evolving Wilds/Terramorphic Expanse kicking around, and they added the new Riveteers Overlook too fwiw.

If you want sneaky way to fix/ramp, you might try out Rakdos Keyrune, normally a 3 mana rock sucks, but this can also be a 3/1 First Strike for relatively little mana, and it's usually much harder to kill than a traditional creature. If you really want to keep a bunch of big mana cards then adding some ramp like this wouldn't hurt.

DreadKhan on Brian Stacks' Pyromancy (E)

2 years ago

You don't have a sideboard, but if you ever think about it I bet Meekstone would be handy as backup copies of Smoke vs fast aggro decks. Technically they 'stack', if you have both they can only untap 1 creature that satisfies Meekstone.

Also, I absolutely love creature lands/artifacts that become creatures, some even do double duty as a mana rock. If you added Black you could try something like Phyrexian Totem or Rakdos Keyrune, but mono-Red does have Foriysian Totem, 1 or 2 copies of this might be a nice way to close out games, it's especially useful if your opponent can't safely play blockers, or if they've snuck out a few weenies early since the Totem makes a great blocker. There is also Guardian Idol, which might be more useful than Mind Stone vs some decks, maybe Haunted Plate Mail or Levitating Statue could do work, Xanthic Statue is only 5 for an 8/8 Trample. For Man-lands there flashy Den of the Bugbear, each time you pay it's 3R you get to make another 1/1 fwiw. If people play lots of weenies then Ghitu Encampment is very good at dealing with them with it's First Strike. These cards that become lands might be even better in a sideboard as well, where you play game 1 with zero creature presence and once you're sure people have pulled all their creature hate you can sneak some situational creatures in.

Interesting solution to the 'how do I kill my opponent?' question, creatureless decks are always cool!

nuperokaso on Demons

2 years ago

Blade of the Oni is bad because most of your creatures already have decent power and toughness. It works best in a deck with tiny creatures

Charmbreaker Devils you need a few additional spells for this to work. I suggest adding Mizzium Mortars and Terminate

Altar of Bhaal this is best with enters the battlefield effects, which you don't play many

Arcane Signet this does nothing without Commander. Replace this with Rakdos Signet

Bolas's Citadel this is a suicide in a deck with high mana costs like yours. Replace this with Phyrexian Arena

Guardian Idol this is weak creature, and bad fixing. Play Talisman of Indulgence instead

Rakdos Locket I suggest Rakdos Keyrune instead

Davriel, Soul Broker this card is not legal. If you like the theme of devils, play Tibalt, Rakish Instigator