Rakdos's Return

Sorcery

Rakdos's Return deals X damage to target opponent or planeswalker. That player or that planeswalker's controller discards X cards.

Discussion (49)

DrunkT on [Primer] Political Subterfuge - Marchesa Aikido

6 months ago

Great deck, it's low to the ground and fast. I adapted this list to fit with my collection and now have a cheaper version of this deck.

My Marchesa

I've played like 5 games and i think i won 4 of them. One on the back of Breena counters, another in a war of attrition with all the "fog" effects until a big Inkshield happened and a couple getting to a 1v1 and outresource my opponent with card draw and/or Rakdos's Return.

The thing is, every spell feels very relevant and when they think they got you... they don't.

DawnsRayofLight on Breya treasures

8 months ago

You could run some Threats still in line with your them:

Wurmcoil Engine

Kaldra Compleat

Karn, the Great Creator: I love this tool box card but it depends on how people feel about the 10 card sideboard, it isn't officially allowed exactly but cEDH may change that. you can fill the board (10 is generally the accepted number I have seen for the "side") with situationally useful artifacts.

The only other thing I would think of is maybe considering a bit more control like

Dovin's Veto

Render Silent

Counterflux

Swan Song

to give a bit more protection for your strats

Rakdos's Return is always funny but may or may not work here

Sevinne's Reclamation could give some recursion Academy Ruins and Trading Post Too

Aetherflux Reservoir and Time Sieve with Thopter Assembly if you want some combo wombo

Daretti, Ingenious Iconoclast seems to fit the theme

I am not a fan of the wellsprings, they do fit the them somewhat but can seem dead at times.

I had a couple of others that were in mind but lost them, I will comment if I think of them

BrassLord on Rakdos Dragon actual

1 year ago

Looks like a fun deck to pilot.

In reviewing the deck in it's current form, I can see a few different ways of trying to approach your problem. The first would be to double down on discard and reanimation effects to cheat the cards into play. Stuff like Winds of Change Wheel of Misfortune Wheel of Fate help filter through your deck and pair well with those other looting effects you already have. Adding in reanimation redundancy like Animate Dead could could also go.

I think the dragon...er... elephant in the room is the mana curve. Your commander incentivizes you to play big beefy dragons, but that skews your mana curve. Currently you have a LOT of low to the ground single mana producing artifacts (2cmc) and a few later game payoff ones, with the rest of your curve being around the 4-6 CMC. Another way to approach the mana problem is to double down on the big boy ramping artifacts, like Gilded Lotus . Then pair it Voltaic Key and Manifold Key so when it's online, you could actually hard cast some of those late game dragons!

The way mentioned above addresses the mana production head on. It'd also help if you paired some of this with some early game disruption to prevent opponents from getting ahead TOO quickly so you can't catch up. Cards like Mind Twist and Rakdos's Return can be backbreaking when ramped into early, shutting down the scariest player and allowing you to catchup with your dragons. Along those same lines, Torment of Hailfire is another staple big mana sink card to close games (though honestly, your dragons seem like they don't need that much help!) In a multiplayer game, cards like Fleshbag Marauder , Merciless Executioner , and Plaguecrafter can be removal in the early game and make utility spot removal reanimation targets later on.

Cuts I personally struggle with as well! I'd focus on whether or not the cards further your gameplan or promote you winning. For example, in the current list Dragon Mantle feels like a win more card, despite the fact that it cantrips. Unholy Indenture also feels the same way. But you should play the cards you like!

Happy Burninating!

BrassLord on This Demon Brings the Slap Party!

1 year ago

Neat commander! Could also look into cards that create temporary tokens of the commander, as he doesn't really care if he sticks around. Heat Shimmer , Twinflame .

Monarchy also seems to work really well with your commander, as you're forcing everyone to attack someone other than yourself. Court of Ambition , Skyline Despot , Emberwilde Captain , Court of Ire . Captive Audience is also a rude card, as you'll force your opponents to attack eachother with the zombies, giving you five zombies to run amok.

General rude Rakdos cards, something like Mind Twist or Rakdos's Return can cripple a player. Combined with having to attack someone else leaving themselves open seems like it'd be really backbreaking!

Scallywallwest on Rakdos: Threat or Menace?

1 year ago

Thank you for the suggestions! I agree with you about Rakdos's Return, as this will mostly be hitting opponents over and over again and, as you said, doesn't really need it. I'll look into the deathtouch and first strike, both of which could make this deck pretty interesting.

As for the shockland, I'd love to add it, but I'm on a really tight budget as it is. If I end up getting my hands on one, or if the price drops, it'll become an auto-include. Thank you for commenting!! :D

Scallywallwest on Rakdos: Threat or Menace?

1 year ago

Thanks for that, rjife! Those all sound like good suggestions, and all of them address problems I can understand. I forgot Theater of Horrors existed, to be honest! :b It seems like a good suggestion, considering the deck strat.

Also. What do you think of Rakdos's Return as a finisher for opponents? Thank you for commenting! :D

Spoothy on midrange ish Grixis

2 years ago

First thing I would recommend is having a mana add that produces your colors. But on a real note, Nightmare Shepherd and Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger don’t do a lot in this deck. You lack a real win condition outside of the Nicol Bolases being insane value. I would cut some of the chaff like Thought Erasure and Rakdos's Return in favor of some notebook good removal like more copies of Dreadbore. If you can find copies of it, The Scarab God is of course insane, I would maybe put that in in place of your Ashiok, Nightmare Muse. You could also see some great results out of a full playset of Nicol Bolas, the Ravager  ^Flip and maybe a Liliana, Dreadhorde General or two would also be great additions. I am well aware that these are all super expensive cards for the most part, but three color midrange decks are some of the most expensive in the format, so there’s not a lot of ways to get around it.

ZendikariWol on Niv's 59 Dualcolored Hits

2 years ago

Bring to Light may be pretty good, Fight to the Death , when revealed, serves to say "wanna make a big attack? ban plan." Flower / Flourish or Safewright Quest is good two-color mana fixing. Putrefy and Mortify are both pretty strong. Thrash / Threat is pretty all right creature removal if Niv is out. I am partial to Archon of Valor's Reach - I just like the card. Armadillo Cloak is def all right if Nivvy's your main wincon. Artifact Mutation and Aura Mutation are awesome, as is Hull Breach . I know one of my friends has a Kresh the Bloodbraided deck that would be utterly demolished by a Backlash . Bedevil is absurdly versatile removal. Blightning has a special place in my heart for taking any deck that doesn't know how to draw cards directly out of the game. Mostly a 60 cards, 20 life thing tho. Boros Charm can fizzle a removal spell, or it can make Niv into a really big meat stick. Burning-Tree Shaman and Cindervines are absolute murder for spellslinger decks. Casualties of War might help with those planeswalkers you seem to want to make disappear. Cauldron Haze is an... unconventional way to eat a removal spell. Clan Defiance is pretty all right, though it is an X spell that doesn't just kill a player directly. Countersquall is a good not- Negate , as is Dovin's Veto . Curse of Chains is a cool removal spell. Deathsprout is removal and ramp. A bit costly but Murder and Rampant Growth combined (minus one mana) is worth considering for casuals like me. Debtors' Knell can be a nice finisher.

Defiler of Souls is one of my favorite cards of all time. I just love playing colors and I like turning downsides into upsides.

Despark and Deputy of Detention (not to mention the D-Sphere itself) is pretty good removal. Destructive Revelry is pretty good removal as well. Dimir Doppelganger would fuck a reanimator deck six ways from Sunday. Divinity of Pride is a big, lifelinking threat. Djinn Illuminatus is sneakily very strong. Imagine duplicating all your removal spells as many times as you bother to pay for them. Domri's Ambush is even more good removal (this time creature removal). Dragonlair Spider is just quite good at making tokens. Dreadbore kills two relevant types. Dromoka's Command is sweet removal but not many of its other options are relevant. Dueling Grounds is Mirri, Weatherlight Duelist (or Mirri is Dueling grounds- whatever). Both are awesome pillow fort. Escape to the Wilds draws cards. The color-matters auras from Eventide and Shadowmoor are strong with Niv and also on-theme.

Fossil Find alluded to graveyard order... in a 2008 set... huh.

Identity Crisis just discards your opponent's... everything. Ionize is a pretty all right counterspell. Justice Strike , another pet card of mine, is just very a flavorful removal spell. Mindleech Mass is crazy cool. Mirari's Wake is a really conventionally strong card. Mistmeadow Witch is more expensive and more timely Soulherder (fizzles removal!). Mnemonic Betrayal is just a gem. Mystic Snake and Frilled Mystic are both counterspells. Necrogenesis makes tokens and screws up reanimation. Palliation Accord is pretty freaking pillow forty. Pillory of the Sleepless , Anguished Unmaking , and Vindicate are more solid Orzhov removal. Plasm Capture isn't great, I don't think, but it feels like a card that has some wild stories attached to it, don'tcha think? Rakdos's Return seems like another really fun spell. I want to make a RB casual Rack deck. Silumgar's Command is a good card. Thought Erasure is a perfectly suitable discard spell. Trygon Predator is good. Wheel of Sun and Moon ensures that every card in your deck is just a few Niv triggers away.

And BAM, I've looked through every two-color card in Magic. There we go. That's what stood out to me, but I find that many players are more competitive than I am and therefore have different definitions of what a good card is. Feel free to take some or none of my advice. All would likely prove disastrous for your deck- a lot of the cards I suggested were removal.