Commander Collection: Steamin' Demon

Commander / EDH BR (Rakdos)

Jurrane

Creature (34)

• 1x Ancestral Statue
• 1x Archfiend of Despair
• 1x Artisan of Kozilek
• 1x Combustible Gearhulk
• 1x Conduit of Ruin
• 1x Demonlord Belzenlok
• 1x Dire Fleet Ravager
• 1x Fireslinger
• 1x Goblin Artillery
• 1x Gray Merchant of Asphodel
• 1x Hidetsugu, Devouring Chaos
• 1x Infernal Sovereign
• 1x It That Betrays
• 1x Kaervek the Merciless
• 1x Keen Duelist
• 1x Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
• 1x Lobber Crew
• 1x Master of Cruelties
• 1x Meteor Golem
• 1x Nettle Drone
• 1x Pathrazer of Ulamog
• 1x Pestilence Demon
• 1x Plague Spitter
• 1x Prodigal Pyromancer
• 1x Rampaging Ferocidon
• 1x Spawn of Mayhem
• 1x Spear Spewer
• 1x Spikeshot Goblin
• 1x Thermo-Alchemist
• 1x Treasonous Ogre
• 1x Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
• 1x Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
• 1x Vial Smasher the Fierce
• 1x Void Winnower

Land (36)

• 1x Blackcleave Cliffs
• 1x Blightstep Pathway  ^Flip
• 1x Blood Crypt
• 1x Bonders' Enclave
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Dragonskull Summit
• 1x Foreboding Ruins
• 1x Graven Cairns
• 8x Mountain
• 1x Ramunap Ruins
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Rogue's Passage
• 1x Shadowblood Ridge
• 1x Shizo, Death's Storehouse
• 1x Smoldering Marsh
• 1x Sulfurous Springs
• 1x Sunscorched Desert
• 12x Swamp

Instant (7)

• 1x Chaos Warp
• 1x Dark Ritual
• 1x Doom Blade
• 1x Go for the Throat
• 1x Lightning Bolt
• 1x Rakdos Charm
• 1x Terminate

Enchantment (4)

• 1x Descent into Avernus
• 1x Necropotence
• 1x Phyrexian Arena
• 1x Sanctum of Stone Fangs

Commander (1)

Artifact (10)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Mask of Avacyn
• 1x Mind Stone
• 1x Rakdos Signet
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots
• 1x Talisman of Indulgence
• 1x Thought Vessel
• 1x Whispersilk Cloak

Sorcery (6)

• 1x By Force
• 1x Damnation
• 1x Feed the Swarm
• 1x Night's Whisper
• 1x Read the Bones
• 1x Sign in Blood

Planeswalker (2)

• 1x Angrath, the Flame-Chained
• 1x Chandra, Torch of Defiance

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Introduction

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This is the first of two Rakdos decks in my EDH collection (the other is here). It takes advantage of Rakdos, Lord of Riots’ ability to power out giant degenerate creatures for a reduced casting cost, especially Eldrazi. The Eldrazi Titans and cards like Void Winnower, Pathrazer of Ulamog and It That Betrays can be absolutely back breaking for opponents if they land in the early turns of the game. Vial Smasher the Fierce is a complete all-star in this deck too.

No Pain No Gain

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The goal of this deck is to cast Rakdos, Lord of Riots as early as possible and then begin spewing out high impact creatures to cause problems for our opponents. However, Rakdos, Lord of Riots can only be played if our opponents have lost life, so we run lots of different pinger and drain effects to ensure our enemies are taking damage regularly. They also serve the purpose of enabling Rakdos, Lord of Riots’ cost reduction ability.

Here are the various life loss effects that we have at our disposal:

- Pingers: Sometimes simple is best. We run a bunch of simple, low-cost cards that ping one or more opponents for damage, opening the door to cast Rakdos, Lord of Riots. These include Fireslinger, Goblin Artillery, Lobber Crew, Nettle Drone, Prodigal Pyromancer, Spear Spewer, Spikeshot Goblin, Thermo-Alchemist and Viashino Fangtail.

- Drain Effects: We have cards with various static or triggered abilities that cause damage to our opponents on a regular basis. Mogis, God of Slaughter, Indulgent Tormentor, Rampaging Ferocidon, Keen Duelist, Spawn of Mayhem, Sanctum of Stone Fangs and our various planeswalkers are all good examples of these.

- Direct Damage Effects: Some of our nastier creatures also double as direct damage effects, either as ETBs or with their activated abilities. Combustible Gearhulk, Dire Fleet Ravager, Inferno Titan and Pestilence Demon all put in some serious work for this deck.

Payoffs

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The real fun of this deck is playing gigantic dangerous hosses for very little mana, or sometimes even for free. I consider this deck as a bit of a dumping ground for all the ridiculous creatures I wouldn’t normally play in other decks, mainly because they’re not efficient enough without the casting cost reduction. Hence, this list is in a state of flux depending on when Wizards prints more insane high CMC monsters, or if I trade for more cool stuff. Here are the highlights from the payoff cards I have at the moment.

- Artisan of Kozilek // Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre // Conduit of Ruin // Kozilek, Butcher of Truth // It That Betrays // Pathrazer of Ulamog // Void Winnower are my Eldrazi package at the moment. A few of them might get replaced if I trade for some of the other Eldrazi Titans, but all of these can be game breaking in their own right.

- Demonlord Belzenlok is a great way of drawing extra cards, especially as we run so many high mana value cards. A 6/6 flying trample body is no slouch either.

- Kaervek the Merciless is a house in this deck. He causes our opponents pain just for casting spells, plus the damage he inflicts counts towards Rakdos, Lord of Riots’ abilities. He’s awesome.

- Master of Cruelties is just fun to play. If he connects in combat, our unfortunate opponents basically have a gun to their head and it’s usually only a matter of time before we ping or drain them for the final point of damage.

- Meteor Golem is a new addition and is primarily played for removal as it takes out a permanent of our choice when it hits the table.

- Vial Smasher the Fierce is just hilarious in this deck. If left unanswered, he causes our opponents a LOT of pain, especially with all the high mana value creatures we’re powering out. He’s the second most important card in the deck, after Rakdos himself.

- Ancestral Statue combos brilliantly with Nettle Drone if Rakdos, Lord of Riots is in on the board. Once you deal at least 4 damage, Ancestral Statue becomes free to play and bounce as many times as you want, untapping Nettle Drone each time to deal infinite damage and take all your opponents out at once.

Future Improvements

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This is one of the decks I’ve developed the least and it shows: it still contains several sub-optimal cards. In particular, I want more of the Eldrazi Titans to increase the impact of its creature package.

As Rakdos, Lord of Riots is such a removal magnet, I want to include more ways to protect him. I already have Lightning Greaves and Swiftfoot Boots, but I’d also like Mask of Avacyn, Darksteel Plate and Whispersilk Cloak.

Viashino Fangtail -> Plague Spitter

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All My EDH Decks

{W} Giada, Font of Hope {W}
S(i)erra Sidewinder: Mono-White Angel Tribal

{U} Talrand, Sky Summoner {U}
Blue Streak: Mono-Blue Spellslinger

{U} Orvar, the All-Form {U}
Clone Zone: Mono-Blue Shapeshifters Combo

{B} Sidisi, Undead Vizier {B}
Swamp Thing: Mono-Black Goodstuff

{B} Syr Konrad, the Grim {B}
Black Hole: Mono-Black Sacrifice/Aristocrats

{R} Torbran, Thane of Red Fell {R}
Red Force: Mono-Red Group Slug

{R} Rionya, Fire Dancer {R}
Firebird: Mono-Red Storm/Tokens

{G} Titania, Protector of Argoth {G}
Timber Terror: Mono-Green Stax

{W}{U} Grand Arbiter Augustin IV {W}{U}
Control Freak: Azorius Control

{W}{U} Elminster {W}{U}
Crystal Wing: Azorius Skies & Scry

{U}{B} Oona, Queen of the Fae {U}{B}
Dreamcatcher: Dimir Faeries Tribal

{U}{B} Narfi, Betrayer King {U}{B}
Ice Breaker: Dimir Snow/Zombies

{B}{R} Rakdos, Lord of Riots {B}{R}
Steamin’ Demon: Rakdos Life Loss

{B}{R} Juri, Master of the Revue {B}{R}
Pandemonium: Rakdos Sacrifice

{R}{G} Hallar, the Firefletcher {R}{G}
Trailblazer: Gruul Kicker

{R}{G} Wort, the Raidmother {R}{G}
Barnstormer: Gruul Conspire

{W}{G} Sigarda, Heron's Grace {W}{G}
Stampida: Selesnya Humans Tribal

{W}{G} Captain Sisay {W}{G}
Legendia: Selesnya Legendary

{W}{G} Sythis, Harvest's Hand {W}{G}
Diamondback: Selesnya Enchantress

{W}{B} Daxos the Returned {W}{B}
Curse of Novgorod: Orzhov Constellation

{W}{B} Kambal, Consul of Allocation {W}{B}
Oblivion: Orzhov Lifegain & Lifedrain

{U}{R} Firkraag, Cunning Instigator {U}{R}
Dragon’s Fury: Izzet Dragons/Goad

{B}{G} Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons {B}{G}
Scorpion Express: Golgari Deathtouch

{B}{G} Nath of the Gilt-Leaf {B}{G}
Outlaw Run: Golgari Elves/Discard

{W}{R} Bruenor Battlehammer {W}{R}
Steel Force: Boros Equipment

{W}{R} General Ferrous Rokiric {W}{R}
Gatekeeper: Boros Multicoloured

{U}{G} Prime Speaker Zegana {U}{G}
Wicked Twister: Simic +1/+1 Counters

{U}{G} Ezuri, Stalker of Spheres {U}{G}
Toxic Garden: Simic Infect

{W}{U}{B} Tivit, Seller of Secrets {W}{U}{B}
Steel Vengeance: Esper Artifacts

{W}{U}{B} Yennett, Cryptic Sovereign {W}{U}{B}
Riddler’s Revenge: Esper Topdeck

{U}{B}{R} Kess, Dissident Mage {U}{B}{R}
Mindbender: Grixis Discard

{B}{R}{G} Vaevictis Asmadi, the Dire {B}{R}{G}
Dragon Wagon: Jund Dragons Tribal

{W}{R}{G} Pantlaza, Sun-Favored {W}{R}{G}
Raptor Attack: Naya Dinosaurs Tribal

{W}{U}{G} Galadriel, Light of Valinor {W}{U}{G}
Vapour Trail: Bant Flicker

{W}{B}{G} Karador, Ghost Chieftain {W}{B}{G}
Hair Raiser: Abzan Reanimator

{W}{U}{R} Kykar, Wind's Fury {W}{U}{R}
Storm Runner: Jeskai Tokens

{W}{U}{R} Hinata, Dawn-Crowned {W}{U}{R}
Phantom’s Revenge: Jeskai Spirits Tribal

{U}{B}{G} Yarok, the Desecrated {U}{B}{G}
Boomerang: Sultai ETB Triggers

{W}{B}{R} Kaalia of the Vast {W}{B}{R}
Abyssus: Mardu Angels & Demons

{U}{R}{G} Omnath, Locus of the Roil {U}{R}{G}
Boulder Dash: Temur Landfall

Date added	4 years
Last updated	3 weeks
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	15 - 0 Mythic Rares 26 - 0 Rares 22 - 0 Uncommons 17 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	4.05
Tokens	Emblem Chandra, Torch of Defiance, Treasure