Commander Collection: Steamin' Demon

Commander / EDH BR (Rakdos) Bracket 4 Demons Eldrazi

Jurrane

Creature (26)

• 1x Ancestral Statue
• 1x Archfiend of Despair
• 1x Artisan of Kozilek
• 1x Dire Fleet Ravager
• 1x Fireslinger
• 1x Goblin Artillery
• 1x Gray Merchant of Asphodel
• 1x Hidetsugu, Devouring Chaos
• 1x It That Betrays
• 1x Kaervek the Merciless
• 1x Keen Duelist
• 1x Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
• 1x Lobber Crew
• 1x Meteor Golem
• 1x Nettle Drone
• 1x Pathrazer of Ulamog
• 1x Plague Spitter
• 1x Prodigal Pyromancer
• 1x Spawn of Mayhem
• 1x Spear Spewer
• 1x Spikeshot Goblin
• 1x Thermo-Alchemist
• 1x Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
• 1x Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
• 1x Vial Smasher the Fierce
• 1x Void Winnower

Enchantment (6)

• 1x Black Market Connections
• 1x Descent into Avernus
• 1x Necropotence
• 1x Phyrexian Arena
• 1x Phyrexian Reclamation
• 1x Sanctum of Stone Fangs

Land (36)

• 1x Blackcleave Cliffs
• 1x Blightstep Pathway  ^Flip
• 1x Blood Crypt
• 1x Bonders' Enclave
• 1x Command Beacon
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Dragonskull Summit
• 1x Foreboding Ruins
• 1x Ghost Quarter
• 1x Graven Cairns
• 8x Mountain
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Scavenger Grounds
• 1x Shadowblood Ridge
• 1x Shizo, Death's Storehouse
• 1x Smoldering Marsh
• 1x Sulfurous Springs
• 1x Sunscorched Desert
• 9x Swamp
• 1x Urza's Cave
• 1x Volrath's Stronghold P

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

Commander (1)

Sorcery (12)

• 1x Blasphemous Act
• 1x Boltwave
• 1x By Force
• 1x Damnation
• 1x Demonic Tutor PGC
• 1x Feed the Swarm
• 1x Grim Tutor P
• 1x Imperial Seal PGC
• 1x Jeska's Will PGC
• 1x Night's Whisper
• 1x Risky Shortcut
• 1x Sign in Blood

Instant (7)

• 1x Chaos Warp
• 1x Dark Ritual
• 1x Go for the Throat
• 1x Rakdos Charm
• 1x Terminate
• 1x Vampiric Tutor PGC
• 1x Withering Torment

Planeswalker (2)

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

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{B}{R} Introduction: No Pain No Gain {B}{R}

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Welcome to my primer for "Steamin' Demon", a Rakdos deck for casual EDH with Rakdos, Lord of Riots as its Commander.

This is the first of two black-red lists in my 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. The Titans and other high-CMC Eldrazi 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. As such, we're an aggressive deck that seeks to flood the board with overwhelming levels of power, all fuelled by Rakdos, Lord of Riots’ cost reduction ability.

The deck has its roots in my deckbuilding philosophy that sits somewhere between the Spike and Timmy archetypes. For me, a fun deck is a deck that wins, so this list is intended to be competitive within the limits of mid-power casual EDH, while trying to do Timmy things like casting giant game-breaking creatures for cheap (or even free). It has access to an infinite combo (Ancestral Statue works brilliantly with Nettle Drone if Rakdos is in play) but this current build doesn't (yet) use tutors to find those combo pieces and instead concentrates on being at least a semi-fair aggressive midrange deck.

Our Commander

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Rakdos, Lord of Riots is a pretty unique Commander. For just {B}{B}{R}{R} we get the absolute bargain of a 6/6 flyer with trample - but with the restriction of only being able to cast him if an opponent has lost life that turn. We therefore want to run a good number of repeatable direct damage sources (sometimes called "pingers") that are readily available to deal damage to an opponent and thereby fulfilling the condition of casting Rakdos.

The second half of Rakdos, Lord of Riots' rules text is even more interesting. While he's in play, for each point of damage our opponents have taken in any given turn, the casting cost of creature spells we play will be reduced by {1}. So, for example, if we deal 10 damage to an opponent (or 10 damage spread across multiple opponents), creatures we cast that turn will cost a whopping {10} less. This is huge because creatures that're normally prohibitively expensive to cast (like Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre and the other Eldrazi Titans) instead become trivially cheap.

That's the deck in a nutshell. Deal damage to opponents, cast Rakdos, Lord of Riots, deal more damage, cast huge creatures, profit. To achieve this, it's worth taking a look at the various categories of cards that form our strategy: damage enablers, payoffs and other resources. The following sections deal with them each in turn.

Damage Enablers

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There's nothing more frustrating than having {B}{B}{R}{R} available and Rakdos, Lord of Riots sitting in the command zone, but being unable to cast him because no-one's lost life that turn. Obviously combat's the easiest way to deal damage but, if our opponents throw chump blockers in the way to stop us connecting, we need to have sources of life loss that ignore unnecessary things like attacking and instead go straight for the dome. This is where our pingers (or other direct damage enablers) come in and fortunately they're one of the key strengths of the Rakdos colour combination.

Here is a list of our various direct damage sources, together with the reasons they've been chosen.

• Angrath, the Flame-Chained: Expensive to cast but 2 life loss for each opponent plus discarding a card is a good rate for his +1. Mainly included for that purpose but his other loyalty abilities will usually be relevant too.
• Boltwave: Brand new staple. What will usually be 9 damage for the price of just {R} is insane. I honestly can't believe they printed this.
• Chandra, Torch of Defiance: My favourite version of Chandra. Her choice of +1 abilities means we'll either ramp for {R}{R}, draw a card or deal 2 damage to each opponent. As with Angrath, the Flame-Chained, her other loyalty abilities will be also sometimes be relevant but she's mainly here for her +1s.
• Descent into Avernus: Caution - playing this card tends to end games quickly, for better or for worse. In most cases, we'll be best-placed to take advantage of the life loss and Treasure tokens but you'll need to judge carefully if it's worth taking the chance.
• Fireslinger: Nice and cheap to cast at just {1}{R} which is a prerequisite for most of our pingers. He deals a point of damage to us too but that's a small price to pay if it means we can play Rakdos.
• Goblin Artillery: A heftier life loss to us but another cheap-ish repeatable pinger to help us cast Rakdos. Just try not to use it too much.
• Keen Duelist: A great risk/reward card. There's always the risk that our opponent reveals a basic land off the top of our library but that's balanced with the reward of them hitting an Eldrazi instead. It triggers each time in our upkeep so there's about a 60% they'll reveal something that deals damage and then it's party time with Rakdos.
• Lobber Crew: Such a funny card name :D A nice pinger that doesn't damage us. The 0/4 body makes it good as a blocker too.
• Nettle Drone: Another good pinger and goes infinite with Ancestral Statue if Rakdos is in play and an opponent has taken at least 4 damage.
• Plague Spitter: No activation needed, just a nice reliable 1 damage to everything each turn (plus a little sting in the tail when it dies). Make sure not to have any other 1 toughness creatures of our own in play.
• Prodigal Pyromancer: Good old Tim. This is the red version. Our basic nuts and bolts pinger.
• Rakdos Charm: A versatile multi-modal spell with a choice of relevant options. The damage mode acts as a pinger in this context and can sometimes even take out a go-wide player if they've foolishly flooded the board with 00s of creatures.
• Sanctum of Stone Fangs: A bit like Plague Spitter, a nice reliable point of damage to each opponent in our upkeep. We don't run any other Shrines but it's just here to do that one point so we can get Rakdos on the board.
• Spawn of Mayhem: At {2}{B}{B} it's very expensive for a pinger but it comes with a 4/4 flying trample body so we can't complain.
• Spear Spewer: Our most efficient pinger at just {R}. Exchanging 1 point of damage to us for 1 to each our opponents is a very good rate.
• Spikeshot Goblin: Less efficient than some of our other pingers as there's the upfront cost of {2}{R} and then an activation cost of {R} on top of that but it's still worth it.
• Sunscorched Desert: This humble little land only pings for one damage when it ETBs but that's sometimes enough to get Rakdos, Lord of Riots on the board if needed.
• Thermo-Alchemist: A useful pinger that we can get repeated uses from each turn if needed. We don't run a lot of instants and sorceries to untap him but it'll happen from time to time.
• Vial Smasher the Fierce: Best friends with Rakdos, Lord of Riots. Turns any spell into direct damage to an unlucky opponent. Note that the damage is equal to the mana value of the spell ie. not the adjusted cost after Rakdos' reduction so having him on the board when we're firing off Eldrazi is hilarious.

Don't forget that while the primary purpose for each of these pingers is to allow us to cast Rakdos, Lord of Riots, they also work well for the times when he's already in play as they'll reduce the cost of subsequent creatures we cast that turn. In the case of Boltwave and others, that reduction can be spectacular.

Payoffs

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Once Rakdos, Lord of Riots is in play, the fun begins. We're aiming to play enormous, impactful scary creatures for a fraction of their original mana value thanks to his static ability. Don't forget the cost reduction only applies to colourless mana, which is why Eldrazi are so useful here. That said, we still include some nasty black or red creatures where the colourless part of their mana cost can still be decreased.

This is where we get to indulge our inner Timmy. Here are the monsters I've chosen.

Ancestral Statue
As mentioned in the previous section, Ancestral Statue goes infinite with Nettle Drone if Rakdos, Lord of Riots is on the board and an opponent has taken at least 4 damage that turn. Ping an opponent for 1 with Nettle Drone, play Ancestral Statue for {0}, untapping Nettle Drone. Use Ancestral Statue's trigger on itself, returning it to your hand. Ping an opponent for 1 with Nettle Drone, play Ancestral Statue again for free, untapping Nettle Drone. Rinse and repeat ad infinitum. Game over.

Eldrazi Package
The Eldrazi are the biggest, baddest creatures in Magic so it's only right that they comprise the majority of our payoff creatures when we have the chance to reduce their casting cost with Rakdos, Lord of Riots. We run several versions of the Titans: Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger, Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre and Kozilek, Butcher of Truth, plus Pathrazer of Ulamog, Artisan of Kozilek, It That Betrays and Void Winnower. Having one or more of these gamebreaking creatures in play can often spell curtains for our opponents.

Demons
Demons are another powerful creature type that usually have a high CMC and impactful effects. Archfiend of Despair can reduce life totals very quickly, especially if we're dealing lots of damage with our creatures; Hidetsugu, Devouring Chaos synergises well with Rakdos, Lord of Riots' life loss abilities; and Kaervek the Merciless is a nasty punisher card.

Other Creatures
We run a couple of other powerful payoff creatures that don't fit into any of the categories above. Dire Fleet Ravager is a great way of reducing life totals very rapidly and usually making our other giant creatures free to cast if Rakdos, Lord of Riots is on the board; and Meteor Golem destroys any permanent we like when it ETBs. Casting either of these for a reduced cost is usually very effective.

Other Resources

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While many of the cards in this list are either pingers or payoffs that work alongside Rakdos, Lord of Riots, they're not the only tools we have. The deck also includes a number of cards in other categories that support our strategy, including ramp, removal, card draw and protection. Here are the cards that've been chosen.

Ramp
Because the average mana value of the cards in this deck is so high, we have a bunch of ramp sources to try to speed things up. Jeska's WillGC and Dark Ritual are classic one-shot effects that can be explosive at the right time. They're accompanied by a set of mana rocks: Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Mind Stone, Rakdos Signet, Talisman of Indulgence and Thought Vessel.

Removal
Rakdos doesn't have many blind spots for removal so we can take care of most permanents that hit the board. Enchantments used to the only problem area but things have got better recently with Feed the Swarm and Withering Torment. Chaos Warp hits everything; Terminate and Go for the Throat destroy creatures; By Force and Rakdos Charm take care of artifacts. Damnation and Blasphemous Act are our boardwipes of choice.

Card Draw
Black is one of the best colours in Magic for card draw, providing you don't mind paying a bit of life for it. Necropotence, Black Market Connections and Phyrexian Arena are our multi-use effects, and we also have one-shot spells like Sign in Blood, Night's Whisper and Risky Shortcut. Aetherdrift also adds Risky Shortcut to our card pool, which is a new staple for this deck. Some of our other cards have useful impulse abilities too, like Chandra, Torch of Defiance and Jeska's WillGC.

Protection
Wise opponents will realise that Rakdos, Lord of Riots is central to the strategy of our deck and target him accordingly. We have Lightning Greaves, Mask of Avacyn, Swiftfoot Boots and Whispersilk Cloak to protect him. The haste effects from Lightning Greaves and Swiftfoot Boots are also useful if we want to start swinging with our payoff creatures right away.

Recursion
It's very likely our creatures will be targeted for destruction, which is one of the occupational hazards of playing a Timmy deck full of massive scary monsters. We run Phyrexian Reclamation and Volrath's Stronghold to bring then back from the graveyard if needed. Artisan of Kozilek's ETB fulfills the same role too.

Gameplay

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While Rakdos is quite an aggressive colour identity, we're more of a midrange deck. Our basic gameplan is to apply early pressure by landing - and then activating - one of our pingers, ready for Rakdos, Lord of Riots to be played once an opponent has lost life. From then, the goal is to play one or more of our impactful payoff creatures to attack the other players. But experience has shown this process can be tricky to execute as opponents will often target Rakdos or our pinger creatures to try and keep him off the table.

Because of this, it's rare - and usually unwise - to go absolutely balls to the wall, unless you suspect the rest of the pod is running minimal interaction. While Rakdos attack lines are our main win condition, the deck is also designed to control the board with removal and sweepers, to take away the risk of blocking creatures or other defensive measures.

Strengths

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We have a number of key strengths that make this a fun deck to play. At our best, we're a powerful midrange list that performs well going toe to toe with other creature heavy builds. We're not a fast suicide-style Rakdos self damage deck but instead rely on an attritional midrange style that can explode in a flurry of must-answer threats if Rakdos, Lord of Riots is allowed to stick.

Because we run some of the biggest, scariest creatures in the format, such as the Eldrazi Titans, many our threats are definitely game breaking. Casting them for cheap (or sometimes even free) using Rakdos' feels almost unfair at times and, if they're not dealt with immediately, we can run away with the game. We can also draw on our combo if Rakdos is in play and can find the key pieces with our tutors.

The efficiency that comes from Rakdos' cost reduction ability enables us to potentially build a critical mass of creatures very quickly. We have a number of different ways of re-filling our hand which is important to ensure we don't run out of gas. If we're going in to the late game with some nasty creatures in play and a full hand of cards, we're in a pretty good position.

Weaknesses

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In my experience there are a few weaknesses to be aware of if you're considering a Rakdos, Lord of Riots deck. None of these are necessarily terminal as you'll usually be able to hold your own at most casual tables but there's a few things to be aware of anyway.

The first thing is we can be quite slow if our gameplan is disrupted. Our strategy depends on opponents taking damage in order to cast Rakdos so we need to get pingers or attackers online early. Sometimes we won't see them in the first few turns and can therefore be stuck waiting for an opportunity to cast him. We really need the right combination of card types to line up in the early turns of the game and, if that doesn't happen, the deck feels quite clunky.

Similarly, much of our game plan mostly relies on us landing - and sticking - Rakdos. If that doesn't happen, we're just a big creature midrange deck where opponents can one-for-one our threats pretty easily. Rakdos isn't quite a kill on sight Commander but most players will recognise he's the engine room of the deck and the catalyst that allows us to degenerate things, so he will be targetted. We won't always have the luxury of Lightning Greaves, Swiftfoot Boots etc to protect him.

Finally we don't run much interaction on the stack. We have instant speed removal to reactively destroy oppising threats but another reason for our clunkiness is we'll generally lose instant-speed stack battles. We're also highly susceptible to boardwipes. I'm wondering about trying cards like Deflecting Swat, Tibalt's Trickery, Chef's Kiss or Bolt Bend to fight better on the stack. But the list feels quite tightly built already so I'm not sure what I'd switch out for those.

Power Level

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I categorise decks in my collection according to four tiers of power, from 1 (most powerful) to 4 (least powerful):

Tier 1: Higher powered decks with fast mana, free spells, and infinite combos or instant wins that are searchable with tutors.
Tier 2: Well tuned decks which may have infinite combos or instant wins that are searchable with tutors, but not many fast mana sources and/or free spells.
Tier 3: Reasonably well tuned casual decks that are capable of powerful plays. May occasionally have infinite combos or instant wins but don't generally use tutors to find them.
Tier 4: Lower powered or linear decks, weak enough to play against other casual decks.

I would classify this as one of my Tier 3 decks. It plays like a classic battlecruiser-style EDH midrange build, albeit one that can pop off very effectively with the right combination of cards. It runs an infinite combo with several tutors to find the key pieces, but the combo is an ancilliary part of the deck and only really works when Rakdos, Lord of Riots is in play.

In terms of WotC's new bracket system for EDH, I'd call this a Bracket 4 deck, as it includes four game changer cards (Demonic TutorGC, Vampiric TutorGC, Imperial SealGC and Jeska's WillGC), and can execute its combo from mid-game onwards. But it also trades down fairly well as my sense it plays more like a B3 deck, so I'd be happy to Rule 0 it into Bracket 3 pods providing other players are happy with it.

Budget

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The budget for this deck currently sits at the $450-$500 mark if you were to buy the cards on Card Kingdom. That's a lot for a medium-powered casual deck but the beauty of a Rakdos, Lord of Riots deck is you don't need to invest in expensive cards like the Eldrazi Titans to get the best out of him as a Commander. If you wanted to go down the Eldrazi or Demon route for relevant creature types (both are commonly found in Rakdos builds), there are an abundance of cheap options and two colour mana bases are getting much less expensive. For a long time, this was one of my lowest budget lists.

Future Improvements

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It's taken a long time but I'm now happy with where this list is in terms of development. It'll never be super-high power and I'm OK with that, as it's the sort of deck I'd be happy to play in most randomised pods or against unknown opponents. It makes for fun, interactive games and can always be quite a good deck for newer players to learn with because it has relatively few complex decisions to make. I'm not looking to make any major changes right now and have pretyy much locked the card list.

Thanks for reading this primer and I hope you have fun with your own Rakdos deck.

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All My EDH Decks

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Date added	5 years
Last updated	1 week
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	15 - 0 Mythic Rares 28 - 0 Rares 23 - 0 Uncommons 17 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.73
Tokens	Emblem Chandra, Torch of Defiance, Shapeshifter 3/2 C, Treasure