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"Draw Me Like One of Your French Cards"

Commander / EDH BR (Rakdos) Bracket 3 Budget Casual Chaos Control Group Slug

Kcin

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Creature (22)

Sorcery (11)

Land (36)

Instant (11)

Planeswalker (1)

Commander (1)

Commander: foil Deadpool, Trading Card

Artifact (13)

Enchantment (5)

Overview:

This Rakdos deck employs a "punisher" strategy, forcing opponents to draw cards via upkeep triggers and abilities while punishing them with incremental damage from creatures like Seizan, Perverter of Truth and Master of the Feast, amplified by effects such as Dictate of the Twin Gods. Threats are deployed through casting midrange creatures and enchantments, with occasional recursion via Grave Upheaval or Orcus, Prince of Undeath. The commander, Deadpool, Trading Card, enables text box swaps on entry to steal beneficial abilities from opponents' creatures, synergizing with the draw-punish theme via its sacrifice effect, though it's not essential and vulnerable to repeated removal without strong recast support.

Gameplay Primer:

Early Setup (Turns 1-3): Prioritize ramp like Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, or Rakdos Signet to hit land drops and cast early punishers. Deploy protection such as Lightning Greaves on key creatures if threats are present. Focus on low-cost interaction like Abrade or Terminate to remove blockers or enablers.

Midgame Development (Turns 3-5): Cast core punishers like Fate Unraveler, Bloodgift Demon, or Stormfist Crusader to start forcing draws and dealing chip damage. Use Disrupt Decorum or Kardur, Doomscourge to goad opponents' creatures, creating chaos and enabling triggers from Syr Konrad, the Grim. Build toward amplifiers like Dictate of the Twin Gods or Spiteful Visions.

Threat Escalation (Turns 5-7): Introduce high-impact demons such as Seizan, Perverter of Truth, Master of the Feast, or Sheoldred, the Apocalypse to accelerate life loss. Leverage Deadpool, Trading Card to swap for a strong ETB or static ability from an opponent's creature. Deploy wipes like Blasphemous Act or Deadly Tempest to clear boards while dealing direct damage, then rebuild with recursion from Rakshasa Debaser or Profane Command.

Win Execution (Turns 7+): Accumulate damage through repeated upkeep triggers and draw punishments, pushing opponents to low life. Finish with combat from equipped threats like Vorpal Sword on Rakdos, Lord of Riots or direct burn via Breath of Malfegor orFiery Confluence. If stalled, use Sadistic Sacrament to exile opponents' answers or Havoc Festival for a life-drain lock.

Mulligans

Keep hands with 3-4 lands, including at least one dual like Command Tower or Tainted Peak for color fixing.

Prioritize early ramp (Sol Ring, Rakdos Signet) and a punisher (Fate Unraveler, Stormfist Crusader) to start the engine.

Favor interaction (Terminate, Rakdos Charm) over high-cost spells; avoid mana screw with too few basics.

Strong hands include the commander or protection like Lightning Greaves for immediate value.

Key Tips

Synergize Draws: Position Deadpool, Trading Card's sacrifice or Master of the Feast to trigger Fate Unraveler or Sheoldred, the Apocalypse immediately; sequence goads from Karazikar, the Eye Tyrantfoil to force attacks into your punishers.

Protect the Engine: Equip Lightning Greaves or Boots of Speed on key demons to dodge removal; use Deadly Rollick (free with commander out) for spot protection.

Exploit Chaos: After wipes like Blasphemous Act, recur with Orcus, Prince of Undeath or Grave Upheaval to rebuild faster than opponents; target milling with Syr Konrad, the Grim post-wipe for extra pings.

Mana Management: Use Talisman of Indulgence or Rakdos Locket for fixing, but watch life loss; cycle Prismatic Vista early for basics to enable Tainted Peak.

Alternate Plays: If draw punishment stalls, pivot to aggro with Alexios, Deimos of Kosmos passing or Hidetsugu, Devouring Chaos for scry/exile burn; avoid overcommitting to the commander if opponents pack exile removal.

Weaknesses:

Critical:

Limited ramp and a budget mana base (many tapped lands like Rakdos Guildgate, Cinder Barrens) slow early plays, making it hard to establish punishers before opponents curve out.

Heavy reliance on creature-based triggers vulnerable to board wipes (Wrath of God-style effects reset the engine without strong recursion beyond a few targeted tools).

Punisher strategy falters against low-draw decks or stax like Rule of Law preventing multiple casts, as there's minimal redundancy for forcing draws.

Moderate:

Color fixing issues in a two-color deck with few untapped duals, leading to occasional mana screw on black-heavy spells like Seizan, Perverter of Truth. Self-life loss from cards like Phyrexian Arena, Talisman of Indulgence, and the commander's upkeep tax can accumulate, especially under Havoc Festival. Graveyard-dependent recursion (Grave Upheaval, Rakshasa Debaser) disrupted by exile effects or hate like Rest in Peace.

Minor:

Commander tax escalates recasts without dedicated cost reduction, though Netherborn Altar helps somewhat. Lacks evasion beyond flying on some demons, making combat finishes blockable against go-wide strategies. Overload on symmetrical effects (e.g., Spiteful Visions) can backfire if you're ahead in cards/life.

Key Cards:

Seizan, Perverter of Truth: Core punisher; forces draws and deals 2 life loss per opponent per upkeep.

Master of the Feast: Forces upkeep draws to trigger chain damage from Fate Unraveler and others.

Fate Unraveler: Incremental damage engine on every opponent draw, synergizes with entire theme.

Dictate of the Twin Gods: Doubles all damage output, turning chip into lethal.

Sheoldred, the Apocalypse: Punishes opponent draws with life loss while gaining you life on yours.

Syr Konrad, the Grim: Deals damage on creature deaths/mills, excels post-wipe or with goads.

Blasphemous Act: Cheap board wipe that scales with board states for direct damage.

Sol Ring: Essential early ramp to accelerate into midrange threats.

Lightning Greaves: Protects key punishers from targeted removal.

Rakdos, Lord of Riots: Cost reducer for demons based on life loss, enables explosive turns.

Vorpal Sword: Finisher equipment for commander damage or instant-win on combat hits.

Deadly Tempest: Wipe with life loss based on creatures destroyed, clears paths efficiently.

Kardur, Doomscourge: Goads for chaos, drains life on attacking creature deaths.

Sadistic Sacrament: Disrupts opponents by exiling key cards from libraries.

Attribute Ratings:

Speed: 4/10

Relies on midgame setup with limited ramp, typically establishing engines by turns 4-5 but requiring turns 8-10 for wins via accumulated damage rather than explosive plays.

Resilience: 5/10

Features spot recursion (Grave Upheaval, Orcus, Prince of Undeath) and protection (Lightning Greaves, Deadly Rollick), but creature-heavy build struggles against mass removal without inevitable recovery.

Consistency: 4/10

Moderate redundancy in punishers (6-8 draw-forcers) but low tutors/draw beyond Phyrexian Arena; ~40% odds of assembling core engine by turn 5 via hypergeometric (7-card hand +3 draws, needing 2-3 of 10 key pieces), hampered by mana variance.

Interaction: 6/10

Strong suite of removal (Terminate, Chaos Warp), wipes (Blasphemous Act), and disruption (Disrupt Decorum, Sadistic Sacrament), but limited counters or stax to protect against fast combos.

Rating Justification:

The deck's punisher theme provides focused casual synergy with reliable interaction and midgame resilience, enabling T9-11 wins through incremental damage and wipes in average pods. However, slow mana, creature vulnerability, and lack of redundancy or speed prevent higher power, docking it below optimized levels.

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97% Casual

Competitive

Revision 6 See all

(2 weeks ago)

+1 Chain Assassination main
+1 Ob Nixilis, the Hate-Twisted main
+1 Rakshasa Debaser main