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Agadeem's Awakening
and Shatterskull Smashing
They're basically free to play and both bring some good value late game. No big thoughts here, there's just no good reason not to run them. Agadeem is great value late game, easily returning 3 creatures, and Shatterskull can be a good 2-for-1 from as early as turn 4 and onwards.
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Bloodchief's Thirst Strong removal at all points of the game. It's a little bit overcosted at 4, but makes up for it by being great early removal.
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Bonecrusher Giant This big guy has seen top tier play from the moment he was released and is still a solid card. He deals with early aggression from the opponents, either by removing their creatures or putting some strong stats in the way. He also does a good job at both sniping faces and beating down. The versatility makes it great in most red decks.
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Edgewall Innkeeper This boosts early starts and helps grinding late game. The cost/effect is strong with this one. Unless you're sure he'll survive the turn, he should be kept in hand until he can be played alongside an adventure creature. It's also a good bait for removal, if needed.
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Foulmire Knight Holds down the fort well for a very cheap cost and can add a little extra draw in a pinch. The adventure part sometimes comes up, but more often than not, you'd rather just play it (preferably alongside Innkeeper) than wait for a good time to draw the extra card.
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Wildborn Preserver This started out as Rimrock Knight, but he made the manabase even more hideous than it already is, so Preserver is in as a tryout for now. It works well vs. the Rogues, as we also want to play at instant-speed in that matchup plus it has reach = easy blocks. Everything in the deck except for Innkeeper is non-human, so there are plenty of ways to fuel the flashy elf.
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Lovestruck Beast Helps smooth out the curve, brings some strong beats and works wonders as a show-stopper vs. aggro. There are plenty of 1/1's in the deck, so it'll be able to attack most of the time. Noice.
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Murderous Rider Has almost entirely disappeared from Standard. The 2 dmg from Hero's Downfall can be tough if you're behind, but the body is usually passable in those situations.
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Radha, Heart of Keld Is another great red card, that can do some first striking beats early on and make sure the lands keep flowing. Later on, her activated ability will force chumps for days. She functions well in tandem with Vivien, Monsters' Advocate to make practically every top card playable.
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Rankle, Master of Pranks I've really been liking the versatility of this guy. He plays some nasty pranks, always adjusting to the board state (given that he gets dmg through). Alongside big boy Questy, the hasty potential is pretty good. Try your best to figure out how to work his abilities to your advantage - drawing cards is the one I use the least, unless I really want the extra 1 dmg or I'm drawing for something specific. The ping from the draw can help push lethal though, so keep an eye out for that one.
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Scavenging Ooze This little guy has a bit of everything - it grows big real fast as long as there's food for it, it messes with graveyards and it gains life, which often comes up clutch vs. aggro. With Omnath, Locus of Creation and Adventure in general hammered out of Standard, Rakdos might rise to be one of the new big baddies. Scooze is great in that matchup.
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Questing Beast It has fallen off a bit, but definitely hasn't been forgotten. This beasty boy brings all the pain, works wonders with Embercleave and does great on both offense and defense.
I haven't had a lot of time to playtest yet, so it might be a little rough around the edges. But it's been fun to pilot and performing quite well in Bo1. Rogues can still be rough, but this definitely does better in the matchup than the pure Golgari version.
Throw a thumbs up, if you like what you see. And if you have suggestions, pointers or questions, please leave a comment! Can we make the sideboard better?
