‘Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival.’
-That was Winston Churchill, I’m betting that he would get along with Mr. Rakdos, Lord of Riots
This deck is kinda like that scene in Big Trouble in Little China, where they’re sitting in the truck, and a gang war appears out of nowhere. Riots of Eldrazi, show up, out of nowhere, all the time.
The thing about Mr. Rakdos, is that he works amazingly well, against 4-5 opponents, there's a lot of life for him to turn into colorless mana (to cast creatures with). Each update that I do, is an attempt to make this deck work faster, and maybe a little bit more Control, against 2-3 opponents.
Start with a poke to your oppnents, and turn it into casting giant Eldrazi, for free. Cause that damage before the combat phase, give your fatties haste, swing wide.
There are a lot of Rakdos builds that use 45-55+ creatures, whichis a pretty decent strategy. I just felt like there could be more. Instead of attacking and using that damage to just throw out a lot of creatures, why not throw out a lot of huge creatures with out having to rely on combat damage, give them haste, then surround them with a bunch of burn and lots of ways to draw cards. Splash some black and red control, to ensure the victory.
I wanted more Eldrazi interaction than Artifacts, simply because it's more fun to me to have all the Eldrazi Titans (that are legal in Commander) together, in one deck. Imagine Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger holding hands with Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre! And, Kozilek, the Great Distortion holding hands with Kozilek, Butcher of Truth!! And, Emrakul, the Promised End's weird-ass tentacle things, holding hands with all of them, together?!? Awwww, it's enough to make some Eldrazi mom proud. (Single tear)
Steps to victory:
1) Poke
2) Cast Mr. Rakdos
3) Use Mr. Rakdos
4a) Keep dropping fat fatty fat Eldrazi on the battlefield, for free, because of Mr. Rakdos
4b) Control the board with utility, for cheap, because of Mr. Rakdos
5) Refill your hand, go back to step 4a.
6) Your opponents are on the wrong side of a riot.......they can suck it.
There are 19 cards to cause loss of life, without having to get any combat through:
Vial Smasher the Fierce
Tree of Perdition
Exsanguinate
Dire Fleet Ravager
Leechridden Swamp
Vicious Rumors
Nettle Drone*
Plague Spitter
Thermo-Alchemist*
Piranha Marsh
Shivan Gorge
Palace Siege
Chandra, Torch of Defiance
Flame Rift
Kolaghan's Command
Cryptolith Fragment
*
Twilight Prophet
Price of Progress
Maga, Traitor to Mortals
There is an emphasis on 3 of them, look for them in your opening hand, or tutor for them early:
1) Lobber Crew (untaps when you cast Mr. Rakdos, and it's out of 'lightning bolt' range)
2) Thermo-Alchemist (untaps when you cast another damage spell)
3) Cryptolith Fragment
(with a Sol Ring or a Mana Crypt, it allows you to cast Mr. Rakdos on turn 3, and it survives creature-based board wipes. It never flips, or at least it hasn’t yet, but there’s really no need)
11 cards to help with card advantage:
Memory Jar: More cards for you to use, and cards for your opponents to throw away.
Sensei's Divining Top (allows you draw that card you just tutored for, put had to put it on top of your library)
Dragon Mage (refill your hand, and make your opponents dump their hand as well)
Necropotence (refill your hand)
Wheel of Fortune (refill your hand)
Magus of the Wheel (refill your hand)
Chandra, Torch of Defiance (Is the card on top of your library for damage to your opponents, or a useable spell? You choose)
Solemn Simulacrum (super utility, and usually gets cast for free)
Knollspine Dragon (soooo many cards)
Kozilek, the Great Distortion (refill your hand)
Kozilek, Butcher of Truth (4 cards to the hand works out nicely)
Utility:
Any combination of Void Winnower + Nullstone Gargoyle + Sire Of Insanity = pretty solid board lock-down.
Sire Of Insanity- Truly one of the best control cards in the deck. There are enough cards in this deck that allow you to draw cards, replace your hand, or tutor for another card that lets you do both, so that you can still be able to launch riots, even when your discarding your hand, every turn. FYI, it does cause some people to scoop, from time to time.
Void Winnower- Another stand-alone control card. Removing half the cards your opponents can play, seems a little frustrating for them. And, as a bonus side effect, people get so distracted trying to keep track of what spells in their hand, they can and can not play. A true diamond of a card for those of you that are people-watchers at heart.
Nullstone Gargoyle- Who doesn’t like making their opponents waste spells. Again, this ends up becoming such a pyschological problem for some people. Keeping their mind focused on what spells to ditch, and when, rather than on the mountain of Eldrazi meat that is coming their way.
When triggered with Mr. Rakdos, Lord of Riots:
Dire Fleet Ravager + Maga, Traitor to Mortals = The game is over, for at least one opponent, in a 4+ pod.
Even though you get hit by cards like Cryptolith Fragment
, Flame Rift and Dire Fleet Ravager, etc..., you still end up with the advantage. Because of all the other abilities you have to deal damage, your opponents end up losing more than you. Plus, with the huge creature advantage, those cards help put life-totals within reach of one combat phase. Very powerful.
Dire Fleet Ravager + Neheb, the Eternal = boom. Throw Walking Ballista into that riot, and your opponents will have to drink their meals through straws.
Exsanguinate + Neheb, the Eternal = The possibilities are right around ‘holy-shit’ levels
Tree of Perdition has become one of my new favorite cards, in this deck. Being that it triggers with Mr. Rakdos, if a player has more than 13 life. So, the possibilities are pretty extreme....which is nice.
I started with 3 infinite combos in the deck:
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker+Zealous Conscripts
mikeaus, the unhallowed+Triskelion
Sanguine Bond+Exquisite Blood
But, I have since, removed them. I'm trying to move towards this direction, without infinite combos.
Suggestions are very welcome. I am looking for ideas to make the deck faster, and/or good cards that deal damage to my opponents. Thanks for reading.
If you like discounts on sorceries and instants, check out one of my other deck called Maximum Discount, it is pretty powerful as well.
Thanks for the support and suggestions. +1 upvote, if you like the deck, don’t have to though.
