Rakdos Sniper

Modern BR (Rakdos) Burn Casual Lifegain

Mr_Radical

Creature (19)

• 4x Gifted Aetherborn
• 3x Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
• 2x Kulrath Knight
• 4x Ruthless Ripper
• 4x Vampire Nighthawk
• 2x Wurmcoil Engine

Land (23)

• 3x Blood Crypt
• 4x Dragonskull Summit
• 4x Mountain
• 8x Swamp
• 4x Temple of Malice

Instant (11)

• 4x Fall of the Hammer
• 4x Soul's Fire
• 3x Tail Slash

Sorcery (7)

• 3x Chandra's Ignition
• 4x Mastermind's Acquisition

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Sideboard

Creature (6)

• 1x Griselbrand
• 1x Stigma Lasher
• 4x Vampire Hexmage

Sorcery (7)

• 2x Crumble to Dust
• 4x Duress
• 1x Vandalblast

Instant (2)

• 2x Rakdos Charm

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Maybeboard

Artifact (3)

• 1x Blade of the Bloodchief
• 1x Thornbite Staff
• 1x Viridian Longbow

Creature (1)

• 1x Stromkirk Captain

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A combination of black kill and lifelink aggro that is ideal for those who like saying pew a lot. Built around spells with Fall of the Hammer effects, this deck takes advantage of the fact that deathtouch and lifelink aren't limited to combat.

Mainboard

Fall of the Hammer, Tail Slash, Soul's Fire: One-use "sniper rifles" that entail the main build of the deck.

Ruthless Ripper: Enables a turn 2 Fall of the Hammer and allows turn 1 to be utilized beyond a land drop. Deathtouch makes it a useful blocker and morph can speed up the game when the board is otherwise empty.

Gifted Aetherborn, Vampire Nighthawk: Creatures with deathtouch and lifelink that fit nicely into the mana curve.

Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet: More lifelink power and a body that can survive a Lightning Bolt was all this card slot needed. The token generation and death trigger prevention are an ultra-bonus.

Kulrath Knight: Answers indestructible and completely shuts down counter based aggro (sorry Soul Sisters and Affinity). 3 flying power also pressures planeswalkers.

Wurmcoil Engine: A big, scary looking win condition. Combos with Soul's Fire to cut down life totals and planeswalkers.

Chandra's Ignition: A game saver and win condition. When combined with deathtouch, it’s a board wiper that leaves a creature behind. When combined with lifelink, it’s mass lifegain.

Mastermind's Acquisition: Ties the deck together (e.g. finds Chandra's Ignition in response to a crowded board and Wurmcoil Engine in response to an empty board). Also fetches answers from the sideboard.

Strategy

In many matchups, a good rule of thumb is to pick a creature to care about and let the rest do their thing. Indeed, reckless attacks are quite viable with this set of creatures. An attacking deathtoucher is effectively either unblockable or a removal spell. An attacking lifelinker is effectively partially blocking future attacks. Disrupting an opponent's board should be prioritized over conserving yours, that is if you keep in mind that if you don't have anything stronger than a Ruthless Ripper out, YOU WILL DIE.

Concerning Ruthless Ripper, deciding whether or not to play it as a 2/2 can make an important difference in some games. Low/slow creature deck + black kill deck = very empty board and more opportunities to attack. A turn 3 2/2 hurts more than a turn 1 1/1. Once it, as a 2/2, is unable to or can't viably attack anymore, it can effectively cram in another hit with its flip ability, and then it becomes a solid lethal blocker. Also, as mentioned before, a turn 1 Ruthless Ripper enables a turn 2 lethal Fall of the Hammer.

Black kill/control variants have Damnation, this deck has Chandra's Ignition. Why is Chandra's Ignition awesome? Target a Gifted Aetherborn or Vampire Nighthawk with it and you more or less get the effects of Wrath of God, Congregate, Shock, and Grim Return all rolled into one card. Note that it can be played both proactively and reactively. Target prevention and overwhelming creatures can be responded to with marvelous results. Constant options like focusing on gaining as much life as possible or redirecting non-combat damage to planeswalkers can also be magnified.

Mastermind's Acquisition is the keystone to both the mainboard and sideboard. Running over some of the answers it can fetch in Q/A form:

Q: Indestructible

A: Kulrath Knight

Q: Hexproof/Shroud/Protection from Red

A: Chandra's Ignition

Q: Protection from Black

A: Wurmcoil Engine

Q: On Death Trigger

A: Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet

Q: Weakness Addressed in Sideboard

A: Response in Sideboard

Sideboard

Like any other sideboard, it's a work in progress and varies according to what groups of people you play against.

Vampire Hexmage: Planeswalker removal so creatures can better focus their efforts.

Crumble to Dust: An answer to G/R tron.

Vandalblast: Artifact boardwipe more flexible than Shatterstorm.

Rakdos Charm: Artifact spot removal with additional uses.

Duress: Budget disruption to remove disruption.

Stigma Lasher: Soul sisters and other lifegain/drain variations can already be fairly easily dealt with; this card mops up the exceptions.

Griselbrand: Hand refiller for longer matchups.

Maybeboard

Blade of the Bloodchief

Pros:

-1 cmc and equip cost

-Deck gives it constant triggers

-Greatly pressures opponents' life totals

-Increases lifelink's effectiveness

-Twice as beneficial for 11 out of 19 creatures in deck

Cons:

-Disrupted by Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet.

-The deck doesn't have a creature buffer slot, so there's nothing for this card to replace

Viridian Longbow

To replace: 1, 2, or 3 Tail Slashes

Pros:

-1 cmc

-Repeatable effect with no mana cost

-Activates at instant speed

Cons:

-Equip cost of 3??

-1 damage makes very little use of lifelink

-Opponents will see its activation coming

-The tap means I can't follow up with an attack or use it after an attack

Thornbite Staff

To replace: 1, 2, or 3 Tail Slashes

Pros:

-Effectively grants an unlimited supply of Fall of the Hammers (each doing one damage)

-Activates at instant speed

-Shamans get a free equip

Cons:

-Equip cost of 4???

-1 damage makes very little use of lifelink

-Opponents will see its activation coming

-There are only 4 shamans in the deck

Stromkirk Captain

Pros:

-Greatly takes advantage of deathtouch and lifelink for 11 out of 19 creatures in deck

Cons:

-2 vanilla damage? Meh.

-The deck doesn't have a creature buffer slot, so there's nothing for this card to replace...it may have a place in the sideboard though

~Cards are more useful when in the mainboard and sideboard than in the maybeboard, so if you have any suggestions, I'd very much prefer that you include what cards you think they should replace~

Budget Alternatives

I'm neither wealthy nor competitive, so I consider any deck above $50 to be expensive. Originally this deck was kept below $40, but I've since decided to upgrade it for better presentation.

The bulk of the mainboard's price is Wurmcoil Engine, Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet, and Blood Crypt.

The 3 Blood Crypts are primarily important due to Gifted Aetherborn, which was Pharika's Chosen before Aether Revolt. Replacing them with 2 Swamps and 1 Mountain or maybe 3 Bloodfell Caves/Akoum Refuges wouldn't be a particularly significant downgrade.

The card slot Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet fills is for a medium sized lifelink creature. 2 other cards that could work are Vampire Outcasts and Voracious Hatchling.

Wurmcoil Engine fills the bomb slot. Large (or medium but effective) creatures do well in its place. Griselbrand is cheaper but still pretty pricey. Chancellor of the Dross works. Cairn Wanderer and Soulflayer are possibilities. Dread Slaver Is interesting to try out, but so conditionally effective that it doesn't do very well as a bomb.

In light of losing Wurmcoil Engine, you could also yank Kulrath Knight to make room for a vampire tribal build with Stromkirk Captain and Mephidross Vampire. If Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet is out of the picture, Blade of the Bloodchief is another plausible addition.

As far as the sideboard goes, it's such a variable that I suggest you ignore it if you're looking to buy this deck.

Top Ranked	Achieved #40 position overall 7 years ago
Date added	8 years
Last updated	6 months
Exclude colors	WUG
Legality	This deck is Modern legal.
Rarity (main - side)	5 - 1 Mythic Rares 18 - 1 Rares 14 - 9 Uncommons 11 - 4 Commons
Cards	60
Avg. CMC	3.19
Tokens	Wurm 3/3 C w/ Deathtouch, Wurm 3/3 C w/ Lifelink, Zombie 2/2 B
Folders	Decks I Like, Modern, fun modern decks, Rakdos Snipez, decks, Fun, Interesting Modern, Best Vampire Decks, Wish List Decks, Rakdos