Beware the player with no creatures. Sometimes he has... uh, some creatures.
Demonic Rising is an intriguing puzzle of a card. It rewards you not for having no creatures - that's too easy - but exactly one. Of course, if you're running a number of creature cards, it can be tricky to have exactly one in play without purposefully holding back. Besides, nothing is stopping your opponent from just blasting your one creature and putting you down to nothing. What's a smarter way to go about it?
Try Creatures on Demand™. Rakdos Keyrune and Restless Vents can sit around innocuously, just providing mana, until the Rising shows up. Activate one, and by the time the end of your turn rolls around, your 'one creature' will score you a big 5/5 flyer. Assuming nothing changes, that one demon will be your only creature next turn, scoring you a second fat flyer. Nasty stuff!
All three cards play nicely with boardwipes. If you have the mana, you can drop a Damnation or Blasphemous Act and immediately swing with a Keyrune or Vents afterwards - not to mention still collect on that demon token. You've never seen a board rebuild this quickly and easily.
With such a peculiar build, there is one creature certainly worth running: the classic Nether Spirit, who also just happens to love manlands and play nicely with an "empty" board. One can come back turn after turn even if you have a whole suite of creatures ready to be animated, and is likewise adept at scoring you a demon token. You can also feel free to pitch one to Faithless Looting or Restless Vents for a fun spot of card advantage!
