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Silly Rakdos politics disguises an absolute house of a combo/groupslug commander with one of the deadliest mana sinks in the game. Here's my pitch for Xantcha, Sleeper Agent as the only truly busted general in Rakdos colors.

3: Draw a card, an opponent loses 2 life. Instant speed, she doesn't have to tap...the rest is irrelevant flavor. Her activated ability draws you cards and hurts your opponents at the same time...I feel like that's really good, right?

Paradox Engine is definitely your main win-con. Three or four mana rocks are usually enough for your general to draw your whole deck and drain for the win. You can hit critical mass as early as turn 5, then just keep drawing and draining and playing more mana rocks.

Firebrand Archer , Reckless Fireweaver , and Cabal Paladin quickly stack up in a deck that runs like 30 artifacts. Not only will these guys win you the game on the spot if you're comboing off with Paradox Engine , they put in work all game long even in a slow grind.

I was originally running Sanguine Bond (because Exquisite Blood is a shoe-in), but it didn't really do anything except serve as a backup combo piece taking up a 5-slot. Wound Reflection and Havoc Festival are both incredibly good draws on their own, even without each other. The fact that they win the game together is almost irrelevant--they'd both make the cut even if they didn't.

I'm still running Exquisite Blood because it's completely bonkers with this kind of a strategy and may well keep you alive long after you should have been dead. Also, everyone who sees it and knows what they're looking at is going to be expecting the other shoe to drop at any second--so Exquisite Blood doesn't only put in incredible value, it stands a real shot at absorbing removal that should really be directed towards one of your real combo pieces. If I draw Disenchant and my opponent has Paradox Engine , Havoc Festival and Exquisite Blood ? Those are all completely legitimate targets, in the sense that "if I don't answer this right now, I'm probably dead next turn."

We've got some Basalt Monolith / Rings of Brighthearth action going on to insta-drain whoever is unlucky enough to have your general. We've got the Harsh Mentor making sure your opponents don't get too fast-and-loose with their Xantcha activations. We've got Tsabo Tavoc because she's cheesy like everything else you're running, you've got enough mana rocks to get her out, and she takes a great big ol' dookie on all general-based strategies until she's dealt with.

Stuffy Doll is a menace in its own right and does horrible, horrible things with Pestilence and/or Pyrohemia . Neheb, the Eternal is starting to get recognition for how broken he is as a general, but he also synergizes frighteningly well with Xantcha.

A big part of what I like about this deck is that it is completely non-linear while still being simple to pilot. Your opponents do a large chunk of your work for you-- Xantcha, Sleeper Agent gives them enough rope to hang themselves, and Rakdos colors position you perfectly to swoop in on your crippled enemies after they've finished using the resources (that you've given them) to destroy each other.

I haven't even calculated the odds of pulling this off, but check out this move I call the Quadruple Dip.

Xantcha, Sleeper Agent + Thran Turbine + Neheb, the Eternal + Heartstone + Alhammarret's Archive .

It's your upkeep--Turbine gives you {C}{C}, so you can activate Xantcha because of Heartstone. Draw two cards because Archive, opponent loses 2 life. Beat your meat for the rest of your turn. It's the end of your combat phase--Neheb gives you {R}{R}, activate Xantcha. Draw two cards cuzza Archive, opponent loses 2 life.

That's what happens every turn without you adding a single mana. The Quadruple Dip is a machine that just runs itself. If anyone ever pulls off the Quadruple Dip on me? I'm just gonna scoop.

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Top Ranked
Date added 5 years
Last updated 5 years
Legality

This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.

Rarity (main - side)

12 - 0 Mythic Rares

40 - 0 Rares

18 - 0 Uncommons

11 - 0 Commons

Cards 100
Avg. CMC 2.93
Tokens Construct 1/1 C Token w/ Defender, Gold
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