If you're taking Rakdos Guildgate , you should probably swap them for the strictly better Temple of Malice . Or maybe even consider a Blood Crypt to make sure you get double red for Chandra's Phoenix or Ash Zealot on turn 2. Taking extra damage early is outweighed by killing them before they can respond.I'm not quite sure that a one of Purphoros is consistent enough to be in this deck. Sure it'll work nicely for your creatures getting extra damage and the combo with Whip of Erebos is fun but like it seems like a low consistency play considering it only starts working around turns 5 and 6. It also feels disjointed. Although if you make that the focus of the deck then that has the potential to be really awesome.Hellholer flailer seems like a great card here. Idk, maybe decide what your deck really wants to do. Like if you are going to do all 20 damage from hasty creatures that arrive on the field and overrun the opponent by turn 3 with burn spells to finish them off on turns 4 and 5 then maybe multiple gods isn't the way to go since they are slow to use and only seem to work if you have other cards in hand which by turn 4/5 is unlikely since red and black doesn't really have much card draw.

Some decks which want to abuse Purphoros's ability use massive token generation to like trigger the 2 damage quickly and your deck might not be suited to that. Molten Birth or Precinct Captain for instance, are example of different style of cards which don't throttle the opponent straight away but get lots of damage and have more surviveability than a spike jester. Remember when playing in standard to test your decks against whatever decks exist in the meta at your local shop and really think about how another deck would stuff your deck up. In terms of how it would go against mono white, mono blue, mono black, esper and other aggro decks. Cards like how your deck would go against a turn one thoughtseize, or on the draw, or against huge gren creatures on turns 3 and 4 (green ramp) can really help you understand what you are trying to do.

Maybe sideboard some Dreadbore as anti planeswalker technology

Overall though, good job, it looks pretty solid.

I hate to say that it's supposed to be a little inconsistent when it comes to the gods, but, well, that's the point. You have pointed out that the deck really wants to storm my opponent and get in for a ton of damage in a hurry. Unfortunately, that's not always going to work, and so I packed in a couple one of cards that can give me top decking hope in a match that goes long. If my opponent sees purphoros in game 1, they may sideboard against gods, when in reality they saw the only god I've got, and those sideboard cards are doubtful to be useful against a Chandra or Exava. Or you could look at it from another angle, I consider the gods, Exava, and the Whip as a part of one playset. The deck needs a playset of a four drop, four drops can single handedly win games, and to think I can win every game by turn 5 would be a fools game. Different matches I'm going to need different things to help me win, and to try and predict what exactly I will need doesn't seem like the best idea, and I certainly don't have the cash or time to come up with a playset of each. As far as lands, I'd love temples, but they're a bit hard to find and costly. Your post has really got me thinking, and I very much appreciate it. My only question would be if you were running the deck, how exactly would you change it, I'm not quite clear on that.

I'd switch out a couple 4 drops and exchange them for Guttersnipe ... That's just my opinion. I've won lots of matches thanks to Guttersnipe and Satyr Firedancer .

Imo the casts that require two of the same color are not worth it Ash Zealot Whip of Erebos and Chandra's Pheonix are all too heavy in a fast pace deck like this. Instead of ash zealot why not use Gore-House Chainwalker ? Or Rakdos Shred-Freak ? Both are powerful and they're not heavy set into one color so you won't get backed up as much.

Okay, Here's my take on this deck:

Firstly, I would take out Ash Zealot and Chandra's Phoenix . They're both really good aggro cards, but this deck is geared to killing by turn 4 or 5, and early game they are hard to cast reliably because of the mana cost. I would also take out Chandra, Pyromaster : she doesn't really add anything to the deck.

For the Ash Zealot I would add a playset of Rakdos Shred-Freak , just because it's way easier to cast. It doesn't have first strike, yeah, but it's way better than a dead card in your hand.

For Chandra's Phoenix I would put 4x Thrill-Kill Assassin . It for all intents and purposes can't be blocked (or at least not favorably), and isn't as mana intensive and generally lowers the curve of the deck. It also provides devotion for Mogis's Marauder .

I would also get rid of Purphoros, God of the Forge . In theory he works really well with a bunch of small creatures, but in practice he doesn't come out until turn 4 and doesn't really impact the board when he does. And at that point your hand will be almost empty, so you'll probably be getting out max one creature a turn, turning him into essentially a Mogis.

As a replacement for Purphoros, God of the Forge and Chandra, Pyromaster I would use two (or maybe even three if you can cut a card) Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch : she's a strong aggro card that can finish the game if your opponent doesn't have an answer.

I'm personally more of a fan of Gnarled Scarhide over Tormented Hero , just because of the synergy with Mogis's Marauder , but that's more of a matter of preference at that point. You could include playsets of both if you wanted to, but you'd have to cut some two drops for that, so either the Thrill-Kill Assassin or the Rakdos Shred-Freak .

As far as the burn, I'm not sure if it's as necessary: I agree with Lightning Strike to eliminate early blockers/tack on damage, but I feel Shock is too weak for that. I love Magma Jet though: it is a slightly more expensive Shock that makes your draws infinitely better.

I would cut the Shock for a playset of removal in the mainboard, like Doom Blade or Ultimate Price or what have you, depending on whether people at your LGS play a lot of mono-coloured decks.

I actually love this style of deck (play it myself) and it's always a load of fun: you can check mine out if you feel like it. Good luck with your future matches!

Thanks for all of the input! I tried to address most of it with a new description! I choose burn in mainboard over removal because a lot of decks just don't run very many creatures, that's what the sideboard is for. As far as Gnarled Scarhide over the hero, it's just a matter of what I currently own. I'm playing some standard at my LGS tomorrow night and at FNM this week so I'll be sure to update how the deck plays!

This deck is well rounded and very fast paced. Its style is used by one player in my LCS who has been dominating and pissing a lot of people off. I am not the guy using it but have nothing but props to give for this type of build.

Thanks so much!

If I Anger of the Gods then you are screwed. Try working your way aroudn that...

I like it tho, as I am a rakdos player too, here is my midrange rakdos deck: Rakdos Midrange

Against removal and control I side out the Madcap Skills , and then I can tempo myself pretty well mixing up creatures and burn against decks that show me any signs of a potential board wipe. Of the 15 matches, I'd say 5 were blow out wins, 6 were close wins, and 4 were close losses, but board wipes have never made the difference, it's just been a matter of me getting what I need versus them getting what they need.

Well my suggestion is against control, just burn directly to face. That is what I do, and is very efficient.

Gnarled Scarhide instead of Tormented Hero , since you can't really trigger the hero's heroic, but you can bestow the other one. You don't really want to block, since your deck is aggro. That's my proposition.

i would throw in Exava, the haste hits hard, especially against control match-ups and it works well with the cacklers and assassins

you need to get rid of your Purphoros, God of the Forge and Temple of Malice . If this deck focuses on aggro then you wont have time for those cards

to me this looks more like a laid back aggro deck

This list is very balanced and, more importantly, original.It's nice to see cards that aren't usually used in standard, like Chandra (for some odd reason) and Thrill-Kill Assassin.