Rakdos Flame of Death!

Commander / EDH Aggro BR (Rakdos) Burn

SpawnMan

Creature (33)

• 1x Artisan of Kozilek
• 1x Ashenmoor Liege
• 1x Balefire Dragon
• 1x Blightsteel Colossus
• 1x Bogardan Hellkite
• 1x Charmbreaker Devils
• 1x Firewing Phoenix
• 1x Flayer of the Hatebound
• 1x Heartless Hidetsugu
• 1x Hellkite Tyrant
• 1x Hellrider
• 1x Herald of Leshrac
• 1x Hound of Griselbrand
• 1x Inferno Titan
• 1x Invader Parasite
• 1x It That Betrays
• 1x Kaervek the Merciless
• 1x Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs
• 1x Lightning Reaver
• 1x Malignus
• 1x Master of Cruelties
• 1x Olivia Voldaren
• 1x Pathrazer of Ulamog
• 1x Purphoros, God of the Forge
• 1x Rakdos, Lord of Riots
• 1x Stalking Vengeance
• 1x Stigma Lasher
• 1x Stuffy Doll
• 1x Thundermaw Hellkite
• 1x Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
• 1x Ulamog's Crusher
• 1x Urabrask the Hidden
• 1x Vampiric Dragon

Planeswalker (1)

• 1x Chandra, the Firebrand

Land (36)

• 1x Blood Crypt
• 1x Bojuka Bog
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Dragonskull Summit
• 1x Ghitu Encampment
• 15x Mountain
• 1x Rakdos Carnarium
• 1x Rakdos Guildgate
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Spinerock Knoll
• 10x Swamp
• 1x Terramorphic Expanse
• 1x Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle

Enchantment (5)

• 1x An-Zerrin Ruins
• 1x Curse of Bloodletting
• 1x Gratuitous Violence
• 1x Warstorm Surge
• 1x Wound Reflection

Artifact (11)

• 1x Basilisk Collar
• 1x Caged Sun
• 1x Cauldron of Souls
• 1x Crystal Ball
• 1x Darksteel Ingot
• 1x Darksteel Plate
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Rakdos Keyrune
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Staff of Nin
• 1x Whispersilk Cloak

Instant (5)

• 1x Delirium
• 1x Geth's Verdict
• 1x Lightning Bolt
• 1x Smelt
• 1x Terminate

Sorcery (9)

• 1x Arc Trail
• 1x Blasphemous Act
• 1x Demonic TutorGC
• 1x Devil's Play
• 1x Dreadbore
• 1x Mizzium Mortars
• 1x Obliterate
• 1x Rakdos's Return
• 1x Zombify

Commander (1)

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Sideboard

Creature (1)

• 1x Anathemancer

Enchantment (1)

• 1x Magistrate's Veto

Instant (1)

• 1x Boil

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Maybeboard

Creature (5)

• 1x Blazing Specter
• 1x Hellhole Rats
• 1x Solemn Simulacrum
• 1x Tsabo Tavoc
• 1x Vein Drinker

Land (2)

• 1x Graven Cairns
• 1x Tainted Peak

Enchantment (1)

• 1x Havoc Festival

Sorcery (1)

• 1x All is Dust

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The deck revolves around getting Rakdos, Lord of Riots out, unloading your massive creatures onto the battlefield for very free shortly after, and either burning or punching your opponent/s to a glorious, chaotic death.

Cards like Hellrider, Chandra, the Firebrand , Stuffy Doll, Lightning Bolt, Arc Trail, Thundermaw Hellkite and Staff of Nin can all assure you're able to get that damage down to unleash Rakdos. Once you're through, it's not uncommon to go from having a couple of creatures on the table, to controlling several Eldrazi and/or heavy hitters! This deck explodes fast, often when your opponents are unaware of it.

But of course, with aggro beat down, you need a side of consistent and annoying burn. Aside from the several removal spells, you can easily turn your creatures that enter and exit the battlefield into heavy burn spells with cards such as: Warstorm Surge, Purphoros, God of the Forge, Stalking Vengeance and Flayer of the Hatebound.

Let's take Hound of Griselbrand for example. If the above cards are down (even just a couple can make a huge difference in a game), then the Hound will be dealing 4 damage directly to someone's face (and maybe 2 damage to each other opponent depending on how many people you're versing). When it dies, another 2 damage, and it comes back with another 8 damage.

Now add in extra fun with Gratuitous Violence, Wound Reflection, and for some unlucky sod, Curse of Bloodletting. Entering the battlefield, someone is going to take 64 damage! Imagine what a creature like Malignus can do for just 5 mana! And with cards such as Cauldron of Souls, all your creatures will be an enormous threat both entering, during and leaving the battlefield.

There is an answer to most things in the deck: Pesky land? Invader Parasite . Artifacts piling up? Hellkite Tyrant and Smelt are easy ways to clear them out. Tribal decks running you down? An-Zerrin Ruins . Voltron-commander ready to kick your arse? Delirium. Life totals running too high to burn? Blightsteel Colossus can sort that, while Stigma Lasher means you'll always be within reach. Want a bit of control? Try Kaervek the Merciless for size. Opponent has a shiny creature? Yours now, thanks to Olivia Voldaren.

There are some great bombs in the deck as well. Herald of Leshrac always draws attention, and if opponents can't deal with it promptly, you can find yourself stealing up to 3 or 4 lands easily each game. Master of Cruelties is another terrifying beastie. Great on defence with his insta-death blocking, but amazing on attack with evasion such as Whispersilk Cloak. Then you're a simple Lightning bolt away.

And in the sideboard, there is a bit of blue hate with Boil and Magistrate's Veto , while Anathemancer is a good substitution for Stigma lasher when versing non-life gain, multi-colour decks.

All in all, with the right opening hand, use of your creatures and spells, and a bit of luck, this deck dominates in 1v1 EDH every time. The deck gets weaker the more players you're facing, with the maximum I'd verse at once being a 3 player game (although that said, this deck did take out 3 players for the win in under 6 turns once upon a time during a 4 player match).

Date added	12 years
Last updated	11 years
Legality	This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	16 - 0 Mythic Rares 35 - 0 Rares 17 - 3 Uncommons 8 - 0 Commons
Cards	101
Avg. CMC	4.88
Tokens	Ogre 3/3 R
Folders	ideas