Detritivore, Browbeat, and Indulgent Tormentor seem to be the weakest cards in the deck so one of them would be a good card to replace.

Yeah Detritivore is expensive for LD. I could see removing that card. Browbeat in this deck reads as 1) draw 3 cards or 2) cast commander and get 5 free colorless mana. Which imo is very good for just 3 mana. With Indulgent Tormentor, an opponent could just sac a token but token decks are rare in my meta. Plus it's a flying beater that allows me to cast Rakdos. Anyhow, I like the swap for Detritivore. One other card that comes to mind is Bane of Bala Ged. It seems a toss up between damage from Myr Battlesphere or taking down defenses. Thought you might have an opinion on that card too.

I find that Myr Battlesphere is better in most cases. He can be used in more situations and less valuable to removal.

And there are better options than Bane like Artisan of Kozilek and It That Betrays.

Skull Rend assuming you play in a four person matchup thats 6 mana right there plus some discard which is always good

also isn't Fault Line just a more expensive Earthquake?

Fault line is instant.

It's like the difference between Hurricane and Squall Line. See what they did there?

i completely missed the instant/soccery thing

whiledpayne, just looking at the spell-based Damage cards, here are the ratios for opponents' damage/mana, assuming 3 players and using 5 mana spent for Molten Disaster and Fault Line (to compare with 5 mana for Skull Rend):

• Flame Rift -> 12/2 = 6
• Rakdos Charm -> 6/2 = 3
• Fault Line -> 9/5 = 1.8
• Molten Disaster -> 9/5 = 1.8
• Browbeat -> 5/3 = 1.666666667
• Skull Rend -> 6/5 = 1.2

Of course, as you noted, Skull Rend also has each opponent discard 2 cards at random (6 cards total). That seems like a lot of cards, but keep in mind opponents are drawing 3 cards to your one every round. Additionally, discard isn't that great in this aggro deck, as I don't have as many draw spells as, for example, dedicated control decks, and so just need to kill them ASAP.

Chandra, Pyromaster -> Syphon Mind

Liliana of the Dark Realms -> Commander's Sphere

Pilgrim's Eye -> Mana Crypt

Everlasting Torment is a fun way to add some pressure, but it's maybe too risky for you.

I always enjoy Plague Spitter: it hurts token decks, let's me cast Rakdos, Lord of Riots, and gives an extra kick when it dies.

Flameshadow Conjuring is actually something I've been looking to remove from my Rakdos, Lord of Riots deck. It seems like such a helpful thing, but I've realized it rarely is for me. Mind you, I don't have the mana base you have so maybe that's the key difference. If you're trying to take advantage of your commander's ability, then Flameshadow Conjuring isn't going to do much, and, if you need that haste to cast Rakdos, Lord of Riots quicker, you need a bunch of mana to make it work. Maybe I'm not seeing it right, but it seems like you're trying to milk your commander for all he's worth so you need him to be out because people (in my meta, anyways) tend to try to kill the Rakdos guy before things escalate. That, and you're trying to accelerate games so how often will you get the mana needed to cast and copy?

Oh, and did you consider Maga, Traitor to Mortals? that card can be a riot in decks like these.

I'm coming from my (pretty much) basic-land-only perspective which I'm sure alters my perception, but many of the cards are the same so I have a rough idea of where the deck wants to be. I hope that something I said was helpful to you, I really like this sort of deck +1.

Hi Supplice. Thanks for commenting. Your comment makes me think I should write a play guide for this deck.

I've noticed that Rakdos players try to rush Rakdos out. I rarely do that because he draws removal like nobody's business! It's much better to let people use their removal on other player's nasty stuff and then bring Rakdos out later, perhaps after the first battlefield wipe has occurred.

In this deck, Rakdos is likely to be a killing blow if he sticks for one round and I get to use the mana discount. The threats I throw down with him out nearly immediately end the game because they come down far earlier than they should.

Because of how much removal the Commander draws, Flameshadow Conjuring is best in situations when I don't have my Commander out, and need to get more value for my high CMC threats. A big part of why Flameshadow is good in this deck is because the creatures I have are devastating if they connect: Hellkite Tyrant, Scourge of the Throne, Balefire Dragon, etc. So the haste is just as important if not more important than having a duplicate token. The fact that the card does both, for just one mana, is pretty insane.

Regarding your land base, the best thing you could do for your deck is to acquire the multicolor land base. Rakdos is so punishing about needing colored mana, which is why almost every card in my deck that produces mana produces multiple colors.

One last note... I just took a look at your deck and ofc see almost exclusively basic lands. I would encourage you to consider taking out all cards that cost BBB or RRR, as 3 mana of one color is so hard to make. Your deck will function much better! GL getting your lands fleshed out ;)

But jpermar, where's the fun in that? :) I used to have a more impressive land base, but I sold 'em all; not the best idea, in retrospect. I've done pretty well, though, with what I've got, and I usually have three of one colour by turn 5. Thanks for the tip, though, I always appreciate input, and I am trying to slim the mana, but the demons theme makes it hard.

That's a good point about tempo. I've definitely got a tendency to rush him out, but that's largely because I get sac-locked out if I don't (I hate Meren decks).

I hadn't noticed that Flameshadow Conjuring gives a pseudo-vigilance because it's a temporary token that's attacking, so that's definitely great. I must agree, that it's very good mid-late game, I guess I don't usually survive long enough to see that happen.

Ah yeah, this deck is for casual only. That Meren deck in your group sounds like a stax strategy, which I consider competitive. No way any standard creature deck (like this one) can compete with that! Also, I usually only play this with 3 players in a game... maybe 4 if it's a casual slower game.

I think Angel's Trumpet would fit in here nicely; can ping for damage every turn, anti-durdling card, and gives pseudo-vigilance.

Ob Nixilis, Unshackled would hate out the searchers/tutors/rampers (speeding up the game) while providing a decent-sized flying body.

Honestly your list looks tight so what to cut is hard. I generally try to play with few if any tutors to ensure every game is different. Thus I'd say cut your tutors for these additions.

Hi Pal00ka.

I'm not convinced that Angel's Trumpet is the best for this deck, as I'm not to worried about using the vigilance for defense. If I ever need vigilance, I presumably need to block, and the card won't help me turn the board state around like a wrath effect does. Regarding the damage, if opponents took damage during my turn, it would fit this deck a lot better.

I'm actually going to try swapping Ob Nixilis, Unshackled in place of Harvester of Souls. The Harvester is generally mediocre in this deck because it's so reactive. This deck is a very proactive deck! OTOH, Ob Nixilis, Unshackled may play a role as a proactive tempo card.

I hear you about tutors. Unfortunately, they really are necessary for this deck. If it gets off to a slow start (100 card decks yay!), I need a least one wrath effect at some point to be able to reset and then lay down the beats. Also, green decks are typically so consistently fast that a better way to play this deck in that situation is the same way: 1) reset the board, thereby blowing them out of the water with card disadvantage, and 2) start the alien invasion!

Thanks for commenting!

EMN changes:

• Commander's Sphere -> Cryptolith Fragment  ^Flip
• High Market -> Hanweir Battlements
• Myr Battlesphere -> Tree of Perdition
• Void Winnower -> Emrakul, the Promised End
• Harvester of Souls -> Ob Nixilis, Unshackled

Cool deck man. Would you mind checking out my new Rakdos deck and lending your thoughts?

#GotPain?

Ender666666, thanks for the upvote! Just commented on your deck and upvoted.

I'm drafting up a Rakdos, Lord of Riots edh deck atm and having been looking at this one along a few others for ideas. It seems a little difficult to cast rakdos if one of the early ping cards gets blown up right away. Does that affect the deck by much or can it push through?

goodair, it depends on how you build it. With the version that has lots of pingers (tap for damage or damage during your upkeep), it's easy to cast Rakdos, Lord of Riots. Opponents are very unlikely to use removal on those tiny creatures. In a version like my deck, it's a bit harder to get Rakdos out due to the relative lack of easy damage options. But imo being able to cast Rakdos isn't really the main problem in any build. The reason is simple: you need 1) cast him, 2) have him stick around for one turn cycle, and 3) do a lot of damage to then get a big mana discount. Because you need all three conditions to really capitalize on your commander, I think my build, where the commander is a bonus but not something I rush for, is a better build. The direct damage options that I do have generate a ton of damage/mana for their cost, which enables turns where you do damage, cast Rakdos and slam down colorless creatures. The creatures I have fly, which makes it so that if they connect, you get to both cast Rakdos and have a big mana discount immediately. Also, flying creatures are a much better late-game top deck than pingers. The trade-off is that this build is slower with a stronger mid-game.

What about Master of Cruelties or is that a no for this deck?

Delta-117, I think Master of Cruelties is best in Kaalia, or any deck goes all-out on haste. He's an awkward card for this deck because you often want tons of damage to happen (typically via combat) and then after combat you cast creatures.

have you thought about Avatar of Slaughter? i feel like it matches your mind set with this deck. Looks fun though!