Rakdos, Lord's Downward Spiral
Commander / EDH
SCORE: 160 | 108 COMMENTS | 37051 VIEWS | IN 89 FOLDERS
Snapdisastermage says... #2
You're description makes it sound like you've got something personal with competitive edh
June 20, 2017 11:20 a.m.
Big update to fix longstanding mana issues by adding colored lands, adding ramp, and removing high-CMC cards that don't fit the strategy. Also, take out some weak cards and boost disruption:
- Volrath's Stronghold -> Swamp
- Myriad Landscape -> Mountain
- Shivan Gorge -> Mountain
- Dust Bowl -> Swamp
- Hanweir Battlements -> Swamp
- Winding Canyons -> Swamp
- Rune-Scarred Demon -> Ancient Craving
- Mikaeus, the Unhallowed -> Read the Bones
- Perilous Vault -> Ambition's Cost
- Fault Line -> Damnable Pact
- Molten Disaster -> Sign in Blood
- Decree of Pain -> Mind Twist
- Browbeat -> Coldsteel Heart
- Savage Beating -> Fellwar Stone
- Burnished Hart -> Talisman of Indulgence
- Expedition Map -> Night's Whisper
- Promise of Power -> Phyrexian Arena
- Nezumi Graverobber -> Hymn to Tourach
- Dwarven Blastminer -> Hypnotic Specter
October 28, 2017 10:37 a.m.
Permafrost says... #4
I really like Torment of Hailfire, maybe try that in place of Syphon Mind. You wont get card draw from it, but for the same cost, each player will be losing two cards or some life. I would also include some repeatable damage, cards like Lobber Crew or Nettle Drone. These both have the chance of untapping to do more damage with can ramp you even further.
January 10, 2018 9:43 p.m.
Permafrost thx for the suggestions. I'm not sure about Lobber Crew, as I only have 4 multicolored cards in the entire deck. But I like Nettle Drone a lot more because it has 3 power, it can tap to do dmg, and I have many colorless spells. Good call! I think I'll take out Sheoldred, Whispering One because it's much better in a control deck (here, the card is too slow).
The way I've built the deck (very aggressively) means that the deck can't run out of steam, even for a bit. So I'm reluctant to take out card draw (Syphon Mind).
January 11, 2018 9:52 a.m.
Permafrost says... #6
That's a fair point. Maybe consider Disciple of Bolas? You already run Vedalken Orrery, this could be a good way to benefit from spot removal on your dudes, and it could cost only one Mana depending on the situation.
January 11, 2018 12:22 p.m.
Recent tweaks:
February 8, 2018 3:59 p.m.
What about the sick draw you can get from Knollspine Dragon?
February 20, 2018 5:01 p.m.
Ah, yes struggles aplenty! I wonder how good Damnable Pact is though (even though it can be considered a finisher as well). I find it hard to advise you here because I haven't played the deck. I'm currently building the deck for Archenemy in Commander purpose though :)
How do you manage to get two words for your custom categories btw? If I try that it only takes the first word :(
February 21, 2018 3:09 a.m.
FunBun #Land_Destruction works
I use Damnable Pact for card draw. Honestly, not quite enough good card draw in RB. I'm happy to cast it for 2 cards even. Comparing Knollspine Dragon here, Damnable Pact can be used early or late and Knollspine Dragon is probably only going to happen (and draw lots of cards) after Rakdos is out.
February 22, 2018 7:36 p.m.
A couple tweaks:
Living Death isn't great w/o it being more one-sided (e.g., removing opponents' graveyards). So Damnation is just same thing one mana cheaper.
Sneak Attack doesn't do much, as I almost always have discount from Rakdos, Lord of Riots. So let's bring in Oblivion Stone, another way to punish all those decks playing non-creature permanents!
March 16, 2018 6:01 p.m.
A few more improvements:
- Vedalken Orrery -> Dire Fleet Ravager (massive dmg for Rakdos, Lord of Riots discount)
- Sensei's Divining Top -> Shepherd of Rot (damage to help cast Rakdos, Lord of Riots)
- Emrakul, the Promised End -> Etali, Primal Storm (more dmg and free spells, lower CMC)
March 19, 2018 9:35 p.m.
More changes. The summary of the changes is to 1) increase the payoff of mana discount from Rakdos, Lord of Riots and 2) add more colorless creatures that I can windmill slam for no cost.
May 22, 2018 7:32 p.m.
More changes! More colorless creatures to windmill slam for free. Also, more direct damage to keep Rakdos leading the team to victory!
- Viashino Heretic -> Scuttling Doom Engine
- Hypnotic Specter -> Sandstone Oracle
- Thoughtseize -> Fanatical Firebrand
The loss of disruption against control players sucks a bit. These changes (and other recent changes) make the deck more consistent. I'll revisit anti-control tactics after I see how these changes turn out.
May 24, 2018 11:26 p.m.
Fellwar Stone -> Helm of the Host
The mana is very smooth, so this can come out. And what's better than 1 Rakdos, Lord of Riots? You guessed it..
May 25, 2018 12:14 a.m.
Flameshadow Conjuring is awesome when it works. But the deck now has 11 legendary creatures that it can't copy, so it has to go. Swap it for a tutor to search for whatever the situation requires.
May 25, 2018 12:31 a.m.
One of this deck's bad matchups is lifegain decks. This deck has a couple options to deal with lifegain decks: commander damage and some life reduction, the best being Torgaar, Famine Incarnate. Against lifegain decks, the game can go really long, so let's add Whip of Erebos for both our own lifegain and recursion. Because we have already some life reduction cards, let's take out a redundant card to add the Whip:
May 29, 2018 2:46 p.m.
Better vs control decks
June 8, 2018 2:27 p.m.
Card draw that doesn't work some of the time for on-plan life loss.
July 7, 2018 12:07 p.m.
Changes:
- Urabrask the Hidden -> Faithless Looting
- Coldsteel Heart -> Night's Whisper
- Helm of the Host -> Chandra, Torch of Defiance
- Platinum Emperion -> Terminate
- Balefire Dragon -> Kaervek the Merciless
- Swamp -> Luxury Suite
The deck needs a bit more card selection/draw. So in go Chandra, Torch of Defiance
, Night's Whisper and Faithless Looting. These will help if, for example, we get mana flooded. Kaervek the Merciless is on theme (The Downward Spiral). Terminate will help out whenever needed.
It was tough to determine was to take out. Balefire Dragon is sweet with haste, but doesn't fit into this deck since we cast creatures after combat damage. That's the reason that Urabrask the Hidden is coming out as well. The other cards are good but not what I've found this deck needs.
August 3, 2018 4:54 p.m.
More improvements!
- Scuttling Doom Engine -> Sower of Discord
- Void Winnower -> Geode Golem
- Kaervek the Merciless -> Loyal Subordinate
- Stormbreath Dragon -> Sire Of Insanity
- Mountain -> Swamp
These changes improve the focus of the deck: damage and discard!
August 27, 2018 11:46 p.m.
Sweet changes that already won me a 3-player game!
More discard (anti-control) with Oppression, which works so well in this deck because you're spells have powerful effects, so the cost of discarding a card is payable (relative to the effect). For example, under Oppression, you can cast an Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre and discard a card, but a green player just can't ramp through it. Who's going to play Rampant Growth to fetch a basic land and discard a card? So this card doesn't hurt you much but destroys other decks. Some decks, such as graveyard decks, can actually benefit from it, so obviously you should decide if it's a good idea to cast it.
On another note, this deck needs to play a fast game and finish players off, and Maga, Traitor to Mortals is a fantastic finisher. I just cast a Maga for 11 life loss last night to win a game. Sower of Discord has a higher ceiling, of course, but takes more turns, and turns isn't something you want to give up in this deck.
One more thought about Sower of Discord... note that it mirrors damage done to player A as life loss to player B. So one situation that would be sweet to set up just isn't possible with Sower: mirror your own life loss from draw spells and other downward spiral effects to another player. Bummer. But should they make that card in the future, it would be ridiculous in this deck. And if they already made that card, please let me know!
September 22, 2018 3:07 p.m.
A couple tweaks...
Soul is colorless, which is great, but I've found the deck can't afford to keep up 5 mana for the protection. Instead, let's add a boatload of damage, which turns into mana for us. Either that or they give us more cards to throw down onto the battlefield for free. Either way, we win.
Wheel is obviously an amazing card in the right deck (Nekusar), giving you 7 cards for 3 mana! But... it gives your opponents 21 cards as well. I find that if no opponent has answers to the amazing threats in this deck, we probably win. And the classic enemy of aggro is blue card advantage. So instead of giving our opponents tons of cards, let's instead give them a choice of taking damage (which is mana for us) or giving us cards. Either way, it's a win-win, especially when we can jump-start to do it again later.
November 8, 2018 11:36 p.m.
Another tweak:
Sure, from time to time someone gets a Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur or something equally terrifying into play. But that's super rare, especially considering you have some of the biggest and baddest threats in the format in this deck. In general, if you need to kill one creature or planeswalker, you are already losing badly and a single Hero's Downfall isn't going to bring you back into the game. Instead of trying to dig out of that hole, let's ensure we can take over the game right away with more damage (more mana!)
jpermar says... #1
Gilgamesh150 yes you are right it fits the deck very well! I used to have Avatar of Slaughter in here. I am just trying to bring down the CMC of the deck so don't think I have room for it. I guess swapping out Decree of Pain for it could be done if you wanted to put it in a similar build!
January 1, 2017 1:10 p.m.