You know that high you get when you eat a lot of sugar, getting extremely hyper for a short while? Yeah, that's pretty much this Rakdos Rush-deck! Builds up scary fast, and (as Rakdos do) Crashes pretty hard.
What I like about this Rakdos in particular is it's resilience. Yes, top decking caklers into the opponents removal is a possible issue, however, considering that 14 of my creatures have natural haste, and
Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch
can give 8 of the others haste (for not flopping if I top deck an unleash late-game), I'm bound to get in for a good bit of damage to put the opponent into a burnable range.
---------------------------------------THE TEAM---------------------------------------
This batch of devoted sadists get their quick, and left unanswered, crush foes. Each serves a purpose in the blood-lubricated Rakdos Machine.
Rakdos Cackler - Pretty self-explanatory. Pay 1 for a 2/2, add devotion for Purphoros, God of the Forge and a sideboarded Erebos, God of the Dead. This little guy helps us get there.
Rakdos Shred-Freak
- A solid 2/1 haster that adds 2 devotion to either god and fanatic. He isn't color punished like
Spike Jester
or Ash Zealot. He's a staple to early beatdowns, and midgame synergy.
Ash Zealot - While the double red can be punishing at times, the pro's to this First Strike Haster outweigh the cons. She becomes an efficient attacker if I have mana up, since people know what a lightning strike will do to their Polukranos, World Eater if they block, which usually leads to free damage. Also 2 devotion for Purphoros, God of the Forge and Fanatic of Mogis. I'll risk the double red.
Spike Jester
- 3/1 haste for 2? With a T1 Rakdos Cackler into this guy, you hit for 5 damage right off the bat. He beats through rakdos bane: Sylvan Caryatid, and becomes a must answer creature.
Thrill-Kill Assassin
- One of the most underestimated cards in my opinion. She's an absolute staple for my deck. Though she's pretty slow, she's almost a guaranteed free 2 damage each turn, or if need be I can drop her to ward off a back swing or two.
Hellhole Flailer
- I'll be honest. I kind of run Flailer for comedy. He extremely punishes those who overlook him, and a 4/3 for 3 isn't bad either. Smart players always answer him before he hits my next upkeep if they can, but that's one less removal for the rest of my guys.
Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch
- A 4/4 for 4? Pretty standard. But wait, she has Haste? That's better. And First Strike?? So she's Ash Zealot's mom? ... AND she gives all of my unleashed guys haste too!? Yep, I'll up my mana curve for her! Exava single-handedly turns all of my late-game unleash top-decks into very relevant threats, and gets in for loads of damage herself.
Purphoros, God of the Forge - I run 23 other creatures, and most of my early game works toward turning him on. A potential shock every turn and a useful outlet to flooding. If he comes online, the opponent's probably already lost.
Fanatic of Mogis - Admittedly the weak link of my deck, considering I don't want him in an opening hand, and by the time I get to 4 mana, most of the time he'll only drop for 2-3. He can be relevant at times though, dropping for 4-6 and being a must-block creature. He'll likely be removed at a later date.
----------------------------------Kill 'Em With Fire----------------------------------
Let's face it, most players have answers for weenie spam. Supreme Verdict, Sylvan Caryatid, Imposing Sovereign, Blind Obedience, bigger creatures, etc. The burns deal with pesky blockers, and burn face to finish the game.
Lightning Strike - It's no Lightning Bolt, but it's what Standard burn has to work with this season. 3 Damage kills a lot of threats, combo's well with Ash Zealot, and contributes to a lot of wins.
Magma Jet - I was hesitant to run Jet over Shock for a while. 2 damage for 2 mana? Sounded pretty awful. But after a lot of successful playtesting, I couldn't be happier with it! The Scry 2 has been the difference between top-deck wins and death by swamp. Yes, yes, yes.
Skullcrack
- A picky burn spell, but the extra 3 damage is almost always relevant, and the anti life-gain, damage prevention preventer has been critical at times.
Rakdos Charm - The underestimated Rakdos sleeper-spell. I've won too many games because of an opponent spamming their creatures trying to set up a wall or an offensive to ever discount this charm. The artifact destruction becomes very relevant against the weapons, and the graveyard destruction... is pretty bad in this format, I'll admit.
Rakdos's Return
- Deserves a 1 of for sure. While the excess mana is sometimes difficult to come by, if this is the only card in my hand, I'm hardly ever upset. If I'm top decking then why not share the burden? In this type of deck it's hardly ever a win condition, but it can definitely help us disrupt the opponents plan, and in a top-decking war the scales usually tip in our favor.
Dreadbore - While admittedly not a burn, the unconditional creature/ planeswalker removal is nice. I run it over
Heroes Downfall
because it's cheaper, and double black can be pretty difficult to come by in a lot of matches.
