Rakdos, Lord of Eldrazi 2

Commander / EDH Aggro BR (Rakdos) Eldrazi

PoisonNectar

Land (36)

• 1x Command Beacon
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Dragonskull Summit
• 1x Eldrazi Temple
• 1x Evolving Wilds
• 1x Foreboding Ruins
• 1x Luxury Suite
• 1x Molten Slagheap
• 8x Mountain
• 1x Myriad Landscape
• 1x Rakdos Carnarium
• 1x Rocky Tar Pit
• 1x Rogue's Passage
• 1x Sanctum of Ugin
• 1x Smoldering Marsh
• 9x Swamp
• 1x Tainted Peak
• 1x Temple of the False God
• 1x Terramorphic Expanse
• 2x Wastes

Draw (7)

• 1x Ambition's Cost
• 1x Bloodgift Demon
• 1x Knollspine Dragon
• 1x Mystic Forge
• 1x Night's Whisper
• 1x Read the Bones
• 1x Sign in Blood

Removal (5)

• 1x Bedevil
• 1x Kolaghan's Command
• 1x Oblivion Strike
• 1x Sudden Spoiling
• 1x Terminate

Damage (13)

• 1x Chandra, Pyromaster
• 1x Goblin Fireslinger
• 1x Inferno Titan
• 1x Lobber Crew
• 1x Nettle Drone
• 1x Palace Siege
• 1x Retreat to Hagra
• 1x Sarkhan's Unsealing
• 1x Sin Prodder
• 1x Sunscorched Desert
• 1x Thermo-Alchemist
• 1x Triskelion
• 1x Warstorm Surge

Ramp (8)

• 1x Armillary Sphere
• 1x Burnished Hart
• 1x Commander's Sphere
• 1x Darksteel Ingot
• 1x Scuttlemutt
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Solemn Simulacrum
• 1x Veinfire Borderpost

GraveyardInteraction (6)

• 1x Garna, the Bloodflame
• 1x Oversold Cemetery
• 1x Sheoldred, Whispering One
• 1x Thrilling Encore
• 1x Whip of Erebos
• 1x Yawgmoth's Will

Tutor (4)

• 1x Conduit of Ruin
• 1x Demonic Tutor
• 1x Diabolic Tutor
• 1x Eye of Ugin

Commander (1)

FreeSummon (11)

• 1x Artisan of Kozilek
• 1x Breaker of Armies
• 1x Colossus of Akros
• 1x Desolation Twin
• 1x Hangarback Walker
• 1x It That Betrays
• 1x Kozilek, the Great Distortion
• 1x Oblivion Sower
• 1x Platinum Angel
• 1x Platinum Emperion
• 1x Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger

CreatureBuffs (5)

• 1x Forerunner of Slaughter
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Soul of New Phyrexia
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots
• 1x Urabrask the Hidden

Clear (3)

• 1x Blasphemous Act
• 1x Decree of Pain
• 1x Vandalblast

Cheat (1)

• 1x Belbe's Portal

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Sideboard

NotWithDeck (3)

• 1x Dreadbore
• 1x Kozilek's Return
• 1x Stunning Reversal

CreatureBuffs (2)

• 1x Blade of Selves
• 1x Whispersilk Cloak

SwitchInForLuxurySuite1v1 (1)

• 1x Swamp

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Maybeboard

FreeSummon(Budget) (7)

• 1x Ancient Stone Idol
• 1x Endless One
• 1x Geode Golem
• 1x Pathrazer of Ulamog
• 1x Scuttling Doom Engine
• 1x Steel Hellkite
• 1x Void Winnower

Steal (3)

• 1x Lidless Gaze
• 1x Shadow of the Enemy
• 1x Stolen Strategy

Creature (2)

• 1x Amplifire
• 1x Cryptborn Horror

Clear (1)

• 1x Dread Cacodemon

Flash (1)

• 1x Vedalken Orrery

CreatureBuffs (6)

• 1x Anger
• 1x Chariot of Victory
• 1x Darksteel Plate
• 1x Dragon Throne of Tarkir
• 1x Glaring Spotlight
• 1x Helm of the Host

Draw (4)

• 1x Indulgent Tormentor
• 1x Phyrexian Arena
• 1x Restless Vents
• 1x Underworld Connections

Ramp (2)

• 1x Neheb, the Eternal
• 1x Sword of the Animist

Recursion (1)

• 1x Restart Sequence *f-etch*

Damage (5)

• 1x Dread Defiler
• 1x Endbringer
• 1x Lightning-Rig Crew
• 1x Rite of the Raging Storm
• 1x Vial Smasher the Fierce

FreeSummon(Expensive) (5)

• 1x Emrakul, the Promised End
• 1x Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
• 1x Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
• 1x Walking Ballista
• 1x Wurmcoil Engine

Buff (1)

• 1x Hellkite Charger

Removal (1)

• 1x Curtains' Call

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Deck History:

Okay. This is my fourth attempt at a Rakdos, Lord of Riots deck.

Iteration 1: Rakommander Show

The first one (Rakommander) just wasn't consistent enough with getting him onto the battlefield (dealing that damage to play him was tough) and lacked the necessary card draw to keep the hand fat with high-drops, all of which were demons, which cost colored mana even if their generic mana cost is reduced to {0}, which limited the amount of them I could summon at once.

Iteration 2: Artifrakdos Show

In the second iteration (Artifrakdos), I added some card draw like Sign in Blood and Read the Bones, but those weren't sufficient, since they were not repeatable. I did get onto the right track in this iteration when I switched a large number of the demons out, and replaced them with artifact creatures, which could be summoned for no cost if enough damage was dealt. I used arcbound creatures like Arcbound Worker or Arcbound Lancer, and other artifact creatures like Bosh, Iron Golem, but artifact creatures just didn't cut it in sheer power and abilities. In addition, I tried to solve the problem of dealing damage to summon Rakdos by adding in some burn like Burst Lightning and Gut Shot, but other than Gut Shot, this ended up being ineffective, as I had to spend more {R}, which often made it impossible to pay for Rakdos' {R}{R}. Even though Gut Shot could be cast without paying {R}, which solved that problem, it was only one spell, and it wasn't repeatable, which made it less than optimal.

Iteration 3: Rakdos, Lord of Eldrazi Show

In the third iteration Rakdos, Lord of Eldrazi, I added some more consistent draw, like Phyrexian Arena, Rogue's Gloves and Underworld Connections; I added mana ramp, with cards like Sword of the Animist and Armillary Sphere; I added more consistent damage to summon Rakdos with cards like Lobber Crew, Triskelion, Retreat to Hagra, and Palace Siege; and I replaced most of the artifact creatures with Eldrazi.

Current Version Overview:

That brings me to this iteration- what I believe to be the capstone in this deck-building experience. I learned that some of my more long-term value based cards such as Phyrexian Arena, Darksteel Plate and Ghoulcaller Gisa were meant for a long-game strategy. I also removed some cards that simply weren't working, such as Stolen Strategy. I switched back to the less consistent draw such as Sign in Blood and Ambition's Cost for the improved short-term value, which seems better for the higher speed of the deck, as I don't seem to need the long-term value as much as the short-term value. I added more lands and ramp to improve the speed of the deck as well.

With cards like Kozilek, the Great Distortion, and It That Betrays, it's hard not to win. Simply get a pinger like Goblin Fireslinger out in the first few turns, and make sure to have the right mana, then by turn 4, you've got your commander. Even better, play him with Lightning Greaves, and you can swing with him that turn, and play something like Triskelion (or more) for free on turn 4. You can play anything you've got in your hand- whether it be Conduit of Ruin or Scuttlemutt, and potentially all of the aforementioned creatures, if you've got them all in hand. Then use your new, free buddies to deal more damage, and play more creatures for free, and go from there!

In the best cases, you can deal a bunch of damage before the combat phase with Palace Siege or smaller creatures paired with ETB Damage cards (Warstorm Surge or Flayer of the Hatebound), pingers, or other sources of damage, summon a bunch of big creatures for free with Rakdos' ability, give them haste with Forerunner of Slaughter, Urabrask the Hidden, or equipment such as Swiftfoot Boots, and swing out for lethal right then and there.

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Card Explanations:

Endless One and Hangarback Walker Show

If you deal damage in a turn, you can play Endless One for free, perhaps as a 10/10 (or more!). For potentially even more fun, play Hangarback Walker for free and get yourself a bunch of little thopters to ping for even more damage!

Yawgmoth's Will Show

Yawgmoth's Will can be used to potentially bring back every creature in your graveyard in one turn for just the 3 mana it costs to cast it!

Knollspine Dragon Show

My FAVORITE card in the deck is Knollspine Dragon. Let's say you deal 9 damage by swinging, unblocked with Rakdos, Lord of Riots and Forerunner of Slaughter. You then dump Triskelion and Conduit of Ruin onto the battlefield for free. Using Conduit's ability, you put Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger on top of your deck. Then you tap 2 red mana and play Knollspine Dragon. You discard your hand (which is likely empty from playing the rest of your creatures) and draw 9 cards, the first one being Ulamog, which you play for a simple tap of any land or artifact. You also draw into up to 8 other creatures, all of which you can likely summon for free. This could be done by turn 5 in an ideal game (perhaps even turn 4 if you get a perfect hand). Next turn, you swing for upwards of 40 damage (depending on what creatures you drew and which ones stuck) and play some demons or some more Eldrazi from your hand (if your opponent isn't dead yet).

Maybeboard Show

Anger is in the maybeboard because I usually don't summon creatures until after the attack phase, so haste doesn't usually help, but it can certainly be helpful in certain circumstances, like if I summon creatures with mana, and want to use them to attack so I can summon some more high drops that turn- so I'm unsure about it so far. If you have a strong opinion one way or another, let me know.

Angrath, the Flame-Chained is a signifigantly better version of card:Chandra, Pyromancer (M15), so if you don't mind spending slightly more, or you already have him, I would definitely swap them.

Wurmcoil Engine, Blightsteel Colossus, Kozilek, Butcher of Truth, and Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre are in the maybeboard because they're expensive, and aren't necessary for the deck to run well, but are amazing cards, and would be fantastic to add to the deck if I have an opportunity to get them in a trade or for a lower price. If you own them, I would recommend swapping them with some of the other Free Summon creatures in the decklist that you don't have, or are just not as good.

Scuttling Doom Engine, Steel Hellkite Ancient Stone Idol and Colossus of Akros are also some of the better budget artifacts to summon for free if you can't afford some of the more expensive Eldrazi. Colossus of Akros and Ancient Stone Idol are great defenders, but defenders aren't always necessary in an aggressive deck like this. If you find that you're getting killed before you can kill your opponents, perhaps tech these in for that purpose. Scuttling Doom Engine is good because it's difficult to block, and even if it is blocked, if it is destroyed, it deals a free double Lightning Bolt to an opponent.

Walking Ballista is another Hangarback Walker-type card, and those cards can be interchanged if you have one or the other.

Really any of the Free Summon cards can be interchanged and the deck will still run well, so feel free to stay in the budget zone and snag some of the cheaper cards, or go full-out and get Blightsteel Colossus and whatnot for an insane power level.

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You probably get the idea by now! It's a fun deck, both to play against, and to use, and when played very well, can be lethal by turn 5 or 6! It's extremely resilient- it can pick itself up from a board wipe and get back in motion in just a turn or two with enough mana. Have fun if you playtest or build this, and let me know if you have any suggestions! Thanks for checking the deck out, and for reading this huge description!

Date added	5 years
Last updated	1 month
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	10 - 2 Mythic Rares 32 - 2 Rares 21 - 0 Uncommons 18 - 1 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	4.52
Tokens	Copy Clone, Eldrazi 10/10 C, Thopter 1/1 C
Folders	Built