Dies to Removal

It might also work in mono green, but I doubt mono green will work in standard.

It's a characteristically green card, though.

Card also was built for Kiora.

Caryatid>this thing plus land drop, gain life>Kiroa, explore, gain 2 life have blockers at the ready. From there, you're up a card, 2/3 mana and some life placing you fairly far ahead of midrange creature decks and leaving you with a draw engine and a walker vs. control decks.

Magical christmas land blah blah blah.

I'm liking RUG's card pool so far. Just need another couple playables. Domri, Zegana, Xenagos God, Fanatic of Xenagos, Oracle Jr., the new +X/+X instant card, etc. all seem to work well together.

UG Ramp of Death

I was thinking the same thing. Are there any other relevant blue cards besides her?

Gild sucks. 4 mana removal for one dude at sorcery speed blows and you get a one time BoP. Not good for standard Mono-black as gods go online on your opponents turn.

Eye Gouge is funny, but it mainly hits Mutuvualt. I don't think anyone runs the other Cyclops.

[deck]Rakdos Midrange[/deck]
Creatures
4 Boros Reckoner
4 Chandra's Phoenix
4 Stormbreath Dragon

4 Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch

Planeswalkers
2 Chandra, Pyromaster

Instants
4 Hero's Downfall
4 Lightning Strike
4 Magma Jet
4 Searing Blood

Sorceries
1 Rakdos's Return

Lands
4 Blood Crypt
4 Godless Shrine
4 Mutavault
4 Temple of Malice
4 Temple of Silence

5 Mountain
[/deck]

Drown in your own Drown in Sorrow

You think Searing Blood is a MD card? I love Searing Blaze but Searing Blood just seems like a SB card at best.

DW I've already thought of big improvements.

Thoughts on Courser of Kruphix?

Satyr Firedancer looks fun.

That card is very real.

Is there a deck for it? Im not sure, but the potential is there. Sweet.

I'm thinking R/x burn, since he allows you to further your game plan while dealing with your opponent's board.

That was probably the best thing I could hope to see from the spoilers tonight. No reason to stay up any longer.

I think both Satyr Firedancer and Oracle of Bones make good/decent SB cards, but unless the meta changes I can't see them going into the MD (fingers crossed on the last 11 Red cards).

Satyr Firedancer and Searing Blood are made for each other. The thought of burning two creatures and a player for just 4 is downright gravy.

I personally think the Firedancer just might be the next thing. It just screams presence, and your opponent just cannot ignore it.

[deck]Rakdos Midrange[/deck]
Creatures
4 Boros Reckoner
4 Chandra's Phoenix
4 Stormbreath Dragon

4 Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch

Planeswalkers
2 Chandra, Pyromaster

Instants
4 Hero's Downfall
4 Lightning Strike
4 Magma Jet
4 Searing Blood

Sorceries
1 Rakdos's Return

Lands
4 Blood Crypt
4 Godless Shrine
4 Mutavault
4 Temple of Malice
4 Temple of Silence

5 Mountain
[/deck]

Drown in your own Drown in Sorrow

I like it, however is it safe to not play ANY 2 drop?
Is Reckoner any good with Bile Blight?

I can see this deck awsome vs everything that is not control or mono black.

[deck]BNG Mono Red Sligh[/deck]
Creatures
4 Chandra's Phoenix
4 Firedrinker Satyr
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Satyr Firedancer
4 Young Pyromancer

Planeswalkers
2 Chandra, Pyromaster

Spells
4 Boros Charm
4 Lightning Strike
4 Magma Jet
4 Shock

Lands
4 Mutavault
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Temple of Triumph
10 Mountain
[/deck]

Probably terrible, but whatever.

I feel like he'd have been a far more playable 2/1, but as-is...we'll see.

I like it, however is it safe to not play ANY 2 drop?
Is Reckoner any good with Bile Blight?

I can see this deck awsome vs everything that is not control or mono black.

I actually want Reckoner out of the list because I don't like what he does to the mana base. I think Herald of Torment is plenty good enough, and continues the theme of difficult to interact with and evasive creatures. This eases the tension in the mana base substantially. I was actually thinking something like this:

[deck]
Creatures
4 Herald of Torment
4 Spike Jester
4 Stormbreath Dragon

4 Exava, Rakdos Bloodwitch

Planeswalkers
2 Liliana of the Dark Realms

Instants
4 Hero's Downfall
n4 Lightning Strike
4 Magma Jet

Sorceries
1 Dreadbore
4 Thoughtseize

Lands
4 Blood Crypt
4 Mutavault
4 Rakdos Guildgate
4 Temple of Malice

9 Swamp
[/deck]

You wont hit RR turn 5 with only 12 mana sources. For me Dragon out in heavy black (or more mountains?)

Also dont know about Liliana. Doesnt do enought turn she comes for me.

Is heavier black faster option so bad? Merchant over Dragon (similar to fanatic), or demons and exavas.

[deck]BNG Mono Red Sligh[/deck]
Creatures
4 Chandra's Phoenix
4 Firedrinker Satyr
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Satyr Firedancer
4 Young Pyromancer

Planeswalkers
2 Chandra, Pyromaster

Spells
4 Boros Charm
4 Lightning Strike
4 Magma Jet
4 Shock

Lands
4 Mutavault
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Temple of Triumph
10 Mountain
[/deck]

Probably terrible, but whatever.

Exactly where my mind jumped. Finally! A card I actually want!

Yeah its all open for discussion. I just want to illustrate that you can build a Rakdos deck, where all the cards are decent to great in every matchup, while avoiding weakness to cards that are likely to be defining the format.

Dat Firedancer.

All of a sudden, going to the dome doesn't sound so bad.

Makes Rakdos Return kinda gross.

I think I might look back into playing Burn now that I see Firedancer and Oracle of Bones.

[deck]Rakdos Midrange[/deck]
Creatures
4 Boros Reckoner
4 Chandra's Phoenix
4 Stormbreath Dragon

4 Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch

Planeswalkers
2 Chandra, Pyromaster

Instants
4 Hero's Downfall
4 Lightning Strike
4 Magma Jet
4 Searing Blood

Sorceries
1 Rakdos's Return

Lands
4 Blood Crypt
4 Godless Shrine
4 Mutavault
4 Temple of Malice
4 Temple of Silence

5 Mountain
[/deck]

Drown in your own Drown in Sorrow

Windstrider must have gone to be or he'd be tuned in right here...

Mana base--12 black sources that can all cast Reckoner, 8 scry, workable because taplands should not be an issue as you're
not on an aggro curve.

Strong creature package, plenty of triggers for Phoenix.

Not as sure about the removal suite; are 4 HDF at instant on 12 black sources really what you want as your stumbling block? Maybe a split with Dreadbore, or Dreadbore in the main and HDF in the side for extra walker smashing?

I'm guessing that SB would basically be augment the removal suite--sweepers where needed as well as the more narrow cards to deal with the deck's weaknesses and hand disruption.

Commander-type people, halp?

viewtopic.php?f=49&t=2258

Deck has 16 black sources.

@zeman

What card will define fotmat? New infest ? I see it only as a 2 off in sb as it isnt good in mirrors or vs control. I know it hoses a lot of strategies but it has overkill syndrome, when just because this card is printed peoplle dont play aggressive creatures.

What do you think about pack rat now, when they printed bile blight? It was good vs black with current rb, because it needed immediate 2 removal spells when played on turn 5. Now it wouldnt be safe as opp might just have blight to 2 for 1 us...

4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Tormented Hero
4 Pain Seer
4 Pack Rat/Thrill-Kill Assasin (3 toughtness and human / 4 shread freeks
4 xadrid necromancer
4 herald of torment (new demon)
4 desecration demon

28 creatures

4 thoughtseize
6 solid removal spells - probably combo of bile blight and heros downfall

18 swamps
4 mutavaults

Thoughts ? Rough sketch in train. Red splash would give jesters and exavas and
dreadbores. Plus sb choices.

No mogis marauder couse thinking about black dominance. Probably in sb then?

Yeah I've been thinking pretty much that list. I think it has real potential.

Deck has 16 black sources.

Dammit...too busy @ work to take my shoes off and count that high. Cry your pardon, zeman.

All good. It's definitely a confusing mana base to look at.

I like that Satyr turns makes Boros Charm drop Mizzium Mortars in addition to going to the dome...there have to be ways to break the card.

@ Pedros: Herald of Torment and Pain Seer are enormous upgrades to the mono black aggro deck, so yeah, interested in testing it.

It's unclear to me what you want as creature 21-24; you'd start with:
4 Herald of Torment
4 Pain Seer
4 Pack Rat
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Tormented Hero

Desecration Demon, Xathrid Necromancer, Lifebane Zombie, Nightveil Spectre? Decisions, decisions.

I was then thinking:
3 Bile Blight
4 Hero's Downfall
4 Thoughtseize
1 Ultimate Price
1 Whip of Erobos

19 Swamp
4 Mutavault

Running whip makes me want Desecration Demon; it's the best whip target.

Pack Rat is worse now, but still the best available discard outlet / mana sink; so it's necessary, just not as much of a free-win now.

Z, I kinda like your idea of herald instead of reckoner. I'm gonna play around with it some...

The 1 life a turn isn't huge, and I already wanted to mainboard 2 whips, and that can help get past that small amount of lifeloss.

All good. It's definitely a confusing mana base to look at.

I should have to turn back in my Rakdos membership card...I totally blew past Blood Crypt because I was impressed with seeing a decent black base that could play Reckoner. But then, Bile Blight makes that less exciting, dammit.

Okay, things are winding down a bit here...I'm gonna go see what I can do about getting you an article edit, James. I should have asked strider where he went with it so as not to be redundant...

[deck]BNG Mono Black Aggro v1[/deck]
Creatures
4 Desecration Demon
4 Herald of Torment
4 Pain Seer
4 Pack Rat
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Tormented Hero

Spells
3 Bile Blight
4 Hero's Downfall
4 Thoughtseize
1 Ultimate Price
1 Whip of Erobos

Lands
19 Swamp
4 Mutavault

Sideboard
3 Dark Betrayal
1 Doom Blade
3 Duress
1 Erobos, God of the Dead
4 Lifebane Zombie
2 Pharika's Cure
1 Whip of Erobos
[/deck]

vs UWx Control: -3 Bile Blight, -1 Ultimate Price; +3 Duress, +1 Erobos
vs Aggro (including Mono U): -4 Rakdos Cackler, -4 Tormented Hero; +1 Doom Blade, +4 Lifebane Zombie, +2 Pharika's Cure, +1 Whip of Erobos (maybe Erobos instead vs Mono U)
vs MBC: not currently sure, would want to experiment. Erobos, Dark Betrayal and Duress should all be decent, but its unclear exactly how I would want to be configured
post board. It may be that there are substantial differences between draw and play too.