I love me some new Rakdos as a Commander. Honestly I didn't really care for black/red commander decks until he came to town. I have to say, while your build is solid, includes a lot of staples and is obviously geared up to really compete I feel like you need more cards that damage your opponent so you can cast rakdos. If you can slap him out on turn four (or earlier) it really makes people poo thier pants. I feel like you need more ways to damage the heck outta your opponent(s) besides just attacking or Kaervek or the other stuff. I know you need utility like Dreadboor and tutors, but I feel like you can really go with Rakdos theme here. I included lots of ways to damage your opponent both during your turn to cast rakdos, and during their turn so they contiually feel under the gun to live.
My Rakdos build, and I can post it or tell you if'n you want, includes such gems as Stuffy Doll, Polluted Bonds, Subversion, Murderous Redcap, Furyborn Hellkite--Bloodthirst and Rakdos are like BFF
I also included a mini-demon theme, because Soulcage Demon can die and make Rakdos castable, Seizan, Perverter of Truth continually damages everyone, Bloodgift demon can be used to poke your opponent if ya need to during your upkeep so Rakdos can be cast, Bloodspeaker finds your demons for you and finds rakdos if someone casts spin into myth, oblation or hallowed burial, and mark of the oni is a cheap control magic in black.
ya know I love your articles ! let's have a Rakdos faceoff! :)
Hey, thanks for the shout out! :)
Very appreciated from you. And to play me in the game, you just have to come to Tribal Apocalypse sometimes. :)
(One of the many Blippy-sanctioned PREs works too.)
Great article! I've actually been looking to build this deck, (short the Obzedats and Angels in the main, need to finish the sideboard), so reading an article about it definitely helps me understand the deck before I actually get to play with the complete list. Funny enough, my reasons for playing this deck are pretty much the same as yours (i didn't want to spend 120 for a set of Revelation). Can't wait to see the videos :)
You're probably right (I still have to read your article about Rakdos), and thinking of banning was a little silly. Still Animar's acceleration is way slower (just counts the turn to get 10 free mana with it), and Bribery is based on what the given table has to offer, so you can't count on it to build a strategy on.
Maybe it's just me, but I've always found Hellspark Elemental a bit more of a useful beater in that spot. At two red mana, I've always found Ash Zealot a bit of a better beater. :) :)
Well to be fair, theres a difference between going t1 Figure t2 level figure, play goblin guide bash for 4, t3 level figure bash for 6, and casting aurelia turn 7 at best... With 20 lands,8 of them fetches, the game should definitely be over before you hit 7. And if they remove figure you still have a grip of cards.
Edit: you're probably not leveling Figure past 2/2 in the early game anyway, the main point is to be bashing for 2 t2 and if they start to outclass your creatures slowly get it up when you have no other plays.
Hey. Thanks for the comment and I'm really glad you enjoy the series.
I haven't played the deck that much recently, particularly not since Tron became so popular, so your ideas are interesting to me. Devour Flesh seems like a solid removal spell for the deck, as you say we don't really care about the life gain on their side. I would definitely try it out, maybe in the slot of Go For the Throat, or run some number of each. It's still not a great answer to an early Wurmcoil Engine, as they still get the tokens, but it does better than Go For the Throat clearly.
I wasn't too happy with my sideboard, as I think I might have mentioned. In particular, I felt Lashwrithe wasn't all that good considering how many non-Swamp lands we are running. Rain of Tears seems a solid choice in a Tron heavy metagame and I would certainly endorse it as a sideboard option.
Off the top of my head I can't think of any further changes I would make to the main deck. Generally I was happy with the list though I'd be interested to hear your experiences have been with it.
Proclamation of Rebirth can be added to the SB as an option. I don't think that spot removals will be much issue against this deck as most of the creatures have "Hexproof" to protect themselves. There is also Orzhov Charm in the second deck to provide this option for us.
It seems like a typical Boros list....I really don't like Figure of Destiny. He's a huge mana investment. You're paying three mana for a 2/2 and then six mana for a 4/4? Better just to play Aurelia, the Warleader straight up...
Or, you could be silly and play Boros Reckoner together with Swans of Bryn Argoll and Blasphemous Act.
Hello and thank you for the interesting series of Becoming A Modern Man articles. I just came around back in the game after 7 years so the modern seems to be the format for me. There are plenty of playable cards that I known throught the Mirrodin Timespiral timespan. Reading the articles has been great to get into the fun of playing modern.
After playing the MBC infect deck for a while I'd like to discuss about it.
I am thinking how Devour Flesh would work out? Life gain is not that big of an issue here. It would be good againts the decks running hexproof men with many enchantments and urzatron which tend to cast out single wurmcoil engine quite fast.
Also now that the UrzaTron seems to rise in numbers on the field maybe Rain of Tears would be something to consider as an SB option?
Have you came up to do any changes to the build in the list above?
I'm a big fan of Elbus, I currently run him in a casual equipment deck with stoneforge. Attaching to an Ornithopter on turn 2/3 and attacking presents a huge problem in the early game.
I think for the new Rakdos, your "General Evaluation" would fit in perfectly for the "Commander Evaluation." Rakdos is not nearly as broken as he seems, and he's pretty fragile. He has a decent target on his head so you can't depend on him being out there. I'm pretty sure that there is no way that he is under consideration for any sort of banning, as Animar does the same thing, but with two protection abilities and better colors, and people love him. That being said, there are games where you can get out a turn 5 Ulamog with him, but that's essentially the same as Bribery on the right target. But he's so swingy and you have to prepare your deck as if you might not get him in play. This is all coming from recent experience (you'll see later this week...). Anyways, nice to see the update.
For picks, I'm not going to rewatch the entire draft to see where I agree/disagree, but I'm definitely in agreement with most of what you say. If you check out my latest drafts (next article to be published, Attempt #3 in particular is my most recent one because I accidentally published that one in the wrong order) you'll see we're closer in pick priority.
As for 8-4 drafts vs. swiss and "better" players.. honestly I have no empirical evidence one way or another, but my personal opinion is that swiss queues generally have worse competition than 8-4 drafts. Not that you won't find bad players in 8-4, you totally do, but I felt I was much more likely to be fed in swiss or be paired up with someone who made big mistakes. I think this is because 8-4 is known as the "skilled" queue and that scares away less confident/skilled players. To me, it makes perfect sense that a beginner would pick swiss to start in because making errors is not punished so severely (8-4 is elimination). In fact, that was my exact thought process when I started drafting, and when I talk to people at my LGS about online queues they agree that swiss is "beginner-friendly".
Again, only my opinion, no statistics to back it up. Nor do I want to belittle anyone who prefers swiss for whatever reason. My comment addresses people who sensationalize a new deck / draft archetype but their matches are all recorded in Tournament Practice where, yes, competition IS lower than something like a Daily Event. I drew the parallel to drafting and swiss vs. 8-4, that's all.
I think it would be a pretty awesome article if someone could do some research on the subject and see if rating (our only available measurement of skill) correlates to queue types. Maybe an Ars Arcanum on the subject?
Anyway, thanks for the suggestions, and lemme know what you think about the next one!
It is still early in the development of the metagame post-GTC, and it will be interesting to see how the mythics do over time. If we get to a point where we have 1-2 dominant ones, it will be interesting to see where they wind up relative to mythics in sets that are cheaper to redeem. Will they become 30-40 like Bonfire and Sphinx's Revelation did in the past? Time will tell and we will see if it is lack of use of the slowing of redemption.
IIRC, Worth's promise was that FoW would not be printed in any future Master's Editions. Also, we have the precendent of the MOCS promo Force to argue that it would be a fine additions.
Wasteland and Port would be sweet additions to the box set.
Yeah I don't know that I agree with your analysis about mythics not having homes. I am pretty sure I've seen Domri Rade in a few top decks as more than a 2 of, and Gideon is starting to show up in places. The thing is there is no RPS system going on currently because there are so many different possible decks that can be viable by interchanging the parts. Which is why many of the rares in the other sets have stayed high. This doesn't really explain why comparable mythics in older sets (still in standard) are insanely high compared to their relevance. The redeemers pulling back does. Oversupply = lower prices.
i think it's a really interesting question as to what impact, if any, redemption is having on the GTC prices. Right now I think the biggest issue is just that none of the mythics have really found a home in any deck. Ozbedat is the closest, but it's often relegated to sideboard duty and/or only a 2 or 3 of. Domri is kind of there in the naya aggro decks, but is also quite replaceable by exotic cards such as searing spear. If boros reckoner was a mythic, he'd be like 40tix right now I think, I feel that the main thing holding the set's value back at the moment is simply player demand. The set is certainly making an impact, but it's non-rare/mythic cards like BTE, aristocrat, boros/orzhov charm and ghor-clan rampager that are seeing the most play right now.
Actually ended up building Biomancer elves for standard after listening to this. It certainly is giggle worthy. :)
As for gatecrash prices I do think the redemption policy is having an effect and this illustrates the (some might say unhealthy) relationship between redeemers and mythics. Without the rush to buy up sets card prices are crashing. Will they find equilibrium? Who knows? The point is drafting is both cheaper and harder to support via winnings. Will this mean that eventually supplies will dry up (thus resetting the cycle) as the economy recovers? Or will hardcore drafters make up the difference by paying more to play? Only time will tell. Dragonmaze as we know will both introduce more dual lands into the mix as 15th card inserts (probably making opening Dragonmaze packs more desirable) and be drafted with RTR and GTC which will mean yet more rares/mythics of these sets being in the market post drafts.
And I agree with Keya as to the playability of gatecrash in general. My first reaction to the spoiler was a lot of "who cares?" and "humdrum!". But having acquired a number key cards in the set I can say it is fun to brew with. So much so that I have a new article coming out soon talking about this very thing. Not sure why Boros Reckoner is not a mythic and why he was printed as is but I expect him to dominate for some time. Master Biomancer is lots of fun as you pointed out. The less obvious stuff: Immortal Servitude, Biovisionary, Nightveil Specter, Unexpected Results, Nimbus Swimmer, the Primordials, Kingpin's Pet!, The Krasises (sic), High Priest of Penance and the list goes on. All fun cards with varying degrees of playability but most fitting into a variety of decks that don't just suck.
And with the FTV 20 set I was first thinking Force of Will but now I wonder if that is even possible based on the wording of Worth's "promise". What I'd like to see? Hard to say since most of the tourney worthy cards that aren't on the reserved list have seen print online. There isn't too much that comes to mind other than some overpriced staples like Wastelands. (I have 3 but I imagine this being so important to tourneys has a good chance of being in there.) Maybe Rishadin Port (why wasn't this in FTV Realms instead of High Market??)
Hey Hey,
I love me some new Rakdos as a Commander. Honestly I didn't really care for black/red commander decks until he came to town. I have to say, while your build is solid, includes a lot of staples and is obviously geared up to really compete I feel like you need more cards that damage your opponent so you can cast rakdos. If you can slap him out on turn four (or earlier) it really makes people poo thier pants. I feel like you need more ways to damage the heck outta your opponent(s) besides just attacking or Kaervek or the other stuff. I know you need utility like Dreadboor and tutors, but I feel like you can really go with Rakdos theme here. I included lots of ways to damage your opponent both during your turn to cast rakdos, and during their turn so they contiually feel under the gun to live.
My Rakdos build, and I can post it or tell you if'n you want, includes such gems as Stuffy Doll, Polluted Bonds, Subversion, Murderous Redcap, Furyborn Hellkite--Bloodthirst and Rakdos are like BFF
I also included a mini-demon theme, because Soulcage Demon can die and make Rakdos castable, Seizan, Perverter of Truth continually damages everyone, Bloodgift demon can be used to poke your opponent if ya need to during your upkeep so Rakdos can be cast, Bloodspeaker finds your demons for you and finds rakdos if someone casts spin into myth, oblation or hallowed burial, and mark of the oni is a cheap control magic in black.
ya know I love your articles ! let's have a Rakdos faceoff! :)
So George is this what you're bringing into the CQ League
Hey, thanks for the shout out! :)
Very appreciated from you. And to play me in the game, you just have to come to Tribal Apocalypse sometimes. :)
(One of the many Blippy-sanctioned PREs works too.)
Great article! I've actually been looking to build this deck, (short the Obzedats and Angels in the main, need to finish the sideboard), so reading an article about it definitely helps me understand the deck before I actually get to play with the complete list. Funny enough, my reasons for playing this deck are pretty much the same as yours (i didn't want to spend 120 for a set of Revelation). Can't wait to see the videos :)
You're probably right (I still have to read your article about Rakdos), and thinking of banning was a little silly. Still Animar's acceleration is way slower (just counts the turn to get 10 free mana with it), and Bribery is based on what the given table has to offer, so you can't count on it to build a strategy on.
Maybe it's just me, but I've always found Hellspark Elemental a bit more of a useful beater in that spot. At two red mana, I've always found Ash Zealot a bit of a better beater. :) :)
Well to be fair, theres a difference between going t1 Figure t2 level figure, play goblin guide bash for 4, t3 level figure bash for 6, and casting aurelia turn 7 at best... With 20 lands,8 of them fetches, the game should definitely be over before you hit 7. And if they remove figure you still have a grip of cards.
Edit: you're probably not leveling Figure past 2/2 in the early game anyway, the main point is to be bashing for 2 t2 and if they start to outclass your creatures slowly get it up when you have no other plays.
I totally want to try a Biovisionary combo in Modern. It looks ridiculous. ^_^
Hey. Thanks for the comment and I'm really glad you enjoy the series.
I haven't played the deck that much recently, particularly not since Tron became so popular, so your ideas are interesting to me. Devour Flesh seems like a solid removal spell for the deck, as you say we don't really care about the life gain on their side. I would definitely try it out, maybe in the slot of Go For the Throat, or run some number of each. It's still not a great answer to an early Wurmcoil Engine, as they still get the tokens, but it does better than Go For the Throat clearly.
I wasn't too happy with my sideboard, as I think I might have mentioned. In particular, I felt Lashwrithe wasn't all that good considering how many non-Swamp lands we are running. Rain of Tears seems a solid choice in a Tron heavy metagame and I would certainly endorse it as a sideboard option.
Off the top of my head I can't think of any further changes I would make to the main deck. Generally I was happy with the list though I'd be interested to hear your experiences have been with it.
Paul, thank you very much for your comments.
Proclamation of Rebirth can be added to the SB as an option. I don't think that spot removals will be much issue against this deck as most of the creatures have "Hexproof" to protect themselves. There is also Orzhov Charm in the second deck to provide this option for us.
It seems like a typical Boros list....I really don't like Figure of Destiny. He's a huge mana investment. You're paying three mana for a 2/2 and then six mana for a 4/4? Better just to play Aurelia, the Warleader straight up...
Or, you could be silly and play Boros Reckoner together with Swans of Bryn Argoll and Blasphemous Act.
Love the article Kuma. It's probably a must for new players to check the angelpedia if they ever want to build an angel deck.
Hello and thank you for the interesting series of Becoming A Modern Man articles. I just came around back in the game after 7 years so the modern seems to be the format for me. There are plenty of playable cards that I known throught the Mirrodin Timespiral timespan. Reading the articles has been great to get into the fun of playing modern.
After playing the MBC infect deck for a while I'd like to discuss about it.
I am thinking how Devour Flesh would work out? Life gain is not that big of an issue here. It would be good againts the decks running hexproof men with many enchantments and urzatron which tend to cast out single wurmcoil engine quite fast.
Also now that the UrzaTron seems to rise in numbers on the field maybe Rain of Tears would be something to consider as an SB option?
Have you came up to do any changes to the build in the list above?
Cheers
I feel so loved and respected Mike.
Since you are playing lots of 1 drops why not play Proclamation of Rebirth in your sideboard against all the sweepers on the control side of things?
I'm a big fan of Elbus, I currently run him in a casual equipment deck with stoneforge. Attaching to an Ornithopter on turn 2/3 and attacking presents a huge problem in the early game.
Xathrid Demon is my favorite demon. I love having him about to troll around with life totals.
I think for the new Rakdos, your "General Evaluation" would fit in perfectly for the "Commander Evaluation." Rakdos is not nearly as broken as he seems, and he's pretty fragile. He has a decent target on his head so you can't depend on him being out there. I'm pretty sure that there is no way that he is under consideration for any sort of banning, as Animar does the same thing, but with two protection abilities and better colors, and people love him. That being said, there are games where you can get out a turn 5 Ulamog with him, but that's essentially the same as Bribery on the right target. But he's so swingy and you have to prepare your deck as if you might not get him in play. This is all coming from recent experience (you'll see later this week...). Anyways, nice to see the update.
For picks, I'm not going to rewatch the entire draft to see where I agree/disagree, but I'm definitely in agreement with most of what you say. If you check out my latest drafts (next article to be published, Attempt #3 in particular is my most recent one because I accidentally published that one in the wrong order) you'll see we're closer in pick priority.
As for 8-4 drafts vs. swiss and "better" players.. honestly I have no empirical evidence one way or another, but my personal opinion is that swiss queues generally have worse competition than 8-4 drafts. Not that you won't find bad players in 8-4, you totally do, but I felt I was much more likely to be fed in swiss or be paired up with someone who made big mistakes. I think this is because 8-4 is known as the "skilled" queue and that scares away less confident/skilled players. To me, it makes perfect sense that a beginner would pick swiss to start in because making errors is not punished so severely (8-4 is elimination). In fact, that was my exact thought process when I started drafting, and when I talk to people at my LGS about online queues they agree that swiss is "beginner-friendly".
Again, only my opinion, no statistics to back it up. Nor do I want to belittle anyone who prefers swiss for whatever reason. My comment addresses people who sensationalize a new deck / draft archetype but their matches are all recorded in Tournament Practice where, yes, competition IS lower than something like a Daily Event. I drew the parallel to drafting and swiss vs. 8-4, that's all.
I think it would be a pretty awesome article if someone could do some research on the subject and see if rating (our only available measurement of skill) correlates to queue types. Maybe an Ars Arcanum on the subject?
Anyway, thanks for the suggestions, and lemme know what you think about the next one!
It is still early in the development of the metagame post-GTC, and it will be interesting to see how the mythics do over time. If we get to a point where we have 1-2 dominant ones, it will be interesting to see where they wind up relative to mythics in sets that are cheaper to redeem. Will they become 30-40 like Bonfire and Sphinx's Revelation did in the past? Time will tell and we will see if it is lack of use of the slowing of redemption.
IIRC, Worth's promise was that FoW would not be printed in any future Master's Editions. Also, we have the precendent of the MOCS promo Force to argue that it would be a fine additions.
Wasteland and Port would be sweet additions to the box set.
Only you could make that thing work in classic
J
Yeah I don't know that I agree with your analysis about mythics not having homes. I am pretty sure I've seen Domri Rade in a few top decks as more than a 2 of, and Gideon is starting to show up in places. The thing is there is no RPS system going on currently because there are so many different possible decks that can be viable by interchanging the parts. Which is why many of the rares in the other sets have stayed high. This doesn't really explain why comparable mythics in older sets (still in standard) are insanely high compared to their relevance. The redeemers pulling back does. Oversupply = lower prices.
i think it's a really interesting question as to what impact, if any, redemption is having on the GTC prices. Right now I think the biggest issue is just that none of the mythics have really found a home in any deck. Ozbedat is the closest, but it's often relegated to sideboard duty and/or only a 2 or 3 of. Domri is kind of there in the naya aggro decks, but is also quite replaceable by exotic cards such as searing spear. If boros reckoner was a mythic, he'd be like 40tix right now I think, I feel that the main thing holding the set's value back at the moment is simply player demand. The set is certainly making an impact, but it's non-rare/mythic cards like BTE, aristocrat, boros/orzhov charm and ghor-clan rampager that are seeing the most play right now.
Actually ended up building Biomancer elves for standard after listening to this. It certainly is giggle worthy. :)
As for gatecrash prices I do think the redemption policy is having an effect and this illustrates the (some might say unhealthy) relationship between redeemers and mythics. Without the rush to buy up sets card prices are crashing. Will they find equilibrium? Who knows? The point is drafting is both cheaper and harder to support via winnings. Will this mean that eventually supplies will dry up (thus resetting the cycle) as the economy recovers? Or will hardcore drafters make up the difference by paying more to play? Only time will tell. Dragonmaze as we know will both introduce more dual lands into the mix as 15th card inserts (probably making opening Dragonmaze packs more desirable) and be drafted with RTR and GTC which will mean yet more rares/mythics of these sets being in the market post drafts.
And I agree with Keya as to the playability of gatecrash in general. My first reaction to the spoiler was a lot of "who cares?" and "humdrum!". But having acquired a number key cards in the set I can say it is fun to brew with. So much so that I have a new article coming out soon talking about this very thing. Not sure why Boros Reckoner is not a mythic and why he was printed as is but I expect him to dominate for some time. Master Biomancer is lots of fun as you pointed out. The less obvious stuff: Immortal Servitude, Biovisionary, Nightveil Specter, Unexpected Results, Nimbus Swimmer, the Primordials, Kingpin's Pet!, The Krasises (sic), High Priest of Penance and the list goes on. All fun cards with varying degrees of playability but most fitting into a variety of decks that don't just suck.
And with the FTV 20 set I was first thinking Force of Will but now I wonder if that is even possible based on the wording of Worth's "promise". What I'd like to see? Hard to say since most of the tourney worthy cards that aren't on the reserved list have seen print online. There isn't too much that comes to mind other than some overpriced staples like Wastelands. (I have 3 but I imagine this being so important to tourneys has a good chance of being in there.) Maybe Rishadin Port (why wasn't this in FTV Realms instead of High Market??)