Testing balrog by PorkyUK

Format: Commander

Commander: The Balrog, Durin's Bane

Bracket: 4

DeckCheck Threat Index: 52

Deck overview

This deck is a high-speed Rakdos aggro-voltron and aristocrats engine commanded by The Balrog, Durin's Bane. It leverages low-cost sacrifice fodder, fetchlands, and rituals to heavily discount its commander's casting cost, routinely deploying a 7/5 hasty, pseudo-unblockable threat on Turn 3. Once deployed, the deck leverages potent damage multipliers, including Jeska, Thrice Reborn, Kediss, Emberclaw Familiar, and Unleash Fury, to deliver rapid lethal commander strikes or table-wide damage on Turn 4. Prolific Treasure engines powered by Warren Soultrader, Pitiless Plunderer, and Goldspan Dragon convert spent permanents into sustained mana velocity, while Disciple of Bolas and The One Ring ensure continuous card replenishment. Low-cost and free defensive spells like Deflecting Swat and Not of This World protect key combat steps, creating an aggressive clock that steadily eliminates opponents across two turn cycles.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Alchemist's Talent
  • 1 Ancient Copper Dragon
  • 1 Arid Mesa
  • 1 Ashnod's Altar
  • 1 Big Score
  • 1 Black Market Connections
  • 1 Blightstep Pathway // Searstep Pathway
  • 1 Blood Crypt
  • 1 Bloodstained Mire
  • 1 Bolt Bend
  • 1 Burnt Offering
  • 1 Chandra's Ignition
  • 1 Chaos Warp
  • 1 City of Brass
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Corrupted Conviction
  • 1 Crime Novelist
  • 1 Crystal Vein
  • 1 Culling the Weak
  • 1 Dark Ritual
  • 1 Deadly Dispute
  • 1 Deadly Rollick
  • 1 Deflecting Swat
  • 1 Demonic Tutor
  • 1 Diabolic Intent
  • 1 Disciple of Bolas
  • 1 Fabled Passage
  • 1 Faithless Looting
  • 1 Fatal Frenzy
  • 1 Feed the Swarm
  • 1 Fiery Emancipation
  • 1 Flare of Malice
  • 1 Goldspan Dragon
  • 1 Grim Hireling
  • 1 Hatred
  • 1 Haunted Ridge
  • 1 High Market
  • 1 Impulsive Pilferer
  • 1 Infernal Plunge
  • 1 Innocent Blood
  • 1 Isengard Unleashed
  • 1 Jeska's Will
  • 1 Jeska, Thrice Reborn
  • 1 Kalain, Reclusive Painter
  • 1 Kaya's Ghostform
  • 1 Kediss, Emberclaw Familiar
  • 1 Luxury Suite
  • 1 Mahadi, Emporium Master
  • 1 Malakir Rebirth // Malakir Mire
  • 1 Marionette Apprentice
  • 1 Marsh Flats
  • 1 Mayhem Devil
  • 1 Mines of Moria
  • 6 Mountain
  • 1 Not of This World
  • 1 Phyrexian Altar
  • 1 Phyrexian Tower
  • 1 Pitiless Plunderer
  • 1 Plaza of Heroes
  • 1 Polluted Delta
  • 1 Prismatic Vista
  • 1 Professional Face-Breaker
  • 1 Reckless Barbarian
  • 1 Ruthless Technomancer
  • 1 Scalding Tarn
  • 1 Seething Song
  • 1 Shambling Ghast
  • 1 Shizo, Death's Storehouse
  • 1 Skullclamp
  • 1 Smaug, Wicked Worm
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Storm-Kiln Artist
  • 1 Sulfurous Springs
  • 6 Swamp
  • 1 Swashbuckler Extraordinaire
  • 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
  • 1 Temur Battle Rage
  • 1 The Balrog, Durin's Bane
  • 1 The One Ring
  • 1 The Reaver Cleaver
  • 1 Two-Handed Axe // Sweeping Cleave
  • 1 Undying Evil
  • 1 Unexpected Windfall
  • 1 Unleash Fury
  • 1 Verdant Catacombs
  • 1 Village Rites
  • 1 Visions of Ruin
  • 1 Warren Soultrader
  • 1 Wooded Foothills
  • 1 Xorn