Sudden Surprise by Danielson

Format: Commander

Commander: Ares, God of War

Bracket: 2

DeckCheck Threat Index: 28

Deck overview

This deck is an aggressive Rakdos aristocrats strategy piloted by Ares, God of War. Ares turns aggressive trades and sacrifice-on-attack mechanics into repeatable value by returning any attacking creature that dies back to hand. Cards with self-sacrificing or decayed mechanics, like Rot-Curse Rakshasa, become recurring threats that trigger leave-the-graveyard synergies and aristocrat payoffs every turn. The deck supports this core game plan through self-mill, recursive threats like Bloodghast and Phoenix Chick, and drain engines such as Syr Konrad, the Grim and Goblin Bombardment. While it lacks infinite combos and format-ceiling fast mana, it exerts heavy pressure by Turn 6 and steadily burns through opposing life totals while generating card advantage from relentless attacks.

Decklist (148 cards)

• 1 Advanced Reconstruction
• 1 Alesha, Who Laughs at Fate
• 1 Alluring Suitor // Deadly Dancer
• 1 Anax, Hardened in the Forge
• 1 Apprentice Necromancer
• 1 Ares, God of War
• 1 Atsushi, the Blazing Sky
• 1 Avenger of the Fallen
• 1 Ayara, Widow of the Realm // Ayara, Furnace Queen
• 1 Bitter Reunion
• 1 Blasphemous Act
• 1 Blazemire Verge
• 1 Blightstep Pathway // Searstep Pathway
• 1 Blood Crypt
• 1 Bloodghast
• 1 Bloodline Recollector // Ancestral Craving
• 1 Bloodstained Mire
• 1 Body Count
• 1 Body Launderer
• 1 Bontu's Monument
• 1 Brazen Cannonade
• 1 Brazen Collector
• 1 Canyon Slough
• 1 Carnage, Crimson Chaos
• 1 Chainer, Nightmare Adept
• 1 Chainsaw
• 1 Chaos Warp
• 1 City of Brass
• 1 Claim // Fame
• 1 Combat Celebrant
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Corrupted Conviction
• 1 Currency Converter
• 1 Curse of Opulence
• 1 Cursed Mirror
• 1 Darklight Phoenix
• 1 Deadly Dispute
• 1 Death Tyrant
• 1 Desperate Plea
• 1 Detective's Phoenix
• 1 Dogged Detective
• 1 Dragonskull Summit
• 1 Elegy Acolyte
• 1 Enduring Courage
• 1 Evendo Brushrazer
• 1 Faithless Looting
• 1 Fanatical Offering
• 1 Flamewake Phoenix
• 1 Flare of Malice
• 1 Foreboding Ruins
• 1 Forsaken Miner
• 1 Fury
• 1 Garna, Bloodfist of Keld
• 1 Geothermal Bog
• 1 Goblin Bombardment
• 1 Gravecrawler
• 1 Graven Cairns
• 1 Greedy Freebooter
• 1 Grim Reaper's Scythe
• 1 Grim Reaper's Sprint
• 1 Haunted Ridge
• 1 Hazoret's Monument
• 1 Impact Tremors
• 1 Impolite Entrance
• 1 Indulge // Excess
• 1 Ingris Stingerquill
• 1 Insatiable Avarice
• 1 Jet Medallion
• 1 Kardur, Doomscourge
• 1 Kellogg, Dangerous Mind
• 1 Lagomos, Hand of Hatred
• 1 Lightning Greaves
• 1 Lively Dirge
• 1 Loki's Scepter
• 1 Luxury Suite
• 1 Mahadi, Emporium Master
• 1 Marionette Apprentice
• 1 Master of Barbs
• 1 Molten Gatekeeper
• 9 Mountain
• 1 My Precious // Allure of Power
• 1 Neheb, Dreadhorde Champion
• 1 Nether Traitor
• 1 Night's Whisper
• 1 Olivia, Mobilized for War
• 1 Ominous Harvest
• 1 Phoenix Chick
• 1 Pitiless Plunderer
• 1 Priest of Forgotten Gods
• 1 Professional Face-Breaker
• 1 Rabid Attack
• 1 Rakdos Carnarium
• 1 Rankle and Torbran
• 1 Raphael, Ninja Destroyer
• 1 Raucous Theater
• 1 Reanimate
• 1 Relic Retriever
• 1 Reliquary Tower
• 1 Rise of the Dread Marn
• 1 Rites of Initiation
• 1 Rot-Curse Rakshasa
• 1 Ruby Medallion
• 1 Samut, Hazoret's Champion
• 1 Shadow, Mysterious Assassin
• 1 Sidisi, Regent of the Mire
• 1 Skeleton Crew
• 1 Skullclamp
• 1 Skyfire Phoenix
• 1 Smoldering Marsh
• 1 Snarling Gorehound
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Sothera, the Supervoid
• 1 Stingcaster Mage
• 1 Stitcher's Supplier
• 1 Sulfurous Springs
• 1 Sundering Eruption // Volcanic Fissure
• 9 Swamp
• 1 Sycorax Commander
• 1 Syr Konrad, the Grim
• 1 Tainted Adversary
• 1 Tersa Lightshatter
• 1 Teval's Judgment
• 1 Thran Vigil
• 1 Thrill-Kill Disciple
• 1 Twilight Diviner
• 1 Undead Hand Ninja
• 1 Undead Sprinter
• 1 Unlicensed Hearse
• 1 Unstoppable Slasher
• 1 Untimely Malfunction
• 1 Vault 21: House Gambit
• 1 Withering Torment