The Infamous Cruelclaw by KazumaHyrikaru

Format: Commander

Commander: The Infamous Cruelclaw

Bracket: 4

DeckCheck Threat Index: 27

Deck overview

This deck is an explosive Rakdos cheat-and-reanimate strategy spearheaded by The Infamous Cruelclaw. The core game plan focuses on casting the commander on turn three, granting it evasion through equipment like Brotherhood Regalia, Thieves' Tools, and Psychic Paper, and connecting in combat on turn four. When The Infamous Cruelclaw deals combat damage, its trigger exiles cards until revealing a nonland spell, allowing it to be cast for the simple cost of discarding a card. This bypasses the massive mana costs of game-warping threats such as Valgavoth, Terror Eater, Etali, Primal Storm, Drakuseth, Maw of Flames, and Decree of Annihilation. The deck supplements this aggressive tempo cheating with a graveyard recursion package including Victimize and Beacon of Unrest to recur discarded or answered bombs. While vulnerable to early targeted removal and high topdeck variance due to a lack of top-deck tutors, the deck exerts overwhelming board presence once its combat engine begins turning over.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Aberrant Return
  • 1 Access Tunnel
  • 1 Ajani's Anguish
  • 1 Anger
  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Ares, God of War
  • 1 Basilisk Collar
  • 1 Beacon of Unrest
  • 1 Berserkers' Onslaught
  • 1 Blasphemous Act
  • 1 Brass's Bounty
  • 1 Brotherhood Regalia
  • 1 Canyon Slough
  • 1 Captivating Cave
  • 1 Chaos Warp
  • 1 Cinder Barrens
  • 1 Cliffhaven Kitesail
  • 1 Cloak of the Bat
  • 1 Combustible Gearhulk
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Creative Technique
  • 1 Crux of Fate
  • 1 Curse of the Cabal
  • 1 Curse-Marred Demon
  • 1 Dance with Calamity
  • 1 Decorum Dissertation
  • 1 Decree of Annihilation
  • 1 Diamond Pick-Axe
  • 1 Doomsday Excruciator
  • 1 Dragonskull Summit
  • 1 Drakuseth, Maw of Flames
  • 1 Embercleave
  • 1 Etali, Primal Storm
  • 1 Evolving Wilds
  • 1 Exotic Orchard
  • 1 Explorer's Scope
  • 1 Fabled Passage
  • 1 Fight On!
  • 1 Fireshrieker
  • 1 Fleetfeather Sandals
  • 1 Gilgamesh, Master-at-Arms
  • 1 Goblin-town
  • 1 Grand Coliseum
  • 1 Hall of Oracles
  • 1 Hell's Kitchen
  • 1 Hidden Grotto
  • 1 Hit the Mother Lode
  • 1 Improvisation Capstone
  • 1 Improvised Arsenal
  • 1 Inferno Titan
  • 1 Iron Man Armor
  • 1 Kaervek the Merciless
  • 1 Lightning Greaves
  • 1 Living Death
  • 1 Lizard Blades
  • 1 Mahadi, Emporium Master
  • 1 Meteor Sword
  • 1 Mortuary Mire
  • 6 Mountain
  • 1 My Precious // Allure of Power
  • 1 Ominous Asylum
  • 1 Oversold Cemetery
  • 1 Path of Ancestry
  • 1 Psychic Paper
  • 1 Pull from the Grave
  • 1 Reanimate
  • 1 Rover Blades
  • 1 Rune-Scarred Demon
  • 1 Shadow of Mortality
  • 1 Shadowblood Ridge
  • 1 Smoldering Marsh
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Sonorous Howlbonder
  • 1 Sower of Discord
  • 1 Study Hall
  • 6 Swamp
  • 1 Swiftfoot Boots
  • 1 Talisman of Indulgence
  • 1 Terramorphic Expanse
  • 1 The Infamous Cruelclaw
  • 1 Thieves' Tools
  • 1 Thriving Bluff
  • 1 Thriving Moor
  • 1 Tramway Station
  • 1 Two-Handed Axe // Sweeping Cleave
  • 1 Valgavoth, Terror Eater
  • 1 Victimize
  • 1 Warp World
  • 1 Zephyr Boots
  • 1 Zombify