Overview:

This Rakdos deck helmed by Valgavoth, Harrower of Souls focuses on incremental life drain through symmetrical damage triggers and punishment effects. The strategy revolves around deploying persistent damage sources like Sulfuric Vortex, Underworld Dreams, and Polluted Bonds, then amplifying their impact with Ojer Axonil, Deepest Might and All Will Be One. Valgavoth serves as both a card advantage engine and win condition, scaling with +1/+1 counters whenever opponents lose life. Secondary synergies exploit creature death triggers (Mayhem Devil, Blood Artist) and lifeloss multipliers like Wound Reflection to close games.

Primer:

Core Strategy Execution:

1. Early Setup (Turns 1-4): Deploy mana rocks (Sol Ring, Rakdos Signet) and low-CMC damage engines like Kederekt Parasite, Ankh of Mishra, or Blood Seeker. Cast Valgavoth as early as turn 3 using Dark Ritual acceleration.
2. Mid-Game Pressure (Turns 4-6): Resolve key enchantments (Mogis, God of Slaughter, Roiling Vortex) and synergists (Ojer Axonil, All Will Be One). Use Wishclaw Talisman or Insatiable Avarice to tutor critical pieces.
3. Endgame (Turns 7+): Activate Wound Reflection to double life loss, pair Chandra's Ignition with a buffed Valgavoth, or trigger Blasphemous Act + Mayhem Devil for lethal.

Mulligan Priorities:

• Keep hands with 2-3 lands and at least one damage engine (e.g., Kederekt Parasite, Bloodchief Ascension).
• Prioritize early interaction (Feed the Swarm, Deadly Rollick) against decks with fast starts.
• Avoid hands lacking red/black mana sources or early plays.

Key Tips:

• Use Feign Death/Not Dead After All to protect Valgavoth from removal while triggering death synergies.
• Imp's Mischief can redirect game-ending spells targeting your key pieces.
• Activate Ojer Axonil's Temple of Power only after establishing multiple damage sources.

Weaknesses:

Critical

• Heavy reliance on Valgavoth for card advantage – repeated removal cripples momentum.
• Minimal protection for critical enchantments (Wound Reflection, All Will Be One) against targeted removal.

Moderate

• Struggles against lifegain strategies without Sulfuric Vortex active.
• Limited board wipe recovery beyond Phyrexian Reclamation.

Minor

• Vulnerable to hexproof/shroud due to few forced sacrifice effects.
• Some anti-synergy between Roiling Vortex and The Rollercrusher Ride's life loss.

Most Important Cards:

• Ojer Axonil, Deepest Might (Damage amplifier)
• Wound Reflection (Game-ending multiplier)
• All Will Be One (Synergistic finisher)
• Mogis, God of Slaughter (Persistent pressure)
• Underworld Dreams (Card draw punisher)
• Bloodchief Ascension (Scalable drain engine)
• Mayhem Devil (Sacrifice synergy)
• Valgavoth, Harrower of Souls (Card advantage engine)
• Sulfuric Vortex (Anti-lifegain + damage)
• Polluted Bonds (Landfall punishment)

Attribute Ratings:

Speed: 6/10
Can establish early pressure with T3 Valgavoth and T4-5 damage engines, but most finishers require setup until T7+.

Resilience: 5/10
Limited protection outside creature recursion and Imp's Mischief. Vulnerable to enchantment/artifact removal.

Consistency: 6/10
Multiple redundant damage triggers but lacks high-velocity tutors beyond Wishclaw Talisman.

Interaction: 7/10
Strong targeted removal (Bedevil, Toxic Deluge) and stack interaction (Tibalt's Trickery), but lacks mass artifact/enchantment answers.

Rating Justification:

This deck threatens T7-9 wins through layered damage synergies but lacks the speed and redundancy of true combo decks. Its resilience issues with commander dependency and fragile engines place it below optimized tiers.

Power level: 5.0 - 5.5