Overview:

This Rakdos deck leverages Rakdos, Lord of Riots to cheat massive demons, dragons, and Eldrazi into play by exploiting life loss from symmetrical damage sources like Spear Spewer, Stormfist Crusader, and Flame Rift. The commander is the essential engine, enabling explosive turns where creatures like Void Winnower or Archon of Cruelty enter for minimal cost. Win conditions revolve around overwhelming board presence amplified by damage doublers (Bloodletter of Aclazotz, Archfiend of Despair) and ETB triggers (Terror of the Peaks, Sower of Discord). The strategy heavily depends on Rakdos surviving removal to maintain momentum.

Primer:

Core Strategy Execution:

1. Enable Rakdos (Turns 1-4): Deploy pingers (Spear Spewer, Thermo-Alchemist, Lobber Crew) or symmetrical damage (Stormfist Crusader, Keen Duelist) to ensure opponents lose life early. Ramp with Sol Ring, Dark Ritual, or signets.
2. Cast Rakdos & Discount Threats (Turns 3-5): With life loss enabled, cast Rakdos for {B}{R} or less. Immediately deploy high-impact creatures like Terror of the Peaks, Vilis, Broker of Blood, or Rune-Scarred Demon at heavily reduced costs.
3. Overwhelm & Amplify (Turns 5+): Flood the board with discounted giants. Use Bloodletter of Aclazotz or Archfiend of Despair to double damage. Leverage ETB triggers (e.g., Terror of the Peaks pings, Archon of Cruelty sacrifices) to control the board while pressuring life totals.
4. Win Condition Execution:
   • Combat/ETB Burn: Attack with massive creatures while stacking ETB damage from Terror of the Peaks or Kaervek the Merciless.
   • Damage Doubling: Resolve Bloodletter of Aclazotz or Archfiend of Despair to turn pingers/symmetrical effects into lethal threats.
   • Reanimation: Use Reanimate or Artisan of Kozilek to cheat threats if Rakdos is unavailable.

Mulligan Priorities:

• Prioritize hands with 1-2 pingers/symmetrical damage sources (e.g., Stormfist Crusader, Spear Spewer).
• Ensure early ramp (Sol Ring, Rakdos Signet) or rituals (Dark Ritual, Jeska's Will).
• Include at least 1 high-impact creature (e.g., Terror of the Peaks, Archon of Cruelty) or tutor (Demonic Tutor).
• Avoid hands lacking life-loss enablers or Rakdos protection.

Key Tips:

• Sequence Life Loss: Cast pingers before Rakdos. Flame Rift or Price of Progress can enable Rakdos while doubling as finishers later.
• Protect Rakdos: Use Lightning Greaves, Deflecting Swat, or Plaza of Heroes to shield your commander.
• Leverage Card Draw: Vilis, Broker of Blood and Knollspine Dragon refill hands after life loss. Disciple of Bolas sacrifices big creatures for massive draw.
• Exploit Sacrifice Synergies: Archfiend of Depravity and Witch-king of Angmar pair well with forced-sacrifice ETBs.

Weaknesses:

Critical

• Commander Reliance: Repeated removal of Rakdos cripples the deck's cost reduction, stalling the game plan.
• Board Wipe Vulnerability: Lacks mass recursion; recovering from wipes like Toxic Deluge is slow.
• Anti-Life Loss Stax: Torpor Orb nullifies ETB damage; Leyline of Sanctity prevents targeted life loss.

Moderate

• Graveyard Hate: Disrupts reanimation (Reanimate, Artisan of Kozilek) and recursion like Rune-Scarred Demon.
• Artifact/Enchantment Removal: Destroys key pieces like Bloodletter of Aclazotz or Shared Animosity.

Minor

• Life-Gain Decks: Can outpace incremental damage without a fast combo finish.
• Hand Disruption: Targeted discard can remove critical setup pieces pre-Rakdos.

Most Important Cards:

• Rakdos, Lord of Riots (Strategy enabler/cost reduction)
• Bloodletter of Aclazotz (Win accelerator/damage doubler)
• Terror of the Peaks (Primary ETB damage engine)
• Stormfist Crusader (Early life loss + card draw)
• Deflecting Swat (Critical commander protection)
• Demonic Tutor (Consistency for key pieces)
• Archfiend of Despair (Secondary damage amplifier)
• Vilis, Broker of Blood (Card draw engine)
• Cabal Coffers (Mana amplification for big spells)
• Lightning Greaves (Commander haste/protection)

Attribute Ratings:

Speed: 7/10

• Can deploy Rakdos T3-4 and follow with discounted giants like Void Winnower or Archon of Cruelty, threatening T5-6 wins with damage doublers.

Resilience: 4/10

• Limited protection/recursion; heavy reliance on Rakdos makes the deck fold to repeated removal. Recovers poorly from board wipes.

Consistency: 6/10

• Strong card draw (Vilis, Knollspine) and tutors (Demonic, Rune-Scarred), but lacks redundancy for life-loss enablers.

Interaction: 5/10

• Efficient spot removal (Terminate, Bedevil) and flexible answers (Rakdos Charm), but minimal counterspells and no stax to delay opponents.

Rating Justification:

The deck achieves T5-6 win potential through explosive Rakdos-enabled turns and damage amplification, aligning with the "Focused" tier (T7-8 wins). However, its critical vulnerability to commander removal and board wipes reduces resilience, preventing higher optimization.

Power level: 6.0 - 6.5