Overview:

This Rakdos deck leverages Valgavoth's ability to grow and draw cards by dealing incremental life loss to opponents through forced draw, land punishment, and damage-triggering permanents. It aims to grind out victories via attrition, using redundancy in damage-on-draw effects and stax-like enchantments while building Valgavoth into a flying threat. The deck operates at a mid-power casual level with moderate interaction and resilience but lacks infinite combos or explosive win turns.

Primer:

Core Strategy:
The deck pressures opponents via symmetrical draw effects (Scrawling Crawler, Underworld Dreams) paired with punishment (Kederekt Parasite, Ob Nixilis, the Hate-Twisted), land disruption (Zo-Zu the Punisher, Polluted Bonds), and recurring damage sources (Sulfuric Vortex, Mogis, God of Slaughter). Valgavoth scales with these triggers, providing card advantage and a wincon via evasion. Secondary threats like Massacre Wurm and Chandra's Ignition amplify damage output.

Key Lines:

1. Early Setup (Turns 1-4): Deploy mana rocks (Sol Ring, Arcane Signet) and low-cost enablers like Kederekt Parasite or Blood Seeker.
2. Midgame Pressure (Turns 5-7): Resolve engine pieces (Underworld Dreams, Roiling Vortex) and protect Valgavoth with Swiftfoot Boots.
3. Closing (Turns 8+): Activate Torture Pit for damage amplification, chain board wipes (Blasphemous Act), or swing with a massive Valgavoth.

Mulligan Priorities:

• Keep hands with 3 lands and 2+ enablers (e.g., Faithless Looting + Kederekt Parasite).
• Prioritize early damage sources over reactive spells.

Critical Synergies:

• Ojer Axonil, Deepest Might amplifies all sub-2 damage triggers to 4.
• Mayhem Devil turns sacrifice-based removal into direct damage.
• Rug of Smothering punishes spell-heavy decks.

Weaknesses:

Critical:

• Enchantment Reliance: Loses momentum if key pieces like Underworld Dreams are exiled.
• No Infinite Combos: Struggles to close quickly against lifegain decks.

Moderate:

• Slow Recovery: Limited graveyard recursion for noncreature permanents.
• Color-Intensive: BBB costs (e.g., Phyrexian Arena) strain the mana base.

Minor:

• Mitigated by redundancy in damage triggers and moderate removal suite.

Most Important Cards:

• Underworld Dreams
• Sulfuric Vortex
• Roiling Vortex
• Kederekt Parasite
• Mogis, God of Slaughter
• Ojer Axonil, Deepest Might
• Polluted Bonds
• Zo-Zu the Punisher
• Massacre Wurm
• Scrawling Crawler

Attribute Ratings:

Speed: 5/10

• Goldfishes wins around T8-10 via attrition. No fast mana or cheats.

Resilience: 6/10

• Redundant damage sources mitigate single removals. Weak to mass enchantment exile.

Consistency: 6/10

• 10+ redundant life-loss triggers but only 3 tutors (Insatiable Avarice, Faithless Looting, Sign in Blood).

Interaction: 6/10

• Efficient spot removal (Infernal Grasp, Bedevil) and board wipes. Lacks free counterspells.

Rating Justification:

The deck sits between "Focused Casual" (T9-11) and "Optimized Casual" (T8-10) in the rubric. It pressures consistently but lacks:

• cEDH-level speed (no T5 wins)
• Robust combo protection
• Tiered stax locks

Power level: 4.5 - 5.0