Overview:

This Rakdos deck leverages Kardur, Doomscourge as a central engine for forced combat, life drain, and political chaos. The primary strategy revolves around goading opponents' creatures to attack each other, generating value from death triggers (e.g., Mirkwood Bats, Witty Roastmaster), and draining life via Kardur's passive. Secondary themes include token generation (e.g., Rite of the Raging Storm, Lagomos, Hand of Hatred), creature recursion (e.g., Blood for Bones, Victimize), and leveraging stolen creatures (e.g., Besmirch). Kardur is essential for enabling the core game plan, protecting you while accelerating opponent life loss. However, recasting him becomes costly (up to {8}{B}{R}), making the deck vulnerable to repeated removal. "Hidden commanders" like Bothersome Quasit and Karazikar, the Eye Tyrant amplify the goad strategy.

Primer:

Core Strategy Execution:

1. Early Setup (Turns 1-4): Deploy mana rocks (Sol Ring, Rakdos Signet), goad enablers (Insufferable Balladeer, Bothersome Quasit), or value pieces (Morbid Opportunist). Prioritize casting Kardur on curve (T3-T4) to force immediate combat chaos.
2. Mid-Game Chaos (Turns 5-7): Amplify forced attacks with mass goad (Disrupt Decorum, Geode Rager) or persistent effects (Grand Melee, Goblin Spymaster). Generate tokens (Rite of the Raging Storm, Lagomos) to fuel death triggers. Recur Kardur/valuable creatures (Rescue from the Underworld, Conjurer's Closet) or steal threats (Besmirch, Bloodthirsty Blade).
3. Win Condition Execution (Turns 6-9):
   • Attrition: Drain opponents via Kardur's death trigger, Mirkwood Bats, Court of Ambition, and Witty Roastmaster as creatures die in forced combat.
   • Combat Overrun: Swing with copied/cloned threats (Delina, Wild Mage, Jaxis, the Troublemaker + Ogre Battledriver) or leveraged stolen creatures.
   • Alternate: Rakdos Charm for lethal if opponents have wide boards, or Court of Ambition monarch pressure.

Mulligan Priorities:

• Keep hands with 3+ lands (including untapped B/R sources), 1-2 ramp pieces (e.g., Sol Ring, Wayfarer's Bauble), and Kardur or an early goad card (e.g., Parasitic Impetus, Bothersome Quasit).
• Prioritize hands with Kardur + protection (Not Dead After All, Supernatural Stamina) against removal-heavy metas.
• Avoid hands lacking early interaction or forced-combat enablers.

Key Tips:

• Protect Kardur: Use Sanctum of Eternity to bounce him pre-removal, or recur him with Rescue from the Underworld. Minion's Return/Undying Evil deter targeted removal.
• Maximize Triggers: Time Kardur casts post-combat to force two attack cycles. Pair token generators (Lagomos, Rite of the Raging Storm) with Mirkwood Bats/Mahadi, Emporium Master.
• Disrupt Opponents: Bolt Bend protects key pieces; Terminate/Feed the Swarm handle threats. Liquimetal Torque + artifact removal answers enchantments.
• Avoid Overextension: Board wipes cripple this deck. Rebuild with recursion (Eternal Witness effects) or card draw (Deadly Dispute, Reckoner's Bargain).

Weaknesses:

Critical

• Board Wipes: Lacks mass recursion; rebuilds slowly. Blasphemous Act/Damnation reset progress catastrophically.
• Commander Removal: Kardur's high recast cost cripples tempo. Repeated removal locks the strategy.
• Enchantment Hate: Court of Ambition, Curse of Opulence, and goad auras are vital but fragile.

Moderate

• Graveyard Hate: Bojuka Bog/Rest in Peace disrupt recursion (Victimize, Blood for Bones).
• Tax Effects: Sphere of Resistance/Thalia, Guardian of Thraben delay Kardur casts and key sorceries.
• Flying/Evasion: Struggles to block evasive threats forced at you (e.g., after Kardur leaves).

Minor

• Artifact/Enchantment Focus: Limited answers to noncreature permanents beyond Feed the Swarm/Rakdos Charm.
• Life Gain Strategies: Outpaces drain if opponents stabilize combat.

Most Important Cards:

• Kardur, Doomscourge (Forced combat engine, life drain)
• Bothersome Quasit (Goad on noncreature spells, blocks disabled)
• Mirkwood Bats (Primary life drain from tokens/deaths)
• Disrupt Decorum (Mass goad for immediate chaos)
• Rite of the Raging Storm (Guaranteed attacks, death triggers)
• Conjurer's Closet (Reuse Kardur/ETB value)
• Karazikar, the Eye Tyrant (Card draw, targeted goad)
• Court of Ambition (Monarch, life drain pressure)
• Blood for Bones (Recur Kardur/threats)
• Sanctum of Eternity (Protect Kardur from tax)

Attribute Ratings:

Speed: 5/10

• Can pressure life totals by T5-6 with Kardur + death triggers, but wins typically require sustained combat attrition (T8-10).

Resilience: 4/10

• Recursion and protection exist but are piecemeal; board wipes or Kardur removal cause severe setbacks with slow recovery.

Consistency: 6/10

• High density of goad effects and redundancy in drain/token payoffs, but lacks tutors for key combo pieces (e.g., Mirkwood Bats + token engine).

Interaction: 6/10

• Efficient targeted removal (Terminate, Feed the Swarm) and stack tricks (Bolt Bend), but minimal board wipes or graveyard interaction.

Rating Justification:

This deck pressures efficiently via forced combat and drain, aiming for T8-10 wins, but falters against disruption due to Kardur dependency and slow rebuilds. Its speed aligns with Optimized Casual, while resilience limitations cap it at the lower end of High-Power Casual.

Power level: 5.0 - 5.5