Rakdos Grinning Malice deck guide: Hell of a Good Time
Today’s guest writer is Grahf, an avid gamer and the editor of Grahf Games, one of the only websites WiNGSPANTT actually likes. Why don’t you go check it out?
Black is in my blood (I should probably get that checked out by a doctor, to be honest).
It’s my favourite colour ever since I started playing Magic during the Urza Block. I spent a good portion of my teenage years casting Phyrexian Negators with first turn Dark Rituals and I’ve never regretted anything, even when it’s come back to bite me in the ass.
Aggressive decks focusing on fast beatings, rampant discard, and siphoning life have been my specialty, so when I saw that Rakdos’ Grinning Malice was among the decks that were coming out with the expansion DLC I knew that I had a shiny new toy to play with.
I’ve played Grinning Malice enough to unlock all of the cards, and I must say that I’m quite pleased with what the deck can do. It certainly lives up to the aggro pedigree nicely, while still providing
a good deal of mid-to-late game presence with the proper build … of course in a lot of cases you may not need a late game presence if the deck has done it’s job properly.
This deck is built to dominate the early game, but can easily stall out if you’re not careful. Generally speaking, the longer that a game goes, the less beneficial it is for you. You should almost approach
this deck with the mindset of a cat burglar: get in, get done, get out. If a match is dragging then it gives opponents more opportunities to answer your threats with bombs of their own, and while this deck does have a decent amount of removal, it’s best to try and strike like lightning: quick and merciless.
As always, decklists are a work in progress. The tweaking is never really done, and what works today might not work tomorrow. That being said, I’ve had a lot of success with this list, with slight variations from time-to-time.
Rakdos Grinning Malice Decklist
- 1 Bloodchief Ascension
- 2 Reanimate
- 2 Stabbing Pain
- 1 Demonic Tutor
- 2 Goblin Deathraider
- 2 Sootstoke Kindler
- 3 Terminate
- 2 Blightning
- 2 Blood Cultist
- 1 Lyzolda, the Blood Witch
- 2 Rockslide Elemental
- 2 Ashenmoor Liege
- 1 Blazing Specter
- 2 Hellhole Rats
- 3 Wrecking Ball
- 2 Bituminous Blast
- 4 Demigod of Revenge
- 1 Defiler of Souls
- 1 Massacre Wurm
- 4 Evolving Wilds
- Mountains
- Swamps
Rakdos Grinning Malice Card Breakdown (by cost)
Evolving Wilds 4.0
As with any of the multicolour decks, mana fixing is a big deal. I run four Evolving Wilds because I maindeck Massacre Wurm at nearly all times (more on him later). However, two or three of these lands should be seeing play in any version of the deck you can think of. It helps thin your deck, and also gets you what you want or need for the future. Depending on the tempo it might be a difficult decision as to when to drop these. For this build it’s not an issue for a first turn drop, but for the decks that do run Typhoid Rats or Vexing Devils it’ll be a bit of a chore from time to time.
Dragonmaster Outcast 1.5
This 1/1 with a cute ability is meant for the lategame. Having a free 5/5 flier every turn once you hit six lands might be nice, but until then it’s just a 1/1 that’s easily chumped or ignored. There might be times when you can drop this and get at least one dragon before a response, but it seems mostly unlikely.
Deathgreeter 2.0
Another one drop, this morose looking fellow gets you life whenever creatures take a dirt nap. This guy can be useful sometimes, especially with Reanimate in the deck, but as an aggressive deck build
Rakdos isn’t often aiming to gain life. It’s a take it or leave it card, all things told.
Typhoid Rats 2.5
One black for a 1/1 deathtouch? Fairly good for stalling in the late game, when it’ll see use as a blocker for deterrance more than anything else. Like I said though, this deck aims to win as quickly as possible. Even without the one drops I think that it runs smoothly enough, but I would begrudge no one for including these vermin in their build.
Vexing Devil 3.0
This card is probably one of the most meta cards in the deck. Often times you’ll drop it just to see how they will react to it. It can be telling if they choose to take the four damage, because it might mean that they don’t have the means to deal with it. If they let it go, then they probably have a blocker or removal. Treating this guy as almost a burn spell is often the best way to play him, he’s mostly a play it and forget it kind of card.
Bloodchief Ascension 4.0
It’s always worth including at least one of these maindeck, although putting in all three might be overkill. Doing three damage in one turn is a modest price for a counter, and once this enchantment gets activated its incredibly painful for a great number of decks. Suddenly Red decks can’t burn as effectively, Black decks have to worry about throwing out removal. Green decks have to be more careful about creatures. Anything that makes your enemies’ life harder is good in my book.
Reanimate 4.5
This one cost revival does come with a high price depending on what you want to revive, but it’s the only resurrection the deck has and can nab a juicy creature that you’ve just killed or forced your opponent to discard. Automatic maindeck inclusion for me.
Stabbing Pain 3.5
Decent weenie removal at instant speed, this card can also serve as a nasty trick if they have a big fatty that you don’t need breathing down your throat for a turn, or a blocker that you want to slip past. Remember that this card doesn’t need to kill the creature that it targets in order to be useful.
Goblin Deathraiders 3.0
3/1 trample for two. Expect this to trade or at least draw some removal. If an opponent already has a tim on the board then you’re better off not playing this. This card becomes a horror show if you
have an Ashenmoor Liege (or two) in play.
Onyx Mage 1.0
It’s a 2/1 for two that can give other creatures deathtouch. This is another card that can be decent in the late game, but there’s often going to be better things that you can be spending your mana on,
especially in the early game when this ability might be useful for trading.
Sootstoke Kindler 2.5
These guys are in my maindeck, but can easily be switched around with a Vexing Devil or two if necessary. Their ability doesn’t cost anything to play, and there’s no creature in the deck that isn’t a
valid target for it. This card would be more valuable if so many of the creatures in the deck didn’t actually have haste already.
Spiteflame Witch 2.0
2/1 body with a life loss ability. You can activate this multiple times in a turn, but of course unless you’re leading the life total or believe that you have something that can easily put you in the lead it might not be such a good idea. Again, this creature is a decent mana sink, but appears in a deck where mana sinks shouldn’t be necessary.
Demonic Tutor 5.0
There is no reason to ever leave this out of your maindeck, ever. The only problem this card ever poses is what you’ll fetch for a criminally undercosted two mana.
Terminate 4.5
Quick, mana efficient creature removal. As with all spells of this nature, you’ll have to judge what the biggest threat on the board is, and whether they have bigger ones just on the horizon.
Ashenmoor Gouger 1.5
At 4/4 for three this guy is beefy, but he’ll never be able to block for you. There’s a few too many combat tricks and traps to make this guy worth playing, at least in my eyes. Expect this guy to be chumped every turn by disposable creatures until they get something that’ll squash it like a bug.
Avatar of Dischord 2.0
I cannot tell you how much it pains me to give this card such a low evaluation. It really does. 5/3 flying for three? This thing should be auto-maindeck. The thing I cannot get around though, is the discard. More often then not, you’ll play this, and then your opponent will Pacify/bounce/burn it. BAM! Three card disadvantage for you. That’s not a position that I want to be in. Sure, there will be times when you draw the dream hand that has this, a Reanimate, and two Demigod of Revenge, but that’s not going to happen often enough to make it worth it.
Blood Cultist 3.5
Although the tim ability of this spine wearing weirdo can only target creatures, the fact that it gets a vampire-esque ability makes up for it. Sometimes you have to get inventive, such as pinging your own about to die creatures, or pinging something right before you Terminate it, but this card can quickly escalate out of control, and as you can imagine, two on the board only makes things worse for your unlucky adversary.
Hissing Iguanar 2.0
The ability on this guy is interesting, but he’s awfully fragile and unlike Blood Cultist he doesn’t have much potential to get bigger, and he’s never going to survive combat with anything. His ability is nice, but it’s more of an extra than a must-include, so there are better choices for three drops.
Lyzolda, the Blood Witch 3.5
Although her ability requires you to sacrifice creatures and her one toughness makers her incredibly fragile, the fact that she’s one of the few ways that the deck can get extra draws, while having the added benefit of laying down damage as well in most cases. This adds up to making Lyzolda is a solid inclusion in any build.
Rockslide Elemental 4.0
First strike is always a nice ability to have, and when paired with a Blood Cultist soon this guy is way too big to bowl over. This card forces removal early, and draws it away from some of your game
winners. That being said, it’s a tough choice for the opposition, because if left alone for too long, this guy becomes a game winner in his own right. It’s often a toss-up between including these guys, or
Scavenger Drakes, but since these come out a turn earlier and can survive blocking a one toughness creature even off the bat, I prefer them.
Blightning 4.5
Three damage and two cards out of your foe’s hand, there’s nothing not to like! Perhaps the only downside to this card is that it’s not an instant, but that would put it completely over the top. This card is often better played early, but sometimes you’ll want to hold back, just to judge if there’s something in their hand that they want to play, but can’t afford to yet.
Chaos Warp 2.5
I’m on the fence about this card. As the name implies this thing is apt at causing chaos, but the question is for who? Sure, it’s a way to remove an annoying creature, artifact, or enchantment, but you run the risk of them getting something even better every time you use it. Sometimes you’ll win, sometimes you’ll lose, big time. But that’s the nature of Red. Of course, you can always use it on yourself too, if you’re a gambler…
Heat Shimmer 2.0
This is a cute trick for some extra damage, and can give some of your guys a boost, depending. Still, it can’t conjure a blocker, which somewhat mitigates its usefulness. Still, it can force a decent trade off in some cases, and also doubles in some instances as a way to take down a troublesome legend on their side of the field, if you haven’t drawn any other removal.
Pain Magnification 3.0
A neat little enchantment that’s better played early than late. The more turns that go by the less useful this card becomes, mostly because people are often trying to empty their hand as soon as
possible, especially once this thing hits the field. This thing gives Blue decks fits, but good luck trying to get it into play without it being countered.
Ashenmoor Liege 4.5
This is a creature that no one wants to be staring down if they can help it. I wouldn’t normally advocate having a creature with such tenuous toughness around, but the fact that if they want to make him go away it’s going to cost them four life means that if nothing else this guy will draw removal and get in damage in a roundabout way. Add to that the fact that he gives every other creature in the deck +1/+1 and often +2/+2 means that he’s always worth the spot.
Blazing Specter 4.0
Since it has haste this card can often force a discard as soon as it hits the board. An annoying creature for the other person to deal with my only problem is that there’s only one of this card in the deck.
Hellhole Rats 4.0
Another great multipurpose card. Even if the discard you force only hits a land, it still deprives them of resources which is always a good thing. It’s not that beefy of course, but it still makes a decent
blocker and can even get in for two if you’ve kept the board clear to the point of playing it.
Scavenger Drake 3.5
I only rank this guy a little lower than Rockslide Elemental because he comes out a turn later. Flying is a nice form of evasion and he has basically the same ability. It’s really more up to personal preference as to which of the two you include in the deck. Flying is probably the better ability, but First Strike and one turn sooner make me choose the elemental.
Singe-Mind Ogre 2.5
For a 3/2 with no persistent abilities four mana might be a bit much. The comes into play ability is random, sometimes getting you a nice juicy six or eight cost card, other times getting land. You have to remember that the card is only revealed, not discarded. Hellhole Rats seems a strictly better choice, even though the discard isn’t random.
Wrecking Ball 4.0
More creature destruction that under certain circumstances can become a key hose factor as well. If the person sitting across from you is suffering from a mana drought or colour screw, then this card really ruins their day. Worth running at least a pair of at all times.
Demigod of Revenge 5.0
The mainstay of the deck, without a doubt. This guy is big, mean, and often a guaranteed five damage the turn it hits the board. Plus he’s a real pain in the ass to get rid of, because if you have another one in your hand then all the ones in your graveyard are back on the field and swinging in no time flat. It’s tempting to play as many copies as you have, but remember that it’s important not to over extend and let your opponent punish you for it.
Bituminous Blast 3.0
A somewhat curious card; some would argue that five for a four damage creature only burn spell is quite overcosted, but the fact that this card is almost guaranteed (in this build at least) to hit something that you can then instantly play makes it worth it. Add a little of the good kind of chaos into your life, after all, you might hit a Demigod of Revenge, or and Ashenmoor Liege, or some other card that’s going to make a bad situation worse for your unlucky adversary.
Capricious Efreet 3.0
This card mostly stands as a big beater with a potentially interesting ability. If you’re aiming to have late game presence then this is probably one of the best choices. Considering that you can choose two permanents that are giving you problems from them, and one of your throwaway ones, it’s a “chaotic” card that has the chaos strictly in your favour.
Deathbringer Thoctar 1.0
If this card were one or two less mana it’d be dynamite, but on turn six this guy’s ability isn’t going to see a whole lot of pertinent usage for the most part. Overcosted and underwhelming.
Defiler of Souls 5.0
One of the best late game drops. Not only is this a 5/5 flier, but his ability is absolutely devastating to almost every other deck out there, even the other multicoloured guild decks! Since he forces a
sacrifice, that means that he can get past hexproof, colour protection, and even indestructibility. If not immediately dealt with this guy will win you games in almost any given situation.
Grave Titan 4.0
Even though I’m not fielding these myself I have to admit that they make great choices. More creatures on the board can fuel the effects of your army quite nicely, or at the very least give you some throwaway blockers when you may need them.
Malfegor 2.5
There are extremely certain circumstances when you’ll draw this card and thank the heavens above because it’s exactly what you needed. However, I think that those times would be few and far between. Other than that it’s just a big beater in a deck that shouldn’t have needed one at this point in the game if all’s gone well.
Massacre Wurm 4.5
The only reason this guy isn’t a solid five is because at three black mana there’s going to be times when you simply can’t cast him. However, like in Obedient Dead, this card is in an of itself often a
walking win condition. Against weenie decks this card might as well have text that reads “your opponent dies”, and his passive utility condition makes him a threat even if he’s sitting there doing nothing. Add to that a beefy body for attacking and blocking and you’ve got a great choice … when you can actually cast him.
Rakdos the Defiler 2.0
The big man himself doesn’t fare too well in the deck that bears his name and is inspired by his guild. As with Avatar of Discord, the problem here is that there are way too many combat tricks to make his ability worth playing. If you try to swing in and an they bounce, prevent damage, destroy him, or just plain manage to block all of it then you’ve wasted half your permanents for absolutely nothing. Sure, he’s flashy, but flashy doesn’t mean good.
Kaervek the Merciless 2.5
Kaervek is a great late game drop that will probably mean the end if not dealt with quickly. However again even though his ability is dynamite he’s coming into the game so late that he’s often more of an “I win harder” card than anything actually useful. If you were in a bad position, then Kaervek is unlikely to be able to really help.
Avatar of Slaughter 1.5
At eight not only is this guy expensive, but he also robs you of any blocking you might want to do. Sure all your creatures get double strike, but there’s probably not going to be very many situations
where having double strike will win you the day when you’d have otherwise lost. Any card that takes options away from you needs to be looked at extremely carefully.
Vampiric Dragon 3.0
If the game has dragged on long enough to cast this beast, then he’s not a bad choice. His ability is a little underwhelming unless you have a lot of mana or there are a lot of 1/1 wieners just hanging around. Still, a 5/5 with a decent vampiric ability is alright.
Din of the Fireherd 3.0
This is a card that can quickly end a stalemate, if nothing else. If for some reason you have a deadlocked army then the secondary resolution of this spell is absolutely nasty and probably a game winner in and of itself. However, at a hefty eight mana this is more often than not just going to be sitting in your hand, seeing little to no use. It’s good for what it does, but somewhat a card of last
resort.
This build seems all over the place. Considering you want it run quickly, you sûre took out a lot of quick direct damage dealing creatures and instead put in slower cards that require the building up of counters to be effective. I think I should be more focused one way or the other.
I found that this build has a little more staying power in general at the cost of sacrificing turn one drops for the most part. Typhoid Rats could easily go back into this deck, as could the Vexing Devils.
As for the direct damage in the form of the Hissing Iguanar and the Spiteflame Witch are a bit too easily neutralized, particularly the former. I also don’t like that the Iguanar basically needs other cards to do the work for it. I’d rather have something like Bloodchief Ascension if that’s the case, which has a better effect and is harder to deal with.
The decklist isn’t a definitive “this is the best build”, it’s just one that I’ve found works out well for me in the majority of the games I’ve played online.
I can’t seem to win with your build. I’m getting beat by faster decks and decks with better late games.
I was at one point running what I considered to be a hyper aggressive version of the deck which actually tried to run around the Iguanars. The problem was that without them I found I often couldn’t get enough damage through to seal the deal, and opponents always knew to target them and key creatures.
Perhaps I just had some bad matchups or draws. I am, however, happy to share the decklist:
2 Evolving Wilds
1 Deathgreeter
2 Typhoid Rats
2 Vexing Devil
2 Bloodchief Ascension
2 Reanimate
2 Stabbing Pain
2 Goblin Deathraiders
1 Spiteflame Witch
1 Demonic Tutor
3 Terminate
2 Hissing Iguanar
1 Lyzolda, the Blood Witch
2 Rockslide Elemental
2 Blightning
1 Pain Magnification
2 Ashenmoor Liege
2 Singe-Mind Ogre
3 Wrecking Ball
4 Demigod of Revenge
1 Defiler of Souls
I don’t know if not running the Blood Cultists was a bad idea, but in this build they almost seemed too slow to really use effectively. You’ll also probably notice that this deck doesn’t really have much in terms of late game heat, which was a problem that I couldn’t really get around without losing too much early game momentum.
Perhaps you’ll have better luck than I with this list or a derivation thereof. Let me know if you decide to use something similar and how it turns out if you do.
Very similar to my build.
Although i think you should cosider -1 wrecking ball, +1 Grave Titan.
Sometimes, i have too many removal in hand.
When I say direct damage I was referring more the the Vexing Devils and the Ogres, although neither are guaranteed damage, they usually come through.
I am indeed strongly considering putting the Devils back in, probably taking out the Sootstokers in exchange. I’m sort of up in the air about the Ogres, although I’m not above admitting that I might have just had really shitty luck.
I never liked “luck” cards like ogres or efreet.
That second build is performing much better for me. With small adjusted do to my own preferences.
-2 ogre
+1 Din the fireherd
+1 blazing specter
Why do i like Din? land destruction, monster sac, and gets me a 5/5. If the game has lasted that long, it will more often that not get me the win. Having two is really redundant.
Blazing spec is a flying hasted 2/2 for 4 mana that forces discard on player damage. Auto include for me.
Thanks Grahf. I appreciate what all you guys at T3 do.
Chaos Warp and Typhoid Rats are the only early answers to Enchantments and Hexproof creatures (or both, such as Primal Huntbeast w/ Blanchwood Armor).
I agree. I ‘ll reconsider chaos warp. This deck is a pain. }:
Actually Efreet is a slightly less risky more expensive option for Enchantments and artifacts. I don’t like randomness, but this deck, and red in general, sort of demand it.
Why would you take vexing devil out? lol terrible build, vexing is an amazing card, it’s essentially a 4 damage lightning bolt.
It’s a 1 and done card with no presence, and does not affect the board. It should only be used in agro builds. Being that the card itself puts you at minus 1 card advantage. I’ve never seen it be let through, ever. Keep your criticisms constructive, or you help no one.
Two vexing devils with a couple reanimates. Possible 16 damage on turn 3. Or a bunch of ,4/3 s on turn 3, a must in aggro decks. Auto include for my deck list.
-lyzolda, sacrifice a creature for 2 damage.., -blood cultists, can’t target player, meh for 3 mana, not able to use ability till turn 4, goblins, peacekeepers already powered up, maybe good against exalted…
I can concede the point about the Cultists, they can be hit or miss, depending.
Lyzolda however, stands as the only source of card draw in the deck. Not great card draw, but unfortunately the only card draw it has. It’s true that she’s extremely fragile, but she can make a difference.
That’s a perfect hand scenario, But I agree. A must in agro decks.
Lyzolda can get you something from a dying creature. She gets you draw and is a little extra removal creature in this deck. Not an auto include, but something to think about.
Blood cultist can pump herself from you and your opponents dying creatures, and kill annoying weenies. She also has the potential to get bigger. I’m also not a fan because she loses value as the games go on. So, I agree, meh.
Those are 2 of 15 decks, and I’ve beaten them both with my build. Powered up by turn 4? You’ve got eight 1 drops, ten 2 drops, and fifteen 3 drops that have something to say about that. I doubt you run them all, but if your afraid of faster decks than run faster cards. Peace has some removal and enchantments, but as far as I’ve seen, Grinning Malice eats Gobs like num num num. of-course it’s easier if you go first.
My mana spread_ 4688861. Starts with zero; ends with 6+.
aggro/direct damage, included all evolving wilds bc I seem to get screwed on lands the most with this deck. For some odd reason.
4 evolving wilds
1 bloodmaster ascension
1 death greeter
2 reanimate
2 vexing devils
2 goblin death raiders
1 sootstoke kindler
3 terminate
3 ashenmoor gouger
2 blightning
1 chaos warp
1 heat shimmer
2 hissing iguanars
2 ashenmoor liege
1 blazing specter
2 hellhole rats
1 singe-mind ogre
2 wrecking balls
4 demigod of revenge
1 massacre wurm/1 grave titan
1 kaervek the merciless
I’ve beaten them as well. My build is extremely aggro/direct damage. And what I was implying is blood cultist will do you no good on turn 4 against goblins/peacekeepers/pretty much any deck except exalted and say collective might maybe.
And lyzolda can help on the rare occasion, to me shes a fragile 3/1 body that can hinder your deck speed with sacrificing your creatures and having to leave two lands out..
I’d be interested to see your deck build if you’d be willing to share it, Abek.
As for myself, I’ve been thinking about running the more aggressive build that I posted in the comments again. Perhaps I just ran into a stroke of bad luck with the matches that I played, and gave up too easily.
My aggro deck build.
A deck that I’ve had so much trouble with is now my favorite. I thank Grahf for his input and opinions.
2 Evolving Wilds – Must a I explain?
2 Stabbing Pain – Versatile instant. Combat trick, kill, tap.
2 Typhoid Rats – A great defender. Big things won’t even attack.
2 Vexing Devil – Great aggro card. 4 face damage. (haven’t seen him get through)
1 Demonic Tutor – Homework must be completed in blood.
2 Goblin Deathraiders – A 3/1 trade and tramp for 2. A good early card.
2 Sootstroke Kindler – Makes slow guys fast for tap.
3 Terminates – Regenerate? They can try.
3 Ashenmoor Gouger – Aggro only. Kill anything that gets in his way. he won’t be blocking, And don’t be afraid to trade.
1 Blightning – people like to drop their hands, so 1 is enough.
2 Chaos warps – Did I he shoot 5 shots or 6? Great removal for the price of entropy. The red beast within.
1 Lyzolda, the Blood Witch – My screensaver. Sac thing that are doomed; Including her. Do I hear fake block?
2 ashenmoor Liege – Target him… I dare you. Most thing get +2/+2. An auto include.
1 Blazing Specter – Someone wishes they didn’t tap out. The haste makes this guy soo good.
2 Hellhole rats – Be careful what you drop. Card advantage and maybe some quick damage.
3 Wrecking Ball – Quitting in 3, 2… . More creature removal. God help them if their in land trouble.
2 Bituminous Blast – Can play all of the above with it. More costly removal, but it’s instant and it cascades.
4 Demigod of revenge – If you don’t have the promos… get them now. Undercosted and pulls out his brothers. If only he had haste… he’d be broken. *wink* *wink*
1 Defiler of souls – He defiles you AFTER your dead? This really bothers about 2 thirds of the decks, and 4 of them have 2 colors. won’t bother you much either.
I’ve been crushin’ people with this build and I hope you will too.
Thank you, comments are NOT welcome. (;
Lyzolda gives you draws that you may need. That said if you don’t like her don’t run her. When i use her ability I often Sac a creature that or may not be doomed. draw and kill one of their weenies. That puts me at plus 1 card advantage, and if there is something this deck needs to be successful, It’s card advantage.
I submitted my deck build but it didn’t show up. Perhaps it’s too long?
Have your Blood cultists do damage to anything that’s ABOUT to die. Considering this deck has lots of removal that is not hard. she should get +1/+1 at-least 2 out of 3 turns. stop when she’s big and beat face. Like I said I’m not a fan, because she loses value late game, but she has her uses. And if she gets murdered that’s 1 less removal you have worry about.
It appears that when I try to reply I end up on the bottom of the list. Interesting.
Sorry for the confusion guys. If comments are really long, they are auto-flagged for spam. I’ve gone through and approved them.
Thanks. I hope you guess like my build. It took a Saturday of testing.
Oops +demonic tutor on mine. Critique,comment,Iwouldliketoknow. Thanksguys
What do you think of heat shimmer Abek? And are you running 60? I had some land trouble and going down to 60 from 61 seemed to help.
BTW, I was joking about the comment thing. Comments are welcome of course. -_-
Turning into a forum lol. I run 60 on all my decks, I still seem inconsistent with lands. Idk what it is. As for heat shimmer usually use for an extra swing with a demigod. Or any card with a nice ‘upon entering the battlefield’ ability. Contemplating on switching out heat shimmer and kaervek, but so far it’s worked ok for me.
The only deck that gives me land trouble is Born of flame. Hell if I know why. About heat shimmer. I feel it’s conditional, and will sit in my hand till I can feel good about playing it. Kinda like reverberate.
Okay, lol cause running stabbing pain is better? Look at the card ratings, they help. Vexing devil is amazing especially reanimated, wrecking ball is fucking garbage. Terminate is enough removal in my opinion. Dragon master outcast is also fucking good, why would you take that out as well? When you reach six land your opponent is fucked. Sure he cannot do shit the whole game, but he is well worth it later. Goblin deathraiders is a meh, i do not run it mainly because it has low toughness. Onyx mage is decent, he helps remove shit. Consider running din of fire herd it’s way better than you think, I mean 8 mana is alot, but it fucks your opponent over completely in the end.
AZNFOODLOVER
I agree with you on stabbing pain and vexing devil, and dragon master outcast, but with wrecking ball it is important to remember that cards are ranked low if they are over-costed compared to other cards that accomplish similar things. Wrecking ball will very often be useful, but it is worse than terminate, go for the throat, unmake etc.
Stats of a card are based on paper magic, not how good a card is in dotp in set decks. Dragonmaster can be good in certain decks, not this one. can easily be taken care of with cards like stabbing pain, murder, go for the throat, and many many more. If it can survive til turn 6, and provided you have good land draw, it can be good. If playing 2hg I might play din of the fireherd, otherwise it will sit in your hand majority of . wrecking ball is awesome when your opponent is working dual color deck with only one of the two required colors, also instant removal. Onyx mage , too expensive, to slow, good for playing defense I guess, but this deck is all about offense and speed.
I agree with Abek on all points. Plus, dragon outcast is only effective against decks with minuscule removal. Reanimate is conditional, and there aren’t many things worth bringing out. And when you do, you’ll pay for it(will your health)heavily. It slows the deck down. Wreaking ball is garbage? Wash your mouth out with soap. If it wasn’t instant it’d be garbage, but the versatility and extra purpose can itself win your game.
BTW my deck build changes.
-1 Lyzolda – She’s really a turn 5 drop for me, so she’s too slow for what she does.
+1 Heat Shimmer – Can you feel th… . This card does depend on a decent card being on the field, but when there is it pays off immensely. This is flexible enough to squeeze in extra damage for the win, or use an ignition effect to shift momentum. High risk high reward. Worth testing in any build. Value increases as player number increases.
I’m running 60 and still get behind in mana.
Mulligan. You have to mulligan to 5 five sometimes. NEVER take a hand with less than 3 land. I even take 6 land hands, so i know when i draw something I can play it.
I’m just saying….overall they are not good cards, which is why I don’t run them. For me wrecking ball is not a good card because it is too expensive, this deck doesn’t need any more removal then terminate. Onyx mage is a beast. Stabbing pain does not do you any good for the most part, late game it won’t do shit lol. Unless you really want a 1/1 dead. Card ratings are still important, because they give you an idea on wether or not its worth running. I do agree some cards do have synergy with the deck. I’m pretty sure lots of cards can be easily killed off, with murder etc. Dragon master outcast, if it dies who cares thats just another 1/1 they wasted their murder on.
The ratings are just IN GENERAL. Whether a card is good or bad is dependent on whether the current situation (cards in play, land untapped, opponent attacking, etc) and whether you are in a position to take advantage of that situation.
For instance if you use Chaos Warp (rated 2.5 here) in the RIGHT situations it pays dividends. You opponent drops a game ending card, then Chaos Warp is a great play cause ANYTHING else may be better to have in play for you: in that case I would rate it HIGHER than 2.5 since it saved the game for you. OR you can use it on a non-land permenant that is dying anyway since you have nothing to lose. The card may be inconsistent in what it can give you, but what it does give you consistent removal … with an incosistent side effect.
And Wrecking Ball, is it really garbage?? What if the situation that presents itself gives your opponent 4 forests and ONE swamp. Would it not be a great play to disable half your oppoenents cards for the time being?
In conclusion, I feel that if you can create conditions on the battlefield that let your seemingly dull cards shine, and you can do this consistently… you have something.
To: AZNFOODLOVER
First, Killing dragon master is not a “waste”.
Second, Tapping a troublesome monster for one ain’t shit?
Third, you talk about the late game. If your focused or even thinking too much about the late game; you’ll probably be running expensive bombs. If your running expensive bombs, your giving up early and mid game consistency. This explains why you don’t like stabbing pain, and wrecking balls land destruction. I understand your thought process, but to say the cards are overall bad is just pretentious. You have to keep in mind that people will different strategies than you, and thus will use different cards. Grahf clearly states that he’s using an aggressive approach; it seems you are not, keep that in mind.
BTW
You’ve mentioned onyx mage. I’d like to know what you think of it. “Onyx mage is a beast” does not explain anything. And personally, I can’t fathom how it is “beast” in any build of this deck.
On a separate note, this deck doesn’t have much synergy. Most of the cards are stand-alone cards.
Chaos warp is a must have in this deck IHMO. Artifact/enchant removal as well as the opportunity to play it on your own land on turn 3 to get the big stompie out before an opponent can react
I agree completely.
Why is there no Madness?!?! That was the best ability eva!!! Are you kiddin me bro I can play Drekavac and totally avoid his discard cost by madnesseses…esing!!! Give me my OP ability back Stainless.
That would only help out that one card, and the cards being discarded have to have the madness ability. they don’t fit in this deck, but a madness deck would be cool. I don’t expect to see one in duels though. It’s about as likely as seeing a cascade deck; which would be equally as cool.
Bloodchief Ascension starts being effective at earliest 6 unless you are running Vexing Devil or something exotic happens where you can reanimate a hasted creature. Even then this deck doesn’t have the sort tools to take advantage of it. Bloodchief Ascension shines when a deck provides lots of discard or milling in addition to ways to reliably get damage. Two blightnings and a blazing specter aren’t really sufficient for this ends.
I agree completely. As you can see, I don’t run any.
I have a more balanced build for this deck than my earlier build. I’ve been using it of late, and I’ve decided to make it my default build. If anyone is interested in seeing it; reply and i’ll post it.
please post bruz
It may take awhile being that wing has to allow it through due to the size, giggity.
My balanced deck build. Keep in mind, I took out cards that are only great when played early to prevent bad late game draws.
4 Evolving Wilds – Must a I explain?
1 Deathgreeter – The health he provides makes a big difference late game. Don’t be afraid to chump block with him.
1 Dragonmaster Outcast – She MUST be dealt with. At best she’s a late 5/5 dragon maker. At worst a removal magnet. Play her when you can, don’t wait, with 2 reanimates she’s likely come back.
2 Reanimate – Be smart with this card. It can put your health in the red zone. Focus on things with ignition effects like Grv Titn, and wurm just in-case they get murdered.
2 Typhoid Rats – A great defender. Big things won’t even attack.
2 Vexing Devil – Great aggro card. 4 face damage. (haven’t seen him get through)
1 Demonic Tutor – Homework must be completed in blood.
3 Terminates – Regenerate? They can try.
2 Blightning – Drop two AND make take 3 damage for 3. What’s not to like.
2 Chaos warps – Did I he shoot 5 shots or 6? Great removal for the price of entropy. The red beast within.
1 Heat Shimmer – Great for ignition effects and extra damage. Try not to hold this too long.
1 Lyzolda, the Blood Witch – My screensaver. Sac thing that are doomed; Including her. Do I hear fake block? Pairs great with Grave Titan
2 ashenmoor Liege – Target him… I dare you. Most thing get +2/+2. An auto include.
1 Blazing Specter – Someone wishes they didn’t tap out. The haste makes this guy soo good.
2 Hellhole rats – Be careful what you drop. Card advantage and maybe some quick damage.
3 Wrecking Ball – Quitting in 3, 2… . More creature removal. God help them if their in land trouble.
2 Bituminous Blast – Can play all of the above with it. More costly removal, but it’s instant and it cascades.
4 Demigod of revenge – If you don’t have the promos… get them now. Undercosted and pulls out his brothers. If only he had haste… he’d be broken. *wink* *wink*
1 Defiler of souls – He defiles you AFTER your dead? This really bothers about 2 thirds of the decks, and 4 of them have 2 colors. won’t bother you much either.
2 Grave Titan – You should all know by now how effective he is. He can turn around a losing game, excluding a flyer assault.
1 massacre wurm – The three black shouldn’t be a problem. That’s why we have 4 evolving wild. A one sided infest that makes your opponent lose health, AND is a 6/5 for 6. Great card.
11 Mountains
9 Swamps
60 cards
Mana curve form 0 to 6+ 4_8_4_6_8_6_4
50% creatures 50% other
note: there are no RR cards, so use evolving wilds to get more swamps than mountains.
Oynx mage combos with Blood cultist – gives its ability deathtouch. Auto include for me.
Hi, I bought the expansion and bought the deck key plus the foil conversion with regards to Grinning Malice.
I can’t seem to find Massacre Wurm in the deck nor the unlocked cards.
I’m playing on PC steam. I haven’t completed most of the challenges.
Have you used the promo codes to unlock the extra ten cards for the decks? The wurm is one of the promo unlocks for Rakdos. You can find the promo codes from this article:
http://www.toptiertactics.com/14452/even-more-duels-2013-promo-card-unlocks/
Those codes will give you ten extra cards for all the decks in the main game and first expansion. There are no extra cards for the two deck packs though.
What about a 4FFA build?
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