I think I like this Rakdos better than his last
iteration. That one you just never wanted to
even have on the field, much less attack with.
This one you'll ALWAYS want to attack with, as
it should be with the parun of the Rakdos Guild.
Its drawback looks worse on paper than it is--
unlike most Demons, you don't have to keep
suffering through the drawback for as long as
it's out. And once it's out, you shouldnt' have
any trouble dropping all manner of other massive
creatures, since Rakdos himself will hit for 6.
You could easily have a turn four Rakdos
followed by a turn five Ulamog, the Infinite
Gyre. And then don't worry about turn six,
because most sane players would scoop about
then.
This is a rather interesting look at this
particular guild leader - much more aggressively
costed than our last look at him (I seem to be
saying that about a lot of cards these days). He
clearly fits well in a burn deck, with stats
that look a lot like 90s mainstays such as Rathi
Dragon and Balduvian Horde, but a somewhat
easier-to-meet condition. The cost-reduction
clause is very tempting too, although there are
times it'll be offset somewhat because the only
way you have to damage the opponent is to burn
them and thus use extra mana anyway, but it
theoretically enables pretty ridiculous plays.
Worth looking into, I say.
Today's card of the day is Rakdos, Lord of
Riots which is a two Black and two Red Legendary
6/6 with Flying, Trample, requires an opponent
to have lost life before he can be cast, and
reduces the cost of your creature spells by one
for each life point your opponents have lost
this turn. Four mana for the 6/6 with
evasion and Trample is an amazing price, even
with the casting cost being very specific and
requiring a Black/Red only deck to be most
effective the availability of dual lands can
make it more reliable. That limitation promotes
a variety of loss of life options, whether
through creatures attacking or burn effects it
shouldn't be difficult to cast this on the
fourth or fifth turn. The effect is a very
nice bonus when paired with artifact creatures
or ones with relatively high costs and few
colored mana symbols. Overall this is a
powerful card that may see competitive decks
built around it, but will definitely be popular
in Commander and casual formats.
In Limited this is a huge bomb offensively that
can be supported with some of the multiple
creatures in set that have high casting costs
with only one or two Red or Black mana symbols.
Causing the loss of life should not be difficult
for a Rakdos build and the only minor issue
might be having the right number of Red and
Black mana sources in play.
An absolute must play in a Rakdos sealed,
difficult to splash into another guild, and a
first pick for Booster to either start a
dedicated Rakdos or prevent another player from
running with it in their own.
Welcome back to
the Pojo.com card of the day section. We close
out this week of looking at Rakdos cards by
looking at the Guildleader himself, Rakdos, Lord
of Riots, from Return to Ravnica. Rakdos is a
mythic rare legendary creature demon that costs
two red mana and two black mana for a 6/6.
Rakdos has flying and trample. You cannot cast
Rakdos though, however, unless an opponent has
lost life this turn. Rakdos’ ability is that
your creature spells cost one generic mana less
for each one life your opponents have lost this
turn.
Wow! Just simply, Wow! How can you not love
Rakdos and everything that he is and does? A 6/6
for four mana is a great bargain. Who cares an
opponent had to have lost life to get him out,
I’d happily pay two life to Gut Shot an opponent
to get this guy out! But you can just get a few
toms onto the field and ensure that you might
not have to.
The real fun begins once he is there though.
Every point of damage you can get through makes
it easier to get your big guys out faster than
your opponent. And when your bringing a party
bigger than your opponent, faster than they can
handle, that spells victory.
Since I usually like comparing big things with
big creatures, this guys multiplayer value is
astronomical. Combine Rakdos with Breath of
Malfegor, and you could easily turn five a free
Emrakul, or any of the other Eldrazi Titans.
That is just insane!
All of this combines to prove that Rakdos really is a
Lord of Riots, now how and where will you
unleash yours?
