Don't be results-oriented. Even bad cards have their times to shine.

Surge isn't that bad now, mind you, but I think it is pretty bad in this type of deck. Cut the Treasons and a land and play two Banefires and three Sparkmages.

Yeah, as I said generally it sits around while I spend mana elsewhere but with unearth it really shines at times.

I am results-oriented though and if results prove something works better than speculations then why not?! I am in no way saying that in regards to your comments about card choices.

I thought about the sparkmages.. but I don't like their vulnerability since people generally hate killing the unearth guys because they pop anyway, and my recursions because well.. they come back.. I feel the sparkmages are just sitting ducks even more so here. And at 3 mana I feel I want it to be a little more aggressive.

What I mean is don't let that one flashy win color your opinion of the card.

Warstorm is actually quite good in an Unearth deck that aggros hard. Rakdos decks always have card advantage issues since red has no draw and blacks draw is mediocre at best. Unearth keeps you from running out.

I made a Rakdos deck built around this theme. I spammed the board fast and early with my Hellsparks and Katharis.. stuck a few Draggers in the graveyard. Dumped cards out of my hand as fast as I could. At the end of that I dropped Warstorm Surge. Now my graveyard was a loaded magazine. It's GG within two rounds of Surge hitting the board, combined with the early aggro damage. By the time you pay 6 to drop Surge, you can already unearth 3 Draggers or Hellsparks.. that's 9 damage for 6 mana.. and you get to swing for 9.. all without playing a card that turn lol. If Kathari unearths and gets through, that's 2 damage off Surge, 2 off Kathari swinging, a Krenko's Command, then 2 more off Surge for the tokens.. for 5 mana, and it didn't have to be cast out of your hand.

Its probably the best Rakdos idea so far IMO.. much more competitive than the much maligned, Rakdos Sac/Steal, 2 for 1 special that folks keep attempting to make better.

I jammed the Banefires, Resounding Thunders, and some other burns in there for more reach and removal.. and two Treason effects for closers.

I'm not passing definitive judgment on the card either way because I haven't played it (though it looks bad to me as I said), just saying that you have to evaluate it based on how often it's good versus how often it's bad. It's very easy to get caught up with a card after you have an amazing win on the back of it so I was just trying to temper 2best's enthusiasm a little bit.

The Unearth concept looks like a solid way to combat the fact that Rakdos just runs out of gas so fast. Having mana sinks in your graveyard and with Banefire could be enough juice to close the game.

Surge sucks in places like Jund/Gruul Ramp decks where you need to be dropping bombs on turn 5+ to stabilize.. not enchantments that don't affect the board. By the time Surge hits the board in this theme, you have already done damage, likely have some type of board state so you don't need to stabilize, and are most likely out of cards. That late game mana sink/reach is a fantastic closer for this theme.

How often is it a better six-mana investmet than Inferno Titan?

Titan is easier to remove. He also sucks vs Spiders.. and can be blocked/traded with. There's no reason both can't be in there. He didn't make my list though bc I wanted major early game speed. After I blow my load early in typical Rakdos fashion, Surge will let me play the majority of my hand twice.

This deck is about early aggro and late game burn. I didn't put any bombs in there bc after Surge goes down, or the opponent stabilizes, the deck switches gears from aggro into a full on burn deck. I didn't even put in Stormbreath.

I should probably post a list, but then I'd have to get out of bed. Will do later.

From 2best's list, I replaced stormbreath and 2 act of treason with Warstorm and 2 banefire. Haven't drawn Warstorm yet, but there were many games where if I had I would have won faster or just won. The issue is so expensive and does nothing when dropped. If you aren't already winning or at least have a board presence, drawing it could be a loss...just so slow. Like I said, haven't drawn it yet, so I will test more. This is the first rakdos list I actually like, so I will test further.

Updated the list to reflect my current state. Thanks for everyone's input and I look forward to further discussion and tweaking!

I stated my opinion about surge before.. Most of the time it felt like it sat in my hand. That was also back in the jund variant i had that became this. I am not deadset on surge here yet but I like it here MORE than anywhere else I have played it to date.

I am feeling like surge as a 1of here isn't such a bad decision. I am also pretty sure that the treasons will all be removed. Currently I dropped them for banefire and surge I believe. Time to boot up and take a loot at the current state and probably update list here.

I really want treason but as I have said before it is just so darn dependent on your enemy! ><

I swear stormbreath is becoming the Baneslayer of red for me. (Meaning that I love him in virtually all builds I play red. White protection is massive!)

Inspired by 2best and megabeast, I decided to try my hand at a Rakdos aggro list featuring Unearth as a backup plan. The end result was quite different so let's discuss:



What I like about this list is the ability to curve Tormented Hero into Hellspark and swing for five on the second turn. Then there's Goblin Shortcutter to make sure that all the little guys can connect through midrange blockers.

Ulcerate is premium removal and any black aggro deck should play it, so I am. Agent of the Fates doesn't have much Heroic support, but he's a great creature for his mana cost anyway so he's worth including for the marginal upside.

I chose Indulgent Tormentor over Graveborn Muse as my "card draw" engine because he's right at home atop the curve of a beatdown deck.

Thoughts?

Kathari Bomber is not a good card here I feel. It can only generate Goblins on turn 4, for an attack on turn 5, at which point they'll be surplus to requirements. You're never going to want to pay the extortionate Unearth cost, you have no way to utilise the Goblins for sacrifical purposes, and if Goblin Rabblemaster is out, you won't even be able to use them to defend with.

For 3 mana I would much prefer Rockslide Elementals. With all the dying going on (Rabblemaster tokens, Hellspark Elementals, Unearth blocks, Bloodghast)s, they'll get huge very quickly. The Bomber has only one use as far as i'm concerned, and that's in a sacrifice deck as fuel and a generator (as a costly, but impressive, 6 sacs for 1 card).

I also don't feel Agent of the Fates is great here either, apart from the basic body, which is more defensive than offensive due to the low toughness and Deathtouch. You have a total of 3 cards to activate it with (6 in truth, but you'll almost never want to Ulcerate it).

I'd prefer Cunning Sparkmage. Easier to cast, and works well with Coordinated Assaulted attackers in allowing First Strike to kill creatures a point out of range, lets Ulcerate kill 4 toughness creatures too, and is a much more agressive card, with the Haste letting it have an impact the turn it comes down. The Agent, for me, only works in Rakdos with an Aura heavy build. Otherwise it's more of a control-ish, Dimir type card.

I said I would make a list and here it is. I've only put 5 games into it but it has been strong. I put Stormbreath and Inferno Titan back in lol. I had Volcanic Geyser in there but I never cast it, it always sat in my hand, swapped it out for Skullcrack to counter lifegain, which has been my only loss so far.

I wanted Augur Spree bc it's awesome.. but all my spells like that need to be able to hit the face, not just creatures.

Warstorm Surge has been great. I hit it in 2 of my 5 games, and it was GG within two turns both times. It's like Sphinx Bone Wand.. which everyone loves.. but even faster, bc you don't have to wait for the damage to ramp up 1, 2, 3, etc. and it costs 1 mana less.

Galvanic Juggernaut has been pretty good. It represents a serious clock.

Kathari Bomber sucks as a hardcast, but it awesome as an unearth. I have mixed feelings about it.

Wrecking Ogre has been a sick wincon as it always is.. it's also decent removal against big stabilizers. It's GG on Stormbreath.

Banefire and Skullcrack/Volcanic Geyser haven't even been cast yet.. they weren't needed.. but I still think they are the right cards.

1 CMC
4x Goblin Arsonist
2x Banefire

2CMC
2x Bloodghast
3x Hellspark Elemental
3x Skullcrack.. this is where Geyser used to be.

3CMC
2x Goblin Rabblemaster
4x Kathari Bomber

4CMC
3X Galvanic Juggernaut
4X Viscera Dragger

5CMC
2x Burning Anger.. more reach/removal vs stabilized boards.
2x Wrecking Ogre
1x Stormbreath Dragon
1x Shadowborn Demon.. haven't cast this guy yet.

6CMC
2x Warstorm Surge
1x Inferno Titan

24 Lands

4x Rakdos Guildgate
10 Mountains
10 Swamps

Up for discussion:

Bloodghast
Shadowborn
Skullcrack
Burning Anger
Galvanic Juggernaut.. I really like the clock this thing represents.

I do feel people forget just how great Galvanic Juggernaut is as a beatdown card in general. I almost never see it in decks except ones that look to circumvent the drawback (such as sac or tap decks) or exploit it with Burning Anger.

What people don't get is, if you're attacking all the time, it's almost never a drawback, and it'll untap every turn anyway. I think because it's colourless, people just forget it exists unless they have a combo for it. I know i've been guilty of that in the past.

Nothing wrong with just slotting it in a Rakdos build as a value card.

I'm of the opposite opinion on the Bomber. I feel it's acceptable as a hardcast because it can also block and trade if need be, but the Unearth is extortionate, and the residiual value of two Goblins at that stage of the game is not worth it unless you're exploiting them in some way (sac, etc).

Via Unearth, the Goblins are too late for aggro (turn 6 attack, earliest, without trickery) and you don't want to be chumping as part of your strategy in an aggro deck, so what use are they? And without them having an impact, you're only getting possibly 2 damage for 5 mana (the Bombers are easily blocked) - an awful deal in an aggro deck.

@ Hakeem - Could Demonic Appetite actually be a consideration here? If you consider it a 1 mana Resounding Thunder to the face on an Unearth vehicle, it could have some nice output. It would add some more synergy to the heroic options and you have several tokens/recursion to help manage the downside? This would also make me want to consider Fling as well. Seems like there could be some nice quick damage there.

One thing I've been experiencing with Unearthed is how quickly any intermittent life gain can stretch the game out. You've hasted and unearthed and now lost your output only to have some miniscule life bump take them out of reach. So outside of your closing game, you may consider a SkullCrack or two.

elk

I put Juggernaut in there for those reasons, but also bc I can use Burning Anger on the player and not just creatures. I wanted burn to be the lategame closer in case everything else fails.

Kathari Bomber unearthed has been super good with Warstorm Surge in play.. but the turn 3 casting is just awful. It makes me want to go into Grixis with this deck for.. Brackwater Elemental.. is that the unearth card blue has? Can't remember.

The problem here is, in an aggressive Rakdos deck, there's almost no circumstance where Furor of the Bitten isn't a better option in almost every single scenario.



Warstorm is one reason to consider the Bomber - as I say, unless you're exploiting it in some way, the 2 Goblins really are of little benefit when Unearthed, and certainly not worth the 5 mana for me. Brackwater is better in every regard I feel, and although it can't split the 4 damage like the Bomber can, it guarantees it rather than needing to connect first, and does it for a much cheaper price.

I should probably consider the galvanic in my build.. Stevo I would love your input on my build above.

EDIT: Holy crap galvanic I feel was made for this deck. Currently testing 3 galvanic and 1 burning anger in place of 1 banefire, 1 stormbreath, 1 shadowborn, 1 blasting station. Dunno if those trades are all worth each trade but after a few matches I think galvanic REALLY has a place here.

.

Ok, so initial thoughts...

Banefire isn't great here. As a deck, you're not likely to 6 mana in order to trigger what makes it a great damage spell towards players. In that regard, I'd replace it with Auger Spree if you're using it for creature kill, or Suffer the Past if going purely for player damage, as the increased utility and instant speed makes it better for that task IMO. Only keep it if you want the choice of player or creature kill, but bear in mind there's better options in those colours IMO individually, but I understand this is a marginal issue.

I'm not a fan of the Bombers unless you can get additional value from them, which you do here, but I still think 4 is too many even then.

Blasting Station is good, but are 3 needed? You'll almost never need more than 1 out. I understand wanting to ensure you draw a sac outlet, but in that case you want more than 3 in the deck. I'd go for 2 Stations and 2-3 of another outlet. Devouring Swarm is my favourite for aggro, but the Vampire is better for a more midrange approach.

I don't know why you wouldn't use Rockslide Elementals. To me, they're a cornerstone of any deck like this as they get huge very quickly, and a lot of decks just can't answer them. With sac outlets you can even grow them on demand. I think 3 of are a must.

Quests are good, but not essential. I'd maybe cut down to 2. They're good early, but often dead late. When you have the mana, I'd rather just cast a large creature than hope I can generate one by having to sacrifice my own resources when I may not want to in order to benefit. Warstorm is good too, and obviously works well with the Quests, but I always feel you need to commit to a card or not use it. I would never have a 1 of something like this as it makes its impact too random. Go big or go home!

Thinking outside the box, you could splash a third colour if you wanted to. Jund is the obvious candidate. Kresh the Bloodbraided and Sprouting Thrinaxes would be a great addition if going Green, and something I'd strongly consider, as it also allows you to create tokens on demand via Jade Mage. Young Wolfs allow a double sacrifice too. Rather than Devouring Swarm as an additional sac outlet, Thorn-Thrash Viashino would be good. Doubling Season also has uses, but it less optimal as it only works with half the deck.