For those of you looking for a day 1 killer, I see no reason why this wouldn't still be a dominant deck at the highest possible level. This list is borderline unchanged from last season, which is why I waited to post it. It's the absolute best deck I built during AER, it's tight, it has a real pedigree, and it will win you way more than 70%.

AKH Rakdos Vehicles

Main Deck (60)
Creatures (20)
2 x Walking Ballista
3 x Inventor's Apprentice
2 x Glint-Sleeve Siphoner
2 x Scrapheap Scrounger
3 x Forerunner of Slaughter
3 x Thopter Engineer
3 x Weldfast Engineer
2 x Glorybringer

Spells (17)
3 x Fatal Push
1 x Heart of Kiran
2 x Smuggler's Copter
3 x Harnessed Lightning
2 x Aethersphere Harvester
3 x Unlicensed Disintegration
2 x Fleetwheel Cruiser
1 x Skysovereign, Consul Flagship

Lands (23)
2 x Dragonskull Summit
2 x Smoldering Marsh
3 x Aether Hub
3 x Foundry of the Consuls
6 x Swamp
7 x Mountain


Currently testing Glorybringer, but could still revert back to the original Bloodhall Priest, if it doesn't live up to the hype. A second possible change is Ballista out - Insult // Injury in. Regardless, there are only 4 possible non-optimal cards in the build at this time - imo.

Nice one.

So this is better than Mardu huh.

Without even a shadow of doubt in my mind.

It was played competitively this season btw (in case that matters), and the person who played it won KotH - BB.

It's also an excellent choice for people who will be unlocking AKH, as it only includes 2 AKH cards, and I mentioned the replacement in the OP.

I really think the Fling builds, if well chosen, can be lethal in our meta...and Radkos Cars is probably one of the best homes for the Atogs

So:

2 x Walking Ballista

2 x Bomat Courier
3 x Fatal Push

3 x Ravenous Intruder
2 x Glint-Sleeve Siphoner
2 x Scrapheap Scrounger
3 x Forerunner of Slaughter
1 x Heart of Kiran
2 x Smuggler's Copter
2 x Harnessed Lightning
2 x Fling

2 x Aethersphere Harvester
3 x Unlicensed Disintegration
3 x Thopter Engineer
2 x Insult // Injury

1 x Chandra, Torch of Defiance

1 x Skysovereign, Consul Flagship
1 x Glorybringer

6 x Swamp
7 x Mountain

2 x Dragonskull Summit
2 x Smoldering Marsh
3 x Aether Hub
2 x Foundry of the Consuls
1 x Inventor's Fair


I'm guessing that Insult // Injury is quite awesome with Ballista, Chandra, UD, Harverster (+6 life, I bet)...and of course, Fling

Or if you like the Weldfast, +3 Weldfast, -1 Insult -2 Siphoner is another option

On DJ's deck: i also had more success with this deck (64-7 I think) than I did with Mardu builds. I went on a 16 win game streak once with this.

So the only change is Glorybringer instead of Priest? I think that makes sense. The only time I really liked playing Priest was with madness with Smuggler's Copter.

The Ballista suggested swap is very tough to judge. Ballista combos with Apprentice, Weldfast, Engineer, Scrounger, Forerunner, Copter, Harvester, Distintegration, and arguably Cruiser, Skyship and Heart of Kiran. It's very thematic.

In the end, Ballista is MUCH faster than Insult/Injury which is more midrange. I think this deck is built for speed and we have to stay focused on that. We are never playing Insult on T3 I think. We are holding it up for when we have lethal. But this deck is supposed to T4 or T5 kill I think... and Ballista gets us there faster. I think Copter and Harvester REALLY like having Ballista in this deck. I T2 drop Ballista very often with this deck and i've played this deck A LOT

Yeah BB, I'm on the same page, and I posted what I think is the best list.

@call, that also looks very competitive... nice one. I would still strongly recommend weldfast engi somehow - the changes you made make it more, not less, relevant, imo. Honestly, try my build at some point. There really isn't any fluff. The changes you make are all valid, but a chance at a 1 shot kill is not the same as pure consistent beats. And Rakdos can provide them, with very little effort.

Oh, I played a very similar version during KLD, but got a bit bored of how good it was, lol...well, as said, you can swap 1 Insult or Chandra + Siphoner for the Weldfast...it's just that i think that Fling can consistently speed up the average win 1 turn...

Many times, in my experience, you ended t4, or even t5, on the brink of winning with Radkos Cars, just a few damage points away...and a 2 mana spell that can do between 3 and, I dunno...8? removal-proof damage by t4-5...in the wort case, op has to waste the removal on the Atogs, just for the threat they pose...the better for your vehicles

What are atogs?

And i agree about your experience at the end of T4, Maggit, of having that feeling of being right on the edge of winning, and this is precisely why I think GloryBringer is so much better than Priest. I'll get to swing hasted in the air for 4 AND take out a blocker for my alpha strike. I'm sure that'll be the game winner right there pretty often.

He's talking about Ravenous Intruder, a card very similar to Atog from back in the day.

Seeing as Gloryholebringer was one of the only decent thinks I unlocked until Steam's gold got busted, I've been giving your list a whirl. Swapped a swamp out for a Mountain as I found I often had more Black sources than I needed when I wanted 2 or more Reds. Really like this build just as I did in AER, but the AI is now fond of a Rakdos deck that spams -1/-1 counters which screws this over a bit. If it resolves Archfiend without removal in hand, your thopters get trashed, and crewing becomes much harder so you're boned.

Glorybringer is an MVP, and I'd be surprised if Red based aggro excludes him even at 5 mana. Screw Hazoret, I'm chucking this bad-boy in that bone picker list instead.

Wait... are you suggesting this deck has trouble against the AI?

I did keep getting Black sources whenever I had Apprentice in hand, yes. Just saying

Kills so far are turns 5-6, haven't had anything sooner because of that Rakdos deck I mentioned being removal heavy.

Well, when the AI gets into turbo mode...

Yesterday, in the last game of the new campaign, I has the pleasure of suffer two consecutive Glorybringers and then Hazoret in t6-7-8, on the draw...

Guess who lost that game

Depends, did the AI have a vehicle in play? Because then, I expect to win, just basically automatically. Lol!

Not wanting to turn this into "**** the AKH AI does" thread, but the amount of turn 3 Nevers into T4 Returns is too damn high! In fact, the turn sequences have usually been...

T1: Tap land (can be Cradle of the accursed)
T2: Bloodrage Brawler
T3: Never
T4: Return
T5: Archfiend of Ifnir

I'm getting sick of this AI Rakdos deck.

It's crazy how fast the meta is right now. My experience yesterday: I knew if I was going to win, or lose by t3 every single game. It was nuts. I need to take a second look at some of the decks I plan on running.

Yup. Esper or Azorius control are going to be a big ask TBH if this is any indication. We can forget 2x Confirm, 2x Pull and the current ratio of 4cmc+ spells they run in place of cheap removal.

Fwiw, that was always going to be a bad strategy. But yeah, I feel your pain. There's a new enchant nobody's been talking about, which may not be half bad: 2 mana Compulsory Rest, which may actually be playable in control (color, strategy dependent), and is certainly cheap enough. We definitely don't care about giving our opponent's life in control decks.

Based on what I saw yesterday, I'm switching to midrange strategies for the time being.