I've tried subbing in Kari Zev and her expertises for Collective Defiance and the bloodhall priests. I'm having a lot of success but not sure which approach is better. When Kari gets down early, she is so nasty with backed up fiery tempers to clear blockers.

I'm still using Gabrosin's original build and haven't made any subs yet.

I've been fiddling around with a deck idea around Pia's Revolution, sacrificing cheap artifacts to black creatures like Defiant Salvager and then either getting them back or having the opponent take 3 damage. However I haven't found a build that really works. Anyone got an idea, or is the basic idea just too bad?

I would say that Pia's Revolution would be a better fit in a Tezz deck splashing red than a straight Rakdos build. Since we can only play the two copies, it just wouldn't come up often enough even if you played something like Diabolic Tutor (which I feel would just be clunky in a fast aggro deck like this.)

Here's one that works and is great fun, nearly creatureless however.

https://www.magicduelshelper.com/deckli ... 35283d748e

I apologize if vehicle decks are unwelcome here, but could I have some rates and fixes?
The problem is I chose the KLD/AER + SOI/EMN route and I'm not even done with that yet so I don't have the 3cc thopter generators from Origins nor the BR eldrazi from Zendikar that gives haste.

3 Inventor's Apprentice
2 Bomat Courier
2 Glint-Sleeve Siphoner
2 Kari Zev, Skyship Raider
2 Speedway Fanatic
2 Scraphead Scrounger
2 Pia Nalaar
3 Weldfast Engineer
1 Olivia, Mobilized for War

2 Smuggler's Copter
2 Aerthersphere Harvester
2 Fleetwheel Cruiser

3 Fatal Push
3 Harnessed Lightning
3 Unlicensed Disintegration
1 Insult (lucky pull from a stray Amonkhet booster)

1 Liliana, the Last Hope
1 Chandra, Flame of Defiance

23 obvious lands

As you can see, it follows the Philosophy of Red but without some of the archetype's strongest game-winners I want to have a plan for mid-late game and also some consistency, hence the lack of Lathnu Hellion or pump spells that I usually see in decks like this in ladder.

Glint-Sleeve, Bomat and the planeswalkers are part of the advantage plan, since this is not Mardu (with all its three colors) I believe the mana base is compact enough to accommodate Liliana and she is strong enough to win some games on her own, I'd personally take out Chandra before removing her.

Olivia, I believe, is a good card here that helps with consistency by providing a solid 3/3 flier without relying on vehicles or artifact synergies. On the topic, I lost a couple games due to having no artifacts to play along my 3 Apprentices and 3 Weldfast. I'm currently wondering whether to add 2 Walking Ballista but I recognize that perhaps I was just unlucky with my draws or unskilled with my mulligans. The rate is 6 artifact-dependant cards and 12 artifacts, counting Pia Nalaar.

I'm worried with potentially dead/useless creatures, hence only 2 Speedways, if I add the Ballistas then he's first on my list. Apprentice is useless without artifacts, Weldfast is too valuable to 1-on-1 with an opponent creature, Kari Zev and Glint quite well can't attack if their menace is broken. Little Olivia helps a lot with that.

Why should these decklists not be welcome here?

Regarding the artifact count for Inventor's Apprentice (which kinda applies to Weldfast Engineer as well), Frank Karsten has crunched the numbers and written an excellent article. Based on that article, I would enourage you to make the switch (Speedway Fanatic <-> Walking Ballista) you already thought about.

Regarding the manabase, it is surprisingly hard to accomodate for a t3 Liliana and a t4 Chandra at the same time, especially if you want to play 1-drops at the same time. Also, the lands are far from obvious in my mind, especially seeing how you don't seem to have a full collection (How many Evolving Wilds did you open? What about Smoldering Marsh? Are you running the taplands? And so on).

Given the tough manabase and the fact that she doesn't really forward an aggro gameplan enough in my mind, I'd look at cutting Liliana in the long run. Another switch that might be in your future is Heart of Kiran > Aethersphere Harvester (at least over one of them, the other one could stay or get cut as you see fit; but I wouldn't want to run a 7th vehicle)

Other than that, the list looks solid, though I'm not the biggest fan of Kari since she dislikes crewing Vehicles that much.

You may be right, maybe I should cut the Liliana after all, the list is mostly red. My only full packs at this time are KLD+AER+SOI so I actually don't have any Evolving Wilds or manlands.

6 starter box rakdos lands
3 Aether Hub
8 Mountain
6 Swamp

I think I have too many 2 power creatures to play Kiran. What would you replace Kari with? If I take her out I'd also be tempted to remove some Fatal Pushes for Shocks or Collective Defiance.

-2 Fleetwheel Cruiser and your 2/1 creatures should go away with them
+1 Heart of Kiran
+1 Skysovereign, Consul Flagship

IMHO Olivia, Mobilized for War is not worse itself even in my dedicated Madness Deck

I went
-1 Liliana
-1 Insult
-2 Speedway
+2 Walking Ballista
+2 Lathnu Hellion

Kari Zev is underperforming, Glint-Sleeve is hard to measure as it is a primary removal target. I don't think I can add Kiran and Skysovereign unless I take out the one-drops. I'm thinking about adding Gifted Aetherborn, I think the mana-base can accomodate it, to be safe, just 2 copies.

Aetherborn is not correct IMO. You have way too few ways to get double-black reliably.

Since you likely don't have Abbot of Keral Keep, I'd vote for two Aether Chaser to replace Kari with. Not terribly exciting, but he can crew the Fleetwheels and he works with both the artifact and the energy subtheme. Also, 2 power first strike ain't THAT bad.

Huh, I'll test
-2 Kari Zev
-1 Fatal Push
+2 Shock
+1 Magma Spray (lucky pull)

That leaves at 19 creatures and 11 removal.

I'm trying to revive Rakdos Steal-Sac, sadly I haven't found any useful card in AHK for this deck. Perhaps I could use Exert creatures and sacrifice them instead of waiting a turn, the other option is to add 1~2 Glorybringers, maybe I should do that but this deck type already struggles with early game consistency.

21 Creatures:
(13 sacrificers)
3 Indulgent Aristrocrat
2 Yahenni, Undying Partisan
4 Bloodflow Connosseur
4 Defiant Salvager
(8 sacrifice outlets)
2 Kari Zev Skyship Raider
2 Lathnu Hellion
2 Hanweir Garrison
2 Impetuous Devils

14 Sorceries = 14 Steal Cards
4 Wrangle
2 Kari Zev's Expertise
4 Hijack
4 Traitorous Instinct

1 Chandra, Torch of Defiance

24 Lands:
8 Swamp
12 Mountain
2 Dragonskull Summit
2 Hanweir Battlements

Reasoning:
I ran this deck in AER as midrange but that was a mistake, "steals" are inherently aggro cards, this time I'm running a fast mana-base with mostly red cards. Zev and Hanweir can give you infinite fodder, Hellion and Impetuous Devils are great cards that would just die anyway, other than this the deck goes all out with all of the useful steal cards (Act of Treason is inferior).

I don't have that rakdos cat from Origins that sacrifices but if I remember correctly he costs 4 mana and asks for more mana to sacrifice creatures, that being the case I wouldn't run it anyway.

Steal-sac doesn't make sense without Hazoret's Favor (from Amonkhet). The card is perfect for the deck.
Another funky idea is ETB effects and Supernatural Stamina and favor. Stuff like Weaponcraft Enthusiast would work really well and traditional rakdos crats stuff.
I like the idea, but there is too much nearly-creatureless control on the ladder...
I put together a mono-red version but didn't get around to testing it, but you can get some ideas from it:

Mono-red Treason

Creature(8)
2 x Heart-Piercer Manticore
2 x Impetuous Devils
1 x Hazoret the Fervent
2 x Glorybringer
1 x Bedlam Reveler

Instant(11)
4 x Shock
3 x Fling
4 x Fiery Temper

Sorcery(11)
3 x Wrangle
2 x Kari Zev's Expertise
2 x Exquisite Firecraft
2 x Collective Defiance
2 x Hijack

Split(2)
2 x Insult

Enchantment(2)
2 x Hazoret's Favor

Artifact(4)
2 x Brain in a Jar
2 x Key to the City

Land(22)
22 x Mountain

To view this deck go to: https://www.magicduelshelper.com/deckli ... 93f17c0d58

Created using Magic Duels Helper: http://www.magicduelshelper.com

Oh, that's right, I completely missed Hazoret's Favor.
Manticore-like cards don't work since you already need to spend mana casting the steal spell.

So at first I went
-4 Defiant Salvager
+2 Hazoret's Favor
+2 Scraphead Scrounger (why wasn't this already in the deck...)

Then I noticed my mana curve is way too high, I had to
-2 Lathnu Hellion
-2 Impetuous Devils
+2 Festering Mummy
+2 Goblin Arsonist
Thinking about taking out the Arsonists for that 2/1 First Striker from AER that summons a servo by paying 2 energy. I like Mummy though.

Clearly, the ladder doesn't work at high ranks.

Happy birthday!!

Fun spells deck. Ran into a player running this archetype on the ladder two games in a row and thought it looked interesting. Built this afterwards to enjoy. Surely not identical (I'm running Embermaw when I doubt the other person did, because I like what Jaya does for red damage spells in War of the Spark limited), and they had Hungry Flames where I couldn't find room for it. Possible they weren't running any Chandras, where I feel she wants to be in here. Maybe even creature Chandra, but I haven't tried that yet. Also didn't see Cut // Ribbons, but I like the extra bit of reach on the back end. Didn't see Abbots either, but I think the extra card on ETB is useful. They prob weren't running maps and Disintegrations, but I like what those bring to the table. The only thing I know is the same is Thermo-Alchemists, Alms/Temper/Reunion/Axe madness package, and Collective Defiance - along with the general idea of spelling off with Alchemist burn. I don't think I've played with Alchemists outside UR spells, but it's a lot of fun in Rakdos burn.

Ledit Burn

Renegade Map x4
Fatal push x3
Fall of the Titans x2
Lava Axe x2
Shock x3
Abbot of Keral Keep x2
Thermo-Alchemist x4
Cathartic Reunion x3
Fiery Temper x4
Unlicensed Disintegration x3
Alms of the Vein x3
Collective Defiance x2
Cut // Ribbons x1
Chandra, Torch of Defiance x1
Embermaw Hellion x2
Chandra, Flamecaller x1
Swamp x6
Mountain x8
Smoldering Marsh x2
Dragonskull Summit x2
Evolving Wilds x2


Maps turn on Disintegration damage, revolt for Pushes, extra 1 mana spells to surge Falls, and let me run fewer lands. Not really taking up spell slots due to lowered land count it allows. Also nice to fetch a land to hand for Reunions after mana is fixed and you've played out any Disintegrations you were holding.

Abbots in for card draw, and buff attack off the spell theme. Could see trading them for Walking Ballistas for ping damage and extra source to turn on Disintegrations, but feeling the card draw more initially.

Chandra Flamecaller might be too excessive in mana cost, and could see this traded out for another Cut // Ribbons, but I have her in for utility in sweeper effect, rummaging (turning on madness spells, cycling excess lands), and elemental attackers.

Embermaw Hellions are great here. Making Shocks lightening bolts is good. Doubling damage output on Alchemists is amazing. Maybe it wants to be Bedlam Revelers instead for more draw and madness outlet, but I've been happy with Embermaws and their 4/5 bodies plus extra lethality on Alchemists and burn spells so far.

Not sure if the quantity breakdowns on spells is exactly right, but feels like spell inclusions are pretty close to right. Might be doing some fine tuning as I get more games in with it, but it's a blast to play.

Since these forums are frequented a little more often now and I have been playing Duels a bit recently, I might post my current iterations of some decks I've been running. Nothing too surprising or fancy for the most part, though.

I'll start with the deck that has undergone the least amount of change, Rakdos Midrange.

Creatures(23):
2 x Walking Ballista
3 x Inventor's Apprentice
2 x Bomat Courier
2 x Glint-Sleeve Siphoner
2 x Kari Zev, Skyship Raider
2 x Scrapheap Scrounger
3 x Ahn-Crop Crasher
2 x Pia Nalaar
1 x Hazoret, the Fervent
2 x Pia and Kieran Nalaar
2 x Glorybringer

Instants and sorceries(8):
3 x Fatal Push
2 x Cut // Ribbons
3 x Unlicensed Disintegration

Vehicles(3):
2 x Smuggler's Copter
1 x Heart of Kiran

Planeswalkers(1):
1 x Chandra, Torch of Defiance

Lands(25):
2 x Swamp
8 x Mountain
2 x Smoldering Marsh
2 x Dragonskull Summit
3 x Aether Hub
4 x Evolving Wilds
4 x Cinder Barrens


A few points of note:
-25 lands seems high for an aggressive deck, but the deck has a ton of manasinks and ways to generate card advantage.
-No Harnessed Lightning because I think the other removal spells are better fits and we don't need more.
-No Akoum Firebird because of the bug with it
-No Aethersphere Harvester because the deck never needs more than one Vehicle and the 2-mana ones are better.
-Hanweir Garrison, potentially even one Hanweir Battlement, are tempting. The biggest problem here is that this would up the curve significantly because the most likely cut would be Inventor's Apprentice, and I'm not sure that's enough of an upgrade to warrant being a lot less aggressive.