Rakdos, the Muscle | Art by Victor Maury

In Rakdos-Controlled Neighborhoods, Everyone is Part of the Show

Hey, you! Yes, you, the reader with clearly excellent taste in Magic: The Gathering content. Welcome to Back to Basics, the greatest show on this plane! You may have missed our last show on Simic cards, but you're just in time for our latest attraction, the Top 10 Most Played Rakdos Cards in Commander! I know you'll have a blast; but beware! For no one who takes in a show returns unchanged! You may just just leave here with the terrifying awareness of which black and red gold cards are seeing the most play in EDH. Please take a moment to consider if this knowledge is worth the risk. And don't forget to sign the release form.

Before we begin, readers have asked me how I determine the rankings for these multicolor top 10 lists. It's a great question, as I realize that the ranks for gold cards can be different depending on where on EDHREC you look and whether you care more about the total number of decks or the percentage of decks a certain card is played in. For this and future lists, I'll be using a mix of EDHREC and Scryfall data to make sure I rank cards according to the number of decks they show up in.

I also won't be including utility lands or colorless artifacts with Rakdos color identities. Finally, I won't be excluding cards just because they show up in preconstructed decks. These lists are meant to be beginner-friendly. I think it helps less experienced players to know about more easily accessible cards that they can find in official Commander product.

And now, the show!

10. Blood for the Blood God! - 31594 decks

This is a great card to kick off our list, because it screams black and red. If this color pair has one advantage over the other nine, it's getting creatures dead. Whether those creature were yours that met their doom through sacrifice, or your opponents' that ate destroy spells or sweepers, well, the Cult of Rakdos isn't too picky.

Blood for the Blood God!'s restrictive cost evaporates once enough creatures kick the bucket, and the payoff is very nice for three mana. It being an Instant also helps a lot, as you can let your opponents do the work of killing creatures and cast it before you untap.

The card also has sweet interactions with a several commanders. Magar of the Magic Strings turns the spell into a 3/3 embodiment of carnage that can go off multiple times if you find a way to deal combat damage with it. Judith, Carnage Connoisseur can give it lifelink, which can really put you out of reach in a multiplayer game.

I particularly like the idea of pairing it with damage dealing or amplifying commanders like Obosh, the Preypiercer or Hidetsugu, Devouring Chaos, as hitting double digits in damage dealt with a single effect can go a long way towards ending the game in your favor.

9. Fire Covenant - 35667 decks

The 9th most played Rakdos card in Commander is Fire Covenant, a spell that really underscores the color pair's penchant for death-dealing. In other formats, paying some amount of life as an additional cost can be quite the drawback, Death's Shadow aside, but in EDH we have access to a lot of ways to turn this into an added benefit.

Looking at high-synergy commanders, Greven, Predator Captain gets super pumped when you cast this spell, both literally and emotionally, and Fire Covenant's effect clears the way for a huge attack. Meanwhile, Rowan, Scion of War turns the life loss into a potentially absurd amount of colorless mana, allowing you to cast as many spells as your black and red sources allow.

Covenant is also a fine sweeper-style effect in a multicolor control deck, with many EDHREC users slotting it into decks playing mana creatrues, counterspells, and other staples like Rhystic Study, Esper Sentinel, and Cyclonic Rift.

8. Juri, Master of the Revue - 37031 decks

As a card in the 99, Juri is a wonderful addition to the sacrifice synergies that make Rakdos an attractive color pair in EDH. Like any emcee, which I assume is what a Master of the Revue is, Juri makes your other cards better. One issue I've run into as an avid sacrifice gamer in different formats is that you can get an engine going and accrue value slowly without ever actually slamming the door shut on a game. Juri can grow incrementally but can also serve as a crucial removal spell or even a win condition if left unchecked.

You're pretty likely to see this creature alongside fellow payoffs like Zulaport Cutthroat and Pitiless Plunderer, as well as paired with enablers like Deadly Dispute, Viscera Seer, and Chatterfang, Squirrel General.

Juri also works really well with Treasure and other artifact token synergies, so you can look to grow him with multiplier effects like Xorn, Tireless Provisioner, and Academy Manufactor.

7. Chainer, Nightmare Adept - 46505 decks

This is one of those "plan in a can" cards that can take over a game on its own with minimal support. Of course, it does help a lot to have a bunch of devastating creatures in the graveyard to take fullest advantage of his reanimation ability. When he's not doing work in the 99 of Rakdos-only commanders like Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar, Syrix, Carrier of the Flame, and Bladewing, Deathless Tyrant, among others, you can find him in three-to-five color Legends-matter decks spearheaded by Tazri, Stalwart Survivor or Dihada, Binder of Wills.

Indeed, these Legends decks both give Chainer a lot of nice options to reanimate and the plentiful mana needed to cast big stuff from the graveyard. If you're looking to build around legendary creatures, be sure to consider other powerful options like Primevals' Glorious Rebirth, Shanid, Sleepers' Scourge, Urza's Ruinous Blast, and Ratadrabik of Urborg.

6. Kardur, Doomscourge - 55344 decks

One of my favorite sweet uncommons from Kaldheim Limited makes it into the list of most played Rakdos cards in Commander, and I think that's pretty neat. It turns out that "goading" all your opponents' creatures is much more powerful in a multiplayer, high-powered format than in a Sealed Deck match. Kardur not only gives you a turn off being attacked; he also punishes your opponents with wide boards that can't help but get into combat and die.

While I'm dreaming about using Kardur to cast a cheap Blood for the Blood God!, other players are taking advantage of his Demon type to slot him into decks featuring the likes of Be'lakor, the Dark Master, Rakdos, the Showstopper, and Raphael, Fiendish Savior.

If you aren't interested in Demon synergies, you can build around his combat-warping ability by running him in Mardu (white, black, and red) decks with Aurelia, the Law Above, Breena, the Demagogue, or Nelly Borca, Impulsive Accuser. There's something very funny to me about a deck running Rakdos cards letting the other players at the table do all the killing and combat.

5. Mahadi, Emporium Master - 59995 decks

Like Juri, Mahadi can be a huge payoff for sacrifice decks, but he also generates Treasure tokens when normal game actions like combat and casting removal spells happen. That means you can run him in a wide range of decks from sacrifice-oriented ones like Lagomos, Hand of Hatred and The Balrog, Durin's Bane, to decks that prefer lots of combat like Rankle and Torbran.

You can also go hard on Treasure generation with enablers like Xorn or Mondrak, Glory Dominus and payoffs like the Modern Horizons 3 card Marionette Apprentice or Fallout franchise villain Kellogg, Dangerous Mind.

4. Mayhem Devil - 924447 decks

This 3/3 is another one of my favorite cards in Magic. That's mostly because I've played a ton of Rakdos Sacrifice in Pioneer. But Mayhem Devil is also just another perfect payoff for a common Rakdos theme. Turning your sacrificed stuff into direct damage is already excellent, but did you know that the Devil triggers on your opponents' stuff as well? You might be surprised at how many common game actions net you damage with this in play, from cracking a fetchland to activating tokens like Food, Treasure, and Clues.

You won't be surprised to know that it sees play quite frequently alongside Juri, Mahadi, and the cards that synergize with these two Legends. But it might be news to you that you can deal near-infinite damage with Devil with a few other cards in play. I found this out after checking Commander Spellbook.

It's a little convoluted, sure. But it's great to know that we can go infinite in a Rakdos sacrifice deck without dipping into other colors.

3. Rakdos Charm - 132305 decks

Speaking of combos, Rakdos Charm can also win you the game alongside a pretty obscure collection of cards. Giving your opponents enough tokens to kill them is hilarious though, so I encourage you all to pump up the number of decks that this combo features in.

Of course, this instant can already win a long game out of nowhere, even when your opponents aren't trying to go off with infinite tokens of their own. Also having access to artifact removal and graveyard disruption makes this card flexible and powerful enough to be one of the most played Rakdos cards in Commander. It's important to remember that casting this for the third mode also deals you damage. You definitely don't want to die to your own spell! As with Fire Covenant, losing life can be a nice bonus in Rakdos decks. Lord Rakdos himself definitely approves.

2. Bedevil - 138743 decks

I said before that Rakdos is probably the best color pair at unconditional single-target removal. Bedevil goes a long way towards making this true because it can kill just about anything. It's not as flashy as a sacrifice payoff, but its flexibility and reliability means it sees play even in decks that aren't trying to trigger Mayhem Devil.

And if Bedevil isn't enough, there are tons of great black and red removal options outside the top 10. Dreadbore, Hurl Through Hell, and Kolaghan's Command are just three of the more popular Rakdos multicolor spells in the format.

1. Terminate - 197078 decks

Exclamation point fans will be happy to know that Kill! Maim! Burn! is also a decent removal option, albeit an expensive one, that you can run in punctuation matters decks with Blood for the Blood God! Too bad How Is This a Par Three?! isn't legal.

Of course, none of the removal spells I mentioned in the last two items are as powerful as the most played Rakdos card in EDH, Terminate! A lot of black-but-not-red two-mana removal spells like Go for the Throat and Doom Blade have blind spots that could cost you the game. Rakdos is the king of removal, however, so in exchange for a red pip, we get an unconditional kill, and some upside, too.

I was curious about how much the "It can't be regenerated" rider actually matters in EDH. So, enjoy this bonus list of the three most played creatures in Commander that can regenerate:

Even if this doesn't really contribute to how much this card is played, it is nice to be aware of exactly what your cards can do in different situations.

Entertain Me.

I hope you enjoyed this incredible spectacle and that you didn't get too much blood on your clothes. Don't forget to fill out a feedback form or leave a Yelp review on your way out, and make sure you let us know which Rakdos card is your personal favorite. Mine might be Mayhem Devil, but I also have a soft spot for the original Olivia Voldaren, as she was the first foil mythic rare I ever opened.

That's all, folks!

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