Rakdos, Supreme Lord of Riots (EDH / Commander) [Revision 32]

This is my Rakdos, Lord of Riots commander. The deck is built around dealing damage at nearly every turn, either via attack, or effects. Any point of damage is enough to begin flooding the board with huge, hopefully hasty boys. Every card I've selected falls into to one of five separate sections, all having a task that is pertinent to the deck's goals.

A) Deal direct damage, or amplify damage from other sources in order to allow Rakdos to be played, or to lessen the costs of other creatures due to Rakdos. (Nettle drone and pals, Warstorm Surge, Dictate of the Twin Gods, Mogis, Gratuitous Violence, Archfiend of Despair, Berserkers' Onslaught)

B) Have a large, impactful effect, either when entering the battlefield or while being on the battlefield while also having either a large colorless mana cost or an X mana cost to allow heavily amplified effects. (Blightsteel Colossus, Etali, Grenzo, Combustible Gearhulk, Steel Hellkite, Walking Ballista,)

C) Having some sort of utility to cause creatures to be more difficult to answer, such as graveyard recursion or haste abilities. (Phyrexian Reclamation, Palace Siege, Sheoldred, Lightning Greaves, Fervor)

D) Generate card draw or tutor to keep momentum and prevent stalling on turns where the entire hand can be played out at once. (Bloodgift Demon, Harvester of Souls, Immortal Sun, Phyrexian Arena, Belzenlok, Razaketh,)

E) Fall into another category while also creating a win condition when in the correct circumstance. (Mikaeus/Triskelion/Cauldron of Souls, Chandra's Ignition, Master of Cruelties, Neheb/Aggravated Assault)

I've had a lot of chances to play Rakdos now against a variety of different decks recently, and have made changes to suit flaws I seem to hit consistently.

I have removed: Vedalken Orrery, Liliana's Contract, Indulgent Tormentor, Sarhkan's Unsealing, Blood Speaker, Caged Sun, Archfiend of Depravity, Veinfire Border Post, and Cuombajj Witches.

Liliana's Contract, Indulgent Tormentor, Blood Speaker, and Archfiend of Depravity have all been removed as I've grown stale with limiting myself into the Demon Flavor for Rakdos as hard as I originally did. Essentially all four cards have consistently felt bad for me to draw in most circumstances, as their effect isn't impactful enough for the mana. I'd much rather play a card that directly helps me deal more damage or speeds up my game plan. Indulgent Tormentor in particular never pans out for me due to a creature heavy meta, as well has only having 3 toughness, causing him to rarely make it through a turn. I intend to eventually make a full demon themed deck, and these four are shoe-ins for it.

Vedalken Orrery, Caged Sun and Sarkhan's unsealing are all coming out due to timing. If I draw these cards early, they take up my 4/6 mana turn, which are very impactful turns for me momentum wise and not comparatively worth it. If I draw them late, my mana is better placed on board state. All three are being relocated to a future deck.

Cuombajj and Veinfire are victims of time. They're outclassed, and easy fodder to remove sadly. They will be missed.

The times have come calling again. Scuttling Doom Engine has met his makers. Alas, I knew him well.

I have added: Dictate of the Twin Gods, Reanimate, Rise of the Dark Realms, Fervor, Anger, Hammer of Purphoros, Animate Dead, Torrent of Souls, Kolaghan's Command and Bearer of Heavens.

Dictate of the Twin Gods is the exact kind of havok I love. Extra damage that stacks with my other options is great, and more importantly I can flash it out at beautiful moments.

Due to a creature heavy meta, we also end up having a board wipe heavy meta. Thus, having more graveyard recursion, and Rise of the Dark realms as a late game bomb gives me a lot more chances to rebuild.

The main issue I've encountered is popping off on a turn, playing a huge boardstate of enormous creatures, but having to wait an entire cycle of turns to take action. More haste options let me capitalize on my brief windows of action consistently. A good turn is a won game with haste.

Bearer of the Heavens takes the old position of Dark Steel Colossus. A large creature for cheap, but with a much more impactful effect attached to the body. When he hits the board, a board wipe is no longer a viable option as he completely wipes everything in return. The perfect ultimatum: Kill my boardstate and lose everything, or let me do as I choose.

Ikoria is here with a perfectly synergistic planeswalker. Lukka is the most Rakdos could ever ask for in a planeswalker. Drop a less relevant creature on the board for the next bomb in line. Highly recommend to pick up for certain.

When I come into a sum of disposable income, I will update the lands with the entire Maybe Board.