PRORAKSAC

(proliferate rakdos sacrifice)

"...the deck of the year!" -Nat Geo                         "I can only describe this as a piece of art..." -my mom

                                   "The END GAME of 2023" -PC Gamer

                                                                     "I personally really enjoy this deck..." -me

        "It has it all; action, romance, suspense." -Einstein                                          "9.5/10" -IGN

     First off I would just like to thank you for reading this and checking out my deck, if you want to watch me play it live I stream @ twitch.tv/theAjforce somewhat regularly. Now that the formalities are out of the way, this is my standard 2023 Rakdos list that I whole-heartedly believe can be the best deck in format. Most decks in the current meta are characterized by one archetype and one streamlined gameplan that, if interrupted, falls apart too easily. We have mono red aggro that instantly loses to any sort of lifegain/big body such as Archangel of Wrath, then there's the UW control shell that crumbles to early game value like Kumano Faces Kakkazan // Etching of Kumano, and of course there's plenty in between. But with this deck my goal was simple; have a consistent deck list AND have a flexible gameplan -- which is of course much easier said than done in today's standard.

Let's get this deck tech kicked off with the first name of the game, proliferate. This deck has a simple, yet effective, proliferate package including: Whisper of the Dross and Drown in Ichor and these cards are the extent of our "hard removal" in the main board. Using those spells we manage to keep the board clear as well as advance our own gameplan by putting additional counters on key cards like Exuberant Fuseling and Urabrak's Forge, the synergy here is very apparent and works just as well as it sounds. In general Urabrask's Forge is our Wedding Announcement // Wedding Festivity -- meaning that it is a hard to interact with permanent that can snowball against slower strategies if left unchecked. It is our primary win condition against control and slower midrange strategies. Urabrask's Forge also synergizes deeply with every other card in the deck (with the exceptions being Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, Tenacious Underdog and Riveteers Requisitioner).

The second name of the game is Rakdos. That's about it. It's red and black.

But the FINAL aspect of this orchestra of agony is sacrifice -- the mac daddy flavor that is rakdos and so many decks based on this color identity. We get insane value from all of our sacrifice's in this deck, whether it be incidental damage from Thraan, Executioner Thane or potential removal/card draw from Braids, Arisen Nightmare, even just things dying to make our Exuberant Fuseling's bigger is sometimes enough to win us games.

synergy

Urabrask's Forge + Exuberant Fuseling = Fuseling getting bigger every trigger

                              + Vraan, Executioner Thane = Drain for 2 every turn

                              + Braids, Arisen Nightmare = A creature to sacrifice every turn to draw cards or make opp sac

                              + Voldaren Thrillseeker = Effectively gives your token doublestrike if it connects, but also gives you the flexibility                                    to fling a big token if you can't get in.

Whisper of the Dross/Drown in Ichor + Exuberant Fuseling = Fuseling getting bigger

                              + Voldaren Thrillseeker = getting bigger/getting the creature with the +1/+1 counters bigger

                              + Urabrask's Forge = you know it, getting bigger

                              + Archfiend of the Dross = lets you live extra turns

Braids, Arisen Nightmare + Archfiend of the Dross = makes sure you don't kill yourself

                              + Tenacious Underdog = sac after blitz for extra value

                              + Riveteers Requisitioner = ^

Vraan, Executioner Thane + Literally every combo listed above = drain opponent

Sheoldred, the Apocalypse + Tenacious Underdog = not paying for the life you lose to blitz him

                              + Braids, Arisen Nightmare = gaining life off of the potential card draw

Sideboarding

In my opinion this deck is very straight forward when it comes to sideboarding, you switch from a deck that can outpace ramp in the mid game by going so tall that even their Atraxa, Grand Unifier's can't slow you down, to a removal heavy anti aggro strategy that plays one for one until you get a Sheoldred, the Apocalype or an Archfiend of the Dross on the field. But generally here is my sideboard guide:

Control

- 3x Whisper of the Dross

- 4x Archfiend of the Dross

+ 1x Sorin the Mirthless

+ 3x Duress

+ 2x Sheoldred, the Apocalypse

+ 1x Lithomantic Barrage

Ramp

- 3x Whisper of the Dross

+ 3x Duress

Mono red/most aggro strategies

- 4x Urabrask's Forge

- 2x Tenacious Underdog

+ 2x Sheoldred, the Apocalypse

+ 3x Cut Down

+ 1x Abrade

Esper Legends

- 4x Exuberant Fuseling

- 3x Whisper of the Dross

+ 3x Lithomantic Barrage

+ 3x Cut Down

+ 1x Sheoldred, the Apocalypse

If you stuck around til the end thank you and be sure to give the deck a like and follow me at twitch.tv/theAjforce

Also please comment any ideas you might have. thank you