Skeletons Join Rakdos Beatdown to Wreck Havoc Faster than Ever Before

Introduction

This is my Rakdos deck, which combines my previous Rakdos Beatdown and Rise of the Skeletons and Phyrexians decks. In this version, I have Forsaken Miner and Corpses of the Lost as early threats, which benefit from each other. Corpses of the Lost has also nice synergies with Bloodtithe Harvester. The end game plan is to provide haste to Archfiend of the Dross with Reckless Stormseeker // Storm-Charged Slasher.

Format

• The deck is for the Standard format with Outlaws of Thunder Junction being the last legal set.
• The deck is probably Tier 1 or Tier 1.5 caliber.
• The deck can be played in both Bo1 and Bo3.
• The deck is pretty fast, and thus it's suitable for quickly grinding a large number of wins in the MTG Arena ladder.
• The deck is not rotation-proof and it cannot be played after the rotation on July 30, 2024.

Source

This is my own brew.

Previous Versions

• Rakdos Skeleton and Phyrexian Beatdown
• Rise of the Skeletons and Phyrexians
• Rakdos Beatdown v8
• Rakdos Beatdown v7
• Rakdos Beatdown v6
• Rakdos Beatdown v5
• Rakdos Beatdown v4 (MKM)
• Rakdos Beatdown v3 (LCI)
• Rakdos Haste Flyer Beatdown v2 (LCI)
• Rakdos Haste Flyer Beatdown (LCI)

Strategy

Skeletons

Skeletons can deal a hefty deal of damage in the early game, if left unchecked. It's nice that Corpses of the Lost gives haste, which makes Forsaken Miners an instant threat dealing 3 or more damage. There are no Cult Conscripts in the deck, before it does not benefit from haste from Corpses of the Lost. Tinybones, the Pickpocket is not included, because it's legendary and hits just for 1.

Hasty Archfiends

The late game idea of the deck is to deal huge amounts of unblockable damage with Archfiend of the Dross, which can gain haste from Reckless Stormseeker. 

Removal

The removal package is a pretty normal one for a Rakdos deck. Notably, there's Bitter Triumph, which can be used to discard Forsaken Miner, Tenacious Underdog, or an extra land into the graveyard, triggering the descend ability of Corpses of the Lost. You can even discard Forsaken Miner to Bitter Triumph and then immediately return it to the battlefield by paying 1 black mana.

Channel Lands

Sokenzan and Takenuma can be used to trigger the descend ability of Corpses of the Lost in addition to their normal use. There are 2 Sokenzans and 2 Takenumas in the deck so that you have more chances to channel a land.

Man-Lands

The deck deploys 3 Mishra's Foundries as man-lands. The reason for not using Restless Vents is that they come into play tapped and therefore they are not very aggro-deck-friendly, slowing you down. Mishra's Foundries come into play untapped and they can gain haste from Reckless Stormseeker // Storm-Charged Slasher so that they can attack immediately. You cannot do this with tapped man-lands, which are haste-unfriendly.

Bloodtithe Harvester and Corpses of the Lost

Bloodtithe Harvester can be sacrificed to trigger the descend ability of Corpses of the Lost. Similarly, the blood token from Bloodtithe Harvester can be used to trigger the descend ability of Corpses of the Lost, when you discard a permanent card to the blood token (it does not work with non-permanent cards).

Mana Base Statistics

Overview

• Total of 25 lands
• 19 lands produce black mana
• 15 lands produce red mana
• 3 lands produce colorless mana
• 4 dual-color fast lands
• 4 dual-color slow lands
• 4 dual-color pain lands
• 3 untapped man-lands
• 2 legendary lands producing black mana
• 2 legendary land producing red mana
• 6 basic lands

Starting Hand Probabilities

Land Count

Bo3 = No Hand Smoothing

• At least two lands: 87.8 %
• At least three lands: 62.5 %
• At least four lands: 31.4 %
• 2–5 lands: 86.0 %

Bo1 + Ranked Queue = Best of 2 Hands

• 2–5 lands: 98.0 %

Bo1 + Play Queue = Best of 3 Hands

• 2–5 lands: 99.7 %

Color Count

Bo3 = No Hand Smoothing

• At least one black mana: 94.2 %
• At least two black mana: 72.1 %
• At least three black mana: 38.9 %
• At least one red mana: 88.2 %

Probabilities on Later Turns

Probabilities are on the play / on the draw.

Land Count

With Any Starting Hand

• At least 3 lands on turn 3: 81.9 % / 88.1 %
• At least 4 lands on turn 4: 67.5 % / 76.6 %
• At least 5 lands on turn 5: 51.7 % / 62.4 %
• At least 6 lands on turn 6: 36.8 % / 47.5 %

Color Count

With Any Starting Hand

• At least two black mana on turn 2: 79.6 % / 85.3 %
• At least two black mana on turn 3: 85.3 % / 89.7 %
• At least two black mana on turn 4: 89.7 % / 92.9 %
• At least one red mana on turn 2: 91.6 % / 94.0 %
• At least one red mana on turn 3: 94.0% / 95.8 %
• At least two red mana on turn 4: 78.1 % / 83.1 %

Change Log

July 6th, 2024

Main Deck

• -2 Preacher of the Schism
• +1 Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance
• +1 Bitter Triumph