Just as an aside, how does Sarkhan the Mad rank in all of this?
I feel like he's overcosted for a PW, and his abilities are a bit limited... but he gains you raw CA, helps to upgrade your small beaters (esp in aggro decks), and synergizes crazily with Magical Hacker. It also helps if you've ulted with sarkhan vol right before casting sarkhan the mad
the fact that he looks exactly like Shan Yu from Mulan is a bit of a plus in my books too....
It's primarily Exava -vs- Olivia that's up for grabs.
For me it would be:
1) Murderous Redcap
2) Falkenrath Aristocrat
3) Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch
4) Olivia Voldaren
Exava (which we don't run at 450) fits better in the haste-themed aggro Rakdos decks we been getting lately. If your Rakdos decks mostly end up being midrange then I think Olivia Voldaren might be better. She has more brute power then the Witch, but Exava works better in aggro.
After this I think Bit Blast is #11 and Sarkhan is #12.
I think Talisman is important to run if you support the Wildfire deck, but it could easily be switched with Rakdos Signet. I wouldn't run both and I wouldn't run 0 out of my top 10 Rakdos.
My guild sections are at 9 cards atm (will be 8 after this block is finished, as I support the current block theme a bit more aggressively during the block, to test, and to have an always changing environment).
Out of my top 10 the two weakest cards are a 4-drop (hence my question above), and probably a 4-drop more or blightning even though I love that card.
For me it would be:
1) Murderous Redcap
2) Falkenrath Aristocrat
3) Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch
4) Olivia Voldaren
Exava (which we don't run at 450) fits better in the haste-themed aggro Rakdos decks we been getting lately. If your Rakdos decks mostly end up being midrange then I think Olivia Voldaren might be better. She has more brute power then the Witch, but Exava works better in aggro.
I wouldn't want to use a gold slot on Exava when it doesn't compare well to any of the red 4-drops and most of the black ones too (even filler like Mirri the Cursed), but if you're looking to max out on cards like that (which is perfectly understandable) then it's fine.
I agree that gold four (and over) drops have to be absolute home runs for me to include them. A 4/4 first striker with haste is pretty great, but still misses in comparison to Spike Jester, Dreadbore, and Rakdos Cackler.
Redcap and cackler aren't hurting pack quality, so if you're under 10% gold and ok with unbalanced gold sections I wouldn't let them keep a good gold card out.
When I see Healing Salve, I'm often like "Oh girl, I wish I could turn every card into this." Thanks they removed the gain life part, otherwise this would have been broken.
Is Jester that strong? Where is it on the scale of all Rakdos cards?
I bumped Cackler and Shred-Freak to mono-black. Should I be plugging in Jester over a 4 drop?
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I mean, hell, we're all on a forum for something that most people would describe as a "children's card game"...do what makes you happy. You are never too old to enjoy yourself.
I think it depends on what most of yout Rakdos decks look like. Here they are becoming more aggro with every update, so a 3/1 haste is just what most decks need.
Aggro decks don't more then one or two four drops so cutting a four drop is an option if you find that four drops are (too?) easy to get in your cube.
Haste is an awesome aggressive ability and curving out with haste creatures feels so good. In one of our latest drafts we had a deck that could curve out with haste creatures up to Tundermaw Hellkite. It had more creature with haste then with summoning sickness. Going from one haste creature to another feels a bit like playing one or two time walks.
Note that I am not saying that Spike Jester is a new staple. We did not test it enough yet to have conclusive data. The way you classify hybrids will have an clear impact too. If you are very strict with your classification then it might not make it.
Is Jester that strong? Where is it on the scale of all Rakdos cards?
I bumped Cackler and Shred-Freak to mono-black. Should I be plugging in Jester over a 4 drop?
I think jester is good (much better than shred-freak, but obviously can't get moved to a mono section like cackler and the freak can), and can put out a ton of damage esp. if backed by removal, but don't think it's a top 3 card even among non-hybrid rakdos card. I think I would put it 4th or 5th even among pure red/black cards, I think I'd put dreadbore, terminate, bit blast, and falk aristocrat above it, although I could certainly see arguments with that list and arguments for spike jester to break top 3 if you aren't counting hybrid cards as rakdos.
Is Jester that strong? Where is it on the scale of all Rakdos cards?
I bumped Cackler and Shred-Freak to mono-black. Should I be plugging in Jester over a 4 drop?
It does three damage on turn two. How many creatures can say that? The haste also makes it a better topdeck in the mid to late game, as it can still act as a Lava Spike, even if they have a big enough creature out to stall it. Haste is also great against planeswalkers.
I personally think you should be running it over any of the gold four drops (so not Redcap) because they are awesome, but totally unnecessary due to an already insane amount of awesome four drops and four cost spells in those colors.
Jester is good. It's Hellspark without Trample that stick around for as long as he can. Of course, he gain a color, and lose Unearth. But 3 haste for 2 is good enough.
He's a hellspark that super encourages trading a card for it. It just seems like a decent aggressive guy if you think your BR can do that. With Blood Scrivener, Dark Confidant, Night's Whisper, Faeries, zombies and Liliana running around red black looks alright as just a splash to RDW. Maybe you want your RB section to make that happen. It's really not the best fit to put RB in a control deck these days it seems.
I haven't drafted a really aggressive deck in a while but I am super looking forward to it. I really cannot wait to clamp this guy.
Where would you put Spike Jester in comparison to Rakdos Cackler? Which one would you rather have in your cube? If you had to choose only 1 which one would you choose? Do you rank Spike Jester #5 best Rakdos card behind Cackler or do you rank him higher?
Where would you put Spike Jester in comparison to Rakdos Cackler? Which one would you rather have in your cube? If you had to choose only 1 which one would you choose? Do you rank Spike Jester #5 best Rakdos card behind Cackler or do you rank him higher?
Rakdos Cackler The more aggro one drops the better. Don't get me wrong Spike Jester is a good card but I would rather draft with Cackler.
When I see Healing Salve, I'm often like "Oh girl, I wish I could turn every card into this." Thanks they removed the gain life part, otherwise this would have been broken.
Just want to take a minute to praise an overlooked Rakdos card that has been holding his own for months in my cube:
I have a little more space in my Rakdos section than most because I run Cackler and Redcap as hybrids, so I can fit this guy in no problem. My current Rakdos section is:
This has been a sweet setup for me and I doubt I'll be changing it any time soon. Shambling Remains is one of the only 4 power 3 drops in the cube, can attack successfully into 0/4 walls, has 3 toughness so the majority of 2 drops can't block him effectively, and sits patiently in the GY until the right time to alpha strike for the win. He also has good synergy with black discard effects and can be a good Entomb target in a pinch. Curving out with him in BR aggro is such a beating. He is easily one of the scariest aggressive 3 drops in my cube.
If you use hybrid classification, it's easy to find room for this monster.
Thanks for bringing this card up for discussion again; I actually forgot it existed! One question: how does this compare vs. Hellhole Flailer? And in what circumstances would you consider playing both?
I like it, R and B are pretty shallow at 3 mana and even fewer are very aggressive. How would you rank it in your rakdos section ranking?
We ran it for a while, but while it was okay, it was often missing the cut. The three drop spot just seems to have become the utility slot, especially for aggro decks that want aggressive drops on T1 and 2, and to bomb it out on T4. Turn three is just a great time to blow up that signet, drop an equip, remove a blocker, or blow up a land. Can you imagine a Rakdos aggro deck where you choose to run this guy over Fire Imp? Either Vandal? Bone Shredder? Chandra's Phoenix ? Pillage? Liliana of the Veil even?
We ran it for a while, but while it was okay, it was often missing the cut. The three drop spot just seems to have become the utility slot, especially for aggro decks that want aggressive drops on T1 and 2, and to bomb it out on T4. Turn three is just a great time to blow up that signet, drop an equip, remove a blocker, or blow up a land. Can you imagine a Rakdos aggro deck where you choose to run this guy over Fire Imp? Either Vandal? Bone Shredder? Chandra's Phoenix ? Pillage? Liliana of the Veil even?
This was our experience as well. It was a solid card, but nothing exciting, and often missed the cut even in Rakdos aggro decks simply because the competition was too stiff.
I like it, R and B are pretty shallow at 3 mana and even fewer are very aggressive. How would you rank it in your rakdos section ranking?
It's probably tied with Spike Jester at #3. Aggressive 4 drops don't get much better than Aristocrat, and Dreadbore is about as good as spot removal gets. At least for me this guy has played out better than it looks on paper. There are only like two 2 drops that can effectively block it, and it trades up a lot. The thing is a freaking battering ram. Ultimately it's greatest strength is that it fills a hole in R and B, like you said Usman. I'd rate Terminate as a better card, but in the typical cube environment Shambling Remains fills a sweet spot. At least that's been my experience.
Yeah that card was pretty good for us as well, but I don't have the room anymore with only 3 gold cards. Cards like Maniac Vandal / Vampire Nighthawk are all good, but in a dedicated aggro deck you often just want a heavy hitter.
Yep. If I went to 3 gold cards I'd probably cut him as well, so I guess he ranks #4.
Can you imagine a Rakdos aggro deck where you choose to run this guy over Fire Imp? Either Vandal? Bone Shredder? Chandra's Phoenix? Pillage? Liliana of the Veil even?
There are decks where I'd run it over all of those except Liliana (who Remains is very synergistic with) and Fire Imp. If I can completely commit to an aggro strategy in B/R this guy is exactly what I'm looking for. Those are all really good cards, but strong aggro 3 drops aren't very common in cube, and this guy fills that role perfectly. I'd be less inclined to play him if B or R had a couple really scary aggressive 3 drops.
Thanks for bringing this card up for discussion again; I actually forgot it existed! One question: how does this compare vs. Hellhole Flailer? And in what circumstances would you consider playing both?
If Flailer is unleashed they are pretty much identical on the field (except Gravecrawler loves zombies), but I prefer unearth to Flailer's sac effect. Shambling Remains provides a threat from the graveyard and is more synergistic with many of black's other cards/anything that requires discard. I could only see myself playing both if my gold section was 6-7 cards.
Currently we have the following to choose from:
It's primarily Exava -vs- Olivia that's up for grabs.
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I feel like he's overcosted for a PW, and his abilities are a bit limited... but he gains you raw CA, helps to upgrade your small beaters (esp in aggro decks), and synergizes crazily with Magical Hacker. It also helps if you've ulted with sarkhan vol right before casting sarkhan the mad
the fact that he looks exactly like Shan Yu from Mulan is a bit of a plus in my books too....
For me it would be:
1) Murderous Redcap
2) Falkenrath Aristocrat
3) Exava, Rakdos Blood Witch
4) Olivia Voldaren
Exava (which we don't run at 450) fits better in the haste-themed aggro Rakdos decks we been getting lately. If your Rakdos decks mostly end up being midrange then I think Olivia Voldaren might be better. She has more brute power then the Witch, but Exava works better in aggro.
I feel compelled to repeat everything I hear
My current top 10 (no particular order):
After this I think Bit Blast is #11 and Sarkhan is #12.
I think Talisman is important to run if you support the Wildfire deck, but it could easily be switched with Rakdos Signet. I wouldn't run both and I wouldn't run 0 out of my top 10 Rakdos.
My guild sections are at 9 cards atm (will be 8 after this block is finished, as I support the current block theme a bit more aggressively during the block, to test, and to have an always changing environment).
Out of my top 10 the two weakest cards are a 4-drop (hence my question above), and probably a 4-drop more or blightning even though I love that card.
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This is exactly how I would rank them too.
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I agree that gold four (and over) drops have to be absolute home runs for me to include them. A 4/4 first striker with haste is pretty great, but still misses in comparison to Spike Jester, Dreadbore, and Rakdos Cackler.
Redcap and cackler aren't hurting pack quality, so if you're under 10% gold and ok with unbalanced gold sections I wouldn't let them keep a good gold card out.
I bumped Cackler and Shred-Freak to mono-black. Should I be plugging in Jester over a 4 drop?
10th at SCG: Syracuse (2014), GP:NJ Last-Chance Grinder Winner (2014):: Former Legacy Mod
Aggro decks don't more then one or two four drops so cutting a four drop is an option if you find that four drops are (too?) easy to get in your cube.
Haste is an awesome aggressive ability and curving out with haste creatures feels so good. In one of our latest drafts we had a deck that could curve out with haste creatures up to Tundermaw Hellkite. It had more creature with haste then with summoning sickness. Going from one haste creature to another feels a bit like playing one or two time walks.
Note that I am not saying that Spike Jester is a new staple. We did not test it enough yet to have conclusive data. The way you classify hybrids will have an clear impact too. If you are very strict with your classification then it might not make it.
I feel compelled to repeat everything I hear
I think jester is good (much better than shred-freak, but obviously can't get moved to a mono section like cackler and the freak can), and can put out a ton of damage esp. if backed by removal, but don't think it's a top 3 card even among non-hybrid rakdos card. I think I would put it 4th or 5th even among pure red/black cards, I think I'd put dreadbore, terminate, bit blast, and falk aristocrat above it, although I could certainly see arguments with that list and arguments for spike jester to break top 3 if you aren't counting hybrid cards as rakdos.
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It does three damage on turn two. How many creatures can say that? The haste also makes it a better topdeck in the mid to late game, as it can still act as a Lava Spike, even if they have a big enough creature out to stall it. Haste is also great against planeswalkers.
I personally think you should be running it over any of the gold four drops (so not Redcap) because they are awesome, but totally unnecessary due to an already insane amount of awesome four drops and four cost spells in those colors.
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I haven't drafted a really aggressive deck in a while but I am super looking forward to it. I really cannot wait to clamp this guy.
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Rakdos Cackler The more aggro one drops the better. Don't get me wrong Spike Jester is a good card but I would rather draft with Cackler.
Way behind it. Cackler might be the best Rakdos card in the cube.
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I have a little more space in my Rakdos section than most because I run Cackler and Redcap as hybrids, so I can fit this guy in no problem. My current Rakdos section is:
This has been a sweet setup for me and I doubt I'll be changing it any time soon. Shambling Remains is one of the only 4 power 3 drops in the cube, can attack successfully into 0/4 walls, has 3 toughness so the majority of 2 drops can't block him effectively, and sits patiently in the GY until the right time to alpha strike for the win. He also has good synergy with black discard effects and can be a good Entomb target in a pinch. Curving out with him in BR aggro is such a beating. He is easily one of the scariest aggressive 3 drops in my cube.
If you use hybrid classification, it's easy to find room for this monster.
I like it, R and B are pretty shallow at 3 mana and even fewer are very aggressive. How would you rank it in your rakdos section ranking?
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We ran it for a while, but while it was okay, it was often missing the cut. The three drop spot just seems to have become the utility slot, especially for aggro decks that want aggressive drops on T1 and 2, and to bomb it out on T4. Turn three is just a great time to blow up that signet, drop an equip, remove a blocker, or blow up a land. Can you imagine a Rakdos aggro deck where you choose to run this guy over Fire Imp? Either Vandal? Bone Shredder? Chandra's Phoenix ? Pillage? Liliana of the Veil even?
This was our experience as well. It was a solid card, but nothing exciting, and often missed the cut even in Rakdos aggro decks simply because the competition was too stiff.
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It's probably tied with Spike Jester at #3. Aggressive 4 drops don't get much better than Aristocrat, and Dreadbore is about as good as spot removal gets. At least for me this guy has played out better than it looks on paper. There are only like two 2 drops that can effectively block it, and it trades up a lot. The thing is a freaking battering ram. Ultimately it's greatest strength is that it fills a hole in R and B, like you said Usman. I'd rate Terminate as a better card, but in the typical cube environment Shambling Remains fills a sweet spot. At least that's been my experience.
Yep. If I went to 3 gold cards I'd probably cut him as well, so I guess he ranks #4.
There are decks where I'd run it over all of those except Liliana (who Remains is very synergistic with) and Fire Imp. If I can completely commit to an aggro strategy in B/R this guy is exactly what I'm looking for. Those are all really good cards, but strong aggro 3 drops aren't very common in cube, and this guy fills that role perfectly. I'd be less inclined to play him if B or R had a couple really scary aggressive 3 drops.
If Flailer is unleashed they are pretty much identical on the field (except Gravecrawler loves zombies), but I prefer unearth to Flailer's sac effect. Shambling Remains provides a threat from the graveyard and is more synergistic with many of black's other cards/anything that requires discard. I could only see myself playing both if my gold section was 6-7 cards.