Rakdos Dragons MTG Deck Tech: Midrange Magic Mastery

This Deck is Sneaky Good! Get Ready for RAKDOS Dragons!

Explore the power of Rakdos Dragons in this midrange Magic: The Gathering deck. Unleash combos, removal, and ramp for competitive edge in Standard.

You didn't think I could only give you one dragon deck, did you? I honestly saw too many fun options to do just Boros, so today I'm bringing you another. This one steers toward the more midrange, good ol' honest Magic side of things. I wanted to center a deck around something that is more consistent with the status quo of dragons: carnage and destruction. We have plenty of removal in this deck, and a creature that doubles as a board wipe when needed. Since we aren't doing a super fancy combo in this deck, I wanted to add element of ramp to get to the higher mana spells that we have in the deck. We will be able to use early creatures to help out with that, and also a new fancy artifact. We will torch the board and force our opponents to be more resilient than we are, while flying over the top of what they might manage to keep on the board. Let's take a look at the deck and then I'll tell you some of my favorite things about it.

Total Cards:

You can see some of the fun that we will have right off the bat with this deck. We are looking to smash aggro decks, and still punish other decks that don't play to the board. Although this one has fewer dragons on paper, we have a few permanents that can actually turn into them, and this leads to some cheeky interactions. Let's check out some of the new cards from Tarkir Dragonstorm that are in this deck, and then we will go over some fun combos!

Key New Cards

There are a couple of ways to get good value from this card, and it never hurts to use a free spell to get that value. We are going to have a certain spell that appears later that we can cast at a reduced cost of one mana - you will see how much value that can bring us.

Everyone loves Sarkhan. He may not be a dragon (not at first) but he always has something to do with them, helps us make it easier to play them, and sets the stage for dragons to raise some hell. In this iteration, he is able to turn into a dragon the same turn that we have another dragon enter, and get a +1/+1 counter. He also gets flying until the end of that turn! We can behold a dragon (reveal a dragon or choose one on the board) when he enters and ramp by getting a treasure token. This will be really helpful in getting some of our bigger creatures out, and with ensuring that we can cast our board wipe when needed.

This is another one that allows us to behold a dragon and get some more value. You may or may not see the combo now, but don't worry, if you don't, I'll still go over it shortly. Even if you don't reduce the cost of this spell, it's pretty good and can really be helpful against the aggressive decks. A lot of the dragon removal is centered around 3 toughness or less, because a lot of dragons historically have a power and toughness of 4/4.

I added this one to the new demons list and I wanted to make sure it found its way into the main deck of one of my lists for Tarkir. I think this is phenomenal with the modality that it gives us. It's an easy casting cost with only requiring one black mana, so it allows our mana base to be more forgiving. We also love the ward ability of requiring discard because at the end of the day, we are still a grindy midrange deck.

I really like this guy in the sideboard because he can really cause a strong exchange. Since we are a two-color deck, we have a little bit less freedom to choose colorless lands that produce abilities for us, so having that ability double with a creature that just so happens to be a dragon is supremely convenient. The stun counter going on their land is also something that makes the ability even better than something like Demolition Field. It is an added benefit that can turn into one of the things that gives us those incremental advantages needed to win midrange battles.

Fun Combos

OK, I will finally explain the fun combo. In an ideal situation, and as early as turn three, we can play a four mana dragon. This will allow Sarkhan to also become a dragon, and get a counter and flying. If we have a Mox Jasper on the board as well, that is now online. We will be able to behold a dragon - even if they have removal - because now we have two dragons. This also allows us to tap the Jasper for one mana, thus allowing us to cast Caustic Exhale for one mana. We can use it as a combat trick, or to clear the board. It is one of the interactions to watch out for in the deck, because sequencing will be key - as it is in most midrange decks.

Another fun interaction is that we can use Terror of the Peaks to help us flip Invasion of Tarkir. This is particularly useful, because it of course gives us another dragon, but it also allows us to get that additional Terror of the Peaks trigger from the backside of the battle hitting the board. The best part is that we can also cast that spell early to do a ton of damage to a creature, or slap our opponent in the face. If we are able to untap with it the next turn, then swing out with our three dragons, we will do six damage just by attacking. I'm sure it is becoming more and more apparent how the damage in this deck can fireball quickly. What is most exciting is that we can make a battle playable again!

This deck, like all of the other Tarkir decks that I brought you this month will be played in Early Access on my stream! I hope that you enjoy the list, and that you get a chance to come check out the gameplay on Wednesday, the 2nd! Cheers.

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I am a Magic The Gathering competitive player, and streamer. I specialize in homebrew decks. My favorite formats are: Standard, Pioneer (Explorer on Arena), and EDH. I first started playing MTG in 2001, and have played on and off since then.

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Demons Are Getting New Toys, and This Deck is ROTTEN

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Free Dragons = Turn 4 Wins!

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I See a Monument and I want it Painted Black

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Recapping the Pro Tour and Examining the Deck that ALMOST Obliterated Us All!

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It's Time to Mobilize the Aristocrats with Mardu Combo!