As you may have noticed last week, I wrote all
my Izzet reviews as though I myself were a
member of the Izzet. My original plan was to do
the same for each guild's theme week, but I have
to confess-- I can't figure out how to roleplay
as a Rakdos member. I can sort of understand
Rakdos himself as a creature that feeds off the
pain and misery of others, but I can't get into
the head of anyone who follows this guy. Despite
having read the first two novels of the original
Ravnica block, I just can't understand why you
would join a guild where rampant murder and
torture are considered entertainment. And I
can't understand why the other nine guilds
tolerate this one either, other than perhaps
mutually assured destruction-- maybe the Rakdos
are allowed to operate because nobody is able to
stop them without suffering major losses? Was
this explained in the third book?
If I'd read the third book, I'd probably also
know why Lord Rakdos is "returning"-- I can only
guess that someone finally recognized how
horrible it was having a guild built around this
guy and banished him. But from a gameplay
prespective, this looks a lot more like the
return of Blightning, a fan favorite. Trouble
is, X spells are never as mana-efficient as
fixed-point spells that do the same thing. For
the same price as Blightning, Rakdos's Return
can only take away one life and one card versus
Bightning's three and two respectively. With
most X spells, the trade-off is that the effect
is only limited by your ability to generate
mana. Discard spells don't benefit as much from
being X spells because they suffer from
diminishing returns. Mind Shatter stops getting
any better once X hits the number of cards in
its target's hand, and any after that is wasted.
But spells that deal X damage can always benefit
from more mana. Wastign excess mana is less of a
concern when the spell's resolution wins you the
game. And with Black's mana ramp (Liliana 3.0
and her Shade) and Red's burst mana effects
(Priest of Urabrask and Pyretic Ritual, though
they're no longer in Standard) then Rakdos's
Return should be a great death-blow for any B/R
deck, yet still serve as a functional mid-game
play to keep an opponent on the defense. It's
card advantage if X=2 or more, and it's a means
to chip away at that all-important life total.
This card is a perfect example of the most
simple multicolor design - "grab an effect from
each color and staple them together" - and
that's perhaps what makes it so good. Dealing
damage to opponents is powerful, and forcing
them to discard is also powerful, and when you
have both effects on one card, things get scary.
People used to sideboard Persecute (remember
that card?) against monocolored decks and/or
combo-type decks, and like that older card,
Rakdos's Return will often force the opponent to
discard their entire hand for a reasonably
affordable cost.
Today begins Rakdos week with Rakdos's Return
which is a Black/Red and X sorcery that deals X
damage and forces X discards from target player.
This is a very efficient card for recent times
and even early in the game can empty an
opponent's hand while also doing a little
damage. In the later stages this may not
be as useful for clearing cards, but the damage
can certainly be a finisher. Either way a
deck will more likely be based on either discard
or burn and this card offers the second effect
at a bargain price. Overall a solid card
that will probably see at least some play in
Red/Black themes, but not working as removal and
the not overly complimentary effects will keep
it from being widespread.
In Limited this is a bomb for either effect and
if not ending games outright will usually put
the target into a very bad situation. Despite
not being removal the card advantage and burn
are more than enough to justify a first pick in
Booster as even casting it for three is a one
for one with damage, but four or more mana will
equal a noticeable swing. With Sealed the
mana for the single Black or Red in the casting
cost can be easily splashed when the other color
is used in a Golgari or Izzet design.
Direct damage is an effective method to bypass a
stalemate or loss of board control and the
format can promote holding onto several cards
until mana is available or appropriate targets
are played. It is important to note that
the discard is not random, so having enough mana
to force an entire hand to be lost is highly
recommended.
Welcome to
the Pojo.com card of the day section. We begin
our new week looking at Rakdos’ Return from
Return to Ravnica. Rakdos’ Return is a mythic
rare sorcery that costs X and one red and one
black mana. Rakdos’ Return deals X damage to
target opponent. That player discards X cards.
Definitely a fun mythic rare in Rakdos’
Return. The ability for direct damage and forced
discard is a lot of fun. And only having to do
so for one additional red and one additional
black mana. Even the extra forced damage is just
gravy should they not have enough cards to
discard. Used with some old but good cards such
as Megrim and Liliana’s Caress, this could be
devastating. Not to mention that you could
deliver a final blow with a copy or two of
Shrieking Affliction in play.
Nothing bad to say about Rakdos’ Return. A strong mythic with
solid abilities.
