Legendary Creature — Demon

Rakdos, Patron of Chaos

Mana value6EDHREC#2,559

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The Commander

Flying, trample

At the beginning of your end step, target opponent may sacrifice two nonland, nontoken permanents of their choice. If they don't, you draw two cards.

Guide

Gameplan

Drop Rakdos as a 6/6 flying trampler that immediately starts a brutal end-step engine: each turn an opponent either sacrifices two nonland, nontoken permanents or you draw two cards. You leverage that card advantage to out-resource the table while beating down with big flyers and demons, eventually overwhelming or comboing out.

Strengths

Built-in card advantage every turn that opponents can't easily ignore
Acts as repeatable, lopsided edict-style disruption against creature-heavy boards
6/6 flying trample is a real clock and can carry equipment/auras
Rakdos colors offer elite removal, ramp via rituals/Treasures, and reanimation

Weaknesses

Six mana and easily removed, resetting the engine each time he dies
Opponents choose the trigger's target and what to sacrifice, so it's not precise removal
The drawback hits a single opponent, leaving other players unpunished
Lacks evasion-proofing; commander tax and recursion costs add up fast

Key Cards

Sol Ring — Fast mana to land the six-drop ahead of curve and keep recasting him.
Lightning Greaves — Haste and shroud protect your engine from removal and let him attack immediately.
Dockside Extortionist — Generates a burst of Treasures to ramp into Rakdos and fuel demon payoffs.
Bolas's Citadel — Turns your steady card draw into explosive plays by casting off the top of your library.
Reanimate — Cheaply returns Rakdos or other fatties after they're killed, keeping pressure constant.
Demonic Tutor — Finds your engine pieces, removal, or a closer on demand in a value-grindy shell.

Upgrade Path

Add more fast mana (Mana Vault, Jeweled Lotus, Ancient Tomb) and protection (Swiftfoot Boots, Heroic Intervention) so Rakdos sticks and recasts cheaply. Lean into a reanimation toolbox (Buried Alive, Animate Dead, Victimize) to abuse the format's biggest demons, and add a tutor suite plus a compact wincon like Bolas's Citadel or an infinite-mana payoff to convert his card flow into kills.

Core Cards

The most-played cards for this commander, built from aggregated deck data (the Mythic Graph). Build public decks to seed it.

Win Conditions

▸Connecting repeatedly with Rakdos and other large flyers/demons
▸Out-carding the table then deploying overwhelming threats or a finisher
▸Reanimating fatties like Lord of the Void or Razaketh and grinding to victory
▸Bolas's Citadel or storm-y rituals chaining into a lethal turn

Archetypes

Demons / Big Beaters — Rakdos headlines a tribal demon and dragon top-end that beats down with evasive threats.
Control / Value — Endless card advantage and Rakdos removal let you grind opponents out of resources.
Reanimator — Recurring expensive bodies pairs perfectly with his cost and the sac-or-draw payoff.
Aristocrats — You can build to profit from sacrifices and edicts while milling opponents' boards.