Legendary Creature — Crab Mutant

Red Death, Shipwrecker

Mana value2EDHREC#6,238

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The Commander

Alluring Eyes — {T} : Goad target creature an opponent controls. That player draws a card. You add {R} . (Until your next turn, that creature attacks each combat if able and attacks a player other than you if able.)

Guide

Gameplan

Red Death is a 2-mana Izzet engine that turns opponents' boards against each other—each turn you goad a creature, ramp into one red, and let the resulting brawls grind your rivals down while you stay out of the crossfire. You play the long game with cheap interaction, card advantage from the spell suite, and global goad/combat-chaos effects, then close with burn, a voltron threat, or an attack into a tapped-out, depleted table. As a Doctor's companion, Red Death also slots beneath a Doctor commander to add a value/spellslinger backbone.

Strengths

Repeatable goad on a cheap, recastable body forces opponents into politically costly attacks
Generates a red mana each activation, smoothing curves and enabling spell-heavy turns
Naturally pulls aggression toward other players, acting as a soft pillowfort
Excellent table-control tool that scales in multiplayer and seeds alliances

Weaknesses

Does almost nothing in a creature-light pod or 1v1—needs opponents to have attackers
Tap-based, so it goads only one creature per turn without untap support
Provides zero inherent win condition; the deck must supply the kill
Small body that dies easily and gives an opponent a card whenever you use it

Key Cards

Disrupt Decorum — Goads every opponent's creature at once, turning the whole table into a war Red Death only nudges one-at-a-time.
Frontier Warmonger — Goads two creatures each combat, multiplying the chaos Red Death starts.
Grand Melee — Forces all creatures to attack, weaponizing the boards you've been goading.
Thousand-Year Elixir — Untaps Red Death to goad a second creature each turn and dodges summoning sickness.
Bloodthirsty Blade — A movable, repeatable goad that stacks with Red Death to pile pressure on one player.
Roaming Throne — Names Crab/Mutant to double the goad-and-draw and ramp triggers, supercharging the engine.

Upgrade Path

Add untap enablers (Thousand-Year Elixir, Intruder Alarm, Aphetto Alchemist) so you goad multiple creatures per turn, and layer in mass-goad/forced-attack effects (Disrupt Decorum, Grand Melee, Marchesa's Decree) to turn one nudge into a bloodbath. Then commit to an actual finisher—Izzet burn, an evasive voltron threat, or a tight spell-combo—plus punisher pieces like Vicious Shadows or No Mercy that profit when goaded creatures die. Round out with cheap interaction and card draw so you survive the early game and convert the chaos into a win.

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

▸Opponents grind each other out via goaded combat while you finish the survivor with burn or a single evasive threat
▸Direct-damage payoffs (e.g. mass burn or commander damage) after the table is depleted
▸Combat alpha-strike into players who are tapped out from forced attacks
▸Paired-Doctor value engine outpacing and overwhelming the table

Archetypes

Goad / Combat Chaos — Red Death's repeatable goad is the centerpiece of a deck built to force opponents to fight each other.
Politics / Pillowfort — Redirecting attacks elsewhere and gifting cards lets you broker deals and stay the least-threatening seat.
Izzet Spellslinger Control — The free red mana and value shell support a counter/burn package that finishes weakened rivals.
Doctor's Companion Value — Pairing with a Doctor commander grafts an additional engine onto the goad/politics base.