RakdosLegendary Creature — Human SoldierLegate Lanius, Caesar's Ace
Mana value4Rank#10,562
The Commander
Decimate — When Legate Lanius enters, each opponent sacrifices a tenth of the creatures they control of their choice, rounded up.
Whenever an opponent sacrifices a creature, put a +1/+1 counter on Legate Lanius.
Guide
Gameplan
Cast cheap edict effects and group sacrifice spells to force opponents to give up creatures, growing Legate Lanius into a fast clock while stripping away the opposing board. He's a Rakdos beatdown-control commander who wants the table making sacrifices every turn, then swings in (ideally with evasion or trample) to close.
Strengths
- Punishes go-wide and creature-heavy tables by repeatedly removing blockers and growing for free
- Doubles as removal engine and finisher in one body, generating value off effects you already want
- Rakdos has the deepest pool of edicts, sacrifice payoffs, and recursion to keep the trigger flowing
Weaknesses
- Counters mean nothing if he gets chump-blocked or removed; relies on evasion to actually win
- Edicts whiff against opponents with tokens or a single huge creature, slowing his growth
- Light interaction against combo/storm decks that don't care about losing creatures
- Commander tax and removal can leave you re-casting a 4/4 with no immediate impact
Key Cards
- Grave Pact — Turns every one of your creature deaths into a board-wide sacrifice, snowballing his counters and clearing blockers.
- Dictate of Erebos — Same group-sacrifice engine with flash, fueling Lanius's growth every time something of yours dies.
- Plaguecrafter — A repeatable edict body you can blink or reanimate to force sacrifices and pile on counters.
- Flesh Reaver / Rakdos Charm — Cheap edicts and removal that trigger the sacrifice clause while developing your gameplan.
- Rakdos's Return — A finisher and another angle of attrition that pairs with his combat damage.
Upgrade Path
Add evasion and protection (Rogue's Passage, Whispersilk Cloak, Lightning Greaves, Loran's Escape) so the counters convert into wins, and lean into compulsory group-sacrifice engines (Grave Pact, Dictate of Erebos, Butcher of Malakir) rather than one-shot edicts. Round out with strong recursion (Phyrexian Reclamation, reanimation) and efficient Rakdos removal/ramp to keep the trigger pipeline online while protecting your finisher.
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
- ▸Voltron beatdown with an oversized, evasive Legate Lanius dealing commander damage
- ▸Attrition: edict the table out of blockers and grind with recursive threats
- ▸Direct damage finishers like Rakdos's Return or burn after the board is cleared
Archetypes
- Aristocrats — His payoff triggers on opponent sacrifices, and sac engines like Grave Pact/Dictate keep the table giving up creatures.
- Edict Control — Stacking Diabolic Edict-style effects strips key creatures while feeding Lanius counters.
- Voltron — With evasion and the steady counter growth, he can become a one-shot commander-damage threat.
- Stax — Forcing repeated sacrifices alongside creature-denial pieces grinds creature decks out of the game.
Combos
No combos found for this commander on Commander Spellbook.
Related Commanders
Same color identity (BR), by popularity.
