RakdosLegendary Creature — Devil NobleRaphael, Fiendish Savior
Mana value5Rank#5,358
The Commander
Flying
Other Demons, Devils, Imps, and Tieflings you control get +1/+1 and have lifelink.
At the beginning of each end step, if a creature card was put into your graveyard from anywhere this turn, create a 1/1 red Devil creature token with "When this token dies, it deals 1 damage to any target."
Guide
Gameplan
Build a wide tribal board of Demons, Devils, Imps, and Tieflings that all hit harder and drain life via lifelink, while Raphael's end-step trigger generates a steady stream of pinging Devil tokens whenever a creature dies. You aim to overwhelm the table with an anthem-boosted aggressive board backed by aristocrats-style attrition, closing through combat damage and incremental drain/burn.
Strengths
- Built-in anthem (+1/+1 and lifelink) makes even small tokens threatening and stabilizes your life total
- Free Devil token generation off any creature dying fuels both blockers and reach damage
- Strong synergy with sacrifice and recursion engines that constantly trip the end-step trigger
- Rakdos gives access to elite removal, reanimation, and aggressive tribal payoffs
Weaknesses
- Heavily commander-dependent; losing Raphael shuts off the anthem and token engine
- Token Devils are individually fragile and vulnerable to board wipes
- Tribal payoffs are narrow, so off-type creatures get no bonus
- No card advantage built in—can run out of gas without dedicated draw engines
Key Cards
- Pitiless Plunderer — Turns every creature death into treasure, snowballing mana alongside Raphael's token trigger.
- Bastion of Remembrance — Adds aristocrats drain to every creature death while you're already sacrificing fodder.
- Mephistopheles, Liability Broker — A Demon that fits the tribe and helps recur and sacrifice creatures to feed the engine.
- Goldnight Castigator — With lifelink from Raphael, attacking doubles your life rather than punishing you while swinging huge.
- Skullclamp — Draws cards off your fragile Devil tokens and triggers Raphael's creature-death clause repeatedly.
- Rakdos Charm — Flexible removal that can also sacrifice your token army for a damage burst.
Upgrade Path
Add reliable sacrifice outlets (Viscera Seer, Goblin Bombardment) and free death payoffs (Blood Artist, Zulaport Cutthroat) to convert the token engine into inevitable drain. Improve card flow with Skullclamp, Phyrexian Reclamation, and Bolas's Citadel, and tighten removal/ramp with fast mana and Dockside Extortionist. For a sharper finish, lean into a sacrifice combo like Mortician/aristocrats loops to drain the table in one turn.
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
- ▸Wide lifelink-boosted alpha strike for lethal combat damage
- ▸Incremental drain and Devil-token pings via aristocrats payoffs
- ▸Sacrificing the token army for a burst of direct damage with effects like Rakdos Charm or Goblin Bombardment
Archetypes
- Aristocrats — Constant creature deaths trigger Raphael's tokens and pair with drain effects for incremental wins.
- Tokens/Go-Wide — Devil tokens with lifelink and an anthem flood the board for aggressive swings.
- Tribal Aggro — Demons, Devils, Imps, and Tieflings all get pumped and gain lifelink under Raphael.
- Reanimator — Rakdos recursion cheats big Demons into play while filling the graveyard to trigger tokens.
Combos
No combos found for this commander on Commander Spellbook.
Related Commanders
Same color identity (BR), by popularity.
