Overview:

This Rakdos deck helmed by Valgavoth, Harrower of Souls focuses on a life-drain strategy, leveraging opponents' card draw and incremental life loss to fuel value engines and combo finishes. The deck combines passive damage sources (e.g., Underworld Dreams, Spiteful Visions, Sheoldred, the Apocalypse) with explosive combos like Exquisite Blood + Blood Artist and Wound Reflection to close games. Valgavoth acts as a card advantage engine and secondary threat, but the deck's core operates independently, using the commander to amplify damage triggers rather than relying on it as a centerpiece.

Primer:

Core Strategy Execution:

1. Early Setup (Turns 1-4):
   • Deploy passive damage sources (Kederekt Parasite, Fate Unraveler, Roiling Vortex) and ramp (Sol Ring, Rakdos Signet).
   • Use Demonic Tutor, Wishclaw Talisman, or Night's Whisper to find key pieces.
2. Midgame Triggers (Turns 4-6):
   • Amplify damage with Torbran, Thane of Red Fell or Twinflame Tyrant.
   • Cast Exquisite Blood or Wound Reflection to set up combo potential.
   • Protect critical enchantments with Imp's Mischief or Bolt Bend.
3. Win Conditions (Turns 5-8+):
   • Infinite Combo: Pair Exquisite Blood with any life-loss trigger (e.g., Blood Artist, Mayhem Devil).
   • Wound Reflection Lock: Double opponents' life loss during end steps.
   • Overwhelming Burn: Use Chandra's Ignition on a large Valgavoth or Kaervek the Merciless for lethal.

Mulligan Priorities:

• Keep hands with at least 2 lands and 1-2 early plays (ramp or damage engine).
• Prioritize tutors or card draw (Demonic Tutor, Night's Whisper) if lacking key pieces.
• Avoid hands with only high-CMC cards (e.g., Living Death, Massacre Wurm) without ramp.

Key Tips:

• Use Deflecting Swat and Tibalt's Trickery to protect combo turns.
• Reanimate or Living Death can recover critical creatures post-wipe.
• Bloodchief Ascension becomes a game-ending threat if left unchecked.

Weaknesses:

Critical

• Enchantment Vulnerability: Exquisite Blood, Wound Reflection, and Spiteful Visions are irreplaceable and easily removed.
• Graveyard Reliance: Living Death/Reanimate lines are disrupted by common graveyard hate.

Moderate

• Slow Combos: Exquisite Blood requires setup and lacks redundancy beyond tutors.
• Board Wipes: Limited recovery outside Malakir Rebirth and Living Death.

Minor

• Life Total Pressure: Self-damage from lands (e.g., Sulfurous Springs) and spells adds up.
• Artifact Reliance: Key ramp (Sol Ring, Rakdos Signet) is vulnerable to mass artifact removal.

Most Important Cards:

• Exquisite Blood (Combo linchpin)
• Wound Reflection (Damage amplifier/win condition)
• Sheoldred, the Apocalypse (Passive damage + lifegain)
• Demonic Tutor (Tutor critical pieces)
• Underworld Dreams (Core damage engine)
• Blood Artist (Combo payoff)
• Deflecting Swat (Protection for key turns)
• Torbran, Thane of Red Fell (Damage multiplier)
• Living Death (Recovery + board swing)
• Kaervek the Merciless (Targeted damage enabler)

Attribute Ratings:

Speed: 6/10

• Can threaten T5-7 wins via combos but relies on assembling 2-card interactions without fast mana.

Resilience: 5/10

• Limited protection for key enchantments and minimal recursion outside graveyard plays.

Consistency: 7/10

• Strong tutor density and redundant damage triggers compensate for combo fragility.

Interaction: 6/10

• Efficient spot removal (Bedevil, Infernal Grasp) and redirects, but lacks counterspell density.

Rating Justification:

This deck operates at a 5.5 - 6.0 power level, capable of T5-7 wins through combos and sustained damage but held back by vulnerability to enchantment removal and moderate resilience. Its tutor density and passive damage engines align with optimized casual strategies, while its combo potential pushes it toward higher tiers when undisrupted.

Power level: 5.5 - 6.0