Table of Contents
Hello everyone! Today I’ll be going over Rakdos Anvil in Standard.
After the full spoilers for Phyrexia: All Will be One released, I was hyped to start brewing with Oni-Cult Anvil again. Surely Rakdos Anvil would be broken, it was getting a better Kuldotha Rebirth in the form of Gleeful Demolition, Exuberant Fuseling, which is a Ravenous Squirrel with trample, and The Mycosynth Gardens, a land that could also copy Anvil? Are you kidding me? Spoiler alert: none of those cards made it into my final list.
My starting point for this deck was iDelmo’s build, which I loved the look of as soon as I saw it:
Creatures (14)
Sorceries (4)
Artifacts (14)
Lands (22)
60 Cards
$129.42
Sideboard
15 Cards
$46.47
This list is sweet, it’s very aggressive and seeks to take advantage of Gleeful Demolition and Exuberant Fuseling to get your opponent low fast, then utilizes Vraan, Executioner Thane and Oni-Cult Anvil to finish them off. I was having a fair amount of success with the deck at first, but as the format evolved, I found it not quite strong enough. Fuseling, while strong, usually only attacked for one or two in the early game and died to removal before it got really threatening, and the tokens from Demolition got stonewalled too easily. The aggressive plan was too slow without an early Anvil to pump up Fuselings and activate Sanguine Statuette, and without
After cycling through many different builds, I concluded that no matter what I changed, Anvil couldn’t contend with the rest of the metagame for one key reason: its worst matchups were the most popular decks. Mono White Midrange was basically unbeatable thanks to most lists running three to four Loran of the Third Path in the main alongside wraths like
I knew I had to fundamentally change the deck, or it wouldn’t survive in this new Standard. I pondered this to no avail until while scrolling through Scryfall in desperation, I stumbled upon the card I knew was Anvil’s savior: Atraxa, Grand Unifier. Sort of…
My epiphany came in the form of a card I had previously dismissed: Vat of Rebirth. When I first saw it, I was pretty low on it because four oil is a lot, as is three mana, and this deck doesn’t even run that many creatures, most of which are one and two-drops. But at the time, everyone was discovering that Atraxa, Grand Unifier was broken, so I figured why not try it in Anvil. Between Blood tokens and Fable of the Mirror-Breaker, the Rakdos Sac shell has 12 ways to discard Atraxa, and if all that had to be done to put an Atraxa into play was put four oil counters on Vat of Rebirth, well, that could be arranged. So I started brewing, and settled upon this list:
Planeswalkers (1)
Creatures (15)
Instants (3)
Artifacts (14)
Enchantments (4)
Lands (23)
60 Cards
$290.58
Sideboard
15 Cards
$159.79
THE DECK:
This deck combines the classic sacrifice shell based around Oni-Cult Anvil with a reanimator theme centered around Vat of Rebirth. The Anvil shell gives the deck a strong, aggressive early game and backs it up with grindy elements. Anvil’s ability to grind is further augmented by the reanimator package, which gives this deck a nigh-unbeatable late game and the potential for incredibly broken starts.
THE SACRIFICE CORE:
First up is one of my favorite cards, the one and only Oni-Cult Anvil. This card is like Cauldron Familiar and
Supporting Anvil is a whole host of cards. Voldaren Epicure and Bloodtithe Harvester are cheap, aggressive creatures that also come with an artifact, and Harvester also acts as a removal spell that scales with the game. Mishra's research Desk can be sacrificed to Anvil on turn two or trigger Anvil later in the game while providing card advantage with its unearth ability, and Furnace Skullbomb does the same, but slightly worse.
Fable of the Mirror-Breaker is the best card in Standard, and also happens to synergize with Oni-Cult Anvil because of the treasures the Goblin Shaman token makes. On top of this, Reflections of Kiki-Jiki is a must-kill value engine, great for copying Bloodtithe Harvester and more.
THE REANIMATOR PACKAGE:
This deck’s biggest acquisition from ONE, Vat of Rebirth is a seemingly-innocuous one-drop that’s sneakily very powerful. The entire Anvil core already makes getting oil counters on Vat of Rebirth trivial, and Furnace Skullbomb puts three oil counters on alone. The best part? It’s repeatable. If cheating out one seven-drop isn’t enough, sacrifice a couple more artifacts or trade off a few more creatures and do it again the next turn.
Any good reanimation deck needs reanimation targets, and this deck is flush with them. First up is ONE’s chase mythic: Atraxa, Grand Unifier. Completely uncastable, and the reason why MTG Arena keeps trying to get me to put Plains in a Rakdos deck, Atraxa is one of the best creatures to reanimate in all of Magic, rivaling even the mighty Griselbrand in the trifecta of size, keywords, and card-advantage. This deck only runs three because Atraxa is pretty much useless in multiples, and the deck doesn’t rely solely on Atraxa to make Vat good. That being said, reanimating Atraxa usually ends the game on the spot. Even if your opponent manages to remove Atraxa, the ETB refuels your hand, and ensures another Vat activation next turn, or at worst, two turns later.
Next up is Phyrexian Fleshgorger. While Fleshgorger isn’t quite as game-ending as Atraxa, it has several advantages. Firstly, Fleshgorger is castable as a three-drop, and in the late game, as a 7-drop. This means that, unlike Atraxa, Fleshgorger isn’t dead if you don’t find a way to loot it away, and it’s also much easier to get into the graveyard because, in addition to looting, Fleshgorger can now be traded off or sacrificed to Anvil. Fleshgorger is one of the weaker cards in the deck without Vat of Rebirth, but it has a solid body that’s excellent against aggro and gives this deck a good number of reanimation targets without overloading it with cards that must be looted away to get value.
The singleton Phyrexian Dragon Engine is this deck’s seventh Vat target, it has a solid body and can be unearthed in the late game to refuel, and with Vat, you get to both draw three and keep around a 2/2 double strike. Lastly, Bloodtithe Harvester, and in a truly desperate situation, Voldaren Epicure are also targets for Vat. Looping Bloodtithe Harvester every turn with Vat can make for a powerful value engine in the late game, and having these extra creatures ensures that Vat is seldom completely dead.
EVERYTHING ELSE:
Voltage Surge gives this deck very efficient removal and is another sacrifice outlet. The singleton Ob Nixilis, the Adversary adds some extra staying power in the late game, punishes x/1s, and can dome your opponent for seven if you sacrifice a Fleshgorger or Atraxa to casualty. The mana base is standard, just duals, channel lands, and basics. ONE did give the deck three excellent utility lands in The Monumental Facade, The Mycosynth Gardens, and Mirrex. However, none make the cut because of the stringent color requirements this deck has in the early game.
SIDEBOARD:
3 Duress: Disruption for decks with many non-creature spells such as Mono White Midrange or 5C Invoke Justice.
3 Unlicensed Hearse: Dedicated reanimator decks such as 5-Color or the new Rakdos Reanimator deck using The Cruelty of Gix can be hard matchups, and an active Hearse is a huge problem for them. The only downside is that those decks naturally bring in artifact removal against this deck, so Hearse gets caught in the crossfire of Abrades and
2 Ob Nixilis, The Adversary: The second and third copies of Ob are very strong against grindy decks, such as Mono White Midrange, which struggles to get Ob off the board.
1 Voltage Surge, 1 Go for the Throat: Some extra removal for aggro matchups, there are only two removal spells in the board because this deck already has a good matchup against most aggressive decks, and can’t run too many removal spells without weakening the main game plan.
1 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse, 1 Phyrexian Obliterator: Beefy creatures for aggressive matchups, Obliterator might not be worthy of inclusion because it’s hard to cast, but landing it on turn four or five against Gruul/Mono Green pretty much ends the game on the spot.
1 Gleeful Demolition: An answer to Unlicensed Hearse, Demolition’s main purpose in the sideboard is to be a tutor target to tutor off The Cruelty of Gix, but it can also sneak out an early win against a slow start by making three 1/1s on turn two or three. That being said, it’s possible that Demolition should be an Abrade instead.
NOTABLE EXCLUSIONS:
Exuberant Fuseling: While Fuseling is very powerful, and has some cute synergy with Ob Nixilis, the Adversary and Furnace Skullbomb, it sacrificed its spot in the deck for the Vat package, and in this less aggressive build of Rakdos Anvil Fuseling isn’t quite as good.
Mishra, Claimed by Gix: With only one Phyrexian Dragon Engine, Mishra is unlikely to flip, and this deck would rather have another reanimation target instead.
Go for the Throat: Not running any unconditional removal in the main deck, and only a single piece in the sideboard may seem a little risky, but 5+ toughness creatures that must be answered, such as Sheoldred, the Apocalypse are on a downswing in Standard at the moment, and Atraxa/Fleshgorger outrace Sheoldred anyway.
Vraan, Executioner Thane: Unnecessary as a win-condition, and vulnerable to removal, Vraan’s worth including in more aggressive Vat-less builds, but not in this one.
Drown in Ichor: If this card was an instant it might be worth an inclusion, it has some nice synergy with Vat, Fable, and Ob, but is ultimately just worse than Voltage Surge.
Mirrex/The Monumental Facade/The Mycosynth Gardens: All three of these are strong utility lands for this deck. However, Facade and Gardens don’t work for turn two Oni-Cult Anvil or Bloodtithe Harvester. As for Mirrex, while it does tap for colored mana once, doesn’t do enough to justify the risk of messing up this deck’s curve out in the early game. I’m closest to slotting in a singleton Gardens, mostly because copying an Anvil with it is just so sick, but curving out and not wasting any mana in the early game is absolutely vital for this deck, so ultimately I don’t think Gardens is worth the risk.
Undying Malice: I tried a scam-esque version of the deck that used Undying Malice to rebuy Fleshgorger, Bloodtithe, and Phyrexian Dragon Engine, but ultimately found that plan to be too weak. Malice was dead/medium too often, and the payoff of a 7/5 or a couple cards just wasn’t worth it.
BEST-OF-ONE:
Creatures (15)
Artifacts (13)
Enchantments (4)
Lands (23)
60 Cards
$287.22
This deck is strong in Bo1 because aggressive decks, which are good matchups, are overrepresented. Furthermore, sideboard cards like Unlicensed Hearse and
Budget:
Creatures (14)
Instants (3)
Artifacts (16)
Enchantments (4)
60 Cards
$196.92
Sideboard
15 Cards
$10.17
This deck is both easy and hard to make budget. A lot of the deck’s most important cards, such as Oni-Cult Anvil or Vat of Rebirth are uncommons, and Fable of the Mirror-Breaker is the only rare that’s integral to the deck. However, Atraxa and Fleshgorger are necessary to make the Vat plan work, and that’s six mythics. If you’re only short a couple of wildcards Dusk Mangler is the best reanimation target available at uncommon, but it’s a pretty big downgrade.
This deck is also heavily punished by tapped lands in the manabase. Its color requirements are heavy for a two-color deck, but having its lands come in untapped in the early game is also very important, so after Fable and reanimation targets, I would craft a playset of Blackcleave Cliffs and Sulfurous Springs before anything else. Finally, the sideboard is also a lot weaker without Ob Nixilis, the Adversary and Unlicensed Hearse, but having a pile of hand disruption against slower decks like Mono White isn’t all that bad.
MATCHUPS:
Be sure not to overboard with this deck, because if you bring in too much disruption, you risk weakening the Anvil/Vat game plan. However, if you see in game two that your opponent has a lot of graveyard hate, it might be worth boarding out some number of Vats and Atraxas and focusing on the Anvil game plan. You can also be pretty aggressive in boarding Gleeful Demolition because it’s never dead.
Adjust how you sideboard based on if you’re going first or second. Generally, you want to be more proactive on the play and more reactive on the draw. A good example is against a deck where both Voltage Surge and Duress are good. When going first you might want to board in Duress because it’s more proactive and you can use it to disrupt your opponent’s curve, but on the draw, you can keep in Voltage Surge to respond to your opponent’s threats efficiently. The Cruelty of Gix is also a card that might be good on the play, but too slow on the draw, especially in matchups where a lot of its strength lies in discarding a threat a turn before your opponent can play it.
Esper Legends/Midrange:
This matchup is pretty even, Dennick, Pious Apprentice shuts off Vat, and Thalia, Guardian of Thraben and Raffine, Scheming Seer are problematic as well, but Esper has a lot of removal spells that aren’t at their best. Your removal spells are stretched thin in this matchup, so don’t waste them unnecessarily. Your priority should be removing whatever is stopping you from enacting your game plan, and not letting Raffine run away with the game. Post-board, watch out for Temporary Lockdown and Loran of the Third Path.
Mono White Midrange:
IN | OUT |
---|---|
2 Ob Nixilis, The Adversary | 2 Furnace Skullbomb (1 OTP) |
2 Duress (3 OTP) | 2 Voltage Surge (3 OTP) |
2 The Cruelty of Gix (1 OTP) | 2 Research Desk”] |
Previously Anvil’s worst matchup, with this build, Mono White is a lot closer to even. Even if it may not seem like you are under much of a clock, if you leave your opponent unchecked, they will soon run away with the game, and even an Atraxa, Grand Unifier might not be enough to let you claw back, so be sure to pressure in the early game. Try not to give The Wandering Emperor too much value, and in most games, Vat is your primary win condition, so be wary of running it into a Loran of the Third Path or Cathar Commando. Post-board, do your best to play around Temporary Lockdown and Farewell, but that may not always be possible, sometimes you simply have to hope they don’t have it.
Grixis/Jund Midrange:
This matchup is pretty good, many of Jund’s threats are ineffective and their disruption isn’t at its best. Watch out for Unleash the Inferno in game one and
Azorius Soldiers:
IN | OUT |
---|---|
1 Voltage Surge | 1 Furnace Skullbomb |
1 Go for the Throat | 1 Atraxa, Grand Unifier |
1 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse | 1 Research Desk”] |
This is one of the better matchups, but it’s very losable, especially on the draw. Again Thalia, Guardian of Thraben and Dennick, Pious Apprentice are the two biggest problems and Siege Veteran is the most threatening card after that. If this deck becomes more popular, a couple
Boros Reanimator:
IN | OUT |
---|---|
3 Duress | 3 Voltage Surge |
3 Unlicensed Hearse | 2 Furnace Skullbomb |
1 Gleeful Demolition | 1 Phyrexian Dragon Engine |
1 Go for the Throat | 1 Phyrexian Fleshgorger |
1 Ob Nixilis, the Adversary |
This matchup is difficult in game one, but even, or possibly slightly favored post-board. Game one, hope your opponent stumbles and try to kill them as fast as possible because once they reanimate Atraxa, Grand Unifier, or Portal to Phyrexia, winning becomes nigh-impossible. Post-board you can take a little slower, and make sure not to get blown out by
Mono Red Aggro:
IN | OUT |
---|---|
1 Sheoldred, The Apocalypse | 1 Ob Nixilis, the Adversary |
1 Voltage Surge | 1 Phyrexian Dragon Engine |
1 Go for the Throat | 1 Furnace Skullbomb |
This is Anvil’s best matchup, especially with all of the lifelinkers the reanimator package comes with. In game one the scariest threat is Thundering Raiju and in games two and three do your best not to get blown out by Brotherhood's End.
The Mirror:
IN | OUT |
---|---|
3 Unlicensed Hearse | 2 Voltage Surge (3 OTP) |
1 Gleeful Demolition | 1 |
1 Sheoldred, the Apocalypse | 1 Phyrexian Dragon Engine |
1 Go for the Throat (OTD) | 1 Ob Nixilis, the Adversary |
1 The Cruelty of Gix (OTP) | 1 Furnace Skullbomb (2 OTD) |
This matchup is almost perfectly even, with the edge going to whichever player has more card styles. In game one, the game will usually come down to which player reanimates a big creature first, because winning through damage or overwhelming with tokens takes a lot of time against another deck with Oni-Cult Anvil, and Atraxa is virtually unstoppable. The only other realistic way to run away with the game is with multiple Fable of the Mirror-Breakers, but most of the time the game is just a race to four oil counters. Post-board both players have a lot more interaction, so a grindy game becomes a distinct possibility again.
TIPS AND TRICKS:
- Blood tokens are slightly more important in this build as opposed to previous iterations of Anvil. You need Blood tokens to get reanimation targets in the bin and loot away Atraxa, which technically isn’t uncastable because of Fable of the Mirror-Breaker, but might as well be. You should still usually be sacrificing Voldaren Epicure’s Blood token to Anvil on turn two, but give a little more thought to looting away a land you might or might not need in the mid-game just because you have spare mana.
- If you suspect your opponent has graveyard hate, wait to discard your reanimation targets, and if you suspect your opponent has a way to kill Vat of Rebirth, wait until you can play it and activate in the same turn, Treasure tokens make this a lot easier.
- Unearthed Mishra's research Desk exiles itself instead of dying, this doesn’t adversely affect with Oni-Cult Anvil because it triggers whenever an artifact leaves the battlefield, but it does mean that Vat of Rebirth doesn’t trigger. The same thing goes for Phyrexian Dragon Engine.
- Tokens dying/being destroyed or sacrificed does trigger Vat of Rebirth.
- Ob Nixilis, the Adversary‘s -7 can target any player, so you can use it to deal 7 to your opponent. This comes up most often when you casualty a 7-drop to Ob.
- If your opponent targets Phyrexian Fleshgorger with removal, make sure they pay the ward before you sacrifice it otherwise they can just choose not to pay the life since your Fleshgorger is already dead.
- You can target your own creatures with Voltage Surge or Bloodtithe Harvester to get more counters on Vat of Rebirth. You can even Voltage Surge your own Phyrexian Obliterator to get a whole lot of oil counters, and some style points too.
- With multiple Reflection of Kiki-Jiki in play, you can copy them back and forth as many times as you have mana, and if you do it on your opponent’s end step, you’ll untap with all the copies.
- The Cruelty of Gix can reanimate a creature from your opponent’s graveyard in addition to your own.
- Despite being colorless, the tokens from Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance are not artifacts.
- Phyrexian Dragon Engine triggers not only after being unearthed but also after being reanimated by Vat of Rebirth.
ALCHEMY:
After testing Vat of Rebirth for a bit, I asked Altheriax what he thought of the idea, and he immediately proceeded to hit #1 Mythic in Alchemy with a modified version of the deck. After trying his list out for myself, I can see why. Vat is very well positioned in the Alchemy metagame because of how many aggro decks there are running around, and it also gains two very powerful cards.
Creatures (12)
Lands (25)
60 Cards
$297.96
Sideboard
15 Cards
$44.01
The biggest thing Anvil gains in Alchemy is Crucias, Titan of the Waves, which is an absolutely messed up card that works perfectly with both Oni-Cult Anvil and Vat of Rebirth. Crucias changes the deck a lot because it makes enabling Vat a lot easier, by both finding Atraxa and putting her in the graveyard, and even Crucias even enables the possibility of hardcasting Atraxa as early as turn five.
The second card this deck gains is Sanguine Brushstroke, which is a better version of Vraan, Executioner Thane because Blood Artist puts the opponent under an even faster clock, and Brushstroke also makes a blood token.
Thanks to these two cards, the backup reanimation targets and cheap enablers aren’t as necessary, so Phyrexian Fleshgorger, Voldaren Epicure,
If you want to learn more about the deck, I highly recommend you check out Alth’s video guide on the deck here:
CONCLUSION:
Vat of Rebirth is an incredibly strong card that revitalizes the Rakdos Sacrifice archetype and solves many of its issues in the current Standard format. If you enjoy grinding your opponents out or slamming massive creatures into play without having to sink five mana into Invoke Justice, this deck is for you.
If you have any questions or comments, let me know through the MTG Arena Zone Discord or message me on Twitter. Thank you so much for reading, good luck in your games, and may Vat of Rebirth always be in your opening hand.