MTG Commander: Kazarov, Sengir Pureblood

I have no luck with Rakdos, and yet I feel compelled to try again. Once again, here’s a decklist before I disassemble the deck.

After some tuning I was able to get it to function, but the deck’s timing is very awkward. The objective is to get Kazarov on the board as soon as possible (never as soon as you want), and then use mass-ping spells to quickly add many +1/+1 counters. Kazarov costs a lot, but the spells are cheap. Keeping them in your hand long enough for them to be useful is hard, and all those turns give your opponents plenty of time to draw removal.

I originally ran Whispersilk Cloak to get attacks through more easily, but it’s really hard to keep Kazarov on the board unprotected for a turn. Swiftfoot Boots let you wait only one extra turn for Kazarov and still protect him. Now I know why Lightning Greaves costs more.

My next set of changes to this deck would be to increase my defensive base, probably with more creatures overall, more defenders, and fewer pingers. The pingers are too easy to kill with my own burn spells, not fast enough to provide adequate defense, and not necessary to add tokens to Kazarov late game

Kazarov, Sengir Pureblood

Commander (1)
Kazarov, Sengir Pureblood

Creatures (20)
Archetype of Finality
Blood Cultist
Clackbridge Troll
Cunning Sparkmage
Fire Ants
Frostwielder
Gang of Devils
Heartless Hidetsugu
Infected Vermin
Jeska, Warrior Adept
Kamahl, Pit Fighter
Needletooth Raptor
Raptor Hatchling
Sengir Vampire
Silverclad Ferocidons
Sun-Crowned Hunters
Torbran, Thane of Red Fell
Viashino Fangtail
Vithian Stinger
Vulshok Sorcerer

Spells (20)
Anger of the Gods
Arc Lightning
Blazing Volley
Chandra’s Fury
Dark Ritual
Demonic Tutor
Diabolic Tutor
Earthquake
Electrickery
Flames of the Firebrand
Flame Sweep
Pyroclasm
Read the Bones
Rush of Vitality
Scouring Sands
Tremor
Twin Bolt
Unlikely Aid
Volcanic Spray
Without Weakness

Permanents (23)
Caltrops
Charcoal Diamond
Commander’s Sphere
Dauthi Embrace
Dictate of the Twin Gods
Fellwar Stone
Gorgon Flail
Gratuitous Violence
Jaya, Venerated Firemage
Jayemdae Tome
Last Laugh
Mana vault
Pestilence
Prowler’s Helm
Rakdos Cluestone
Rakdos Signet
Ruby Medallion
Sol Ring
Staff of Nin
Swiftfoot Boots
Theater of Horrors
Treacherous Link
Wishclaw Talisman
Lands (36)
14 Mountain
Swamp
Rocky Tar Pit
Thawing Glaciers
Evolving Wilds
Rogue’s Passage
Spawning Pool
Rakdos Guildgate
Rakdos Carnarium
Akoum Refuge
Urborg Volcano
Bloodfell Caves
Cinder Marsh
Sulfurous Springs
Tainted Peak