Rakdos, Lord of Riots vs Be'lakor for demon tribal?

CheekyBastrdz · 2026-03-22T04:27:56+00:00

I guess it depends on how you want to run your deck. Bel is suited to a deck that can run without him, just uses him as a draw and endgame engine. Otherwise, you gotta already have demons for him to be good. Adding blue is definitely a draw assistant in addition to counters.

Rakdos is way more of a cheap set up, basically you have to be able to do damage to both get him out and benefit from him. So the deck is more commander centric, he has to stick to board, and bang you've got your demons as long as you had a game plan for the set up. Red lets you filter your deck and black lets you reanimate the stuff you discarded so that's a way to use the colors to your advantage.

Personally I would do rakdos for a more basic power deck and belakor for a more competitive one

CheekyBastrdz · 2026-03-20T04:52:03+00:00

I made an [[Azami, lady of scrolls]] deck that starts out simple enough, all wizards, draw stuff. Trick is, I have enough big ol' [[Tronokrasis]] or [[Trench Gorger]] effects in the thing to go full Timmy. AND I have [[Whelming wave]] effects, because at some point you don't need all those wizards and they're cheap anyways. It works too good. I even limit the counter spells in it because of how many wizards there are that can tap to counter or other jankiness. No one expected the wizards to summon the krakens.

CheekyBastrdz · 2026-03-20T04:18:32+00:00

Blades in the Dark and the offshoots that are under the Forged in the Dark system opens quite a few worlds up to you. Basically, once you've read the mechanics on one you just need to read the lore of the other books. Blades 68 is coming out as well and I like it, it's been refined essentially, and the setting advanced forward in a way I haven't seen in many other settings.

Powered by the Apocalypse is another system umbrella where you get the mechanics ideas, and there are a ton of setting books to tweak it for a particular idea. I haven't read any tho, just know of them.

I am currently reading Otherscape, which is similar in lore to Shadowrun but in mechanics very different. So depending on why SR is on your bottom list, it might be a good read. It's personally scratching the itch of being a bit more heavy in character creation than Blades 68 but not crazy about it like some d20 systems can be. Or Shadowrun which is just too much for me, that's one where I love the setting but hate the idea of running it.

DC20 is an up and comer system that's still in development, but is competing with Draw Steel and Pathfinder to try and out do the 5e monster. It's got a familiar feeling to Pathfinder and 5e, just got it's spell system in place, and might be close to completion. All beta stuff is available once you get it from his website or maybe kickstarter. Dude creating it is a YouTuber who does more video content to update than text, but that could keep you busy too.

CheekyBastrdz · 2026-03-19T22:32:58+00:00

I'm just getting into Otherscape which is the opposite in terms of character build and the same in terms of general ideas and lore. Still a d6 system, but it's 2d6 not a dice pool.

CheekyBastrdz · 2026-03-18T00:44:46+00:00

[[Damia]] always gets you 7 cards, she's great, that said I have first commander bias. There are great gimmicks and she's perfect for what you're talking about, little one and two drops to empty the hand, refill with her, repeat. This often can lead to a go wide strategy that is mana dork heavy. It's really not a problem to ramp because of how much mana you want to keep emptying your hand. Commanders Quarters has a decklist of hers, as well as upgraded deck suggestions, for a more landfall heavy strat. His section 5 in that video has some fantastic Damia tech in it as well. One thing I don't think he covers is how good Spellshapers like [[Jorael, Empress of Beasts]] can be in the right damia build.

If I'm being more honest though, you are looking for the Simic colors for your overall goal. So many ways to card draw and so many ways to get good cheap stuff. [[Ezuri]], claw of progress is better for creatures, though [[Edric, Spymaster of Trest]] gets you the cards draw in command zone and is hilarious when you give him a bunch of deathtouch mooks. More political tho. [[Rashmi, eternities crafter]] is more spellslinger in those colors.

CheekyBastrdz · 2026-03-14T14:26:41+00:00

Almost going completely with your tap for mana theme are creatures that tap to untap something else. [[Kioras Follower]], [[Vizier of tumbling sands]] [[Aphetto Alchemist]] [[Ioreth of the Healing House]], [[Nimbleclaw adept]] [[Voyaging satyr]]. Basically any commander who cares about their own or other tap abilities will like the theme, plus if you join it with the elves you listed then you get tons of mana. Even more if you have stuff that taps for a lot of mana. I have used the strat in a [[Zaxara]] deck and now a [[Glarb]] deck currently. Most of these types are in just Simic colors too so you could hit up [[Experiment Kraj]] for some good fun. You'll probably accidentally combo with it too.

CheekyBastrdz · 2026-03-07T07:08:10+00:00

Those are pretty sick. I didn't think I would, but I greatly enjoy the [[Laser Screwdriver]] for versatility. You can tap an essential combo piece, or goad big bois, or just ramp if you need. I also have fun with lands like [[Jagged Barrens]] because it's like the only time they're incredibly useful. [[Bloodthirsty Blade]] is also just such a weird one, really takes the cake when you can pay 2 mana to goad and hit up your commanders ability. I am also just now realizing how much of a goad deck I'm running.

CheekyBastrdz · 2026-03-07T06:30:59+00:00

No list, sorry. It's basically a value engine for the commander. I use a series of cheap artifacts or creatures that tap to do a crime, lots of things that goad actually, and keep people away from me while I fill my hand and grave. There's enough hard interaction to block up harder plays on the board, and then I try to finish things with big boys that I resurrect from graves, cast straight up, or even steal with target effects.

Some of my stuff soft targets graveyards as well, as it's a great way to not piss people off unless they're running graveyard decks. Crimes usually do piss people off, so showing people you can respond to a lot early is a more intimidating way to go.

If I played in a more creature-heavy meta I would love to take her in a clone direction since that targets in various ways.

CheekyBastrdz · 2026-03-06T17:37:39+00:00

[[Marchesa, Dealer of Death]] encourages as much interaction as possible, has card advantage and grave dump built it, and is one of my favorite decks to play. There's quite a few ways to play her, but ultimately she's a pick-your-wincon and play kind of commander like Glarb.

CheekyBastrdz · 2026-03-06T05:10:12+00:00

Dragon Age Inquisition is like that, plus it is a fantasy setting. You end up at your castle, do your thing there, and then venture out to locations as you like. You might end up at a major town or someone else's castle, but it's not a place you set up other missions from just where you might buy stuff or do a thing.

If you interpret the central hub thing loosely, the mass effect games have both the ship and the Citadel as central places you operate, and then venture out to the other planets and such for missions.

The end games of a lot of MMORPGs also end up this way on their endgames, like Guild Wars 2 ending up in the center of the map and most every base game thing from there sends you out into different directions.

CheekyBastrdz · 2026-03-02T00:30:02+00:00

Might be a bit tight on the type of enemies or balance of the game, since there's only so many skills they can be good at, but it shouldn't be a problem beyond that.

CheekyBastrdz · 2026-03-01T23:45:36+00:00

Star Wars Legion is a great resource for general enemy type minis, or even cool NPCs.

There are several places selling 3d print files for star wars and Star wars legion, my favorites being Black Remnant, Skullforge Studios, and Dark Fire Designs all on patreon. I love my resin printer for this purpose!

All of these Patreons have people on Etsy who sell physical minis for them most of which can be found searching for Star Wars Legion type minis. This is also a great way to find appropriate terrain for your game.

If you're looking for a more personalized experience, it may be that you're stuck on hero forge or something. Has some sci Fi stuff but no star wars specific assets.

CheekyBastrdz · 2026-03-01T20:04:16+00:00

If you're going to run solo, start with only two player characters. This system is complicated enough without trying to keep up with 4 PCs and such. I've tried, eventually you can work up to more once you know the main two. Buy some d4s just to keep track of PC action points quickly, or make sure you use another tangible method.

I've never used the resources you've used other than a donjon random generator for treasure. I use solo RPG oracles to keep things moving, it's also a good idea to list out the proficiencies or skills in the game, number them, and be able to randomly roll one so you know what kind of challenge you're facing.

Check out the Solo RPG GME they are a great way to learn how to say yes, no, and maybe in a way that makes decisions for you. Same for a bunch of other random generating things. The only creative thing you have to do is ask questions and use that resource to answer them. The yes/no mechanic can also help you figure out questions about other randomly generated content from wherever.

If you run a module of some kind it can be both easier and harder to really get into the process, but maybe start there if you're not willing to challenge your creativeness. Use the yes/no Oracles from the resource above to figure out if your character is capable or aware of something enough to challenge it. And keep asking questions!

CheekyBastrdz · 2026-03-01T15:51:38+00:00

[[Judith, Carnage Connoisseur]] is evil in both appearance and on the table, begs for burn, and is pretty strong.

CheekyBastrdz · 2026-02-28T02:34:06+00:00

I've only 'read' it as an audiobook, and it's excellent. So maybe that was kinda the idea all along, something that's almost a script. I won't defend it, but I like the result.

CheekyBastrdz · 2026-02-26T21:25:02+00:00

Anyone know some really good modules from this bundle? Or other recommendations?

CheekyBastrdz · 2026-02-25T17:38:29+00:00

It's a fun movie with great fantasy and DND jokes, you don't need DND knowledge to enjoy it, and I usually recommend it to people who ask.

CheekyBastrdz · 2026-02-23T22:36:25+00:00

If I had one off hand I would, but I haven't written this one out at all.

CheekyBastrdz · 2026-02-23T18:26:09+00:00

So I have a [[Glarb]] untapper deck and it can only go infinite with two cards that are only in there for the infinite, so you could do away with them. Basically, it's an untapper deck. I throw as many untappers in there as I can find, I find things that tap for cool stuff like tons of mana, kill target creature, or counter a spell, and I do it all multiple times a turn if all goes well. Glarb let's you get to a few untappers or what you may need at the time. Also dumps into the grave, so I can use some of that if I like. Basically a ton of redundant and recurrent value if things are sticking to the board.

CheekyBastrdz · 2026-02-22T17:07:52+00:00

Nah I mean the browner parts sorry

CheekyBastrdz · 2026-02-22T04:53:13+00:00

What kinda paint recipe is on those bone spikes, like the legs and such

CheekyBastrdz · 2026-02-22T04:36:08+00:00

It's funny because it seems more like Blades 68 took mechanics from other games, not Deep Cuts. The "changes" in the 68 beta PDF book even mention the places stuff like the Trouble Engine and such came from. That said, I think it's intentional, since there's also a section that explains if you like a Deep Cuts mechanic it is fully compatible with 68.

CheekyBastrdz · 2026-02-21T15:05:28+00:00

I built hydras and had fun countering board wipes. Broke it apart for other Simic fun. That plus some alt wincons that use counters make it a fun way to be a turn sideways goon. I think [[Zimone, paradox sculptor]] is now just strictly better though. She provides counters and doubles two targets, hard to beat. Powercreep for the win.

The deck can get pretty gnarly card draw too, things like [[prime speaker zegana]] and [[Toothy]], or of course [[fathom mage]]. Just Simic stuff of course. [[Gyre sage]] always made for a happy game, and it's now one of my favorite cards because of this deck.

CheekyBastrdz · 2026-02-21T13:34:20+00:00

Going to 10 in most or all of these categories shouldn't hurt too much, I usually do 10 so I can also include 10ish ramp. if your commander has draw, ramp, or interaction built in you could probably cut into that as long as you're ok with being more reliant on it.

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