Merciless Rage Decklist & Guide: Anje Falkenrath Precon

Overview

Merciless Rage is a madness deck that wants to discard cards for value. Anje Falkenrath has haste, and for a tap and a discard you draw a card. Whenever you discard a card with madness, Anje untaps, so you can discard again right away. A discarded madness card goes into exile, and you may cast it for its madness cost, which is much cheaper than its normal cost.

The 99 cards are 28 creatures, 1 planeswalker, 8 artifacts, 6 enchantments, 4 instants, 12 sorceries and 40 lands. The madness cards include Anje's Ravager, Archfiend of Spite, Bloodhall Priest, Stromkirk Occultist, Fiery Temper, Dark Withering and From Under the Floorboards, and the discard payoffs include Bone Miser, Faith of the Devoted, Chainer, Nightmare Adept and Zombie Infestation. A lot of graveyard recursion, such as Soul of Innistrad, Beacon of Unrest, Boneyard Parley and Grimoire of the Dead, gives the discarded creatures a second life.

Key Cards

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Anje's Ravager

Madness · Card Draw

A 3/3 for {2}{R}. It attacks each combat if able, and whenever it attacks you discard your hand, then draw three cards. With a hand full of madness cards, discarding it turns a bad hand into cheap spells.

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Bone Miser

Discard Payoff · Mana

A 4/4 for {4}{B}. Whenever you discard a creature card, you create a 2/2 black Zombie creature token, whenever you discard a land card you add {B}{B}, and whenever you discard a noncreature, nonland card you draw a card. Every discard turns into value.

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Faith of the Devoted

Drain · Discard Payoff

An enchantment for {2}{B}. Whenever you cycle or discard a card, you may pay {1}. If you do, each opponent loses 2 life and you gain 2 life. Each of Anje's activations then drains the table.

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From Under the Floorboards

Token Maker · Madness

A sorcery for {3}{B}{B}. It creates three tapped 2/2 black Zombie creature tokens and you gain 3 life. If its madness cost was paid, you instead create X tokens and gain X life. Discarded with a lot of mana available, it makes a big army.

Playing the Deck

The early game is about mana and discard outlets. Sol Ring, Rakdos Locket, Armillary Sphere, Hedron Archive and Solemn Simulacrum ramp you, and Anje Falkenrath, Key to the City, Geier Reach Sanitarium and Rix Maadi, Dungeon Palace discard cards for value. Asylum Visitor draws extra cards when a player has an empty hand.

The middle of the game is about getting value from discards. Anje's Ravager, Stromkirk Occultist and Bloodhall Priest hit hard, Bone Miser and Faith of the Devoted pay off each discard, and Chainer, Nightmare Adept lets you cast a creature from your graveyard by discarding. Greven, Predator Captain draws cards by sacrificing a creature, and K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth makes black spells cheaper with life.

The late game is about a huge board and a fresh start. Overseer of the Damned, Archfiend of Spite, Geth, Lord of the Vault and Soul of Innistrad are big threats, Grimoire of the Dead and Beacon of Unrest bring back creatures, and Warstorm Surge turns each creature entering into damage. Magus of the Wheel refills your hand, and In Garruk's Wake clears away your opponents' board.

Strengths & Weaknesses

Strengths: The deck has many cards that cost far less when discarded and a lot of removal at every cost, so it can answer threats and keep developing. It also has plenty of removal and card advantage, including Ob Nixilis Reignited, Murderous Compulsion, Big Game Hunter, Plaguecrafter, The Eldest Reborn and Chaos Warp.

Weaknesses: The deck's best cards want you to discard them, which is unusual and hard to sequence, and it is exposed to graveyard hate and to creature removal on Anje. Several powerful cards, such as Aeon Engine and Hate Mirage, are situational, and sweepers hurt a deck that relies on its creatures.

Want to improve it? See the Merciless Rage upgrade guide: twelve swaps with the data behind each one.

Verdict

Merciless Rage is a fun, unusual deck that rewards patient sequencing and clever use of madness. It is a good choice for players who like discard synergies and big swingy turns.

Want to see what a fully optimised Anje Falkenrath build looks like? Try the Oracle.

✦ Build with The Oracle

Frequently Asked Questions

What cards are in the Merciless Rage decklist?
The Merciless Rage precon is a 100-card Commander deck led by Anje Falkenrath. The full Merciless Rage decklist, with every card, current prices and a button to copy the list into your deck builder, is on this page.

When was Merciless Rage released?
Merciless Rage was released on August 23, 2019 as part of Commander 2019.

Who is the commander of Merciless Rage?
Merciless Rage is led by Anje Falkenrath, a Rakdos (B/R) legendary creature.

How many creatures are in Merciless Rage?
The 99 cards besides Anje Falkenrath include 28 creatures.

How many lands does Merciless Rage have?
Merciless Rage has 40 lands in the 99 cards besides Anje Falkenrath, including basic lands.

Full Decklist

All 100 cards from the out-of-the-box Merciless Rage precon, with current prices. Click any card to expand it.

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Anje Falkenrath (commander), Akoum Refuge, Ash Barrens, Barren Moor, Bloodfell Caves, Cinder Barrens, Command Tower, Drownyard Temple, Evolving Wilds, Exotic Orchard, Forgotten Cave, Geier Reach Sanitarium, Memorial to Folly, Mortuary Mire, 10 Mountain, Myriad Landscape, Rakdos Carnarium, Rakdos Guildgate, Rix Maadi, Dungeon Palace, Sanctum of Eternity, 10 Swamp, Temple of the False God, Terramorphic Expanse, Aeon Engine, Armillary Sphere, Bloodthirsty Blade, Grimoire of the Dead, Hedron Archive, Key to the City, Rakdos Locket, Sol Ring, Anje's Ravager, Archfiend of Spite, Asylum Visitor, Big Game Hunter, Bloodhall Priest, Bone Miser, Chainer, Nightmare Adept, Champion of Stray Souls, Doomed Necromancer, Flayer of the Hatebound, Geth, Lord of the Vault, Gorgon Recluse, Grave Scrabbler, Greven, Predator Captain, K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth, Magus of the Wheel, Meteor Golem, Nightshade Assassin, Overseer of the Damned, Plaguecrafter, Sanitarium Skeleton, Scaretiller, Skyfire Phoenix, Solemn Simulacrum, Soul of Innistrad, Squee, Goblin Nabob, Stromkirk Occultist, Wildfire Devils, Chaos Warp, Dark Withering, Fiery Temper, Violent Eruption, Alchemist's Greeting, Avacyn's Judgment, Beacon of Unrest, Boneyard Parley, Call to the Netherworld, From Under the Floorboards, Hate Mirage, In Garruk's Wake, Malevolent Whispers, Mire in Misery, Murderous Compulsion, Nightmare Unmaking, Curse of Fool's Wisdom, Faith of the Devoted, Hedonist's Trove, The Eldest Reborn, Warstorm Surge, Zombie Infestation, Ob Nixilis Reignited.