"In order to procure a rather, shall we say, 'heated' tome on Pyromancy, I met an old contact of mine in the carnival district and barely made it out with all of my fingers and toes…and I didn't even enter any of the 'parties.' Honestly, I don't know how the Rakdos guild keeps getting new members. The life expectancy is less than a year after guild initiation, and I have yet to meet a cultist with over six months of membership that has both ears and eyes.
They all seem very happy, though, despite their injuries. They seem to enjoy life much more than the other guilds, however short those lives may be. They live for the moment and to hell with the rest, often quite literally. They are also one of the more racially diverse guilds, accepting anyone who is fiendish enough to keep up. It's a carefree existence.
Perhaps it's not so difficult to understand why they keep getting Fresh Volunteers."
—research notes, journal XIII, page 143
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To honor the guild of Rakdos, we're celebrating at the Grand Carnival, red-black spellslingers like Patrick Sullivan are the top dogs, and unleash is the keyword du jour! Rakdos was arguably the most powerful choice at the Return to Ravnica Prerelease, as evidenced by the various cultists getting on Twitter and mashing their heads against the keyboards in support:
Ain't no party like a Rakdos party because a Rakdos party is highly lethal. #mtgrtr
— Grant Babcock (@GrantBabcock) September 29, 2012
Rakdos is the best! Best creatures and best removal. #Prerelease
— Reid Duke (@ReidDuke) September 29, 2012
Today I shall be setting stuff on fire #rakdos
— Carrie Oliver (@onionpixie) September 30, 2012
Fellow Rakdos: this is how you fill out an achievement card. lh4.googleusercontent.com/-mZAfevoycSM/U… #mtgrtr
— Inkwell Looter (@inkwell_looter) September 30, 2012
#Rakdos: When you unleash a creature, announce that creature's featured circus act in your best circus announcer voice. #RTR
— Dave Guskin (@davetron) September 27, 2012
Pro Tip: How to cast Launch Party. Say "Are you going to the release event?" Then say: "Oh, so you're going to be at the...Launch Party"
— Brian Braun-Duin (@BraunDuinIt) September 29, 2012
When confronted with this neatly packaged item, ask yourself: what would Rakdos do? #mtgrtr twitter.com/frotim/status/…
— Tim Froehlig (@frotim) October 1, 2012
Casually 4-0'd w/ Rakdos.Deck definitely feels imbalanced vs the other guilds.
— Ian (@Kirblar024) September 29, 2012
As my #pokerstars Team Pro mate @dwpoker advised got #Rakdos and won #mtg prelease after 6 years break from #mtg ;)
— Marcin Horecki (@MarcinHorecki) September 30, 2012
Went Rakdos today, crushed it 4-0 on the back of Desecration Demon, Hellsteed and a ton of removal. My fave guild by far. #MTGRTR
— Justin Robinson (@RevEnFuego) October 1, 2012
rakdos racketeers! instagr.am/p/QOO-64Pj_D/
— james pereda (@ecdoftheworld) October 1, 2012
Went Rakdos, opened Rakdos, resolved him G2 turn 5, and connected with him. Dream achieved.
— Lee Postlethwait (@LeesTilted) September 30, 2012
@benc86 Rakdos was 7/8 for our top 8. It is by farthe best
— Andy Peters (@AndyAWKWARD) September 30, 2012
Dealt 17 damage with a single Daggerdrone Imp and single Stab Wound. #RAKDOS #MTGRTR
— Justin D-Z (@justin_dz) September 29, 2012
Don't get people complaining about Rakdos in the prereleases. I opened an average Rakdos pool, casually X-0 event. Hint: Unleash more. #MTG
— Arthur Halavais (@ahalavais) October 1, 2012
Favorite part of #MTGRTR: ripping up (desecrating) weak cards and using 'em as unleash counters, despite ample dice. Because Rakdos. #RAKDOS
— Nick Robinson (@Babylonian) October 1, 2012
Bored studio shot #1: Reppin Rakdosinstagr.am/p/QOqQNJtZl8/
— Lewis Robinson (@gaywithmoleman) October 1, 2012
Haha today we went to the place we sharked Friday for the pre re and got dirty looks "pft rakdos again?! They just want to win" pow
— Jay Boosh (@JayBoosh) October 1, 2012
Let's get a party going! Let's get a party going! When it's time to party we will always Twitter hard!
Coverage Coordinator and Twitter Admiral for StarCityGames.com
Listen to the @InContention podcast! It's the official podcast of the StarCityGames.com Open Series with @kstube, @affinityforblue, and myself. Listen in at InContentionMagic.com. Our most recent episode, Legacy's Allure, can be found here.
About Reuben Bresler
Reuben Bresler is a Coverage Coordinator for SCGLive who lives in Roanoke, VA. When he's not doing coverage, he works on various video projects for StarCityGames.com, like The Newsening.