Reality Fracture cards are finally here, and they’re quickly starting to shake up the Standard environment. Some archetypes that had fallen out of favor are already experiencing a resurgence thanks to the new tools. Rakdos Lizards, for example, just finished top four in a Magic Online Standard Challenge boasting some hyperaggressive upgrades. It’s still early, but this forgotten typal shell may be in for a revival.
Pouring on Damage
While Rakdos Lizards may look like just an ordinary beatdown deck, its incredible noncombat damage element stands out. Iridescent Vinelasher and Gev, Scaled Scorch can both ping the opponent, even if you don’t have a clean attack. When combined with Hired Claw‘s triggered ability, you have plenty of early plays that get the damage train rolling.
In doing so, you unlock a slew of potent payoffs, most notably Fireglass Mentor. The card advantage this card provides turn after turn is incredible, ensuring you never run out of ways to trigger Vinelasher and Gev. Then, on the other end of the spectrum, you also get to maximize Flamecache Gecko as a strong tempo play. If you’ve ever played with Burning-Tree Emissary, you know how impactful “free” 2/2s can be towards pushing damage.
The one thing this deck lacked, however, was a way to make these small creatures more threatening as attackers. Fortunately, the newly printed Master of Barbs does just that, combining with your various Ping effects to grow your team significantly. This way, you either force beefier blockers to trade with your puny creatures in combat or your opponent loses a boatload of life.
Alternatively, slamming Ingris Stingerquill can turn an all-out attack into a lethal swing, even against a bunch of blockers. This card goes completely ballistic alongside Valley Flamecaller, enabling unexpected kills out of nowhere. With Burst Lightning
Burst LightningKicker {4} (You may pay an additional {4} as you cast this spell.)
Burst Lightning deals 2 damage to any target. If this spell was kicked, it deals 4 damage instead. and Stingerquill Charm as extra burn, you have plenty of reach to break open a board stall.
Improving Important Matchups
Even though Rakdos Lizards hasn’t been a top-tier archetype in a long time, the addition of multiple new toys has made harder matchups more appealing. Unsurprisingly, decks like Boros Dragons that rely on using big creatures as a roadblock are extremely vulnerable to Master of Barbs’ triggers. The fact that Ingris Stingerquill dodges an unkicked Burst Lightning or Seam Rip is also a big deal.
Similarly, both tools make it much easier to race Mono-Green Landfall, which runs little removal. Plus, Stingerquill Charm’s second mode lets you attack freely into four-toughness creatures like Icetill Explorer
Icetill ExplorerYou may play an additional land on each of your turns.
You may play lands from your graveyard.
Landfall — Whenever a land you control enters, mill a card. without fear. You can even use this card defensively to combat a massive attacker, which may come in handy versus Mightform Harmonizer
Mightform HarmonizerLandfall — Whenever a land you control enters, double the power of target creature you control until end of turn.
Warp {2}{G} (You may cast this card from your hand for its warp cost. Exile this creature at the beginning of the next end step, then you may cast it from exile on a later turn.).
Unfortunately, despite these improvements, this deck’s reliance on building a critical mass of creatures leaves it vulnerable to removal-heavy decks. After all, getting your impactful Lizards tagged by Requiting Hex and leaving you with puny bodies like Flamecache Geckos is a recipe for failure. Cheap board wipes like Fire Magic or Pyroclasm are also disastrous.
The good news, at least, is that Duress and Thought-Stalker Warlock in the sideboard give you a chance to combat these problematic cards. As such, Rakdos Lizards does have what it takes to compete against a variety of top-tier decks. It’s still too early to tell if the deck is poised for a true breakout, but following this elite performance, it’ll be worth keeping it on your radar.
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