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Rakdos, the Muscle

Legendary Creature — Demon Mercenary

Flying, trample
Whenever you sacrifice another creature, exile cards equal to its mana value from the top of target player's library. Until your next end step, you may play those cards, and mana of any type can be spent to cast those spells.
Sacrifice another creature: Rakdos gains indestructible until end of turn. Tap it. Activate only once each turn.

CMC
5
Mana cost
{2}{B}{B}{R}
Color identity
BR
Rarity
mythic
Set
Outlaws of Thunder Junction
Price
$0.96
EDHREC rank
#4617
Buy on TCGplayer
Rakdos, the Muscle card art
Rakdos, the Muscle is a five-mana 6/6 trampling demon that makes opponents sacrifice a creature whenever it deals combat damage — massive on-board pressure stapled to a repeatable removal trigger. The cost is the demon tax: you have to sacrifice a creature to put it into play, which is a real payment, but in any deck already running Forsaken Miner or looping sacrifice fodder, that cost is close to nothing. Laughing Jasper Flint decks in particular treat Rakdos, the Muscle as a closer — big enough to end games, punishing enough to clear the path.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
Laughing Jasper Flint

Laughing Jasper Flint

57.4% of decks · synergy 0.54

Laughing Jasper Flint wants a steady supply of Rogues and payoffs for connecting with players, and Rakdos, the Muscle delivers on both counts — it's a Demon Rogue that hits hard and strips blockers on the way through, making it an almost automatic include in 57% of Jasper lists.

02
Edea, Possessed Sorceress

Edea, Possessed Sorceress

26.6% of decks · synergy 0.26

Edea, Possessed Sorceress builds around Demons and sacrificing creatures for value, so Rakdos, the Muscle slots in as both a premium tribal member and a combat threat that generates sacrifices on the opponent's side of the board.

03
Akul the Unrepentant

Akul the Unrepentant

29.5% of decks · synergy 0.26

Akul the Unrepentant rewards running Demons and Insects alongside aggressive sacrifice synergies, and Rakdos, the Muscle punches in as a six-power trample threat that doubles as interactive pressure whenever it connects.

04

Eddie Brock

23.3% of decks · synergy 0.22

Eddie Brock feeds on big creatures entering and leaving the battlefield, and Rakdos, the Muscle satisfies the sacrifice-to-cast trigger while providing a large enough body to matter in combat — nearly a quarter of Eddie Brock decks run it.

05
Raphael, Fiendish Savior

Raphael, Fiendish Savior

22.9% of decks · synergy 0.19

Raphael, Fiendish Savior is a Demon-tribal commander who wants expensive, high-impact Demons to populate the board, and Rakdos, the Muscle earns its spot by doubling as removal that forces sacrifices rather than just sitting there as a vanilla beater.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

FormatVerdict
commander legal
legacy legal
modern legal
pioneer legal
standard legal
vintage legal
pauper not legal
oathbreaker legal

Commander is where Rakdos, the Muscle actually lives — the sacrifice-to-cast cost is trivial in 100-card goodstuff and tribal shells built around Demons or recurring fodder, and a repeatable forced-sacrifice trigger stapled to a 6/6 trample is legitimately threatening in a format full of value engines. In constructed formats like Modern, Pioneer, and Standard it's legal but nearly invisible: five mana for a creature with no immediate board impact beyond a single removal trigger is too slow, and the demon tax is a real cost when you're not built around it. Legacy and Vintage have far more efficient threats at every point on the curve, so Rakdos, the Muscle won't see play there either. Stick to Commander — that's the format where the payoff scales with the multiplayer environment.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

62 decks
Rakdos, the MuscleMortuaryAshnod's Altar

Rakdos, the MuscleMortuaryAshnod's Altar

Infinite LTB; Infinite ETB; Infinite sacrifice triggers; Infinite death triggers; Infinite colorless mana; Infinite storm count; Exile your library with the ability to play the exiled cards until end of turn

View on Commander Spellbook ↗

Price Context

Current price

$0.96 bulk tier

At $0.96, Rakdos, the Muscle sits firmly in bulk rare territory, which is accurate for a card with a narrow home but a devoted one. It's not likely to spike unless a new Demon-tribal or sacrifice commander pushes its inclusion rate significantly higher, so pick it up now if you need it — there's no reason to wait.

Explore

Sources

Mentioned

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Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.