Rakano Ramp

Still tuning the list. Unfortunately went 8-12 in the ECQ. The power base needs some work, I went back and forth between 29 power plus seeks and the 25. Probably needs more power since I found myself losing to power issues, but also flooded often with more power. The deck did what it was supposed to do, which was beat up on Hooru Control and Praxis Pledge. A well-timed Harsh Rule is basically game, and smacking face with Runehammer against control decks is pretty great.

This deck is weak to FTP and Skycrag Aggro unless you can get your ramp going early. I expect it to get better in the next set with cards like Pristine Light and will update the list when the set drops.

The premise of this deck was I wanted to find a deck that could beat both Praxis Pledge and Hooru Control, the two decks I expected to see the most of this weekend (and find an excuse to use the premium Icarias I impulsively crafted). This deck does both reliably; Harsh Rule and Defiance straight up wins Praxis matchups, and Svetya Merciful Orene is near impossible for Hooru to deal with.

Other cards that were tested or considered and later dropped were maindeck Demand Deaths, Telut, Rolant, Elias, Savior of the Meek, Soulfire Drake, Waystone Titan, Reyna, Stormhalt Knife.

One card that may fit well is Rizahn, but I have not tested him yet. I may try going back to Telut for another source of reliable ramp, but my biggest issue is getting past 4-5 power in the games it struggles.

I ran a single Winchest Merchant because I dusted my crafted copies of Red Canyon Smuggler and was unable to pull a 4th in time but it was a non-issue in the games I've played.