Extremely Aggressive MTG Reality Fracture Cards Revive Dead Standard Typal Deck

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 Iridescent Vinelasher Offspring {2} (You may pay an additional {2} as you cast this spell. If you do, when this creature enters, create a 1/1 token copy of it.)
Landfall — Whenever a land you control enters, this creature deals 1 damage to target opponent. and Gev, Scaled Scorch Gev, Scaled Scorch Ward—Pay 2 life.
Other creatures you control enter with an additional +1/+1 counter on them for each opponent who lost life this turn.
Whenever you cast a Lizard spell, Gev deals 1 damage to target opponent. can both ping the opponent, even if you don’t have a clean attack. When combined with Hired Claw Hired Claw Whenever you attack with one or more Lizards, this creature deals 1 damage to target opponent.
{1}{R}: Put a +1/+1 counter on this creature. Activate only if an opponent lost life this turn and only once each turn. ‘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 Fireglass Mentor At the beginning of your second main phase, if an opponent lost life this turn, exile the top two cards of your library. Choose one of them. Until end of turn, you may play that card. . 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 Flamecache Gecko When this creature enters, if an opponent lost life this turn, add {B}{R}.
{1}{R}, Discard a card: Draw a card. as a strong tempo play. If you’ve ever played with Burning-Tree Emissary Burning-Tree Emissary When this creature enters, add {R}{G}. , 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 Ingris Stingerquill Flying
Whenever a creature you control attacks, that creature deals 1 damage to each opponent.
{4}: Create a 2/2 colorless Wizard Soldier creature token named Cadet. Then creatures you control gain haste until end of turn. can turn an all-out attack into a lethal swing, even against a bunch of blockers. This card goes completely ballistic alongside Valley Flamecaller Valley Flamecaller If a Lizard, Mouse, Otter, or Raccoon you control would deal damage to a permanent or player, it deals that much damage plus 1 instead. , enabling unexpected kills out of nowhere. With Burst Lightning Burst Lightning Kicker {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 Stingerquill Charm Choose one —
• Stingerquill Charm deals 3 damage to any target.
• Target creature gains first strike and deathtouch until end of turn.
• Create a 2/2 colorless Wizard Soldier creature token named Cadet. It gains haste until end of turn. 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 Seam Rip When this enchantment enters, exile target nonland permanent an opponent controls with mana value 2 or less until this enchantment leaves the battlefield. 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 Explorer You 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 Harmonizer Landfall — 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 Requiting Hex As an additional cost to cast this spell, you may blight 1. (You may put a -1/-1 counter on a creature you control.)
Destroy target creature with mana value 2 or less. If this spell's additional cost was paid, you gain 2 life. and leaving you with puny bodies like Flamecache Geckos is a recipe for failure. Cheap board wipes like Fire Magic Fire Magic Tiered (Choose one additional cost.)
• Fire — {0} — Fire Magic deals 1 damage to each creature.
• Fira — {2} — Fire Magic deals 2 damage to each creature.
• Firaga — {5} — Fire Magic deals 3 damage to each creature. or Pyroclasm Pyroclasm Pyroclasm deals 2 damage to each creature. are also disastrous.

The good news, at least, is that Duress Duress Target opponent reveals their hand. You choose a noncreature, nonland card from it. That player discards that card. and Thought-Stalker Warlock Thought-Stalker Warlock Menace (This creature can't be blocked except by two or more creatures.)
When this creature enters, choose target opponent. If they lost life this turn, they reveal their hand, you choose a nonland card from it, and they discard that card. Otherwise, they discard a card. 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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