Since the combo of Demonic Pact and Harmless Offering was spoiled as part of MTG Foundations, we’ve been eagerly waiting to see if these cards still had what it took to be real threats in Standard. These two cards were the focal point of a unique archetype back when Eldritch Moon and Magic Origins were in Standard. Would they be relevant years later in a world dominated by power creep?
Well, early results signal yes. In a recent Magic Online Standard Challenge, Rakdos Pact made it to the top four. This deck successfully combines the Pact+Offering combo with a boatload of sacrifice synergies that also work well with Pact. This shell is far from overpowered, but it’s nice to see a unique and fun combo make some noise in Standard once again.
Pact and Beseech
- Mana Value: 2BB
- Rarity: Mythic Rare
- MTG Sets: Magic Origins, Foundations
- Card Text: At the beginning of your upkeep, choose one that hasn’t been chosen- This enchantment deals 4 damage to any target and you gain 4 life. Target opponent discards two cards. Draw two cards. You lose the game.
The way this deck is constructed, your goal the vast majority of the time is to win the game with Demonic Pact. Demonic Pact is an awesome card with three very strong abilities. As an enchantment, it isn’t always easy for your opponent to get Demonic Pact off the battlefield. Over the course of the next few turns, you’ll get a lot of value and flexibility out of Pact.
The problem, of course, is that if you haven’t won the game by the time the “you lose the game” mode goes off, you’re toast. Thankfully, this is where Harmless Offering comes into play. Your main objective is to utilize the three helpful modes on Demonic Pact. Then, before reaching your inevitable death, you simply give the Pact to your opponent, forcing them to lose the game instead.
Part of the issue with this strategy in general is that Harmless Offering individually is a very weak card. It isn’t always easy to assemble and resolve the two-card combo. At the same time, if you ever draw Offering without Pact, you’re stuck with a useless card in hand.
The nice thing about this version of the deck is that, because of Beseech the Mirror, you can run less copies of Offering without having trouble finding them.
Beseech the Mirror is perfect for this deck. It can grab either half of the combo. You always have the option to sacrifice Pact itself to Bargain Beseech when applicable.
If you’re behind, tutoring up Brotherhood’s End can swing the game in your favor. Versus control, you can search for your one-of Sheoldred, the Apocalypse or Urabrask’s Forge as an alternate win condition. The world is your oyster. The key is just making sure you have ways to enable Bargain.
The Sacrifice Package
- Mana Value: B
- Rarity: Common
- MTG Sets: Duskmourn
- Card Text: As an additional cost to cast this spell, sacrifice a creature or enchantment. Exile target creature.
This is where the deck’s sacrifice package comes into play. This deck utilizes a healthy mix of low-cost enchantments to sacrifice and ways to get extra mileage out of having disposable enchantments lying around.
In the enchantment section, Hopeless Nightmare and Tinybones Joins Up both generate value when they enter. As such, you generally aren’t down on resources when sacrifice them to Beseech the Mirror. The same is true for Disturbing Mirth. Disturbing Mirth fills both the role as a Bargain enabler as well as a way to accrue extra cards in conjunction with the one-mana enchantments listed above.
Each of these enchantments easily fuel efficient removal spells in the form of Final Vengeance and Torch the Tower. These cards join the elite Go for the Throat as ways to keep creature decks in check.
Having all of these ways to sacrifice Demonic Pact really comes in handy. Unlike many combo decks, this shell isn’t reliant on winning the game quickly. Instead, you’re simply looking to grind your opponent into dust, using your combo as a way to close games.
Polarizing Matchups
- Mana Value: 1R
- Rarity: Uncommon
- MTG Sets: Ice Age, Portal, Seventh Edition, Eighth Edition, Ninth Edition, Tenth Edition, Magic 2010, Magic 2011, Modern Masters 2017, Masters 25, Duskmourn
- Card Text: Pyroclasm deals 2 damage to each creature.
Against midrange and aggro decks that are looking to win through creature combat, Rakdos Pact has a lot of good tools. Demonic Pact is an excellent value engine. Any time you can kill an opposing creature and gain four life as a cushion, you put yourself in great shape to pull ahead.
Meanwhile, you have plenty of cheap removal spells at the ready. This includes Pyroclasm out of the sideboard to help against Convoke. As long as you can keep your head above water, Disturbing Mirth and Demonic Pact can slowly take over the game.
The problem comes against decks that can reliably keep Demonic Pact off the table. Mono-white token control, for example, plays four copies of Get Lost. Then, the incremental advantage you gain over time easily gets outclassed by Caretaker’s Talent or Enduring Innocence alongside token production.
Given how popular black midrange and red aggro decks are at the moment, though, this deck definitely has some appeal. So, if you’re willing to accept having some polarizing matchups and enjoy playing combo decks, Rakdos Pact is cool and competitive.
