Precon Upgrade Guide
Merciless Rage Upgrade Guide
What to cut, what to add, and how to play the Rakdos madness and discard precon from Commander 2019, commanded by Anje Falkenrath.
Commander 2019
Merciless Rage
Discard-to-cast is a simple loop once you've seen it once. Out of the box, before any upgrades. How we rate precons
Buy Merciless Rage on TCGplayer →Quick verdict
Merciless Rage is a Rakdos deck that turns discarding into an advantage. Anje Falkenrath is a three-mana looter with haste that untaps every time you discard a card with madness, so a hand of madness cards lets you loot and cast several of them cheaply in one turn. The deck's engine works out of the box. What it lacks is enough madness cards to keep Anje untapping, a few cheap payoffs for discarding, and a mana base without so many lands that enter tapped.
TurnZero HQ rates Merciless Rage a 2 out of 5 on difficulty and a 3 out of 5 on power, as it comes in the box. That is our editorial read, not an official Wizards rating. The full hundred cards are on the Merciless Rage decklist page, and every other precon we cover is on the precon directory.
How the precon plays
Anje Falkenrath costs three mana and has haste, so she can loot the turn she comes down: tap her and discard a card to draw a card. Whenever you discard a card with madness, she untaps. Madness lets you cast a card for its madness cost when you discard it, and those costs are usually cheaper. Discarding Fiery Temper costs one red to deal 3 damage, and Big Game Hunter costs one black to destroy a creature with power 4 or greater.
The deck also wins by discarding big creatures and bringing them back. Archfiend of Spite has madness, and Chainer, Nightmare Adept lets you discard a card to cast a creature from your graveyard once each turn, giving it haste. Doomed Necromancer , Beacon of Unrest and Champion of Stray Souls return creatures to the battlefield, and Geth, Lord of the Vault steals from opponents' graveyards.
A few cards reward the discards themselves. Bone Miser makes a Zombie, adds mana or draws depending on what you discard, Faith of the Devoted drains each opponent for 2 for one mana per discard, and Zombie Infestation turns two extra cards into a 2/2.
What works out of the box
Anje Falkenrath ↗
A hasty looter that untaps on every madness discard. A hand with two or three madness cards can turn into a full turn of cheap spells.
Chainer, Nightmare Adept ↗
Discard a card to cast a creature from your graveyard each turn, and creatures that enter from anywhere but your hand gain haste. It makes the deck's discarded threats playable.
Bone Miser ↗
Every discard does something: a creature makes a 2/2 Zombie, a land adds two black mana, and anything else draws a card.
Faith of the Devoted ↗
Pay one mana each time you discard a card to drain each opponent for 2. With Anje looting every turn, it adds up over a game.
Fiery Temper ↗
Three damage to any target for one red mana when you discard it with Anje, and an untap trigger for her too.
Archfiend of Spite ↗
A 6/6 flier you can cast for five through madness. Opponents who damage it lose life or sacrifice permanents.
What needs improvement
The madness count is lower than Anje wants. She untaps only when the discarded card has madness, and several slots that could hold more madness cards go to artifacts like Aeon Engine , Bloodthirsty Blade and Grimoire of the Dead that do little in this deck. The fewer madness cards you hold, the more often Anje loots once and stops.
The mana is slow for a two-color deck. Two gain lands, two cycling lands, Rakdos Guildgate , Cinder Barrens , Rakdos Carnarium , Memorial to Folly , Mortuary Mire and Myriad Landscape all enter tapped. The mana rocks cost three or four, so the deck has little to do on turn two besides lands.
Upgrade ideas
Each upgrade below starts from something the deck does poorly and says what a replacement card has to do. The cards named are examples, not the only answer: if you own something else that does the same job, or a newer printing does it better, it goes in the same slot. Make one change at a time and play a few games between them, so you can tell which change helped. The general method is in how to upgrade a Commander precon →
1. Add more madness cards
Every madness card in your hand is another untap for Anje and another cheap spell. The deck has under twenty in ninety-nine cards, and adding more makes her multi-loot turns happen far more often.
What to look for Cards with a madness cost of one or two mana that still do something useful when cast normally. Cheap creatures with evasion or haste and removal spells are the best fits.
Cut, for example
Aeon Engine Five mana, enters tapped, and reverses the turn order once. It has almost no effect on the game in most pods.
Hate Mirage Four mana for temporary copies of two opponents' creatures. It only helps on a turn you are already attacking for lethal.
Add, for example
Kitchen Imp ↗
A 2/2 flier with haste for one black mana through madness. It untaps Anje and attacks the same turn.
Alms of the Vein ↗
Madness for one black mana: an opponent loses 3 life and you gain 3.
Reckless Wurm ↗
A 4/4 trampler for three mana through madness. It gives Anje another target to discard into a real body.
2. Get paid for every discard
Anje discards a card almost every turn, and the deck has a few payoffs for it. Cheap creatures that deal damage or grow on each discard give the deck a clock that doesn't depend on reanimation.
What to look for Creatures or enchantments costing three or four mana that trigger whenever you discard a card, ideally dealing damage to each opponent.
Cut, for example
Grimoire of the Dead Four mana and three turns of discarding and tapping before it does anything. A strong payoff, but too slow for what it asks.
Bloodthirsty Blade Goads an opponent's creature. It does nothing with discard, and the deck has better ways to spend a slot.
Add, for example
Glint-Horn Buccaneer ↗
Three mana, haste: 1 damage to each opponent whenever you discard a card. Anje's loots alone make it a steady drain.
Brallin, Skyshark Rider ↗
Each discard puts a +1/+1 counter on it and deals 1 damage to each opponent. It grows into a real threat over a few turns.
Archfiend of Ifnir ↗
A 5/4 flier that puts a -1/-1 counter on each opponent's creature whenever you discard another card. It clears tokens and small creatures every turn.
3. Untap your lands
A two-color deck should rarely need a tapland. Anje wants to come down on turn three with mana left to pay madness costs, and tapped lands take that away.
What to look for Black-red dual lands that usually enter untapped, such as check lands, painlands and similar. Replace the lands with no other text first.
Cut, for example
Temple of the False God No mana until you control five lands.
Rakdos Guildgate Always enters tapped and has no other ability.
Cinder Barrens The same land as the guildgate without the Gate type.
4. Ramp on turn two
The deck's rocks cost three or four mana. A two-mana rock lets you cast Anje on turn three with mana left over for a madness cost.
What to look for Two-mana artifacts that tap for black or red.
Cut, for example
Scaretiller A four-mana 1/4 that puts lands down when it taps. It does nothing with discard.
Rakdos Locket Three mana for one colored mana, a turn slower than a two-mana rock that does the same job.
Win conditions
The deck wins with large creatures and steady damage. Discard Archfiend of Spite or another big creature with Anje, then bring it back with Chainer, Nightmare Adept or cast it for its madness cost. Faith of the Devoted , Glint-Horn Buccaneer and Brallin, Skyshark Rider drain the table a little on every loot, which adds up over a long game.
Who should buy this precon
A good first look at graveyard decks. Anje's ability is simple to use, and madness is easy to learn: when you discard the card, you may cast it for the cheaper cost. The deck plays at a casual power level, and the upgrades above make it more consistent rather than more complicated. Players who dislike shuffling through their deck each turn may find the looting tedious.
Checked against the printed decklist on October 10, 2026.
Track how the upgrades actually perform.
TurnZero HQ keeps a win rate per deck version, so you can change a few cards, play some games, and see the difference instead of guessing.
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