commander · Kardur, Doomscourge
Chaos Incarnate (SCB).
A Rakdos goad and chaos deck from the Starter Commander Decks, led by Kardur, Doomscourge — force opponents' creatures to attack each other while profiting from every death with life drain and life gain.
The Commander
Chaos Incarnate is the Rakdos Starter Commander precon and Kardur runs the most self-contained forced-combat engine in the product. When Kardur enters the battlefield, until your next turn, all creatures opponents control must attack each combat if able, and must attack a player other than you if able. Every attacking creature that dies causes each opponent to lose one life while you gain one life. Cast Kardur, watch opponents' creatures kill each other, and drain the table while doing nothing but reaping the rewards.
Kardur, Doomscourge is designed to be cast and recast throughout the game. Every time Kardur enters, the board erupts into forced combat. The deck supports this loop with a goad package — spells and creatures that force individual attackers — and a full suite of "opponents' creatures attacking" payoffs. This is an ideal deck for players who prefer to win through chaos rather than direct aggression.
Key Cards
Disrupt Decorum
Goad all creatures your opponents control. Each goaded creature must attack this turn if able, and must attack someone other than you until your next turn. In a four-player pod, Disrupt Decorum sends every creature on every opponent's board into a mandatory attack. Combined with Kardur's death trigger, the resulting combat creates a massive life swing in your favor. This is the deck's most reliable "win from nowhere" spell in the late game.
Dictate of the Twin Gods
All damage is doubled. Flash means you can drop this at instant speed on the combat step, turning every attack-forced creature's combat damage into double. Opponents' creatures fighting each other for double damage accelerates the game toward a conclusion. Kardur's death trigger deals double damage thanks to this enchantment — every attacking death drains two life per opponent instead of one. A board of twenty creatures forced to attack kills opponents in one combat step.
Kaervek the Merciless
Whenever an opponent casts a spell, Kaervek deals damage equal to that spell's mana value to any target. Every spell costs a tax — a three-mana spell is also three damage to a creature or player. In a game where opponents are spending mana to rebuild after Kardur's forced combat depletes their boards, Kaervek converts their recovery into additional damage. At seven mana he's expensive, but in the late game his trigger ends games before opponents can stabilize.
Conjurer's Closet
At the beginning of your end step, you may exile a creature you control and return it to the battlefield. In Kardur's deck, this means Kardur himself blinks every end step — triggering his forced-combat ability again and again without paying four mana repeatedly. Each blink resets Kardur's "until your next turn" trigger, meaning opponents' creatures are in a permanent state of mandatory chaos. Conjurer's Closet is the deck's most powerful engine piece.
Sunbird's Invocation
Whenever you cast a spell from your hand, exile cards from the top of your library equal to that spell's mana value. You may cast one of those cards with mana value equal to or less than that spell without paying its mana cost. In a deck that casts Kardur repeatedly, Sunbird's Invocation chains free spells off every cast. Cast Kardur for four mana, exile four cards, cast a free three-cost goad spell. The random cascade effect creates explosive turns that opponents can't prepare for.
How to Play
Get Kardur onto the battlefield by turn four and let him destabilize the game. The first Kardur trigger usually redirects several creatures and generates significant life drain. The key is protecting Kardur or finding Conjurer's Closet to blink him repeatedly. Deploy Disrupt Decorum when the most threatening creature board is on the table — forcing twenty creatures to attack and fight through Dictate of the Twin Gods ends games quickly. Win by maintaining a life total lead through Kardur's drain triggers while opponents' boards destroy each other. In the late game, Kaervek punishes any attempt to rebuild while Sunbird's Invocation chains free spells for finishing blows.