
Deck List
Lands (25)
14 Mountain
11 Swamp
Creatures (22)
2 Borderland Minotaur
3 Deathbellow Raider
1 Fanatic of Mogis
2 Felhide Brawler
1 Felhide Petrifier
1 Insatiable Harpy
2 Kragma Warcaller
1 Minotaur Skullcleaver
3 Pensive Minotaur
1 Pharika’s Chosen
1 Rageblood Shaman
2 Ragemonger
1 Spawn of Thraxes
1 Warchanter of Mogis
Non-Creature Spells (13)
1 Cast into Darkness
2 Flurry of Horns
1 Lightning Diadem
2 Magma Spray
1 Pinnacle of Rage
1 Rollick of Abandon
1 Searing Blood
2 Spiteful Blow
2 Starfall
Deck Review
The cover card of the deck is the Dragon Spawn of Thraxes. He costs 5RR (7 total) to cast for a 5/5 flyer. When he enters play, he deals damage to a target creature or player equal to the number of Mountains you control. This is a good ability, and he makes for a great Limited bomb. But like many Intro Pack rares, that was exactly what they were designed to be. Spawn of Thraxes is a bit mana-intensive to be a good Constructed card. Still, in a deck like this, he can be a big finisher. Having haste would be a plus. Also, he doesn’t really fit the flavor of the deck.
The other rare in the deck is the lifeblood of the Minotaur tribe, Rageblood Shaman. This Minotaur Lord gives your other Minotaurs +1/+1 and trample. He also has trample himself and is a 2/3. Ideally, you want to run a full play-set of this guy. Even at the height of the Theros Minotaurs deck, he was only $1.50. You’ve een able to find copues for as little as $0.25 since then. They're easy to find and definitely worth the investment.
The best card in the deck, however, is Ragemonger. There are two copies of him in this Intro Pack, rather than just one, so that’s helpful. While he does cost black mana to play, he reduces the colored costs of your other Minotaurs by one Black mana and one Red mana.
Reducing colored casting costs is pretty unusual, but it’s a big deal in Minotaurs. Ragemonger makes cards like Kragma Warcaller and your other Minotaurs much easier to cast. Deathbellow Raider and Felhide Brawler become 1 colorless to cast. Felhide Petrifier, which gives all of your Minotaurs deathtouch, will cost only 2 colorless mana.
Kragma Warcaller is the big finisher in the deck. While he's only a 2/3 for 3BR, he gives all Minotaurs you control haste. Plus, whenever a Minotaur attacks, it gains +2/+0 until end of turn. With Ragemonger on the board, he costs only 3 colorless mana to play. This ability includes himself, so he’s at least a 4/3 on the swing.
One interesting card from Journey into Nyx not included in this deck is Gnarled Scarhide. This Minotaur has a casting cost of only a single Black mana, and is a 2/1 that can't block. It can also be bestowed for 3B. Most interestingly, the Scarhide is free to cast with Ragemonger on the board.
The non-creature spell line-up is pretty bad, honestly. Magma Spray is playable, as is Searing Blood. But the rest are all pretty inefficient for their mana costs, even if some of them have cool effects. They should be replaced with more cost-effective removal such as Magma Jet, Lightning Strike, Bile Blight, etc. We don’t have to go into great detail with the other cards, as they simply slow the deck down.
Improving the Voracious Rage Minotaur Deck
Ideally, the best way to go with this deck is to focus the list around Rageblood Shaman, Ragemonger, and Kragma Warcaller, with the Deathbellow Raiders and Minotaur Skullcleavers rounding out the creature line-up. You may also want a couple more Fanatic of Mogis to round out the line-up as finishers. The non-creature spells need a massive overhaul and should just be replaced by cards like the efficient removal suggested above.
The best Minotaurs to add to this deck are Boros Reckoner and Neheb, the Worthy. Boros Reckoner is one of the best Minotaurs on both offense and defense. He’s very difficult to block and can be a way to push through for lethal damage. The Reckoner is also pretty cheap since his days in Standard.
Neheb, the Worthy has become the Commander of choice for Minotaurs in EDH, and his abilities are all very good. He’s a 2/2 with first strike for 1BR. He also gives all of your other Minotaurs first strike. Also, if you have one or fewer cards in hand, all Minotaurs you control gain +2/+0, himself included. But that’s not all. Whenever Neheb, the Worthy deals combat damage to a player, each player discards a card. While this seems like a drawback, it’s actually pretty symmetrical attrition.
Is the Voracious Rage Intro Pack Worth Buying?
As is, the creature line-up is decent for an Intro pack. But, the deck fails miserably on the non-creature spell side. At $13.99, you're basically paying $5-6 for the deck and $8 for two packs of Journey Into Nyx. When this deck was first released, it was a good deal. At the time, the deck already paid for itself with the Searing Blood, Minotaur staples, and the two packs. But since Journey into Nyx left standard, you’d be better off acquiring the cards separately using this list as a guideline to building your own Minotaur deck.