If you're looking for a mildly degenerate Rasputin deck, well here you go. It pretty consistently sits there for about six turns then combos off. Crushes durdly creature decks but is worse than truly competitive commander decks. Probably the most powerful Rasputin list that actually uses Rasputin. (I imagine there are better lists that play Power Artifact- or Rings of Brighthearth-type combos with more focused control plans, but those posers should be playing a different general amirite)
Seeing as card and mana advantage are more important in EDH than tempo advantage, I wanted my general to either give me a ton of cards or a ton of mana. All the card advantage generals (Sharuum, Sisay, Momir, Zur, etc) had been done many times over, so I went with Rasputin Dreamweaver, one of the few generals who accelerates your mana (along with Rofellos, Rhada, Rosheen, Riven Turnbull, and, um, Princess Lucrezia?).
The main win condition of the deck is the Nim Deathmantle + Blasting Station combo. Sac Rasputin to Blasting Station with 4 mana floating, bring him back with Deathmantle, untap the Station, and remove all of Rasputin's counters to get 7 mana. Repeat until everyone else is dead. The combo also works with Mortarpod, which is sweet because it means Stoneforge Mystic, Steelshaper's Gift, Open the Armory, and Stonehewer Giant can fetch both pieces of the combo. It also means untapping with Tezzeret can be game over.
The backup combo is Time Stretch + Archaeomancer + Rite of Replication. Cast Time Stretch. During extra turn #1, cast Archaeomancer returning Time Stretch. Extra turn #2 cast Time Stretch again. Extra turn #3 cast Rite of Replication kicked on Archaeomancer, returning Time Stretch and Rite of Replication. Keep casting Stretch and Rite and you have infinite turns. This combo requires the same number of cards but doesn't include your general and the cards are harder to tutor for, so you don't get it as often. But the pieces are all individually good, which is nice.
Barring that, the idea is to untap with Rasputin and play as many big spells as possible (Time Stretch into Storm Herd is preferred :D). Try not to play him when you have no protection and he's the biggest threat on the board. Voyager Staff is nice for this because you can tap out and still have a blink available for spot removal. One good way to untap with Rasputin is to play him and then remove all the counters for something else. That way it won't look like you have so much extra mana available until you blink him on your next turn.
Most Rasputin decks have much more of a blink theme. I like this sort of version better (assuming your play group doesn't ban infinite combos or some stupid rule) because cards like Mulldrifter/Wall of Omens/Sea Gate Oracle ultimately dilute the deck's power. Life totals are doubled and there are more players, which means that not only are creatures half as efficient power-wise, there are a lot more removal spells and sweepers flying around. The more mana (and deck slots) you spend playing durdly 0/4s, the less you have to play concentrated effects that help you one-shot people.
Furthermore, despite always having access to Rasputin, blink effects are still very situational. You have to have a creature in play, mana up, and a way to benefit from it entering the battlefield again (i.e. something to cast with all the extra colorless mana). The spells that are legal in this format are so powerful on their own that you don't need your deck to be full of synergy to be effective.
Hinder, Spell Crumple, Oblation, Spin into Myth: Tuck rule change made these cards poor choices. Swiftfoot Boots: See above, except it was always garbage because apparently I'm the only person who liked to ruin people's day by tucking their general. Cryptic Command: Good card, but this is EDH--surely we can do better. Opportunity: Still decent, but I prefer the flexibility of the x-spells. Mindslaver: Let's be honest. Your opponent's deck is probably terrible and you will gain nothing by taking control of their turn. Still good in duels with Academy Ruins, but not worth it for FFA. Blightsteel Colossus: Unfortunately our strategy doesn't support waiting a turn for Rasputin, waiting a turn for Blightsteel, and THEN MAYYYBE killing one player. It was a nice idea though. Luminate Primordial: Not a bad card, but I think sweepers + Duplicant is enough for now. Entreat the Angels: this deck doesn't want to tap out, and every time I draw it off a Sphinx's Revelation, I cry a little. Mnemonic Wall: card's still good, but we already have Archaeomancer, and there aren't enough instants and sorceries in here to guarantee value every time. Edit: this card is probably better than Archaeomancer and I am just lazy. Recall: Recall is actually an awesome card. There are two main uses: getting back combo pieces, and getting back good stuff. We have Academy Ruins/Archaeomancer to get back combo pieces, and the deck is redundant enough that we don't need to retrieve good stuff. We'll just draw into the good stuff instead and not have to sacrifice cards in hand. Mulldrifter: this deck doesn't play enough blink effects for Mulldrifter to be good. Vanish into Memory: the plan with blink spells is to play Rasputin and leave open mana for the blink spell (minus colorless mana, which Rasputin provides us). Vanish requires two colored mana, which is twice as much as Momentary Blink or Ghostway. Add in the fact that it's not consistent as a draw spell, and it becomes too cute. Elbrus, the Binding Blade: it would be nice to have a 'real' equipment for all our tutors, but we only play ~12 creatures. The conditions for it to be good are too narrow for this deck. Banishing Stroke: Too clunky, plus our plan is to draw lots of cards at once, so this brings down the chance of miracle-ing it. Mind Spring, Braingeyser: Sorcery-speed draw spells have the drawback of forcing you to discard down to seven cards. More importantly, they have the drawback of your opponent blowing you out with real spells while you tapped all your mana. Karn Liberated: obviously awesome against control and in duels, but since I'm assuming multiple opponents, it becomes a lot more like Spine of Ish Sah. In that case I'd just rather play Oblation. Expedition Map: Map was important back when Eye of Ugin fetched Emrakul, but now the Eye is less important to the deck, so I replaced the Map for a land.
I don't know why you'd want to take out Greaves... even if you don't want 'em on Dreamweaver so he can be Blinked. They seem pretty awesome on an Eldrazi or the Magus.
Isochron Scepter seems really good here - Blink is incredible tech with your general, and a Blink every turn is even better. Maybe two plays is fine for your gameplan, I dunno. I guess you do have Flickerform.
I don't know why you'd want to take out Greaves... even if you don't want 'em on Dreamweaver so he can be Blinked. They seem pretty awesome on an Eldrazi or the Magus.
Isochron Scepter seems really good here - Blink is incredible tech with your general, and a Blink every turn is even better. Maybe two plays is fine for your gameplan, I dunno. I guess you do have Flickerform.
Hm, maybe you are right about greaves. I am just not sure what else to take out :-/.
I guess the main problem with Greaves and Isochron Scepter is that they are situational. Greaves can always go on my general, but not if I have a blink spell I want to use. The scepter is only good if I have a 2-mana instant in hand.
I really need some help on what to take out, but I think I will have to play some more games and see what isn't good enough.
Here is my current list:
1 Rasputin Dreamweaver
Lands (40)
1 Mystic Gate
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Seachrome Coast
1 Glacial Fortress
1 Marsh Flats
1 Arid Mesa
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Command Tower
1 Coastal Tower
1 Azorius Guildgate
1 Celestial Colonnade
1 Reliquary Tower
1 Strip Mine
1 Sejiri Refuge
1 Skycloud Expanse
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Temple of the False God
1 Eye of Ugin
1 Academy Ruins
1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
1 Boreal Shelf
12 Island
6 Plains
Creatures (12)
1 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Trinket Mage
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Archaeomancer
1 Stonehewer Giant
1 Deadeye Navigator
1 Duplicant
1 Draining Whelk
1 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
1 Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur
1 Consecrated Sphinx
1 Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
1 Mana Vault
1 Sol Ring
1 Azorius Signet
1 Mind Stone
1 Everflowing Chalice
1 Talisman of Progress
1 Coldsteel Heart
1 Worn Powerstone
1 Coalition Relic
1 Chromatic Lantern
1 Basalt Monolith
1 Thran Dynamo
1 Gilded Lotus
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Voyager Staff
1 Mortarpod
1 Nim Deathmantle
1 Crucible of Worlds
1 Blasting Station
Planeswalkers (2)
1 Tezzeret the Seeker
1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
Enchantments (2)
1 Aura of Silence
1 Rhystic Study
Instants (12)
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Momentary Blink
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Forbid
1 Return to Dust
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Sphinx's Revelation
1 Blue Sun's Zenith
1 White Sun's Zenith
1 Stroke of Genius
1 Steelshaper's Gift
1 Into the Armory
1 Fabricate
1 Rite of Replication
1 Hallowed Burial
1 Austere Command
1 Terminus
1 Final Judgment
1 Blatant Thievery
1 Martial Coup
1 Time Stretch
1 Storm Herd
Seeing as card and mana advantage are more important in EDH than tempo advantage, I wanted my general to either give me a ton of cards or a ton of mana. All the card advantage generals (Sharuum, Sisay, Momir, Zur, etc) had been done many times over, so I went with Rasputin Dreamweaver, one of the few generals who accelerates your mana (along with
Rofellos, Rhada, Rosheen, Riven Turnbull, and, um, Princess Lucrezia?).The main win condition of the deck is the Nim Deathmantle + Blasting Station combo. Sac Rasputin to Blasting Station with 4 mana floating, bring him back with Deathmantle, untap the Station, and remove all of Rasputin's counters to get 7 mana. Repeat until everyone else is dead. The combo also works with Mortarpod, which is sweet because it means Stoneforge Mystic, Steelshaper's Gift, Open the Armory, and Stonehewer Giant can fetch both pieces of the combo. It also means untapping with Tezzeret can be game over.
The backup combo is Time Stretch + Archaeomancer + Rite of Replication. Cast Time Stretch. During extra turn #1, cast Archaeomancer returning Time Stretch. Extra turn #2 cast Time Stretch again. Extra turn #3 cast Rite of Replication kicked on Archaeomancer, returning Time Stretch and Rite of Replication. Keep casting Stretch and Rite and you have infinite turns. This combo requires the same number of cards but doesn't include your general and the cards are harder to tutor for, so you don't get it as often. But the pieces are all individually good, which is nice.
Barring that, the idea is to untap with Rasputin and play as many big spells as possible (Time Stretch into Storm Herd is preferred :D). Try not to play him when you have no protection and he's the biggest threat on the board. Voyager Staff is nice for this because you can tap out and still have a blink available for spot removal. One good way to untap with Rasputin is to play him and then remove all the counters for something else. That way it won't look like you have so much extra mana available until you blink him on your next turn.
Most Rasputin decks have much more of a blink theme. I like this sort of version better (assuming your play group doesn't ban infinite combos or some stupid rule) because cards like Mulldrifter/Wall of Omens/Sea Gate Oracle ultimately dilute the deck's power. Life totals are doubled and there are more players, which means that not only are creatures half as efficient power-wise, there are a lot more removal spells and sweepers flying around. The more mana (and deck slots) you spend playing durdly 0/4s, the less you have to play concentrated effects that help you one-shot people.
Furthermore, despite always having access to Rasputin, blink effects are still very situational. You have to have a creature in play, mana up, and a way to benefit from it entering the battlefield again (i.e. something to cast with all the extra colorless mana). The spells that are legal in this format are so powerful on their own that you don't need your deck to be full of synergy to be effective.
Cards that should be in but I don't have:
Newlamog
Descend Upon the Sinful
Tawnos's Coffin
Random improvements to mana base:
Nimbus Maze
Wanderwine Hub
Calciform Pools
Fetchlands
Honestly just play around with the manabase. It's only two colors. It's not that hard to get it good enough, and I'm too lazy to pile out my deck right now. You absolutely don't need fetches, and if you are on a budget/too cool to use proxies, you can cut the Crucible too.
Cards I'm considering:
Argivian Find
Buried Ruin
Intuition
Recall (previously dropped)
Path to Exile
That new XUU draw X discard 1
Riptide Laboratory
Kor Haven
Force of Will
Ghostway
Future Sight
Venser, the Sojourner
Mistveil Plains
Mystic Remora
Hinder, Spell Crumple, Oblation, Spin into Myth: Tuck rule change made these cards poor choices.
Swiftfoot Boots: See above, except it was always garbage because apparently I'm the only person who liked to ruin people's day by tucking their general.
Cryptic Command: Good card, but this is EDH--surely we can do better.
Opportunity: Still decent, but I prefer the flexibility of the x-spells.
Mindslaver: Let's be honest. Your opponent's deck is probably terrible and you will gain nothing by taking control of their turn. Still good in duels with Academy Ruins, but not worth it for FFA.
Blightsteel Colossus: Unfortunately our strategy doesn't support waiting a turn for Rasputin, waiting a turn for Blightsteel, and THEN MAYYYBE killing one player. It was a nice idea though.
Luminate Primordial: Not a bad card, but I think sweepers + Duplicant is enough for now.
Entreat the Angels: this deck doesn't want to tap out, and every time I draw it off a Sphinx's Revelation, I cry a little.
Mnemonic Wall: card's still good, but we already have Archaeomancer, and there aren't enough instants and sorceries in here to guarantee value every time. Edit: this card is probably better than Archaeomancer and I am just lazy.
Recall: Recall is actually an awesome card. There are two main uses: getting back combo pieces, and getting back good stuff. We have Academy Ruins/Archaeomancer to get back combo pieces, and the deck is redundant enough that we don't need to retrieve good stuff. We'll just draw into the good stuff instead and not have to sacrifice cards in hand.
Mulldrifter: this deck doesn't play enough blink effects for Mulldrifter to be good.
Vanish into Memory: the plan with blink spells is to play Rasputin and leave open mana for the blink spell (minus colorless mana, which Rasputin provides us). Vanish requires two colored mana, which is twice as much as Momentary Blink or Ghostway. Add in the fact that it's not consistent as a draw spell, and it becomes too cute.
Elbrus, the Binding Blade: it would be nice to have a 'real' equipment for all our tutors, but we only play ~12 creatures. The conditions for it to be good are too narrow for this deck.
Banishing Stroke: Too clunky, plus our plan is to draw lots of cards at once, so this brings down the chance of miracle-ing it.
Mind Spring, Braingeyser: Sorcery-speed draw spells have the drawback of forcing you to discard down to seven cards. More importantly, they have the drawback of your opponent blowing you out with real spells while you tapped all your mana.
Karn Liberated: obviously awesome against control and in duels, but since I'm assuming multiple opponents, it becomes a lot more like Spine of Ish Sah. In that case I'd just rather play Oblation.
Expedition Map: Map was important back when Eye of Ugin fetched Emrakul, but now the Eye is less important to the deck, so I replaced the Map for a land.
Tundra
Grim Monolith
Mana Drain
Mana Crypt
Rasputin Dreamweaver EDH
Isochron Scepter seems really good here - Blink is incredible tech with your general, and a Blink every turn is even better. Maybe two plays is fine for your gameplan, I dunno. I guess you do have Flickerform.
Hm, maybe you are right about greaves. I am just not sure what else to take out :-/.
I guess the main problem with Greaves and Isochron Scepter is that they are situational. Greaves can always go on my general, but not if I have a blink spell I want to use. The scepter is only good if I have a 2-mana instant in hand.
I really need some help on what to take out, but I think I will have to play some more games and see what isn't good enough.
Rasputin Dreamweaver EDH
Rasputin Dreamweaver EDH
This deck has been featured in Gathering Magic by Carlos Gutierrez