With a flash like a dark meteor... he is coming.

There is so much to do with this guy. Let's get into it.

Go, Greased Lightning

The basics: we have a 4/2 with Haste for four mana, putting us in a Rakdos color identity. (This list will mostly focus on Commander, but I'm thinking about casual 60-card as well!) Not bad.

Creatures with Flash or Haste benefit us, because when they die we draw more cards.

Finally, if we use Artifacts to power out our spells, they all get Split Second, which is absurdly powerful because no one can respond. (In case you need some help, my friend and fellow CSI writer Sigmund Ausfresser, fellow rules wonk, wrote a great primer on Split Second.)

Here are 10 (groups of) cards to kickstart your deck-building engines.

Life in the fast lane

10. Artifact mana and Treasure generation

It likely goes without saying, but generating Treasures (even something silly like Heap Gate) and making mana from Artifact sources will be great in any build involving Shadow. Cards like Reckless Lackey and Lobelia Sackville-Baggins, who can create Tokens while having Haste or Flash themselves, are also great. Finally, a shout-out to Gonti's Aether Heart, which functions as a win condition with all these Artifacts!

9. Artifacts that replicate themselves

Skyclave Relic and Replicating Ring deserve their own entry. Ability to create multiple sources of any color, especially when they won't go away (like Treasures), will allow most of the late-game spells you cast to have Split Second. Worth the cost of entry.

Baby, we were born to run

8. Haste Stompy

Nothing like taking a bunch of extra mana, dumping it into your mana pool, and slamming some massive monster. Fortunately for Shadow, a number of those monsters have Haste. A deck built around dumping mana rocks and Treasures, then windmill-slamming a Cavern-Hoard Dragon with Split Second, would be great fun.

7. Or, alternately, Goblins

Goblin Kindred decks tend to use a lot of tokens, and those tokens often have Haste. Leaning into that fully with Shadow at the helm could be an interesting way to use all those tokens. Plus it gives me a chance to highlight one of my favorite cards of all time, Goblin Assault!

Like a bat out of hell

6. You can give things Haste

Lightning Greaves and Swiftfoot Boots are the standards, but Chariot of Victory and Haunted Cloak give a lot more for just a bit more mana. Cori-Steel Cutter and Footfall Crater are other less-common Haste-granters. Additionally, Hammer of Purphoros and Fervor, in addition to Dragonlord Kolaghan, Anger, and others, will grant your entire team Haste. Shout out to Bitter Reunion - while it's only good for one use, the card filtering and price can't be beaten!

Life is a highway

5. There's a keyword for that

Dash feels like almost the perfect mechanic for Shadow. We don't always get to draw, but with the cards that have extra abilities tacked on like Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer or Flamerush Rider, we either get the ability (again and again) or get a new card when our card dies. It's a shame Flamerush Rider doesn't grant Haste, but it's still a solid choice and can copy any other Creature we have attacking with its ability!

4. ...and a tool for that

Flash is often put on excellent abilities and Creatures, and putting them to use with Shadow would make a lot of sense. Flash in Dualcaster Mage to copy someone's Counterspell or Murder, or just Murder something with Dire Fleet Poisoner (and draw a card if the Poisoner dies!). It's worth noting we're in {B}, which gives us access to the strongest tutors in the game - meaning you can run tutors and search up exactly the tool you need.

Gimme fuel, give me fire

3. Fast, fast car(d)s

Way back in The Dark, they printed a card called Ball Lightning, a 6/1 with Trample and Haste for three, which sacrifices itself at the end of turn. Numerous iterations on this have existed over the years, and they're all pretty much awesome here. Hell's Thunder is one of my favorites - it's not as big, but getting to hit twice is really fun. There are also great token generators which make tokens with Haste that die, including Thatcher Revolt. Firecat Blitz Exiles its tokens, and Tempt with Vengeance leaves them on the 'field, so a sacrifice effect would be necessary to draw the card, but they're worth considering.

Also, this guy:

It's hard to imagine a better card in this category than old-school Kiki-Jiki. Copy almost anything you've got, get the Enters effect, then swing and either do damage or draw a card. Seems good. And in the same vein:

More expensive but potentially way more useful, since this can grab anything that dies. The Token Exiles, so a sacrifice effect is needed to draw the card, but still, a solid inclusion.

You better run all day and run all night

2. The big finish

With any strategy, having a few cards which will likely end the game just by being cast is valuable. In our case, we get to make those cards uncounterable with Split Second! Use all your Treasures for a massive Exsanguinate, or just cast a Skull Storm after a board wipe to knock everyone's life total down. Jeska's Will may be cheaper, but it can win the game all on its own, and you can still use Artifact mana to cast the spells off the top to give them Split Second too.

It's worth mentioning this works with lots of things, including kill spells and Wraths like Blasphemous Act and Life's Finale. Go wild.

I'm on the highway to hell

1. One warrior to rule them all

Garna, the Bloodflame doesn't do anything new here, but she does basically everything we want her to. She's got Flash so she'll draw a card for us when she dies. She can return all the other Creatures which died in Combat this turn to our Hand, giving us another shot with them. And she grants all our other Creatures Haste! If Shadow has a must-include, the Bloodflame is it.

He's a demon on wheels

Shadow provides us with a solid path (Haste and Flash) and a great payoff (Split Second for everything) and a strong support base (Artifact mana and Treasures). As the leader of a Commander deck, aggro, midrange, and tempo are all in the mix, as is Rakdos control based around Split Second. He'll be a welcome addition in any deck with a good number of Haste Creatures.

I love the idea of a 60-card casual deck built around the Haste Goblin tokens; imagine going Goblin Javelineer into Prowcatcher Specialist into Goblin Assault into Shadow! That's a lot of damage in the first four turns of the game, ending with cards flowing into your Hand with each Token that bites the dust.

I hope this has given you some ideas to go out there and brew with Shadow!

Thanks for reading.