Eight Rack

[Ace/Homebrew]

Tom Ross piloted this list to a win at an SCG Super IQ:

Instants (6)
2 Funeral Charm
4 Dismember

Sorceries (18)
3 Raven's Crime
3 Thoughtseize
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Smallpox
4 Wrench Mind

Enchantments (4)
4 Shrieking Affliction

Planeswalkers (4)
4 Liliana of the Veil

Artifacts (4)
4 The Rack

Lands (24)
4 Mutavault
4 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
16 Swamp

Sideboard (15)
1 Relic of Progenitus
2 Nyxathid
1 Leyline of the Void
2 Waste Not
3 Disfigure
2 Night of Souls' Betrayal
2 Deathmark
2 Drown in Sorrow


--------------------


I recently finished building the deck, have yet to take it to a local tournament, but tested it against Infect and Twin yesterday. Both felt like extremely positive matchups.

Here's my list:

Instants (4)
4 Murderous Cut

Sorceries (20)
4 Raven's Crime
4 Thoughtseize
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Smallpox
4 Wrench Mind

Enchantments (4)
4 Shrieking Affliction

Planeswalkers (4)
4 Liliana of the Veil

Artifacts (8)
4 The Rack
4 Ensnaring Bridge

Lands (20)
3 Blinkmoth Nexus
2 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
15 Swamp

Sideboard (13)
4 Funeral Charm
4 Surgical Extraction
3 Dismember
2 Drown in Sorrow

My sideboard is short 2 cards, but I haven't really had much practice with Modern so it wasn't a huge priority to get the sideboard right.

After my testing, I realized 4 Murderous Cut is too many. If your deck is functioning correctly (drawing enough lands) then the spell is easy to cast because your graveyard fills up quickly. But if you miss on lands, the spell is uncastable due to a high mana cost. I'm going to swap some Dismembers in for Cuts.

An immediately noticeable difference between the lists is the number of lands used. I'm going to assume the Magic Pro has it correct, and my list should have a few additional lands. In testing, I was only ever punished if I kept a 1 land hand. That should probably be mulliganned anyway, but a 4 land difference is too large to ignore.

[FTW]

4 Cuts is always too many. 2-3 is correct. You don't want to draw 2. You can replace the others with Dismembers.

I think your deck runs too few lands. With Raven's Crime, topdecking late lands is not a concern, so there's basically no drawback to running 24 lands even with a low curve. However, drawing too few lands can manascrew you (which also makes Bridge and manlands awkward). Also, the 4th Raven's Crime is usually functionally worse than a basic swamp. Basically, there are reasons for Tom's card choices.

Also, beware relying too heavily on Bridge as your aggro interaction. I saw a 4-Bridge player take some hilarious losses to CoCo decks and Amulet decks using Noble Hierarch+pump (Kessig Wolf Run, other exalted, etc.) to attack through Bridge@0. Also, having Bridge bounced is super awkward.

There's a good thread on this archetype on MTGSalvation

[Ace/Homebrew]

Thanks FTW! I read through the Salvation primer and the most recent 10 pages or so of the thread.
Right now it is mostly people complaining about Ross' list, like Bridge is some sort of sacred cow.
Still... content > no content.

Unfortunately Tom Ross' article on SCG sits behind a pay wall. ktkenshinx provided a nice summary though. Thanks man!

I sleeved up this pile to try out:

Instants (6)
2 Funeral Charm
2 Dismember
2 Murderous Cut

Sorceries (18)
3 Raven's Crime
3 Thoughtseize
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Smallpox
4 Wrench Mind

Enchantments (4)
4 Shrieking Affliction

Planeswalkers (4)
4 Liliana of the Veil

Artifacts (4)
4 The Rack

Lands (24)
4 Blinkmoth Nexus
4 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
16 Swamp


I need to pick up Mutavaults, then I'll swap them for the Nexuses... Nexum... Nexi?
I had to proxy a lot of the sideboard, but I'll be picking up those pieces as well.

[CaptainTwiddle]

Just theorizing here, as I have not played with 8-Rack personally, but I think Ensnaring Bridge creates some awkward deck building tension. It's a really powerful card and the type of thing that can just steal games (especially if in the maindeck), but dedicating 4 slots to it may impede the matchups where it's not as useful of a tool. What makes the analysis harder is that you are playing Liliana of the Veil, so you can make the "I can just discard it" argument. I do think that running Bridge in the main increases the likelihood that your opponent brings in artifact hate, which also answers The Rack. If I were playing some aggro deck and only saw The Rack, I probably wouldn't bring in much, if any, artifact hate, but I'd be sure to bring in any answers available for Bridge. I also think Bridge has lost some value with the introduction of Kolaghan's Command.

As for Murderous Cut, I think 1 is the correct number. You'll almost always be able to get the full delve for it. While a second copy is probably fine, you will occasionally be priced into paying more and Dismember is generally better in that scenario.

[Ace/Homebrew]

The article Tom Ross wrote about Eight Rack is now free to view.
Those interested in the deck should read it here.
It was helpful for sideboarding plans and Tom also explains why we should always be on the draw. The reasoning is that the extra card helps you to deplete their resources more reliably, plus players are more likely to mulligan on the play.

I updated my list to as close to the one he recommended at the end of his article as I could manage.

Instants (6)
2 Funeral Charm
4 Dismember

Sorceries (18)
4 Raven's Crime
3 Thoughtseize
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Smallpox
3 Wrench Mind

Enchantments (4)
4 Shrieking Affliction

Planeswalkers (4)
4 Liliana of the Veil

Artifacts (4)
4 The Rack

Lands (24)
4 Blinkmoth Nexus
4 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
16 Swamp

Sideboard
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Leyline of the Void
3 Disfigure
2 Deathmark
2 Night of Souls' Betrayal
1 Drown in Sorrow
2 Nyxathid
2 Waste Not
1 Bile Blight


The differences to Tom's recommended list are 4 Blinkmoth Nexus in the main instead of 4 Mutavault. This is just an availability/price issue for the time being. The intention is to use 4 Mutavaults eventually.

In the sideboard the Relic of Progenitus and 1 Disfigure should be 2 Nihil Spellbomb. That has been updated, but when I was testing last night I had not yet acquired the Spellbombs. Drown in Sorrow should be Damnation, but it's DiS for now due to price/availability issues.



I got a ton of games in against GrisShoalbrand (or whatever it's being called) and Amulet Bloom. Those matches feel impossible to lose to. GrisShoalbrand can sneak a win in occasionally because our 'discard' plan feeds into their 'reanimate Griselbrand' plan, but not if your turn 1 play is IoK or Thoughtseize. Grave-hate from the board really shuts them down and Waste Not turns Faithless Looting into free cards or zombies for us.
Amulet Bloom gets hit real hard by turn 2 Smallpox after they invested in a Ravnica Karoo land.

I also got a handful of games in against Jund and a 4C Restoration Angel/Kiki-Chord deck. Not enough to draw meaningful conclusions or develop a game plan for the match.

[Mr. Safety]

If you're looking for a heavy duty wiper maybe Mutilate over Drown in Sorrow? Its definitely affordable and with 4 urborgsgit should work at a Languish level or better.

[Phoenix Ignition]

Why mutilate over Damnation?

EDIT:
Oh, I'm dumb, I didn't read all of the previous post. Budget.

[Ace/Homebrew]

I can't really complain about affording a single Damnation when there are four Liliana of the Veil main deck.

Eventually I'll pick it up, but the playset of Mutavault is my first priority right now. It's not even that I'm upset with Drown in Sorrow; at 3 mana I have a better chance of casting it in a deck with 4 Small Pox. It's more that I'm unashamedly net decking and if a pro can win an Invitational Qualifer with a list, I should be able to take down my local FNM as long as I play his identical list... Right?

[Ace/Homebrew]

I woke up this morning committed to winning a box of Modern Masters. At 5:30, I left the Historical Society with my box and continued home to hand out Halloween candy.

I completed my playset of Mutavault a little while ago. On Thursday I got the Damnation I needed to complete the list Tom Ross recommended in his SCG article linked in a prior post.

Event Info. Unfortunately only 16 people showed. Still it was a fun event and my first Modern event since the format was initally created.

Instants (6)
2 Funeral Charm
4 Dismember

Sorceries (18)
4 Raven's Crime
3 Thoughtseize
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Smallpox
3 Wrench Mind

Enchantments (4)
4 Shrieking Affliction

Planeswalkers (4)
4 Liliana of the Veil

Artifacts (4)
4 The Rack

Lands (24)
4 Mutavault
4 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
16 Swamp

Sideboard
2 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Leyline of the Void
2 Disfigure
2 Deathmark
2 Night of Souls' Betrayal
1 Damnation
2 Nyxathid
2 Waste Not
1 Bile Blight

Round 1, 2-0
Ryon - Jund
Game one I mull to 6 and he starts. I get him to 4 life with only a Lili and Mutavault to apply pressure (although I'm still at 20 life). He's hellbent and has a Raging Ravine and 4 other lands. Rather than playing defensively, he attacks me for two turns leaving himself open to my Mutavault.
Game 2 he doesn't have a chance.

Round 2, 2-0
Nathan - Grixis Twin
He's on the play both games. Game two I mull to 6. Two card combos are bad against discard. Easy wins.

Round 3, 1-2
Chris - CoCo Elves
I know Chris from Legacy. I also know he frequently wins the local weekly Modern events with his Elf deck. Pretty sure this match-up is in his favor... He's on the play and wins the turn before he was going to die in his upkeep. Game 2 I land a Night of Soul's Betrayal and shit in his Cheerios. Game 3 is long and grindy. I resolve an early Damnation and shit in his Cheerios again with NoSB. He lands a Scooze which kills both of my Mutavaults until I get my Lili high enough to make him sac it. Before that it gains him 5 life. I get him to 4 life with Affliction doing 3 damage to him next turn. He CoCo's for a lord and a 2/2 that comes into play with a token... No big deal, he's dead on his next turn. He Chord's for the 3/2 that causes life-loss equal to the number of elves he has which puts me into kill range from the threats already on board.

Round 4, 1-1 then decided to ID
Ryan - Scapeshift
The math says we can draw in, but I'm a dick and a dream crusher so I say we're playing it out.
I start and get game 1 without much trouble. Game 2 he boards in Obstinate Baloth. They cause me some grief since I boarded out Dismembers. He gets game 2 and shakes my confidence enough that I take the ID when he offers it again before game 3.

I end up 4th after swiss.

Top 8, 2-0
Billy - Esper Gifts
I start and take game 1 without trouble. Game two is another story... The game ends with 3 cards in my library thanks to Jace the tweenager's emblem. I happened to land a Leyline of the Void to keep him from killing me. An Afflicition off the top got in the last few points of damage!

Top 4, 2-0
Alex - Grixis Delver
Neither game was particularly close, but game 1 was more of a fight than game 2.

Finals 2-0
Ryan - Scapeshift
Rematch! For keeps this time. I get game 1 easily as expected. Game 2 he scoops after I Smallpox with Lili on board.

I'm amazed this deck isn't more popular. Granted I avoided bad matchups, but most of the games I played weren't even close. I think I'm going to hang on to the box because the contents really have no value to me... I'll probably try to sell it in a year or two.

[Mr. Safety]

Nice work! A buddy of mine played this deck for ages but always had a hard time with affinity (which is very popular.) I would suggest one tiny change: add a dakmor salvage. Ravens crime synergy aside, you're playing a full set of smallpox. Sometimes you just need a land drop.

I've always wondered what crucible of worlds + ghost quarter/tec edge could do for the deck in the sideboard. Its counterproductive with the discard plan but is another angle of attack in some matchups.

[hoolegr]

Nice work! A buddy of mine played this deck for ages but always had a hard time with affinity (which is very popular.) I would suggest one tiny change: add a dakmor salvage. Ravens crime synergy aside, you're playing a full set of smallpox. Sometimes you just need a land drop.

I've always wondered what crucible of worlds + ghost quarter/tec edge could do for the deck in the sideboard. Its counterproductive with the discard plan but is another angle of attack in some matchups.

It works, Don't rely too heavily on it but in the right meta (A lot of decks running a small amount of basics in my meta), and it can help win the games, Crucible also works for Raven's crime, Discard for retrace, play the land from the yard. Piloted an Attrition heavy version of this to a win in a local tournament a bit back, and Ghost quarter, Crucible of worlds, and Ensnaring bridge meant I was able to lock people out no issue, only had one loss that day in 5/6 rounds and T8.

Don't have the report anymore unfortunately. I was running Spawning Pool (Enters tapped, but turns into a 1/1 with self regen), instead of mutavaults, and Ghost quarter + the urborgs

[Ace/Homebrew]

4-0'd the Modern FNM. I think it ended up being 24 people.

Instants (6)
2 Funeral Charm
4 Dismember

Sorceries (18)
4 Raven's Crime
3 Thoughtseize
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Smallpox
3 Wrench Mind

Enchantments (4)
4 Shrieking Affliction

Planeswalkers (4)
4 Liliana of the Veil

Artifacts (4)
4 The Rack

Lands (24)
4 Mutavault
4 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
16 Swamp

Sideboard (15)
4 Leyline of the Void
2 Surgical Extraction
4 Death's Shadow
3 Bontu's Last Reckoning
2 Flaying Tendrils

Wanted to test out Bontu's Last Reckoning. Got to cast it once in the only game I lost.

R1 - Affinity, 2-1. We both know what each other are playing going into the game.
I keep The Rack, 3x Affliction, Swamp, Mutavault, Inquisition on the play. I draw Swamp, Swamp and play all the Afflictions my third turn, with The Rack already on the board. He untaps and takes 11.
I board in Reckonings. He leads game 2 and establishes a faster clock than me.
Game 3 is a drag out grind that I eventually establish control over after playing 3 Smallpox over the course of 4 turns.

R2 - Titan Scapeshift, 2-0. This matchup is pretty lop-sided.
Game 2 I board in two Surgicals for two Dismembers. She takes 3 to the dome each upkeep while threatening to combo-win off the top of her library, but can't find it.

R3 - Elves, 2-0.
He leads with a mana elf. I Inquisition and he's surprised I pick Visionary over Archdruid. I have removal when I need it and my Racks get there.
I board out The Rack and board in Death's Shadow; I also find room for a Flaying Tendrils. He mulls to 6 and keeps a 1 land hand. I punish him with Smallpox.

R4 - Abzan Midrange, 2-0.
I'm on the play and keep a land-heavy Raven's Crime hand. I play it out aggressively, discarding two of my own lands the 2nd turn. The game begins to go in my favor after a Smallpox. He cannot recover.
I board in 4 Leyline. Keep a hand that is good enough without the hate. He Surgical's after I Raven's Crime. I establish my win-cons of Affliction and Rack early and he struggles from keeping a hand without the ability to generate green mana. Liliana shows up and helps me attack his hand so that Affliction/Rack damage get him.


The sideboard felt pretty good. I'll probably drop the Bontu's down to 2. The card's downside feels pretty negligible if it soaks up 3 or more creatures.
Definitely had some good luck in rounds 3 and 4 when my opponent's decks decided not to be helpful.

[Mr. Safety]

Seems so weird to see zero copies of Fatal Push, but I guess Dismember is just better. Now if you could only splash white (j/k...)

[Ace/Homebrew]

Seems so weird to see zero copies of Fatal Push, but I guess Dismember is just better. Now if you could only splash white (j/k...)

It does seem weird! I had a few copies in the sideboard until I picked up Bontu's Last Reckoning.

My reasoning was:
- I cannot trigger Revolt whenever I want
- I can play Dismember off any land in play

The only card I'm worried about where Push is better is Death's Shadow.

Maybe I'll splash white just to throw Push into the main deck.

[Mr. Safety]

It does seem weird! I had a few copies in the sideboard until I picked up Bontu's Last Reckoning.

My reasoning was:
- I cannot trigger Revolt whenever I want
- I can play Dismember off any land in play

The only card I'm worried about where Push is better is Death's Shadow.

Maybe I'll splash white just to throw Push into the main deck.

I think even without revolt it's a solid removal spell. The biggest reason is Death's Shadow. If you get your racks going, Shadow will be HUGE, big enough that Dismember won't kill them.

Besides, the best splash color is green *cough*tarmogoyf*cough*

[Ace/Homebrew]

Speaking of... an 'un-revolted' Push also takes care of Goyf 100% of the time, whereas Dismember only usually takes care of Goyf.
But another reason I choose Dismember over push is that it dodges Chalice of the Void on 1 despite having the option to spend 1 mana on it. CotV really destroys this deck, but usually they have to topdeck it in order for it to stick.

[Ace/Homebrew]

Went 3-1 at this weeks Modern FNM. The last round loss was very disappointing.
I think 14 people showed up.

Instants (6)
2 Funeral Charm
4 Dismember

Sorceries (18)
4 Raven's Crime
3 Thoughtseize
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Smallpox
3 Wrench Mind

Enchantments (4)
4 Shrieking Affliction

Planeswalkers (4)
4 Liliana of the Veil

Artifacts (4)
4 The Rack

Lands (24)
4 Mutavault
4 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
16 Swamp

Sideboard (15)
4 Leyline of the Void
2 Surgical Extraction
4 Death's Shadow
3 Bontu's Last Reckoning
2 Flaying Tendrils

R1 - Scapeshift, 2-0
Same opponent as last time. But the games were more lop-sided than before.
Boarded out 2 Dismember for 2 Surgical Extraction in game 2.

R2 - Elves, 2-0
I won the die roll and chose to play. He kept a 1-land hand with a few mana dorks. I played Smallpox turn 2 and he never recovered.
-2 Thoughtseize, +2 Flaying Tendrils. Smallpox and removal kept the board clean. Raven's Crime and extra lands kept his hand empty.

R3 - Counters Company, 2-1
I won the die roll and chose to play. He takes the first game as I struggle with his board presence.
-3 Thoughtseize, -1 Dismember +2 Flaying Tendrils, +2 Bontu's Last Reckoning. I play an early Smallpox and the game devolves to us just having 2 or 3 lands in play without any cards in hand after I finally get enough mana to clear his board with Flaying Tendrils. I stabilize at 7 life and Mutavault gets there.
I was concerned that I over-boarded in game 2, so I put a Thoughtseize back and took out a Bontu's. I mull to 6 and he's on the play. He takes a Shrieking Affliction early with Tidehollow Sculler. His board presence grows, but he is never close to combo-ing out. I stick 2 copies of the Rack and we race. With me at 9 life, he swings with his team for exactsies. I animate Mutavault and block Sculler to get back my Affliction and stop 2 damage. I untap, draw a land, retrace Raven's Crime, play Affliction and win during his upkeep.

R4 - Jund Infect, 0-2
Pre-Probe-ban-Infect was always an amazingly good match up. He mulls to 5 (!) and is on the play. His infector is a Inkmoth Nexus, which I struggle to stop... At 6 poison, I Funeral Charm it when he attacks. He plays Might of Old Krosa, making it a 5/2 and kills me.
I board in a single Surgical Extraction and remove a Thoughtseize. Once again Inkmoth Nexus is the infector that kills me because he has the protection for it when I go to kill it. Wah wah...



I think I will swap the number of Bontu's and Tendrils in the board. Exiling the creatures is huge and much of the format is X/2.

[Mr. Safety]

I know it makes a less reliable mana-base considering you already have 4 colorless lands, but I always liked having 1-2 maindeck Ghost Quarters. It is there for the obvious uses against Tron but it has a ton of splash value across multiple decks. Celestial Colonnade, Raging Ravine, and Inkmoth/Blinkmoth Nexus are all juicy targets that somehow seem to slip by discard. The removal is usually not fantastic against man-lands (although that changed with Fatal Push) but Ghost Quarter is uncounterable save for fringe cards. I suppose your Dismembers do great work against man-lands but I'd rather hedge and squeeze in 1 GQ anyways.

Nice finish! Easily one of my favorite budget decks in the format (but storm will forever be my favorite deck in the format, period, lol.)

[Ace/Homebrew]

Thanks Mr. S!

I actually like the idea of putting up to 2 GQ in the sideboard. And I have enough redundancy in there already that finding 2 slots will be easy.
I'm leaning towards this sideboard configuration for now:

Sideboard (15)
4 Leyline of the Void
1 Surgical Extraction
4 Death's Shadow
2 Bontu's Last Reckoning
2 Flaying Tendrils
2 Ghost Quarter

It's unlikely I'll be able to attend the next Modern FNM, so my next report is gonna be at least a month away. But I look forward to trying out the Ghost Quarters!

[Ace/Homebrew]

Went 2-2 this week for Modern FNM.

Instants (6)
2 Funeral Charm
4 Dismember

Sorceries (18)
4 Raven's Crime
3 Thoughtseize
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Smallpox
3 Wrench Mind

Enchantments (4)
4 Shrieking Affliction

Planeswalkers (4)
4 Liliana of the Veil

Artifacts (4)
4 The Rack

Lands (24)
4 Mutavault
4 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
16 Swamp

Sideboard (15)
4 Leyline of the Void
3 Ghost Quarter
4 Death's Shadow
2 Bontu's Last Reckoning
2 Flaying Tendrils

R1 - Grixis Death's Shadow, 2-0
Was never in any real danger this round. I had removal when I needed it and he drew lands at inopportune times.

R2 - Bant Counters Company, 0-2
Last time I faced this opponent, he was on the / build. I won the round because he made a fatal mistake which I capitalized on. I wasn't as lucky this time, although the individual games were actually quite close. The second game ended when he ultimated Nissa, Steward of Elements.

R3 - 4 Color Death's Shadow, 2-1
An interesting build that utilizes Ranger of Eos and Lingering Souls. Game 1 was an easy win. Game 2 he got me by going wide enough with Souls that my Small Pox couldn't deal with his Tasigur. Game 3 he flashed back double Souls into my Bontu's Last Reckoning, which he should have known I was holding from an earlier Thoughtseize...

R4 - Burn, 1-2
Game 1 was miserable and I quickly boarded in 4 Death's Shadow, which ate him alive for game 2. Game 3 was a battle! My hand was amazing, but he went T1 GG, T2 Eidolon, T3 Eidolon. I was able to play 1 Death's Shadow but my second copy was stranded in my hand after the 4 damage from resolving my initial copy dropped me to 6 life. I played Mutavaults on each of my next 2 turns and it looked like I had a chance to turn the tide with my enormous Shadow, but his life total was padded enough that he could afford to take 8 damage in order to do 6 to me...

------------------------------------------------------------------

In other news...
Tom Ross got 4th at the SCG Modern Open in Louisville this weekend.

Instants (6)
1 Dismember
3 Fatal Push
2 Funeral Charm

Sorceries (18)
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Raven's Crime
4 Smallpox
3 Thoughtseize
3 Wrench Mind

Enchantments (4)
4 Shrieking Affliction

Planeswalkers (4)
4 Liliana of the Veil

Artifacts (4)
4 The Rack

Lands (24)
15 Swamp
1 Marsh Flats
4 Mutavault
4 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth


Sideboard (15)
1 Asylum Visitor
2 Death's Shadow
4 Leyline of the Void
1 Fatal Push
1 Shadow of Doubt
2 Bontu's Last Reckoning
4 Delirium Skeins


I'm fairly curious about the Delirium Skeins in the sideboard. Specifically about what matchups they are good in and what he removed to fit them. I'm going to guess they come in for Liliana against Storm decks...