Turbo Discard 2022

[Laser Brains]

Hi guys, this brew strongly resembles 8 Rack but I assure you that versions of this deck have been around since 1997. Way back in the day this was a vintage deck and it ran 4x The Rack and 4x Demonic Consultation (before it was restricted) for tutoring up The Racks numbers 5-8. I'm not sure that it was ever very popular but I did win more than one tournament with it. It was mostly a deck on paper that had 50+ pages on a thread at one of the old MTG forum sites. Can't remember the name of the site but it's not around anymore.

It received a boost when Gerrard's Verdict was printed in Apocalypse in 2001. The deck might now want to be known as 8-Hymn to separate it from it's 8-Rack modern cousin. It also ran cards such as Nekrataal, Skittering Skirge and in some builds Storm World.

Game play wise, this deck is much faster and less controlish than 8 Rack also note that there is no Smallpox. Essentially empty your opponent's hand stack up Racks on your opponent and try to survive the next couple of turns by removing threats and hopefully gaining some life.

Anyway, I think this deck might be able to return with cards like Urza's Saga for tutoring The Rack and Dauthi Voidwalker for munching graveyards and quickly dealing damage. I did manage to proxy it up and give it a few plays. I had favorable match ups against Maverick at 2-1 and Bant Control at 1-0 but didn't get a chance to test it against any other decks in the gauntlet. It certainly feels good enough for me to actually build this deck in paper.

Some of the card slots on the list I added an alternative option. Example: 3x Vindicate / 3x Oath of Kaya. If you feel inclined, let me know what you think overall about the deck and also about the alternative cards.

It seems like Oath of Kaya should really replace Vindicate. With Vindicate you get to destroy anything, but with Oath of Kaya you can kill creatures and planeswalkers and/or deal direct damage to an opponent (possibly finishing them off) plus you gain life to hopefully help keep you around another turn. Icing on the cake is that it punishes players going after Liliana.

Here's the deck:

TURBO DISCARD: 60 Card

//RACKS: 8
4x The Rack
4x Urza's Saga (fetches The Rack)

//HARD HAND REMOVAL: 16
4x Hymn to Tourach
4x Gerrard's Verdict
4x Raven's Crime
2x Thoughtseize
2x Inquisition of Kozilek

//DUDES: 6
4x Dauthi Voidwalker
2x Tidehollow Sculler / Silverquill Silencer

//TOOLS / REMOVAL / HAND REMOVAL: 11
4x Liliana of the Veil
3x Vindicate / Oath of Kaya
2x Liliana's Triumph
1x Cursed Scroll
1x Necrogen Spellbomb

//LAND: 23 (counting Urza's Saga)
2x Castle Locthwain
2x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1x Swamp
2x Concealed Courtyard / Caves of Koilos
4x Marsh Flats
4x Bloodstained Mire
4x Scrubland

//SIDEBOARD: 15
2x Bontu's Last Reckoning
3x Deafening Silence
1x Hex Parasite
2x Liliana's Triumph
1x Pithing Needle
3x Silverquill Silencer
3x Vindicate / Silverquill Silencer

[FTW]

I remember this deck from the early 00s. It was good when Gerrard's Verdict and Vindicate were very strong effects for their mana costs. However both those cards weakened in value over the years and are not really Legacy playable.

It was distinct from Pox.dec as Smallpox had not been printed yet. Though I believe that deck eventually evolved into Deadguy Ale and Pox.

What's the rationale to bring this back now, after all these years? There are already monoblack decks like this. I would think the best reasons to splash white would be Swords to Plowshares, Prismatic Ending and Karakas - not Gerrard's Verdict or Vindicate.

If on the Raven's Crime plan, why white splash (for BW spells) instead of green splash for Life from the Loam? Or at least Bob to draw more cards?

[Laser Brains]

I remember this deck from the early 00s. It was good when Gerrard's Verdict and Vindicate were very strong effects for their mana costs. However both those cards weakened in value over the years and are not really Legacy playable.

It was distinct from Pox.dec as Smallpox had not been printed yet. Though I believe that deck eventually evolved into Deadguy Ale and Pox.

What's the rationale to bring this back now, after all these years? There are already monoblack decks like this. I would think the best reasons to splash white would be Swords to Plowshares, Prismatic Ending and Karakas - not Gerrard's Verdict or Vindicate.

If on the Raven's Crime plan, why white splash (for BW spells) instead of green splash for Life from the Loam? Or at least Bob to draw more cards?

Thanks for the response FTW! You're feedback is always appreciated!

You are correct about Vindicate not being the powerhouse it used to be. I do think that Gerrard's Verdict is really what makes this deck possible. It is surprisingly frustrating to play against. Having 8 Hymns in a deck is sort of the reverse of running mana denial. If your opponent has no cards they can't play Magic. I'll probably build the deck for nostalgia reasons even if it turns out it's not quite good enough to compete with the high tier decks. It did do pretty dang good against the 2 gauntlet decks I played it against.

Surprisingly, it did not do quite well against my opponent's non-gauntlet brew. He was playing what he calls Paint It White which is essentially mono white Painter combo with Urza's Saga, Esper Sentinel, Prismatic Ending etc.. We played a bunch of games and were close to 50/50 with him slightly in the lead.

The reason I wasn't playing Swords to Plowshares is because my opponent gaining life is really bad being that this is a tempo deck. I was actually running Path to Exile in the Vindicate slot. However, I didn't like how it ramped my opponent. Mid way through our play session I switched them up to Bloodchief's Thirst. Those were a little better but still limited. I'm not sure why I wasn't running Prismatic Ending as you mentioned. Those should be in there for sure!

I noticed you mentioned running Bob. I actually had him in an early list. Then I switched it up to Asylum Visitor. He seemed really strong but I just ran out of room to include him.

Here's a list of cards that were considered before testing.
Asylum Visitor
Bontu's Last Reckoning
Ghostly Prison
Grief
Hex Parasite
Hypnotic Specter
Liliana's Specter
Mishra's Factory
Mutavault
Nezumi Shortfang
Nyxathid
Oath of Kaya
Oppression
Rotting Regisaur
Shadowspear
Silverquill Silencer
Sin Collector
Stoneforge Mystic

Anyway, I'll keep up some testing reports if anyone is interested. And like I said, this deck heavy on tempo and is quite fast on the finish.

[Reeplcheep]

If you want to play WB discard jank, you aren’t going nearly turbo enough. How about Waste Not into Grief shenanigans. White then gives you stuff like ephemerate and sevinnes reclamation.

[FTW]

This.

Grief + Ephemerate and Tourach, Dread Cantor are new tools that should probably replace outdated tech like Gerrard's Verdict and Raven's Crime (without Loam). If you want tempo, it's hard to beat turn 1 double Thoughtseize + 3/2 Menace (black Delver).

Prismatic Ending is more versatile than Vindicate due to mana cost, though it wouldn't hurt to have 1-2 Vindicate as removal for 3 cmc+ permanents that Ending will miss.

Edit: Ephemerate also has synergy with Tidehollow Sculler and Stoneforge Mystic, so maybe you want to be on those cards too?

Bontu's Last Reckoning is really bad on tempo. It didn't even see much play in Standard and Historic. Legacy BW already has Toxic Deluge, Terminus, Dead of Winter, Pox, and Plague Engineer at that mana cost.

You shouldn't need Deafening Silence to beat storm with so much discard already. Those slots could be for other matchups. Make sure you have answers for Chalice decks (Ending/Vindicate) and graveyard decks before your turn 2 (Leyline of the Void, Faerie Macabre, Tormod's Crypt?).

[Mr. Safety]

How is Damn not an automatic 4-of in here? Seems tailor-made for a deck like this. I'm also not convinced Liliana is an automatic 4-of anymore for legacy. I think something like Ensnaring Bridge is likely better given the resilience of powerful threats like Uro. I also think maindeck Surgical Extraction would be quite good. Fracture also deserves attention, for its sheer efficiency over Vindicate.

Good luck, very cool idea. I need something similar to build, I have an itch to play a Pox-like deck but Pox just doesn't cut it anymore.