OBS: IF YOU WANT TO CHECK THE REAL PRICE OF THIS DECK, CONSIDER BUILDING ON STAR CITY GAMES OR TCG PLAYER. SOMETIMES TAPPED OUT DOES NOT REPLACE THE PRICE OF THE CARDS WITH THEIR CHEAPEST VERSIONS
OBS 2: Since now we have more than 8 Rack effects, the name feels outdated. However, I decided to stick with it given the popularity of the thread and the deck's name over the years.
UPDATE APRIL 29 2020
So, since Modern is changing every 2 or 3 months, it became very hard for me to update this thread accordingly. Plus, with the covid-19 pandemic I did not have enough time to playtest the deck, as most of my playtest relies on paper Magic. Therefore, I decided to build a generic template aimed at the only thing that worked for me over the years: going full discard.
The list changed a lot over the years (you may access the Timeline on the site). However, the accumulated knowledge gave me the template you see above. In general, the goal is to go full monoblack control with hand control and removal spells for creatures.
I tested Davriel, Rogue Shadowmage without enough success. Modern is just a fast format that relies a lot on creatures, and Davriel did not work at all against most decks. Therefore, I went back to Wrench Mind as the classical 2 for 1 effect, and the closest thing you can find that resembles Hymn to Tourach.
For the sideboard, the template focus on creature removal + graveyard hate. This became an universal lema for 8 Rack players, as creatures are the most difficult type for this deck. Moreover, sideboarding creature removal works well if you are playing tons of discard spells on the main, favouring the match against control. Consider replacing them for removal against creature-based decks.
There are only two things I might change for this list. First, is graveyard hate. Bojuka Bog became a good staple and very plausible for the main deck. It's the only tap land and it is so relevant with a lot of decks using the graveyard in Modern...since forever. Two copies would not be too much I think. Following, the one copy of Grafdigger's Cage is because of Collected Company decks and other tutor effects. Ashiok, Dream Render might be a try. If this does not concern you, replace it for the 4th Leyline of the Void. The second thing is the selected creature. I'm on Pack Rat more of a pet card than most of the other creatures, but its advantage is mostly to fix your top decks against grindy matches. They are good against Midrange when they side out their removal and slightly good against control if they side out their board wipes. Be careful on siding them against heavy aggro decks. If you cannot grind, drop the Pack Rat plan.
Regarding the extra removal, Victim of Night might be the best two mana removal spell because of its drawback. To this day I didn't find any other removal that might hit a broader set of creatures. If you have any suggestions, please share them on the comments below!
Regarding Ensnaring Bridge: This is not meant to be a bridge list, although I admit the card is too good for not playing at least one copy of it on the main deck. I tried 3 copies of it with 24 lands with enough success in the past. The problem with bridge lists is mostly be the target of artifact hate, especially broad effects in the form of Deputy of Detention, malestrom pulse, Abrupt Decay... and so on. Hence, if you go full discard + removal, you might have better winrates against creature metas if variance favours you.
In general, few more comments on card choices:
Liliana's Triumph is another "universal removal" with the advantage of being an instant speed discard effect if Lili is on the field. Since Modern never had a good edict effect, I think using 2 copies of the card is worthy.
Field of Ruin is a grindy choice. Having 6 colorless lands makes you bet a lot on having an Urborg. However, the metagame of Modern does not favor at all this archetype, mainly because of the existence of Tron and Valakut decks. Hence, if you're the underdog, you gotta bet more.
Fulminator Mage is the best land destrution hate for tron. I think its replacement would be Damping Sphere if you want more effects against other archetypes such as combo and storm effects.
INTRODUCTION
Hello all. I've been playing with 8-rack since 2015 and this page here is intended to be a forum of my deck building process over these years. I'll try to update it as much as I can, upgrading both sideboard and main deck with my thoughts as the Modern metagame evolves.
In general, 8-Rack is a proactive control deck that relies on discard to fight against your opponents. Your objective is to wipe your opponent's hand and win the game with The Rack and Shrieking Affliction triggers.
MAIN TOPIC (updated Aug 4th 2019)
Straightforward Rack list for the Modern competitive scene. This deck is intended for REL Competitive events, such as GPs, PPTQs and (hopefully) Mythic Championships. You can check below some of my comments regarding my card choices.
Core of the Deck: The list of cards below is what I consider to be the core of the deck. Some of my deck building process relies on flexible slots that I might change over time. However, in my opinion, these are the cards that you should never change in 8-Rack (or you should have a good reason if you want to change them):
- The Rack and Shrieking Affliction: Never go below 8 Racks. You truly need these cards. Now with Davriel, Rogue Shadowmage the number of 1 mana racks may change. However, the minimum of 8 Rack effects (now with Davriel) are still mandatory, in my opinion.
- 4x Liliana of the Veil: She does everything you need.
- 4x Smallpox: This card proved to be the main shell of 8-Rack lists over the years. It's a powerful card that since 2015 I don't see this deck surviving without it. It is most of the time a 3-for-1 card that does everything you want.
- at least 6x targeted discard: Between Thoughtseize and Inquisition of Kozilek, I never go below 6x copies of them. They form the swiss army knife of mono-black lists, taking creatures, artifacts, enchantments and other problematic cards.
- 4x Raven's Crime: This card is so good in so many levels. It prevents your mana flood most of the time when its in the graveyard (sometimes it will make you wish for the mana flood). Plus, it is a discard lock along with Dakmor Salvage, providing a recursive engine that is going to be translated into damage (and victories).
- 2x Funeral Charm (Replaced in updated version): This card is very flexible and may provide combat tricks, eventually will kill little creatures so the Smallpox can hit the big guys and it is the only thing that I can think that would control the top of your opponent's deck (a pretty powerful feature).
- 4x Mutavault and 4x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth: There was a time when I considered removing one copy of Mutavault. Nowadays, I don't see why not playing 4 copies. This manland is a clock on its own, it defends Liliana and puts pressure on planeswalkers that are problematic for 8-Rack. Urborg comes mostly to correct the mana base. I would only remove them from 8 Rack if Mishra's Factory becomes Modern legal (and with second thoughts, because Mishra's Factory can take artifact hate also).
SIDEOBARD
See the April 29 2020 update.
Want more reading about 8 rack?
OBS: LINKS OUTDATED. SEARCH GOOGLE or use ".old" in front of the SCG links to access the articles.
Tom Ross 2015 article on the deck
Tom Ross 2017 4th Place List on SCG Modern Open
Link for access to the Discord Server of the Deck
Reddit Thread on 8 Rack and further links
Check out my Budget 8 Rack Topic
Link here!
