Between the Rack And the Hard Place (Modern MTG Deck)

Between the Rack And the Hard Place

Modern* Control Discard UBR (Grixis)

introvertigo

Creature (9)

Land (21)

Enchantment (4)

4x Shrieking Affliction

Artifact (4)

4x The Rack

Instant (10)

Sorcery (12)

Sideboard

Instant (5)

Sorcery (9)

A reworked, BR version of a discard-themed deck. Formerly had a splash of blue for Sedraxis Specter , but not anymore since that made the deck clunky and unreliable.

The idea here is to use two different avenues to attack: First and foremost, you use discard cards such as Thoughseize , Inquisition of Kozilek and Blightning causing your opponent to take a ton of damage from The Rack and Shrieking Affliction, should he drop below 2 cards.

However, in discard decks, the opponent can usually wait a while to compensate for the card disadvantage they suffer until they stabilize. So in addition to applying direct card disadvantage, you indirectly discourage your opponents to keep their cards in hand by using cost-effective creatures such as Oona's Prowler or Brain Maggot that just double-dare your opponents to get rid of them.

The end result is all the same: Soon their hand size drops to 2, you just happen to have a Blightning and they take 6-9 damage and have no cards left to play, leaving you to attack with your prowlers.

About sideboard:

Duress: Can be switched with Inquisition of Kozilek or Terminate when the opposing deck has little to no creatures.

Rakdos Charm: Adds flexibility. Can punish horde and artifact decks and most importantly, hoses graveyard-based cards ('goyf, dredge, lavamancer, undying) neatly.

Raven's Crime: Adds more discard pressure and staying power.

Black Sun's Zenith: A very flexible and universal sweeper that bypasses pretty much everything except Undying.

Suggestions

Updates Add

Total rework — May 7, 2014

Edit

Time for a total renovation of this deck.

I have decided to ditch Sedraxis Specter completely. There are two main reasons for this: First of all, the card is clunky and unreliable. For a deck that aims to aggressively keep the opponent off-balance it is actually very slow, it never seems to stay on the board long enough to connect and its highly specific mana cost makes it extremely vulnerable to mana screw. Second, it is the only card with blue mana symbols in this deck. By removing it, this deck can go back to using a reliable no-bullshit Rakdos mana base. I've decided to experiment with Brain Maggot as the replacement for the specter. It seems like a fun card to try and it fits the overall theme of forcing the opponent to drop his hand size by reacting to my play.

Second card to get the boot is Blind Creeper. While not a terrible card in itself, I've decided to move the overall discard strategy to a much more straightforward direction. In an extended game, this deck really doesn't need to draw any more lands that is absolutely necessary, but sometimes top deck can be a bitch and not provide you with gas. In those cases Raven's Crime can turn out to be an extremely useful card.

-4x Sedraxis Specter -2x Blind Creeper 4x Brain Maggot 2x Raven's Crime

After expunging Sedraxis Specter the whole mana base has simplified a lot. To make this deck more resilient in games that tend to drag on, I've decided to add two Lavaclaw Reaches. In addition to basic lands, I've also added a fourth Dragonskull Summit.

-1x Crumbling Necropolis -2x Darkslick Shores -2x Drowned Catacomb -1x Watery Grave -1x Sunken Ruins -2x Sulfur Falls -1x Steam Vents

+4x Swamp +3x Mountain +2x Lavaclaw Reaches +1x Dragonskull Summit

Thoughtseize — Jan. 21, 2014

Edit

Refining sideboard — May 16, 2013

Edit

Bought some prowlers — Feb. 20, 2013

Edit

Fine-tuning the sideboard — Feb. 18, 2013

Edit

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Card Odds v1 Draw hand

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Date added	11 years
Last updated	10 years
Legality	This deck is Modern legal.
Rarity (main - side)	2 - 0 Mythic Rares 25 - 6 Rares 16 - 3 Uncommons 10 - 5 Commons
Cards	60
Avg. CMC	1.54
Folders	2 - All active decks, 1 - Most successful
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Based on	Dust Bowl introvertigo MDN
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