Illness is also another answer to twin as it neuters all the exarch and pestermite tokens. That's not really a matchup I should need to sideboard for though...

And yeah little creatures like lingering souls tokens that can get under a bridge can be annoying.

Leyline is a real nuisance...

Perhaps playtest Master of the Feast as a way to keep targets in their hand, didn't think about it until now but he's powerful and he actually helps your deck. Would be interested to hear if he works well

The description seems to give the impression that you are planning on discarding the opponents hand (which I think is definitely a good idea), however with Ensnaring Bridge , that says that "opponents cannot attack with creatures that have power greater than YOUR hand", which I take to mean that unless you are planning on discarding your own hand, it won't actually do anything? Still, I like the idea but I was just wondering whether you had overlooked it? I could well be wrong though.

Xavier4238 A valid observation, but in an 8Rack deck (this), you cast most of your spells within the first 4-5 turns, and rarely have more than 0-1 cards in your hand. The beauty of this style of deck, is that everything costs so little to cast, and you don't really mind being in top-deck mode... You're happy to sit back, keep your opponent's hand empty, and watch your Ensnaring Bridge protect you, while your copies of The Rack and Shrieking Affliction do their work on your opponent.

The newer version of 8Rack eschews the copies of Bitterblossom in favour of Pack Rat , which turns every "dead" card in hand into another Rat, and another threat. Got a Bridge out that's holding back your massive army of 8/8 Rats? No problem!!! One less reason for your opponent to destroy that Bridge.. We'll just kill them slowly with our Racks... OR wait until you can Ultimate Liliana of the Veil , target yourself, putting all your permanents in one pile, and your Bridge in the other, lose the Bridge, then swing for massive, ratty, damage.

Fun either way you play it.

Ender666666 Thank you for clearing that up, I see what you mean. Sorry for doubting you Scarmask, it is definitely a brilliant deck then.

No harm in asking. Better to be thinking about things and asking questions.

It is definitely counterintuitive, it makes a lot more sense when you play it or see it played. Questions are always welcome!

I understand it that you removed Smallpox due to it not working in this particular deck. Can you go over the reasons for this? It seems as if it would be great due to the low curve meaning that land destruction will hurt the opponent more than yourself. Having no creatures other than the occasionally faerie renders the sacrifice as having no downside. Seeing as you're going for the low hand route over consistent discard it seems to be the perfect choice.

Great deck btw, +1!

What about Waste Not?

Tasigur's Cruelty?

Dream Salvage COULD do some work here.

Nice! +1

I didn't read any comments after July of 2014, but read them all leading up to it. Some really good discussion. I do disagree with the move away from Smallpox, because cards that hurt everyone are almost always great (the reason Balance, Armageddon, Ravages of War, Tangle Wire, any wrath ever, etc. are so great) and the reason they are great escapes my ability to comprehend the infinite, but it just happens to happen that way. Especially since the 1 turn slow down hurts the 8-rack/Pox build less than others.

Otherwise, how is it playing for you these days? Still competitive?

so is geth's verdict not a thing for cheap removal... it does damage and can get around pesky hexproof creatures

I have a deck that is practically the same. The drawback of this deck is that its only defense is ensnaring bridge. If you don't draw it or your opponent removes it you will die for attacks before he dies for racks.

I always fall for the title. Dat rack.

+1 again.

scarmask

I do not play modern but I am confused as to why you have a Dakmor Salvage. I'm sure theres a good reason, could you explain it?