8-whack is the Modern deck I played a bunch a few years back. I really liked the deck, and it's one of the most powerful budget options I've seen (although this list isn't a budget version of the deck). The game plan is simple: play small aggressive creatures, play a 'bushwhacker' to give them all +1/+0 and haste, and swing in for big damage. In a goldfish it can consistently kill on turn four, and it can be surprisingly difficult for the opponent to stop. Most 8-whack lists commit hard to Goblin tribal, but I've moved away from that somewhat in favor of including strong off-tribe creatures, and from my time playing with the old version I'm happy with that choice. I haven't played it in years and the format's changed a lot since then, but I felt like trying to update the list for the new Modern.
For those interested, here's a primer on the deck!
The 1-drops:
Goblin Guide: The aggro classic. One mana for a 2/2 with haste is an excellent rate, and the downside of drawing your opponent lands isn't much of a drawback if you kill them before they play all their lands. Plus if the trigger doesn't reveal a land it's an upside, you see their next draw and they get nothing. Excellent card, easy 4-of.
Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer: This is a new card that I haven't had the chance to play with or against, but considering its reputation I don't see how it can be bad. A one-mana 2/1 that is also one of the best creatures in the format is a great start. Getting treasures can help you dump your hand on the table faster, and can potentially enable explosive plays that need 4 mana to happen, which the deck struggles to get to otherwise. The option to steal cards off the top of the opponent's library is also very nice. I imagine the opponent will try and kill this as soon as possible, either using a kill spell or trading with it in combat. Even if it dies most of the time without triggering, it's still doing a lot of work by protecting your Legion Loyalists, Bomat Couriers, and Battle Cry Goblins. I don't think you'll be playing this for its dash cost often, but maybe it'd be a good option later in the game. The fact that it's legendary and a 4-of could be bad if you draw multiples, but your opponent will probably kill the one you play first pretty quickly so it'll bbe fine. If you want to play a budget version of the deck you can easily cut this, even 2 Ragavans probably cost more than the rest of the deck combined. If you do want a budget replacement for Ragavan, Mogg Fanatic should do nicely as a 1 drop Goblin that can damage the face or pick off your opponent's x/1s. If you can afford it, it should prove to be one of your best cards.
Legion Loyalist: Another great card. While its stats are on the low end for this deck, having haste by default and being a Goblin is nice. More importantly, the Battalion ability is super easy to trigger and makes combat much harder for your opponent. First strike usually denies your opponent the option to trade for your attackers, making their blocks much worse. Token blockers are really problematic for this deck without Loyalist, but Legion Loyalist completely invalidates them. Finally, trample helps you get through a few extra points of damage and ramps up the pressure on the opponent. This card is a house.
Foundry Street Denizen: This card seems like one of the weaker cards in the deck on paper, but it performs quite a bit better than that. The high quantity of red creatures in this deck means that this card will almost always trigger at least once a turn, and it can easily trigger twice multiple times in the game. This card will usually have the most power or be tied for the most of any individual attacker, pressuring the opponent to trade for it or take more damage. This card loves Legion Loyalist to make it hard for the opponent to block it, as well as Burning-Tree Emissary to help it trigger multiple times.
Bomat Courier: Bomat Courier rounds out the one drops as a potential card advantage source. One of the easiest ways for this deck to lose is if it runs out of gas, and this little robot helps keep that from happening. Cashing the courier in for three or even two cards can be just enough for one more big swing that makes the difference between victory and defeat, and its stats as a 1/1 with haste mean it can do that without slowing down the aggro plan. I do remember this feeling like one of the weaker cards since it often eats removal or dies in combat before you can cash it in, but it might be better with Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer in the deck to draw fire.
The 2-drops:
Goblin Bushwhacker: This card is the core of the deck. Technically it's only one mana, but you never want to cast this card without kicking it. For just two mana this card represents a lot of hasty damage, not only offering a 2/1 attacker (after the boost) but also pumping your other creatures and letting any creatures you play alongside it attack with haste. This effect is what makes the deck work.
Reckless Bushwhacker: Also technically not a 2 drop, but you'll be casting this for its Surge cost at least 95% of the time. If you're paying retail for this, the game is not going well. This card acts as Goblin Bushwhacker 5-8, and while the requirement to play another spell first makes this one a bit clunky it gets even better than the original when paired with Burning-Tree Emissary. BTE gives you a way to cast this on 2 mana, and this and the BTE gives you 5 hasty power, plus whatever the rest of your creatures have. Burning-Tree Emissary into Reckless Bushwhacker is one of the strongest plays this deck can make, especially on turn two. I recommend playing this before Goblin Bushwhacker where you can, since getting stuck with this in hand and no other spells is the last thing you want.
Burning-Tree Emissary: This card was one of the main reasons I moved away from only playing Goblins in my creature base, and it has more than proven its worth. This deck's plan relies on dumping creatures onto the battlefield as fast as possible, so a 2/2 that costs net-zero mana fits right into that plan. The above mentioned combo with Reckless Bushwhacker is where this card shines, but even outside of that this card fuels some of the deck's most explosive starts. It is a little awkward in that the G produced by Burning-Tree's ETB is hard to spend, so it may end up only producing one mana sometimes, but that's acceptable. There is also the potential of chaining multiples together on a single turn, which can be backbreaking, especially if you chain that into a Bushwhacker to give them haste.
Battle Cry Goblin: This is another card I have not played with yet, but it performed admirably in SaffronOlive's 12-Whack list (link here: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/articles/budget-magic-12-whack-goblins-77-modern) and it seems like it will do quite well. Its activated ability is a mini-Bushwhacker for your Goblins, which is a very effective mana sink for after your hand has been deployed. The Pack Tactics ability is easy to turn on: If you play a bushwhacker attacking with this, the bushwhacker, and one other creature is enough. This card does get worse because a lot of my creatures are not Goblins and don't get the boost from the activated ability, but I think it's still good enough to justify its place. I could see going up to 4 copies, but I need to test how it plays first. The combination of these two abilities make the card great at keeping the deck in the game after it's played out its hand, and that is something this deck needs.
The Spells:
Goblin Grenade: This card is a powerhouse that very few other decks get to use. It's here for one reason and one reason only: sending 5 damage at your opponent's face. That is a scary amount of damage from a single card, and it gives you a lot of reach to finish the game once all your creatures are on the field. Sacrificing a goblin is not something we care about when we're using this card to kill the opponent, although it does mean the card plays badly into countermagic. You don't really want to point this at creatures, but if the target has to die then do what you've gotta do. I went down to two copies since the deck has so many non-goblins in it now and it's not great in multiples, but I could see it being correct to add more copies.
Lightning Bolt: Another classic and flexible card. Like Goblin Grenade we want to point this card at the opponent's face, but it also works well as a removal spell where Goblin Grenade does not. That flexibility of being both removal and burn damage is what makes this card so great.
The Lands:
Sokenzan, Crucible of Defiance: This new card from Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty seems like a great addition to the deck. One of the worst things that can happen to this deck is for it to flood out. Sokenzan mitigates the risk of flood by being a land we can also 'cast' as a spell. Two 1/1 haste creatures is an effect this deck can use, and while 4 mana is a bit much for it the opportunity cost of replacing a Mountain with this is just so low that it's worth running. Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer also creates the possibility of lowering the Channel cost to three mana, which feels much better.
Sunbaked Canyon and Fiery Islet: These cards are also here as flood prevention by being lands you can trade in for a card when they aren't needed anymore. The two are completely interchangeable: the deck has no need for the white or blue mana, they're only here to tap for red and trade in for a card. The fact that you have to pay life to tap these isn't that important: this deck is an aggro deck so our life total isn't that important. I'm not sure yet on the correct number of these to run, but I like this as a starting point.
Den of the Bugbear: A nice creature land for a mono-red deck. 4 mana is a bit pricey to animate, but the opportunity cost is low and it helps protect against flood.
Mountain: Gotta love basic Mountain. A high basic count is good for any deck against nonbasic hate efffects, and it keeps the price down too. This deck has so many ways to mitigate flood that I went up on lands from my old list to 21, despite how bad flooding out can be for the deck. I need to test the deck more to see where the right land count is.
The Sideboard:
This section I'm really not sure about since I don't know the current Modern meta very well. Feel free to make suggestions!
Smash to Smithereens: Artifacts are pretty in Modern right now, so having artifact destruction in the sideboard is always nice. This one also comes with the upside of burning them for 3, so you don't slow yourself down too much by casting this. Other potential options for artifact answers are Shattering Spree to hit multiple targets and maybe even Embereth Shieldbreaker to cast for 1 and have a 2/1 body later, but I think this is the best for now.
Tormod's Crypt: Graveyard hate is also a staple of Modern sideboards. Tormod's Crypt's mana value of 0 means it doesn't slow down the game plan at all, and it can even help surge a Reckless Bushwhacker. The one-shot exiling of their graveyard slows down graveyard decks a fair bit, which is just enough time for you to run them over.
Blood Moon: Some decks with greedy manabases will just lose to this card, and it doesn't affect your mana at all. It is awkward as a three mana enchantment that doesn't affect the board, but if it's keeping your opponent from ever casting spells then it's worth it.
Reality Hemorrhage: The main reason this card is here is to kill Kor Firewalker, because otherwise this deck cannot beat that card. Protection from red and 2/2 of stats means it eats an attacker every time we attack, and the lifegain makes it nearly impossible to race. Reality Hemorrhage also can kill Auriok Champion or other anti-red creatures, and it can hit the face if they don't draw a target.
Roiling Vortex: This is a card I've seen other decks play in their sideboards. There's a lot of free spells running around Modern these days, and Roiling Vortex punishes opponents for playing those cards. It also helps stop lifegain strategies, and it provides inevitability by dealing 1 damage to the opponent every turn. I don't know how good it is since it doesn't affect the board, but it seems decent.
Void Mirror: This card also acts as a hate piece for free spells, as well as decks that rely on colorlesss mana like Tron and Eldrazi Tron. Shouldn't affect this deck since all of our lands make colored mana, and in the right matchup it'll be backbreaking for the opponent.
Dragon's Claw: This is a great card for the red aggro mirror, the Burn matchup in particular. It gains you life off of almost all your spells, and if it's gaining life from almost all the opponent's spells too it'll really help you win the race. Do note that you have to take time off from racing to play this card, which can be bad in an aggro mirror but hopefully the lifegain makes up for it.
