Magickabalala adding that right in.. that's a game ender..

So I found you a budget replacement for The Rack when I spotted another mono-black discard deck.

Shrieking Affliction.

Less than a buck a piece and almost as dangerous.

I like the possibility of stacked Underworld Dreams and Damnable Pact combo... that would be a fun deck to try and build with no discard involved at all...

Funny how every time i think about a deck i get 3 more ideas on different decks in the research process of building...

Hobbez9186 You're amazing and continue to make this deck better for me. Would you suggest running 2 or 4x Shrieking Affliction? I ordering 4 today.. but I can run 2 if you would think that would make more sense.

Ves This deck could absolutely go in the route of strictly forcing opponents to draw, however, I'm really liking the idea of forcing draws and discards to really uproot any opponents gameplan..

I love this deck. A lot. I can't help but think the deck is glorious.

Personally I'd have 4 just because I play with 4 Racks in my discard deck and always having 1-2 on the board is just brutal. Hang onto the third or even fourth if you are playing against someone that has answers to it, but otherwise just hold them in your hand until they are down to their last card and drop as many as you have. You could always sideboard them out for more discard or creature options if you had to though.

The big difference here is that this deck plays both angles, but focuses much more heavily on Discard. I like the possibility of sticking it to a blue control deck that likes to dig around and draw cards to go after a combo, and having them deal themselves damage is hilarious. Both players working for the same team :)

Hobbez9186 Hmmm.. okay so could you give me a finalized version of this deck so I can update this page.. until I get some Racks to swap in.

Thank you again for all your time and consideration towards this deck of ours.

Sure.

It'll have to be tomorrow, I've been staring at my computer forever today and I need to get some sleep... I'll look over everything again and see what will balance out the best. I think we have all the cards at least, just a matter of how many :)

I think this would give you a good mix of permanents and save you a little $$$ by only requiring two racks. I'm pretty sure this would still be rather powerful with all the other discard and draw mechanics. Any combination of these lead up to a lot of damage at any point during the game since eventually they will run out of cards and die quickly from either The Rack, Quest, or Affliction all the while draws and discards occur all the time which trigger Megrim and Dreams.

Enchantments/Artifacts: 10

2x Underworld Dreams (Draw/Damage)

2x Quest for the Nihil Stone (Discard/Damage)

2x Megrim (Discard/Damage)

2x Shrieking Affliction (Discard/Damage)

2x The Rack (Discard/Damage)

All of these will be fueling the engine in some way. The biggest departure is Dash Hopes, but this places a very sharp double edged sword in your opponents hand, blade first. Funeral Charm and Blackmail are a lot better than Duress and give you a lot more options. You can stick with Duress for now since these cards do add up in pricetag, but I'd still go for them all the same. I think we both can agree how well Sign in Blood and Damnable Pact work here as damage that gets doubled up by Dreams and/or Fate Unraveler.

Instants/Sorceries: 15

4x Funeral Charm (Discard/Damage/Control)

2x Call to the Netherworld (Reanimate)

2x Sign in Blood (Draw/Damage)

2x Damnable Pact (Draw/Damage)

3x Dash Hopes (Control)

2x Blackmail (Discard)

I like the mix here. Honestly you could go with any combination of these creatures and still get a similar outcome. Augur is your best discard option but Rats are nice for being instantly effective. The Specter is a solid creature that keeps the discard happening without having to sacrifice or pay for it in some way. I still like Black Cat because of the random discard, it really stirs things up.

Creatures: 15

2x Ravenous Rats (Discard)

2x Black Cat (Discard)

3x Augur of Skulls (Discard)

2x Master of the Feast (Draw)

2x Fate Unraveler (Draw/Damage)

2x Hypnotic Specter (Discard)

2x Drainpipe Vermin (Discard)

Do it for the lols. Do it for the snow.

Land: 20

20x Snow-Covered Swamp (Because, snow)

Total: 60

I'd keep your straight removal cards in the sideboard if you end up needing it. I like the ones you have, especially Geth's Verdict. It's Diabolic Edict only a little better. I'd probably just do all 15 cards that way, maybe a few duplicates of certain creatures and/or enchantments but that'll still have to be determined by playtesting.

Here is my B/U notion thief deck that may give some ideas. Good job on this one! PsychoHorrorCardDrawCrazy

Liliana's Caress would be a solid turn 2 play and it would put pressure on the opponent to choose from the slew of brutal enchantments you're playing.

I love this deck. I can't wait to try it out!

Hm. Megrim for one less mana. Who knew.

Ballerfacemcgee Oh wow that's incredible. I'll add in Liliana's Caress once I can afford it!

Thank you for the help!

Ballerfacemcgee replace 2x Dash Hopes with 2x Liliana's Caress? I bought 2 of them..

I'd actually replace Megrim since it is the same card for one less mana.

I'm not positive Hobbez9186 but I think Hymn to Tourach is legal in Modern.. if so.. I should have it in this deck.. no?

It sadly is not, Augur is the closest thing in Modern for its 2 card drop. Hymn is totally in my legacy version, though. It's one of the most powerful discard spells out there :)

No problem! Glad to help! You guys are doing so much here, I'm learning a lot. I've only played standard before, so this may be an asinine question, but are the 8 racks (The Rack and Shrieking Affliction) better win cons than Liliana's Caress or Megrim to me the latter seem more efficient at doing damage because they occur every time an opponent discards. Thanks in advance for the help!

They work best paired together because eventually they will be drawing and playing everything from the top of their deck and no longer actually discarding. That's where Rack and Affliction do their job. Underworld Dreams and Fate Unraveler deal with decks that try to counter this effect by drawing a bunch of cards and hurting them even more. But even better that you can force their hand and draw them to death with Sign in Blood and Damnable Pact once you have your board set up, and then make them discard all over again. This is what Black Magic is all about for me. Way more exciting than Zombies and Demons in my book :)

Your deck is really similar to the first deck i have ever built. I really enjoyed what you have done with yours.

I playtested it yesterday against a mono black deck with a lot of creature in it ( nighthawk vampire, divinity of pride, gray merchant, gatekeeper of malakir and other) but many time i just hoped to have only one direction to follow instead of draw and discard path. So I've removed all discard card and put some destroy/sac effect instead + duress and despise . I also add bloodgift demon as it could help me with my game plan or help me draw a card for myself if i need too and he's a good beater by itself too. 5 mana is not that much in a control deck.

I'd like to try spiteful vision too in the futur.

Maybe i'll try one or two gary too as underworld tree make plenty of devotion.....

Btw sorry for my english, im french ;)

Hobbez9186 do you have you Legacy version of this deck posted on here? I'd love to check that out. Black Magic is so awesome and from the solo hands I've done things are really in motion by turn 5. It's fun. Thanks again for the help and if you think of any other addition upgrade let me know. I'll update the deck with The Rack whenever I build myself up to spending nearly $10 for one of them.Also, I updated my Elf Counter deck. If you have the chance could you take a look at it?

Ballerfacemcgee 8 Rack has a specific goal and so does this deck. I like the chaotic approach where draw or discard, you're losing life. Plus Master of the Feast is a nice fatty that fits great in this deck.

Bloodgift Demon is really cool and has awesome art, buy it's just not as fast as Master of the Feast.. or is it as fat. Magickabalala your English is fine and I have those immediate removal cards in my sideboard if I feel I'm being overwhelmed.

Thank you all again for all the contributions!

Sure do, it's right here: Discard, Discard, Etc... Dead.

This is card for card the deck that I still have in the original sleeves from like 15 years ago. Still works, still wins, still makes me smile :)

Hobbez9186 I'm just letting you know.. I'm building and using this for my own paper Legacy deck. I had no use for my Dark Rituals until now. You have given them purpose. Thank you!