@kmcree, sorry for so many questions, but how do you do with this when you play with it physically or online (records)? What are some of your best/worst matchups? You have to love when an opponent begins to mulligan too I would imagine haha!

I don't play it much online at all. I've played it physically in about a dozen or so events, and I've done reasonably well. I've had a few 3-0 and 4-0 days, my worst day was 1-3. I usually end up 2-2 or 3-1.

My best matchups are against decks that don't have many threats (Delver and Boggles for example), or decks with very little card draw (stuff like Tokens and some Rock decks). By far my worst matchup is Affinity, as it's just too fast. They dump their whole hand on the board, and I can't keep up with them.

Watching an opponent mulligan is possibly the best feeling in the world. I've watched people mull to 4, only to have me drop a Rack first turn. Most of the time it's just an immediate GG.

@kmcree, I would have imagined aggro is a difficult matchup. Next question, how do we deal with Leyline of Sanctity?

Leyline is the reason I splashed white. Wear / Tear handles it nicely. Using non-targeted discard like Lili and Rix Maadi is another option.

Megrim and Despise might be cards worth taking a look at

Have you thought about Spirit of the Labyrinth? it seems you lose to players with a fair amount of Draw. with Treasure Cruise and your feeding of the Graveyard. they get to effectively Ancestral Recall way earlier. since you have no draw power it makes for a fair playing field. Also, you get a cool Synergy with Mikokoro, Center of the Sea when you use it on their turn.

Obviously pushing farther into the third color will be rough. but hopefully you can get those control match ups under "control". Helping them Discard their earthly bonds.

I actually like Spirit of the Labyrinth in the sideboard at least. I'll have to play around with it. As far as Mikokoro, Center of the Sea, I actually don't really want card draw with this deck, as it hurts my setup with Ensnaring Bridge.

You have to have an insane amount of mana to be able to cast Lavaclaw Reaches for any sort of damage. Mutavault is just simply better for its 1 cost activation. You're only swinging with it when they have no creatures anyways, so Mutavault would be much better. Even as a one of. Even though it doesn't tap for R/B.

Blood Moon in the side would be a good idea, and run a few more basics. Hell it might even be effective in the main if you stick to fetches + basics and an Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth.

I've considered Mutavault before, and it's definitely the stronger man land. But since it only generates colorless mana, and my deck's mana costs are very color intensive, it's almost worthless as a mana producer. Which just hurts me too much since I'm only running 20 lands to begin with.

I uses to run Blood Moon in the side, but that was before I splashed a third color. Now I have far too many non basics for it to make sense, and dropping duals for basics would only hurt my consistency, which isn't worth it IMO.

Playing against 8-rack...... The person I played used Dakmor Salvage + Raven's Crime instead of drawing draw the land, and play Raven's Crime. That is pretty repetitive though to focus on that. You also went 4-0 and like the deck. +1

Have you tried Pyroclasm before? Was thinking of putting together a budget version of this together and was wondering if it had a place in the 75.

I don't really like Blightning in modern. 3 mana discard 2 isn't really where you want to be with this deck, since you should be able to pick your opponents hand with more value spells. I've been thinking a lot about a blue card you might want to run here, namely Quicken, as it lets you drawstep discard your opponent, keeping them in a hellbent lock, and it also cycles. If I went in that direction, I would probably cut red for blue, play snap daddy and any counterspell.

@Aurii: I've actually been running 2 Pyroclasm in the sideboard instead of the extra Ensnaring Bridge and Damnation because of all the Delver running around. With the bannings though, I may switch to Anger of the Gods, although Pyroclasm is also very strong against Affinity and Infect, and both of those matchups hurt.

@liima: I'm not cutting red for blue, that's just out of the question. Red is by far the best secondary color for 8Rack, and its really indispensable. Blightning is extremely strong, and both Rix Maadi, Dungeon Palace and Lightning Bolt are must haves. Quicken would honestly be pretty terrible. The cantrip aspect actually hurts me, as it keeps me from getting Ensnaring Bridge online. And really, being able to cast discard spells on my opponent's upkeep isn't all that great. I already have Funeral Charm which does that some, but if I've emptied their hand, I'm in pretty good shape already.

I'm surprised nobody's mentioned Smallpox. 2 cmc discard with land and creature removal that skirts around Leyline of Sanctity. I just feel like with the Leyline in so many sideboards, this deck is relying too much on Tear.

Soul_Power: I've actually played around with Smallpox quite a bit. The problem is that it forces me to sac a land, and with only 20 in the deck that really sets me back. I'm actually able to get around Leyline of Sanctity fairly well just with Lili and Rix Maadi, Dungeon Palace. If I really find its a problem, I can always throw in some Delirium Skeins.

Lightning Bolt is pointless because Ensnaring Bridge makes removal obsolete. Rix Maadi, Dungeon Palace is kinda pointless because it makes your discard spells useless and therefore weakens Ensnaring Bridge as you will have cards in your hand that you can't cast. Dark Confidant would be nice because it can swing under Ensnaring Bridge on your turn and gives you a nice card advantage that can negate any card-draw they have. while Blightning was really strong in its limited format it is, unfortunately, underwhelming as it costs 3 mana for something that does not have a real effect on the board. I would recommend cutting out the red splash entirely because it does not really bring anything new to the deck that gives it any power or advantage. also, 23 lands is a good idea because it will let you bring in Mutavaults that combo with Dark Confidant for some nice board control under Ensnaring Bridge.

Honestly, pretty much everything you said is just wrong. On so many levels. I couldn't possibly disagree with you more. I've been playing 8Rack for over a year now, and I can tell you that the red splash is crucial. Rix Maadi is extremely strong because it provides repeatable discard later in the game, and prevents my opponent from just holding cards in hand. Bob would be terrible because he contradicts Ensnaring Bridge and he would cost me valuable life. Lightning Bolt is strong because it can shorten the game by a turn if I go to their face, or remove a pesky creature if Bridge isn't online yet. Blightning is strong because it acts as burn and discard together. If you haven't played the deck and don't understand the archetype, please stop commenting.

"Bob would be terrible because he contradicts Ensnaring Bridge"

bob lets you swing under bridge during your turn and if you don't think the card draw from bob is worth the life you lose for it than you really misunderstand card advantage.

you already have "repeatable discard" with Dakmor Salvage + Raven's Crime or just simply Raven's Crime whenever bob draws you a land.

while Lightning Bolt is arguably the strongest red card ever, I don't see it really helping out your game-plan. replacing it with a set of bobs would give you a better curve and will help you draw into more relevant cards in your deck.

Terminate is a great removal card I don't think it is really worth splashing red(or white) in the 8-rack archetype. the white gives you a few hate cards that are basically useless because black already has graveyard hate and artifact removal is kind of pointless when you can just bring in a 4th Ensnaring Bridge and win off that because artifact decks are complete shit at holding cards in hand. Blightning is just too slow, an Ensnaring Bridge or Liliana of the Veil is just a stronger option in the 3 drop.

splashing for white/red is just not really worth it because you don't really gain anything. Blighting is just another discard spell, black has plenty. Lighting Bolt/Terminate is just another removal spell, black has Victim of the night/Smother/Slaughter Pact/etc. white gives you Rest in Peace/Stony Silence/Wear / Tear which all have effective counterparts in black: Leyline of the Void for rest in peace, Stony Silence is just kinda useless since Birthing Pod is out, Wear / Tear is literally useless because there is no enchantment/artifact worth removing that sees any play that Ensnaring Bridge does not already handle. not to mention your land-base would be sooooo much simpler and a lot less vulnerable to something like Blood Moon or Tectonic Edge.

*and if your form of taking criticism is "If you haven't played the deck and don't understand the archetype, please stop commenting." than you need to grow up.

Alright, here we go. I'll address your points, one by one, and then I'll ask you to kindly move on to someone else's deck, because you're really just being an asshole at this point.

1. Dark Confidant is one of the strongest creatures black has, and the card draw he provides is extremely powerful; I will grant you that. But it is completely wasted in this deck. By turn 3-4, my opponent's hand is usually already empty. If it isn't I've probably already lost. So now, drawing extra cards, and paying life to do so, is terrible. What am I going to do? Thoughtseize myself? While card draw is usually a great thing, in this particular style of deck, it is actually a hindrance.

2. Yes, I already have Dakmor Salvage and Raven's Crime, but I don't draw a Raven's Crime every game. And I don't draw Lili every game. So an extra form of repeatable discard is extremely valuable. That's the strength of this deck, it has multiple interchangeable parts that allow me to win games even when I don't draw certain cards.

3. I'm not sure why I wouldn't play Lightning Bolt. As you said yourself, its arguably the strongest card in red. It can shorten the game by one turn of The Rack, or remove a pesky creature if I'm unable to get Ensnaring Bridge online. Terminate also provides me with emergency removal if I don't draw Ensnaring Bridge or if my opponent removes it. Yes, black has other removal options, but it actually doesn't have a 2 mana removal spell that hits everything, the way Terminate does.

4. Now, as for Blightning, its an extremely powerful card in this deck because it does damage, shortening the game, and also discards 2 cards, getting my opponent closer to The Rack's range. Think of it as a Wrench Mind and a Lightning Bolt stapled together. Its really exactly what this deck wants.

5. As for the white sideboard tech, my meta is filled with Affinity and Vengevine. Yes, Stony Silence hurt Pod, but it also really destroys Affinity. Not being able to use Darksteel Citadel or Springleaf Drum to generate mana, and not being able to use Steel Overseer and his ilk keeps Affinity from doing much of anything. Although Leyline of the Void is a good option against Vengevine and other graveyard strategies, Rest in Peace is just better. Its 2 mana versus 4, and getting to 4 mana in this deck can be difficult. And although Leyline can come in for free, its rare that it actually happens, and I'd need to be using 3-4 slots in the sideboard on it, which just isn't worth it. And finally, Wear / Tear is crucial because it hits opposing Leyline of Sanctity. It can also hit other pesky enchantments like Blood Moon.

6. Finally, as for the land base, I actually haven't had any problems. Most games, the deck is really only 2 colors. I only need to worry about white when I bring in something from the side board. And with fetches and shocks, I have plenty of flexibility. Blood Moon can be a problem, but it isn't heavily played in my meta. I've played in a few larger tournaments, and when I do, I throw in 1 basic Plains to fetch, and then I can use Wear / Tear to protect myself. Although honestly, I have enough basic swamps in the deck to where turning non basics to Mountains doesn't really hurt all that much.

Now, as I said before, please don't comment on my decks anymore.

I was playtesting a version of this deck earlier today and Rix-Maadi does work late game. Sometimes you don't draw a land to retrace Raven's Crime off of and you end up with a removal spell with no targets or a duplicate bridge while the opponent is holding cards, and you can sink all your mana into Rix-Maadi for discard. Also, I managed to get around an opposing Iona with it and eventually they died from the rack since bridge kept her from swinging lol.

Rise/Fall might be an interesting option. It has different advantages and disadvantages to Wrench Mind.