@Walrusyn That makes sense. I only have 3 Duress at the moment, but I hadn't really thought about that. I'll have to fit more in. That would turn it into a Hymn to Tourach , if done correctly. Thanks again!

Indeed :) I wish Hymn to Tourach gets edited again, to be legal in Modern :D

Hymn to Tourach is, in my opinion, the best discard spell ever made. Unless there's a discard version of Ancestral Recall I don't know about.

Perhaps a Sadistic Hypnotist ?

I don't really see what's good about the Sadistic Hypnotist , honestly. It's not legal in Modern, it costs five, and I really don't have all that many creatures to sacrifice. Plus I want to have them discard their entire hand before turn 5 or 6 when I'll be able to play that. So thanks for suggesting, but that doesn't fit here.

i play a deck somehow similar. but i found that Hypnotic Specter is too slow, i would suggest to put a couple of Nyxathid into the mainboard instead. check my deck if you want some new inputs in my deck: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/a-burning-discard-1/

Lol, budget.

The main problem with Nyxathid is that, yeah, it's out of my budget. I'm super cheap and don't want to be shelling money into a deck that I really only play casually right now.

My second reason for Hypnotic Specter over Nyxathid : Who cares if you're too slow as long as your opponent doesn't have any cards to play? Since this is a discard deck, the plan isn't "Reduce my opponent to 0 before he does it to me", it's "gut my opponent's hand so he can't do anything at all. Then I can take my time killing him." Nyxathid is going to end up filling the same role as Guul Draz Specter , Shrieking Affliction , and The Rack . It's a finisher, and those don't need to be terribly effective. I just have to keep the discard coming.

Thanks for the comment, Nyxathid is still a great card, I just like Hyppie better here, plus I already own those.

I'm seeing that Nyxathid and Hypnotic Specter cost roughly the same.... check TCGplayer.com.

I also like Wrench Mind more than Rise/Fall . It's less conditional.

I already have the Hyppies, so I'm keeping them.

Yes, Wrench Mind is less conditional. However, Rise/Fall has the potential to be more powerful. I just have to use Duress and Despise , see how many lands they've got, and play it smart. I can also watch their land drops carefully. The turn they don't play a land, I can slap them up with a Hymn to Tourach ...uh, I mean Rise/Fall . It ends up being pretty much the same thing, and the discard is random, which hurts a lot.

Quest for the Nihil Stone ?

Oh, and Liliana's Caress

Thanks for the suggestions! Unfortunately, I don't think those are the cards I want here. Let me explain.

Quest for the Nihil Stone : I have Shrieking Affliction here. While it doesn't deal as much damage, I can drop it later and it will still work. Also, it works twice as often, going off even when my opponent has 1 card in hand instead of 0. I'd also rather play a Duress first turn.

Liliana's Caress : I'd really rather drop a Rise/Fall or Wrench Mind here. Liliana's Caress slows me down early (giving my opponent time to play his cards) and also becomes a dead card lategame. I've played with Megrim which was even worse, taking up the turn where I really wanted to be playing Blightning . But again, thanks for stopping by!

Look at the madness mechanic.

Cards are for closers.

@GeneticArtificer I'm not sure what you mean about the madness mechanic. I don't think it would be a good fit for the deck. Unless you're saying something else about it?

@fluffybunnypants Haha I'm not sure what you mean, either. Please elaborate.

Coffee is for closers only.

Do not have the volume up if in a public area.

Oh, i just realized why you won't play Liliana's Caress and Quest for the Nihil Stone , you don't play with Sire Of Insanity

The madness mechanic would be wanted if you use Smallpox

I only have one copy of Smallpox , so I don't want to add cards that depend on it. The main idea is that I don't have a lot of creatures by turn 2, so I can wait until after I drop a Smallpox and get value out of it.

Although I do think I need more land here. 21 with a Smallpox just isn't cutting it. Any idea of what to cut for more? I'm thinking Despise or maybe 1 Funeral Charm ?

You also might want to look into Thoughtseize and Rakdos's Return . Thoughtseize can toss anything but a land that will give you problems, and Rakdos's Return will let you pitch their whole hand as well as do some damage.

And if you are willing to spend a few bucks Inquisition of Kozilek is good discard as well

The cost is why I don't have Inquisiton or Thoughtseize . As for Rakdos's Return , I really wanted it for a long time. Eventually, I realized that it's not great in this deck. It really doesn't start being good until X=3. Maybe X=2. But by turn 5, I've already gotten them down to no more than 2 cards. SO by the time I have the mana to make it worth spending the card, it becomes an overcosted Fireball effect. Thanks for suggesting, though! If you want to give me a few Inquisition of Kozilek , I wouldn't be opposed!

You might consider adding Quest for the Nihil Stone and Molten Slagheap i would also add more burn spells they help speed up the damage process