Will this 7-rack be competitive?
Modern Deck Help forum
Posted on April 21, 2022, 11:21 p.m. by StoryArcher
Evening, all. I've been playing around with various versions of 8-rank for a local tournament coming up and this is where I'm at right now, running an RB. I'd be interested in any thoughts or suggestions.
7-Rack
Modern
43 VIEWS | IN 1 FOLDER
I have been going back and forth on Kolaghan's Command and Collective Brutality but I figure as long as I'm dipping red, might as well make the most of it.
Think I'll get good value out of the Dauthi Voidwalker? They should allow me to speed up the pain a bit and have a world of potential in discard decks but I don't have a lot of experience with them.
TIA!
wallisface says... #3
Some thoughts from having a few rack-friends:
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generally you want more rack effects, not less. I’ve seen a lot of 10ish-rack, but nobody going below 8.
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modern 8-rack kindof needs 4x Urza's Saga to properly keep-up with the opponents antics. Not running Saga is a HUGE concession imo.
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No lili also feels sub-optimal. Also, cards like Dauthi Voidwalker and Sign in Blood don’t help you achieve your rack-dreams at all, so i’m not sure what they’re doing there. Voidwalker can maybe pass as a sideboard option.
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where’s Smallpox at??
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Blood Moon feels like a super dubious sideboard card.
April 21, 2022 11:53 p.m.
lagotripha says... #4
I feel like unless you have 8+ draw effects you need 9+ rack effects.
Davriel does a lot to offset that need in traditional lists, but if you want to go the other direction, sign, smallpox, voidwalker and a major card advantage engine will need to be commited to more heavily. I don't know what exactly that would be - something like Underworld Breach and discard engines (smallpox is good alongside kroxa), bob and stuff to put on the battlefield, or plain old K-command stuff.
If you have bob, then going for a 'encourage them to discard removal by looking like traditional rack, then dropping 'draw card' effects and 1-for-1 discard is an option. Unfortunately, generic removal that hits artifacts/enchantments means that they are likely to hold up a prismatic ending etc.
Blood moon is incredible because it traps cards in players hands, which is almost the opposite of what traditional rack wants to do- I'd look at alpine moon to shut down saga, or similar.
April 22, 2022 8:44 a.m.
I like the deck +1
The only things I'd advocate/work toward would be Smallpox and Nether Spirit and Liliana of the Veil and a 4th copy of Shrieking Affliction... maybe Night's Whisper
But on its face the deck as you have it seems like it should do just fine and I'd play it... GOOD LUCK!
April 22, 2022 10:41 a.m. Edited.
StoryArcher says... #6
I thank everyone for the good advice being offered. Many of the suggestions made are representative in my original mono-black deck (linked below).
8 Rack, All Black
Modern
SCORE: 1 | 206 VIEWS | IN 2 FOLDERS
The deck in my original post seeks to incorporate some of the really great red/black cards like Dreadbore, Kolaghan's Command, Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger and Blood Moon... is this the wrong way to go?
April 23, 2022 2:58 a.m.
StoryArcher says... #7
For the record, in response to some of the questions being asked, the deck only has 7 'rack' effects, BUT the added threat of an unblockable Dauthi Voidwalker and/or the threat of Kroxa often makes up the damage difference.
Something I've found that happens in he mid-game is that I end up with discard effects in my hand while my opponent is dropping spells when they draw them, before I can get to them. That is somewhat countered with the inclusion of Blood Moon - I want to force them to hold onto cards until I can knock them out of their hand rather than letting them pick and choose... which, of course, generates additional value with the Voidwalkers.
April 23, 2022 3:09 a.m.
StoryArcher says... #8
I've got to be missing something, but I just don't get the value of Urza's Saga... you play it and then wait three rounds to be able to tutor an artifact?
April 23, 2022 3:14 a.m.
Well, you play Urza's Saga and wait 3 turns for an artifact...but it also gives you mana the turn you play it, and a construct, which occasionally will actually win you the game even if you don't have a ton of artifacts, and then in addition the artifact you tutor on that 3rd turn is either The Rack, which is a win condition for the deck, or a random hate card so that you don't lose the game you're currently playing. It literally draws you a win condition for doing nothing.
Urza's Saga is so good precisely because it's all value at a pretty dang low opportunity cost.
April 23, 2022 9:51 a.m.
wallisface says... #10
Yeah Saga is good for the exact reasons heckproof stated. It’s flexible AF, being able to create you creatures for holding the fort, as well as grabbing you the most relevant artifact from your deck, straight into play. Importantly, everything it does evades countermagic, and importantly all this value comes from a LAND!!
April 23, 2022 6:23 p.m.
wallisface says... #11
StoryArcher the reason I don’t think Voidwalker has a spot mainboard is because it validates your opponents killspells - the more useless cards the opponent has the better. The reason i suggested it might be a valid sideboard option is because the opponent should have boarded-out most their killspells game 2 (though tbh i think there’s better options, specifically 0-1 mana grave-hate artifacts that Saga can find)
April 23, 2022 6:27 p.m.
wallisface says... #12
If it helps, here’s a list of currently played competitive 8rack decks. Checking through a few will uncover many similarities: link
April 23, 2022 11:10 p.m.
Not a fan of Dauthi Voidwalker as it does nothing for you the turn it comes in. Rack-decks don't run creatures other than Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger because it makes their opponent's removal spells worthless. With Dauthi Voidwalker your Thoughtseize and Inquisition of Kozilek will be torn between removing a potential threat or a kill spell. While your opponent burning a card to destroy the Dauthi Voidwalker does benefit your game plan, there's much better cards that can burn a card off your opponent for one mana instead. Unless Dauthi Voidwalker can consistently land two or more hits on an opponent I would rather be running Lightning Bolt instead.
I would advise cutting the Voidwalker for a noncreature spell, but if you like having a creature be a consistent damage source might I recommend Monastery Swiftspear instead? Your deck is filled with cheap noncreature spells, so the Swiftspear is always going to be either 2 or 3 power and it can enter the battlefield a turn earlier. By the time your Dauthi Voidwalker has dealt 3 damage the Monastery Swiftspear will have dealt 4-7. If you opponent removes it the turn it comes in, you're at least burning a card off them for one mana instead of two. But if they're tapped out, they're now losing a card and two life for one mana whereas the Dauthi Voidwalker would have only made them lose one card and no life for two mana if they were to remove either the turn they untap. Yes, the Swiftspear doesn't have unblockable, but you do get the bonus of being able to block with it and given it's higher damage potential it's likelier it will be forcing your opponent to empty their hand to put down chump blockers whereas they wouldn't be if it was a Dauthi Voidwalker instead. A Swiftspear that eats up two chump blockers might as well be a Mind Rot for 1 mana am I right?
April 24, 2022 12:21 a.m.
Dead_Blue_ says... #14
Lilli really is a must in the deck, I’ve played a lot of 8Rack but not in the current meta as I’m just returning to magic but I’ve found the red version just not worth it. You’re still susceptible to enchantment hate& if you’re going to run red the Rix Maadi, Dungeon Palace is pretty much the best reason to. Just echoing what has already been said, Funeral Charm is great, discard at instant speed that doubles at removal Is extremely powerful. I find there’s not really room in the deck for flavor cards but if you do want flavor Waste Not Bitterblossom or Nyxathid are excellent choices. Also you may want to trim Raven's Crime. It’s one of the best cards in the deck but multiples of it are useless and you absolutely have to run Dakmor Salvage with it as it completes the engine.
heckproof says... #2
Seems fine at first glance, although I admittedly don't have a ton of experience with rack-type strategies. Some thoughts, though:
-why not the full playset of Shrieking Affliction? It seems like you'd want as much consistency as possible for a deck that needs critical mass as a win condition
-alternatively, you could run some Urza's Saga, which would essentially give you 4 extra copies of The Rack to draw. You could then also have some one-of artifact hate cards like Pithing Needle or Nihil Spellbomb
-I've always been a fan of Funeral Charm because it gives you options -If you're having trouble with card draw, it could be worth just running Ensnaring Bridge instead; you'd turn a disadvantage (no more cards in hand :( ) into an advantage - creatures can't attack you, which is good because most of your win conditions don't do anything to effect the board state.
-I do like Sign in Blood from a nostalgia standpoint, as I've definitely burned some people to death with it in casual play. But I'm not sure how well it still holds up in Modern.
Just my 2 cents, feel free to take it or leave it
April 21, 2022 11:34 p.m.