RakSink Deck Wins

[hamfactorial]

In early October, I brewed up a mono red mana sink deck built around 1 and 2 drop creatures that could get scary if not dealt with (Figure of Destiny and Kargan Dragonlord) and Sword of Feast and Famine to abuse the possibility of spending that mana twice per turn. It was a very fun deck, one that I brewed largely in the FoS clan private thread. It's posted here for reference.

[deck]Mana Sink Deck Wins[/deck]

I ran it to a few 2nd place finishes in
8mans online, then put the deck down to brew in Pauper while waiting for DEs to return on MTGO. I play online exclusively.

It had potential as mono-red, but I felt that I could gain something by splashing a color. I tried B and W, eventually choosing B for the more aggressive sideboard and less painful mana base.

Here's where I am now -

[deck]RakSink Deck Wins[/deck]

The basic game plan of the deck doesn't change (stick a low cost dude, pump him until giant, win), but black affords
me better disruption (Thoughtseize), more efficient creature removal (Terminate), card advantage on a stick (Dark Confidant), graveyard control (Deathrite Shaman) and a few new mana sinks to play with (Lavaclaw Reaches, Olivia).

Whereas Jund is a Rock deck ([mana]BG[/mana]) splashing [mana]R[/mana], this is essentially a [mana]R[/mana] deck splashing [mana]B[/mana]. The game plan is similar, but the decks play out in different and subtle ways.

Jund / Rock plays a board control strategy (Abrupt Decay, Maelstrom Pulse) in the early game with some hand disruption to fill up the graveyard, then plays out threats that use the graveyard (Scavenging Ooze, Tarmogoyf) for inevitability.

[mana]RB[/mana] has less access to universal removal, but better reach and some very useful sideboard options which attack the Modern meta quite well.

This is a midrange deck, but it requires some more thought than "draw a card,
cast the most expensive card in my hand, attack". It is full of little nuances that I will explain and, with luck, show on stream soon.

Sideboard choices -

Pithing Needle: I am playing mainboard Terminate instead of the slower Dreadbore, and thus Planeswalkers can sometimes be an issue. Pithing Needle also shuts off man-lands, artifacts (Aether Vial in D&T, Merfolk), Bloodrush creatures in Zoo, activated abilities on opposing Scavenging Oozes, the Martyr of Sands life-gain ability, the list goes on. It also shuts down a lot of stuff in the Tron matchup (Oblivion Stone, Karn, Expedition Map, Eye of Ugin) and Affinity, too (Arcbound Ravager, Cranial Plating, Steel Overseer).

Rakdos Charm: Your one stop shop for boarding against Tarmogoyf decks, graveyard combo, Reanimator, Past in Flames Storm AND Empty the Warrens Storm, Splinter Twin, Kiki Pod, BW Tokens and Affinity. Helps somewhat against Tron to kill random Expedition Maps, Oblivion Stones, leftover Wurmcoil tokens, etc.

Shattering
Blow: Instant speed exiling of troublesome Wurmcoil Engines. Might not be the auto 4-of that it was in mono-red, since we have better access to discard. If the Affinity matchup isn't already good, some number of these could become Shattering Spree.

Spellskite: Against removal heavy decks, Burn, Infect, hexproof or Twin, this dude is a stud.

[Jack]

Ham's deck just went public! Everyone buy in on Dragonlord now, before it blows up!

[hamfactorial]

Too late, already a chase mythic

[Khaospawn]

I feel like ham just came out of the closet by posting his list.

I actually started picking up Dragonlords a few weeks ago. I live vicariously through Ham's testing.

[LaZerBurn]

I LIKE this list

[hamfactorial]

It likes you, Lazer

[Khaospawn]

Here's what's funny - A few weeks back, I was looking up Top 8 modern decklists in search for a reasonable UR Faeries or Delver shell and I found myelsf in the Modern RDW top 8 lists. By the 3rd list, I noticed a big difference :Dragonlords, Figures, etc. I about freaked out and almost PM'd ham to tell him that somebody stole his list. But then I saw the name of the deck pilot.

It was hamfactorial. Doh!

[hamfactorial]

Heh, the mono-red version was pretty beastly in the 8-mans. I hope the black splash puts it over the top, I've only used it to mow down fools in the practice room.

[Khaospawn]

Cast Rakdos Charm, extend ham.

[hamfactorial]

Flawless Victory

[LP, of the Fires]

I like the Zem quote in the primer.

[hamfactorial]

He is a man of great wisdom

[Valdarith]

I like the list!

[hamfactorial]

Had a good time streaming the deck today, it ran nicely but I was having a nasty case of not drawing my sideboard cards. I didn't get to run up against Tron or Affinity, but I'm sure I'll get my chance soon.

I'm going to try out Koth and Rakdos's Return to see if I can abuse the big mana nature of the deck, and experiment with a no-Swords build. They feel win-more at times.

[deck]Modern RakSink Deck Wins[/deck]

I've really liked having access to Olivia
in the main. If I can't kill it, I steal it!

[hamfactorial]

Rakdos's Return wasn't very good in testing, I think it's just too slow for a fast format like Modern. I also missed the swords, so they're definitely coming back.

[hamfactorial]

I've also retooled the mana base a bit, since I like having more T1 sources that can cast a Deathrite Shaman. The Lavaclaw Reaches were underperforming.

[Deck]
Lands:24
4 Blood Crypt
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
4 Copperline Gorge
4 Arid Mesa
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Mountain
2 Stomping Grounds
[/deck]

It's been much more consistent.

[Jack]

I've found that the fast lands really aren't where you want to be with this deck. And that was when I was just running the 4 Cliffs. I'd say that the check lands would be alright. After all, they worked for Jund in standard. Making this switch still leaves you with 14 lands that can cast DRS on turn 1.

[hamfactorial]

I'll test both combinations. My thought was that everything in the deck costs 1-3, but a few of my big finishers cost 4, so the fastlands are more consistent for the spells I want to cast in the first 3 turns.

I don't need 4 extra green lands, so they could be either Dragonskull Summit, Graven Cairns or Sulfurous Springs. Alternatively, I could suck it up and just run 4 Stomping Grounds and just embrace the pain.

[DocLawless]

I have always been partial to the filter lands myself.

[hamfactorial]

I'm going to try this out a heavier creature option to see how it performs. Domri as another CA engine seems like good value, even if I can't use his -2 very often. He and Chandra might be taking up too many slots, but experiments are doubleplusfun.

Sword of L&S as a test to see if it helps vs. aggro decks. Might hurt me in the Jund matchup though, daggers!

[deck]Modern RakSink Deck Wins[/deck]

[Valdarith]

Looks like Jund to me.

[hamfactorial]

Plays a lot like Jund, but doesn't lean on discard or the graveyard as much.

[Valdarith]

Yeah, it looks like it plays such a similar game that I was looking for your Blightnings.

[Jack]

Your mana base hurts too much. At least with "Jund," you can afford to run a basic or two in each color so that you don't bolt yourself with every early fetch (or, even worse, Lava Axe, for when you know they're a combo deck and you need to Thoughtsieze on turn 2).

[hamfactorial]

Eh, can't have it all.

The 8 Scars fastlands do a lot of work in the early turns without pain.

I want all of my land to tap for [mana]R[/mana], so some pain is expected. I like having a Mountain or two in there to fetch for a bolt, but I'm usually looking for a color. More colors in Modern means more pain, can't avoid it.

[Jack]

I really want to have Blood Moon back in the deck. Would this work?

[deck]
4 Arid Mesa
4 Marsh Flats
5 Mountain
1 Swamp
4 Blood Crypt
2 Stomping Ground
3 Dragonskull Summit
[/deck]
With this sb:
[deck]
3 Blood Moon
4 Rakdos Charm
2 Shattering Blow
6 Flex Slots
[/deck]

[Jack]

I think we're beginning to pass Melira Pod as the most bastardized deck in the format.

[hamfactorial]

Yes I think Blood Moon could live happily in the board with off-color fetches and a Swamp.

[hamfactorial]

Melira Pod wishes it could be as much of a bastard

[Jack]

Yes I think Blood Moon could live happily in the board with off-color fetches and a Swamp.

Actually, this is starting to look very bad. First off, the Flats can't grab Stomping Ground and can only find red with Blood Crypt. Additionally, you still only have 5 ways to put a basic swamp onto the battlefield, and you have to do this before you cast blood moon. This means weakening all of your mana sinks in anticipation of drawing a Blood Moon. Twin can pull off Blood Moon, since most of their basics are blue. When they drop Blood Moon, their mana base is still evenly split between blue and red (rather than blue and u/r). When we drop Blood Moon, we can only make red, and playing around this just doesn't seem like it's worth it.

[hamfactorial]

My issue with Blood Moon in the mono red list was that it turned everything into Mountains, but the decks that it hurts already have ways to deal with it. Tron just used artifacts to generate green mana to disenchant the Blood Moon. Jund just fetched basics or made me discard it for the first 2 turns anyway. It was a blank vs. Merfolk, burn, WW, etc.

It was free for me as a mono red deck, but didn't actually kill anyone. It was a speed bump.

[LP, of the Fires]

[deck]4 scalding tarn
4 Arid Mesa
3 Marsh Flats
1 Swamp
3 Mountain
2 Blood Crypt
1 Stomping Ground
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
1 Graven Cairns[/deck]

Try this mana base out. You don't need a bunch of shocks to go with your fetches. Also, blood moon is likely unplayable in this deck since it seems really hard to get a basic swamp on board.

[hamfactorial]

I'm not skilled on the proper fetch/shock mix, so I appreciate the help.

[LP, of the Fires]

I'm actually sure that my manabase is a bit off after looking at it again.

I was building it with 3 colors in mind, but you're actually just a rakdos deck with deathrite shaman so 4 blood crypts is probably correct. Most decks don't want more then 6 shocks, including 3 color decks unless you're like, zoo fyi.

4 Scalding Tarn
4 Arid Mesa
2 Marsh Flats
4 Blood Crypt
1 Swamp
4 Blackcleave clifss
1 Stomping Ground
1 Graven Cairns
2 Mountian

[Khaospawn]

I must be the only Red Mage in existence that does not buy the hype on Blood Moon. Blood Moon can hinder an opponent, but it will not win you the game.

DRS can fix mana, Tron can eventually hardcast Wurms, etc. What it does is set you up to win during the next few turns, like casting a Time Stretch. But if you can't win fast enough, then what did it eventually accomplish? I'd rather my turn 3 play advance my board state or hit the life total, for what its worth.

Also, I've learned that it's much better cast on the play than when you're on the draw, but even then, Thoughtseize can still pluck it from you.

With that said, I think it's really good in Twin. Not much else.

[hamfactorial]

If I wanted to play a sane 3 color mana base (not maximizing red sources), I would run this.

[Deck]
Lands:24
4 Copperline Gorge
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Blood Crypt
2 Stomping Ground
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Mountain
1 Forest
1 Swamp
[/deck]

This way, any combination of 2 lands can cast a Deathrite on T1, and every fetch can get a color that I need.

[hamfactorial]

I've been beating up fools in the 2-mans with this:

[deck]Modern RakSink Deck Wins[/deck]

I watched MJ play Tempo Twin on stream for a few hours and I recognised how powerful it was to have instant speed removal with creatures that provide some ancillary value to control the board.

With that in mind, I cut Kargan Dragonlord and I'm using FoD and Olivia as my instant speed mana sinks with Spellskite and Boros Reckoner to keep the board from getting
out of control. Too many Modern decks have an "oops, I win" combo, so I'm trying to rely less on sorcery speed mana sinks.

Domri has been quite good, better than expected. He draws a lot of extra cards (like Chandra, but he gets to work sooner) and using his -2 to keep the board clear without spending cards is quite good. Haven't gotten him up to ultimate yet, but I imagine it would wreck control decks.

The list is getting better, I've been pleased so far. It's also amusing to turn my Boros Reckoner into a vampire with 1 to the face as upside.

[Valdarith]

Are the full playset of Spellskite REALLY necessary? It just looks...so bad. I'd hate to have more than one in my hand at a time.

[hamfactorial]

You can change them to 3-of if you'd like, but I like them as bodyguards that occasionally swing a sword. They do a lot against Twin and UWR, which are everywhere lately.

[Valdarith]

I know how awesome they are against Twin and Wafo-Tapa UWR, but 4 just looks so clunky. Personally I'd run two and find room for Chandra as a two-of, but I haven't played the deck so you know more than I do.