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I've gotta be honest here, I strongly dislike the current Standard format. Sure, the format is essentially wide open with about four or five Tier 1 decks, but the fact that there are also lots of other viable strategies makes it hard to metagame and really get an edge on the field. It doesn't help that the top strategies are wildly different and require different approaches to successfully attack. After a solid week of trying to circumnavigate the format and find a solution, I've grown frustrated. I've decided I'm either going to play Dragonstorm or some version of The Rack deck.

Craig Jones touched on this deck last week in his Black article, but I've played with the deck quite a bit and would like to do a primer on it this week. The first list I used as a starting point during testing was the following.

18 Swamp
2 Ghost Quarter
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

3 Plagued Rusalka
3 Withered Wretch
4 Dark Confidant
4 Ravenous Rats
3 Yixlid Jailer

3 Stupor
4 Cry of Contrition
4 The Rack
4 Smallpox
4 Darkblast
2 Phyrexian Totem
2 Slaughter Pact

Sideboard
4 Extirpate
2 Persecute
2 Slaughter Pact
4 Tendrils of Corruption
3 Blackmail

Since I don't usually play a whole lot of Constructed unless there is a relevant event coming up, I hadn't played with this deck when it was initially popular so I had to learn everything about it from scratch using this list. This deck had a number of things I liked - and also a number that I didn't - as I ran it through our gauntlet of about eleven other popular decks. First off, when I talked to Ben Peebles-Mundy about the deck, he raved about how good Darkblast was in this format and how it was essentially a reason to play the deck. While this assertion was likely based entirely in theory rather than actual playtesting on his part, I found out that, quite conversely, the Darkblasts sucked.

Especially if you ever drew two.

I also had problems with the Slaughter Pacts being dead cards against control, and the Totems being rather cumbersome against the current set of decks. Ghost Quarter never did anything, and I also tried out Scrying Sheets with Snow lands and Phyrexian Ironfoots in the sideboard. This turned out to be not so great too. Smallpox was amazing for me in most games though, and if there is a reason to play this deck it is definitely that card. The Rack is also much stronger than you'd think. Ben told me that the Slaughter Pacts were mainly in the deck to give you a good plan against Dragonstorm after sideboarding, as if you can't stop them from going off with your discard spells or if they draw enough copies of Ignorant Bliss early in the game you can simply allow them to go off. After the first Dragonstorm resolves you cast Slaughter Pact on the Hellkite and then Extirpate it. This, of course, still allows them to search up any Hunted Dragons they may have, so at most I'd say you're taking seventeen damage here (two Hunted + first Hellkite) and hopefully you can win with the tokens on your turn. Not a flawless plan, but still better than simply adding Blackmails or clunky Persecutes to the deck. These cards are still fine against control though, so they probably deserve slots in the board.

Finally, the creatures in this deck are pretty pathetic overall. Dark Confidant is awesome, but let's face it, he's surrounded by idiots in this archetype. I also didn't like the fact that you could easily get flooded and just run out of gas in the mid-game, since a lot of the deck is about trading one card for one card and then hoping to capitalize on a Smallpox or Cry of Contrition. After a bunch of tweaking, this is what I ended up with.

Mono Black Rack Featured by Nick Eisel on 2007-06-10 (Standard) As written about in http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/article/14257.html Print this deck!
Maindeck: Artifacts 2 Phyrexian Totem 4 The Rack Creatures 4 Dark Confidant 4 Plagued Rusalka 4 Ravenous Rats 3 Withered Wretch 3 Yixlid Jailer Enchantments 1 Phyrexian Arena	Sorceries 2 Cruel Edict 4 Cry of Contrition 4 Smallpox 4 Stupor Basic Lands 18 Swamp Legendary Lands 2 Pendelhaven 1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth	Sideboard: 2 Phyrexian Arena 4 Extirpate 3 Slaughter Pact 4 Tendrils of Corruption 2 Persecute
Download this deck in Apprentice format!		Download this deck in Magic Online Text format!

Pendelhavens help make your little guys actually do something. If you draw two you still have a chance of Smallpoxing to get value out of both, so I wouldn't worry about that. The Darkblasts sucked as I said earlier, and while I considered adding Funeral Charms instead I decided to just make the deck more consistent… and I definitely wanted four Stupors. It's possible Cruel Edict should be Sudden Death, but the Edict has proven far better than the maindeck Slaughter Pacts. The maindeck Arena functions as the fifth Confidant, and I'd like to take the Totems out of the deck but just haven't figured out what should take their place. Maybe Funeral Charms after all? This is as far as I got with the decklist before I started working on other things.

It was at this point that a completely different list of the deck popped up from Magic League and I decided to give it a spin around the block.

Mono Black Featured by Nick Eisel on 2007-06-10 (Standard) As written about in http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/article/14257.html Print this deck!
Maindeck: Creatures 2 Garza's Assassin 4 Nihilith 4 Plagued Rusalka 4 Ravenous Rats 3 Tombstalker 4 Withered Wretch Instants 2 Darkblast	Legendary Creatures 3 Korlash, Heir to Blackblade Sorceries 4 Cry of Contrition 4 Smallpox 2 Stupor Basic Lands 24 Swamp	Sideboard: 3 Leyline of the Void 4 Phyrexian Arena 2 Tendrils of Corruption 4 Deathmark 2 Stupor
Download this deck in Apprentice format!		Download this deck in Magic Online Text format!

This deck isn't really classified as a Rack deck I suppose, but it still has Cry of Contrition and Smallpox so that has to count for something. When I proxied this up and started playing it I immediately didn't like the Tombstalkers, as they were clunky and draw dependent. Sometimes you'd get the nuts Smallpox draw and they'd be out really fast, but they just seemed like a "win more" card to me. Korlash was excellent, but I doubt that's news to anyone, and even though he was good, he felt out of place in this type of archetype since four mana is a lot. Nihilith, while cute, was only okay and just died to most of the removal people were playing.

While I didn't play a marathon number of games with this list, I can say that it didn't feel right when I was playing with it. I'm not sure exactly where to start working on it. I prefer the earlier updated list with Pendelhavens to this one, or perhaps just following the advice Zac Hill gave last week about just playing Dragonstorm.

I'll finish with a quick matchup analysis for the second deck I listed, though it's hard to nail anything down completely since I believe the sideboard still needs some work.

Against Gruul
Yeah, so this is the bad matchup for the deck.

While the matchup is still only fine, it's not as bad as you'd think. Game 1 is still winnable even if Rack is the underdog, so don't give up hope. Casting a Tendrils of Corruption post-board should give you a solid advantage if you are clearing their hand out and still have guys on board. I said earlier, the sideboard needs tuning, and I plan on testing more this week to see if it's better to run Deathmarks as they are cheaper, and possibly still a couple more Tendrils. The main thing here is that their guys are a lot better than yours, and you can get burned out so you need to get card advantage whenever you can. Smallpox is huge in this matchup, especially if it kills a turn 1 Kird Ape.

Since I haven't played a ton of games post-board yet in this matchup someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I've been taking out Dark Confidants and Totems for Tendrils and Slaughter Pacts, and also taking out the one Arena sometimes for all three Pacts. I do plan on figuring this out soon, and if anyone would like my final sideboard feel free to email me.

Against Dredge
The deck is pretty well suited against this archetype. Maindeck there are six graveyard-hate creatures, as well as four Rusalkas, which do a number on Bridge from Below. The strategy isn't too difficult here, as you should focus on killing enablers when you can or shutting off the combo. Game 1 they are usually just dead if you get a Jailer into play, and Wretch is pretty solid too if you just leave mana up for it. After boarding in four Extirpates I can't see losing very often. I do miss the Darkblasts in this matchup, but they are just too narrow against other archetypes.

Against Dragonstorm
Initially I was worried about this matchup. The main cause for worry, of course, was the fact that they have four Ignorant Bliss after sideboard, which are wrecking balls against this deck. I do believe the Slaughter Pact/Extirpate plan is a great answer to the matchup, as it is very hard for them to Gigadrowse all of your lands while they are being assaulted with discard on the early turns of the game. Remember, all you need is a single Black mana to thwart them with Extirpate plus Pact. I'd side out the slower cards in this matchup, such as the Totems, Phyrexian Arena, etc.

Against Dralnu
This matchup makes me want to include Sudden Death in the decklist somewhere. It seems like the matchup should be great for this deck, but it's not as good as it looks. The graveyard men help out in this matchup by shutting down Teachings and Think Twice, which are problematic. The key here is to not overextend into Damnation while making sure to attack their hand and try to get The Rack online if possible. I would sideboard in the Arenas and Persecutes (if they remain in the board) and probably take out some Jailers, as Wretch is just better.

Against Project X
For every time you draw a Withered Wretch and curse it for being mediocre, you will be extremely glad you have it against this deck. Wretch turns off the combo by itself, and you should be able to disrupt them enough to make it a fight of creatures. I'd really like to have Funeral Charms here to kill their Birds, since I don't have Darkblast anymore. This is another place Deathmark would kick some serious butt, so I think I need to find room for them. As things stand now I'd board in the Slaughter Pacts to kill their bigger men, and possibly also bring in a couple Extirpates to stop the combo. This is another thing I haven't tested yet, so I'm not sure if it's worth the slots to bring in a marginal answer, and maybe someone who has played more sideboarded games with this archetype can offer an opinion in the forum.

Against Korlash Control or Go-Sis
This is a very good matchup for Rack. A lot of the games will look like you are going to lose, but the reality is that they really just don't have many answers for what you're doing. Getting down a Rack is usually game over, and as long as you save Smallpox to handle Korlash you should be fine. The only thing they really have is Tendrils and Damnation to buy time, but it doesn't help against the discard suite. After board I'd bring in the Arenas and possibly Persecute (depending on their build).

All in all, I think this deck is a fine choice for Regionals this coming weekend. The format is pretty open, and this deck has solid matchups against most opponents. The only problem I really have with the deck is that you can get flooded if you don't get a Confidant online sometimes, and also that your cards in general are worse than your opponent's. The deck is still full of synergy though, and can adapt to be stronger in certain matchups if you choose.

Good luck this weekend, and if you'd like my finished sideboard don't hesitate to email me later in the week.

Nick Eisel
Soooooo on MODO
Sun3urst@hotmail.com