8 Rack (Saga Toolbox) (Modern) [Revisione 25]

I love 8rack, but, in the current meta, it's way too narrow to face the whole diversity of threats that fill the board.
I approached 8rack by transitioning from Waste Not in Historic.

Spending a card for a one-time effect like Wrench Mind, Smallpox, Delirium Skeins, and so on is too little to play grindy matches.
That's why Ensnaring Bridge, Liliana of the Veil, The Rack, and Shrieking Affliction are the cards in the deck that win the games.
They're permanent and they do things every turn.
Low card draw is another problem of

So, why relying only on them when I can play more permanents and increase the amount of control I have per turn?

Bitterblossom protects and fills the board for a very cheap cost. It needs 6 turns to set up a lethal by itself, and considering fetchlands, shocklands, rack damage, it takes even less.
Waste Not is free gas. It allows playing symmetrically with your opponent.
They play creatures? You make zombies.
They play spells? You draw more.
They rely on lands? You make mana for more spells, draw with Castle Lochtwain, constructs with Urza's Saga, or counters removal with Hex Parasite.
Need to be careful with making the opponent discard if they have lethal on board and you're behind Ensnaring Bridge.

Liliana's Caress ensures can make the opponent choose between keeping and taking damage or playing and taking rack damage.
Also, if we have one or two lilianas and no rack down, it works like a rack itself. Every single card in hand now becomes a shock.
It's life loss, so it can't be avoided from Leyline or Runed Halo.

Liliana, Waker of the Dead is a better Liliana of the Veil that costs 1 more. It provides an additional rack effect on your turn, it discards, it deals with indestructible stuff, and it flips the game against creature-based decks if it ultimates.

Murderous Rider is something in between Bridge and Fatal Push. It kills everything, Planeswalkers included (the biggest 8rack problem), it's a fair chump blocker. It lifelinks for more Bitterblossom and Swift End, and it comes back in the deck when it dies.
Now, Murderous Rider and Hex Parasite make up for a total of 5 answers to Planeswalkers.

Beseech the Queen is easily playable without Smallpox. It allows us to fetch any response or any missing piece for our proactive lock.
It virtually ups the count of every card by 1, allowing us to play 1-ofs and 2-ofs easily.
The only downside is the reveal condition, so it requires proper timing.

1 Raven's Crime is a jolly win condition as flooding in late game can make us lose some precious advantage.

Having more permanents also means that Fatal Push can revolt more often.
Field of Ruin with 3 lands open allows us to use Fatal Push on revolt.

Basically, the deck does the same thing, but repeatedly, and also does other things just in case you need to.
My thought process has been "let's put in cards that do more things and generate value over time".

The early game is the same as classic 8rack = Inquisition of Kozilek, Thoughtseize, Fatal Push. Then, we also have Bitterblossom and Waste Not, which are difficult to deal with. Blue needs to know if counter them and not other things, White can hate them instead of the racks, creatures and Planeswalkers. Green must choose whether to deal with it or the artifacts. Red can only deal with artifacts, planeswalkers and creatures.
The mid game revolves around Murderous Rider, Liliana of the Veil, tokens from Saga, and the incremental benefits from Waste Not and Bitterblossom.
The late game can see two lilianas making a double discard per turn, protected by a Bridge that leaves room for faerie tokens to attack, and the racks doing their job.

I opted for enchantments in the 2-mana slot instead of Wrench Mind and Smallpox because they last until the opponent deals with them. Smallpox is a big hit, but quite conditional against cheap and fast creatures, and useless against Planeswalkers. Wrench Mind is something that needs to be backed up by Raven's Crime or Liliana to have a meaningful effect, and sometimes it's not even enough.

The mass discard is still present and even more consistent, while the targeted discard is the same. Having more things down also means that the opponent is forced to empty their hand to deal with them, unlike classic 8rack that needs to needs to keep the hand empty because most spells are useless against it.

Waste Not and The Rack force the opponent to either die from one or the other, as not having cards means damage, and having them means value for me.
I decided not to use Davriel, Rogue Shadowmage because it isn't enough for a 3-drop. It might be an additional rack effect, but with very low chances of surviving 1 or 2 turns. Also, it doesn't impact the game enough for being legendary.

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Sideboard:
It's still a work in progress for the local meta.

Feed the Swarm isn't for Leyline of Sanctity anymore, but for other problematic little creatures or enchantments. Phyrexian Unlife and Nine Lives above everything.
The graveyard hate package is meant to be tutored with Saga. Dredge, Asmo Cat, Lurrus and Yawgmoth Combo all stop in front of Grafdigger's Cage. Chord of Calling and Collected Company don't work as well against it.
Tormod's Crypt and Nihil Spellbomb are meant for delirium and Murktide Regent.
Pithing Needle for permanent-based combo decks and Planeswalkers.
Bontu for degenerate boards like Affinity and Scales.
Extirpate is for combos (not sure about how many copies).
Damping Sphere is for storm, Tron, and any deck that plays filter lands.