WEEK ONE - 8 WHACK
3-1-0

Straight off the bat, I love this deck. I’ve owned it for a while, but played it very infrequently so this was a fairly ‘fresh’ experience going in.

I based the list on Saffron Olive’s list over at MTG Goldfish linked here. Is that going to be an ongoing theme for these lists? You betcha. As I mention in the intro, the primary goal here is to provide some context as to the enjoyment levels and experience of actually playing these budget lists into an optimized field at FNM.

This one was a joy to play as the play patterns are right up my alley, being a very aggressive game plan with plenty of ‘go face’ to it.

To highlight my inability to create relevant content, I am writing this several weeks after the fact, and thus have managed to forget some of the matchups (I’m sorry, it won’t happen again).

Round one I played against UW Control, which I wasn’t honestly expecting as it’s somewhat of a fringe deck in the format. It was a lost die roll and ended W/L/W. Honestly this did feel like somewhat of a ‘heart of the cards’ matchup, in that in Game Three I was relying on top decks to do the final points of damage and get over the line.

The only ‘big’ problem card to deal with was Chalice, which was taken down by Smash to Smithereens. I think the MVP (aside from Smash) was probably Goblin Grenade, to really hit the extra burn.

Was this win problem more luck than judgement? Perhaps.

Round two was far more enjoyable as I was matched into Team Templar member James Gurney playing a highly optimized Murktide list. Winning the die roll was a big help, and resulted in a clean 2-0 with many thrown Goblin Grenades.

I’m sure there’s greater pleasures in life than killing a Ragavan with a £0.02 common followed up by “I think that cost more than my deck.”, but it sure as hell feels good.

Round three and four are where my memory fades. I know I lost round three, but I forget the matchup and how it played out. I’ll update this if I can ever remember.

Overall I’d highly recommend this as an entry point into Modern, with the only caveat being Legion Loyalist cost. It’s not a card you’ll likely use in any other deck, and thus is somewhat ‘burnt’ investment if your aim is to progress into multiple decks and build a collection.

I’m going to be trying out the more artifact heavy variant of 8 Whack in the coming weeks which doesn’t include this in main deck, and will of course report on how it turns out.

Your mileage will vary on this one, based on your play preference. If you prefer a more grindy midrange strategy, this isn’t the deck for you.