Not necessarily. And I've decided I like Pack Rat regardless. It's the best thing you can do in a budget list.
Anyway, I've done a bunch of testing the last few days and updated the OP list significantly as a result. Also added two more lists, so there are now three, for different budgets (~100/50/20). I'll make a new video soon.
Tested it a bit and quickly found Davriel is bad if you can't protect him with something like Bitterblossom or Bridge, so he's out and The Rack is back in. Possibly he could be good with Pack Rat (instead of Smallpox) but I'm wary of taking out Smallpox in the budget list.
It's a budget choice. If you don't mind spending the money for Racks (or something else, like my preferred choice, Infernal Tutor), then yeah, cut 1-2 Davriel.
PS. I added 2x Hostile Desert and 1x Zoetic Cavern to the main, and added a bit about some other non-basic candidates.
Swapping Racks out for Davriel. The deck doesn't really want more Rack effects even if the card also discards, and The Rack is the most expensive card in this version. That brings it from about $60 to about $40.
Jace is inferior to Tezz. Jace lets you draw a card or so, but you dont want card advantage in this deck. Jace is a 4-mana sorcery speed Shredder (how awful). Tezz on the other hand digs 5 cards deep and offers a stupid fast clock.
I dislike 4x Dismember especially when Burn is popular but I'll throw in a split. Little rusty on the meta so I'll take your word for it on Tendrils. Betrayal I like but not a big fan of cards only used for one deck. Liliana's Defeat is a little better.
https://twitter.com/StarCityGames/status/1134139822837305345
https://www.twitch.tv/scgtour
https://twitter.com/StarCityGames/status/1134139822837305345
https://www.twitch.tv/scgtour
http://www.starcitygames.com/articles/38686
Anyway, I've done a bunch of testing the last few days and updated the OP list significantly as a result. Also added two more lists, so there are now three, for different budgets (~100/50/20). I'll make a new video soon.
PS. I added 2x Hostile Desert and 1x Zoetic Cavern to the main, and added a bit about some other non-basic candidates.
PSS. Reworked the sideboard some.
Made a couple changes to the OP list btw:
-2 Dismember +2 Victim -4 Scrutiny +4 Divest
https://twitter.com/utdzac/status/963086442548355072
https://twitter.com/SamuelHBlack/status/963094653775032320
All you need is to draw Moon and have pressure. A lot hinges on Moon. Rain and Rabble help but you don't need both to win and certainly not 4 of each.