My local cEDH group printed off a paper-slip Dack yesterday to get some practice against it. Four different games, three different pilots, and it won three of the four games it was in.
This is not another "the sky is falling, Dack is broken" post, however. The reason Dack won each of these games is because in each of them, it just simply wasn't respected until it was too late.
So, I went through quite a bit of effort yesterday in another Dack post to find all of the common ways to stop Dack that are already played in cEDH. Here is that list, to once again try to advise people that Dack isn't an unstoppable juggernaut, it is stopped by almost every piece of interaction or disruption in the entire format. Edit: Thank you u/DownTimeDrive for clarifying that you can also stop a lot of Dack wins with instant speed sac outlets, as well.
Edit 2: Finally found some info on the new Boonweaver version, and... They seem like they're confident that this stops removal, but I don't see how it does? You just remove Boonweaver in response to the auras instead of Dack in response to the flickers? Would love more info from someone smarter than me on why that doesn't work. Okay, the aura version is more resilient, creating both an infinite loop to draw people out and a Boonweaver copy with Superstate to kill the table with combat damage at the same time. You need two pieces of interaction to stop it.
There is a bit of a learning curve that will need to happen with Dack, but like any other turbo deck, it folds to pretty much any interaction. Here, a list, ordered by how much each piece is played in cEDH, per edhtop16:
- Flusterstorm (87.5%): One of the worst options, it can still counter the various silence effects that Dack plays to keep others from interacting, along with their Enlightened Tutor to go get Mana Vault/LED, their various backup win-cons in their various Flicker effects, and their removal pieces to get rid of the various stax effects that may be holding them down.
- Mental Misstep (87.4%): Counters their rituals (rocks) and tutors. Don't think, just do it. Counter the Sol Ring, the Mana Vault, etc, and they will likely not have Dack mana ever, or at least not until the super late game.
- Force of Will (85.9%): Counter Dack.
- Fierce Guardianship (85.4%): Counter their rituals and tutors.
- Silence (85.1%): This one takes a bit of finesse and knowledge to not waste it, as you need to cast your silence effect before they cast Dack. That means the good old-fashioned upkeep Silence, although be open to talking about it... If they agree to not Dack until later, you've bought yourself a turn to either use it for your own win attempt, or hold it over their head again next upkeep.
- Deflecting Swat (83.8%): D Swat can target abilities, meaning this works the same as using removal against Dack, for the most part (Edit note: D Swat does nothing against the Boonweaver version of the deck). Them targeting their Dack to re-flicker works for a lot of the various decks and circumstances, although if they get everything they need off the initial flip (likely because they're a 3-creature version), then you'll have to get one of the flicker creatures targeting the other flicker creature instead. Just keep in mind that this only works against Felidar Guardian, All-Fates Stalker, Fiend Hunter, and Werefox Bodyguard. The others don't target. (The auras entering off of Boonweaver also don't target, hence why this doesn't work against that version of the deck.)
- Mindbreak Trap (81.6%): MBT won't work under all circumstances, but chances are good that they'll get greedy and go for all their rocks at once early, and then you can either get their last rock to stop their last mana, or the Silence they go for before they cast Dack, or Dack.
- Swan Song (73.9%): Instant, sorcery, or enchantment. Using this against Smithe or Gleaming Splendor is a must. Otherwise, it's the same rules as Flusterstorm - counter the silences, the tutors, and the backup flicker effects.
- Ranger-Captain of Eos (69.6%): As Silence.
- Crop Rotation (66.2%): No green deck wants to do this, but getting a Talon Gates to remove their Dack in response to them flickering it will stop them, as will phasing out Radiant Solar, although they'll likely still end up with infinite tokens from Abdel Adrian in that case and be threatening win on their next turn. (Edit:
Talon Gates can be half of the removal you need to stop the Boonweaver version. Phase out either the OG Boonweaver to stop the loop with Gift of Immortality, or the Boonweaver Illusion from Preston. You have to stop both, unless you have One Ring protection. Edit 2: The more updated Boonweaver version only focuses on combat to avoid dead cards, and needs three pieces of removal and a ward trigger to overcome, making creature removal of all sorts a non-option.)
- Force of Negation (63.1%): Counter their rituals (rocks) and tutors.
- An Offer you Can't Refuse (60.6%): Too risky, imo. Would use it to counter their flickers and Silences, but otherwise, probably not good for much.
- Chord of Calling (58.1%): Depends on your deck what you can get, but if you're on Drannith, Ranger-Captain, or a copy creature you have relevant options. You just have to time them correctly.
- REB (57.2%): Not worth a damn.
- Chain of Vapor (56.2%):
As previously stated (with the same caveats about needing two pieces of removal for the Boonweaver version), unless they already have everything they need, bouncing their Dack in response to them flickering it should stop them, at least until they replay it the next turn (if they can, and aren't dealing with a tapped Vault/Monolith or an already cracked LED). Removal does little to nothing against the incoming Boonweaver combat version of the deck, even in multiples. Bounce their rocks/Smithes instead.
- (edit) Culling the Weak (52.7%): Since Dack has to give you its creatures before the various ETB triggers resolve, having an instant speed sac outlet actually can throw a wrench in their plans as well. In other words? Throw out your Culling the Weak, or activate your Phyrexian Tower to sacrifice their creature in response to their flicker ETB, and they have few to zero options, in most board states (Still need this and
another piece of removal two more pieces of removal to stop Boonweaver version).
- Pyroblast (49.6%): Not worth a damn.
- Brain Freeze (46.3%): With Dack on the stack, or after they've cast a bunch of rocks/rituals, try to mill them out a bit and see if you get a combo piece. It's desperate, but if you get things in the graveyard that they need, they really can't recover from it.
- Swords to Plowshares (44.4%):
As previously stated (and with the Boonweaver caveat), getting their Dack in response to them attempting to flicker it stops them, as does removing Radiant Solar, although that only buys you a turn until you die to infinite tokens. Boonweaver version largely makes removal a non-starter, making creature-only removal do little to nothing.
- Into the Flood Maw (43.4%): Same as Chain of Vapor.
That's everything above 40%, but since OP wanted to know about non-blue stuff, here's the relevant Stax effects:
- Drannith Magistrate (23.9%): Drannith has been seeing more play lately, as more turbo decks that are commander-reliant raise their ugly heads. Guess what? Dack is one of those.
- Deafening Silence (14.0%): Full disclosure - Dack plays this card, so obviously it doesn't hurt them that bad. That said, Rule of Law effects do slow them down the same as everyone else, so if you can win first...
- Collector Ouphe (10.1%): It's unlikely they ever get to six mana without artifacts.
- Dauthi Voidwalker (10.0%): Dauthi doesn't do anything to Dack, but very well might make the other interaction on this list available to you.
- Vexing Bauble (9.8%): Will likely protect them late, but on T1, will stop their free rocks the same way it does everyone elses.
- Spellskite (8.6%): Sure would be a shame if you blinked Spellskite instead of that Dack you were aiming for... (note: Does nothing against the Boonweaver version)
- Aven Interrupter (8.2%): Meet your non-blue creature counter! Just be aware it only buys you a turn.
- Ethersworn Canonist (7.6%): Be aware that Dack plays Rule of Law effects, so this doesn't stop them, it only slows them down. That said, it does slow them down, so if you can win first...
- Archon of Emeria (7.4%): Same spiel as the other RoLs, although it slows them down even more with the tapped lands.
- Blind Obedience (6.9%): This one is actually harder on them than RoL in a lot of cases, as it taps their Vaults and Monoliths.
- Steal Enchantment (5.3%): If you see a Smithe/Gleaming Splendor out of Dack, chances are it's their whole game plan, and they can't do a damn thing about you stealing it on top of that.
- High Noon (3.7%): Same spiel as the other RoLs.
- Counterbalance (3.4%): They're gonna roll the dice, roll em right back on their rituals and tutors.
- Grafdiggers Cage (3.1%): IMO, the best Stax effect in the format right now. Doesn't stop every deck, but hinders just about all of them in one way or another. As for Dack? Stops them in their tracks, and is the reason they play half the removal they do.
- Blood Moon (3.0%): Awful against them, maybe your worst option. Still, it might catch the odd Ancient Tomb and buy you a turn or two.
- Aura Shards (2.4%): It is hilarious to me that this card is seeing play these days, but... Yeah, this probably more or less ensures that a Dack never hits the field, if you focus on their rocks.
- Damping Sphere (2.0%): Delays them if they have Ancient Tombs and the like, and slows down how fast they can get rocks down as well. All in all, probably only buys you a turn or two.
- (edit, thank you several folks) Dress Down (1.4%): This in response to a Dack cast or trigger makes them not a threat at all unless they draw a flicker effect.
- Torpor Orb (Too low for the scale): Surpisingly okay Stax effect, stopping random Thoracle wins that aren't on the back of Breach and the like, stopping Etali, and stopping the various blink decks you see every once in a while, from Derevi to Dack.
- Weathered Runestone (Too low for the scale): Mentioned only because this thing doesn't see play because it stops too many decks, meaning the window for what decks can play it is tiny. If your deck can, though? Almost every deck in the format has to get rid of this before they can start winning.
- (edit, thank you u/Needhelpwithsnake) Containment Priest (Too low for the scale): Not as sold on this one, as it doesn't do as much against the rest of the meta as Grafdiggers or even Torpor Orb. That said, it is an option that will stop Dack.
Would love to know what cards you play that you've had success against Dack with, or for more experienced Dack pilots (I've played one game with it and 3 against it so far) to tell me how I'm wrong on the interaction of a certain piece.
TL;DR: Every deck in the format has answers to Dack. You just need to actually figure out what they are, how to use them, and then most importantly... Respect the deck enough to actually do it.
Edit TL;DR: I'm getting a lot of responses saying "none of this shit works", with little detail. Not sure what kind of psyop you Dack players are trying to pull here, but the general strategy is "counter the mana", which stops/slows every version of Dack.
Edit: The newest version of Dack is apparently Boonweaver focused solely on combat, which makes the creature removal options more or less do nothing. Takeaway is still the same: Hold Dack in the dirt so they never get to six mana, and you'll be fine.