This is a rough draft of a Grixis Control deck piloted by Nicol Bolas himself. I'm not too familiar with control decks, so not entirely sure what's good, what I need, what I don't need, so any help is much appreciated. The basic premise is to control the game and then go for an infinite mana combo, such as Deadeye Navigator/Peregrine Drake or Worldgorger Dragon combo into Torment of Hailfire.
My old Nicol Bolas list might give you some ideas if you're unfamiliar with control in EDH. I didn't get to play the deck a lot and there are tons of changes I'd make now, but still.
I don't have time at the moment to give a full rundown but a few things jump out to me.
1) Nicol Bolas, the Deceiver is unplayable. I know, it's Nicol Bolas tribal, but the card is just awful. The only relevant mode is his ultimate, and I think we both know depending on PW ults is a losing proposition. Similarly, I don't think Dark Intimations is very good here, either. Yes, it makes the two good Bolas walkers ult a turn earlier, but you're not running enough creatures/planeswalkers to capitalize on its recursion ability. I think it compares unfavorably with Vona's Hunger even if it's theoretically less disruptive.
2) 16 counterspells is overkill. By a lot. You can't hope to contain everyone at the table so a big part of playing control in EDH is answering the following question correctly: "How badly does this actually affect me?" The threat of counterspells is powerful enough to make people hesitant to play their big haymaker which allows you to operate at instant speed for the most part. I would trim these down to at most 12.
3) With that many mana rocks I think you could safely cut down on a few lands. In fact, I would run more mana rocks in general since Grixis can be super mana hungry. Consider Mana Vault/Grim Monolith and Thought Vessel, Fellwar Stone, and Mind Stone.
I'm going to keep the Deceiver in here for now, as he is tutorable with Visage, and he affects all opponents. If in testing he proves lackluster, then I will swamp him out. I'm not necessarily going for a Nicol Bolas theme, so having Nicol Bolas isn't something I feel like running at the moment.
16 mana rocks and no one suggested Paradox Engine? Fer shame, doc!
That being the case, you may also want to throw in Mox Amber. Even if it's a do-nothing on the field because of Nicky's absence in any form, it still counts as a spell towards P.Engine, and can get you some sick mana on X spells...speaking of, you may want to consider one or two more of those as well.
16 mana rocks and no one suggested Paradox Engine? Fer shame, doc!
That being the case, you may also want to throw in Mox Amber. Even if it's a do-nothing on the field because of Nicky's absence in any form, it still counts as a spell towards P.Engine, and can get you some sick mana on X spells...speaking of, you may want to consider one or two more of those as well.
I'm not really sure this deck is built to abuse Paradox Engine. Sure, there's Torment of Hailfire, but I don't feel that's justified enough to run it.
So, after testing this deck online, I'm not too sure that the combos I currently have are worthwhile in the deck. Worldgorger is an all in combo, and Drake/Deadeye is pretty pricey, so I'm wondering if I should replace those with Twin combos, or just take out all combos, and go for a goodstuff/control deck, or maybe switch the theme to taking opponent's stuff and winning that way. Thoughts?
As a long-time Bolas fan, I've been pondering ways to craft a reasonably effective Bolas tribal for a while now, and of course the reveal of the new "Origins" card reignited this fire. Many posts in this topic have given me a few ideas to ponder which I had never considered before, so I'm going to test some things and report back when I have a clearer vision of the matter.
One thing that has been in my mind for a while though: mass discard and taking turns both seem reasonably good strategies to complement a planeswalker that can draw you cards. The latter even more than the former. Although I don't know how you'd go about, you know, actually winning the game
That's definitely the issue I am currently running into. Either go infinite mana into an X spell or Twin combo. I mean you could always go the Doomsday route, but that just seems overplayed if you ask me. That, and I'm not the best at making the piles. Lol.
Otherwise, you can go the route of stealing things and using opponent's cards to win somehow.
Precisely why I suggested tossing in more X spells. Truth be told, you have Earthquake and its variants in R, Exsanguinate and other similar ones in B and if all else fails, there's always Blue Sun's Zenith + Laboratory Maniac.
You do have a lot of options in U and B for theft...if you need some ideas, my Merieke deck has a number of the better ones. Beyond that...I'm not too sure. I rarely have luck with making huge drastic changes from a deck's original plan, so I'm hesitant on directing others in similar directions. But with the changes you have made, I wish you success. Keep us posted.
4 Nicol Bolas, the Ravager
//Creatures (3):
5 Peregrine Drake
6 Deadeye Navigator
6 Worldgorger Dragon
//Artifacts (17):
0 Everflowing Chalice
0 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Sol Ring
2 Dimir Signet
2 Grim Monolith
2 Izzet Signet
2 Rakdos Signet
2 Talisman of Dominance
2 Talisman of Indulgence
3 Basalt Monolith
3 Coalition Relic
3 Rings of Brighthearth
3 Worn Powerstone
4 Thran Dynamo
4 Visage of Bolas
5 Gilded Lotus
//Sorceries (18):
1 Faithless Looting
1 Gamble
1 Reanimate
2 Demonic Tutor
2 Night's Whisper
2 Torment of Hailfire
2 Tormenting Voice
3 Compulsive Research
3 Read the Bones
3 Timetwister
3 Toxic Deluge
3 Wheel of Fortune
3 Windfall
4 Damnation
5 Bribery
5 Hour of Devastation
8 Decree of Pain
9 Blasphemous Act
1 Entomb
1 Flusterstorm
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Swan Song
1 Vampiric Tutor
2 Arcane Denial
2 Counterspell
2 Cyclonic Rift
2 Magmaquake
2 Mana Drain
2 Negate
2 Pull from Tomorrow
3 Chaos Warp
3 Disallow
3 Frantic Search
4 Fact or Fiction
5 Force of Will
8 Dig Through Time
//Enchantments (4):
2 Animate Dead
2 Search for Azcanta
3 Phyrexian Arena
5 Painful Quandary
//Planeswalkers (3):
7 Nicol Bolas, God-Pharaoh
8 Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker
8 Nicol Bolas, the Deceiver
//Lands (36):
0 Ancient Tomb
0 Arid Mesa
0 Badlands
0 Blood Crypt
0 Bloodstained Mire
0 Bojuka Bog
0 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
0 Cabal Coffers
0 Cavern of Souls
0 Command Beacon
0 Command Tower
0 Crumbling Necropolis
0 Dragonskull Summit
0 Drowned Catacomb
0 Fetid Pools
0 Flooded Strand
3 Island
0 Marsh Flats
0 Misty Rainforest
1 Mountain
0 Polluted Delta
0 Scalding Tarn
0 Steam Vents
0 Strip Mine
0 Sulfur Falls
0 Sunken Hollow
2 Swamp
0 Underground Sea
0 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
0 Verdant Catacombs
0 Volcanic Island
0 Watery Grave
0 Wooded Foothills
========================================
This is a rough draft of a Grixis Control deck piloted by Nicol Bolas himself. I'm not too familiar with control decks, so not entirely sure what's good, what I need, what I don't need, so any help is much appreciated. The basic premise is to control the game and then go for an infinite mana combo, such as Deadeye Navigator/Peregrine Drake or Worldgorger Dragon combo into Torment of Hailfire.
Any suggestions are highly welcome.
[EDH Non-Primers] Newzuri | Breya
I don't have time at the moment to give a full rundown but a few things jump out to me.
1) Nicol Bolas, the Deceiver is unplayable. I know, it's Nicol Bolas tribal, but the card is just awful. The only relevant mode is his ultimate, and I think we both know depending on PW ults is a losing proposition. Similarly, I don't think Dark Intimations is very good here, either. Yes, it makes the two good Bolas walkers ult a turn earlier, but you're not running enough creatures/planeswalkers to capitalize on its recursion ability. I think it compares unfavorably with Vona's Hunger even if it's theoretically less disruptive.
2) 16 counterspells is overkill. By a lot. You can't hope to contain everyone at the table so a big part of playing control in EDH is answering the following question correctly: "How badly does this actually affect me?" The threat of counterspells is powerful enough to make people hesitant to play their big haymaker which allows you to operate at instant speed for the most part. I would trim these down to at most 12.
3) With that many mana rocks I think you could safely cut down on a few lands. In fact, I would run more mana rocks in general since Grixis can be super mana hungry. Consider Mana Vault/Grim Monolith and Thought Vessel, Fellwar Stone, and Mind Stone.
[Primer] Erebos, God of the Dead
HONK HONK
If it were me, I'd play all the Bolas cards. I go all out on theme, no matter what.
|| UW Jace, Vyn's Prodigy UW || UG Kenessos, Priest of Thassa (feat. Arixmethes) UG ||
Cards I still want to see created:
|| Olantin, Lost City || Pavios and Thanasis || Choryu ||
OUT:
Canyon Slough
Counterflux
Countersquall
Dance of the Dead
Dark Intimations
Disdainful Stroke
Dispel
Dissolve
Essence Scatter
Necromancy
Pact of Negation
Smoldering Marsh
IN:
Blasphemous Act
Bribery
Coalition Relic
Cyclonic Rift
Decree of Pain
Everflowing Chalice
Grim Monolith
Magmaquake
Phyrexian Arena
Talisman of Dominance
Talisman of Indulgence
Worn Powerstone
I'm going to keep the Deceiver in here for now, as he is tutorable with Visage, and he affects all opponents. If in testing he proves lackluster, then I will swamp him out. I'm not necessarily going for a Nicol Bolas theme, so having Nicol Bolas isn't something I feel like running at the moment.
[EDH Non-Primers] Newzuri | Breya
That being the case, you may also want to throw in Mox Amber. Even if it's a do-nothing on the field because of Nicky's absence in any form, it still counts as a spell towards P.Engine, and can get you some sick mana on X spells...speaking of, you may want to consider one or two more of those as well.
EDH decks: 1. RGWMayael's Big BeatsRETIRED!
2. BUWMerieke Ri Berit and the 40 Thieves
3. URNiv's Wheeling and Dealing!
4. BURThe Walking Dead
5. GWSisay's Legends of Tomorrow
6. RWBRise of Markov
7. GElvez and stuffz(W)
8. RCrush your enemies(W)
9. BSign right here...(W)
I'm not really sure this deck is built to abuse Paradox Engine. Sure, there's Torment of Hailfire, but I don't feel that's justified enough to run it.
So, after testing this deck online, I'm not too sure that the combos I currently have are worthwhile in the deck. Worldgorger is an all in combo, and Drake/Deadeye is pretty pricey, so I'm wondering if I should replace those with Twin combos, or just take out all combos, and go for a goodstuff/control deck, or maybe switch the theme to taking opponent's stuff and winning that way. Thoughts?
[EDH Non-Primers] Newzuri | Breya
That's definitely the issue I am currently running into. Either go infinite mana into an X spell or Twin combo. I mean you could always go the Doomsday route, but that just seems overplayed if you ask me. That, and I'm not the best at making the piles. Lol.
Otherwise, you can go the route of stealing things and using opponent's cards to win somehow.
[EDH Non-Primers] Newzuri | Breya
OUT:
Basalt Monolith
Deadeye Navigator
Entomb
Hour of Devastation
Painful Quandary
Peregrine Drake
Rings of Brighthearth
Torment of Hailfire
Worldgorger Dragon
IN:
Crux of Fate
Deceiver Exarch
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
Mind's Dilation
Pestermite
Reins of Power
Rise of the Dark Realms
Splinter Twin
Zealous Conscripts
[EDH Non-Primers] Newzuri | Breya
You do have a lot of options in U and B for theft...if you need some ideas, my Merieke deck has a number of the better ones. Beyond that...I'm not too sure. I rarely have luck with making huge drastic changes from a deck's original plan, so I'm hesitant on directing others in similar directions. But with the changes you have made, I wish you success. Keep us posted.
EDH decks: 1. RGWMayael's Big BeatsRETIRED!
2. BUWMerieke Ri Berit and the 40 Thieves
3. URNiv's Wheeling and Dealing!
4. BURThe Walking Dead
5. GWSisay's Legends of Tomorrow
6. RWBRise of Markov
7. GElvez and stuffz(W)
8. RCrush your enemies(W)
9. BSign right here...(W)