MTG Salvation

Any thoughts on Tyrant's Scorn? Fatal Push plus possibly bounce a Snapcaster Mage, or bounce Gurmag Angler. Maybe not a multi-copy card, but maybe as a one of in the deck?

I like it because you can bounce snap (as stated) and Phoenix. It's flexible probably a flex spot.

I doubt scorn is powerful enough; if Rise // Fall isn't value enough, i don't see how this worse abrupt decay with an alternative bounce option would be.

One could also compare it to Dimir Charm. I can see Scorn bring some value in Faeries, where you actually want to bounce your own creatures while you don't have access to...
Terminate. That combined to Fatal Push makes for the main argument why Scorn won't see play in Grixis.

With WAR out soon I'm looking forward to trying a version utilizing the new Kefnet. Going straight up UB so that I can run the full playset of Field of Ruins. Rough first draft:

I am also very excited for Kefnet, but I think I'll keep the Red. Being able to get back a countered Kefnet or "Miracle" a Kommand off him is going to be some really good value.

I love the way the x4 Hieroglyphic Illumination likely plays with Kefnet as well. I assume the copy of Murderous Cut can abuse Delve, right? These are just really good looking includes.

Supreme Will seems like an odd choice, but I suppose you're abusing the modal to get deck sift? Dimir Charm seems odd as well. No Damnation? I think I enjoy the silly interaction of getting to Damnation for BB just to replay the god a few turns later like nothing happened... And still keep your Damnation.

If you're going to put in 2 Jace and 3 Kefnet, why not a single Nexus of Fate or Time Warp? Get infinite turns for 3UU or 1UU respectively. Seems like a fair finisher for establishing such a board state.

How does the miracle discount interact with Thalia? If I flip a Kommand with a Thalia in play, does it cost 1RB or RB? EDIT: I found the answer. It would cost RB; Thalia's rulings says it all.

I know deck threads typically talk about improving rough matches, but I'd like to take a moment to ask about a deck I've been doing incredibly well against.

I've been running Whir Prison over every time I see it with Echoing Truth in junction with Unmoored Ego. It completely rips out their lock pieces with no recourse. Since they don't really do much to put a clock on us in the early game I've been able to set this up pretty easily and remove the one or two things that are stopping me from winning.

Has anyone else been using this to fight anything else? Is this something other people are doing? Is anyone else looking for a new angle to try?
Following that, is there a play pattern that's aided you against any deck in particular that you don't see often?

This is what I've been running, I know it's a bit different.

Does anyone have any thoughts on Narset, Parter of Veils?

I feel like it come too late.I wouldn't cast this on turn 3 ,and it seems not really needed later on when you have 3 mana and room for answers.

Maybe as a control match sideboard slot?

Narset, Parter of Veils is a waste of a slot for grixis in any match-up (main or side).

Search for Azcanta is efficient, multi-use, and easier to cast, and digs at instant speed. Even Jace, Vryn's Prodigy is preferable. 3 drop slots should be K Command, Ven Clique, Fulminator, Liliana Veil, Liliana Last Hope, even Nimble Obstructionist or old Ashiok.

Hi fellow Grixis lovers,

I want to share with you CalebD new list with WAR cards.

https://www.streamdecker.com/deck/HagvKxSac

Haven’t tested yet but I’m hyped!

What are your thoughts?

Quote from AlexVnn »

Hi fellow Grixis lovers,

I want to share with you CalebD new list with WAR cards.

https://www.streamdecker.com/deck/HagvKxSac

Haven’t tested yet but I’m hyped!

What are your thoughts?

I don't know, this list feels a little bit all over the place in terms of when it wants to play. It has a midrange plan with the discard and lili, and an instant speed plan with removal/cryptic, but it is unclear whether it can go well in either direction. Choosing when to tap out and when not will be exceptionally hard in this configuration. It also feels like it would just get stomped by combo decks or non-creature decks, especially game 1. Finally, I am not sure why Nicol Bolas the Ravager needs to be there (except flavor).

i actually like the idea a lot! discard restricts number of cards in game, so the board will be relatively empty.

and then overload on "Sacrifice creature" effect so that the huge downside of not targeting becomes irrelevant. in other words: snipe the easy targets with bolt/push discard and then leverage the strict superiority of sacrificing in terms of what the effect can hit (etched champion, ulamog, thrun, bogles, etc).

no idea if it works, but i get the idea, and i kinda like it. it tries to leverage the potential insanity/versatility of liliana's triumpf and rampage.

edit: imagine how disgusting lily's triumpf can be solid 2f1 for 2cmc at instant speed. getting to resolve triumph with lily on board must be game-winning against most decks.

the question is wether it comes up often enough

Quote from th33l3x »

i actually like the idea a lot! discard restricts number of cards in game, so the board will be relatively empty.

and then overload on "Sacrifice creature" effect so that the huge downside of not targeting becomes irrelevant. in other words: snipe the easy targets with bolt/push discard and then leverage the strict superiority of sacrificing in terms of what the effect can hit (etched champion, ulamog, thrun, bogles, etc).

no idea if it works, but i get the idea, and i kinda like it. it tries to leverage the potential insanity/versatility of liliana's triumpf and rampage.

edit: imagine how disgusting lily's triumpf can be solid 2f1 for 2cmc at instant speed. getting to resolve triumph with lily on board must be game-winning against most decks.

the question is wether it comes up often enough

Triumph can be especially good with cryptic command eot bounce. I may have to dust off my grixis goodies, I think the deck is getting plenty of wonderful modal spells.

*edit to finish post, phone is goofy.

Playing with Nicol Bolas Dragon God in standard has gotten me pretty excited; his +1 closes the game incredibly fast

My own WIP take on him is that you want to go close to the old "blue jund" decks, running a ton of discard and little to no countermagic. You want to shred your opponent's resources as soon as possible so that when Nikki B comes down, his +1 starts stone raining as soon as possible. In Standard this is pretty powerful already but in a format like modern where people greed on their lands all the time, this becomes really devastating really fast and forces your opponent to play into your answers without getting time to set up a multispell turn.

Tons of discard with IOK, TS, LotV and ColBrut, gross CA with Snap Kommand loops, 2x MB Surgical because Modern is a broken awful format and then spot removal and maybe SV to set up your mana. I like CalebD's take of Cryptic being the only mainboard counterspell but I also kind of like staying mostly monoblack.

Quote from Bearscape »

Playing with Nicol Bolas Dragon God in standard has gotten me pretty excited; his +1 closes the game incredibly fast

My own WIP take on him is that you want to go close to the old "blue jund" decks, running a ton of discard and little to no countermagic. You want to shred your opponent's resources as soon as possible so that when Nikki B comes down, his +1 starts stone raining as soon as possible. In Standard this is pretty powerful already but in a format like modern where people greed on their lands all the time, this becomes really devastating really fast and forces your opponent to play into your answers without getting time to set up a multispell turn.

Tons of discard with IOK, TS, LotV and ColBrut, gross CA with Snap Kommand loops, 2x MB Surgical because Modern is a broken awful format and then spot removal and maybe SV to set up your mana. I like CalebD's take of Cryptic being the only mainboard counterspell but I also kind of like staying mostly monoblack.

I agree with this. I have been rocking the creature-less Grixis midrange/control in MTGA and Nicol Bolas Dragon God has been one of the most powerful cards I had the opportunity to resolve. He protec, he attac, he closes the game fast.

Looking at an opponent with 1 card in hand who decides to sacrifice a land only for me to proceed with a discard spell to take it away is just great. Also, he closes the game in a rather timely fashion, without needing extra cards (Nahiri's issue), or taking forever basically (Teferi's issue). Might be a great push for Blue Jund style decks with Bolas, Liliana, discards and removals.

Quote from Bearscape »

Playing with Nicol Bolas Dragon God in standard has gotten me pretty excited; his +1 closes the game incredibly fast

My own WIP take on him is that you want to go close to the old "blue jund" decks, running a ton of discard and little to no countermagic. You want to shred your opponent's resources as soon as possible so that when Nikki B comes down, his +1 starts stone raining as soon as possible. In Standard this is pretty powerful already but in a format like modern where people greed on their lands all the time, this becomes really devastating really fast and forces your opponent to play into your answers without getting time to set up a multispell turn.

Tons of discard with IOK, TS, LotV and ColBrut, gross CA with Snap Kommand loops, 2x MB Surgical because Modern is a broken awful format and then spot removal and maybe SV to set up your mana. I like CalebD's take of Cryptic being the only mainboard counterspell but I also kind of like staying mostly monoblack.

You got me with "Nikki B".

OK but seriously, this 8-rack style deck which wins with NB instead of racks could be very real. I'd even play cards like Rise // Fall and Wrench Mind in conjunction with IOK and TS to quickly move the game towards the board/hand state that we want. Aggro decks will have to contend with Collective Brutality - Blue and Red become splashes in this new paradigm. We can't fight UW on the same footing when it comes to countermagic, so we'll just have to change the whole playing field instead of trying to level it.

I agree with Rise // Fall, but I don't think we would need Wrench Mind, since there is not enough space. I think you still want to be on the snapcaster-K.Command plan, which takes about 7 slots. Since we are in red running a number of bolts is also going to be useful to not fold hard to aggro decks. Therefore, I think cards like Wrench Mind don't really have a place in the deck.

I'm picturing:

T1 - IOK or TS
T2 - Wrench Mind or Fall
T3 - Lily of the Veil or removal of early creatures + more discard
T4 - by the time you cast JTMS here, there should be hardly any opposition. If there's threat you can bounce it and uptick lily, or downtick lily to kill it and brainstorm.
T5 - NBDG comes down and its downhill for the opponent from here.