He also goes slightly into a list with 4x Snap and 4x Jace, Vryn's Prodigy that plays a more grindy, tap out style deck. He says that it is not great against big mana or spell based combo decks though.
I posed this Q to Corey via Twitter as well, but curious of your opinions. Similar to the convo above, I've truly enjoyed 1x Vendilion Clique in my MB. With Fatal Push now an option, do we think we can get away with 21 lands if we're playing 2 Push and a Clique?
I've been trying this out and really haven't had any mana issues. But curious if any of you have had more extensive playtesting in a similar shell.
I posed this Q to Corey via Twitter as well, but curious of your opinions. Similar to the convo above, I've truly enjoyed 1x Vendilion Clique in my MB. With Fatal Push now an option, do we think we can get away with 21 lands if we're playing 2 Push and a Clique?
I've been trying this out and really haven't had any mana issues. But curious if any of you have had more extensive playtesting in a similar shell.
Thanks!
I'm using a Clique as well but never played less than 22 Lands. 20-21 seems more about Delver range while we play 4 Cryptics and Snap-3/4CMC spells.
Also, I still have to get my singleton Push but I'd never low my Terminates count, since Eldrazi and Valakut will probably be two bigger players now.
]
Thanks for the quick response! Have a deck list you're willing to share, or if you're based on Corey's list, what did you shave for the Clique?
I posed this Q to Corey via Twitter as well, but curious of your opinions. Similar to the convo above, I've truly enjoyed 1x Vendilion Clique in my MB. With Fatal Push now an option, do we think we can get away with 21 lands if we're playing 2 Push and a Clique?
I've been trying this out and really haven't had any mana issues. But curious if any of you have had more extensive playtesting in a similar shell.
Thanks!
I'm using a Clique as well but never played less than 22 Lands. 20-21 seems more about Delver range while we play 4 Cryptics and Snap-3/4CMC spells.
Also, I still have to get my singleton Push but I'd never low my Terminates count, since Eldrazi and Valakut will probably be two bigger players now.
Terminate is terrible against Valakut. Primeval Titan is irrelevant; you're not going to lose to him, you lose to him fetching up more valakuts/mountains. If Primeval Titan resolves you're going to lose 90% of those games. Yes, Terminate is better against Eldrazi decks, but Push is better against the field at large. If you need the third Terminate play it in the SB.
Has anyone done an analysis of what relevant creatures are cmc 3 or 4 that avoid bolt? I feel like knowing which match ups where revolt will be necessary for key plays is an importan to keep a fetch up for, especially if we're dropping to 2 terminate
Terminate is meh against Griselbrand imo. It stops them from drawing 21 cards but often times it still lets them draw 14, which is pretty much a death sentence.
Did we already discuss Yahenni's Expertise here? Obviously tapping out is not what we normally want to do. But clearing the board of pesky Oozes, Tokens and the like and casting a Kommand, Ancestral, Terminate, Push or the like for free seems dece.
Is this in the realm of possibilities? I think i will test the expertise as a 1-of in exchange for a Spell Snare.
I also thought mainly about Affinity and Merfolk. Merfolk with the Master of Waves blanks soooo much of our removal and relying on EE to clean up an Etched Champion against affinity is also not amazing. I will see how it plays out for me
I struggle to see where Yahenni's is worth it in our deck, that said, I'm not going to argue against anyone testing it.
The issues I see against both Merfolk and Affinity are twofold, namely missing creaturelands as well as being too slow. If Fish is overrepresented in the meta, I'd be more interested in running Kozilek's Return and a greater number of Fatal Push.
I feel like the biggest problem with Yahenni's Expertise is that compared to our other options, it just doesn't quite do enough for its cost consistently enough. Anger of the Gods gets there a turn earlier, wipes pretty much the same creatures, and does it with the very relevant upside of buying us a bunch of turns vs. Dredge when we hit their Narcomoebas and Bloodghasts and Prized Amalgams. In the 4-CMC slot, it competes with Damnation, which ($$$ cost aside) is a much more potent answer. I mean, yeah you can Terminate or Tasigur or even AV off of YX, but Damnation just cleanly kills everything. Do we really need the extra value compared to that upside?
That said, I completely support brewing and experimentation. So don't let me stop you from trying it out!
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Playing UX Mana Denial until Modern gets the answers it needs.
WUBRG Humans BRW Mardu Pyromancer UW UW "Control" UR Blue Moon
Playing this list tomorrow. Room is diverse without being linear, meaning that it should be pretty good. The big mana decks are tron decks, which influences how I built the SB and MD.
What's the general consensus on mana leak instead of countersquall?
Is anyone running zombie fish? Maybe a 2/1 split?
Has anyone considered cutting 1 cryptic, or is that heresy?
I'm also trying to find room for a collective brutality mb, to dump these extra ancestrals, but its pretty tight.
What's the general consensus on mana leak instead of countersquall?
We want to play the late game. Countersquall is better there, we are fine dealing with creatures also, so Mana Leak and COunterSquall end up trying to counter the same targets + the shock from Countersquall is revelant in some matchups like Tron or combo decks, since allows us to race a bit more.
Is anyone running zombie fish? Maybe a 2/1 split?
Fish is more played in Grixis Delver variants. However, Tasigur is really good in this shell, easier to cast, card advantage in slower matchups, I can see the zombie fish in change of 1 Tasigur, but then u are relying even more on Thought Scour.
Has anyone considered cutting 1 cryptic, or is that heresy?
For me it is Heresy. But there are a lot of lists with 3x Cryptic. I just love looping Cryptics into cryptics into snap-cryptics and so on, just insanely powerful.
I'm also trying to find room for a collective brutality mb, to dump these extra ancestrals, but its pretty tight. Uhh
Cut a greedier card, but I prefer to stick it in the side and have a "stock" list mb.
A review of the event I played, 134 players for modern. It was a great event and a first time Grixis day for me.
Round 1 versus Bant Coco Spirits
Won this game with 2-0
Game 1 was fairly easy. I removed all his threats early in the game, so he wasn’t able to build a decent board. He used collected company, so I know that I needed to board Dispel.
Sideboarding:
In: 1 Anger of the Gods, 1 Izzet Staticaster, 1 Engineered Explosives, 2 Dispel, 1 Damnation.
Out: 2 Spell Snare, 2 Countersquall, 2 Ancestral Vision or 2 Cryptic, can’t realy remember what choice I made there.
Game 2 was even better. My starting hand had a Engineered Explosives, Bolt, Izzet Staticaster, Anger and some lands. So the game went the same way game one did. Tas did it again.
Round 2 versus Grixis control.
Won this game with 2-1. Opponent had a game loss round 1. Didn’t sideboarded out his cards. Had one in hand.
Game 2, the first game we played was a sideboarded game.
He won it because he kept in his bolts and had triple negate. Did not expect that he kept his Bolts in. But after reviewing this match at night, I think Bolt is fairly good in the late game. Bolt, snap bolt is a win.
Game 3, AV on turn 1 and a Tas on turn 3 won me the game. Other turns was trading card for card. Early value and an early Tas will win this mirror match. Still not sure how to board properly for the mirror. Corey didn’t know it as well.
Round 3 versus Sultai Midrange.
Lost it with 2-1.
Game 1 was his. He had discard, goyf, Liliana of the Veil and another Goyf backup. Kept a hand with double serum visions, AV and some removal. Didn’t had enough response to his threads. He out valued my plan. The Goyfs, Flayers and Tasigurs at his side gave me the impression he was playing a Midrange game over the control game.
Game 2. My best game ever in Magic the Gathering. The guy I played was a good player, he won several tournament with grixis and gave me compliments for the line. He played to the outs and kept living at 1 life. It was so intense I can’t really remember how I went for it. Just keep on using Snap, Kolaghan’s Command, Cryptic and Damnation on the right time.
Game 3. Same as game 1. Double goyf and I stumbled on my third land. Was not really a decent game in comparing with the second. But nondeless I had so much fun, and was proud on my accomplishment of the second game.
Round 4 versus Burn.
Lost this game with 2-0.
Game 1. He played really weird. Kept drawing and doing nothing when I was around 8 life. He fetched up a Blood crypt. I was really confused at that point. In the late game he tried to kill me, but I stacked my hand so full he could not.
Almost killed him with Tar Pit and Tas but topdecked his final kill spell. Megh…
Sideboarding:
In: 2 Dispel, 2 Negate, 1 Collective Brutality, 1 Engineered Explosives. Did not board the Anger because I did not see any nacatl.
Out: 4 AV, 2 Cryptic.
Game 2. Turn 3 kill.
Oke, gg…
Round 5 versus Infect.
Lost this game with 2-1.
To start this review I must say I needed to win this one. Played very sloppy in game 2. That was bad, really bad.
Game 1. Just the way we like to play this game. All answers for all threads. Tas took the kill.
Game 2 was really bad at my side. Miss counted and needed to kill his blighted agent on his end step. Kept a shady hand with Snap Bolt 5 lands. Drew 5 more lands… Had to mulligan and play better there.
Game 3. He had it all. Triple Mutagenic Growth was to much against my removal. That won him his game. I just blame this on me because I needed to win game 2.
Round 6 versus Lantern Control.
Won this game with 2-1.
Game 1 was a typical Lantern match. He had early game a Lantern and a Bridge. Never got the change to fire off a Koala command on it. Scooped after I didn’t have an out in the deck. Time savings.
Game 2. Early Tas and an counter on the right time won me the game. He missed loads of life gain triggers. I kept in Bolt after this one because I did not see any Leyline.
Game 3. He opens with a Leyline. Sure man, I will fire off an AV and turn 3 Tas. He had an Bridge on the right time. But my bolts where dead, that’s why the game took longer than necessary. Ended the game with 3 Bolts in hand. Fully did the job and Tas took the kill once again.
Round 7 versus Titan Breach and Shift.
Lost the game with 2-0
Game 1 was a trade with resources and I had several counterspells on the right time. But a hardcast titan after end step through the breach was to much. Damn I hate that deck… Some people complain about Ad Nauseam for not being interactive. But this deck is even less interactive.
Game 2. Same story. Tilted here a bit and dropped. Did not play the last round.
Wrap up of the tournament:
Had a great time that day. A couple of matches tilted my. Burn felt super unwinnable, not even starting about the Titan Breach.
Had my best game of Magic that day, for it was my first time Grixis ever. Marvelous game versus the Sultai player.
Small coverup about the meta:
11 Grixis Control
10 Affinity
7 NAYA Burn
5 Junk
4 BANT Eldrazi
4 BANT Spirits
4 GB Tron
4 GW Tron
4 Jund
4 Lantern Control
4 Skred Red
3 Abzan Company
3 Ad Nauseam
3 Bogles
3 BW Tokens
3 Merfolk
3 UG Infect
2 BANT Knightfall
2 NAYA Zoo
2 RG Ponza
2 RG Through the Breach
2 RG Tron
2 RUG Control
2 UWR Control
2 UWR Nahiri
2 Living End
2 EldraziTron
2 RUG Midrange
1 4C Company
1 BTL Scapeshift
1 BW EldraziTaxes
1 GW Elves
1 Mono U Tron
1 RG PrimeTime
1 RG TitanShift
1 UB Mill
1 UR Skred
1 UW Control
1 UW Spirits
1 UWR Ascendancy Flux
1 UWR Flash
1 RW Landhate
1 Suicide Bloo
1 Dredge
1 Bushwacker Zoo
1 Elves
1 Mardu Nahiri
1 UWR Aggro
1 NAYA Brain in a Jar
1 BUG Midrange
1 4C Saheeli Combo
1 Slivers
1 RW Burn
1 KikiChord
1 Protean Hulk Combo
1 Mono Black Control
1 UB Tezzeret
1 UW Spirits
1 UWR MadMoon
1 Soul Sisters
1 Sun and Moon
Looking at that, it was a crazy day. Lots of weird decks and not really something I could be prepared for.
A couple of questions:
When do I board in Jace, Architect? It felt like a waste of a SB slot. There was some Abzan in the room, but is Night of Souls’ Betrayal not better there?
Are there more matchups where Collective Brutality shines. With Jund I found it great against many decks, but here it felt awkward. Only for Burn it is insane!
Are there any situations where you board out:
Tasigur, Kolaghan’s Command, Serum Visions/Thought Scour?
What about two damnations in the SB and zero Anger?
Go to three Negate and 1 Dispel?
Thanks for reading, I hope to get some tips and tricks.
I can see going to two Damnations in the side, esp now that Bant Eldrazi is somewhat stronger in the meta due to it being less susceptible to Push.
I'd stick with two Dispels though, I've seen a huge uptick of Grixis Control (and other control strategies) at my LGS, and if that is mirrored elsewhere I think the Dispels are invaluable.
Collective Brutality is a good card but I've felt the same, when most of the deck wants to be reactive and working with a big hand, a sorcery-speed card with discard stapled on tends to be awkward. I still feel it is better than Sun Droplet against Burn, and honestly, Burn is pretty much the only matchup I side it in. I'm actually going to try out Vampiric Link again, last FNM there was about 30% Burn so my SB needs some tricks against them.
@Momsie 11 Grixis Control?! Does that include Delver variants? Seems like a lot of Grixis Mages in one tournament I did get to watch the stream for a bit and saw two Grixis players lose in the top 8. I was cheering for them but they had bad matchups. The Burn matchup is indeed horrid and I have no idea what can be done to fight it other than suggest Vampiric Link, Collective Brutality, Sun Droplet or even Bottle Gnomes?
Once you lose life you never gain it back so a lot of tight play comes with playing this deck. I've read some of the Cruel Control thread and someone has an interesting deck with 4 Snapcaster Mages, 2 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet as creatures. The only delve card is Logic Knot. You play main board sweepers in Damnation and Cruel Ultimatum. More or less the same Grixis package but instead more lands as well. I'm tempted to run something like that for a try.
Commander GUR Maelstrom Wanderer BWU Sydri, Galvanic Genius BGB Meren of Clan Nel Toth WGW Nazahn, Revered Bladesmith RRR Feldon of the Third Path WWW Heliod, God of the Sun
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URW Control
WBG Abzan
GRW Burn
EDH
GR Rosheen Meanderer
Update: Corey decided that he would not shave Bolts and instead cut the Engineered Explosives and a Terminate for 2x Fatal Push. He would also add 2 more Blue fetches to help enable it. He did not like Bloodstained Mire as you often want basic Island, not basic Swamp or Mountain.
He also goes slightly into a list with 4x Snap and 4x Jace, Vryn's Prodigy that plays a more grindy, tap out style deck. He says that it is not great against big mana or spell based combo decks though.
URW Control
WBG Abzan
GRW Burn
EDH
GR Rosheen Meanderer
In the yard: RUG Delver, Kiki-Chord, Grixis Twin, Mardu Control, Smallpox, Jeskai Control, Jeskai Delver, Assault Loam, Elves, Deathcloud, Eggs, Storm
I posed this Q to Corey via Twitter as well, but curious of your opinions. Similar to the convo above, I've truly enjoyed 1x Vendilion Clique in my MB. With Fatal Push now an option, do we think we can get away with 21 lands if we're playing 2 Push and a Clique?
I've been trying this out and really haven't had any mana issues. But curious if any of you have had more extensive playtesting in a similar shell.
Thanks!
Thanks for the quick response! Have a deck list you're willing to share, or if you're based on Corey's list, what did you shave for the Clique?
Terminate is terrible against Valakut. Primeval Titan is irrelevant; you're not going to lose to him, you lose to him fetching up more valakuts/mountains. If Primeval Titan resolves you're going to lose 90% of those games. Yes, Terminate is better against Eldrazi decks, but Push is better against the field at large. If you need the third Terminate play it in the SB.
BGW Elves BGW|BW Tokens BW|WBR Sword&ShieldWBR|BUG DelverBUG|UWR Kiki UWR | UR Storm UR
URW Control
WBG Abzan
GRW Burn
EDH
GR Rosheen Meanderer
Is this in the realm of possibilities? I think i will test the expertise as a 1-of in exchange for a Spell Snare.
BRGJundGRB
GCTronCG
WBRMardu PyromancerRBW
Legacy:
GElvesG
BRGJundGRB
GCTronCG
WBRMardu PyromancerRBW
Legacy:
GElvesG
The issues I see against both Merfolk and Affinity are twofold, namely missing creaturelands as well as being too slow. If Fish is overrepresented in the meta, I'd be more interested in running Kozilek's Return and a greater number of Fatal Push.
That said, I completely support brewing and experimentation. So don't let me stop you from trying it out!
WUBRG Humans
BRW Mardu Pyromancer
UW UW "Control"
UR Blue Moon
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Negate
2 Dispel
1 Anger of the Gods
1 Izzet Staticaster
1 Damnation
1 Collective Brutality
3 Fulminator Mage
2 Surgical Extraction
1 Jace, Architect of Thought
Matchup
Infect in 2 dispel 2 negate 1 izzet out 4 vision 1 scour
Dredge in 2 Surg 1 Damn 1 anger 1 izzet out 2 snare 3 bolt / push
Jund in 1 damn 1 jace out 2 bolt
Burn Naya in 2 dispel 1 CB 2 Negate out 3 AV
Bant Eldrazi in 1 damn 3 fully out 2 snare 1 scour 1 serum
Affinity in 1 EE 1 izzet 1 anger out 3 AV
Tron GR in 3 fully 2 negate 2 surg out 4 bolt 2 push 1 terminate
Death Shadow in 1 EE 1 Damn out 2 Squall
Abzan in 1 damn 1 jace 1 izzet out 3 bolt
Lantern Control in 3 full 2 surg 2 dispel 1 EE 2 negate out 4 bolt 2 push 2 snare 2 terminate
UR Titi/Kiln Fiend ????
Valakut Breach in 2 dispell 2 negate 3 fully 2 surg out 4 bolt 2 push 1 EE 2 terminate
Grixis Delver ????
Merfolk in 1 EE 1 izzet 1 damn 1 anger out 2 squall 2 snare
Eldrazi & Taxes ????
Jeskai Control in 3 ful 2 negate 2 dispel 1 surg out 2 terminate 4 bolt 2 push
Scapeshift in 2 dispell 2 negate 3 fully 2 surg out 4 bolt 2 push 1 EE 2 terminate
Ad Nauseam in 2 dispel 2 negate 2 surg 3 ful 1 EE out 4 bolt 2 push 2 terminate 2 AV
Abzan Coco ?????
Knightfall Bant in 2 dispel 1 EE 1 damn out 2 snare 2 squall
Bogles ????
Sun & Moon in 3 fully 1 EE 2 surg 2 negate out 4 bolt 2 terminate 2 push
Eldrazi Tron ????
Grixis Goryo 2 surg
Kiki Chord/Evo ???
Elves in 2 dispel 1 anger 1 damn 1 EE 1 izzet out 2 snare 2 squall 2 AV
Mardu ????
Bushwacker Zoo ???
8-Rack ???
Grixis Control ???
Storm ???
Living End ???
Bant Spirits ????
Soul Sisters ????
My mainboard is
4 x Scalding Tarn
4 x Polluted Delta
1 x Flooded Strand
1 x Misty Rainforest
1 x Sulfur Falls
2 x Steam Vents
2 x Watery Grave
1 x Blood Crypt
2 x Creeping Tar Pit
2 x Island
1 x Swamp
1 x Mountain
3 x Tasigur, the Golden Fang
4 x Serum Visions
4 x Thought Scour
4 x Lightning Bolt
2 x Fatal Push
2 x Spell Snare
2 x Terminate
2 x Countersquall
4 x Cryptic Command
3 x Kolaghan's Command
4 x Ancestral Vision
4x Thought Scour
4x Lightning Bolt
3x Ancestral Vision
2x Fatal Push
2x Spell Snare
2x Negate
1x Remand
2x Terminate
1x Dreadbore
3x Kolaghan's Command
3x Cryptic Command
2x Tasigur, the Golden Fang
4x Snapcaster Mage
1x Gurmag Angler
4x Scalding Tarn
2x Steam Vents
1x Watery Grave
1x Blood Crypt
1x Sulfur Falls
1x Drowned Catacombs
1x Spirebluff Canal
2x Creeping Tarpit
3x Island
1x Swamp
1x Mountain
1x Dispel
2x Collective Brutality
1x Duress
1x Thoughtseize
1x Anger of the Gods
1x Rakdos Charm
1x Izzet Staticaster
1x Torrential Gearhulk
1x Olivia Voldaren
1x Engineered Explosives
2x Fulminator Mage
2x Vendilion Clique
Playing this list tomorrow. Room is diverse without being linear, meaning that it should be pretty good. The big mana decks are tron decks, which influences how I built the SB and MD.
What's the general consensus on mana leak instead of countersquall?
Is anyone running zombie fish? Maybe a 2/1 split?
Has anyone considered cutting 1 cryptic, or is that heresy?
I'm also trying to find room for a collective brutality mb, to dump these extra ancestrals, but its pretty tight.
We want to play the late game. Countersquall is better there, we are fine dealing with creatures also, so Mana Leak and COunterSquall end up trying to counter the same targets + the shock from Countersquall is revelant in some matchups like Tron or combo decks, since allows us to race a bit more.
Fish is more played in Grixis Delver variants. However, Tasigur is really good in this shell, easier to cast, card advantage in slower matchups, I can see the zombie fish in change of 1 Tasigur, but then u are relying even more on Thought Scour.
For me it is Heresy. But there are a lot of lists with 3x Cryptic. I just love looping Cryptics into cryptics into snap-cryptics and so on, just insanely powerful.
Cut a greedier card, but I prefer to stick it in the side and have a "stock" list mb.
BURGrixis ControlBUR
BURGrixis DelverBUR (RIP)
UWBEsper GiftsUWB
UWUW Jace ControlUW
GUBSultai ControlGUB
UBTezzeret Agent of BolasUB
I played an event yesterday in the Netherlands. The Dutch Open Series. I played this list:
4 x Scalding Tarn
4 x Polluted Delta
1 x Flooded Strand
1 x Misty Rainforest
1 x Sulfur Falls
2 x Steam Vents
2 x Watery Grave
1 x Blood Crypt
2 x Creeping Tar Pit
2 x Island
1 x Swamp
1 x Mountain
3 x Tasigur, the Golden Fang
4 x Serum Visions
4 x Thought Scour
4 x Lightning Bolt
2 x Fatal Push
2 x Spell Snare
2 x Terminate
2 x Countersquall
4 x Cryptic Command
3 x Kolaghan's Command
4 x Ancestral Vision
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Negate
2 Dispel
1 Anger of the Gods
1 Izzet Staticaster
1 Damnation
1 Collective Brutality
3 Fulminator Mage
2 Surgical Extraction
1 Jace, Architect of Thought
A review of the event I played, 134 players for modern. It was a great event and a first time Grixis day for me.
Round 1 versus Bant Coco Spirits
Won this game with 2-0
Game 1 was fairly easy. I removed all his threats early in the game, so he wasn’t able to build a decent board. He used collected company, so I know that I needed to board Dispel.
Sideboarding:
In: 1 Anger of the Gods, 1 Izzet Staticaster, 1 Engineered Explosives, 2 Dispel, 1 Damnation.
Out: 2 Spell Snare, 2 Countersquall, 2 Ancestral Vision or 2 Cryptic, can’t realy remember what choice I made there.
Game 2 was even better. My starting hand had a Engineered Explosives, Bolt, Izzet Staticaster, Anger and some lands. So the game went the same way game one did. Tas did it again.
Round 2 versus Grixis control.
Won this game with 2-1. Opponent had a game loss round 1. Didn’t sideboarded out his cards. Had one in hand.
Sideboarding:
In: 2 Negate, 3 Fulminator, 2 Dispel, 1 Surgical
Out: 4 Bolt, 2 Fatal Push, 2 Cryptic
Game 2, the first game we played was a sideboarded game.
He won it because he kept in his bolts and had triple negate. Did not expect that he kept his Bolts in. But after reviewing this match at night, I think Bolt is fairly good in the late game. Bolt, snap bolt is a win.
Game 3, AV on turn 1 and a Tas on turn 3 won me the game. Other turns was trading card for card. Early value and an early Tas will win this mirror match. Still not sure how to board properly for the mirror. Corey didn’t know it as well.
Round 3 versus Sultai Midrange.
Lost it with 2-1.
Game 1 was his. He had discard, goyf, Liliana of the Veil and another Goyf backup. Kept a hand with double serum visions, AV and some removal. Didn’t had enough response to his threads. He out valued my plan. The Goyfs, Flayers and Tasigurs at his side gave me the impression he was playing a Midrange game over the control game.
Sideboard:
In: Damnation, Engineered Explosives, 2 Negate
Out: 4 Bolt (doesn’t kill anything)
Game 2. My best game ever in Magic the Gathering. The guy I played was a good player, he won several tournament with grixis and gave me compliments for the line. He played to the outs and kept living at 1 life. It was so intense I can’t really remember how I went for it. Just keep on using Snap, Kolaghan’s Command, Cryptic and Damnation on the right time.
Game 3. Same as game 1. Double goyf and I stumbled on my third land. Was not really a decent game in comparing with the second. But nondeless I had so much fun, and was proud on my accomplishment of the second game.
Round 4 versus Burn.
Lost this game with 2-0.
Game 1. He played really weird. Kept drawing and doing nothing when I was around 8 life. He fetched up a Blood crypt. I was really confused at that point. In the late game he tried to kill me, but I stacked my hand so full he could not.
Almost killed him with Tar Pit and Tas but topdecked his final kill spell. Megh…
Sideboarding:
In: 2 Dispel, 2 Negate, 1 Collective Brutality, 1 Engineered Explosives. Did not board the Anger because I did not see any nacatl.
Out: 4 AV, 2 Cryptic.
Game 2. Turn 3 kill.
Oke, gg…
Round 5 versus Infect.
Lost this game with 2-1.
To start this review I must say I needed to win this one. Played very sloppy in game 2. That was bad, really bad.
Game 1. Just the way we like to play this game. All answers for all threads. Tas took the kill.
Sideboarding:
In: 1 Izzer Staticaster, 1 EE, 2 Negate, 2 Dispel
Out: 4 AV, 2 Cryptic
Game 2 was really bad at my side. Miss counted and needed to kill his blighted agent on his end step. Kept a shady hand with Snap Bolt 5 lands. Drew 5 more lands… Had to mulligan and play better there.
Game 3. He had it all. Triple Mutagenic Growth was to much against my removal. That won him his game. I just blame this on me because I needed to win game 2.
Round 6 versus Lantern Control.
Won this game with 2-1.
Game 1 was a typical Lantern match. He had early game a Lantern and a Bridge. Never got the change to fire off a Koala command on it. Scooped after I didn’t have an out in the deck. Time savings.
Sideboarding:
In: 3 Fully, 2 Surgical, 2 Negate, 1 EE
Out: 2 Snare, 2 Terminate, 2 Push, 2 Cryptic
Game 2. Early Tas and an counter on the right time won me the game. He missed loads of life gain triggers. I kept in Bolt after this one because I did not see any Leyline.
Game 3. He opens with a Leyline. Sure man, I will fire off an AV and turn 3 Tas. He had an Bridge on the right time. But my bolts where dead, that’s why the game took longer than necessary. Ended the game with 3 Bolts in hand. Fully did the job and Tas took the kill once again.
Round 7 versus Titan Breach and Shift.
Lost the game with 2-0
Game 1 was a trade with resources and I had several counterspells on the right time. But a hardcast titan after end step through the breach was to much. Damn I hate that deck… Some people complain about Ad Nauseam for not being interactive. But this deck is even less interactive.
Sideboarding:
In: 3 Fully, 2 Surgical, 2 Negate, 2 Dispel
Out: 4 Bolt, 2 Push, 2 Snare, 1 Cryptic
Game 2. Same story. Tilted here a bit and dropped. Did not play the last round.
Wrap up of the tournament:
Had a great time that day. A couple of matches tilted my. Burn felt super unwinnable, not even starting about the Titan Breach.
Had my best game of Magic that day, for it was my first time Grixis ever. Marvelous game versus the Sultai player.
Small coverup about the meta:
11 Grixis Control
10 Affinity
7 NAYA Burn
5 Junk
4 BANT Eldrazi
4 BANT Spirits
4 GB Tron
4 GW Tron
4 Jund
4 Lantern Control
4 Skred Red
3 Abzan Company
3 Ad Nauseam
3 Bogles
3 BW Tokens
3 Merfolk
3 UG Infect
2 BANT Knightfall
2 NAYA Zoo
2 RG Ponza
2 RG Through the Breach
2 RG Tron
2 RUG Control
2 UWR Control
2 UWR Nahiri
2 Living End
2 EldraziTron
2 RUG Midrange
1 4C Company
1 BTL Scapeshift
1 BW EldraziTaxes
1 GW Elves
1 Mono U Tron
1 RG PrimeTime
1 RG TitanShift
1 UB Mill
1 UR Skred
1 UW Control
1 UW Spirits
1 UWR Ascendancy Flux
1 UWR Flash
1 RW Landhate
1 Suicide Bloo
1 Dredge
1 Bushwacker Zoo
1 Elves
1 Mardu Nahiri
1 UWR Aggro
1 NAYA Brain in a Jar
1 BUG Midrange
1 4C Saheeli Combo
1 Slivers
1 RW Burn
1 KikiChord
1 Protean Hulk Combo
1 Mono Black Control
1 UB Tezzeret
1 UW Spirits
1 UWR MadMoon
1 Soul Sisters
1 Sun and Moon
Looking at that, it was a crazy day. Lots of weird decks and not really something I could be prepared for.
A couple of questions:
When do I board in Jace, Architect? It felt like a waste of a SB slot. There was some Abzan in the room, but is Night of Souls’ Betrayal not better there?
Are there more matchups where Collective Brutality shines. With Jund I found it great against many decks, but here it felt awkward. Only for Burn it is insane!
Are there any situations where you board out:
Tasigur, Kolaghan’s Command, Serum Visions/Thought Scour?
What about two damnations in the SB and zero Anger?
Go to three Negate and 1 Dispel?
Thanks for reading, I hope to get some tips and tricks.
Greetings Koen
I'd stick with two Dispels though, I've seen a huge uptick of Grixis Control (and other control strategies) at my LGS, and if that is mirrored elsewhere I think the Dispels are invaluable.
Collective Brutality is a good card but I've felt the same, when most of the deck wants to be reactive and working with a big hand, a sorcery-speed card with discard stapled on tends to be awkward. I still feel it is better than Sun Droplet against Burn, and honestly, Burn is pretty much the only matchup I side it in. I'm actually going to try out Vampiric Link again, last FNM there was about 30% Burn so my SB needs some tricks against them.
Once you lose life you never gain it back so a lot of tight play comes with playing this deck. I've read some of the Cruel Control thread and someone has an interesting deck with 4 Snapcaster Mages, 2 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet as creatures. The only delve card is Logic Knot. You play main board sweepers in Damnation and Cruel Ultimatum. More or less the same Grixis package but instead more lands as well. I'm tempted to run something like that for a try.
Deck for reference: http://www.mtgvault.com/davidgaz/decks/ubr-control/
YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGX4DfQPDykn-UnBopPxyBQ
GURB Grixis/Jund Shadow
RBG Dredge
xUx U Ballista Tron
Commander
GUR Maelstrom Wanderer
BWU Sydri, Galvanic Genius
BGB Meren of Clan Nel Toth
WGW Nazahn, Revered Bladesmith
RRR Feldon of the Third Path
WWW Heliod, God of the Sun