MTG Salvation

I've been playing Grixis EDH for quite some time already. When I started, I played Nicol Bolas who I always forget to pay its upkeep cost. Then I jumped to Sedris, who tend to be used only as a last resort to buyback my creatures. As my meta developed, there was more graveyard hate, making Sedris often nothing more than a 6 mana 5/5. After that Thraximundar became my general. Then they printed Deadeye Navigator...

This deck wins in two ways, infinite turns (the boring way to win) and Insurrection. Previously, I could also use Thraximundar to kill with general damage, but it didn't always work well, as he tend to die quickly, and cost lots of mana to recast.

Looking for more exciting ways to win in grixis!



23-07-2012
Since my playgroup have shifted away from black (normally I'm the only black player in a game), the amount of random Bojuka Bogs hitting my graveyard has decreased drastically. As such, there is now a greater focus on reanimator in my deck. Added in Flayer of the Hatebound and Warstorm Surge to support this strategy and also to combat the increased amount of Warpworld based decks. However, neither cards seem to do the job efficiently enough to justify their 6 mana cost. Any suggestions on what to add in place of them?

Neither Insurrection nor Exsanguinate have been performing to expectations as finishers. Most players either have a Homeward Path, Fog/ Propaganda equivalent or a sacrifice outlet to deal with it. I can't seem to ramp enough for lethal Exsanguinate (no suprises, since I'm Grixis), and tapping out to gain life isn't really a good ideal, since the other players will retaliate once that happens.

Replaced Griselbrand with Consecrated Sphinx (hate playing this card, but it is the best there is) and Jin-Gitaxis (which on the other hand, is awesome). Jin-Gitaxis isn't as good for drawing cards, but more than makes out for it by doubling as Myojin of Night's Reach.

Due to the sheer numbers of Primeval Titan, Degree of Annihilation was re-included into the deck. I have also added in Sneak Attack which works well with both the Degree and the reanimator strategy. Sneak Attack is awesome. End of opponent's turn, Sneak in a Jin-Gitaxis can ruin somebody's day. Hardcasted Degree of Annihilation with Sneak Attack on board and suspended Ancestral Vision is pretty much win so long as I'm not facing an enchantment deck.

Sedris, once again hasn't been doing well. I haven't used its ability once since I swapped from Thraximundar. So far, I have only used it as a 6 mana 5/5 to beat face with. Not sure if I should swap back to Thraximundar (much better at beating face, but also more mana intensive) or Crosis, the Purger (same casting cost, better at beating face, but less utility and looks ugly).


10-06-2012
Made a few changes to the decklist and upped my creature count as suggested. Added Grislebrand since I opened a foil one. Testing out Necrotic Ooze and swapped Mindbreak Trap for Glen Elendra Archmage to increase the amount of creatures I have with activated abilities to 3, which is still probably too low for Necrotic Ooze but time (testing) will tell. Since Grixis has a huge weakness to enchantment-based threats, I decided to add in All is Dust to deal with decks that spam Enchantments.

As much as I want to play Crystal Shard, I realised that I have mainly been using it to discard to Thirst for Knowledge, which means I probably can cut it without affecting much, especially since I still have Erratic Portal (which can be transmuted for with Clutch of the Undercity for self bounce. Scarlands haven't been performing too well as I don't really mind my lands entering the battlefield tapped for the first 3 turns while turn 4 is the point where I start throwing up threats, so I cut them for a Mountain and a utility land in the form of Desolate Lighthouse which is a fine discard outlet. Removed Ponder and Preordain to cut down on the duddling cards.



Changelot




Older Decklists

Seems like a giant smelly demon that draws cards for you would be good in this deck, Griselbrand anyone?

Kiki without Pestermite? I know its cheese but, the concept is hilarious, death by 1000 screaming pixies!!!

Buried Alive is awesome with Sedris.

Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre is probably not as good as It That Betrays here.

Living Death would be better with a higher creature count, 20 is kinda low, IMO.

Personally I would run Jace3 over Jace1 in reanimator.

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Quote from trancer99

Seems like a giant smelly demon that draws cards for you would be good in this deck, Griselbrand anyone?

I definitely will include Griselbrand soon, especially since I just acquired a foil one. Only one thing that I dislike is that Griselbrand forces me to include a Reliquary Tower, and I really hate to include even more non-basics since I have a Norin player (with Blood Moon and Magus of the Moon and other non-basic hate) in my playgroup.

Kiki without Pestermite? I know its cheese but, the concept is hilarious, death by 1000 screaming pixies!!!

As it is, my deck is already very reliant on Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker so much so that the other players always keep up removal or counters against it. I don't know if I want to include a card that does almost nothing on its own. Besides, I have Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker + Zealous Conscript for that combo.

Buried Alive is awesome with Sedris.

I hate the fact that it makes me even more susceptible to graveyard hate. Even when I was playing Thraximumdar as my general, I tend to get hit by all the random Bojuka Bogs already.

Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre is probably not as good as It That Betrays here.

I like Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre as a surgical nuke against random Enchantments and Artifacts that I normally have a difficultly dealing with (especially the former). Previously, I tried It that Betrays, but it tend to get stuck in my hand too often for my liking.

Living Death would be better with a higher creature count, 20 is kinda low, IMO.

Yeah, I know. Too often it got stuck in my hand after my opponents' graveyard got bigger than mine. I really like this card though...

Personally I would run Jace3 over Jace1 in reanimator.

I love how versatile Jace, the Mind Sculptor is. The 4CMC makes it easy to cast and allows me to transmute Clutch of the Undercity for it. Also, I don't really want to go full-fledge reanimator route due the massive amount of graveyard hate in my meta.


Thinking of cutting Ponder, Preordain, and Mindbreak Trap for Cabal Coffer, Gristlebrand, and another midranged creature. Maybe Necrotic Ooze, but I don't know if I have enough activated abilities to abuse with it.

Wow I never knew that Deadeye Navigator 's exile effect replaces the unearth exile effect and the creature can still come back. Thats some tricky stuff. It seems like you're not running too many creatures, instead you're more control-spell heavy. Is there a reason for that? Because it does seem like Sedris would work better with more creatures.

Zealous Conscript good idea, I had not seen that one, yes it definitely beats Pestermite.

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Quote from A.Minor

Wow I never knew that Deadeye Navigator 's exile effect replaces the unearth exile effect and the creature can still come back. Thats some tricky stuff. It seems like you're not running too many creatures, instead you're more control-spell heavy. Is there a reason for that? Because it does seem like Sedris would work better with more creatures.

I prefer answers to threats especially in multiplayer games. I like playing creatures one at a time, which means that I tend to cluster up my hand with creatures when I was playing 25 + creatures. Also, Grixis creatures tend to be less impactful than green or white creatures, which is another reason why I don't really play that many since most of the creatures get outclassed easily.

Decklist updated.

Decklist updated

Ghostly Flicker is awesome in this deck.