I'm glad you mentioned this, because I played the exact 75 that you posted earlier.
Cipher, if you don't mind, do us all a favor and get onto MTGO and enter some dailies and let us know your results. Right now, Mono-Blue Devotion is at least showing 3-1 and 4-0 results, while I haven't seen a single Grixis build show up. I love Grixis Control, but after having tried most all of the permutations -- I have to be realistic and realize that this color combination just doesn't cut it. It is too inconsistent, the power-level is not high enough and it has too many holes against too much of the meta.
Frostburn is becoming obsolete
Back to the drawing boards
After visiting my local game store and play testing with everyone else who was testing for the event this Saturday I will also agree. They no longer do enough to warrant the card slot for me.
I played against a red black deck with demons and dragons and asphodel. And separately a Moen black devotion deck also with demons, asphodels and a whip. Both were rough. I did not win and did generally not feel in control.
I am thinking they just need to be spot removal. I still feel like Doom blade is a bit limited so if I include it I may only do 1. I am looking at replacing them with more hero's downfall and another spot removal I have not found yet. Could be warped physique or back to essence scatter.
Ratchet bomb out of the side does not seem to hit very much these days. I could be wrong here but I am not siding it in very much.
2 rakdos charms is not enough for a whip match up. I am looking to up the sb count to 3.
I will also be moving my opportunity to the side. It is not fast enough for the agro/ midrange matchups and only pays off in control from what I have seen and I end up boarding it out often.
That is 6 cards to shore up the holes. I am also finding that there are some decks that have built around anger. So I may go back to 3 main. If the wierds are spot removal this may be ok. At this point I am only bringing in mortars for blood baron and loxodon smiter, although smiter sightings have diminished recently favoring boon satyr.
I find myself drifting towards a more draw-go style again. I am keeping Dreadbore and Anger of the Gods but dropping the planeswalkers entirely and going Izzet Charm-Steam Augury-Opportunity as far as smoothing and draw suite goes. I will try to post a deck list later today when I'm home from work that has been doing a bit better than my previous fairly mundane tap-out build.
I think you're just better off with Thoughtflare instead of Opportunity. You get to cast it a turn earlier and after drawing 4 cards you can almost always afford to discard two.
Having played the old Magnivore tempo deck back in the day, I feel like Spellheart Chimera is very good. My Grixis build shows potential and is slightly different. That being said. Here's my current list I use on modo:
This is where I would want to be/start if I was on grixis.
This just seems like an extremely greedy approach (Dissolve, Anger of the Gods and Hero's Downfall) and with so many guildgates I doubt you'll be able to cast things in time.
One card that for me was also underperforming lately is Ashiok. At first he was awesome but now that people learned that you can simply ignore him he just lost any value he had.
I've been moving towards red black control to be honest. I was playing the superfriends variant with no counters anyway so I just cut blue off completely. With red black you can be greedy enough to play Desecration Demon, Stormbreath Dragon, Hero's Downfall, even whip has more value here along with Chandra. I simply don't see this happening in grixis.
Having played the old Magnivore tempo deck back in the day, I feel like Spellheart Chimera is very good. My Grixis build shows potential and is slightly different. That being said. Here's my current list I use on modo:
Thanks for reminding me of the Chimera. I think I might proxy up a tempo version and do some playtesting soon. It needed another playset of creatures; maybe a few of these will help. It could also work with Thoughtflare or Steam Augury as the draw engine.
On another note, can anyone explain why Devour Flesh is being run in so many lists? Just to be a catch-all? Isn't Far // Away better at that role? Devour Flesh for me was always the most miserable removal spell to play with, except for that brief stint where Hexproof was big.
Mainly inspired by the BR midrange list at the pro tour, I wanted to adopt a similar game-plan. Against Aggro and midrange, the plan is to hold out against whatever your opponent throws at you until t5, strip their hand away with Rakdos's Return (Replacing the other win-condition slots with this) and then continue to bury them with card advantage and/or keep them locked down with the Sphinx. Against control, the plan is to get them to overextend by baiting a counter-spell and then going to town with RR. Or I can just sit on an RR until I find a quicken and keep them on their toes with that
The sphinx used to be dinrova horror because I was afraid of problem permanents such as the whip, but after play-testing a lot, the Sphinx is just a much more consistent bomb and is way more difficult to remove. Before hand, I was consistently winning against aggro and midrange but I had a helluva time against control. Then Doominus wrecked me (again) with esper control the first 2 rounds, I won the 3rd after placing in the sphinx (there was some crazy luck though and I admit that), but it seems like the sphinx made that match-up way better while still holding effectiveness against aggro/midrange.
Afterwards I won against UW Control, BR midrange (pro tour list), Mono U Devotion, and RDW.
There was a Mono R devotion deck I played against, lost game 1 and then he rage-quit g2 after I stabilized
I then lost to some kid that maindecks 4 Duress and 4 Thoughtseize
It could be a complete fluke, but I'm going to enter the next cockatrice tournament and give you guys a report.
Got a new take on grixis so far, here is the update
Like your list a lot. What would you side in/out against aggro and control? Headed to FNM in a few days and learning how to use my sideboard is something I really need to work on. Thanks
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Modern
Currently Playing UW UW Control/Miracles R Skred Red
I'm here to post a tournament report for EOTSAYL and share with u all the datas collected 'til today... but first let me say just 2 things.
1) Elmocha and Kamahl, if u don' t agree with other players, u can espress your opinion kindly, without being rude! Keep calm and polite both please, at least for respect for the other users...
2) I don't like pw in this deck, and not even Weirds... i've noticed that in the first game of the match, oppo's removals are dead cards if u don't play creatures, and this means that it's easyer to get him in top deck...
The list that i've played is more or less the one posted on page 24 by The Other Guy, but i'll post it here just for reference:
Game 1: i kept an hand with 5 lands, one counter and one removal... pretty stupid i know, and in fact i've flooded.
Game 2: couldn't go further the 3rd land xD. I've finished my counters, and when my oppo played the voice i conceded.
0-2
GWx is definitely an horrible matchup. I've always been beaten by loxodonts, voices, hydras, Ajani... In this tournament i've been unlucky, but even with good hands i'm always in trouble. Maybe 3-4 AotG in side can be a deal... but dunno, really...
2) SECOND MATCH: Izzet Tempo
He played young pyromancer, Guttersnipe, izzet charms, and that izzet things...
Nothin' to say here. This matchup is a bye... ! I've Saved counters for young pyro, and removed everythin'. Aetherling won without problems...
Second game he started firin' me like a railgun... Fortunately i've sided in 2 pharika's cure and 2 negate, and removed 2 devour flesh. He brought me to 8, but i've never been in trouble. Aetherling won again.
2-0
3) THIRD MATCH: RDW splashed black. (just a note: this deck won against an esper control top8 list)
Basiclally it was an rdw, but he splashed black to play removals like Dreadbore, and disrupts (Cashseize - Rakdos's return - Slughter Games).
Lemme spend a few words about rdw, that for some Grixis players is seen as a nightmare...
It's not an easy MU the very first game, but not even so difficult imho! We play all we need to be safe: counters, removals... what else would u need? Life savers? We have a side for that...
First Game: pretty hard... He brought me to 12 with creatures, and then he started firin' me... He won, but not that easily...
Second and third Game: I've sided in 2 pharika's cure and 2 Crypt Incursion... I think that the best move in the entire match has been Psychic Spiral - Crypt Incursion... I've reached 40 life points xD! anyway, with 2 cures and CI, this MU becomes a joke... seriously!
2-1
4) WBr Midrange
Exactly, Obzedat, whip of erebos, Desecration Demon, and those spells...
First Game: easy game: he had a lot of removal in his hand, and he topped deck quickly... I brought a Ratchet Bomb to 4 (just in case...) and won thanks to Aetherling. Easy mu...
Second Game: He sided in 2 slaughter games and other things... He has been able to slaughter my Aetherling (it was in my hand Q_Q) and Dissolve. Damn, Dissolve! In this way he resolved a whip, with desecration and reckoner in the graveyard. Fortunately, this happened in the midgame, while i had a Sphinx in play, and psychic spiral. When i was at 2 Lp (thanks to 3 lightnin helix and 3 Magma jet) he tryed to play an obzedat. I've casted Devour flesh on the sphinx, played safely thoughtflare, and then psichic spiral. GG (yeah, i had more then 12 lands in play xD).
2-0
---
Final Thoughts...
I love EOTSAYL!
It is the perfect type of Control that i love to play: wanna play something? ok, but just if it's ok to me
Can it be competitive? Umh, dunno! 2 wincons are not enough for sure, and furthermore, Psichic spyral is both the strongest card in the deck and either the weak point- Slaughter games targettin PS hurts a lot, and changes SA from our best draw spell into our worst enemy.
I kind of want encroaching wastes but I don't think the mama base can take it. Is a side slot for land destruction worth it against shrine decks?
Probably not imo, it takes too long before encroaching wastes becomes online + you don't want to sacrifice a land since it's going to come at a higher expense to your own game-plan than it would with theirs (you're more mana-intensive than they are).
If they already have enough devotion on the field to make nykthos profitable, then encroaching wastes won't be able to pull you out of that pickle. I would focus more-so on how the game led to them being able to
trigger nykthos profitably in the first place.
Like your list a lot. What would you side in/out against aggro and control? Headed to FNM in a few days and learning how to use my sideboard is something I really need to work on. Thanks
I need to see your sideboard first and how it interacts with your game-plan, then I can totally give you some pointers
I really like your list too. I don't understand the Mizzium Mortars and Psychic Strike on the SB though...
Mizzium Mortars is the go-to blowout card for decks like gw aggro, I really hate loxodon smiter. Psychic Strike is just the easiest Hard Counter I have at my disposal with its cross-applicability against Control and MIdrange.
If I didn't plan on using a hard counter vs midrange as well then I would be playing dissolve, but a reliable t3 hard counter is pretty important against the BR midrange decks
I love EOTSAYL!
It is the perfect type of Control that i love to play: wanna play something? ok, but just if it's ok to me
Can it be competitive? Umh, dunno! 2 wincons are not enough for sure, and furthermore, Psichic spyral is both the strongest card in the deck and either the weak point- Slaughter games targettin PS hurts a lot, and changes SA from our best draw spell into our worst enemy.
I need to balance the GW mu...
Congrats man!
I have some thoughts on the GW aggro match-up and how you can tweak your deck to not lose against midrange and control at the same time, but I'm probably going to get flamed pretty bad. I would remove psychic spiral as the first step (personally).
I have some thoughts on the GW aggro match-up and how you can tweak your deck to not lose against midrange and control at the same time, but I'm probably going to get flamed pretty bad. I would remove psychic spiral as the first step (personally).
^^ well, i'm collectin' all the ideas that can be useful against GW, so that i have somethin' to try...
AotG is pretty strong, cause it exiles Voice, and this is a valuable thing.... The main reason i'm still waitin' is mana.
Actually i'm fine with my manabase, cause after all EOTSAYL is just an UB list splashed with red. This means that i can run 8 shocklands instead of 12 (playin'12 shocklands it's a suicide imho)...
AotG has 2 specific red, and i doubt that i can cast it before the 6th turn with my current mana base.
Psychic Spiral is a key card in order to play Steam Augury. SA is a suicide if i don't have something to recover a lost wincon, and the main reason i play red is SA! That's y PS is so strong: it can be both a wincon and either a way to restore your deck (and your lost keycards)...
^^ well, i'm collectin' all the ideas that can be useful against GW, so that i have somethin' to try...
AotG is pretty strong, cause it exiles Voice, and this is a valuable thing.... The main reason i'm still waitin' is mana.
Actually i'm fine with my manabase, cause after all EOTSAYL is just an UB list splashed with red. This means that i can run 8 shocklands instead of 12 (playin'12 shocklands it's a suicide imho)...
AotG has 2 specific red, and i doubt that i can cast it before the 6th turn with my current mana base.
Psychic Spiral is a key card in order to play Steam Augury. SA is a suicide if i don't have something to recover a lost wincon, and the main reason i play red is SA! That's y PS is so strong: it can be both a wincon and either a way to restore your deck (and your lost keycards)...
^^ anyway, every single idea to fight GW is welcome ^^
I've got quite a few thoughts on the matter, but time is a bit short right now. In short, I don't think you need psychic spiral for steam augury and that there is a specific game-plan and way to build the deck around it, but I can't say for sure. I need to play-test some more right now because it could totally be a fluke, but it's working out for me so far. If anyone has the time to mess around with this game-plan and give me some feedback then shoot me a PM, I feel like it could become a lot better with some more fine-tuning and I won't get enough info on my own
Sam: a demon summoning spell ? why?
Lucifer: to summon a demon (auto censorship here)
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The Wizard of Oz: A juvenile delinquent runs away from home, kills the first person she meets in a foreign land, robs her corpse, then promptly forms a gang with three complete strangers in order to kill again.
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Against GW and RDW I take out Rakdos's Return and Aetherling for Master of Waves, so far in testing it has been working out really well and am pleased with it. I can put in Ratchet Bomb and/or Cyclonic Rift depending on their cards also.
Against control I put in Slaughter Games, Thoughtseize, Gainsay depending on their cards.
I have Nightveil Specter in there, but not sure why... he just seemed to fit well with Master of Waves I guess if I decide to go the route of maximizing on Master of Waves. Plus any deck playing red, black, or blue Nightveil Specter would be decent against since we would be able to cast cards from their deck.
Without my sideboard, I feel comfortable vrsing RDW because of the Frostburn Weirds. I feel they help to some extent against GW too.
So far I am seeing Ashiok more as a punching bag for my opponent. I have not really done amazing things with Ashiok yet, but if my opponent doesn't get rid of him then I can potentially get one of their creatures. (Almost got a Stormbreath Dragon which forced my opponent to kill him)
Thassa has been doing well too. Playing Frostburn Weird, Jace, and Thassa turns her into a creature which is nice and helped against the GW MU. The scry every turn helps in finding specific answers or more counters.
All together, I have been happy playing this deck so far. It doesn't destroy everything and 2-0 all MU, but I feel as though I have answers to most threats I see. Any suggestions, questions about card choices and/or constructive comments are welcome.
@Athane,: what would you cut to add anger of the godsMD?
I don't know if i really want it in MD. If i have to play it in the 75. i'll take it in the SB probably... Anyway if i have to put it in MB i'd cut 2 Ratchet Bomb and 1 devour flesh. I'd put RB in Side, cuttin' away 1 Doom blade and 1 far away... And i'd cut the third bomb for a fourth AotG...
But if i'd apply these changes, then i'll have to change mana base too :-/... probably cuttin' one watery grave for one more blood crypt, and one island for a mountain, and maybe it's not enough... it needs several testin'...
I'm sure anyway that i don't want to play more than 8 shocks in this deck: we don't have any way to recover life loss, and 20 points are too few to let us a self shock, specially against fast aggro decks. And i'm not goin' to play gates for sure!
Everytime that i have to think about addin' mass removals into my Grixis, i always think "ok, then play esper, and u'll have better cards like Verdicts and Spheres". The main point of AotG over other removals is that it exiles creatures, and maybe i'd play it just for this (Thinkin' about voice, phoenixes, foods for the ooze, etc). That's y i'd play 1-2 copies in the MD, and 2 for side.
But hey, this is just my mind thinkin'... probably i'm totally wrong. But be sure that i'll test it (out of tournaments XD)
I'd like to know what ToG and Rjl think about this
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or I'll change it for you."
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I really like this deck and as of now i still have 1 card left to assign to the deck. I'm thinking very much about adding another Thassa, God of the Sea but also another Dreadbore is tempting.
In this deck, Thassa can act like an aetherling and sometimes do a bit more than that. I figured that as i run 2x Prognostic Sphinx and 4 Weirds as well as 3 Jace's I don't need too much for the devotion to become active.
Also thinking about upping the Jace's count to 4x if i can find someone willing to trade it away at my local shop, then probably tuning down to 2x Ashiok if I decide to do that.
My Anger of the Gods count went up to 4x maindeck as i've playtested against many things and one of the only decks that makes me wish i didn't have a playset of them in MB was control. Even Devotion decks like Big Blue is suffering from the 4x AoTG. Even though you won't hit their Master of Waves with the card, you'll hit the most important thing being the tokens.
Against big creatures like GW you can always save up your anger of Gods till you have 2x to play at the same time to deal with most of their creatures if we're really desperate
Thoughts?
-2 Swine
+2 Master of Waves
Grats your sideboard is 100% better. Seriously, Curse of the Swine is bad, even with Quicken. Please don't play it..
Just a quote from Gerry Thompson after his own experiences at the pro tour.
Gerry Thompson @G3RRYT 15 Oct
Anger of the Gods does not look great in the format. Probably cut red entirely.
Which is pretty much what we've been saying for quite some time now. I'm not discrediting the viability of Grixis as a whole but it is something to think about going forward.
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I'm starting to feel the same way.
Were you trying the Devotion list I posted?
3x Frostburn weird
2x Aetherling
Planeswalkers 5
2x Ashiok
3x Jace Aot
Spells 24
2x Syncopate
1x Izzet Charm
2x Dreadbore
1x Mizzium Mortars
2x Rakdos's Return
1x Divination
1x Read the Bones
2x Dissolve
4x Anger of the Gods
2x Heros Downfall
2x Steam Augury
1x Opportunity
4x Far//Away
4x Temple of Deceit
4x Watery Grave
4x Blood Crypt
4x Steam Vents
5x Mountain
4x Island
1x Swamp
2x Thoughtseize
2x Slaughter Games
1x Reap Intellect
2x Negate
2x Ratchet Bomb
2x Rakdos Charm
2x Counterflux
2x Mizzium Mortars
After visiting my local game store and play testing with everyone else who was testing for the event this Saturday I will also agree. They no longer do enough to warrant the card slot for me.
I played against a red black deck with demons and dragons and asphodel. And separately a Moen black devotion deck also with demons, asphodels and a whip. Both were rough. I did not win and did generally not feel in control.
I am thinking they just need to be spot removal. I still feel like Doom blade is a bit limited so if I include it I may only do 1. I am looking at replacing them with more hero's downfall and another spot removal I have not found yet. Could be warped physique or back to essence scatter.
Ratchet bomb out of the side does not seem to hit very much these days. I could be wrong here but I am not siding it in very much.
2 rakdos charms is not enough for a whip match up. I am looking to up the sb count to 3.
I will also be moving my opportunity to the side. It is not fast enough for the agro/ midrange matchups and only pays off in control from what I have seen and I end up boarding it out often.
That is 6 cards to shore up the holes. I am also finding that there are some decks that have built around anger. So I may go back to 3 main. If the wierds are spot removal this may be ok. At this point I am only bringing in mortars for blood baron and loxodon smiter, although smiter sightings have diminished recently favoring boon satyr.
No, your "Grixis Duelist" deck.
In terms of spot removal, I like Ultimate Price these days, despite not hitting some very troublesome creatures. I think a mix of Devour Flesh, Ultimate Price, Warped Physique, Hero's Downfall, Dreadbore, Far // Away and Turn // Burn is needed. Essence Scatter is obviously another option, but remember that by doing so, you make yourself weak to the GW decks that are bound to come back fairly soon.
2 jace, architect of thought
2 ashiok, nightmare weaver
4 steam augury
2 opporunity
4 dissolve
3 syncopate
2 counterflux
1 essence scatter
3 devour flesh
3 anger of the gods
2 dreadbore
4 watery grave
4 blood crypt
4 steam vents
4 temple of deceit
4 rakdos guildgate
2 izzet guildgate
2 mountain
2 island
This is where I would want to be/start if I was on grixis.
I think you're just better off with Thoughtflare instead of Opportunity. You get to cast it a turn earlier and after drawing 4 cards you can almost always afford to discard two.
Initial impressions on where it should fit
. Redundancy
. No singletons
. Mid to High Threat Density
. Works will with izzet charm since you can consistently grab extra lands
4 Spellheart Chimera
1 Aetherling
3 Jace, Architect of Thought
1 Whip of Erebos
1 Hammer of Porphuros
3 Thoughtseize
1 Rakdos's Return
2 Quicken
3 Divination
2 Dreadbore
3 Hero's Downfall
2 Doom Blade
2 Mizzium Mortars
3 Dissolve
2 Syncopate
4 Temple of Deceit
4 Watery Grave
4 Blood Crypt
4 Steam Vents
2 Izzet Guildgate
3 Island
3 Mountain
2 Swamp
1 Thoughtseize
2 Rakdos Charm
3 Gainsay
1 Mizzium Mortars
2 Dreadbore
3 Anger of the Gods
2 Slaughter Games
1 Jace Memory Adept
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=519290
This just seems like an extremely greedy approach (Dissolve, Anger of the Gods and Hero's Downfall) and with so many guildgates I doubt you'll be able to cast things in time.
One card that for me was also underperforming lately is Ashiok. At first he was awesome but now that people learned that you can simply ignore him he just lost any value he had.
I've been moving towards red black control to be honest. I was playing the superfriends variant with no counters anyway so I just cut blue off completely. With red black you can be greedy enough to play Desecration Demon, Stormbreath Dragon, Hero's Downfall, even whip has more value here along with Chandra. I simply don't see this happening in grixis.
Thanks for reminding me of the Chimera. I think I might proxy up a tempo version and do some playtesting soon. It needed another playset of creatures; maybe a few of these will help. It could also work with Thoughtflare or Steam Augury as the draw engine.
On another note, can anyone explain why Devour Flesh is being run in so many lists? Just to be a catch-all? Isn't Far // Away better at that role? Devour Flesh for me was always the most miserable removal spell to play with, except for that brief stint where Hexproof was big.
3 Prognostic Sphinx
Planeswalkers (3)
3 Jace, Architect of Thought
Instants (17)
4 Quicken
3 Izzet Charm
3 Syncopate
4 Far // Away
3 Steam Augury
Sorceries (10)
3 Dreadbore
4 Anger of the Gods
3 Rakdos's Return
4 Blood Crypt
4 Steam Vents
4 Watery Grave
4 Temple of Deceit
1 Rakdos Guildgate
7 Mountain
3 Island
4 Thoughtseize
1 Pithing Needle
3 Mizzium Mortars
3 Doom Blade
1 Crypt Incursion
2 Psychic Strike
1 Rakdos's Return
Mainly inspired by the BR midrange list at the pro tour, I wanted to adopt a similar game-plan. Against Aggro and midrange, the plan is to hold out against whatever your opponent throws at you until t5, strip their hand away with Rakdos's Return (Replacing the other win-condition slots with this) and then continue to bury them with card advantage and/or keep them locked down with the Sphinx. Against control, the plan is to get them to overextend by baiting a counter-spell and then going to town with RR. Or I can just sit on an RR until I find a quicken and keep them on their toes with that
The sphinx used to be dinrova horror because I was afraid of problem permanents such as the whip, but after play-testing a lot, the Sphinx is just a much more consistent bomb and is way more difficult to remove. Before hand, I was consistently winning against aggro and midrange but I had a helluva time against control. Then Doominus wrecked me (again) with esper control the first 2 rounds, I won the 3rd after placing in the sphinx (there was some crazy luck though and I admit that), but it seems like the sphinx made that match-up way better while still holding effectiveness against aggro/midrange.
Afterwards I won against UW Control, BR midrange (pro tour list), Mono U Devotion, and RDW.
There was a Mono R devotion deck I played against, lost game 1 and then he rage-quit g2 after I stabilized
I then lost to some kid that maindecks 4 Duress and 4 Thoughtseize
It could be a complete fluke, but I'm going to enter the next cockatrice tournament and give you guys a report.
Like your list a lot. What would you side in/out against aggro and control? Headed to FNM in a few days and learning how to use my sideboard is something I really need to work on. Thanks
Modern
Currently Playing
UW UW Control/Miracles
R Skred Red
Retired
BU Faeries
RGW Naya Burn
BW B/W Tokens
I really like your list too. I don't understand the Mizzium Mortars and Psychic Strike on the SB though...
I'm here to post a tournament report for EOTSAYL and share with u all the datas collected 'til today... but first let me say just 2 things.
1) Elmocha and Kamahl, if u don' t agree with other players, u can espress your opinion kindly, without being rude! Keep calm and polite both please, at least for respect for the other users...
2) I don't like pw in this deck, and not even Weirds... i've noticed that in the first game of the match, oppo's removals are dead cards if u don't play creatures, and this means that it's easyer to get him in top deck...
The list that i've played is more or less the one posted on page 24 by The Other Guy, but i'll post it here just for reference:
1x Aetherling
1x Prognostic Sphinx
Draw
4x Steam Augury
4x Inspiration
1x Opportunity
1x Thoughtflare
Counters
4x Dissolve
2x Essence Scatter
3x Syncopate
Removal
4x Devour Flesh
2x Far//away
1x Doomblade
2x Hero's Downfall
2x Ratchet Bomb
2x Psychic Spiral
Lands
4x Watery Grave
4x Temple of Deceit
2x Blood Crypt
2x Steam Vents
4x Shimmering Grotto
7x Island
3x Swamp
2x Pharika's Cure
2x Essence Scatter
3x Negate
1x Ratchet Bomb
2x Doom Blade
2x crypt incursion
1x Far//away
1x ultimate price
1x notion thief
That said, let's start this report:
1) FIRST MATCH: Selesnya aggro.
Game 1: i kept an hand with 5 lands, one counter and one removal... pretty stupid i know, and in fact i've flooded.
Game 2: couldn't go further the 3rd land xD. I've finished my counters, and when my oppo played the voice i conceded.
0-2
GWx is definitely an horrible matchup. I've always been beaten by loxodonts, voices, hydras, Ajani... In this tournament i've been unlucky, but even with good hands i'm always in trouble. Maybe 3-4 AotG in side can be a deal... but dunno, really...
2) SECOND MATCH: Izzet Tempo
He played young pyromancer, Guttersnipe, izzet charms, and that izzet things...
Nothin' to say here. This matchup is a bye... ! I've Saved counters for young pyro, and removed everythin'. Aetherling won without problems...
Second game he started firin' me like a railgun... Fortunately i've sided in 2 pharika's cure and 2 negate, and removed 2 devour flesh. He brought me to 8, but i've never been in trouble. Aetherling won again.
2-0
3) THIRD MATCH: RDW splashed black. (just a note: this deck won against an esper control top8 list)
Basiclally it was an rdw, but he splashed black to play removals like Dreadbore, and disrupts (Cashseize - Rakdos's return - Slughter Games).
Lemme spend a few words about rdw, that for some Grixis players is seen as a nightmare...
It's not an easy MU the very first game, but not even so difficult imho! We play all we need to be safe: counters, removals... what else would u need? Life savers? We have a side for that...
First Game: pretty hard... He brought me to 12 with creatures, and then he started firin' me... He won, but not that easily...
Second and third Game: I've sided in 2 pharika's cure and 2 Crypt Incursion... I think that the best move in the entire match has been Psychic Spiral - Crypt Incursion... I've reached 40 life points xD! anyway, with 2 cures and CI, this MU becomes a joke... seriously!
2-1
4) WBr Midrange
Exactly, Obzedat, whip of erebos, Desecration Demon, and those spells...
First Game: easy game: he had a lot of removal in his hand, and he topped deck quickly... I brought a Ratchet Bomb to 4 (just in case...) and won thanks to Aetherling. Easy mu...
Second Game: He sided in 2 slaughter games and other things... He has been able to slaughter my Aetherling (it was in my hand Q_Q) and Dissolve. Damn, Dissolve! In this way he resolved a whip, with desecration and reckoner in the graveyard. Fortunately, this happened in the midgame, while i had a Sphinx in play, and psychic spiral. When i was at 2 Lp (thanks to 3 lightnin helix and 3 Magma jet) he tryed to play an obzedat. I've casted Devour flesh on the sphinx, played safely thoughtflare, and then psichic spiral. GG (yeah, i had more then 12 lands in play xD).
2-0
---
Final Thoughts...
I love EOTSAYL!
It is the perfect type of Control that i love to play: wanna play something? ok, but just if it's ok to me
Can it be competitive? Umh, dunno! 2 wincons are not enough for sure, and furthermore, Psichic spyral is both the strongest card in the deck and either the weak point- Slaughter games targettin PS hurts a lot, and changes SA from our best draw spell into our worst enemy.
I need to balance the GW mu...
or I'll change it for you."
________________________________________
° D E C K °
Format: T1.5
- MONOBLACK CONTROL -
B.o0°*'"H"I"R"'*°0o.B
Format: Standard
- CONTROL -
UBR EOTSAYLUBR
Format: Modern
- CONTROL -
UBR CRUEL CONTROLUBR
Probably not imo, it takes too long before encroaching wastes becomes online + you don't want to sacrifice a land since it's going to come at a higher expense to your own game-plan than it would with theirs (you're more mana-intensive than they are).
If they already have enough devotion on the field to make nykthos profitable, then encroaching wastes won't be able to pull you out of that pickle. I would focus more-so on how the game led to them being able to
trigger nykthos profitably in the first place.
I need to see your sideboard first and how it interacts with your game-plan, then I can totally give you some pointers
Mizzium Mortars is the go-to blowout card for decks like gw aggro, I really hate loxodon smiter. Psychic Strike is just the easiest Hard Counter I have at my disposal with its cross-applicability against Control and MIdrange.
If I didn't plan on using a hard counter vs midrange as well then I would be playing dissolve, but a reliable t3 hard counter is pretty important against the BR midrange decks
Congrats man!
I have some thoughts on the GW aggro match-up and how you can tweak your deck to not lose against midrange and control at the same time, but I'm probably going to get flamed pretty bad. I would remove psychic spiral as the first step (personally).
^^ well, i'm collectin' all the ideas that can be useful against GW, so that i have somethin' to try...
AotG is pretty strong, cause it exiles Voice, and this is a valuable thing.... The main reason i'm still waitin' is mana.
Actually i'm fine with my manabase, cause after all EOTSAYL is just an UB list splashed with red. This means that i can run 8 shocklands instead of 12 (playin'12 shocklands it's a suicide imho)...
AotG has 2 specific red, and i doubt that i can cast it before the 6th turn with my current mana base.
I've seen Lifebane Zombie, but i'm not convinced...
Psychic Spiral is a key card in order to play Steam Augury. SA is a suicide if i don't have something to recover a lost wincon, and the main reason i play red is SA! That's y PS is so strong: it can be both a wincon and either a way to restore your deck (and your lost keycards)...
Honestly i wouldn't play SA without PS or at least Elixir of Immortality
^^ anyway, every single idea to fight GW is welcome ^^
or I'll change it for you."
________________________________________
° D E C K °
Format: T1.5
- MONOBLACK CONTROL -
B.o0°*'"H"I"R"'*°0o.B
Format: Standard
- CONTROL -
UBR EOTSAYLUBR
Format: Modern
- CONTROL -
UBR CRUEL CONTROLUBR
I've got quite a few thoughts on the matter, but time is a bit short right now. In short, I don't think you need psychic spiral for steam augury and that there is a specific game-plan and way to build the deck around it, but I can't say for sure. I need to play-test some more right now because it could totally be a fluke, but it's working out for me so far. If anyone has the time to mess around with this game-plan and give me some feedback then shoot me a PM, I feel like it could become a lot better with some more fine-tuning and I won't get enough info on my own
More on this later when I have the time
Sam: a demon summoning spell ? why?
Lucifer: to summon a demon (auto censorship here)
====
The Wizard of Oz: A juvenile delinquent runs away from home, kills the first person she meets in a foreign land, robs her corpse, then promptly forms a gang with three complete strangers in order to kill again.
====
with R i'll burn you and with B youll'be maimed
1 Aetherling
2 Thassa, God of the Sea
4 Frostburn Weird
2 Jace, Architect of Thought
2 Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver
3 Doom Blade
3 Far//Away
2 Syncopate
3 Dreadbore
4 Dissolve
3 Anger of Gods
2 Rakdos's Return
4 Temple of Deceit
4 Steam Vents
4 Watery Grave
4 Island
6 Mountain
Sideboard:
2 Thoughtseize
2 Nightveil Specter
2 Cyclonic Rift
2 Slaughter Games
3 Master of Waves
2 Ratchet Bomb
Against GW and RDW I take out Rakdos's Return and Aetherling for Master of Waves, so far in testing it has been working out really well and am pleased with it. I can put in Ratchet Bomb and/or Cyclonic Rift depending on their cards also.
Against control I put in Slaughter Games, Thoughtseize, Gainsay depending on their cards.
I have Nightveil Specter in there, but not sure why... he just seemed to fit well with Master of Waves I guess if I decide to go the route of maximizing on Master of Waves. Plus any deck playing red, black, or blue Nightveil Specter would be decent against since we would be able to cast cards from their deck.
Without my sideboard, I feel comfortable vrsing RDW because of the Frostburn Weirds. I feel they help to some extent against GW too.
So far I am seeing Ashiok more as a punching bag for my opponent. I have not really done amazing things with Ashiok yet, but if my opponent doesn't get rid of him then I can potentially get one of their creatures. (Almost got a Stormbreath Dragon which forced my opponent to kill him)
Thassa has been doing well too. Playing Frostburn Weird, Jace, and Thassa turns her into a creature which is nice and helped against the GW MU. The scry every turn helps in finding specific answers or more counters.
All together, I have been happy playing this deck so far. It doesn't destroy everything and 2-0 all MU, but I feel as though I have answers to most threats I see. Any suggestions, questions about card choices and/or constructive comments are welcome.
I don't know if i really want it in MD. If i have to play it in the 75. i'll take it in the SB probably... Anyway if i have to put it in MB i'd cut 2 Ratchet Bomb and 1 devour flesh. I'd put RB in Side, cuttin' away 1 Doom blade and 1 far away... And i'd cut the third bomb for a fourth AotG...
But if i'd apply these changes, then i'll have to change mana base too :-/... probably cuttin' one watery grave for one more blood crypt, and one island for a mountain, and maybe it's not enough... it needs several testin'...
I'm sure anyway that i don't want to play more than 8 shocks in this deck: we don't have any way to recover life loss, and 20 points are too few to let us a self shock, specially against fast aggro decks. And i'm not goin' to play gates for sure!
Everytime that i have to think about addin' mass removals into my Grixis, i always think "ok, then play esper, and u'll have better cards like Verdicts and Spheres". The main point of AotG over other removals is that it exiles creatures, and maybe i'd play it just for this (Thinkin' about voice, phoenixes, foods for the ooze, etc). That's y i'd play 1-2 copies in the MD, and 2 for side.
But hey, this is just my mind thinkin'... probably i'm totally wrong. But be sure that i'll test it (out of tournaments XD)
I'd like to know what ToG and Rjl think about this
or I'll change it for you."
________________________________________
° D E C K °
Format: T1.5
- MONOBLACK CONTROL -
B.o0°*'"H"I"R"'*°0o.B
Format: Standard
- CONTROL -
UBR EOTSAYLUBR
Format: Modern
- CONTROL -
UBR CRUEL CONTROLUBR
-2 Swine
+2 Master of Waves
Grats your sideboard is 100% better. Seriously, Curse of the Swine is bad, even with Quicken. Please don't play it..
Which is pretty much what we've been saying for quite some time now. I'm not discrediting the viability of Grixis as a whole but it is something to think about going forward.