I spent a lot of time looking at various sideboard lists for grixis twin decks, and while threat #2 in the SB varies a lot, most of the top decks are running Kerano's. He's essentially drawing you an extra card a turn, and even if that card is sometimes a lightning bolt, in a deck that can play a tempo beatdown game, that's surprisingly good. I'm hesitant to call Cryptic a good answer to that, because if they resolved the Keranos, you're likely tapped out, and so you likely have to spend your whole next turn bouncing it back, and they get to jam it out again the next turn. I feel like being able to find a way to beat the "I resolved Keranos, I'm 90% favored to win" symmetry in the mirror would be really good. I don't know if it exists though.
As an aside, I did beat Keranos once with an Olivia/Spellskite duo. I really want to find space for a second Spellskite in the side because I feel like I bring it in for almost every matchup. I think it pairs well with a proactive discard strategy too since it lets you keep tapping out while still being able to answer certain spells.
Something like 6 matches tonight, and feeling much better going URb.
1 the discard did very little, I think it's gotta go sideboard at best.
2 the Cryptics (2) main board where clutch any game I didn't win on turn 4.
3 Dropped to a single Kolaghan's Command main, and another in the board.
4 Tasigur (2) went side, come in for grindy/control games if needed.
5 Anger of the Gods (2) out of the board saved me against boggles and sisters.
6 Keranos wins games against Grixis anything.
7 Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver would have won me the last match I played but I got cute and forgot to mill once. Then ran out of time.
1. Discard for me has been mixed as well, but I think overall it's worked well. There are games where you get to snag the one non-redundant piece from your opponents hand T1 (be that cantrip, removal, threat). That said, discard is always going to be weak to a right topdeck. I was playing against a Restore Balance deck, and discarded an Ardent Plea only to have them rip one off the top and Armageddon me anyway. Counters hedge better against topdecks, but I think the reward is enough to justify the risks. T1 IoK with T3 Snap+IoK is great. The information is also invaluable.
2. I've been running 0-1, but I have to agree that G1 I find myself in spots where I'd want a cryptic. Postboard though I find myself wanting them a lot less.
4. Tasigur's been helpful with the discard heavy lists since you can preemptively strip answers while fueling delve, but otherwise he has been pretty average.
5. It also is great against Dredgevine! I'm curious though, wouldn't boggles/sisters creatures get out of 3 toughness range fairly fast?
6. I've been running up against a lot of Twin mirrors, and I'm wondering if there's any useful sideboard tech against a resolved Keranos here. It doesn't seem like Grixis colors has anything that exiles enchantments though.
7. I'll have to try her out. She seems like a great threat in the mirror where there aren't really any ways to kill a planeswalker efficiently, and she's low cost enough that she can you find a turn to sneak her in under permission.
I recently built this deck on MTGO to play in the modern leagues with. So far I've been doing average (3-2 all 3 times). I've been playing around with different iterations of the main deck, and they all feel quite good, but I've seen a lot of variance in sideboards, which has been causing me some trouble.
Firstly, I've noticed most sideboards lack graveyard hate. Are there simply not enough relevant strategies to dedicate slots, or are we just trying to combo before they get online?
I'm currently running Blood Moon (1 main 1 side) but I've had mixed results. I've noticed some lists aren't running any at all. It also causes a lot of awkward situations for my own spells even when I land it in a decent spot. In what matchups are blood moon worth the sideboard slots? It also seems to be on people's radar a lot of the time, so maybe it's just not good right now for the meta? It could also be my list is leaning heavier on B than lists that have blood moon, creating more awkwardness.
Last thing, what's the best sideboard plan for control decks? Current I'm sideboarding out most of the combo for the control cards, but I haven't had much success with that, and to me that feels weird because at the end of the day they're going to be the better control deck. Should I instead be just focusing on comboing off ASAP and just bring in more protection?
Decklist for reference (Strands are a price concession, though I own physical tarns if I ever need to take it to an event):
As an aside, I did beat Keranos once with an Olivia/Spellskite duo. I really want to find space for a second Spellskite in the side because I feel like I bring it in for almost every matchup. I think it pairs well with a proactive discard strategy too since it lets you keep tapping out while still being able to answer certain spells.
Not exactly sure what you meant, but I'm currently on 3 Remand, 1 Snare, 1 Dispel, 1 Cryptic, with 2 Dispel, 1 Glen Elendra, 1 Negate in the side.
1. Discard for me has been mixed as well, but I think overall it's worked well. There are games where you get to snag the one non-redundant piece from your opponents hand T1 (be that cantrip, removal, threat). That said, discard is always going to be weak to a right topdeck. I was playing against a Restore Balance deck, and discarded an Ardent Plea only to have them rip one off the top and Armageddon me anyway. Counters hedge better against topdecks, but I think the reward is enough to justify the risks. T1 IoK with T3 Snap+IoK is great. The information is also invaluable.
2. I've been running 0-1, but I have to agree that G1 I find myself in spots where I'd want a cryptic. Postboard though I find myself wanting them a lot less.
4. Tasigur's been helpful with the discard heavy lists since you can preemptively strip answers while fueling delve, but otherwise he has been pretty average.
5. It also is great against Dredgevine! I'm curious though, wouldn't boggles/sisters creatures get out of 3 toughness range fairly fast?
6. I've been running up against a lot of Twin mirrors, and I'm wondering if there's any useful sideboard tech against a resolved Keranos here. It doesn't seem like Grixis colors has anything that exiles enchantments though.
7. I'll have to try her out. She seems like a great threat in the mirror where there aren't really any ways to kill a planeswalker efficiently, and she's low cost enough that she can you find a turn to sneak her in under permission.
I recently built this deck on MTGO to play in the modern leagues with. So far I've been doing average (3-2 all 3 times). I've been playing around with different iterations of the main deck, and they all feel quite good, but I've seen a lot of variance in sideboards, which has been causing me some trouble.
Firstly, I've noticed most sideboards lack graveyard hate. Are there simply not enough relevant strategies to dedicate slots, or are we just trying to combo before they get online?
I'm currently running Blood Moon (1 main 1 side) but I've had mixed results. I've noticed some lists aren't running any at all. It also causes a lot of awkward situations for my own spells even when I land it in a decent spot. In what matchups are blood moon worth the sideboard slots? It also seems to be on people's radar a lot of the time, so maybe it's just not good right now for the meta? It could also be my list is leaning heavier on B than lists that have blood moon, creating more awkwardness.
Last thing, what's the best sideboard plan for control decks? Current I'm sideboarding out most of the combo for the control cards, but I haven't had much success with that, and to me that feels weird because at the end of the day they're going to be the better control deck. Should I instead be just focusing on comboing off ASAP and just bring in more protection?
Decklist for reference (Strands are a price concession, though I own physical tarns if I ever need to take it to an event):
3 Island
1 Mountain
1 Swamp
4 Polluted Delta
3 Flooded Strand
2 Bloodstained Mire
3 Steam Vents
2 Sulfur Falls
1 Blood Crypt
1 Watery Grave
1 Darkslick Shores
1 Desolate Lighthouse
Creatures (13)
4 Deceiver Exarch
1 Pestermite
4 Snapcaster Mage
2 Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
2 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
3 Splinter Twin
4 Serum Visions
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Terminate
2 Kolaghan's Command
2 Remand
1 Dispel
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
1 Thoughtseize
1 Blood Moon
1 Cryptic Command
2 Dispel
2 Anger of the gods
1 Spellskite
1 Keranos, God of Storms
1 Olivia Voldaren
1 Blood Moon
1 Murderous Cut
1 Tribute to hunger
1 Mulldrifter
1 Glen elendra archmage
1 Negate
1 Grim Lavamancer
1 Go for the throat