Hey guys, I've been playing this list lately. This is a copy and paste from Modern MTG Reddit. I will add; I think the deck is great but there needs to be at least some counters in the main to not strait up loose to twin. Dispel seems to be best as you can go removal with dispel up vs. a flashed in twin target. It also hits CoCo, Kommand, and Cryptic. I run 1 snare in the main because there are a lot of Affinity decks in my meta. Well, here is the write up!
Decklist:
4 Jace Vryn's Prodigy
4 Snapcaster Mage
2 Pia and Kirian Nalaar
2 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
1 Gurmag Angler
3 Terminate
1 Go for the Throat
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Kolaghan's Command
4 Serum Visions
2 Thought Scour
3 Inquisition
1 Thoughtseize
2 Liliana of the Veil
2 Dispel
1 Spell Snare
2 Steam Vents
1 Watery Grace
1 Blood Crypt
1 Sulfur Falls
2 Creeping Tar pit
2 Blackcleave Cliffs
2 Island
1 Swamp
1 Mountain
2 Scalding Tarn
4 Polluted Delta
2 Bloodstained Mire
Sideboard:
1 Glen Elendra Archmage
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Dispel
1 Thoughtseize
1 Languish
2 Pyroclasm
1 Rending Volly
1 Vandelblast
1 Magus of the Moon
2 Stone Rain
1 Spellskite
2 Vampric Link
I thought I would throw this list out there for folks wanting to try a different variant of Grixis that has shown some decent results. I didn't take play by play notes, but I'll go through the match ups and how the games went, then recap with thoughts on the deck going forward. I was playing in Portland, OR and we have a pretty diverse, skilled, and healthy modern scene here.
Match 1 vs UWR
Game 1:
First few turns he fetched for a hollowed fountain and steam vents so I put him on some UWR variant. Wasn't sure if it was control or Geist or... Had a turn 2 Tasigur, but waited until I could Inquisition and hold up a dispel. Ended up he was on a Geist Pyromancer build and we traded removal spells and counters with me eventually killing him with a tar pits at 2 life myself facing down 3 elemental tokens.
Game 2:
Side in dispel, Glen elendra, and Thoughtseize. Take out 2 scours and go with 61. I am able to take his path with a turn 1 Inquisition leaving just a Cryptic and 5 lands. Take the cryptic with a turn 2 Thoughtseize and proceed to drop a delve threat backed up with dispel and snap thoughtseize on the following turns.
Match 2 vs Grixis Control
Game 1:
Thought I was playing Twin and always left mana up to bluff removal and/or counters. We fought over delve threats and I eventually landed one with him drawing just counters after that.
Game 2: Still thinking I might be playing twin and sided in the Rending Volly, Glen Elendra, Dispel, and Thoughtseize. Took out 2 Bolts and 2 Thoughtscours. He lands a turn 2 Angler. we fight over it for a few turns, but I am able to snap block bolt dispel his mana leak. I resolve a Pia and Kirian and he draws reactive spells. Beats.
Match 3 Mono Blue Merfolk
Game 1: Opponent mulls to 5 with a turn 1 vial. I am able to bolt his turn 2 play with no Cursecatcher vialed in. Drop jace on my turn 2 and am able to remove all his threats, and blow up vial plus discard him to no cards with Kommand. Kill him with an Angler.
Game 2: Side in pyroclasms, languish, rending volly, and EE. Side out thoughtscours and Pia and Kirian. Go with 61 on the draw again. Super grindy game. Trade removal with lords and block some Mutavaults with Snapcaster. Jace + is very good to break Kiria's bubble. Was at 1 life for a lot of turns with a Angler to block the 1 threat he was able to play. Eventually he gets 2 non lord fishes to stick and dismembers my angler. I land a Tasigur with tar pits to block plus a removal spell for a island walk lord. Languish off the top seals it and I am able to attack in for a few turns for the win.
Match 4 vs Junk
Game 1: Loose the die roll and get my hand ripped apart, Lilly + and lingering souls out of the game. Got creamed.
Game 2: Side out all the hand disruption and lilly, but screw up and leave in bolts. Side in Glen Elentra, EE, Pyroclasm, and Languish. Get wrecked by souls again.
Match 5 vs Bant Zoo
Game 1: On the play I am able to bolt the birds, inquisition away a voice, drop jace, and then drop an angler with dispel for the path. He plays Geist, but I happen to draw a Lilly and -2.
Game 2: Side in the dispel, Glen Elendra, Pyroclams, and Languish. Side out the thoughtscours and Pia and Kirian, go with 61 again. Opponent mulls to 6 and has no turn 1 dork. I am able to get him with hand disruption and a delve threat with dispel backup.
Match 6 vs Junk
Opponent is 4-0-1 and could draw into top 8. My breakers are great and it seems I could as well, but he wants to get a higher seed because it looks like there is an infect list in top 8. I offer the draw, but declined.
Game 1: I am able to race with a turn 2 Gurmaturg and dispel for the path. He is able to play a souls but I had a jace to bolt jace bolt his blockers and he has to chump with all the threats he is able to deploy. Close game but I get there.
Game 2: Offer to draw but he declines again. Side in 2 Stone rain, Magus of the Moon, Glen Elendra, EE, Pyroclasm, Languish. Side out 4 bolts and 2 lilly and 2 scouts. He leads off with inquisition into thoughtseize taking Magus and a jace. He gets stuck on swamp, temple garden, and urborg. I thoughtseize to take a goyf with the rest of his hand being bob, path, and decay. Proceed to stone rain the temple and play tarpit. He is able to resolve bob but I keep getting in with tarpit. Eventually he flips Rhino off bob to kill himself.
Top 8
Match 1 vs Abzan CoCo
Game 1: I'm ranked 1st and take the play. Inquisition his voice, bolt the bird, and kill everything on site. Get there with a Tasigur through multiple finks.
Game 2: About the same. Discard plus removal plus Jace.
Match 2 vs Junk
Game 1: Playing against my only loss so far. Close game but he gets there off souls at very low life.
Game 2: He mulls to 6 but starts with a Leyline of the Void. I inquisition and he has 2 oozes. I just have a jace and lands including the tar pits. We both draw crap and I am able to hard cast a Tasigur, but eventually die to a lilly plus souls. Opponent is super rad and we don't report top 4 split prizes and the other match is Tron vs Junk. He feels his Tron match up is awful and I would have a better chance. Ends up Tron looses and opponent goes on to win.
All in all it was a super fun deck to play. I've been tuning the list for about two months now and it feels great. I think the deck needs to have some, but very few one mana counters. It would otherwise be weak to twin when they are holding dispel for the removal on a flashed in twin piece on turn 4 plus CoCo is a beating without dispel. The deck sees so many cards over a game that only having 2-3 dispels seems fine, plus they can be looted away with Jace. Speaking of Jace, he's the real all star of the deck. It's nice to have a turn 2 play that can run away with the game. Sure he gets bolted/terminated/pathed/etc but that lets the deck play a followup delve threat and/or Kommand it back for value. Pia and Kirian were also amazing. When your in an attrition war it is nice to have something that still leaves a lot of value even if they snap bolt it. If they stick its potentially an 8 point life swing in 1 turn (4 on attacking and 4 on sacing). Plus they are able to mop up x/1's and x/2s. Aaaaand Kommand them back. Value town.
Anyways, thanks for reading this rambly post. Hope it was helpful!
Wahoo Grixis! Mr.T
edit Oooops. Guess I got 4th. We split prizes in top 4 and I headed home before the finals were over. Anyways, heres the scg link. Looks like they just labled it "jund" heh.
Decklist:
4 Jace Vryn's Prodigy
4 Snapcaster Mage
2 Pia and Kirian Nalaar
2 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
1 Gurmag Angler
3 Terminate
1 Go for the Throat
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Kolaghan's Command
4 Serum Visions
2 Thought Scour
3 Inquisition
1 Thoughtseize
2 Liliana of the Veil
2 Dispel
1 Spell Snare
2 Steam Vents
1 Watery Grace
1 Blood Crypt
1 Sulfur Falls
2 Creeping Tar pit
2 Blackcleave Cliffs
2 Island
1 Swamp
1 Mountain
2 Scalding Tarn
4 Polluted Delta
2 Bloodstained Mire
Sideboard:
1 Glen Elendra Archmage
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Dispel
1 Thoughtseize
1 Languish
2 Pyroclasm
1 Rending Volly
1 Vandelblast
1 Magus of the Moon
2 Stone Rain
1 Spellskite
2 Vampric Link
I thought I would throw this list out there for folks wanting to try a different variant of Grixis that has shown some decent results. I didn't take play by play notes, but I'll go through the match ups and how the games went, then recap with thoughts on the deck going forward. I was playing in Portland, OR and we have a pretty diverse, skilled, and healthy modern scene here.
Match 1 vs UWR
Game 1:
First few turns he fetched for a hollowed fountain and steam vents so I put him on some UWR variant. Wasn't sure if it was control or Geist or... Had a turn 2 Tasigur, but waited until I could Inquisition and hold up a dispel. Ended up he was on a Geist Pyromancer build and we traded removal spells and counters with me eventually killing him with a tar pits at 2 life myself facing down 3 elemental tokens.
Game 2:
Side in dispel, Glen elendra, and Thoughtseize. Take out 2 scours and go with 61. I am able to take his path with a turn 1 Inquisition leaving just a Cryptic and 5 lands. Take the cryptic with a turn 2 Thoughtseize and proceed to drop a delve threat backed up with dispel and snap thoughtseize on the following turns.
Match 2 vs Grixis Control
Game 1:
Thought I was playing Twin and always left mana up to bluff removal and/or counters. We fought over delve threats and I eventually landed one with him drawing just counters after that.
Game 2: Still thinking I might be playing twin and sided in the Rending Volly, Glen Elendra, Dispel, and Thoughtseize. Took out 2 Bolts and 2 Thoughtscours. He lands a turn 2 Angler. we fight over it for a few turns, but I am able to snap block bolt dispel his mana leak. I resolve a Pia and Kirian and he draws reactive spells. Beats.
Match 3 Mono Blue Merfolk
Game 1: Opponent mulls to 5 with a turn 1 vial. I am able to bolt his turn 2 play with no Cursecatcher vialed in. Drop jace on my turn 2 and am able to remove all his threats, and blow up vial plus discard him to no cards with Kommand. Kill him with an Angler.
Game 2: Side in pyroclasms, languish, rending volly, and EE. Side out thoughtscours and Pia and Kirian. Go with 61 on the draw again. Super grindy game. Trade removal with lords and block some Mutavaults with Snapcaster. Jace + is very good to break Kiria's bubble. Was at 1 life for a lot of turns with a Angler to block the 1 threat he was able to play. Eventually he gets 2 non lord fishes to stick and dismembers my angler. I land a Tasigur with tar pits to block plus a removal spell for a island walk lord. Languish off the top seals it and I am able to attack in for a few turns for the win.
Match 4 vs Junk
Game 1: Loose the die roll and get my hand ripped apart, Lilly + and lingering souls out of the game. Got creamed.
Game 2: Side out all the hand disruption and lilly, but screw up and leave in bolts. Side in Glen Elentra, EE, Pyroclasm, and Languish. Get wrecked by souls again.
Match 5 vs Bant Zoo
Game 1: On the play I am able to bolt the birds, inquisition away a voice, drop jace, and then drop an angler with dispel for the path. He plays Geist, but I happen to draw a Lilly and -2.
Game 2: Side in the dispel, Glen Elendra, Pyroclams, and Languish. Side out the thoughtscours and Pia and Kirian, go with 61 again. Opponent mulls to 6 and has no turn 1 dork. I am able to get him with hand disruption and a delve threat with dispel backup.
Match 6 vs Junk
Opponent is 4-0-1 and could draw into top 8. My breakers are great and it seems I could as well, but he wants to get a higher seed because it looks like there is an infect list in top 8. I offer the draw, but declined.
Game 1: I am able to race with a turn 2 Gurmaturg and dispel for the path. He is able to play a souls but I had a jace to bolt jace bolt his blockers and he has to chump with all the threats he is able to deploy. Close game but I get there.
Game 2: Offer to draw but he declines again. Side in 2 Stone rain, Magus of the Moon, Glen Elendra, EE, Pyroclasm, Languish. Side out 4 bolts and 2 lilly and 2 scouts. He leads off with inquisition into thoughtseize taking Magus and a jace. He gets stuck on swamp, temple garden, and urborg. I thoughtseize to take a goyf with the rest of his hand being bob, path, and decay. Proceed to stone rain the temple and play tarpit. He is able to resolve bob but I keep getting in with tarpit. Eventually he flips Rhino off bob to kill himself.
Top 8
Match 1 vs Abzan CoCo
Game 1: I'm ranked 1st and take the play. Inquisition his voice, bolt the bird, and kill everything on site. Get there with a Tasigur through multiple finks.
Game 2: About the same. Discard plus removal plus Jace.
Match 2 vs Junk
Game 1: Playing against my only loss so far. Close game but he gets there off souls at very low life.
Game 2: He mulls to 6 but starts with a Leyline of the Void. I inquisition and he has 2 oozes. I just have a jace and lands including the tar pits. We both draw crap and I am able to hard cast a Tasigur, but eventually die to a lilly plus souls. Opponent is super rad and we don't report top 4 split prizes and the other match is Tron vs Junk. He feels his Tron match up is awful and I would have a better chance. Ends up Tron looses and opponent goes on to win.
All in all it was a super fun deck to play. I've been tuning the list for about two months now and it feels great. I think the deck needs to have some, but very few one mana counters. It would otherwise be weak to twin when they are holding dispel for the removal on a flashed in twin piece on turn 4 plus CoCo is a beating without dispel. The deck sees so many cards over a game that only having 2-3 dispels seems fine, plus they can be looted away with Jace. Speaking of Jace, he's the real all star of the deck. It's nice to have a turn 2 play that can run away with the game. Sure he gets bolted/terminated/pathed/etc but that lets the deck play a followup delve threat and/or Kommand it back for value. Pia and Kirian were also amazing. When your in an attrition war it is nice to have something that still leaves a lot of value even if they snap bolt it. If they stick its potentially an 8 point life swing in 1 turn (4 on attacking and 4 on sacing). Plus they are able to mop up x/1's and x/2s. Aaaaand Kommand them back. Value town.
Anyways, thanks for reading this rambly post. Hope it was helpful!
Wahoo Grixis! Mr.T
edit Oooops. Guess I got 4th. We split prizes in top 4 and I headed home before the finals were over. Anyways, heres the scg link. Looks like they just labled it "jund" heh.