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I've wanted to build a Grixis control deck for a while now because I feel it has the most control and the best ability to deal damage.A lot of ideas I have for this deck came from these two:http://www.mtgvault.com/swerveking/decks/grixis-mantle/http://www.mtgvault.com/killjoysj3/decks/grixis-control-2/
I really like the idea of stealing my opponents cards and using them for myself. Ashiok, Nightveil Specter, and Psychic Intrusion do this very well. Other cards either put them in the grave (where I can still steal them) or exile them outright, which is okay with me.I would have put in Hero's Downfall, but I don't like having two of any one color in a casting cost, so I went with Dreadbore instead.Thougtseize easily gets rid of kill cards, planewalkers, etc. It'll also allow me to see their hand and let me steal from them as well.I would really appreciate some feedback. Thanks!
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Interesting. Not quite sure about the deck as is but I think it has some potential.Some immediate changes I would think to try out would be:24(maybe even 25) land not 23, also try to get 2(or 3 if you go to 25) temple of deceit. The scry lands are actually really quite nice and effective.Hero's Downfall, not a card to ignore at all, the instant speed planeswalker removal and creature removal makes the card a powerhouse of a kill spell. Better yet it can target things that Doom Blade can'tSlaughter Games should be sideboard no question. You may see a big threat come out, kill it and then be able to slaughter games but in general it's better once you have an idea of what your opponent is playing and then being able to sideboard into that answer instead of maindeck where it can play dead fish.Similar issue with Reap Intellect as to Slaughter Games. The fact is that you could very well top deck it when your opponent has no cards in hand, or at least no good cards for targeting. It is too slow and makes too slight an impact, even worse is that it makes no impact on the board state. You'd rather have threats and answers can top decking "fun" cards that really end up as "do-nothings".Psychic Intrusion is another card I'm just not really feeling. It's interesting and all but this is yet another one of the cards that can make too small of an impact on the game. If your behind on the board and play this your still behind until you can untap play the card from your opponent and hope that it makes such a large impact that you have effectively stabilized the board in most cases there aren't going to be many cards that will do that well. Supreme Verdict against Esper, they won't care, Sphinx's Rev ehh that is decent but you could still be setting yourself up for 2 turns of tapping out with such a small impact that your allowing that opponent to gain tempo, even still Sphinx's Rev against a deck that plays them could be setting yourself into a trap of getting counterspelled. Syncopate, decent card though I think there are better counter-spells to try running such as counterflux for grixis; the uncounterable is quite nice. Dissolve letting you scry away unneeded cards is also very nice. Psychic Strike, depending on how much you rebuild if you do at all could make a decent impact.Spellheart Chimera as interesting as it can be it is also just too weak as far as I can tell. It dies to a ton of removal and then to boot it doesn't even attack for too much. You can fill your grave pretty well with instant and sorcery cards but not fast enough for Chimera to make a solid impact on curve. You'd be better off with a larger stronger creature in this kind of a control deck, Aetherling is very strong and nearly impossible to kill.A few cards I think you would have an issue against. Gods, you don't really have any way to deal with them. While not many decks do have a really good answer it is still worth considering some of the options you have open to you that can get to them. Such as far//away and turn//burn (this one in particular). Blood Baron can run in the same vein however each of those removal spells can deal with him effectively. Obzedat, again if you go with either of these removal you have an answer but other good one aforementioned is the Hero's Downfall. That removal can also help deal with opposing Ashiok, Elspeth, Jace, Xenagos, Domri all of which are seeing some decent play.While I'm probably pushing against the kind of rogue brew and towards what I would think of as kind of "core" grixis control right now I think you will be much better off in this manner than what you currently have set up.Here is an idea I came up with to give the deck more synergy.http://www.mtgvault.com/snakerunners/decks/theros-grixis-control/Frost Burn+Nightveil+Jace all have decent devotion to Thassa to make her into a creature. A 5/5 indestructible, scry 1 every turn, make creature unblockable, is a really solid card to have; especially for what the deck is trying to do. The aim isn't per say to get devotion to thassa, though it would be nice, but to get her out and use her ability to get Master of Cruelties unblockable so he is guarenteed to get in for that ability. Then you have a couple of finishers, any other creature with unblockable will get the job done along with a few other spells. Rakdos's return which also has some other versatility as a control card can finish the game; then there is turn // burn which can deal with a few annoyances such as gods, blood baron, and obzedat, also burn can hit a player for the last 2 points of damage if need be. Lightning Strike is still here mostly as a finisher but it can deal with a few creatures. The reason I didn't add more is because of the fact that it doesn't do quite as much as some other cards in the deck. Anger of the Gods, while it doesn't do the absolute best job actually could be very important here because a few of the creatures survive notable the important 1 and then the back-up almost "wall" Frostburn weird which does slow down a few decks and provide decent devotion to Thassa. He can be pretty key here in a few ways.I doubt my land is perfect because I put the entire deck together in all of 5 minutes, this also goes for the sideboard. There are a few cards I know belong, then a few filler cards that I thought could be handy. J.Memory can be good against control trying to just stall them out while milling them to death. Pithing Needle is good against a few planeswalkers and Aetherling, planeswalkers shouldn't be a real big issue but again this is one of those slightly "filler" cards. Slaughter Games like I said is solid in side. Thoughtseize is a good answer to some decks but I couldn't really find good room in mainboard for the card while sideboard it is really good anyways. Negate against more spell heavy decks like control. Far // Away just a different removal option, same for doom blade and hero's downfall as extras in side, just incase you need more removal for a specific match-up. Something I didn't focus on was card draw but with scry it may not be a huge issue.
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Thank you for such an in-depth response.I'll increase the lands for sure. I want land and I'll need plenty of it hahaI didn't ignore Hero's Downfall at all. I almost put it in. I decided not to because of the two black in the cost. In my opinion, two of one color in the cost is too much of a burden. Dreadbore does the same thing (even though it's sorcery speed, I know) but it costs one less and doesn't cost two of one color. It can also target the same things Hero's Downfall can. I could probably switch out Doom Blade with something else.Yeah, Slaughter Games and Reap Intellect can definitely be sideboarded.I can see what you mean about Psychic Intrusion. You're right; by the time I would be able to even cast that card, my opponent probably won't have many cards in their hand. They might not even have many in their graveyard and it wouldn't be worth it for how much it costs to cast.Counterflux is definitely nice and I seriously considered it as well, but again, it has a mandatory cost of two blue and one red. If I don't have that combination, it's a dead card. With the good combination of mana this deck has, not having blue or red may not happen very often, but if it does, it's completely useless. At least with Syncopate I only need one blue and can use any color, plus it gets exiled. I think I'll stick with it.I can definitely see Aetherling being a replacement for the Spellheart Chimera. I don't like the mandatory two blue, but if it's that late in the game, I SHOULD have at least two blue mana on hand.Far // Away and Turn // Burn are great ideas to deal with gods and/or anything that indestructible. Great suggestions... thank you.I really want to add Jace, Architect of Thought. He would be an excellent addition. I think he works well with Ashiok.Thassa with Master of Cruelties is brilliant!Frostburn Weird is not a bad idea... plus it would survive Anger of the Gods. I think I'll make room for it.Yeah, I don't think card drawing will be that important. If you have the Scry lands, then you should be fine. I'll make sure to throw some in here, too.Snakerunners, thank you so much for taking the time to make such a detailed response. It's very helpful and is very appreciated!
Absolutely. This is more or less what I do, I'll pick a few decks or posts on here or reddit that are magic related and put in my "two cents" about it and usually end up kind of lengthy and in-depth posts. I spend probably too much time thinking about MTG and various decks what strengths they have and what weaknesses etc.I understand the concern for double black. My main deck as of current is a B/W Midrange (won me game day) and even still in just 2 color I was having trouble a few times to balance double black and double whites. Even still the card is immensely powerful and there are times where you'll be kicking yourself if your holding sorcery speed removal vs instant speed.Counterflux is a similar situation. Where double blue can be an issue but honestly the overload could really make the difference. I could see to Syncopates working out possibly but really keep an eye on there performance. Take some mental notes of how the card performed, was it countered, could opponents just pay their way out of it and then did you lose because of tempo loss due to them getting around that counter. AKA use it but really keep in mind other options you have (counterflux, dissolve, negate, cancel *not over dissolve though*).ætherling as far as being problematic, you need to have at least 4 blue when you play him. PLEASE KEEP THAT IN MIND, I don't mean to question your skill as a player or anything but I'm making sure you don't have to learn the hard way if you haven't æetherling is best if you can play him out when you have 8 mana instead of 6, you want to keep up that extra two (blue) so you can exile him to dodge removal, and then the second is extra back-up in-case you have the issue of Opp: "Doom blade ætherling"You: "Exile in response"Opp: "doom blade (2) in response to exile"Now if you have that second blueYou "exile in response to doom blade (2)"Or not--You: "yeah you got him"Anyways thank you for responded to and appreciating my feedback, I wish you the best of luck with the deck.
Snakerunners has deleted this comment.
nice deck :)
Alright. Everyone interested, I made a new Grixis deck taking a lot of advice from Snakerunners.http://www.mtgvault.com/scottymandingo/decks/standard-grixis-control-2/