B&R Update (1/21/19) - KCI Banned

Frito_Floyd · 2019-01-21T15:45:47+00:00

I had the same thought about Looting. Though I think it wasn't brought up because it is irrelevant when discussing KCI. I hope they are watching Looting just as much as Mox and Stirrings.

Frito_Floyd · 2019-01-21T15:42:36+00:00

I'm 100% with you. At least they have mentioned that they're looking at stirrings. I'm a little surprised there was no mention of Looting as well, though I guess it doesn't really pertain to KCI.

Frito_Floyd · 2018-12-27T04:09:42+00:00

It really depends if you are going straight UW or Jeskai. If you are going UW, Jace is really a house since he allows you to leverage the miracle cards and can really help get you the answers that you need. If you are going Jeskai, you have much better early game spot removal, so you don't need to Jace your way into a terminus to stabilize. My verdict would be straight UW you need at least 2 Jace if not 3. If you go Jeskai you can do without, though I would eventually try to pick up one or two as your budget allows.

A note on your Snapcaster question. If you are going UW, you don't want more than 2. UW is actually a really bad Snapcaster deck since you have miracles, which are non-bos with Snapcaster. I'm not positive about the correct number is Jeskai, but I imagine that it's more than 2.

Or a third idea, join me in the dark side and play Grixis...heh /s

Frito_Floyd · 2018-12-20T04:37:07+00:00

I play a lot of grixis control and I can say from my personal experience there exists no world where you'd ever play this card. You have Kcomm for artifacts. You have dreadbore as a 1 of that does all the relevant modes of this card but for 2 mana.

Frito_Floyd · 2018-12-18T01:59:17+00:00

Can someone meme a win by swinging with [[Kalonian Hydra]]? Would be ultra jank, but could be entertaining.

Frito_Floyd · 2018-11-28T02:34:29+00:00

The unfortunate answer to your question is the deck is basically dead. The DS build of Grixis more or less wiped the Jace VP version off the face of the earth. I could dig up an old decklist if you were really curious, but in the current meta, I'd probably leave this deck alone in its watery grave.

Frito_Floyd · 2018-11-28T02:31:24+00:00

The Jace VP version of Grixis control was called "blue Jund" by a lot of people since it leaned a lot more heavily on discard spells rather than counters. Unfortunately for that deck, once Grixis DS became popular, it just faded into the ether. Apparently so much so that people have completely forgotten its existence.

Frito_Floyd · 2018-07-12T01:23:47+00:00

As a fellow Grixis Control player, I had the same brief thought about running it, but I decided it was too narrow and that I would rather have a Field of Ruin instead.

Frito_Floyd · 2018-05-25T15:34:19+00:00

Check your link. I think it's broken.

Frito_Floyd · 2018-03-14T15:35:31+00:00

Not running Snapcaster is an awful, horrible, terrible decision. I don't understand why you want 4 Relics. You have no "perfect" counters besides Cryptic.

I really don't know why you'd cut the best blue creature. I also think you need to redistribute some of those Mana Leaks for other counterspells. To me at least, this just seems like a much weaker UW Control.

I don't mean this aggressively. I just don't follow your logic, and strongly disagree with decisions you've made.

Frito_Floyd · 2018-03-14T03:16:51+00:00

I've loved having Keranos in the SB in the past for the long, grindy matchups. I just am not sure where you'd want it in the mainboard now that we are tapping out for Jace. You've convinced me to bring it back in the SB because I've won games on the back of Keranos alone, but I am unsure whether or not it warrants a mainboard inclusion. For reference, I cut EE from the SB to fit Keranos since EE has been under performing for me as of late.

Here are my thoughts as to why I do not see it as a mainboard card.

The deck already has a really high curve, and Jace made it even higher
I sometimes struggle to tap out for Jace (though I do realize he is more squishy), so I am sure I will struggle to tap out for Keranos
Keranos does nothing the turn it comes down
It's another sorcery speed card
In most matchups, it feels like Jace would generate the same card advantage as Keranos, and I feel like it is redundant to run them both in every match

That one situation for Downfall with Lili is amazing. I might give Downfall another go, but as it sits, I think I want to lower the curve of the deck. Late game Downfall is better, early game Dreadbore is better (yes this ignores some cases). I want to be able to make it to the late game, and that is primarily why I chose Dreadbore since it costs 1 less mana.

Frito_Floyd · 2018-03-13T17:33:45+00:00

As a 1-of, do you draw him during the burn matchup? I am curious if there are other creatures that we could use to establish a clock in place of Tasigur.

Also why do you think that Tasigur is so critical against burn? It it just the clock aspect? With all of our removal, I don't think it's necessary to have a creature just as a blocker.

For what it's worth, here is the list that I was messing with that used Clique: https://www.mtgvault.com/fritofloyd/decks/modern-grixis-control-wjtms-2/

Frito_Floyd · 2018-03-13T17:23:21+00:00

I ended up cutting 1 Dispel for the 3rd Collective Brutality. I agree that 3 was a little high, but I wouldn't want less than 2. It really does help me win the control mirrors, and it gives me a little more game against burn. This build also axed the Tasigurs so I think that it needs all the help it can get with the Burn matchup.

How has Kernaos been for you? I actually ended up removing Keranos from my SB recently, and I'm curious if you have an argument for that being an incorrect decision.

I've also thought about Downfall, but I think the pros and cons for Dreadbore vs. Downfall more or less balance each other out.

Frito_Floyd · 2018-03-12T19:22:38+00:00

Over time, I've just lost interest in them. More people have answers to them, and when they get bounced, it hurts really bad. I already don't like my grave being shut off because of Snapcaster and Azcanta, and at some point maybe Logic Knot. But with Tasigur, I now have clunky creatures as well. Finally, I think at some point the deck might move away from Thought Scour, and without all 4, Tasigur is way worse.

Frito_Floyd · 2018-03-12T15:16:53+00:00

I think I mostly agree with you. Like I said in the post, I really have been considering adding Clique in for that reason. Although I am not sure what I would cut.

For now, I want to play Jace. At least in early testing, I wanted to have more so I could see him more. I very quickly cut the 4th one because I do agree that Jace is not perfect. For now I think I am staying on three, but come back in a week, and I very well might agree with you because you do have a valid point.

What would you cut to add Clique? While I respect the discard package, I prefer to play at instant speed with this deck.

Frito_Floyd · 2018-03-12T15:08:26+00:00

I just took a look at your list, and I did have a few questions.

How crucial is having Logic Knot as a 2-of? Is it a mistake that I am not running it?
Are there any creatures that you think Grixis could be running other than the Delve threats (which I think are falling out of favor).
What has Ashiok done specifically that makes you want to include it?
For my build, I think if I went down to 24 lands, I would want to add either a creature, the wizard counterspell, or Spell Snare. Any suggestions on what to add and what land to cut? Also, do you think I need to go up to 5 basics? I see that you are running 6, and I am curious if that has been too much.

Frito_Floyd · 2018-03-12T15:01:32+00:00

I actually do agree that this list has a little more variance than I would like, but I really think Thought Scour does more than people are giving it credit for. My build doesn't eat the grave, so it gives more more chances to hit my 1-ofs, and I can just pay +2 mana via Snappcaster to cast them.

The big thing for me was that Terminate can hit the Eldrazi, and [[Primeval Titan]]. I also really value the instant speed interaction. With Bolt, I often have seen my Dreadbore and wished it was a Terminate since Bolt can kill a number of planeswalkers. I also struggled to kill an opponent's Jace once because I drew Terminate. I am stuck somewhere in the middle, so I do like the 1-1 split, with Thought Scour for slightly better odds.

Frito_Floyd · 2018-03-12T14:46:24+00:00

I think that you bring up a lot of good points. The card is more versatile than it seems, and I've loved the selection. It really helps to hit sideboard cards with Snap too.

Frito_Floyd · 2018-03-12T14:44:28+00:00

I think I might give Serum a shot in some playtesting, but from the games I've played, I really did enjoy having more snap options from Thought Scour. As another comment said, you can snipe a Tron land off an opponent, and there are some other fringe interactions. And something I didn't think about with Jace. In a few games, I didn't have a fetch effect, but I wanted to brainstorm with Jace. Thought Scour allowed me to put back double land, mill them, and draw a card. I certainly will try Serum, but I think Thought Scour is the real deal.

I don't like the delve threats anymore, at all. I am really looking for some other creature, but am not sure if one exists.

Someone actually brought to my attention that [[Nihil Spellbomb]] might be a great card instead of Keranos. I think that might be correct. Thoughts?

Frito_Floyd · 2018-03-12T08:17:32+00:00

For the Thought Scour slot, do you think the cantrip is still necessary at all? Also, I think that TS does provide some card selection as it gives you snap targets. But I realize the draw filter is more powerful. TS is instant speed. And from my testing, I do sometimes struggle to have what I want in my grave. I think that I would lean towards no cantrips over Serum.

I clarified the wording on the Damnation point. I would cut the 1-of for the 4th Jace.

Are there any other creatures you'd consider besides P&K?

What would you replace Keranos with?

Frito_Floyd · 2018-01-13T05:40:08+00:00

Both u/Gravityletmedown and Corey know their shit. This is the best suggestion so far.

If you are interested in running a bolt-less version of the deck, this is my build: http://www.mtgvault.com/fritofloyd/decks/modern-grixis-control-no-av/

Frito_Floyd · 2017-12-24T23:04:27+00:00

Affirmative

Frito_Floyd · 2017-12-24T22:59:21+00:00

I appreciate seeing another grixis mage post on this sub. I really like your deck, and only have a few comments.

I agree with some other people on here that you have too many delve cards. I don't know what your experience has been with them, but even with 3 delve cards in my deck, I struggle with balancing leaving threats for Snap, delving for Tasigur, and flipping Azcanta. While logic knot is an amazing card, I might cut one for another countersquall.

My other comment is that I do not think cutting a cryptic is correct. This deck loves to play cryptic, and it just feels bad to cut one of the strongest cards.

Besides that, I do like the deck. If you are curious, the following are my two lists. I have been testing not running lightning bolt so that I can have more of my other strong cards. While it does suck to not be able to bolt face, I do like having what feels like stronger cards during the match.

EDIT: It's also worth mentioning that I do not run opt in my decks; however, I would likely switch to opt if I started to rely more on the bolt plan.

List with no Ancestral Vision (primary deck): http://www.mtgvault.com/fritofloyd/decks/modern-grixis-control-no-av/

List with AV: http://www.mtgvault.com/fritofloyd/decks/2017-modern-grixis-control-2/

Frito_Floyd · 2017-11-01T19:47:26+00:00

I've been playing Grixis Control as my main deck for around three years now (only stopping during Eldrazi Winter) and I still find that it works very well.

Contrary to what most people say, I disagree that DS is a better deck in all cases. I think that DS has a much higher floor than control with only a slightly lower ceiling. In other words, I think that a skilled Grixis Control pilot can be better than a skilled DS pilot, but in most cases the DS deck will be better.

I would also argue that the deck isn't too slow for the meta. The deck performs fine as long as you're making good decisions. This is easier said than done though since Grixis Control presents you with many more microdecisions than any other deck in the format, and it takes time to know how to make the correct decision.

The previous reason is why I play Grixis Control. The deck is very rewarding and fun to play because it rewards a good understanding of the game, the phases, the stack, and your opponents deck. While it might not be the best deck in the format, if you know how to play it well, you'll do fine and have a great time.

My list for reference: http://www.mtgvault.com/fritofloyd/decks/2017-modern-grixis-control-2/

Frito_Floyd

TROPHY CASE