Ahtii
07-28-2014, 12:52 PM
DRS Grixis (Grixis Green)
I have played Grixis delver variants after I saw Eric Rills list 2013-09-1 at SCG Cincinatti
I loved that list and played it a good while myself. -link- (http://sales.starcitygames.com//deckdatabase/displaydeck.php?DeckID=58807)
However After printing Deathrite Shaman , and Shortly after True-Name Nemesis, The list lost lots of its edge. People Started packing Zealous Persecutions , Golgari Charms and Toxic Deluges. Deck evolved into two different ways. ”Spy Kids” -Link- (http://sales.starcitygames.com//deckdatabase/displaydeck.php?DeckID=65894) and DRS Grixis, the deck this thread is about.
Core of the Deck // Card choices:
-creatures
4 Deathrite Shaman – One of the best cards in deck. Every ability is relevant. Great card , I wouldnt cut it under any circumstances.
4 Delver of secrets – 1 Mana 3/2 flier. Awesome. Auto Include.
2-4 True-Name Nemesis – Not best home for True-Name nemesis, but its still Crazy good and does exactly what you want it to do.
2-4 flex creature slots:
Tombstalker – Resolved Tombstalker is close to impossible to beat for some decks. Its awesome against BUG-delver since Abrupt decay doesnt hit it! Its Relatively cheap to cast, huge 5/5 flying body can block or close games in fast fashion.
Dark Confidant – Good choice for combo heavy metagame. While force of will seems sketchy with it, having Ponder, Brainstorm , Deathrite Shaman , Delver of secrets + fetch lands with it. You can minimize the damage it deals to you when needed. Totally runs away with games when not dealt with.
Vendilion Clique – good creature . Gives 3/1 Body with flash and flying , disruption and information. Its Legendary and usually 1-Off if played.
Grim Lavamancer – This card is insane vs Elves, Merfolk or Death and Taxes! Can be played in main or Sideboard. Sadly doesnt go too well with Tombstalker.
Snapcaster Mage – possible in especially more burn heavy versions.
Young Pyromancer – its played in ”Spy Kids” lists. Its good there when built around. However its not that great if other card choices dont support him. This deck has currently moved away from it.
-Spells
4 Brainstorm – Maybe best card in legacy. Makes your deck do what you want it to do.
4 Ponder – You cant run more than 4 Brainstorm. Ponder however is as close as it gets.
4 Lightning Bolt – Main reason to run red. Makes Agressive delver draws even better. Answers mother of runes or Deathrite shaman on the draw. You want to run 4.
3-4 Force of will – I dont have any argument whether you should run 3 or 4 this card. But you should run it.
4 Daze – you pretty much want to use the mana you have available in early game. Free counters are way to go.
4 Hymn to Tourach / Thoughtseize – The decks manabase can run it since we already increased the land count for True-Name nemesis. Its maybe most powerfull discard spell in format. You dont want to be in the receiving end of hymn to tourach. Thoughtseize is not that swingy efect , but its often just good enough. Also thoughtseize (inquisition of kozilek) gives more information than hymn to tourach.
2-3 flex slots:
Liliana of The Veil – Maindeck answer to opposing True-Name nemesis , Great in Grindy games.
Just a great card in todays Legacy.
Forked Bolt – Extra burn, rarely kills 2 creatures, but feels awesome when happens. Still kills almost the same things that Lightning bolt does.
Chain Lightning – More agressive than forked bolt, But cant split the damage
Dismember – Great removal spell , kills larger things than bolt does. 3 cmc and phyrexian mana doesnt make it best with dark confidant builds though. Also doesnt go upstairs like burn spells.
Diabolic Edict – answers True-name Nemesis or Sneak attack Emrakul. Doesnt go upstairs
Fire//Ice – extremely versatile. Blue for Force of will . Cycles for 2 , or divides 2 damage as you wish. Some people love this card. Some think its too expensive to cast. (its also 4 cmc for Dark Confidant)
Spell pierce, Spell snare , Stifle – Extra counters or tricks. This deck doesnt really want to hold mana up early since we are playing curve up to 3 cmc with 8 1-drop creatures that want to get played as early as possible.
Lands:
The deck has stabilized to 19-20 lands in testing. Its possible to splash green just for deathrite activation and possible sideboard options. Lists that play under 20 lands , usually play thoughtseize over Hymn to tourach.
Example landbase with double black spells such as hymn to tourach or tombstalker is.
4 Wasteland
4 Polluted Delta
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Underground sea
2 Volcanic island
1 Badlands
1 Tropical Island
Underground Sea is by far most important land in the deck. And its often correct to fetch 2 underground sea:s before having red mana source available.
Running Creeping tar pit is possible as 1-2 off. However the land base is quite tight as it is.
Tar pit was excelent when testing miracles matchup!
About the deck
DRS Grixis wants to keep the deck as good ”delver deck” as possible. Deck has some really explosive delver draws with Delver of Secrets, Daze , Lightning Bolt and Wasteland. On other hand the deck has insane Deathrite shaman into True-Name Nemesis , Hymn to Tourach or Liliana of the Veil – draws. True-Name Nemesis acts lots like a Tarmogoyf in the deck. Its not rare for it to stay back blocking when deathrite shaman or Insectile Aberration grinds out opponents life total low enough for unblockable finishing blow. We have really evasive Creatures that can close games trough blockers.
We have suprisingly good mana! At first people look this as a 4 colour Delver deck. But really , its just UB splash Lightning bolt and deathrite activation. Manabase is quite sturdy , and we have deathrite shaman to help.
So this deck plays pretty much similar to BUG delver? Correct. However Abrupt Decay into Lightning Bolt change is important!
In Favor of Abrupt decay. Its much more versatile , Answering troublesome cards such Counterbalance, Chalice of the void or Tarmogoyf. Its also UNCOUNTERABLE.
On favour of bolt , it answers Mother of runes or Deathrite shaman on draw and goes upstairs when needed. However just having bolt in your deck , is awesome , because the threat of doing damage out from nowhere, makes opponents often make not optimal plays to preserve their life-total.
On second note we are not graveyard dependant deck. Rest in Peace doesnt answer resolved Tombstalker like it would answer tarmogoyf or Deathrite shaman. Atleast we are not playing them all.
Decks biggest weaknesses:
Big Creatures like Tarmogoyf are hard to deal with.
Bloodmoon
Choke
Chalice of the void
counterbalance
Are all annoying , and we often lose to one of those cards, but we have game against them all. Even though we have only Liliana of the veil ultimate in maindeck to remove those pesky enchancements when resolved. We play discard , counters , and sometimes we are able to play under them.
Deathrite Shaman can help cast spells under choke or bloodmoon. And we have from 1-3 (+ 8 with tombstalker) curve to try resolving spells under Counterbalance or chalice of the void. (3cmc is often hard cost for countertop)
Matchups:
I dont have any precentages for matchups. I feel like the deck got much play against any deck in current Legacy metagame.
Uwr Miracles: This is one of the harder matchups. We are slower than RUG delver, we dont have stifle for fetch lands or abrupt decay for counterbalance. Sensei's divining top is their key piece, if we manage to counter their top , match gets much more possible (hymn to tourach's are great if they dont have top) Its important to get early threat online.
Rug Delver: True-name Nemesis the Bomb here. Like in any delver ”mirrors” its really big advantage to be on play. This matchup is fair, giving slight advantage to whoever on play.
Death and Taxes: I Think this is the matchup where this version is big upgrade over BUG lists. We have bolt to their turn 1 mother of runes, where abrupt decay is already late on draw. We have sideboard cards like grim lavamancer available. After boarding we are not that vulnerable to Rest in Peace, since we dont play tarmogoyf. True-name nemesis can blank their batterskull. Dark Confidant , Vendilion Clique or Tombstalker are also all great cards in the matchup.
Deathblade: They have stronger lategame but higher curve. Its important to have fast clock here , and answer their stoneforge mystic / batterskull. Delver draws are best here.
Shardless bug: This is maybe our hardest matchup. We cant answer their massive card advantage. Abrupt decay can shut down delver draws. They even have multiple possible answers to True-Name Nemesis (Liliana , Toxic deluge).Another matchup where fast clock is the key to victory.
Elves: Even though I lost 0-2 to elves in my latest tournament , I think this is very favourable matchup for us. Especially after board, since we have possible haymakers like: Marsh Casualties , Fire Covenant , Grim Lavamancer , Grafdiggers Cage.
Storm /combo: We have everything you would want for the matchup. Clock , Counters , Discard.
Sneak and Show / imperial Painter: Unlike other combo decks , they play Bloodmoon. Early Bloodmoon can be lights out if we dont have enough pressure / deathrite shaman. While bloodmoon is tough beats , These matchups are still quite okay for us since heavy discard , free counterspells and Fast clock.
Bug Delver: This matchup is really even. Golgari charm from Sideboard can answer True-Name Nemesis. Tombstalker is the king in this matchup. Lightning Bolt is definately better than decay in the matchup.
UWR delver: Anoher close delver mirror. Early batterskull can be tough. Equipment on True-name Unbeatable preboard. Anyway we are faster, and we got the tools to beat them. Discard after their stoneforge fetch is permanent answer to equipment. Thoughtseize is usually better than Hymn to Tourach here.
Burn: Important to have 1 off Green source in the deck for monored or UR -Burn matchups. Deathrite shaman is the best card in our deck. Hymn to tourach is also totally bonkers. I would love to pair against endless flow of burn players. Leave wastelands untapped to play around Price of progress when possible.
Punishing Jund: We are the beatdown here. In my testing , I remember casting multiple lightning bolts to the head of opponent to finish the game. They often deal damage to themselves bit with Dark confidant , Fetchlands or Sylvan library. Unsuprisingly great matchup for True-Name Nemesis.
Keeping Hands: Basicaly this deck can keep most of the hands with lands and spells against unknown opponent. In decission whether to keep hand or not , its important to check colours from your lands (volcanic cant cast deathrite)
My Current decklist:
4 Deathrite Shaman
4 Delver of Secrets
3 True-Name Nemesis
3 Dark Confidant
4 Force of will
4 Daze
4 Brainstorm
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Hymn to Tourach
1 Forked Bolt
1 Liliana of The Veil
4 Underground Sea
2 Volcanic Island
1 Badlands
1 Taiga
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Wasteland
SB.
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Null Rod
1 Ancient Grudge
2 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Marsh Casualties
2 Grim Lavamancer
2 Spell Pierce
2 Pyroblast
2 Thoughtseize
For more "fair" Metagame , I would play 2 Tombstalkers and 1 Dismember over 3 Dark Confidants.
I have played Grixis delver variants after I saw Eric Rills list 2013-09-1 at SCG Cincinatti
I loved that list and played it a good while myself. -link- (http://sales.starcitygames.com//deckdatabase/displaydeck.php?DeckID=58807)
However After printing Deathrite Shaman , and Shortly after True-Name Nemesis, The list lost lots of its edge. People Started packing Zealous Persecutions , Golgari Charms and Toxic Deluges. Deck evolved into two different ways. ”Spy Kids” -Link- (http://sales.starcitygames.com//deckdatabase/displaydeck.php?DeckID=65894) and DRS Grixis, the deck this thread is about.
Core of the Deck // Card choices:
-creatures
4 Deathrite Shaman – One of the best cards in deck. Every ability is relevant. Great card , I wouldnt cut it under any circumstances.
4 Delver of secrets – 1 Mana 3/2 flier. Awesome. Auto Include.
2-4 True-Name Nemesis – Not best home for True-Name nemesis, but its still Crazy good and does exactly what you want it to do.
2-4 flex creature slots:
Tombstalker – Resolved Tombstalker is close to impossible to beat for some decks. Its awesome against BUG-delver since Abrupt decay doesnt hit it! Its Relatively cheap to cast, huge 5/5 flying body can block or close games in fast fashion.
Dark Confidant – Good choice for combo heavy metagame. While force of will seems sketchy with it, having Ponder, Brainstorm , Deathrite Shaman , Delver of secrets + fetch lands with it. You can minimize the damage it deals to you when needed. Totally runs away with games when not dealt with.
Vendilion Clique – good creature . Gives 3/1 Body with flash and flying , disruption and information. Its Legendary and usually 1-Off if played.
Grim Lavamancer – This card is insane vs Elves, Merfolk or Death and Taxes! Can be played in main or Sideboard. Sadly doesnt go too well with Tombstalker.
Snapcaster Mage – possible in especially more burn heavy versions.
Young Pyromancer – its played in ”Spy Kids” lists. Its good there when built around. However its not that great if other card choices dont support him. This deck has currently moved away from it.
-Spells
4 Brainstorm – Maybe best card in legacy. Makes your deck do what you want it to do.
4 Ponder – You cant run more than 4 Brainstorm. Ponder however is as close as it gets.
4 Lightning Bolt – Main reason to run red. Makes Agressive delver draws even better. Answers mother of runes or Deathrite shaman on the draw. You want to run 4.
3-4 Force of will – I dont have any argument whether you should run 3 or 4 this card. But you should run it.
4 Daze – you pretty much want to use the mana you have available in early game. Free counters are way to go.
4 Hymn to Tourach / Thoughtseize – The decks manabase can run it since we already increased the land count for True-Name nemesis. Its maybe most powerfull discard spell in format. You dont want to be in the receiving end of hymn to tourach. Thoughtseize is not that swingy efect , but its often just good enough. Also thoughtseize (inquisition of kozilek) gives more information than hymn to tourach.
2-3 flex slots:
Liliana of The Veil – Maindeck answer to opposing True-Name nemesis , Great in Grindy games.
Just a great card in todays Legacy.
Forked Bolt – Extra burn, rarely kills 2 creatures, but feels awesome when happens. Still kills almost the same things that Lightning bolt does.
Chain Lightning – More agressive than forked bolt, But cant split the damage
Dismember – Great removal spell , kills larger things than bolt does. 3 cmc and phyrexian mana doesnt make it best with dark confidant builds though. Also doesnt go upstairs like burn spells.
Diabolic Edict – answers True-name Nemesis or Sneak attack Emrakul. Doesnt go upstairs
Fire//Ice – extremely versatile. Blue for Force of will . Cycles for 2 , or divides 2 damage as you wish. Some people love this card. Some think its too expensive to cast. (its also 4 cmc for Dark Confidant)
Spell pierce, Spell snare , Stifle – Extra counters or tricks. This deck doesnt really want to hold mana up early since we are playing curve up to 3 cmc with 8 1-drop creatures that want to get played as early as possible.
Lands:
The deck has stabilized to 19-20 lands in testing. Its possible to splash green just for deathrite activation and possible sideboard options. Lists that play under 20 lands , usually play thoughtseize over Hymn to tourach.
Example landbase with double black spells such as hymn to tourach or tombstalker is.
4 Wasteland
4 Polluted Delta
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Underground sea
2 Volcanic island
1 Badlands
1 Tropical Island
Underground Sea is by far most important land in the deck. And its often correct to fetch 2 underground sea:s before having red mana source available.
Running Creeping tar pit is possible as 1-2 off. However the land base is quite tight as it is.
Tar pit was excelent when testing miracles matchup!
About the deck
DRS Grixis wants to keep the deck as good ”delver deck” as possible. Deck has some really explosive delver draws with Delver of Secrets, Daze , Lightning Bolt and Wasteland. On other hand the deck has insane Deathrite shaman into True-Name Nemesis , Hymn to Tourach or Liliana of the Veil – draws. True-Name Nemesis acts lots like a Tarmogoyf in the deck. Its not rare for it to stay back blocking when deathrite shaman or Insectile Aberration grinds out opponents life total low enough for unblockable finishing blow. We have really evasive Creatures that can close games trough blockers.
We have suprisingly good mana! At first people look this as a 4 colour Delver deck. But really , its just UB splash Lightning bolt and deathrite activation. Manabase is quite sturdy , and we have deathrite shaman to help.
So this deck plays pretty much similar to BUG delver? Correct. However Abrupt Decay into Lightning Bolt change is important!
In Favor of Abrupt decay. Its much more versatile , Answering troublesome cards such Counterbalance, Chalice of the void or Tarmogoyf. Its also UNCOUNTERABLE.
On favour of bolt , it answers Mother of runes or Deathrite shaman on draw and goes upstairs when needed. However just having bolt in your deck , is awesome , because the threat of doing damage out from nowhere, makes opponents often make not optimal plays to preserve their life-total.
On second note we are not graveyard dependant deck. Rest in Peace doesnt answer resolved Tombstalker like it would answer tarmogoyf or Deathrite shaman. Atleast we are not playing them all.
Decks biggest weaknesses:
Big Creatures like Tarmogoyf are hard to deal with.
Bloodmoon
Choke
Chalice of the void
counterbalance
Are all annoying , and we often lose to one of those cards, but we have game against them all. Even though we have only Liliana of the veil ultimate in maindeck to remove those pesky enchancements when resolved. We play discard , counters , and sometimes we are able to play under them.
Deathrite Shaman can help cast spells under choke or bloodmoon. And we have from 1-3 (+ 8 with tombstalker) curve to try resolving spells under Counterbalance or chalice of the void. (3cmc is often hard cost for countertop)
Matchups:
I dont have any precentages for matchups. I feel like the deck got much play against any deck in current Legacy metagame.
Uwr Miracles: This is one of the harder matchups. We are slower than RUG delver, we dont have stifle for fetch lands or abrupt decay for counterbalance. Sensei's divining top is their key piece, if we manage to counter their top , match gets much more possible (hymn to tourach's are great if they dont have top) Its important to get early threat online.
Rug Delver: True-name Nemesis the Bomb here. Like in any delver ”mirrors” its really big advantage to be on play. This matchup is fair, giving slight advantage to whoever on play.
Death and Taxes: I Think this is the matchup where this version is big upgrade over BUG lists. We have bolt to their turn 1 mother of runes, where abrupt decay is already late on draw. We have sideboard cards like grim lavamancer available. After boarding we are not that vulnerable to Rest in Peace, since we dont play tarmogoyf. True-name nemesis can blank their batterskull. Dark Confidant , Vendilion Clique or Tombstalker are also all great cards in the matchup.
Deathblade: They have stronger lategame but higher curve. Its important to have fast clock here , and answer their stoneforge mystic / batterskull. Delver draws are best here.
Shardless bug: This is maybe our hardest matchup. We cant answer their massive card advantage. Abrupt decay can shut down delver draws. They even have multiple possible answers to True-Name Nemesis (Liliana , Toxic deluge).Another matchup where fast clock is the key to victory.
Elves: Even though I lost 0-2 to elves in my latest tournament , I think this is very favourable matchup for us. Especially after board, since we have possible haymakers like: Marsh Casualties , Fire Covenant , Grim Lavamancer , Grafdiggers Cage.
Storm /combo: We have everything you would want for the matchup. Clock , Counters , Discard.
Sneak and Show / imperial Painter: Unlike other combo decks , they play Bloodmoon. Early Bloodmoon can be lights out if we dont have enough pressure / deathrite shaman. While bloodmoon is tough beats , These matchups are still quite okay for us since heavy discard , free counterspells and Fast clock.
Bug Delver: This matchup is really even. Golgari charm from Sideboard can answer True-Name Nemesis. Tombstalker is the king in this matchup. Lightning Bolt is definately better than decay in the matchup.
UWR delver: Anoher close delver mirror. Early batterskull can be tough. Equipment on True-name Unbeatable preboard. Anyway we are faster, and we got the tools to beat them. Discard after their stoneforge fetch is permanent answer to equipment. Thoughtseize is usually better than Hymn to Tourach here.
Burn: Important to have 1 off Green source in the deck for monored or UR -Burn matchups. Deathrite shaman is the best card in our deck. Hymn to tourach is also totally bonkers. I would love to pair against endless flow of burn players. Leave wastelands untapped to play around Price of progress when possible.
Punishing Jund: We are the beatdown here. In my testing , I remember casting multiple lightning bolts to the head of opponent to finish the game. They often deal damage to themselves bit with Dark confidant , Fetchlands or Sylvan library. Unsuprisingly great matchup for True-Name Nemesis.
Keeping Hands: Basicaly this deck can keep most of the hands with lands and spells against unknown opponent. In decission whether to keep hand or not , its important to check colours from your lands (volcanic cant cast deathrite)
My Current decklist:
4 Deathrite Shaman
4 Delver of Secrets
3 True-Name Nemesis
3 Dark Confidant
4 Force of will
4 Daze
4 Brainstorm
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Hymn to Tourach
1 Forked Bolt
1 Liliana of The Veil
4 Underground Sea
2 Volcanic Island
1 Badlands
1 Taiga
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Wasteland
SB.
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Null Rod
1 Ancient Grudge
2 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Marsh Casualties
2 Grim Lavamancer
2 Spell Pierce
2 Pyroblast
2 Thoughtseize
For more "fair" Metagame , I would play 2 Tombstalkers and 1 Dismember over 3 Dark Confidants.