Griselbanned - Modern Edition

[Koby]

4 Griselbrand
4 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Goryo's Vengeance
4 Through the Breach
4 Fury of the Horde
4 Faithless Looting
4 Izzet Charm
4 Pentad Prism
4 Sleight of Hand
2 Thoughtseize**

2 Scalding Tarn
2 Bloodstained Mire
2 Polluted Delta
1 Mountain
1 Swamp
1 Island
1 Watery Grave
1 Blood Crypt
1 Steam Vents
1 Drowned Catacombs
1 Sulfur Falls
4 Blackcleave Cliffs

SB
4 Leyline of Sanctity
2 Engineered Explosives
2 Defense Grid
1 Echoing Truth
2 Thoughtseize
2 Firespout / Anger the Gods
1 Vandalblast
1 Pyroclasm

Deck looks goofy, but try it out. Its fast and powerful; and a bit clunky.

EDIT: last updated decklist (11/27/14)

[11/08/2013]: The maindeck has not changed significantly at all in the last 3 months. Some have raised concerns about the viability of Spoils of the Vault. It can be replaced by additional Sleight of Hand, Thoughtseize (as Todd Anderson did), or Serum Visions. Serum Visions is the weakest cantrip for this deck since it cannot replace itself with a wanted card; it causes you to wait a turn before you draw what you wanted to find. Sleight of Hand, while only digging 2 cards, gives you the card immediately.

[02/16/2014]: Maindeck has been updated to include upto 4 Sleight of Hand for additional filtering, and the replacement of Spoils of the Vault with Thoughtseize for some added disruption. The last two copies of Thoughtseize are added to the SB to increase the disruption package. As for the SB, Echoing Truth and EE are catch-alls for a variety of strategies. There may be better inclusions, but I need more testing against specific matchup to determine what those may be. Torpor Orb may be one of those (vs Twin, Faeries, and Pod). EE is specifically to answer Faerie Token/token strategies and Bitterblossom/RIP -- aka 2drop Enchantments.

[06/10/2014]: Updated the SB slightly, but no meaningful change to how the deck operates or the function of cards. Thoughtseize seems to be working fine in replacement of Spoils of the Vault.

[11/27/2014]: Fetchland adjusted for KTK reprints into Modern. This adds <1% improvement, but at least each can grab two of the deck's basics at any time.

[r3dd09]

Picking up the deck after I wake up. Pretty stoked to turn 2 someone ;)

[Mr. Safety]

4 Griselbrand

4 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
4 SImian Spirit Guide
4 Goryo's Vengeance
4 Through the Breach
4 Fury of the Horde
4 Faithless Looting
4 Izzet Charm
4 Pentad Prism
2 Spoils of the Vault
2 Sleight of Hand

1 Mountain
1 Swamp
1 Island
4 Scalding Tarn
1 Marsh Flats
1 Arid Mesa
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
1 Drowned Catacombs
1 Sulfur Falls
1 Gemstone Mine
1 Watery Grave
1 Blood Crypt
1 Steam Vents
1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All

SB
4 Leyline of Sanctity
3 Spellskite
2 Thoughtseize
2 Guttural Response
2 Pyroclasm
2 Echoing Truth


Deck looks goofy, but try it out. Its fast and powerful; and a bit clunky.

Fixed. There were some cards I was unfamiliar with, and going the long route is so annoying.

[ScatmanX]

Until they actually ban Griselbrand, I'll hate you Koby.

[JDK]

Until they actually ban Griselbrand, I'll hate you Koby.

The deck has been around for a while (without significant results), so don't worry.

[(nameless one)]

Koby is on the talks on GP San Diego. He day-2ed with this.

[(nameless one)]

I just watched him turn 2 win.

Wow

[Philipp2293]

Just saw Koby on the screen, pretty insane stuff man. Op wanted to path Grisel? Remove SSG and a Prism counter - Izzet Charm, then kill you. Was this turn 2 actually?

[rxavage]

Just saw Koby on the screen, pretty insane stuff man. Op wanted to path Grisel? Remove SSG and a Prism counter - Izzet Charm, then kill you. Was this turn 2 actually?

Yes, and the he proceeded to attack 3x due to drawing into Fury of the Horde. This deck seems wicked fun to play. I like Gris and it would be a shame to see him be banned in all formats except standard and vintage.

[r3dd09]

Went to all my local stores the past few days, couldn't find anything for the deck. Looks like I'm resorting to ebay and vendors :/

[(nameless one)]

I would love to read Koby's report on this.

[Koby]

Here's a playtest session with the deck where I decided I would play this deck for Grand Prix San Diego.
http://www.twitch.tv/jkory/b/377894223

I went 10-4-1.
Day 1 - (8-1) losing to Affinity in Round 4
Day 2 - (2-3-1) losing to David Scharf (Scapeshift), Sammy Tukeman (UWR midrange), and another Affinity player. Half my losses were in the Top 8. The draw in the last round was to make sure both my opponent and I got some prizes, but I otherwise beat him soundly as he was playing Burn and I have Leylines.

Here's the match in question:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pa2KMK3whuw&t=13m30s

[kombatkiwi]

Here's a playtest session with the deck where I decided I would play this deck for Grand Prix San Diego.
http://www.twitch.tv/jkory/b/377894223

I went 10-4-1.
Day 1 - (8-1) losing to Affinity in Round 4
Day 2 - (2-3-1) losing to David Scharf (Scapeshift), Sammy Tukeman (UWR midrange), and another Affinity player. Half my losses were in the Top 8. The draw in the last round was to make sure both my opponent and I got some prizes, but I otherwise beat him soundly as he was playing Burn and I have Leylines.

Here's the match in question:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pa2KMK3whuw&t=13m30s

It was very fun to watch your testing session and it looks like a fun deck, very powerful and consistent proactive gameplan

[Fizzeler]

Koby successfully getting Griselbrand banned in every format, I like it!

This deck is sweet, as much as I hate losing on turn 3 to it, the deck is fun to play and sort of easy to disrupt

[Koby]

I picked this deck for the GP because I anticipated durdly creature decks to be the main part of the show, and durdly creature decks can't interact with the combo outside of Deathrite Shaman and Path to Exile. Even those two are easy to beat with Through the Breach and Emrakul, respectively. Counterspells are not fun to play against either. Leading into the event, there was murmurings about the RG speed aggro deck, and other Junk style midrange decks which do a good job of plowing through the Mid-range blue decks well. Thus, what I expected the metagame to be turned out really well for this deck.

Is the deck easy to hate out? Sure, every deck has its weaknesses. However, those hate-decks don't always hold up against the rest of the metagame over a long tournament.

The deck right now has two clear weak matchups:
1. Affinity, due to its speed and good SB options (Grafdiggers Cage, RIP, and Needle)
2. Blue decks with SCM and cheap counters.

[sillysam71]

You hardcasting Griselbanned against burn in your testing session was hilarious. lol

[meow]

this deck is really impressive and so fun to play! i'm gona test it this week end on a local tourney, i'll post a small report.

koby could you tell us more about the cards you tried and didn't make it to to the final list and also the cards you are considering at the moment ?

I know you might have already have turned inside out the deck to find the best decklist but have you considered the following cards in the sideboard: (the bad thing is that those cards are mostly not red so they are not good with Fury of the Horde )

repeal, abrupt decay, krosan grip (for all the cards the against it like needle etc...)
silence (i would see 3 things here, 1-waste a counter for your oponent but i guess Guttural Response is better here for being red/green, 2-if he can't/don't counter griselbanned is already protected from spells, 3-could buy you a turn to get enough lands to go off)

[Koby]

Cards that were tried and eliminated from the last 6 flex slots (Sleight of Hand, Spoils of the Vault, Boseiju):

Lightning Axe (not consistent)
Pyroclasm (doesn't dig and hedges against an Aggro meta, otherwise dead)
Serum Visions (not good enough as a digger compared to Sleight of Hand)
Gitaxian Probe (only cycles, costs life)
Nicol Bolas (the creature, only shot effect)
Peer thru Depths (too expensive as a cantrip)
Dimir Charm (isn't a cantrip)

My friend also Day 2'd with the deck at 12-3, and was playing a heavy white splash for Silence maindeck (as a 1-off) with more in the SB to take care of other combo/control matchups.

Dispel is going to replace the Guttural Response in the SB, since countering Path to Exile/Surgical Extraction is important.

[meanieface]

Do you have an updated list for this deck sir Kory?

[chairman]

How do you usually sideboard against UWx control with your list? Need some expert advice.