Strixhaven - The Old Coatl control

[FTW]

This is the true haven for Strixes.

I couldn't find the thread for Grixis Control. Was it removed?

With the latest bannings, I was expecting Grixis Control to be a thing again.

No Astrolabe = Baleful Strix is better than Ice-Fang Coatl
No Oko or labe = less green for Veil of Summer, so Hymn to Tourach is a card again
No DHA = old Snappy is the value bear of choice
No Oko+labe = Jace and Liliana are valid planeswalkers again

Based on old successful Grixis lists, I've been working with this


//Lands: 20
4 Polluted Delta
3 Scalding Tarm
2 Bloodstained Mire
3 Underground Sea
2 Volcanic Island
2 Badlands
2 Island
2 Swamp

//Creatures: 8
4 Baleful Strix
3 Snapcaster Mage
1 Gurmag Angler

//Planeswalkers: 4
1 Liliana, the Last Hope
1 Narset, Parter of Veils
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

//Spells: 28
4 Force of Will
4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
3 Lightning Bolt
2 Fatal Push
2 Thoughtseize
2 Drown in the Loch
3 Hymn to Tourach
2 Kolaghan's Command
2 Force of Negation

//Sideboard: 15
3 Surgical Extraction
2 Liliana's Triumph
2 Pyroblast
1 Flusterstorm
1 Feed the Swarm
1 Angrath's Rampage
1 Brazen Borrower
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Pithing Needle
2 Plague Engineer



Someone made 6th in this weekend's Legacy Challenge with a very similar deck:
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/mtgo-standings/legacy-challenge-2021-02-21#momsbasementstreams_th_place

There's some overlap with WhiteFaces' 1st place Esper Mentor list too.
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/mtgo-standings/legacy-challenge-2021-02-21#whitefaces_st_place

It runs white over red, for better removal, better walkers and Mentor. Instead of KCommand and Liliana, it uses Of One Mind and Unearth as card advantage and recursion engines.



//Lands: 20
4 Polluted Delta
4 Flooded Strand
2 Marsh Flats
2 Underground Sea
2 Tundra
2 Scrubland
2 Island
1 Swamp
1 Plains

//Creatures: 9
3 Baleful Strix
3 Snapcaster Mage
3 Monastery Mentor

//Planeswalkers: 3
2 Teferi, Time Raveler
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

//Spells: 28
3 Force of Will
4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
4 Swords to Plowshares
1 Fatal Push
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Unearth
2 Hymn to Tourach
3 Of One Mind
1 Vindicate
2 Force of Negation

//Sideboard: 15
4 Meddling Mage
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Disenchant
1 Fatal Push
1 Hymn to Tourach
1 Hullbreacher
1 Narset, Parter of Veils
3 Plague Engineer

[Mr. Safety]

I could definitely see an argument for playing maindeck Brazen Borrower in place of Gurmag Angler. It's a tempo boost with card advantage, a threat, and feeds into Thoughtseize/Hymn, which is already part of your primary control plan. Gurmag is better against Abrupt Decay/Fatal Push/Bolt though, so it really is a metagame call. If the Vial creature decks get prevalent I would say maindeck Engineer isn't out of the question either. Is Toxic Deluge no longer a card that Grixis control wants?

[FTW]

Good suggestions. Some are running both Borrower and Gurmag maindeck, for basically the reasons you said. It comes at the expense of one of the worse spells, such as the 3rd Bolt or 2nd FoN. It's a metagame call, and will depend a lot on where the post-ban dust settles.

I haven't seen anyone run Deluge in a while. It's not clear that it helps improve any tough matchups. Grixis already cleans up against small creatures and boards into Plague Engineer. Removal in the SB tends to be edict slots for things like Marit Lage, Emrakul, Angler, Mandrills that don't die to the usual removal.

[Mr. Safety]

That's fair, I was just thinking that some decks can fight through Grixis fairly well like Goblins overloading and Elves combo-ing out early. I think both of those decks stand to gain quite a bit in the new metagame.

EDIT: what about Bitterblossom? I'm not sure how good it is currently, but it's a pet card I'm always trying to jam into anything playing black.

[Reeplcheep]

I think Grixis needs to run a few clings. Lifeloss on snap thoughtseize adds up and you need outs to loam and uro.

If it lets you cut hymns for thoughtseize it would also stabilize your mana.

[FTW]

Surgical answers Loam and Uro postboard. Cling is strong though.

Whitefaces went for Inquisition over Thoughtseize to solve that lifeloss problem.

[rei-vax]

I share your thoughts on the changes to the banlist @FTW. This is why I also turned to Grixis. I don't have a lot of experience with the deck, but here is my list after a few games. All advice (side techniques, MU approaches, link to a possible primer) and advice (something that looks bad on my list) are good to take.

[PLANESWALKERS]
1 Liliana, the Last Hope
1 Narset, Parter of Veils
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

[CREATURES]
4 Baleful Strix
3 Snapcaster Mage
1 Brazen Borrower // Petty Theft
2 Gurmag Angler

[INSTANTS]
4 Brainstorm
2 Fatal Push
2 Lightning Bolt
1 Liliana's Triumph
2 Force of Negation
2 Kolaghan's Command
4 Force of Will

[SORCERIES]
4 Ponder
2 Thoughtseize
3 Hymn to Tourach

[LANDS]
2 Badlands
2 Bloodstained Mire
2 Island
4 Polluted Delta
3 Scalding Tarn
2 Swamp
3 Underground Sea
2 Volcanic Island

[SIDEBOARD]
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Hydroblast
1 Pithing Needle
1 Pyroblast
1 Red Elemental Blast
2 Surgical Extraction
1 Angrath's Rampage
2 Blood Moon
2 Plague Engineer
2 Leyline of the Void
1 Rise // Fall (or another Plague Engineer)

[FTW]

@rei-vax: I think that looks strong.

The 3rd Plague Engineer seems good.

I would consider the switch from Thoughtseize to Inquisition of Kozilek for the lifeloss reasons discussed above. Between fetches and Thoughtseize-Snap-Thoughtseize Grixis can deal itself a lot of damage. This is a control deck, not a tempo deck, so the lifeloss is not ideal over a long game. It's a subtle weakness in the Grixis colors. Fox has written more about it in other threads.

11th place from Saturday's challenge:
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/mtgo-standings/legacy-challenge-2021-02-28#bryzem_th_place

Similar to the above lists, but they ran a 2nd Angler main like you and more maindeck outs to Depths (1 Borrower, 1 Liliana's Triumph, 1 Angrath's Rampage), which was a smart call for that metagame. Big Depths showing.

13th place:
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/mtgo-standings/legacy-challenge-2021-02-28#mm__th_place

Full set of Inquisition of Kozilek + 1 maindeck Cling to Dust to solve the lifeloss problem. Big tech here is Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger which could be a strong lategame engine. The first escape doesn't tax the graveyard much more than Angler, and then it threatens to do a lot more than just be a dumb fatty.

[Mr. Safety]

Came across this thread, I think it's the old Grixis Control thread proper:

http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/showthread.php?28859-Deck-Grixis-Control-Thieves&p=1073501#post1073501