So...This deck isn't in my usual Grixis/Rakdos color pie comfort zone...But it's been very powerful and most importantly very consistent for me so far. This deck is a mesh of Delirium synergies and +1/+1 counter synergies.
It includes the Delirium engines of Grim Flayer and Liliana, the Last Hope to pair with
Ishkanah, Grafwidow
and Traverse the Ulvenwald as payoffs. These powerful synergies pair remarkably well with the counter synergy engines of Winding Constrictor, Rishkar, Peema Renegade, Nissa, Voice of Zendikar, and
Verdurous Gearhulk
to payoff with Gearhulk and Walking Ballista. It especially feels great to downtick Nissa and put multiple counters on each spider from Ishkanah.
So far, I've piloted the deck through 9 matches and have a record of 7-1-1. So far I've beaten Mardu Vehicles, Temur Energy, four different iterations of control (R/U, Jeskai, and 4-color), and Zombies. I've drawn with B/W Midrange and lost to Marvel right before the ban went into effect.
As for the sideboard, here are my choices and reasoning behind them:
Appetite for the Unnatural is my concession to the abundance of Stasis Snare and Cast Out in my local meta. It also has the bonus of gaining precious life against Heart of Kiran aggro decks as well as a critical answer for Solemnity with the release of Hour of Devastation.
Call the Bloodline seems at first glance a touch out of place, I grant you. But make no mistake, it is a workhorse vs. control. All those excess lands that would normally be the only things not countered or killed with this turn into threats. The amount of pressure this brings against control players really needs to be seen to be believed.
Collective Brutality is also a great card against control to take their interaction away, but it's also good against low to the ground aggro decks as it can serve as removal and lifegain simultaneously. All around fantastic card.
Dispossess is an attempted answer for the Metalwork Colossus deck, still considering other options at this point.
An extra Fatal Push and
Grasp of Darkness
for the aggro/mirror matchups when the situation calls for more spot removal.
Lay Bare the Heart is for the grindier matchups or decks where hand hate can come in handy.
To the Slaughter has been a hedge for the Temur Energy decks as in my experience in this matchup, they tend to stick a
Bristling Hydra
and Chandra, Torch of Defiance together as I can take care of everything else. This gets both.
Ob Nixilis Reignited is another harder to kill threat that can provide unconditional removal in the mirror/grindy matchups and card advantage against control.
Yahenni's Expertise is a recent addition to the sideboard. Originally I didn't include a sweeper in the 75 because I didn't see any go wide decks in the format let alone my local meta. That has since changed and I've seen a few white token aggro strategies pop up here and there even though I've yet to play against one. This is a concession to those decks and my hope is that I can stave off the go wide plan with these and Ballista long enough to execute my own game plan.
So far the deck has performed quite solidly for me and while we'll see what happens to be standard meta with the release of Hour of Devastation, right now I highly recommend trying out this deck if you enjoy playing with a consistent strategy of snowballing inevitability.
