Sideboard


Grixis Control shell for Frontier format.

The Main and Sideboard are very fluid giving you the ability to really tailor your deck to each specific matchup and give yourself 2/4 of where you need it. Lots of removal for the creature heavy format with Fatal Push, Grasp of Darkness, Unlicensed Disintegration and Ruinous Path. Ruinous Path is for the few planeswalkers that show up and there's one more in the sideboard if you need to slot it in.

The deck uses Anticipate and Dig Through Time to get good card selection, and hitting a Dig Through Time off a Torrential Gearhulk is insane value.

Right now Kalitas and Gearhulk are the finishers but that's subject to change.

Mainboard

3x Anticipate - The format's equivalent of Serum Visions/Ponder. Great card, especially at the end of an opponent's turn.

2x Collective Brutality - Great versatile card. Early hand-hate but can also hit 2 toughness creatures.

3x Dig Through Time - Duh.

3x Disallow - Best counter in the format? Very versatile and relatively well priced for a counterspell in this format.

4x Fatal Push - With the fetch lands this might be one of the better cards in the format. USE THEM EARLY to help get you to the point where you have mana and access to Unlicensed Disintegration/Ruinous Path for the big hitters.

1x Grasp of Darkness - Instant speed removal, just another Fatal Push essentially.

4x Jace, Vryn's Prodigy - Great fit for the deck, allows you to feed the graveyard, gives card selection, and acts as a Snapcaster Mage. Only downside is his IRL price.

2x Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet - The finisher in the deck right now. Paired with your removal he makes it easy for you to build a relatively large army.

3x Kolaghan's Command - Hits Smuggler's Copter, also hits a lot of the 2 toughness creatures in the format. Not a lot of decks have ways of dealing with losing card advantage. Might be the best card in the deck (yes I know it runs Dig) so having a 4th in the side is a no-brainer.

1x Languish - Sweeper, just in case.

3x Negate - Great in the format, hits everything you can't remove.

1x Ruinous Path - Just in case you see a planeswalker, also there as unconditional creature removal late game.

2x Torrential Gearhulk - The deck's Snapcaster Mage, also acts as a finisher. HITS DIG THROUGH TIME.

2x Unlicensed Disintegration - Great unconditional removal with potential upside if Gearhulk is out.

Sideboard

2x Baral - This is for the Mirror, helps you get to the cards you need and allows you to out-efficient them both mana and card quality wise.

3x Dispel - Good against burn, ensoul, hits CoCo, great in the mirror.

1x Jace - For the slow grindy games, gives you an option to get card advantage.

1x Kolaghan's Command - Great vs. Ensoul and CoCo.

1x Languish - For anybody trying to go wide. Also doesn't hit the Gearhulk.

1x Negate - For the mirror/burn/ensoul.

3x Radiant Flames - For anybody trying to go wide, also fantastic against CoCo.

1x Ruinous Path - Great vs. Planeswalker decks or anybody who runs Jace. Can also be slotted in if you feel like you need more creature removal.

2x Smash to Smithereens - Great vs. Ensoul.

Maybeboard:

Still trying to decide on creatures to use as finishers.

The usual choices would be Tasigur/Angler but the Delve is already being used up by the Dig Through Time.

Thing in the Ice seems like an interesting alternative to Jace (which I might not be able to afford at the moment).

Duress seems like extremely good value for the format.

Suggestions

Updates Add

Just went 2-1 at local event. Beat a control mirror and BG Scales, lost to Burn again. Ran a 1 of Thing in the Ice main-board and won the first game against burn as I was able to get it out T1. Making space for more Thing in the Ice somehow whether it be main board or sideboard.

Seeing a lot less Rally so I am going down to 2 Kalitas.

2 Tasigur is awkward with DTT and I'd rather dig than Tasigur.

Grasp is an inferior Fatal Push 90% of the time. Still considering keeping it in but it might be a waste.

Not seeing many Planeswalkers so moved the Ruinous Path to the sideboard (still keeping 2 because it shines in certain match-ups.

With the Thing in the Ice the Boiling Earth is no longer necessary. Brought in 1 more Crux of Fate to deal with the Spell Queller decks and another Fatal Push for the BG scales match-up.

With Amonkhet coming out, Sweltering Suns and By Force look like easy sideboard replacements for Radiant Flames and Smash (although both are a bit more mana intensive).

Comments

Date added 7 years
Last updated 5 years
Exclude colors WG
Splash colors R
Legality

This deck is not Frontier legal.

Rarity (main - side)

7 - 1 Mythic Rares

33 - 8 Rares

6 - 1 Uncommons

6 - 5 Commons

Cards 60
Avg. CMC 3.17
Tokens Emblem Jace, Vryn's Prodigy, Emblem Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker, Zombie 2/2 B
Folders Finished
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