Hey dude! I started out playing mtg in Grixis colors, so I know a few things (in modern). It looks like you're building with a budget in mind, otherwise I would suggest obviously Snapcaster Mage, Damnation, Cryptic Command, and Spellskite

Lightning Bolt needs to be bumped to 4, it's the main reason why control players play red in modern. It hits almost everything that you need to kill in modern.

I would also put Mana Leak to four. Rune Snag could be better though, since I'm assuming there won't be any snapcaster mages on your side.

Izzet Charm has proven to be very resourceful, card filter, counterspell, and removal all in one card. Only downside is that it's not great at any one of them, but having options makes you feel safer.

I personally use Terminate, regeneration is not so big in modern but it hits everything that it can

I play a Cruel Ultimatum variation of Grixis control, and I use Jace, Architect of Thought to pop it off with no risk. You could ult with Jace to get Bolas out instead, that seems rather strong (and one of your opponent's card but who cares lol got Bolas) Also Jace slows down aggro and gives you cards.

Thoughtseize is not a must-have, I would say Inquisition of Kozilek is better. You will definitely want to seize/IOK turn 1, discard in late game really sucks (unless you play Liliana of the Veil then have at it), and usually you'll be hitting more immediate threats and saving your counters and killspells for the bigger guys, which you should be expecting since you saw your opponent's hand and you can play accordingly. But Thoughseize is definitely an excellent card.

Hero's Downfall is honestly not that great in modern, 3 mana is a lot and planeswalkers aren't very popular, and it being an instant doesn't justify its cost. I can guarantee you that once it rotates out of standard, it's gonna fall really hard in price. I would play Dreadbore instead. I used to think that you could kill a planeswalker immediately after it resolved (and before your opponent uses its ability), but really you can't because you don't have priority (nothing is on the stack after it resolves). Now if your opponent decides to cast another spell for whatever reason before using his planeswalker, then and only then would Hero's Downfall be good. Otherwise holding up three mana to kill a planeswalker or creature is not optimal.

I have thoughts of what cards I would take out/trade, but that's just meta dependent and how competitive you want to be. Hope this helps!

Hey man, railwaystation has already given you a lot of good input, but we can help you more if you are able to tell us how competitive and budget or not you want your deck to be.

In the meantime, I agree with most everything our Grixis brother has said. I personally don't like Izzet Charm, but I tried it for a long time and I love the idea of it at least.

I found Far / Away to be very underwhelming, but I would be interested to hear your success stories! Also, I used to play four Vampire Nighthawk but quickly replaced them because they die so easily. Unless you have a good way to protect them you might want to reconsider spending 3 mana on what just might die the next main phase.

Definitely +1 for playing Grixis and having a cool list! If you would, check out my deck as well for some ideas and different perspectives. Cards like Batterskull and Dig Through Time, in addition to the previous suggestions, can be awesome for our deck.

Greater Power... bringing Cruelty back to Modern

@railwaystation yes i am on a budget. kinda just using whatever i can get my hands on, and i would love to have those first few suggestions. while i can try to acquire them, it will take time. I don't have any IoK, but i do have a playset of Despises if you think that would be better than Thoughtseize. the 2 life can come back to bite you in the ass sometimes. I definatly agree with Terminate over downfall and upping bolt to 4.

i do like Jace, Architect of Thought, but Jace Beleren works well with Notion Thief. i will playtest both ways and see if it makes a big difference. maybe sideboard thief and switch the jace's.

I toyed around with Izzet Charm before and like you said, it's not great at any one thing.

@Eretoryi i have one Dig Through Time, but i don't know where to fit it. i also got a couple Treasure Cruises.

I would love to get a Batterskull. best i can do is try to get it off pucatrade or something. hopefully someone will part with a few lol.

So far on cockatrice far//away has done wonders for me. bounce my own and make them sac theirs is usually how it plays out.will update as it goes on though.

The thing that I don't like with Jace Beleren + Notion Thief is that you're probably using two turns to draw three cards and put a 3/1 body on the board, and that's pretty slow. But yeah, playtest and keep playtesting to find out what you like.

Despise is kinda narrow, modern has a lot of combo things like pod, scapeshift, and twin that you'd really want to hit the non-creatures. But it works very nicely against aggro given how cheap it is.

A thing you could do that I found worked (on a low budget too) is to use things like Dimir Charm, Psychic Strike, and counterspells/killspells with Extirpate and Surgical Extraction to pick out things you don't like and leave all of them dead for good. I drafted up a deck that was ~$70 with no pains/fetches, and it 2-0'd storm, soul sisters, and rdw. I had Master of Cruelties + any way to deal 1 damage as my win con, a little janky but works. But that's a completely different deck that apparently uses grixis colors haha.

I made a lot of changes, so far this deck has gone 3-1 in 3 consecutive FNM's losing to merfolk once, Jund once, and a living end deck. It has beaten soul sisters, merfolk, junk, RDW a few times, pod, and a couple other off the wall ones. Feel free to suggest or comment about the changes.

Dig Through Time is banned in modern isn't it?

i made this deck back in december pre-banhammer. it became twink twice, but i took the deck apart and forgot to delete it from here xD

Oh haha you still playing modern?