Hello, this is a fun and more budget friendly version of Grixis Control. No, I don't have Torrential Gearhulk nor Nicol Bolas, God-Pharaoh. I am creating the deck around some other fun cards that could also be win-conditions, namely
The Scarab God
The Locust God and either Noxious Gearhulk or Combustible Gearhulk.
Obviously, name of the game is to control the game and keeping the board clear long enough to play your big threats and have them win you the game.
Keeping the Board Clear:
Counterspells:
Censor - is a 4 of for early and mid-game counter and possibly late game card advantage/getting a 1/1 insect
- Disallow - a hard counterspell or activated ability counter is a must have, I am playing a playset simply because it's the only hard counterspell I have.
Supreme Will - I list this as a counterspell because that's where it primarily fits, however, the option for card selection is huge. It does the 2 things control really likes in one card; could possibly do a playset of this and play 3 disallow, but that will need to be tweaked in playtesting (the one upside over disallow is that it is not a double blue mana cost which could be a huge advantage in some games)
Damage/Removal Spells:
Magma Spray - this gets a 3 of for early game removal and the upside of exiling the creature as well, making it very strong against zombies and some other pesky creatures.
- Abrade - I can't say enough about this card, being able to deal 3 damage or take out an artifact at instant speed is huge, especially gearhulks, which I think will be making a surge with the Grixis Control build and card:nicol bolas, god-pharoah being something that I think people will want to try out.
- Harnessed Lightning - solid removal spell, and possibly able to take out larger creatures with a slight boost from Aether Hub at times, or mana fixing with it as well.
- Sweltering Suns - this is a good early game board wipe if things are getting out of control for you too quickly, also it won't kill the reanimated creatures from
The Scarab God
because they're 4/4. Finally, this has synergy with card:the locus god being able to cycle it if it is something that i do not need at the moment and can create me those 1/1 insects.
Hour of Devastation
- I'm making this a 1 of in mainboard because it is an out if I need it against some decks that pump up out of range of Sweltering Suns and possibly have indestructible or can deal with planeswalkers.
Card Draw/Advantage:
Glimmer of Genius - this is the premium draw card for control right now, allowing you to potentially see 4 cards and draw 2 of them, WHILE giving you energy for Aether Hub or Harnessed Lightning is simply amazing.
- Hieroglyphic Illumination - I chose this because it allows for an early game draw with the cycling ability and a late game draw for 2 cards without having to discard, like Pull from Tomorrow makes you do. I you play Pull from Tomorrow you have to use 5 mana to get the same effect as 4 using card:hierglyphic illumination which can mean the difference of casting a counterspell that you just drew or not.
Win-Conditions:
Creatures:
The Scarab God
- being able to reanimate creatures from any graveyard is the name of the game to winning, or just keeping the field clear for him to take the game for you.
- Noxious Gearhulk - I like him a lot as a budget option win-con because he allows for creature removal which helps his own ability with menace after a creature is removed. Then being able to reanimate him with
The Scarab God
- and do it all over again is just fun.
- The Locust God - finally, my third win-con is being able to draw cards and create a locust army with this machine! I could easily do a 2-of here, but I like the idea of the gearhulk and having extra creature removal from him.
Lands:The lands here are pretty self-explanatory, I don't want too many cycling lands and I don't want to have a lot of lands that come into play tapped. So therefore, I'm not buying Choked Estuary because it will leave rotation soon, which I know is a bad reason, but I'm trying to save money where I can, and I will not be playing Wandering Fumarole because it comes into play tapped and it will also, be rotating soon.
Sideboard:I want my sideboard to have a little versatility with being able to have some more counterspells in case I get into a grindy match-up, while also being able to use Lay Bare the Heart in grindy match-ups as well.
I'm very open to suggestion and criticism as to what to add or subtract from the deck as I am fairly new to deck-building. I would love to hear comments and suggestions on what people like/dislike. Thank you so much, and if you liked the deck and explanation, a thumbs up is always appreciated! Thank you for your time.
