Puns. Stahp.

I would say im sorry....but I don't want to lie to you...

Have you considered Murderous Cut?

You need at least one basic Mountain. Gitaxian Probe isn't necessary since you're not trying to go off or make a safe play - all your plays should be safe. Additionally, Serum Visions isn't great because it's sorcery speed and you're not trying to dig for anything specific. Just run Think Twice or Quicken for instant speed board wipes. Jace, Architect of Thought isn't that good either - he's never actually a four mana play since getting him out on turn 4 leaves you completely open and vulnerable, and not worth what he offers. I'd also take out one Dismember for another Cryptic Command and try to fit in another Electrolyze and Remand if you can since the draw is just that important. Vendilion Clique and Tasigur, the Golden Fang are also pretty good. You could consider Smother and Murderous Cut.

Also, more Scalding Tarn and less Bloodstained Mire. You could also probably fit in another land destruction thing in there, be it Ghost Quarter or Tectonic Edge.

NoPantsParade has a reasonable version of the deck that I advise you to look at.

I actually really like Jace, Architect of Thought in this deck. against abzan, they can only kill it by attacking it, but if they are on Lingering Souls, Jace just stops that. it is decent against Twin as well, when they are trying to go off through Deceiver Exarch. I will probably put something in the sideboard for when I don't want it, though.

What makes you want to run the Lavaclaw Reaches over a third Creeping Tar Pit? I guess I might be missing something (please enlighten me if I am!) but I usually settle for consistent unblockable 3 power rather than sinking mana and potentially wasting it against removal.

i'm not a modern player by any means, i stick to legacy and standard and edh. That said, I do occasionally watch modern pro tours and grand prix.

What I learned (and really, what everyone learned) from the most recent pro tour is that you want to be the player asking questions (playing threats) instead of the player offering answers (removal/permission spells). Not saying that a control deck is not viable, just that it's definitely the worst format to try and run one in.

Why? Each deck that exists currently from the combo decks to Abzan, all are fantastic at what they do and require very specific cards in your sideboard to effectively combat them. There just aren't enough sideboard slots to answer something. So what you have to do is voluntarily accept that you are going to fold to affinity. Or burn. Or twin combo. Whatever. And that makes being the control player miserable. I love control, but I don't know if it's really possible.

All that being said, i'll still try and offer my opinion. I think you want to try and mirror the American control deck that (while not super sucessful), is built well. I'd suggest going up to four tech edge, and four creeping tar pit. Creeping tar pit is definitely easier to activate than celestial colonnade, but it doesn't stay untapped and it's a slower clock. Still, I think you should use them as your main win con.

I think you should drop to two cryptic command. Against the combo decks, they are going to bait you into tapping out so that they can drop their combo and win. Having too many four mana counters can clog up your hand.

I think you should switch your mana leek and remand numbers. Remand is best on turn two and gets worse and worse. Mana leek also gets worse and worse, but it's better early game than remand. On top of that, with Tech edge, you can keep it relevant later in the game. Plus, you have electorlyze to draw cards. In fact, I think you should drop an electrolyze and add a third Dismember. You are playing heavy black so dismember gets better as the game goes on, and it's fantastic against rhino.

I would drop the two Architect of Thought. I've seen him played in the SCG versus videos and in my local game shop in modern games. He's definitely lack luster. If you want a consistent card draw engine, i'd go to 2-3 Tasigur's. The card is busted, and it blocks well. If you absolutely need a planeswalker, Jace Beleren is probably better just on the merit of costing one mana less. I would never +2 him, but even getting 1-2 activations of his -1 is good.

As far as the sideboard goes, I'd go up to four Rakdos Charm in the sideboard. It just wrecks Tarmogoyf, and does double duty on affinity. Speaking of, every deck needs a stony silence in the sideboard. At least one. Losing to affinity is just as bad as losing to mono-red aggro. It should never happen.

I think you want some sideboard tech for burn in the sideboard as well. I'm not familiar with what that would be for these colors, but you need it. Burn is making a big resurgence, and I would at the very least add 1-2 Dispel into your sideboard. Dispell is also good versus some combo decks.

Anyway, again, not a modern player. But this is what I would do. Hope it gives you something to think about.

@Osang: Lavaclaw Reaches is there because I often find myself in a situation where I need to deal more than 3 damage in a single turn, and blockers aren't relevant. he is superior in that situation.

@kyuuri117: there are a few things to understand about the meta. it is full of midrange decks at the moment. those decks rely on curving out efficiently. in military intelligence, we constantly talk about an enemy's "center of gravity." in other words, what is it that makes them strong? how strong will they be when that advantage is taken away? I am going to use a few examples to make my point

Abzan: their center of gravity is in efficient creatures and removal. they are all about curving out as efficiently as possible. so how do you beat that strategy? you disrupt the curve. make them discard their first/next play with a Thoughtseize or Inquisition of Kozilek. counter their next play. Essentially keep them off balance. if it helps, try to think of my deck as a tempo deck, rather than a control deck. I don't care that my opponent can cast a Remanded spell on their next turn. the fact that I basically Time Walked them is what is important.

Twin: their center of gravity comes in their tempo. all of their cards are instant speed, allowing them to force their opponents to play in a specific way until they assemble the combo. their major weakness is to cheap removal, countermagic, and being out tempoed. again, this is what my deck excels at. efficient removal, backed up by the best countermagic, all tied up with some great creatures with extremely relevant abilities.

Bloom Titan: their center of gravity is in their ability to kill quickly. this is easily beat by disrupting their ability to play a win condition. I have had games against this deck where they cast Summoner's Pact to get a Primeval Titanand cast it into my Cryptic Command that bounces one of their lands as well. from there I can either Tectonic Edge a land to stop them from paying for pact, or cryptic another land. either method is fine.

Burn: admittedly, this is my greatest matchup. I just need Batterskull in this matchup. there is really no other way around it. I agree with Dispel going into the side for that at the least. I should probably put the artifact that gains me a life whenever a red spell is cast in there as well.

onto the sideboard: Rakdos Charm is great, but I never bring it in against abzan. I have more efficient things to be doing than shrinking goyf a little for a turn or so. id rather have Slaughter Pact for that. i find Anger of the Gods, Slaughter Pact, Flame Slash and Rakdos Charm are usually sufficient, although i need to test more to be sure.

the problem with modern as a whole is that it is diverse. having specific answers is necessary, but also having cards that can be brought in in several matchups is important. i am tring my best to make my sideboard as versatile as possible, while still having plenty to bring in against the most popular decks (which are currently abzan, twin, and i think bloom titan)

almost forgot about jace: the reason i play him is because he stops Lingering Souls, Bitterblossom, and to a lesser extent affinity. not only that, but he draws me cards, and he cant be Abrupt Decayed like Jace Beleren. he also stops twin from going off through Deceiver Exarch, which is significant.

I think this is a very solid looking list, and though no Modern Master myself (pun intended) a sideboard card you should consider running is Shadow of Doubt

It works great in matchups against Tron and Scapeshift and since you run maindeck Snapcaster even just a few in the SB could doubled in a match

...and long live Grixis!

great minds think alike almerican. i actually put a Shadow of Doubt into the board earlier on Untap.in

it is indeed fantastic.

rakdos can let twin happen and make them pay for it making the opp take 1 for each exarch. i run a grixis twin deck and bring it in a number of match ups. theres a huge weakness to enchantments and i like either splashing that single stomping ground or maybre sacred foundry for ancient grudge/ wear // tear. i think having sb cards that are diverse helps. engineered explosive gets even better with that 4th color.

also, ive been liking ashiok in the side as well. very unexpected and likes midrange decks

Electrolyze in the current meta? Surely can't be performing that well. What do you think? Like 2 damage is barely enough to kill anything. I suppose it gets Pestermite and Scavenging Ooze but I can't think of much else. For 3 mana it seems risky to have 3 copies when I can't see it being that great at the moment.

I also feel that Lightning Bolt has lost some value. In a slow deck that doesn't need to burn the opponent, and just wants straight up removal I wouldn't value it over.... Victim of Night or Dismember etc. Like, I don't think it's that good in the meta against creatures and I don't think this deck needs to burn the opponent. Therefore I don't see it as a 4-of.

I don't think Jace is worth it even if he does stop Lingering Souls. You don't want to tap out 4 mana just for that. I'd much rather see a singleton Keranos due to him helping you to draw cards and the fact that he's indestructible and then another Mana Leak or something. You're unlikely to die to Lingering Souls. It's not that bad.

I'm unsure about this. I feel like the deck is sort of 80% there and it just needs a few cuts here and there to improve.

Just curious as to what you do when an opponent drops a Blood Moon

@ChiefBell: I have found both Lightning Bolt and Electrolyze to be amazing in my local meta. it might be something id have to change around for an SCG event, but it is fantastic against faeries, tokens, soul sisters, delver, and affinity. I know my deck looks slow on paper, and it definitely can play the slow game, but it can turn around and start beating face real fast, so bolt is good for that reason as well. Jace isn't there just to stop Lingering Souls, although that is an upside. he is there for the card advantage he supplies against the Thoughtseize decks. his +1 just happens to be super relevant most of the time. I have playtested against most decks in the meta so far, and I really only side jace out against storm and bloom titan. he is very useful everywhere else.

@Nefferean: Blood Moon is pretty solid against me, but it is by no means a lock. against a blood moon deck, I typically fetch for my basics asap, tne try to close out the game as fast as I can with Vendilion Clique, Snapcaster Mage, and Lightning Bolt. the only card that gets shut out by blood moon is Cryptic Command, but I really don't feel like I can afford to run another basic island.

Yeah I see what you're saying. I was just curious. Gitaxian Probe is one of my favorite cards because it gives some important information. You could probe before inquisitioning turn one

I tried probe for a while, but it just wasn't pulling it's weight. Most of the time I knew what my opponent had from earlier discard spells and what not. The card draw isn't insignificant, but why draw another card when I could've just drawn something better than probe in the first place?

Yeh electrolyze and bolt are massive meta calls. If you have tokens etc in your meta then I totally understand their inclusion.

I'm surprised by your lack of serum visions which digs 3 cards deep.

I did originally have it in here, but I honestly didn't like it much. It is a fantastic card, but I just don't ever want to use it.