Welcome to my happy little Grenzo deck. This is NOT the tutor-for-Doomsday-and-combo-fast Grenzo deck.
My Grenzo, Dungeon Warden list heavily focuses on his activated ability. For Grenzo's X cost I want to pick a single number that can "hit" on as many of my cards into play as possible so that we don't have to worry about manipulating his +1/+1 counters or power. For this deck I have chosen X=1 (for a power of 3) because it will give me access to combos, creature based ramp, and some card draw/selection at a low level of investment. As long as the cards we bin have a power of 3 or less their mana costs can be cheated by Grenzo's ability, giving us access to powerful ETBs and abilities ahead of schedule. It also fits well into an easy curve of Grenzo on T3 and two activations on T4.
Cards that HIT
Ramp
Alloy Myr, Iron Myr, Leaden Myr, Palladium Myr, and Plague Myr can all make mana.
Brazen Buccaneers, Dire Fleet Interloper, Queen's Agent, Burnished Hart, and Solemn Simulacrum can all find mana. This can also help "thin" our deck out to give us less whiffs off of the bottom of the library. The option to put cards into the bin via the "Explore" mechanic can also help us a few ways.
Treasonous Ogre can turn life into mana in a pinch, allowing us to dig for the cars we need right now.
Draw
Bomat Courier, Humble Defector, Thorn of the Black Rose can all get us a rough approximation of card draw.
Recursion
Feldon of the Third Path is premium here because Necrotic Ooze can use his ability too. Gravedigger is a great hit late in the game and can grab o Ooze back out of the bin if we trashed him on accident.
STAX
Blood Seeker, Fate Unraveler, Harsh Mentor, Magus of the Moon, Stoneshaker Shaman are all fun to drop on unsuspecting opponents. They are easy enough to remove that they barely count as STAX so they rarely increase your aggro at the table.
Interactive
Aladdin, Deathbringer Thoctar, Fleshbag Marauder, Necroplasm, Ravenous Chupacabra, Shriekmaw, Thief of Blood, Vampire Hexmage, and Wall of Souls are all ways to interact with key targets around the board. Deathbringer and Aladdin are underpowerd additions from my dusty build box so if you want to be cooler than me substitute Plaguecrafter and Treasure Nabber :)
All-Stars
Anger is haste for-ev-er. Armory Automaton takes all of the boots, swords, and cloaks (and most importantly makes them spend mana taking everything back). Clone Shell can protect a key piece, hold off a board wipe, stack the bottom of your deck for Grenzo, and is a great hit when you are digging for an answer.Dire Fleet Daredevil takes your opponent's best spell. Epitaph Golem is the premium Grenzo enabler as he lets you stack the bottom of your library. Falkenrath Noble is great board protection and can turn a Wrath into a game win (by flooding the board with creatures to add to his triggers). Gray Merchant of Asphodel has outright won games. Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet can clog up the board, hate on recursion decks, and hold back board wipes. Kozilek, Butcher of Truth resets your slot machine of a deck and lets you keep cranking away. Sangromancer and Zulaport Cutthroat join FNoble in making your minion board a game winning death blossom.
Combos
Corpse Connoisseur is just a tutor on a hit. Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker + Zealous Conscripts
is an infinite combo. Workhorse is great to stack on the bottom because it gives you two more Grenzo activations. Necrotic Ooze can make dead combos live again. She is a HUGE target so it is OK to bin her early and recur her later.
Cards that don't hit :(
I have 49 cards, including my 36 lands, that don't come into play off a Grenzo activation. Two of them can be played from the graveyard, and one has 4 power but can be recurred (NOoze). This gives me a >50% chance to get a "hit" off of every Grenzo activation. The last few cards are useful enough that they have not been replaced...yet.
Reality Scramble and Increasing Ambition are both solid inclusions that are never dead in the bin. Mana Geyser can give us a TON of mana when we time it right. Red Elemental Blast and Pyroblast can ward off Cyc Rifts and counterspells. Active Volcano is also an out of left field inclusion that has been helpful against lonely islands, propaganda, and rhystic studys. Boots and Greaves can help with haste and keeping Grenzo safe. Altar makes mana, Tomb makes flyers, and Vandalblast is killer against most established boards.
The best card in this section is Teferi's Puzzle Box. Being able to completely stack your deck for Grenzo activations is incredibly helpful. Also, your opponents are almost guaranteed to be unable to sustain like you can with this on the table. I have included Myr Retriever and Junk Diver in the past to ensure I get it into play, but it plays fine without them.
