Lore:
Planeswalkers Notes: Fiora
A plane of perpetual renaissance, Fiora's beautiful cities are known across the Multiverse for their breathtaking architecture and the ingenuity of their inventors. Despite its scenic vistas, Fiora is one of the most dangerous planes a Planeswalker can visit. Every sleeve hides a dagger, every smile a lie. In the capital of Fiora - Paliano, the High City - murder and subterfuge are common. Here, the fine print has fine print. Beneath the thin veil of civility, political factions and ruthless thugs vie for control of Paliano. Those who sit in the legislative seats of the High City control the vote, and the laws issued from Paliano mystically bind the populace. Planeswalkers traveling to Fiora should note that murder, manslaughter, and violence have never been outlawed - in fact, they are tools utilized by politicians on a regular basis.
Planeswalker's Notes: Grenzo
Grenzo has created a network of power through his knowledge of the elaborate labyrinth of sewers and drains that riddle the city of Paliano. He has a key to every lock, a blade for every job and not a shred of scruples to go with either. Dungeon Master for the plane of Fiora, he is not above using prisoners as tools to get what he desires. While advanced in years, it would be wise to watch Grenzo with a close eye, and not to take what he says for granted, much like most others on the plane of Fiora.
Why play Grenzo?:
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Because Magic isn't hard enough to figure out how to win at the best of times
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Because you like playing Doomsday (SADIST!)
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Because the chance to nuke your opponents from orbit is hilarious to you.
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Because you're looking for something different in Rakdos colours... thinking, for one...
Our ideal hands:
If you've never played Doomsday, believe me when I say it's a pretty straightforward card. Make a pile of 5 cards, and win with it. And like most Doomsday decks, we're designed to win as quickly as we can.
But here lies the trap - Doomsday requires a lot of skill, and a lot of thought into your matchups, especially if it resolves. This deck is no exception - every card we have in the deck is in the deck for a reason, and plays off the stack of 5 cards with great advantage. I'll go into more detail in the next section, but to cover the basics of what this deck needs in it's opening hand:
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Doomsday - While not required in opening hand, it makes your life a lot easier than needing to dig for it. If it's not in opening hand, it's not the end of the world.
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Tutors and/or Rituals/Colour fixing - Doomsday requires to be able to be cast - which is why we run Rituals, in case of drawing into Doomsday. They also assist us in getting things we require to bring Grenzo up in P/T. They also allow us to pay for Grenzo's ability to get our Doomsday pile out.
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Draw spells - Cards like Necropotence and Ad Nauseam are highly suggested to keep, as they can help you dig for what ails you - just be careful in running too many. Why? Because we spend a lot of life digging, while opponents are still setting up - don't get too greedy late game, or too conservative early game - early game, we can lose a bit more life, as our life total dwindles, so does the ability to use them.
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2-3 land! If nothing else, Grenzo also needs to be in play before we can cast Doomsday, and as such, he needs to be set up properly - which is actually kind of funny in this deck, because he can be cast with no counters on him and still manage to get the ball going to win.
Ideal match ups and how to play:
Well, once you cast Doomsday, your and your opponent(s) board state is very important. You can either pass turn and try to set up a next turn stack that will win then, or build one that costs you next to no mana to get online. Depending on what you have in play and in hand, decides how you do this right.
Ideal Wincons: (simplified)
So now that you've cast Doomsday, you're looking for the simpliest ways to win the game. Spoilers - there is no easy way for us to win. Doomsday, as mentioned, is a hard card to figure out, even at the best of times. So here's some sample piles I've made, and hopefully they help give you some ideas on how to beat your opponents.
From bottom, up, CC mana in pool after Doomsday resolves:
Priest of Gix, Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker, Goblin Sledder, Zealous Conscripts, Victimize
Though this pile, you have both Mirror Breaker and Priest to make enough mana to flip the deck you need. Victimize is your backup plan. Simply remember to have Grenzo on no counters to need Sledder, and sacrifice him before your Grenzo flip goes off, to make him a 3/3.
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From bottom, up, 2R mana in pool after Doomsday resolves, and Sensei's Divining Top in play, with an opposing Tormod's Crypt and hand with Vandalblast in it:
Priest of Gix, Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker, Worldgorger Dragon, Murderous Redcap, Animate Dead
Smelt the Crypt. Then proceed to flip mana off the bottom of your deck. Use top to draw the Animate Dead. Use B mana floating entire time from Priest to get the mana you need for Animate Dead, and loop your Worldgorger. Kill with Redcap. Done.
Notes
He's baaaack... and with new technology to dig for Doomsday and make it more reliable!
Originally, my Grenzo deck was designed with the ease of putting Goblins into play. I was content enough with that for a time, until a friend challenged me to building a deck with Goblin Pyromancer. He claimed the card was the worst bulk rare in the history of the game. And rather than agree with him, it sparked an idea - Grenzo Doomsday.
That started the first change in Grenzo, where he started running Doomsday - in that version, he ran Mikaeus, the Unhallowed + Triskelion
with Goblin Pyromancer to bridge the gap of an Grenzo with no counters on him, to being big enough to become the threat. The piles were a lot different, and there was no fast mana to rely on. But it was fun, and it was competitive in it's own right in my meta.
After a while of getting tired of beating people with the deck, or losing to other decks, I retired the deck for a time. The idea never wandered too far from my mind, and to be honest, it's long been on the backburner for me. Had to drop from the cEDH scene for a time though, due to personal reasons (which I'd prefer not to get into), and when I came back, I found that there was actually more people wanting to get into a more competitive mindset with EDH.
So with their help, I've been tuning, revising, working on this list nearly non-stop. The deck is still very fluid, very surprising, and best of all, fast when you get the good stuff. This is a hard deck to pilot at the best of times - I've lost many a game because I've forgotten important things staring at me in the face. But I'm getting better - and I'm working on building a primer for this thing. So one day soon, you might be sitting down and staring at a Grenzo deck with fear. Until that day arrives, I'm going to keep working on the list, improving it, and letting people think I'm just a stupid Goblin deck. ;)
Edit: I'm no longer actively playing this deck - parts of my group finally revolted against me and refuse to play, so I gave up. Clay_Puppington has taken my stead and improved it. Would highly recommend all discussion be directed to his caring ways.
