why Desperate Ravings as opposed to Forbidden Alchemy or Think Twice ? I think the dig or just the draw is better then the risk of pitching something you don't need.

Also, your deck looks to be Really geared against agro. Even a lot of your sideboard seem to hate agro. I feel like a control matchup could really hurt you. But maybe there are few control decks in your meta.

All in all, it looks pretty ready to stomp down hard on creature decks.

At first, I was just as sceptical as you on this card. I used to have a playset of Think Twice instead, and hesitated a long time before replacing them by the Desperate Ravings . What made me cross the gap was my recent acquisition of 2 Snapcaster Mage . These guys are incredible, and they enable me to still cast most of the spells discarded by the ravings. And even if Desperate Ravings seems risky, there's always a timing to reduce the risk factor, I mean, I wouldn't play it with a Bolas, a Jace and a Dreadbore in hand for sure. It helps digging into the deck twice as fast as Think Twice , and if I throw out a land or a spell with flashback, then it appears to be really powerful to me. Have you ever tested it? It's better than it looks, really. Plus, you also risk throwing out goodstuff with forbidden alchemy, what if you get one Olivia, one Jace and one Rakdos's return within the 4 cards ? I wouldn't play more than a couple of alchemies as it basically never helps you reach the 6 mana gap.

Regarding the aggro hate, good call, my meta is mainly RB zombies or human aggros, midrange GW, and a few controls. Thus the 11 removals. I think I should play a few more Dissipate or Syncopate or even the controversed Izzet Charm , but I don't see what to get rid of. Maybe move the card:Curse of Death's Hold to the sb, even if it's a house vs aggro? The problem I meet with the counterspells is that my removals are all sorceries, maybe I should trade some Pillar of Flame for a couple of Annihilating Fire or Ultimate Price ? Do you have any suggestions?

As for control decks, I usually manage to get a huge edge over my opponents with the planeswalkers, the dreadbores, the rakdos's return or just using my small creatures and the keyrunes to put enough pressure to make them tap out FTL. For the sb, the combination of Appetite for Brains , Slaughter Games , the additional copy of card:Rakdos's Return and the counterspells are quite solid to me. But if you see other ways to improve the MU, I'm open to all suggestions !

Thanks anyway for your feedback !

I really like your deck, I can't think of anything in particular I'd change offhand--although, as the other commenter said, it all depends on your meta.

Only one suggestion--if aggro and specifically zombies are big where you are, it might be worth it to add another Rakdos Keyrune or two and one more card:Curse of Death's Hold. I've never seen a zombie deck that card didn't shut down all by itself.

Thanks for the comment ! Good to get some feedback, even better when it's a positive one ;)

Your call for even more aggro hate is however tough to implement in a 60 deck cards, where only 35 cards are actually spells. That's a really tough balance between drawing / fetching (I feel 10-12 cards are needed, counting Jace, Architect of Thought and Augur of Bolas ), removals (trying to keep 11 and to have variation in them), polyvalent threats (at least 7, counting the other planeswalkers, the keyrunes and the few creatures). Also willing to have a few counters (3 of them seem to be ok with all the drawing, even if I would sometimes like to run a few moar). All this assuming I can re-use spells with the 2 Snapcaster Mage (planning to get a third btw, but still don't know what to take out for it).

This 35 number is hard to stick with, and I'm even considering adding a 26th land... This is a real challenge to optimize everything... That's why I'm always eager to get advice from other people playing in other metagames ;)

I am not sure of the meta out by you, but I DEFINITELY would run Glaring Spotlight in your side and card:Curse of Death's Hold in your main board. Glaring Spotlight not only shuts down spirit decks, but the look on their face is worth it. I sided it vs an Invisible Stalker deck. Played it turn two. Best expression from my opponent EVER. card:Curse of Death's Hold is THE answer vs Falkenrath Aristocrat , and Snapcaster Mage . The Snap dies before it enters play, so his ability never goes off. I run a 1 of for that reason. Take a look at my deck. deck:super-friendly-grixis-undefeated-so-far. Hopefully it helps.

Actually thats not true about the snapcaster and curse interaction. Snapcaster enters the battlefield and exists for a brief moment, but the second his ability goes on the stack and you pass priority to your opponent then he dies, but the ETB trigger still remains on the stack and can then be used to flashback a spell.

According to rulings I have found online,and previous judge calls at FNM's, Snaps are countered by card:Curse of Death's Hold.

Ill put it into point form to make it a little clearer:

-You have priority, you cast Snapcaster Mage and choose not to put any more spells on the stack, then pass priority to your opponent.

-They choose not to cast any spells and passes priority back to you.

-You have now have priority after both you and your opponent have chosen not to cast any extra spells and Snapcaster Mage resolves, it is currently a 1/0 creature.

-Snapcaster Mage 's ETB trigger goes on the stack, you select the spell target and then choose to not play any spells in response to the trigger, you pass priority to your opponent.

-Your opponent gains priority, Creatures are checked to see if they are still alive, snapcaster fails this check and dies BUT the ability stays on the stack.

Makes sense to me. Anyway, it's a too small effect regarding what you pay for, I mean turn 5 you usually have bigger threats to fight (sure it's excellent vs Falkenrath and spirits, but that's pretty much it).

Added Barter in Blood SB and Tribute to Hunger MB : added to Lili's sac engine, I'll have more solutions vs Hexproof decks. I don't see Glaring Spotlight to be so good, I mean it still can be destroyed (I feel a lot of hexproof bant will SB Shattering Blow to deal with it) and it doesn't do anything on its own.

Added Appetite for Brains SB vs control / midrange. Not sure if I should swap it with Duress or not.

Wondering whether I should remove Olivia and Niv-Mizzet and stick with the Bolas for victory plan, but I feel to be too vulnerable if it dies... I would for sure add Nephalia Drownyard as alt win con. Any feedback / suggestions?

I think you should definately keep olivia and niv-mizzet, i run them in my grixis build and they are always useful. Glaring Spotlight is something that i would hold in hand until i need it, gives them less chance to destroy it (especially if you have a liliana making them discard all the time. Also dont forget about sigarda, she is a massive pain and aside from your creatures (if they get big enough to hurt sigarda then they get selesnya charmed) you have 1 spell that kills her.

Appetite for brains and duress are about on par for usefulness, it depends on your meta i think, but duress is better vs control as it hits every card in their deck almost.

Personally i like to run 2x izzet charm at least, they are good im pretty much every matchup.

One last idea that i had was to run a 1x Psychic Spiral in sideboard vs control decks and ensure that they mill us out (their only win con). Then at the end of turn we snapcaster mage into physic spiral and win the game.

I feel Appetite for Brains to be more polyvalent, as it is useful vs Midrange AND control. I already got 2xJace, Memory Adept , 2xNegate , 2xSlaughter Games and 1xcard:Rakdos's Return vs control, so I'm quite confident with most of the control MU.

Psychic Spiral , why not, instead of the additional copy of card:Rakdos's Return maybe? Even if I enjoy siding the return vs midrange also. Maybe I should get a couple of ghost quarters MB to deal with their Nephalia Drownyard , or play a couple of it myself. Still wondering what would become the manabase. Any suggestion again here?

Regarding Sigarda, I try to make it discarded, to counter it, or name it on Slaughter games. Adding Glaring Spotlight wouldn't hurt for sure, maybe I'll give it a try as a 2-of in the SB. I don't see many Sigarda around though.

2xIzzet Charm over 2xDimir Charm (the other being 1-of)? Or 2 of each and reduce the amount of Think Twice by one ?

I really love this deck for being such a subtile equation, not straightforward like aggro where you have playsets of every powerhouse and little place for change.

A single card:Rakdos's Return is probably fine if you can Slaughter Games for card:Sphinx's Revelation early on. Plus you can always snapcaster it.

If you do go the option of Psychic Spiral then you wont need the drownyards, you have a decent number of game ender's with voldaren, niv-mizzet and bolas or even tamiyo emblem. The mana base isnt too hard to work out, probably something like 8 black/blue duals, 7, red/blue duals and 6 red/black duals (i have a spreadsheet i made to help with working this out :P)

I actually havent seen sigarda much in tournaments but she isnt a bad creature, and if someone did just happen to play her you would be very sad. I also am trying the spotlight as a 2-of but i havent had a chance to play it in tournaments yet (they start at 11am on sunday and i sleep in too often).

2x Izzet Charm and 1x Dimir Charm seems like a good split, but if you find dimir charm to be really useful you can always add more, im not sure though as it just seems like a weaker version of izzet charm. You could probably get away with 3x think twice as you do have 3x jace to refill your hand. As a grixis player you generally only need 1-2 cards in hand usually and just sit there cycling them with lighthouse.

I was wondering how useful Blasphemous Act has been in this build. The current Grixis Control deck I am running could use a good global, but Blasphemous Act seemed impractical. I may need to try it out in my build.

I don't really have any criticism. The deck looks great. Many Grixis decks I run into seem to be lacking. You seem to have all of your bases covered.

Enjoy playing. +1

It is one of the spells I would not get rid of, saved the day so many times, either top decked or searched with Increasing Ambition ! It deals with everything that doesn't have indestructible or undying, from Armada wurm, Sigarda, tokens, swarms of small creatures... It can also be flashbacked with snapcaster for U, which is pretty convenient.

Thanks for the comment! I'll run it into FNM probably next week and come back with my feedback then.

Finally got rid of Dimir Charm , I felt it to be a bit lackluster compared to the Izzet one. Got rid of one Think Twice for a Cyclonic Rift , really saves the day vs control, to take care of pesky enchants or planes, or even reset the counters on creatures (Stromkirk Noble / Champion of the Parish / Predator Ooze ...).

Still wondering regarding the Negate in SB, I feel a third Slaughter Games and a Dissipate would do the trick too, and could be added vs other MU. Maybe I'll also try to find room for a couple of Rakdos Charm vs FRites, undying and annoying artefacts like DtN, but I'm not sure if it's worth 2 slots. Any suggestions for the SB would be appreciated!

Also changed one Nephalia Drownyard for one Ghost Quarter to have an uncounterable solution to the opponent's annoying lands, and one Watery Grave for an island, to have something to seek when one of my lands get targeted wih a quarter. Dunno if it makes sense of just a very situational consideration, let me know!

Wow that looks insanely similar to what I'm brewin' over at Grixis says No! I like it a lot and have definitely been considering putting in multiple Lily Veils...

I think Pithing Needle for the SB would be helpful against the mirror match to stop their drownyard before they mil you out. Great deck, though.

Sounds like a plan, even if I am quite confident with the Jace M13, Bolas, Ghost Quarter and my own drownyards to get the upper hand. But it's a good idea otherwise, because it could counter many nasty things. Thanks for the comment!

Personally I think 1x Psychic Spiral in the side is a better idea vs the mill matchup, and just hold back a snapcaster. It will only take up 1 slot in the sideboard.

+1'ed - I run something similar with a few more copies of a few less spells.

First, Naya Human Aggro/Blitz: 2x Rolling Temblor in the SB would be helpful, but Champion of the Parish with a few friends is hard to deal with; Mayor of Avabruck  ^Flip makes the Temblor less effective; Turn two Burning-Tree Emissary spam into 3 or 4 creatures needs an immediate sweep. That's not to mention Boros Reckoner if he's played.

Second, Jund Control: Huntmaster of the Fells  ^Flip forces an immediate Rolling Temblor and Thragtusk forces a 2-for-1 no matter what. Add in multiple copies of Kessig Wolf Run and you're in trouble.

Third, Aristocrats: Indestructible creatures aren't fun!

I'm having problems making my own grixis deck competitive at the moment, with the above decks running rampant in the current meta. Esper just seems to do it better currently, with Supreme Verdict, Terminus and Sphinx's Revelation outclassing Olivia Voldaren, Dreadbore and Rakdos's Return.

I'd appreciate your (and anyone else's) two cents with regards to my above points and how to make Grixis decks competitive before Dragon's Maze.

Thanks!!

Personally im not sold on Rolling Temblor, it does have its moments but generally i prefer Magmaquake instead. Even though it does take an extra turn to do the same damage it is more flexible and can combat almost any creature based deck.

I also think Victim of Night instead of Ultimate Price if you think your mana can handle it. It hits everything that price hits plus a few more important ones ie Trostani and Obzedat.

On another note, how have you found Pillar of Flame? Ive seen many grixis decks running it but i cant seem to find a reason for it to be mainboard over many other spells.

I actually run 2x Rolling Temblor in my SB, as it's a lifesaver vs swarm decks (I also run a Gruul aggro Burning-tree FTW ! that I often use for playtesting, and temblor can really hurt this kind of decks badly!). And I can still kill the mayor before or even after it flips, I'm not so afraid of it.

Magmaquake is one turn slower, which often is lethal as you can often die in 4 turns, and I'm not so happy to draw it when I have planes on the table... But I'll give it a try SB to see if I can deal with that extra turn.

I've already thought of Victim of Night, as it's better than Ultimate Price, but the double colored mana is the reason why I don't want to run it. And if I were able to sustain the double colored mana more consistently, I would run another murder instead I guess.

The pillars are here to deal with a T1 mana dork, a Champion of the Parish, a Gravecrawler or a Geralf, but also as a way to kill with Tamiyo, the Moon Sage emblem. It also enables a pillar, snapcaster, pillar again trick for 4 manas, which I find pretty convenient. I used to have a playset MD, but I 'd rather have different ways to deal with creatures. I keep the two others SB and it's pretty much fine like this.

I'm still wondering whether I shall add 1x Sever the Bloodline MD, as the exile, the potential 2-for-1 and the flashback makes it pretty strong overal, even if it's a bit slow. Any feedback on this one?

Regarding the MU, sraylewis, naya, gruul and boros aggro are all present in my meta, and after SB, it's much easier to deal with them with 4x Pillar of Flame, 3x Tribute to Hunger and 2x Rolling Temblor. For Jund, I have usually not that many trouble, Appetite for Brains, Slaughter Games, Negate and Jace, Memory Adept are pretty handy, with the Nephalia Drownyard as a wincon of choice. And for the aristocrats deck, I haven't met one of them yet, I will take a look at the list and how to counter it soon.

Thanks for your comments!

I would suggest Tragic Slip for being able to deal with indestructible creates, Boros Charm, true it does require a creature to die in order to take down most creatures, but can take out most creatures after another one dies, which happens quite often, at least in my meta.

Ive been having a lot of success lately with Tragic Slip at my FNM. I run 2x Devour Flesh and 1x Tribute to Hunger so they MUST kill a creature, then you can slip anything you want. Devour Flesh is amazing right now and i have no idea why, but i just know that whenever i have it in hand im slightly happier than i would be for anything else.

I'm actually struggling a bit with my removals of choice, and I've been thinking of trading some situational ones for more consistancy. Not willing to get rid of Cyclonic Rift and Blasphemous Act singletons, this leaves me open with 12 slots for removal.

I would like to keep 3xDreadbore for it's useful in any MU and can remove pretty much anything, and 2xPillar of Flame as it's really good vs aggro, excellent vs recurring creatures, convenient at removing mana dorks vs midrange and it can be a finisher of choice with Tamiyo's emblem vs control. It can even damage a planes! The rest is pretty open, and I was thinking of something like 3xMurder, 2xIzzet Charm and 2xBarter in Blood. Murder is great, even if a bit expensive; the charm is VERY useful for it's polyvalent and not a dead draw vs control, and can even cycle lands later on, and Barter in Blood wrecks face, even more when you can re-use it 2 turns later with snappy. I've even made a file to try and keep the same instants / sorceries ratio and average manacosts... That would be my compromise for increased consistancy, but I will miss Mizzium Mortars and Tribute to Hunger versatility.

All that said, I just can't find room for a couple of Devour Flesh or Tragic Slip right now, even if I must admit both are good. I just feel the other available removals are superior, but I may be wrong. I may still try with 2xDevour Flesh instead of 1xMurder and 1xDreadbore, but I'm not sure it would be THAT better. Any ideas to help balancing it all around?