It won't be unless I start running an excessive number of swamps or maintain running shock lands. Which is quite possible, though black is the color I have the least of in here.

With the new Battalion mechanic, I'd be very suprised to not see an excessive number of board wipes in Gatecrash. So it's just a waiting game.

So, what do you usually side out/in?

I've been watching this deck for a while, in terms of learning control and just toying around with my own Grixis Control deck I'm curious about adding in white for Supreme Verdict , card:Sphinx's Revelation and other cards that are very popular, or should I say more "Helpful" in control.

One thing that stumps me is the mana pool for running 4 colors, and in that case black would be more of a splash. I would like to see your thoughts on the mana pool and as such.

+1 for the deck in general and how its progressed (:

I love the change. Esper is really awesome. I would +1 it except that I already did for the previous iteration. =)

I would recommend 2-3x Chromatic Lantern for mana-fixing and ramp considering you are not playing Green for Farseek .

I don't know about this. I really liked it better before with Niv-Mizzet, Olivia, burn spells, and stuff. You could also consider one or two Increasing Devotion for finding your Nicol Bolas late-game or for finding Detention Sphere /card:Sphinx's Revelation/Supreme Verdict . Who knows where Gatecrash will leave this?

Pretty sure you meant Increasing Ambition and I don't think Chromatic Lantern is necessary, either, but you really need a couple more red mana. Either 2 Blood Crypt or 2 more Steam Vents . Or since you're already running Watery Grave you could just use Sacred Foundry .

I think I will wait the 2-3 weeks until everything is spoiled from Gatecrash. That way I will have a better idea as to what I want to play and how I will go about fixing mana.

For mana fixing, one option you could take is to put in a Mountain , then use your Ghost Quarter (s) for that late game red mana for bolas. It is somewhat inefficient, but it gives your Ghost Quarter s much greater utility and makes red much easier to come by without altering the mana base that much.

Also, I run an esper control deck, and I have found that Lingering Souls just aren't that great. I acknowledge that it's a great card, it just doesn't fit. It usually won't win you games and boardwipes are almost always better than chump blockers. Good replacements are more boardwipes and Sorin, Lord of Innistrad . Sorin is really the best way to synergize creatures with wipes. If your opponent's board position becomes too strong, you simply attack with all your lifelinkers, wipe, and use his +1. His -2 allows you to win games very quickly once you've got 3-4 vamps and his ult is okay. I guarantee he will never disappoint you.

I have and will consider him Blakkhand. Nothing will be final until Gatecrash spoilers have finished. Thank you for the input.

seeing that this deck has evolved from its grixis beginnings, what's your opinion on the viability of grixis in standard right now?

Bloodline Keeper  ^Flip works really well with sorin

I love the new take on the deck. Since you are putting spoiled cards in, what's your take on adding Dimir Charm ?

An excellent question, one I've already had the oppurtunity to discuss. Stick with me here:

Dimir Charm 's first ability will not see play. Plain and simple. Countering sorcery spells just won't cut it against constructed, non-UW Miracle builds. The ability to stop Entreat the Angels or Terminus is invaluable, granted. But there's no way it will have the charm see the light of a mainboard.

It's second ability is also a bit of a write off, sadly. Sure, it deals with Vampire Nighthawk , Rhox Faithmender and card:Trostani, Selesnya's Voice. But at two mana, you could be doing a lot better.

It's third ability, and easily it's best, is it's only chance of having it see play. This gets it points in external formats. UB Delver will be happy to run this charm. Esper Miracle builds could run it as a 2 of, where Ponder wasn't an option for whatever reason. Hell, use it on yourself simply because you can. As something to dig with, I feel it could be perfectly fine.

What makes a charm viable is it's versatility. Cards like Azorius Charm and Selesnya Charm will be viable depending on the scenario the game has put you in, where it can help you in more than one scenario. It's almost like sitting on an extra card in hand. Dimir Charm is not one of those cards. If you're running it, you're running it for just the last ability, which is not worth spending 2 mana on. This card is neither versatile nor is it efficient. It is not one of the better charms.

That's my take, at least. What's yours?

I agree with you on the first ability, it somewhat hit or miss. It is nice that it is a hard counter, something that I wasn't expecting to see in the charms. Makes the charm a little bit more relevant late game.

I think the second ability is slightly better than you think. First of all, it's going to destroy lots of the new simic evolve stuff. Also, in the strategy for my esper deck, it's crucial to have a turn 1-4 kill spell to protect me until I either wipe or drop a walker, and it hits most of what I see in that time frame.

The third ability is like you said, the best of the three, either helping your draws or hurting your opponent. Another important aspect of this ability is that it actually mills, giving it some synergy with tamiyo's emblem. Up until it was spoiled, I couldn't justify running tamiyo just because I had nothing that worked well enough with her ult and with all the wipes her second ability was almost useless.

Personally, I would highly recommend putting in Oblivion Ring s over the Sundering Growth s in your sideboard. It's much more versatile, and has the added utility of being very useful against U/W/x Control type stuff that will try to Detention Sphere your walkers. Also, despite having a larger mana cost, it has a significantly less committed mana cost.

Sure. I like it. Sundering Growth is coming out.

On a side note, Drogskol Reaver combos with this deck like it's no one's business.

Love it maybe with Gideon, Champion of Justice you could go super friends and win alot more just need to draw more attention to your powerhouses and maybe Isperia, Supreme Judge and card:Judge's Familiar would help too

I like the Drogskol Reaver a lot here. If I didn't have an inexplicable hate of creatures in general, I would probably be running it in my esper deck, and a long ago iteration ran it as a 4-of.

I don't like card:Curse of Death's Hold that much in esper just because wipes completely outclass it. Add a wipe or possibly another walker instead. Liliana of the Veil works wonders, but I don't know if your mana base can handle the BB commitment. Maybe another Detention Sphere ?

i'm curious, what's the Cavern of Souls for?

Probably a placeholder for the splash of red needed to cast Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker . Although it could be there to make absolutely certain that Snapcaster Mage hits the board.

Remember guild fued is a great fire starter for when the cold hits

I don't know how to play Magic. I was hoping you guys could teach me.

Guild Feud is probably the best card in standard, maybe tied with Search the City

i just play tested this deck and i got thrashed, i couldn't lay a dent+1 from me

Me too, so much removal.