Doesn't Gainsay also have the ability to counter Jace, Architect of Thought , whereas Negate does not? Perhaps there are fewer reasons to want to counter a Jace, but if you really want to deny them any draws at a crucial point, it's something.

Yeah Negate can counter Jace, Architect of Thought . Planeswalkers are not creatures and so can be countered by Negate

Wow, y'all blew this up. lol Anyways, gainsay doesn't work any better than dissolve. Negate takes care of everything besides creatures and I just kill those. Mono Blue has taken a significant dive from popularity and I've only played 2 decks in the last month. Plus, Master of Waves eats a Hero's Downfall, Dimir Charm, etc. Gainsay might be worth it for Artherling but in tag situation I'd rather just place essence scatter.

I really like your build and will be running a similar one this coming week. For future reference, in case nobody else has mentioned it, Fog does not stop the damage dealt by Rakdos's Return , because it is not combat damage.

I honestly didn't read all of the comments, but I wanted to note that with Psychic Intrusion , you don't HAVE to cast the card from exile. It could just be used to permanently remove a huge control threat. Sure, take AEtherling , just never cast it and he's no big deal. Same with Elspeth, Sun's Champion . It actually really cripples the opponent to have 1 of their 2 Elspeths left (good luck drawing the next one!), and unable to Elixir of Immortality the one you stole. Also, having no Atherlings left in deck against another control deck is basically an inevitable scoop. Yup, so that's my two cents.

+1

That was my thought @TheAnnihilator. At the worst it's a 5 CMC Thoughtseize without the life loss, but at its BEST it's a 2 for 1 against your opponent

I would reccomend adding 2x Cyclonic Rift to your mainboard though I dont know what you would take out to make room for it. Maybe drop Ultimate Price

Good deck though please take a look at mine Black Devo Splashing White if you have time

@wolfsokol:

Why the Cyclonic Rift just out of curiosity? Ultimate Price deals with the creature permanently, and sending everything back to their hand is only good if you follow up with a Rakdos's Return during your turn to empty their hand.

Yes it DOES hit enchantments/artifacts/gods that normal removal can't deal with, so I stuck with one in my deck

One reason i like Cyclonic Rift is that sometimes, they just cant play enough cards, especially if you use at the end of their turn, and they're tapped out, they have to discard down to 7 and get rid of alot of good stuff. Or they have that troublesome Fleecemane Lion that you can then counter or just kill before he's monstrous the second time.

Wouldn't AEtherize just work better for that particular usage?

Cyclonic Rift also removes Oblivion Ring , Detention Sphere , planeswalkers, etc. I had 1 of both but I ended up going with 2 Cyclonic Rift instead.

Oblivion Ring isn't standard legal but I see your point. I asked what uses you were using it for and IF you are using it to deal with enchantments/gods I can see running a 1-2 of. For this reason, I stuck with 1 as decks that use Detention Sphere only have 4 copies and I can't justify having cards that are for specific reasons and having too many of said card.

Alot of my FNM crowd doesn't conform to standard so I have to deal with that. Lol

I may end up going back to one once I get the rest of my removal and creature suite that I want. I'll have to cut a few other things when I do so we'll see how much use Cyclonic Rift gets between now and then.

@ harrydemon117 because it removes everything so enchants, planeswalkers, whatever they throw out you and it destroys devotion decks or as phaze08 said indestructibles.

In my meta I have esper & azorius who love to lock down my few creatures with Oblivion Ring (not standard, but we're pretty casual, I just like to stick to standard myself) or Detention Sphere .

Also alot of decks in my meta have tons of planeswalkers and gods. Also one deck I fight has 4 Fleecemane Lion so if I can't answer it before he makes monstrous then I have to use Cyclonic Rift or Far / Away or if I have Glaring Spotlight up I can use Turn / Burn which I have in SB just for gods and other hard to kill creatures.

So Cyclonic Rift is pretty great even though its somewhat expensive if you overload.

One other thing, a question directed at DrFunk27 : I noticed you're not running Anger of the Gods , most people choose cards like it for reasons to run Grixis and not esper, so is there a reason you're not running Anger of the Gods ?

Not that I am speaking for him mind you, but he's running creatures himself. He doesn't want to board wipe as it would take all of this creatures too.

Only Nightveil Specter would die to it though.

phaze08 I don't run Anger because aggro wasn't present at my shop. I'll add it now though as I start to play in larger tournaments.

harrydemon117 Keranos, God of Storm looks like he will continue to make Grixis strong after RTR rotates! I'm also liking Dictate of the Twin Gods, as well as Dictate of Kruphix. Stay tuned, because I think this deck will get a shake up as JOU is spoiled.

I just saw the preview of Keranos and I am quite pleased with what I see. Yikes. Great card draw and free damage to opponent or creature.

Dictate of the twin gods looks really risky. would you like that on the field if your opponent resolved Burning Earth or Fanatic of Mogis ? Plus it makes R/W burn a nightmare. I dont think Grixis runs wnough damage sources to make it worth it.

I wouldn't play Twin but Keranos is going in this deck for sure. I'm going to overhaul the deck to make it a quicker win. More straight burn while destroying/countering. I'm really pleased with Keranos. It will be a ton of fun to play around. As of now, Im debating on taking out Nightveil Specter or Jace AoT for Keranos. I'm definitely going back to Frostburn Weird, I've been thinking about it anyways. It's time to start brewing again! Help appreciated. =)

harrydemon117

Omphaloskeptic

phaze08

I'd still make room for Ratchet Bomb in the side. Thats about the only enchantment removal we get :/

What is Turn / Burn for? If it is for gods then i feel Gild is a better option as it is cheaper and leaves you with that token which can give a nifty little boost to Rakdos's Return .

If you are going with the chip and burn plan then why not try Mogis, God of Slaughter ans since you are now running Nightveil Specter and Frostburn Weird , he shouldnt be too hard to 'turn on'