If he is going in, consider seeing if hitting seven devotion is practical. Of course, you don't need the devotion to use his abilities, but it doesn't hurt to have an indestructible 7/5 on the field. The Whip of Erebos and Underworld Connections could give you four of the five you need. Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver also provides one. Desecration Demon or the Stormbreath Dragon are each a source of two. Remember that you need five devotion, not seven, since Mogis provides two of his own. Honestly, I don't think that it's practical right now given what's available, but it may be in future sets.

The BEST solution to Assemble the Legion would be Illness in the Ranks as it shuts down all of the tokens created. They won't suspect you as having an enchantment that's "worth a darn" so they won't bring in any enchantment removal.

Another solution is Izzet Staticaster , however all it takes is a single removal spell and it thwarts your whole plan.

I have also considered Illness in the Ranks as a sideboard card against token strategies and Master of Waves , but the meta has not established enough "token win cons" to make it worthy of including yet. If Brimaz, King of Oreskos and Precinct Captain are shoved into sleeves and see more play as a "white weenie" deck then I will definitely include it as a sideboard card

...of special note is it is also a "shut down" card for Elspeth, Sun's Champion for several turns as well

@harrydemon117 - I disagree with one statement. I believe that Illness in the Ranks is just as viable as Dark Betrayal or Gainsay . What white deck doesn't run Elspeth, Sun's Champion ? What Boros deck doesn't side in Assemble the Legion ? I would argue that if you can find room for Izzet Staticaster , then Illness in the Ranks deserves a shot.

In the current meta, enchantments are making a come back, but most people run enough enchantment removal to remove one or two enchantments max, side board included. I will be running Illness in the Ranks because my local meta demands I deal with tokens.

The only problem with Illness in the Ranks is it can be Dsphere'd or white cards are getting a need 2cmc Revoke Existence so Illness will be less effective. Illness also doesn't fully deal with the card as it only stalls it while it gains stacks. If he drops a Spear of Heliod at 5 stacks good luck.

The only way Grixis can truly deal with enchantments is to counter them

@Bytme - That last comment needs to be highlighted. That is the KEY to it. I don't understand all these blue "control" decks running no counter spells. I agree totally. Let creatures be handled by removal, counter the stuff the deck can't handle and leave the rest.

Now, does Nullify counter Spear of Heliod and other god weapons? They are enchantments. Enchantments are all auras? or does the card have to state aura?

To me the power of Grixis is Blue Counters, Black Creature Removal, Red Burn. That's why you play Grixis Control. Counter; Kill; Burn!!!

Aura's are only the enchantments that specifically enchant one creature. So no, Nullify does not hit the God Weapons.

Nullify only counters auras and auras are enchantments that have to live on another card to stay on the field such as Madcap Skills , so weapons are a no

For the lifegain problem of Grixis, would Deathrite Shaman be of any use? Exile a creature card from a graveyard and gain two health. It wouldn't work as well against other control decks though.

@Omphaloskeptic - No. You need green mana to activate that ability.

That's what I figured about Nullify that would just be too good of a card.

Omphaloskeptic unfortunately he would only take up space.

Mea Culpa. You are both right.

If a deck sideboards in enchantment removal for my Illness in the Ranks then that's one less card I have to worry about as a "threat" :)

Yes Dsphere would take care of it, but let me ask you this: If they exile Illness in the Ranks so that Elspeth, Sun's Champion can continue making 1/1 tokens, then your other planeswalkers/win cons will have one less removal spell to have to worry about right?

It wouldn't be just for Illness in the Ranks your Gods such as Mogis and Thassa are now viable targets to the enchantment removal.

I'm building a Grixis deck with two Desecration Demon and two Ral Zarek . With this combo, would Dying Wish work for lifegain?

The problem with cards such as Dying Wish is that they set you up for "2 for ones". Best case scenario you get to enchant your demon with it, but then your opponent uses one removal spell to take out two cards. Yes you gain a bit of life on it, but what's to stop them from saccing a dude to keep tapping the demon? It never dies and you don't gain any life.

even IF you do gain life, they can take it back within a turn or two.

There simply isn't an effective lifegain in the Grixis colors right now, and hasn't been for quite some time. Vampire Nighthawk was the best we had, back before Theros.

What about Whip of Erebos . I know that it's been written off because control does not use many creatures, but can it provide at least some lifegain consistently? Even if it's only five or so points a game, that might be enough to justify one.

If you ran enough creatures, sure. But in a deck like this, where you only run 4 real creatures?

It does have that neat interaction with AEtherling , though. It also would help with the devotion towards Mogis...

Whip is a dead card in grixis control.

@Kaitoghost - If Mogis were out with a whip and underworld connections, do you think it would be worth it? In this case, you would be one devotion away from him popping him onto the field. With that, you have a 7/5 indestructible with lifelink and no need for divination.

Yes, but you also have to realize that on turn 3 or 4, I will have to play removal spells in order to not die. I won't want to play whip or underworld connections because I need to control their board state, not worry about Mogis becoming a creature.

Grixis can't afford to run Underworld Connections , though.

I know. It's not feasible to play either Whip or Connections. I've been playtesting this deck for months and there are multiple deck lists that work well. Still haven't found the perfect combination but what I have right now is working well.