Maybe consider 3-4 Thoughtseize for the sideboard?

@ LaggerTBagger I took out Anger of the Gods to playtest my SB. I had it but I wanted to try new cards in the SB.

@ Angry_Potatoes I played thoughtseize a ton but I can't regain the life loss like Mono black. It hurts to much to use it.

I might also recommend Slaughter Games for the sideboard to get rid of opposing control deck's win-cons

@ Angry_Potatoes Yup, I have 2 that I regularly play in tournaments but I'm looking at strengthening my matchups against aggro, white weeny and G/R monsters which is rampant at my LGS. If you see all the changes I've made to the deck, I had Games for a long time but I'm currently working on improving this deck to Tier 1.5 status.

Go big or go home, sideboard some Havoc Festival s

P1NG4S Haha, I wanted to try that but it's just not good.

4 AOT and 3 Ashiok? Seems a bit steep. You could probably afford to cut down to two each

@ deanbro Nope, not with all the destroy planeswalkers effects. 7 Planeswalkers are key to having enough control cards available at my disposal.

Then if that's the case, could you not add Ral Zerak? If you're looking for control-esque PW's? It helps lower the redundancy of pulling a second one of the same planeswalker, whilst adding baited burn

deanbro I played around with 2 Ral Zarek, and it was pretty good, but 2 removal spells work just as efficiently. I did however have 9 PW's originally.

Well, if you've tested, I'll take your word for it. Good luck

deanbro I'm certainly not opposed to using him, but Jace and Ashiok have HUGE targets on them, so having one on the field and one in hand really doesn't hurt much.

Definitely an upvote! Really good deck, makes me glad to see other people playing Grixis nowadays :) We lost a lot of good cards :/ Why the two mutavaults? I've found that they mostly die out really quickly or just barely chump block something.

I've noticed that a Rakdos's Return followed by a Thoughtseize is really effective at times, limiting them to their most valuable cards in hand and then removing it like the evil Grixis servant we are.

Also how do you feel about the lifeloss from Read the Bones ? I quite prefer Steam Augury as it allows me to play mind games with my opponent and fills up my hand quite good.

Check out my deck as well, give me an opinion if you have the time So, Izzet in Yet?

RoninVX I don't know what I think of Read the Bones yet because I only just added it. I really like the scry 2, draw 2, but the life loss hurts. That's why I don't play thoughtseize. I may move back to Pilfered Plans

If you add the Elixir of Immortality , put it in the sideboard and bring it in vs control. gaining 5 life against monoblue/monoblack doesn't help anything and only delays the inevitable (in my experience anyway). When I drew it, I always wanted something like Anger of the Gods , Far / Away or some other form of removal.

What is your local meta look like? I have seen a lot of monoblack/monoblue with some Esper and Gruul midrange/monsters in mine. Lifebane Zombie out of the sideboard is good vs G/W, White Weenie, Orzhov aggro, and Gruul (R/G) which have been on the rise as of late. If they use removal on it you still 2 for 1 them.

Why no Thoughtseize ? I see you run Rakdos's Return for hand emptying, but it could be too late vs some decks. I'd try to find some room in the sideboard at least. Oh, and Pithing Needle is great vs monoblack as you can shut down Mutavault or Pack Rat and then it's more of a "fair" deck.

Turn / Burn also hasn't worked out as well for me. The ONLY thing I wanted to use it on was one of the gods and they had to be a creature before I could use it on them (still taking damage from their other creatures). Mogis, God of Slaughter will slowly "peck" you to death as you really don't have anything that's going to get rid of it unless you counter it. That was one of the main reasons I included Thoughtseize in my deck, along with an Essence Scatter (and one more in the sideboard). They do what you want them to do: Counter the following threats: Mogis, God of Slaughter , Blood Baron of Vizkopa , Gray Merchant of Asphodel , AEtherling , Stormbreath Dragon , or any of the other gods that gives Grixis problems.

I have also noticed that you have taken a liking to Counterflux . This is good in theory as you counter their spell but chances are if a control deck is casting something you want to counter they don't have mana left open for a counterspell of their own (either Elspeth, Sun's Champion or AEtherling since those are the primary win cons from U/W and Esper). If you're countering any spell from any other deck than control, you don't need the uncounterable clause of it. I personally run Dissolve as it lets me scry into something great to follow it up (like my own AEtherling or another win con).

Hope this advice helps!

As for your "maybe board" Pain Seer would be BAD for you as you have alot of big drops that could take out a big chunk of your life total

if lifeloss hurts, and you strike their hands and fields of creatures then why are you not playing Crypt Incursion there is currently not much lifegain prevention and if you run into it the card can always be sided.

harrydemon117 I always enjoy your advice and thoughts. At this time I'm just testing various cards together but I like the idea of essence scatter, lifebane zombie, and pithing needle. I don't like mogis. Counterflux has been solid for me but I suppose I could test something in it's place.

I didn't suggestion Mogis, God of Slaughter . I stated that Essence Scatter deals with it as it's still a creature when it's on the stack.

Try the Dissolve switch...i bet in the long run you will like it :)

Thanks for all the advice everyone! I will playtest this version this week and hopefully post results after FNM!

you should use the split instant Breaking and Entering

JAFS actually had that recommended by a friend but I'm not sure if I want to use it or not.

Omphaloskeptic harrydemon117 New post. Your thoughts?

I don't know how I feel about him to be honest. He seems like a good threat but he is going to die to whatever removal your opponents haven't used all game.

I like the idea of Erebos, God of the Dead but only as a 1 of. It's very irritating not being able to cast both of them when they're in your hand. It won't happen that often, but when it does it will annoy the crap out of you lol.

I think you could cut it down to the sideboard and bring it in vs the matchups where they gain lots of life. I would also add some more card draw to the main deck as you only have Jace, Architect of Thought right now to keep up on the card advantage. Decks like U/W or Esper have LOTS of card draw with 4x Sphinx's Revelation , 4x Jace, Architect of Thought , 3-4 Divination to dig to the answer they seek. If you activate Jace once and he takes a 'Hero's Downfall or Dreadbore there ends your card draw. Erebos, God of the Dead DOES draw cards, but will cost you life and with a deck that doesn't gain it very easily I wouldn't suggest running him main. It was also for this reason that I didn't use Read the Bones or Underworld Connections as I couldn't afford to lose the life

Yup, I haven't liked Read the Bones so I went ahead and kept Pilfered Plans.