Yeah the seer was mostly a test and see if it goes well card, the life loss might become an issue against aggro, but there's many decks that run Bob without lifegain, power at any cost and all that.

The Rack would probably be a straight upgrade to Shrieking Affliction as it'll always deal at least a little bit of damage.

the main issue I see with Mirko Vosk, Mind Drinker is his CMC and the fact that his ability doesn't happen immediately and is conditional, while Mind Funeral happens immediately for less mana. vosk does the same thing repeatedly, but you have to meet the criteria first, and by the time he starts pulling his weight the game could have been over. In my opinion, he is really the sort of card you want to build a deck around (perhaps an equipment deck, with Trepanation Blade equipped to him for example, with a Mindcrank on the side.)

The Rack vs Shrieking Affliction

Rack

Pros:

-more damage output

-colorless

Cons:

-prone to artifact hate

-harder to find

Affliction

Pros:

-newer set

-enchantment hate usually less prevalent

-deals more damage/upkeep

Cons:

-requires colored mana

-damage condition more narrow

What do you think? Am I missing anything?

Shrieking Affliction affects all opponents, not just one of them. This only matters for multiplayer, but it is still a pro.

I'm thinking of running 3 of them for now...and keeping an eye out for The Rack to replace them as I find them. What do you guys think of that? What would you trim?

@ Morokai you're right on that, good observation. While I do play multiplayer on occasion I think this deck would need some Syphon Mind s and other mass discard to make it viable in that kind of environment. I'm sure that would get me hated out of the game...

The deck is pretty cool but there are a couple of cards I have to complain about. Mind Funeral is very questionable. It is an efficient mill card but, what purpose does it serve in this deck? Also, there is a bit of a non-bo in Shrieking Affliction and Duskmantle Seer . You mentioned running out of cards, perhaps try spells that cantrip like Electrolyze , or just actual draw spells like Think Twice or Serum Visions .

I've noticed Duskmantle and the Affliction seem to not go very well together, the hope was I'd draw into more discard to deal with whatever they drew but it doesn't always work that nicely. Or I draw an inquisition and they picked up...Karn or something.

It definitely has been feeling like Mind Funeral is out of place. I only want to cast it when I have a Surgical Extraction in hand (albeit that happens often enough.) It feels like Electrolyze is a very underwhelming replacement. I know it's decent but I have a hard time paying three for two damage. I like the cantrip idea though...

What do you think of Sedraxis Specter in for Mind Funeral ?

I know Electrolyze seems underwhelming but look at it like this, it's instant speed and can be a 3 for 1 if the opponent is playing little creatures. At it's worst, it is a shock that draws a card. Maybe try it. If you don't like it, I definitely like Sedraxis Specter over Mind Funeral . It goes well with the rest of the deck as a source of discard and damage.

I suppose the worst thing that could happen is it ends up getting cut. So, how would you recommend dealing with the seer/affliction dissonance?

That is pretty tough. Seer provides much needed card draw where as affliction meshes well with the rest of the deck. I haven't played with the deck, but would you say that affliction always works or does it come down and occasionally do some damage once or twice? If it's the latter, you could cut it for something else. Otherwise, you may just have to pick which effect you prefer and focus on that one. If you want to go all in on affliction, try The Rack too. If you prefer the seer, maybe try cutting the affliction for more draw spells.

If only Shimian Specter was better!

I'll test it as is for now, and see how it goes. I'm wondering if, like Demarge said, The Rack is a necessity.

The Rack should be generally better than the afflictions.

How about Dream Salvage ?

I like it, I'm going to test it as a singleton for now. It seems like an awesome thing to follow up a Blightning with. Or the Rakdos's Return i'm considering. I'm just concerned about 1) it's usefulness on its own, and 2) trying to do too much. I wish there was a cheaper version of Syphon Mind available in Modern.

I feel like Scalding Tarn and Thoughtseize carry very hefty pricetags when there is the option of using cheaper cards at least for Thoughtseize . If there was a card like Rampant Growth that you can use instead of Scalding Tarn that would be ideal but I haven't found any alternatives.

I just found Grixis Panorama and Obelisk of Grixis and I think these would be great in your deck and can replace Scalding Tarn

What you're saying is a common argument against them, but I don't believe in burning money without an adequate pay off.

I was lucky enough to be playing excessively during Zendikar so I already own the playset of Scalding Tarn s. Realistically there is no replacing them. They give me the opportunity to pull my shocklands out, to thin my deck of lands when I want not-land and they don't come in tapped/force the land I'm searching for to come in tapped. They make my mana base run smoothly, and thats important to me.

Thoughtseize is ridiculous. It's expensive for its utility and I'm wondering if Distress is "good enough." The problem I keep running into is the other hand disruption that's borderline playable is all so narrow. You almost want to fill your sideboard with Duress , Despise and Inquisition of Kozilek just so you can get those artifacts and enchantments that Grixis doesn't deal with very well. Thoughtseize is a great combo breaker and as much as I loathe the idea of spending 70/card...if I was to ever take this to a competitive forum I'd be stuck doing just that.

What do you guys think of Lightning Serpent ? Good synergy with Duskmantle Seer , big finisher potential, can die to a measly non-morbid Tragic Slip ...

i play standard grixis control and i find that think twice is a pretty good card to help keep my hand up on cards. this is just my opinion but i would drop one Bloodchief Ascension and one Volt Charge and add two think twice. this would allow for instant drawing at the end of there turn. and Electrolyze would also be a good card. if you didnt want to drop the blood chief i would swap volt charge with Electrolyze. same converted cost with the added card draw.

It has been suggested that I give Electrolyze a try, and I ran it for awhile. It may have better synergy with the deck now since its more Bloodchief Ascension minded. I'm not a big fan of it though, two colors and three mana for 2 damage and a cantrip? I dunno...it never was as good as I wanted it to be. Something to consider for a sideboard card against weenies...

I probably could afford to drop one Ascension and one Volt Charge though, potentially for a couple Think Twice . I wish there was more playable flash ack available in modern. Proliferate from Volt Charge is pretty valuable since I need the counters to make get the engine going, I'm also concerned about increasing my average CMC by too much. Even now it's a little higher than I would like.

Hmm, I don't play anything but T2, so, my advice will be quite limited. But here goes:

If you want to go the discard route, it seems that Duskmantle Seer doesn't fit (though it can help get Bloodchief Ascension its 3 counters quickly). Obv. both are great cards, but if you want to deny resources to your opponent, then the Seer is basically undermining your efforts on that front (for a price, yes, but one you're also paying). Going discard would allow you to add Shrieking Affliction , which can help keep the deck going (after you've emptied your opponent's hand) or maybe something as straightforward as a Rakdos's Return . Also, I'd consider Liliana's Caress over Bloodchief Ascension . Granted, the latter gives your life, but it seems to work much more slowly (offensively). Drop a LC turn 2, Blighting turn 3, Snapcaster Mage the Blighting turn [4-6] = 14 dmg.

If you want to go the Duskmantle Seer route, then I guess you'll have to play test and see how exactly it interacts with your exile/discard mechanic.

Some more thoughts: your average CMC is 2; So, while you've praised Goblin Electromancer , it seems like he's the cherry-on-top, and not a necessity. Running 4-of seems a tad much, and you could use those slots for more hand disruption or extraction.

Alternatively. I think some heavy milling (anything like Breaking / Entering or better... i.e., fast, plentiful milling) will quickly give you a better idea of what your opponent's deck is like. Of you can always run some Traumatize and Haunting Echoes ...

Maybe 2 Traumatize and 2 Haunting Echoes