I would suggest (sorry) trying to splash green, or white, since they have the best artifact/enchantment removal. Nature's Claim, Naturalize, Ancient Grudge (not so much for enchantments), whatever. There isn't much enchantment hate in Grixis. Have you tried looking through some of the older colorshifted cards and seeing if they have anything to offer?

Serum Visions is a bit of a staple of Modern Delver decks - being able to set up your draws very well and make sure that you trigger delver is super sweet.

Thanks for the comment, Maringam. I'll definitely look through some colorshifted cards. I didn't even think of those. We'll see what turns up. Thanks!

I do not like Annul in here at all. I did not see your forum post but I saw it in the perfect balance. I agree that it works well there because it's a full control deck, but a counter that misses burn spells in a largely sorcery speed deck does not sound good to me. It does hit a lot though, but I don't think that's what I want to play.

Now EE, that's a card I can get behind.... but so expensive. I've thought about it before, but never actually tested it. I REALLY like the idea of it because it hits a lot. CMC=4 enchantments probably aren't relevant, and no I don't consider Splinter Twin relevant because it dies to Terminate. And it also hits all of your aforementioned spells. One question though: how many? Is a 1-of enough? Is a 2-of too many? I'd replace 1 Pyroclasm in my deck to make room for 1 for sure, but after that it gets tricky.

Thanks for the help man! I'm going to try EE and see how it goes.

Just though I should point this out: no half-decent Twin player will walk into Terminate with Twin unless they have literally no other good cards. They'll tap you down with Cryptics and tappers and stop your attacking play until they can play Twin with counterspell backup.

True, twin can try to turbofog me, but in general I haven't seen that work exceedingly well for them. If they get a high concentration of tap-down cards, which isn't too hard, they can probably pull that off, but also remember that as they draw into their counterspell, I'm also drawing into burn spells, additional terminate, Inquisition of Kozilek and the occasional counter myself and they only have so many tapdowns, so I usually can hit for quite a bit before they have a chance to combo. The thing about twin is that almost my entire deck is volatile to them - fast and resistant creatures (ignore nighthawk) to hit hard and fast, interaction to stop their combo, and I don't fizzle. They do have the advantage that I really need to get a mix of spells to do well, but with 7 ways to dig / modify my hand even that's not a huge advantage.

I'm sure you know that Vampire Nighthawk dies to bolt, but it looks like its good enough to run.

Way different from my list, but with all the izzet modern decks I'm looking at, I'm thinking Brutal Expulsion is a good sideboard card, since it blows out Jund. I would right down all the reasons, but its on my list, so its easier for me if you just go there :) .

Also, Rough/Tumble looks better in side than Pyroclasm since it doesn't hit Delvers or Nighthawks.

+1 from me!

Yes, I do know that Vampire Nighthawk dies to bolt, but if it does die to bolt then my face isn't being bolted, which is usually a fine tradeoff. Plus, I do have ways around bolt such as Dispel, Izzet Charm, and Vapor Snag.

Brutal Expulsion is interesting. I'm afraid I don't quite understand how it works / the rulings for it. If you bounce a spell, is it like Remanding it, so it doesn't resolve? I don't know that it blows out jund, although it certainly would be good against them and hitting Etched Champion is relevant. I'm curious to hear how it has been playing for you and how you usually use it. I read your description of it on your deck and seems like it could have potential. It might deserve a 1-of spot.

Rough/Tumble may miss my delver of secrets, but it also misses theirs, and more importantly, it misses some affinity creatures, which I really don't like because affinity is a sucky matchup. Because my deck isn't straight delver, I side out Delver of Secrets  ^Flip whenever Pyroclasm comes in because if I'm playing with clasm, I am no longer the beatdown and I'd much rather defend, and delver kinda sucks at defending. It's a 1/1 chump blocker that can't kill anything and loses me card advantage when I keep it against decks that get the boardwipe treatment. It's just one of the nuances of this deck that I absolutely love. Unfortunately, no opponent ever fully understands this deck because it is a very different deck for each opponent - some opponents never learn that this isn't delver with looting over scour, while other opponents never learn that this deck even has an aggro plan available. The amount of options I have while playing this deck is insane.

Thanks for the comment and +1!

+1 because I want to see what page you will link in the middle +1 button.

Thanks! I know what page, but I have no idea how to code a link for it. I'll try to get on it sooner rather than later because 50 is coming up fast! (I hope XD).

Actually, I figured out the coding, so now it works! Now it does take you to the different page I mentioned.

So, Remand has the words "Counter target spell. If it is countered this way, return it to its owner's hand." Brutal Expulsion has "Return target spell or creature to it's owners hand." Abrupt Decay can't be countered, but it can be returned while its on the stack, which is effectively "remand"ing it. Wording is key. It does stall the Decay for a turn.

And thx for the thxs! I'm still relatively new and need to play a ton more games, but yeah.

Also, if you didn't know, I am the biggest fan of Abbot of Keral Keep in the world, and you have less actual countermagic than in my deck, so I think it could be good in here.

Honestly, URB is lacking in enchantment removal. The best I can think of is the suggestion I made earlier, Into the Roil (or its other cousin, Echoing Truth). Ratchet Bomb is slow but can also deal with tokens in a pinch? Aura Barbs doesn't deal with the threat, but can also take out Boggles, so...

Abbot of Keral Keep doesn't work in here. It just isn't flexible enough to work well in here. It's 2 mana minimum but actually 3 if I want to use the spell it flips, and I am already saturated with 3 drops. Also, it doesn't help me much unless I'm the beatdown, which isn't super often.

I'd run Into the Roil, but it's 2 mana. My deck is largely sorcery speed and accordingly I can't leave 2 mana up to cast it. I love the idea of it, but the point of Vapor Snag is that I can use it on their turn for 1 mana to dodge Path to Exile by cracking that fetch I was planning on using for a tapped shock eot. Leaving 2 mana up is really difficult. Engineered Explosives is much better than ratchet bomb because of speed. Ratchet bomb won't hit leyline of the void until turn 6. By that time I can hardcast Tasigur.

So yeah, UBR is VERY lacking in enchantment removal. I guess there's Cryptic Command, but that does NOT fit in here at all.

I totally agree with you - I hate Jace, Vryn's Prodigy  ^Flip. To be honest, I just hate the card so much that I don't want to play it.

Biases aside, I still don't like it. It is amazingly explosive - against combo it would be insane. But it would get removed every game. Since our main attacker (Bloodghast) is not worth the removal spell, Jace, Vryn's Prodigy  ^Flip would eat it LITERALLY every time. He will never flip against a deck that isn't combo or he won't be fast enough to be worth it. If I drop him turn 2, he will die to removal. If I drop him turn 3 holding Dispel, he won't flip until turn 4, but at that point we need to be looking towards winning and not setting up, so he's too late. If he flips turn 4 dropping a ghast and flashbacking a bolt into a tasigur, we have gained a lot of momentum, but we're still looking at a turn 6 win, which is slower than we want to be shooting for when trying to kill quickly.

Also, countermagic is such a small part of our deck that enemy removal just sorta happens. On the slim chance that he does flip, you win, but getting him to flip is a bit of a mana sink. We'll spend so many resources trying to keep him alive and play around him that when he does flip, we'll regain our position in the game, but we'll be so many beats behind that it won't be worth it.

Plus, I really don't want to play it. His -3 is quite desirable, but Snapcaster Mage does it so much better and I've found 2 Snapcaster Mage to be plenty in my testing - I definitely don't want 8 and Jace is much worse than Snappy in here. Despite being more powerful when we get to use him, snappy is immune to removal. Also, Jace doesn't have any amazing interaction with Kolaghan's Command, which is one of the most fun things to do with Snapcaster Mage.

On a side note, why the heck is Jace, Vryn's Prodigy  ^Flip worth more than Snapcaster Mage? Anyone else confused by this? Jace is not worth it. I'd rather have snappy any day.

I know I am making a highly emotional and incorrect decision, but I want a 1-of Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver in either my mainboard or sideboard. It is my favorite planeswalker and could work in here, so I want to try it. I'm thinking of cutting 1 Gurmag Angler because the angler comes in when I cut creatures to keep my density up, but that means sometimes I have 4 Bloodghast, 2 Tasigur, the Golden Fang, and 2 Gurmag Angler mainboard all at once, which is a recipe for getting screwed when I don't draw Faithless Looting. I'm not sure when it would be good, but I definitely want to give it a shot.

I've also been testing Into the Roil with mixed success. It hasn't bounced anything other than creatures yet, but I haven't been stuck with it in my hand yet either. It did cost me a game against control the other day because I lost with them at 2 and I used it twice without kicker (once with snap flashback) so vapor snag 1 damage would have won me the game. But I'm not done testing yet. I also need to decide between Into the Roil and Echoing Truth if I do decide that I can live with a 2 mana bounce spell.

I wouldnt run those two in the same deck.. :/ Ghast wants to have like 23-24 lands and really only fits best in Dredgevine and Loampox..

Given that your up in the 500$ range on your deck, would you consider baby jace (Jace, Vryn's Prodigy  ^Flip) after the price hype dies down? Scour makes him way good, and since youve opted for banana king over Angler, I wouldnt suggest changing that..

Mainboarding the commands, helps recur baby jace for shenanigans.

Baby jace isn't a modern card in my opinion. I just really hate him. He dies to literally every removal spell in the format and if you hold him long enough to save a counter as backup, then you've waited too long and he won't do enough. Think of jace as another Delver of Secrets, except he's a 2-drop and is even softer to removal. Bringing him back to my hand doesn't get me anywhere because I have to re-flip him, and if I'm trying to have a graveyard so I can re-flip him, then I'm not playing Tasigur. When he curves out right he's super explosive, but that's only in goldfish scenarios that don't actually happen. I explain more in comment #25.

Ghast doesn't need more than 22 lands. I have never had a problem with recurring him. Although he is really at home in those decks, he works in here amazingly well. This deck has been performing so well lately and ghast plays such an important role that I wouldn't even consider going without. Also, without him this deck turns into grixis delver, which is kinda meh in my opinion.

So even if he is bad (which he hasn't been in my testing) he's at a minimum a ton of fun to play with and although I doubt he'll win any GPs or the like, he will be a ton of fun at FNM.

So on those merits.. Dying to removal means both Thalia, Guardian of Thraben and Dark Confidant are bad cards and my opponent shouldn't care if they stick for more than a turn aye?

Between, that, your sideboard and bashing Alex's deck: You have no credibility with me. Just saying.

I do not mean to bash alex's deck. It is the deck I most respect on this site. Go look through the comments on his deck, I have literally spent months trying to help him refine it. Although I am a little disappointed that he is playing grixis control, I still have a ton of respect for him and his deck. I copied his deck because I like it so much, but since I couldn't afford it, I had to make my own much cheaper version. If I came across with an attitude of trying to bash alex's deck, I am deeply sorry to you both, my only justification is that I am really tired.

What's so bad about my sideboard?

Faithless Looting doesn't seem great here. Have you tried Gitaxian Probe as a 2-3 of? Also, why no Young Pyromancer?

I saw you wanted a cheap answer to enchantments. Look into Annul maybe?

quesobueno123 the deck simply doesn't work without looting. It can play fine without drawing it most games, but the deck idea would be futile without looting. It's uses and synergies are unbelievable. I haven't tried probe before, but I might. I don't know what I'd play it over, but it's worth testing. Thanks! Young Pyromancer doesn't really belong. It feels underwhelming when I'm trying to play quickly although it is probably a better topdeck than delver. If I were to run it, it would be instead of delver, so the question is it's speed. I'll try running probe instead of visions and pyromancer instead of delver to see what happens. Thanks for the suggestions!

lemmingllama I have considered it, but my biggest fear is a turn 0 Leyline of the Void. It ends the game most of the time, and Annul can't counter that. So what I really need is an after-the-fact answer, which simply doesn't really exist in grixis colors, other than bad bounce spells that have few other uses. But thanks for the suggestion!

When was it that you tested him? Which deck version? Our curve has dropped significantly over time, so it might be different than what you had when testing. Oftentimes turn 3 I'm able to get 2-3 tokens off of him. That said, he's wide open turn 2 and I'm losing 2 mana of investment on him dying before getting value instead of the 1 mana of investment I lose from delver dying.

That said, he's much more explosive and a better topdeck. My current reasoning in deciding is that our deck tries to win turn 5 consistently when playing against combo (when we play the fastest). Realistically, turn 4 wins just won't happen very often without Snapcaster Mage. The difference I've noticed between the playstyles is that with pyromancer the winning time is 5-6 turns almost always (when I draw pyromancer, that is). For delver, it's anywhere from 4-7. Delver, on average, kills a little faster, but less consistently. Turn 4 win isn't going to happen with pyromancer, but turn 5 is pretty common. The best part is that if they kill pyromancer after my 3rd turn, I still have tokens left to attack with. Drawing them in multiples is a weird equation. It all depends on my support and their deck. I'm still testing.

One more thing I do really like about pyromancer is its use when I'm not trying to win as fast as possible. Having a good steady supply of chump-blockers is really nice.

Okay, after some playtesting with Young Pyromancer, I've come to some conclusions.

1. Young Pyromancer kills to slowly when I'm trying to play aggro, which is fairly often. It has a very solid kill turn 6 almost every time, but that's not fast enough against combo decks. Delver kills a full turn faster on average, which is faster enough to justify no change, despite it's higher fragility.

2. Young Pyromancer is undoubtedly more versatile than Delver. The only matchup where I'd rather have delver when I'm not on beatdown is infect, which is a pretty easy matchup anyway. Constant chump-blockers is no joke against, say, Jund. Also really nice against things like Zoo. Young Pyromancer is also a better aggro creature than Vampire Nighthawk, as it is a 2-drop with the same power that also makes friends for me to swing with. Yes, those friends don't start attacking until turn 4, but then again neither do Nighthawks. I'd like to think of pyromancer not as a worse attacker than delver and a worse blocker than nighthawk, but as a better blocker than delver and a better attacker than nighthawk. He can play both roles, which is something I heavily lack in this deck without Snapcaster Mage.

The result is that I am probably cutting 1 Delver of Secrets  ^Flip and 1 Vampire Nighthawk for 2 Young Pyromancer. The versatility across matchups is relevant and as long as he isn't my primary attacker or primary blocker, I can make a ton of use out of him in this deck. I don't really like drawing multiples because I usually lose before I can make my board explode. Adding him adds more Grixis Delver into my deck, which I think I'm okay with. As soon as I can afford Snaps he is getting cut, but in the mean time he is going to be a valuable asset I feel.