What is a "Trix" deck?
A Trix deck revolves around the ability to play Illusions of Grandeur and gain 20 life. Then, you would play Donate to give Illusions of Grandeur to your opponent, putting them on the hook for it's cumulative upkeep and the 20 life that it would make them lose if they failed to pay it.
Trix decks are, in my opinion, an "all-time" deck. Original variations of this deck were devastating and dominated the tournament scene. Cards like Necropotence and Force of Will only made this deck more debilitating to face.
The "Table Trix" Version
"Table Trix" is my version of the fabled Trix deck. Although, it might be more accurate to say that this a bit of a bastardization of original Trix decks.
First and foremost, Table Trix is designed with a multiplayer focus. The way this deck is constructed, it will rarely be able to deal with the undeterred focus of a one on one match. Trix decks of yore were brutally effective to get the single opponent out. Table Trix is designed to allow the player to "fly under the radar" and play a little bit of table politics. Opponents aren't fond of getting stuck with a potential one shot to their life total and that can be exploited.
Secondly, Trix decks were predominantly creatureless decks. This is not, though it nearly is. Not running creatures was a byproduct of needing to remain as efficient as possible to get the cards you needed out on the field and kill your opponent. However, upon playing more faithful recreations of Trix decks in a multiplayer environment, it became apparent to me that creatures were a necessity in a multiplayer environment.
Enter Talrand, Sky Summoner and The Unspeakable. Talrand gives you the ability to get so much more out of all those cantrips you cast. Your opponents quickly quit the idea of being aggressive to you when you have an army of 2/2 Drakes with Flying at your command.
The Win Condition
The goal of a Trix deck is play Illusions of Grandeur, gain 20 life, then Donate it to an opponent, thus putting them on the hook for the cumulative upkeep and the loss of 20 life if the card leaves the battlefield while under their control. But why wait for them to stop paying the upkeep when you can use Cyclonic Rift to bring it back to your hand now?
Alternatively, if your opponent is gaining life and trying to stay out of killshot range of Illusions of Grandeur, why not send an army of Flying 2/2 Drakes, led by The Unspeakable, at your opponent?
Cantrips
Would you believe me if I said the engine of this deck was roughly one third of the deck? Well it is! Cantrips like Brainstorm, Ponder, and Impulse (as well as the other "draw" cards) are what get you the pieces you need to give your opponent the ultimate gift.
Control
There isn't much control in the deck. Four plain Counterspells and two Arcane Denials. Cyclonic Rift is there in full force, there to wipe entire boards clean (except yours of course). Arcane Denial is at it's best when you counter your own spell and get to draw three cards for yourself.
Support Pieces
Quest for Ancient Secrets is here to make sure none of your cards are ever truly gone once they've hit your graveyard.
Sapphire Medallion makes this deck unbelievably quicker. It speeds the deck up considerably, lowers the cost on counters, cantrips, control, and combo pieces. It even knocks down the price of Overload on Cyclonic Rift, which in a multiplayer game, frankly, is just mean.
Peer Through Depths + Reach Through Mists + Sift Through Sands = A free The Unspeakable. The Unspeakable is really just a bonus to get out who has the ability to give you some of your cantrips back for free. It's never really a goal to get The Unspeakable out, but it's a nice treat if you end up falling into it.
Talrand, Sky Summoner is without a doubt one of my favorite pieces of this deck. With him out, you're only a short step away from amassing an army of 2/2 Drake creatures with Flying. Use them as blockers or use them aggressively to knock down your opponents life total.
