Why no Tasigur in Grixis Deaths Shadow?
Modern forum
Posted on Feb. 13, 2019, 9:34 a.m. by dan8080
So I'm prepping for the Philadelphia Open in a month and wanna go back to playing GDS over my usual Hollow One since I think Shadow is just better positioned right now so I'm updating my list after a year away from the deck and noticed most lists are on 4 Anglers instead of 2-2 split on Tasigur, the Golden Fang s and Gurmag Angler s. Just curious why the change like even a 1-3 Tasigur-Gurmag Split makes sense. My logic being that why have that card as a 4 of when Reflector Mage exists and is so prevalent in modern right now
I agree with Boza. Since Shadow is such an aggressive stradegy anyway, the 5/5 Gangler body is just better than Tasigur. Tasigur's ability is almost always irrelevant with the speed game the deck plays, and with it also being a great control deck you're already seeing the tools you need. At the rate cards enter a Shadow graveyard there's no reason not to delve into a Gangler, especially considering that Grixis builds also run Bauble now.
It works great for me.
February 13, 2019 11:17 a.m.
Spirits runs reflector mage too so we are a bit higher up above 10% just seems really strong against Shadow that has a low creature count as is. The ability isn't even the issue it was more for me having ferocious up as early as possible.
Maybe it's also my bad luck. If a deck runs reflector mage they always seem to get it at the exact worst moment. Online event worse after I thoughtseize away one.
February 13, 2019 11:45 a.m.
As a Shadow player, the difference between 4 and 5 power is so much more relevant than an extra 1 delve. There are plenty of ways to fill the graveyard - Thought Scour , Street Wraith , Mishra's Bauble , Faithless Looting , fetchlands, etc. Tasigur's activated ability is basically irrelevant; if you have 4 mana, you want to be doing more powerful things than picking up the worst card from your graveyard.
February 13, 2019 1:37 p.m.
That's fair. Like I said I haven't played the deck in about a year so I was surprised by that shift and wanted to know the reason
February 13, 2019 5:30 p.m.
Maybe Tombstalker is an option for a 2-2 or 3-1 split for Reflector Mage ?
Good luck at the open!
February 13, 2019 7:42 p.m. Edited.
Fwiw I don't second Tombstalker. I guess it's fine if you're really worried about Reflector Mage, but the additional un-Delvable mana is really painful
Boza says... #2
Well, I think it is because of the stats - the difference between the two cards is trading 1 colorless mana for 1 extra power on angler. In a deck with super low land count like GDS, the ability on Tasigur is irrelevant.
Even with how popular humans is, it is still just 8-9% of the meta at best and most lists do not play the full set of mages. I would say that Reflector mage solely is not a good reason to eschew the extra power.
February 13, 2019 9:49 a.m.