Introduction:
My main deck. Cruel Ultimatum and grixis colors, this is what i created through my one year of playing. It a bit of a swiss army knife in the sense i theoretically can answer all the matchups, but in return am not really dominant in any of them.
This deck was made to be played in my meta where the cards i put in have a reason to be in. I have never gone to a tournament or a competitive scene with this and i know its not that kind of a deck. That said, my goal always is to make a deck as effective and smooth as possible. I am happy for all the comments and suggestions, so feel free to tell me what you think. Would be glad, if you also stated WHY you think something should be changed.
The idea is, to stall the game into late and starve your opponent. All that grave recursion, card draw and self mill, keeps sure you never stay empty handed/pants dropped. If all fails, you can still count on Cruel Ultimatum to swing the game your way post T7. The fact that you can cast Cruel Ultimatum up to 4 times is not just cheeky but also deadly :)
Starting hand:
Your hand should consist of some type of self mill or early card draw, 2 lands and removal. This kind of hand ensures you have on T3 very consistently and therefore are able to cast almost anything.
Early and Midgame:
From T2 on, your goal is to control your opponent and not let him ping you for too much. By self mill and draw, bring consistent land drops (its okay to miss a drop if you get something useful instead), to ensure a strong lategame presence.
Lategame:
At that point you should have all the tools to pull ahead. Some quality spells in graveyard for recursion, enough mana to combo well and a healthy hand. In my meta, i come to lategame only probably 50% of the time. The other 50% of my victories, i get sooner then that. If lets say Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet or Thing in the Ice
stay on the board long enough, i dont even get to cast Cruel Ultimatum (tragic really...).
Finishers:
- Cruel Ultimatum (obvious one i know) just brings so much to the table once dropped, that games that seem lost, become winnable again and leads already had, become victories.
- Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet is a bomb by itself. Keep him in play long enough and he wins single handedly (am really thinking of putting +1 instead of Tasigur, the Golden Fang).
- Thing in the Ice
i admit, is hard to keep on board long because of all the instant hate it generates, but i just love this card. It has so much flavor for me. Once transformed, the clock gets real (because my hand is full of sorceries and instants all the time, its never a bad drop).
- Torrential Gearhulk is similar to TiTi, in the sense i can board wipe with it and go to town. The added bonus is its versatility. You can do so much with this card... saved my booty many clutch moments. NOTE: combos great with
Consume the Meek
!
Need help:
There is some decision making i need help with. Mainly ideas i have and cannot decide if they are smart or not.
current problems:
- Tasigur, the Golden Fang: I know he is a strong card and i dont really mind him in my deck. The problem i see, is my lack of ability to really utilize him well. I rarely have the need to prioritize his casting early game over other stuff, and just seem to have better options late game then his ability. I am seriously thinking of taking him out for +1 Kalitas
- I have no idea how to build my sideboard. The only serious problem untill now, was a hard control matchup where the opponent had more counter spells then me, and just as much card draw. Any suggestion on how to fight something like that would be really appreciated! (i like to be on the aggresive side even if its riskier)
Closure:
I really like the fact that this deck has such high variety of cards. Decks that have one or maybe two wincons just dont bring enough excitement for me. Thats why i am not keen on toning down on variety for more copies of the same thing. That said, good reasoning WHY i should put more of something in, will not land on deaf ears!
