Began as Grixis Control, but over time and with some experience against B/G Constrictor and Mardu F** Vehicles, the deck has grown out of its Black and only remains splashed for Unlicensed Disintegration.
Counterspells include Disallow, which covers everything, and Void Shatter is held for special situations where I cannot tolerate the risk of things coming back, plus my friends like to run the planeswalker deck planeswalkers, and I enjoy exiling the things which they want to bring back from the graveyard with the specialty cards like
Verdant Crescendo
. I originally sideboarded 3 Negates, but I've rotated two to the mainboard since there always seems to be some sort of 'negatable' card which I hate wasting Disallows on.
Of course card draw is crucial, so 3 Anticipates and 4 Glimmer of Geniuses generally seem to do the trick for me.
As for burn, I prefer to mainboard
Galvanic Bombardment
for the growth over time over the versatility but permanent 2 damage of Shock, which I do sideboard for aggro decks. Unlicensed Disintegration is glorious as well, and who could forget Harnessed Lightning? I can't imagine a more outstanding card when energy starts to build up.
However, due to the relative weakness I had versus a mirror match with Dynavolt Towers, I decided the need for direct damage was large enough to input them into the main deck, so I can now damage planeswalkers, players, and creatures with massive energy surplus.
I do not run board wipe sorceries right now since I removed my grixis component, which was heralded by Yahenni's Expertise. I am currently ignoring Radiant Flames in favor of using my other burn to pick targets while I rely on my cute little water fiend to deal with things early...and late...
Thing in the Ice
works wonders early game, in which it serves the main purpose the prior card I used,
Shielded Aether Thief
, but instead of energy generation and flash (which will be missed), four turns later
Awoken Horror
acts as a better Yahenni's Expertise as it board wipes, can chunk life totals, and can block and kill off any creature commonly seen in standard, minus fliers and a fully stacked
Verduous Gearhulk
, which I absolutely despise, so Disallow comes in handy.
Continuing creatures, Baral, Chief of Compliance, is a failed speculation of mine which I won't let die, but looting can be useful, and the cheaper cost for instants and sorceries makes mirror matches feel nicer, but against Dynavolt Tower he is utterly useless, so he's commonly a sideboarded out card which can impact game one in interesting ways, mostly because I spent seven God D* dollars on his sorry self.
Last living card, my little angel, Torrential Gearhulk, needs no introduction or explaination. I love them all.
For mana base I look like a dunce, running 24 land in control, which people often look at me like I'm an idiot for, which is probably true... However, I only seem to get mana screwed at actual events and against Mardu F* Vehicles and G/B Snake, and against a R/B Maddness deck which ran Prized Amalgam, which I was likely not beating to begin with. Either way, dunce or not, I run 6 Islands, a single Mountain, 2 swamps and 3 Evolving Wilds as fetch. The reasoning behind only one mountain is due to the fact that every nonbasic land I run can generate red. Those being three Spirebluff Canals, three
Wandering Fumarole
s, three Smoldering Marshes, and the new format staple, three Aether Hubs.
As for sideboard:
2x Confiscation Coup for aggro or G/B Snake or anything else that allows me to steal something built up and use against them. I have pulled games out of my A** due to a well timed coup at one life remaining.
2x
Consulate Turret
for energy generation in mirror matches, no one seems to know this and it sneaks past. In the prior-mentioned mirror match against a Dynavolt Tower, the little baby dynavolt did 12 damage, so with a real dynavolt, it should be very strong.
3x Dispel In the first edition of the deck three Negates were in the SB, now 2 in the Main and Dispels in the SB. Still more power vs control mirrors but not good in many situations, whereas Negate started to feel important to have access to in many situations.
1x Harnessed Lightning to finish the playset vs aggro
2x Jace, Unraveler of Secrets to pull out strong card draw and a threatening ultimate, especially in matches where he might make a difference.
1x Negate in case two aren't enough.
2x Shock because aggro is annoying so more cheap burn is good.
2x Sphinx of the Final Word broken vs control, nothing else to say. I run two because I can never find one. In the control mirror with Dynavolt, I went through half a deck and didn't draw it, so increasing the odds seems amazing.
If you have any suggestions on sideboard (I'm still new to it and not 100% sure I'm doing it most efficiently)) or suggestions on how to fit more land in without hurting the deck, please shoot me some advice. Also, if you have experience with control, please give me any tips and tricks you can offer. Thanks!
