Grixis EDH - Nicol Bolas Tribal

Commander / EDH* Control Cruel Control Multiplayer Superfriends UBR (Grixis)

NickyBolas

Land (40)

• 1x Arch of Orazca
• 1x Badlands
• 1x Blood Crypt
• 1x Bloodstained Mire
• 1x Cascade Bluffs
• 1x City of Brass
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Creeping Tar Pit
• 1x Crumbling Necropolis
• 1x Darkwater Catacombs
• 1x Desolate Lighthouse
• 1x Dragonskull Summit
• 1x Drowned Catacomb
• 1x Fetid Pools
• 1x Geier Reach Sanitarium
• 5x Island
• 1x Mana Confluence
• 3x Mountain
• 1x Polluted Delta
• 1x Reflecting Pool
• 1x Scalding Tarn
• 1x Scavenger Grounds
• 1x Steam Vents
• 1x Strip Mine
• 1x Sulfur Falls
• 1x Sunken Ruins
• 4x Swamp
• 1x Underground Sea
• 1x Volcanic Island
• 1x Wandering Fumarole
• 1x Watery Grave

Planeswalker (2)

• 1x Nicol Bolas, God-Pharaoh
• 1x Nicol Bolas, the Deceiver

Instant (17)

• 1x Arcane Denial
• 1x Blue Sun's Zenith
• 1x Capsize
• 1x Chaos Warp
• 1x Counterflux
• 1x Cryptic Command
• 1x Cyclonic Rift
• 1x Disallow
• 1x Force of Will
• 1x Hero's Downfall
• 1x Magmaquake
• 1x Mana Drain
• 1x Negate
• 1x Pact of Negation
• 1x Silumgar's Command
• 1x Summary Dismissal
• 1x Terminate

Sorcery (10)

• 1x Bribery
• 1x Cruel Ultimatum
• 1x Dark Intimations
• 1x Demonic Tutor
• 1x Dreadbore
• 1x Hour of Devastation
• 1x Ruinous Path
• 1x Tidings
• 1x Torment of Hailfire
• 1x Vandalblast

Enchantment (7)

• 1x Fevered Visions
• 1x Imprisoned in the Moon
• 1x Mystic Remora
• 1x Propaganda
• 1x Rhystic Study
• 1x Rite of the Raging Storm
• 1x Sulfuric Vortex

Commander (1)

Creature (15)

• 1x Augur of Bolas
• 1x Baral, Chief of Compliance
• 1x Burnished Hart
• 1x Clever Impersonator
• 1x Dragonlord Silumgar
• 1x Grave Titan
• 1x Guile
• 1x Guttersnipe
• 1x Inferno Titan
• 1x Kess, Dissident Mage
• 1x Nightscape Familiar
• 1x Talrand, Sky Summoner
• 1x Torrential Gearhulk
• 1x Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
• 1x Zealous Conscripts

Artifact (8)

• 1x Chromatic Lantern
• 1x Dimir Signet
• 1x Gilded Lotus
• 1x Izzet Signet
• 1x Mana Crypt
• 1x Rakdos Signet
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Worn Powerstone

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Nicol Bolas Tribal

Concept

Created for The Trinisphere's Planeswalker EDH episode. Of course I'm going to pick Nicol Bolas. My matchup appears to be against Gideon of the Trials and Jace, Vryn's Prodigy  . This strikes me as a particularly difficult matchup because they can easily tag-team me with aggro + control, so my focus is on trying to control the board until late-game. Gideon is particularly hard to deal with since he's not a creature on my turn (no sorceries) and indestructible on their turn (no "Destroy" effects).

How It Plays

This is a full-on control deck. Ramping early, reacting to threats, and politicking my way out of sticky situations would be the most ideal chance to win. Grixis control will draw a lot of ire, so it'll be tough to fight what will probably be a 2v1. Luckily, Grixis has a ton of ways to deal with opposing planeswalkers.

Card Selection

• Hour of Devastation, Magmaquake, and Cyclonic Rift are the big anti-walker sweepers that I can count on for stabilization midgame.
• Guttersnipe, Sulfuric Vortex, and Fevered Visions apply pressure and make the board less hospitable to walkers.
• Ruinous Path, Dreadbore, Hero's Downfall, Chaos Warp, Silumgar's Command, Imprisoned in the Moon, and Capsize all provide single-target walker removal if needed.
• Zealous Conscripts is a sneaky way to try and steal an opponent's ultimate while Clever Impersonator could clone a good Jace.
• Talrand, Sky Summoner provides an evasive threat and blockers to defend Nicol Bolas
• Rite of the Raging Storm pit my opponents against each other. Too much flavor to pass on!
• Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger, Torrential Gearhulk, Grave Titan and Inferno Titan provide me with finishers to fill the vacuum of dead Gatewatch members.

Gameplay

The Trinisphere - Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker vs Gideon of the Trials vs Jace Beleren

Date added	6 years
Last updated	3 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	13 - 0 Mythic Rares 53 - 0 Rares 12 - 0 Uncommons 10 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.60
Tokens	City's Blessing, Drake 2/2 U, Lightning Rager, Zombie 2/2 B
Folders	Bolas, The Trinisphere Decklists