**CRAZY GRIXIS CONTROL IN MODERN!!** (Gone Wrong) (Modern MTG Deck)

Ravaging Modern is my shot at a competitive grixis control deck using Nicol Bolas, the Ravager as a finisher. I’ve playtested several games and have concluded that the Ravager is an absolute beast in this deck. First of all, just casting her and assuming it won’t be countered is already a 1-for-1 because of the discard effect. Then, she becomes a huge board threat with evasion that will either win you the game or cost them a removal card. Which means at the very least she’ll be a 2-for-1. On top of all that, flipping her is insane. It can turn a lost game around in your favor with 3 cards per turn, free removal, or free reanimation. Because of all this, I want to give Nicol Bolas, the Ravager a shot in modern. And I think I’ve found the perfect deck for her.

Why Grixis Control?

I’ve thought about Grixis Midrange strategies, as well as Aggressive ones, but I’ve found that Control is not only very reliable, but also extremely fun to play.

It’s good against almost every match-up. It can win early with value cards like Tasigur, the Golden Fang and an assortment of Lightning Bolt’s plus Snapcaster Mage’s. It can wreck havoc during the mid game with combo’ing off Kolaghan's Command with Snapcaster Mage, and can destroy the late game with Cryptic Command and Creeping Tar Pit. Grixis Control is a complete value engine throughout the game and definitely a force to be wreckoned with.

How to Play?

A big part of being good at Control is simply practicing and knowing the deck, but there are a few guidelines to follow while playing the deck.

Early Game: You generally want to start out with 2-3 lands, 2-3 one to two drops, and 1-2 three or higher cmc’s. On turn 1 you either want to Inquisition of Kozilek, or hold mana for Thought Scour, Fatal Push, or Lightning Bolt. The next few turns you want to build up a hand of value cards and get rid of low cost threats like Tarmogoyf, Liliana of the Veil, etc, or you can play an early Tasigur, the Golden Fang.

Mid Game: This is the point where you want to pretty much want to have a ’draw, go’ playstyle and react to everything your opponent plays, and slowly whittle down your opponent’s hand with several casts of Kolaghan's Command, Snapcaster Mage, and Cryptic Command to keep your card advantage maximized.

Late Game: At this point, you should have massive card advantage and if you haven’t won yet, a hand full of threats. Now it’s your turn to start playing threats while your opponent is vulnerable and can’t respond to them. Start cranking up your Creeping Tar Pit, play Nicol Bolas, the Ravager , and start whittling them down with uncontested Snapcaster Mage’s

Good/Bad Matchups?

Good matchups are generally late game combo decks and combo decks without much protection. In my experience these include Titanshift combos and Tron, as well as Ad Nauseam and Counters Company decks. It’s also good against stompy and zoo decks, and even better after boarding in Anger of the Gods. The deck is also pretty decent against 5c Humans and other weenie tribal matchups, however Cavern of Souls can make games extremely hard.

However this deck struggles against hyper aggressive/direct damage matchups like burn, and aggressive combo decks that are too fast for it like Storm and Dredge.

This deck is usually even with other control decks, jund Midrange, and Mardu Pyromancer matchups.

How to Sideboard?

You usually struggle against token and creature floods so sideboarding in Anger of the Gods and Izzet Staticaster against token matchups like Lingering Souls decks is a good idea. G/W Hexproof can be a bear to get rid of, so Glaring Spotlight and AotG are good here. Spell Snare pretty much needs to go in against any decks with threatening two drops like Tarmogoyf, Young Pyromancer, Blighted Agent, or Bitterblossom. Nihil Spellbomb and Extirpate are good against graveyard play decks like dredge, Hollow one, and other matchups with Snapcaster Mage. FYI I run Extirpate over Surgical Extraction because that’s what I had first when I couldn’t afford Surgical, but ended up really liking it because of the split second effect as it’s proven to be very helpful. However feel free to run Surgical instead.

How to help?

I would really appreciate any comments or suggestions you could give about this deck, but I do have a few things in mind that I need some help with.

Should I play two copies of Nicol Bolas, the Ravager ?
How can I make my sideboard better against meta matchups?
Should I mainboard Search for Azcanta ?

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Date added	6 years
Last updated	5 years
Legality	This deck is Modern legal.
Rarity (main - side)	6 - 0 Mythic Rares 26 - 7 Rares 13 - 6 Uncommons 9 - 2 Commons
Cards	60
Avg. CMC	2.26
Folders	Modern Grixis
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