"I guess that's a feeling only me and LeBron know"
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This is a deck with a pretty simple "point" to it. Your commander is Nicol Bolas, you should be doing things that Nicol Bolas would do; emptying minds by forcing your opponents to discard, gaining power by drawing, and taking advantage of the circumstances created by those two things.
There is a thematic consideration here first and foremost; Big Nick does not seem like the type to suffer pretenders. Thus, none of the other Nicol Bolas cards are in this deck, no matter how well they'd work.
There's also the consideration of my playgroup who are a small group of close friends so I avoided adding anything too ridiculous, and there's a fair amount of focus on specific card interactions, still, I'll be the first to admit that this deck is a touch mean. Just consider all that if you plan to comment (comments of course are welcome, it's always fun to read other folks' thoughts).
On to the mechanical side of things;
Grixis is a hard color scheme to build around for someone with relatively little deckbuilding experience (like yours truly). Still, for one of only two decks I've ever made completely on my own, I think it's turned out alright.
First, let's talk about our commander. Nicol Bolas, the Ravager
. First, he's not too expensive, sitting at just 4 mana, so we'll be able to cast him decently early on if we get a good opening hand. Secondly, much of the time you'll want to flip him a few turns later, basically as soon as you can. His Planeswalker flip, Nicol Bolas, The Risen is where I got the idea to take this deck in the direction it's in. Let's break down his loyalty abilities:
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(+2): Draw two cards - Little boring right? Wrong. Not only is this pretty #OnBrand for us, it's incredibly useful. Our deck runs enough different kinds of cards that we're basically going to want to draw as often as we can, plus, when The Locust God is on the field (and we want him out as often as possible), that's two tokens.
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(-3): (this card) deals 10 damage to target creature or planeswalker - This one is pretty self-explanatory, and pretty damn useful, being essentially a repeatable removal spell that is strong enough to get a majority of creatures and planeswalkers out of your hair.
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(-4): Put target creature or planeswalker card from a graveyard onto the battlefield under your control - This one is a bit more situational, but given that we're playing Commander, it's not unlikely that you'll occasionally spot a choice creature you want to snap up for yourself, whether they synergize with our deck or are simply some nice dumb muscle to defend Nick himself (or you, should the situation arise).
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(-12): Put target creature or planeswalker card from a graveyard onto the battlefield under your control - This is the bomb ability, generally, if you're using this on someone, it's to end a game.
So that's our commander, a powerful planeswalker with an appetite for knowledge and domination, but what about the rest of our deck?
Creatures
While Nicol Bolas does command legions who bow to his every whim, in this deck that lifting is mostly done by tokens. To that end, we run just six creatures, here are the most notable:
- Kess, Dissident Mage - Lets us recycle our spells turn after turn. Pretty easy to see why this deck would want to run this I think, we only have a few of each kind of spell, so being able to reuse them is invaluable.
- Rune-Scarred Demon - It's a tutor on a stick. If you're playing Black you're probably playing this.
- The Locust God - Here he is, our deck's backup star. This + the many ways we have to draw cards (including fellow creature Notion Thief) = a field abuzz with excitement (and locusts).
Instants
The bulk of our deck is here and in the Sorceries below. Most of these are pretty simple, we've got a bit of everything in here, draw, removal, and a couple mix-n-match spells that let us do one of several things, like Crosis's Charm.
Sorceries
A few boardclears, more draw, and a couple tutors. Also of note is that our deck runs a few "wheels" in the form of cards like Reforge the Soul. These are good from getting back from a falling-behind position, and are outstanding when combined with some of our other effects. Also worth noting is Enter the Infinite, run here mainly for a deadly combination it forms with Omniscience and The Locust God. Expropriate gets a mention solely for being a card that I almost cut several times because it just seems too mean, but we'll see how that goes in practice.
Enchantments
A surprisingly important part of this deck is this section. Two are notable here, Omniscience, which is a game-winner much of the time, and Waste Not, an incredibly useful synergy with our deck's many discard effects.
Artifacts
Mostly mana rocks of various sorts here, as well as Geth's Grimoire and one of the 'useful shoes' equipments, Swiftfoot Boots.
