Griselbrand in EDH
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on Aug. 13, 2020, 5:18 p.m. by EleshNornsFs
I was brewing my budget Kaalia deck, and I realized that in it's iteration at the time, the thing it was really missing was Griselbrand, which is of course banned. Vilis, Broker of Blood is about the best substitute, but that got me thinking about asking my group about unbanning a few cards for our own play. I became curious about what his unbanning. What would happen? What is the absolutely most broken Griselbrand combo, and how would you go about using him to break the format? What do you think a Griselbrand cEDH list would look like?
TriusMalarky says... #3
I mean, to draw 35 cards is pretty good.... especially when it's actually only - + and you also have 5 other mana and it's turn one.
August 13, 2020 5:27 p.m.
You'd have two real options if Griselbrand was legal in EDH, either running him in some sort of reanimator/cheat into play style deck (probably Thrasios/Tymna) where you run all the Neform style effects you can and all the Entomb/Animate Dead effects you can. Or you could run him as a mono black commander and do as SynergyBuild stated and just ritual him out as fast as possible. The reanimator/cheater style deck would likely be more effective in todays meta simply because the quality of cards hit would be significantly better. The second Grisel hits the board it's going to be Swords or Trophied or Pongified, so you'd have to be activating his ability and reacting at instant speed to keep him around and having access to more colors and better interaction/protection (particuraly more "free interaction") in these spots would like offer better and more consistent options in how to pursue a game winning line of play after he hits and starts mass drawing cards.
I'd have a hard time believing that Griselbrand lines of play would be significantly more effective than most Wheel or Ad Naus lines, and the card slot efficiency of the decks simply wouldn't be as good due to the amount of support elements that would have to be run to enable the line. It could be competitive, but it'd be dubious that Grisel's unbanning could "break" the format, he's mostly banned as a nod to the format's casual philosophy, he does things most playgroups won't appreciate and can cause some very long turns that aren't deterministic and often will fizzle (the same reasoning given for Paradox Engine's banning, though PE is significantly more powerful in a competitive sense than Griselbrand in EDH).
August 13, 2020 5:41 p.m.
King_marchesa says... #5
Paying 8 and most of your life for 35 cards, why not just use Peer into the Abyss? But also I think that if it was unbanned Griselbrand would take the place or be slotted in along side with Razaketh, the Foulblooded in cedh reanimation builds.
August 13, 2020 6:46 p.m.
RNR_Gaming says... #6
King_marchesa cheating in creatures is much easier than cheating the casting cost of spells.
August 13, 2020 8:32 p.m.
griffstick says... #7
It's like having Yawgmoth's Bargain as your cmdr and that's banned too. Paying 1 life for 1 card is busted.
August 13, 2020 10:48 p.m.
Daveslab2022 says... #8
Because with Griselbrand you can choose to draw more cards if you want too. You get to decide how many cards you draw (in multiple of 7’s of course.)
Choice is always better than no choice.
August 14, 2020 11:08 a.m.
SynergyBuild says... #9
DeinoStinkus Vilis needs extra mana, and a target, Griselboi just draws, even if it is immediately removed, you can respond with tons of draw.
August 14, 2020 4:46 p.m.
Drawing all the cards isn't enough for you? You need it to also come with a line of credit and a super secret decoder ring?
;)
August 14, 2020 4:49 p.m.
SynergyBuild says... #11
DeinoStinkus Is a flying 7/7 lifelinker not an an extra effect xD
August 14, 2020 4:50 p.m.
I mean, Ad Nas lines are definitely cheesy.
They do taste good on my macaroni though...
August 14, 2020 5:11 p.m.
SynergyBuild says... #13
Sadly, free draw is often Gitaxian Probe, so not paying life seems strange ;)
August 14, 2020 5:23 p.m.
Lmao. So true. But hey, that look at an opponent's hand can absolutely be THE difference in a game sometimes, not gonna lie.
August 14, 2020 5:25 p.m.
Necropotence does it for me. Sure, you dont get to draw before your endstep, but when playing blue black you get enough juice to survive until your next turn..
SynergyBuild says... #2
I mean, there are some lists already around. It as a commander is just: Turbo Ritual Out Griselbro, then draw draw draw all the rest of the rituals, storm, win.
August 13, 2020 5:21 p.m.