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Grixis Midrange

Magic Duels Midrange UBR (Grixis)

S_Jake

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Creature (7)

Planeswalker (3)

Land (27)

Enchantment (3)

Instant (7)

Sorcery (13)

Test Grixis deck for Magic Duels. Although it is a control deck of sorts, it is more of a 'tap out control' deck along the lines of a Jund or 'Rock' deck where you trade one-for-one with your opponent using efficient removal and then refuel using the various card drawing effects, being proactive and acting largely on your own turn. The deck is also capable of playing something of a tempo-oriented game with draws featuring Thing in the Ice and Jace, Unraveller of Secrets.

Note that the removal spells have been selected for their efficiency and are situational: I have not tested this deck versus online opponents, though the deck can have difficulty beating x/5s or even certain x/4s and x/3s with the wrong draws. However, the ability to interact early with efficient removal should mean the deck is pretty solid against aggressive and midrange decks. Ramp would be more of a concern, though Thing in the Ice and Jace, Unraveller of Secrets are potential outs (and probably an early Fevered Visions).

Note that there is a degree of tension in the deck: The creatures can be awkward in draws featuring Languish and Thing in the Ice does not play nicely with the other creatures in the deck, though I believe the power of the cards individually outweighs this. The interaction between Jhessian Thief and Radiant Flames is adorable, though.

Speaking of interactions, Fevered Visions is quite interesting in that it encourages opponents to empty their hands into your wraths, meaning they often either take two damage per turn in not extending into them or risk getting two or even three for oned.

On a final note, 27 lands may seem like a lot given the curve of the deck, but the deck frequently draws so many cards that it is often spent and making land drops each turn is really important. It's also worth noting that sequencing land drops in the early turns is important so that most of the lands come into play untapped: To this end, I often find it is best to lead on a tango land on turn one so my buddy (check) lands come into play untapped on subsequent turns.

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Minor Change to the Manabase — July 31, 2016
Edit

I realised that with the recent changes to the deck, the mana is now a little more awkward than it was. This is basically because I changed the cantrips and card drawing spells: 3 Telling Time and 3 Read the Bones have become 4 Take Inventory and 2 Read the Bones.

While I think I'm happy with the changes in general, it can now be harder to dig into the deck to find a second coloured source, which in particular can make casting multiple blue spells around turns 4 and 5 more difficult. This also comes up more often because the addition of a blue two-mana spell!

Running the numbers again, I decided that I should be playing the 4th Evolving Wilds over a Swamp. I also wanted another extra blue source, so I've decided to try a Submerged Boneyard over another Swamp.

My concern is that while this should make the mana more reliable, adding two taplands will also make it slower. I'm particularly concerned about draws involving Submerged Boneyard making it harder for my buddy/tango lands to come into play untapped. There is a trade-off between speed and reliability as far as the mana in Duels is concerned and the optimal balance might be for somebody more intelligent than I to figure out!

Grixis Midrange for Eldrich Moon! — July 24, 2016
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