Vial smasher + Kraum. Grixis control

Commander / EDH* Control UBR (Grixis)

oo7x7oo

Instant (30)

• 1x Brainstorm
• 1x Commandeer
• 1x Deadly Rollick
• 1x Deflecting Swat
• 1x Dig Through Time
• 1x Fierce Guardianship
• 1x Fire Covenant
• 1x Flusterstorm
• 1x Foil
• 1x Force of Negation
• 1x Force of Will
• 1x Hostile Negotiations
• 1x Mana Drain
• 1x Mindbreak Trap
• 1x Misdirection
• 1x Murderous Cut
• 1x Mystical Teachings
• 1x Mystical Tutor
• 1x Pull from Tomorrow
• 1x Pyroblast
• 1x Ravenous Trap
• 1x Rewind
• 1x Snuff Out
• 1x Submerge
• 1x Swan Song
• 1x Trickbind
• 1x Turnabout
• 1x Unwind
• 1x Vampiric Tutor
• 1x Whiplash Trap

Sorcery (8)

• 1x Demonic Tutor
• 1x Mnemonic Betrayal
• 1x Sea Gate Restoration  ^Flip
• 1x Temporal Mastery
• 1x Time Spiral
• 1x Toxic Deluge
• 1x Treasure Cruise
• 1x Windfall

Enchantment (5)

• 1x Curiosity
• 1x Necromancy
• 1x Rhystic Study
• 1x Steal Enchantment
• 1x Treachery

Artifact (9)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Cursed Totem
• 1x Fellwar Stone
• 1x Mana Crypt
• 1x Scroll Rack
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Talisman of Creativity
• 1x Talisman of Dominance
• 1x The One Ring

Planeswalker (2)

• 1x Ashiok, Dream Render
• 1x Narset, Parter of Veils

Creature (10)

• 1x Baral, Chief of Compliance
• 1x Dauthi Voidwalker
• 1x Dockside Extortionist
• 1x Ethereal Forager
• 1x Hullbreaker Horror
• 1x Notion Thief
• 1x Opposition Agent
• 1x Orcish Bowmasters
• 1x Stunt Double
• 1x Talion, the Kindly Lord

Land (34)

• 1x Badlands
• 1x Blood Crypt
• 1x Bloodstained Mire
• 1x City of Brass
• 1x Clearwater Pathway  ^Flip
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Drowned Catacomb
• 1x Exotic Orchard
• 8x Island
• 1x Luxury Suite
• 1x Morphic Pool
• 1x Otawara, Soaring City
• 1x Polluted Delta
• 1x Reflecting Pool
• 1x Riverglide Pathway  ^Flip
• 1x Scalding Tarn
• 1x Steam Vents
• 1x Sulfur Falls
• 1x Sunken Ruins
• 1x Swamp
• 1x Training Center
• 1x Underground River
• 1x Underground Sea
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1x Volcanic Island
• 1x Watery Grave
• 1x Xander's Lounge

Commanders (2)

---

New partner commanders! Vial Smasher the Fierce + Kraum, Ludevic's Opus. They are great complements and so far the deck works very well even in a competitive meta where anyone can win in first 3 turns.

This deck utilizes alternative costs to be mana efficient, such as traps, delves, phyrexian mana, miracle, and obviously free cast spells!! Best way to maximize Vial Smasher the Fierce's ability is to play reactively on everyone's turn (control style, which is my favorite). Main strategy is to control the game with Vial Smasher the Fierce on the board. People tend to ignore my commander for several reasons:

1. Only first spell each turn deals damage so it takes a long time to see the effect.

2. People don't care about their lives as much in multiplayer EDH.

3. It's mutual risk sharing because only one random opponent takes the damage.

4. There is no "hate" draw from a particular opponent since the damage is dealt at random.

5. People have lower incentive to spend resources to kill the commander in a control deck or a deck that doesn't win immediately with commander on the battlefield.

Vial Smasher the Fierce usually stick around until someone is near single digit life and starts to kill her, this is when off-commander Kraum, Ludevic's Opus comes handy. He can refill gas or push the very last damage; he is also an option to have a chance to fight back life gain decks with commander damage (6 solid hits on a haste flyer in a control deck isn't that hard).

General play style and strategy: This is not an easy deck to play, you need to be aware of the deck's potential and capabilities as well as have very good treat assessment. Board present means nothing to a deck that is able to win after resolving a spell or combo out with very few cards. Therefore, knowing when to counter and what to destroy is very important. Ideally I want Vial Smasher the Fierce in play while I play reactively to control the game, but it is sometimes not possible in a competitive meta where someone wins on turn 3 if there is no disruptions. You also don't want to draw hate from a particular opponent; instead, you want to be the one who solves the problem and save the table so only the leading player would want to deal with you. This deck wins at late game where everyone gets low or runs out of steam, then you can control with Vial Smasher the Fierce in play or alternatively win with x burn/drain spells.

Date added	7 years
Last updated	3 weeks
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	14 - 0 Mythic Rares 52 - 0 Rares 17 - 0 Uncommons 8 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.38
Tokens	Bird 2/2 U, Orc Army, Treasure
Folders	Liked Decks, Viable Deck Ideas, commander, Grixis commander ideas, Fun decks, edh