Deck list:
Playing a control deck also means playing with your opponent's heart and emotions. Playing a control deck means putting aside the furious goblin that is in each of us to pull out that rotten poker player with the knife hidden in the sleeve of his jacket.
Today we're going to see one of these decks, pulled by an evil combination of colors that supposedly allows the player to have complete control of the board and the opponent's hand by combining removals, spells and discards in one deck alone. It is, of course, a deck that is complicated to use but is able to give great satisfaction to all those who consider themselves brave enough to go all the way.
Let's see together what this deck is, how it is played and how it is composed inside this article!
MTG Arena -Grixis Control.
Why choose Grixis Control in MTG Arena?
Grixis Control is a deck dedicated to all those players who want to have the domination of the opponent's resources and moves, personally choosing what they can do with the cards they have available.
Grixis Control's game plan is typical of the archetype: try to survive the first rounds and then get into control through the use of extremely strong cards that can help to have a substantial mana and resources advantage on the playing field.
MTG Arena Decks - How to play Grixis Control?
Like any self-respecting control deck, Grixis Control must be played with attention to detail and careful mathematical calculations. The starting hand, specifically, should be painted according to a curve with which you have response to virtually the worst threats that an opponent can offer us within the first three rounds; from then on you need to get some kind of advantage by countering and eliminating all the dangerous cards that the opponent throws down until you draw a decisive card as can be a Nicol Bolas.
Once you're in the clear advantage, all you have to do is place our favorite dragon on the field and protect it for a few rounds to see the game turn in our favor, allowing us to win in fluency and agility within a few rounds.
It is very important to understand what kind of solutions are needed against the opponent's deck from the very first moments because you risk to discard through the various Surveil skill cards the answers.
MTG Arena - Grixis Control card list. Nº, Card
| 4 | Nicol Bolas, the Ravager |
| 3 | Dream Eater |
| 1 | Fungal Infection |
| 2 | Syncopate |
| 3 | Essence Scatter |
| 4 | Moment Of Craving |
| 4 | Thought Erasure |
| 3 | Notion Rain |
| 3 | Ritual Of Soot |
| 4 | Vraskas Contempt |
| 2 | Search For Azcanta |
| 1 | The Eldest Reborn |
| 4 | Dragonskull Summit |
| 4 | Drowned Catacomb |
| 2 | Island |
| 4 | Steam Vents |
| 2 | Sulfur Falls |
| 6 | Swamp |
| 4 | Watery Grave |
Grixis Control deck composition.
Creatures
4 Nicol Bolas, the Ravager - Half legendary creature, half planeswalker with embarrassing power level. Four mana (three of them specific), respectable leotard, flying and able to make the opponent discard a card as soon as he comes into play. For seven mana (three of them specific, as usual) he transforms and becomes one of the most disturbing permanents on the face of planet earth.
In the Planeswalker version our elderly dragon becomes incredibly powerful and dangerous: his first skill allows you to take advantage of cards by adding loyalty counters, the second skill allows Nicol Bolas to obliterate virtually any creature from the face of the earth with 10 damage; the other two skills, although even more expensive are not to be underestimated: we have a skill that can revive any kind of beef and put it on the battlefield (and here our target is really Dream Eater) and a finisher that clearly says "you won the game" using other terms.
If he enters the field and is protected you win, basically four copies because we play to win.
3 Dream Eater - This sphinx nightmare is the only other creature in our deck: a gorilla with a disappointing leotard but important skills. First of all, it's a steering wheel that always comes in handy and can file your opponent's life points and scare him off, secondly, it's able to get in and let us check through the Surveil skill our next four catches, not to mention it's able to bounce permanent harassment off the hands of the opposing players...
When you have large amounts of mana you can safely play it in response to some threat, look for solution to that threat in those four cards, draw that card with the enhanced version of Azcanta and then play solution directly; it seems fantamagic but it's reality.
Three copies because he's still a six-mana beast.
Instantaneous
1 Fungal Infection - Great card that saves time in our game by removing mana dorks / creatures with 1 of constitution giving us a possible second parante, all without counting that it is instant and cheap.
2 Syncopate - Counter eliminates annoying spells by exiling them (goodbye cards with jump-start, for example) for a mana cost decided by us. It must be played with caution to always be exploited to its full potential but is able to give interesting satisfactions.
3 Essence Scatter - Because like any self-respecting control we dangerously hate creatures this card allows, for two mana of which only one is specific, to nip all threats in the bud before they even touch the board.
4 Moment Of Craving - If for some reason our counter plan has failed and the creature is still small we can always use this instant black, very agile cost that even allows you to gain other life points that can always be useful (given the percentage of shockland in our base mana).
Four very important copies.
4 Vraskas Contempt - When the creatures are too large to be eliminated through the above removals the only solution remains this one. A card able to exile (thus avoiding possible recursions through resuscitations or similar) Creatures and Planeswalker (because it never hurts) also earning us the usual two life points. always useful to time.
Four very important copies.
Witchcraft
4 Thought Erasure - Does your opponent play cards for which you have no answer? For two mana Thought Erasure allows you to eliminate that type of card while also earning a surveil 1 always useful to prepare the draw,
3 Notion Rain - If you need fuel for your hand Notion Rain is the card for you. It allows you to see virtually four cards (two can be discarded with surveil, giving you access to two completely new cards) at a modest cost of three mana and two life points; the latter are recovered thanks to the removal compartment!
3 Ritual Of Soot - If your opponent is playing a deck with too many threats in the first few moments (like the most famous aggro decks) then the solution is this card, an updated version of Damnation that wipes out all creatures with a converted mana cost of three or less. This card also allows us to clear the field when on the ground we have creatures like Nicol Bolas, the Ravager or Dream Eater as they are not affected by the effect of the card thanks to the important CMC.
Spells
2 Search For Azcanta - Looking for Azcanta is also back in this deck thanks to the huge synergy it has with the Surveil mechanics. The sooner you put this spell into play, the sooner you will be able to transform it into the legendary land we need to get an extra mana and to fish in times of need. Two copies because we are still talking about a legendary permanent that could remain in our hands unnecessarily
1 The Eldest Reborn - This card allows in three rounds to overturn a game while not fully synergistic with our gameplan: remove creatures, remove cards from your hands and revive ancient threats all in one heavy package five miserable mana (of which only one is specific). The monocopy is due because any more iterations of this card would be unnecessarily redundant and wouldn't get us anywhere.
Lands
4 Dragonskull Summit - Checkland mandatory for a tricolor that wants to be as solid as possible at the basic mana level.
4 Drowned Catacomb - Checkland mandatory for a tricolor that wants to be as solid as possible at the basic mana level.
4 Steam Vents - Shockland mandatory for a tricolor that wants to be as solid as possible at the basic mana level. Fortunately, the two life points that can be lost by letting it in uncorked can be recovered through removals.
2 Sulfur Falls - Checkland mandatory for a tricolor that wants to be as solid as possible at the basic mana level.
4 Watery Grave - Shockland mandatory for a tricolor that wants to be as solid as possible at the basic mana level. Fortunately, the two life points that can be lost by letting it in uncorked can be recovered through removals.
2 Island
6 Swamp
