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BMoor's Magic The Gathering Deck Garage
Grixis Discarding Deck:
Discard and Disrupt with the Dead!
April 20 , 2009

Today's deck is one of four that was sent to me by the client.  I guess that's one way to increase your odds of getting your deck featured in an article!  I expect to fix at least one more by him before I'm through.

 Hello BMoor!

 This is the fourth deck I'm trying to make. (I hope you don't mind the fact that I made four deck submissions.) This one is another grixis deck based on disrupting  through discarding, then attacking with everything (and/or attacking with the "dead," a.k.a. unearthing.) Again, I would like the deck to be all cards from shards and conflux.

 The deck is as follows:

 4

 Sedraxis Specter

 4

 Cunning Lethemancer

 4

 Shambling Remains

 4

 Nyxathid

 4

 Scourge Devil

 4

 Countersquall

 4

 Swerve

 4

 Dark Temper

 4

 Blightning

 Lands:

 4

 Crumbling Necropolis

 8

 Mountain

 4

 Island

 8

 Swamp

 (I haven't come up with an appropriate sideboard yet... hopefully you

 can help with this)

 The strategy is to make my opponent discard with Cunning Lethemancer,

 Sedraxis Specter, and Blightning. This would weaken their strategy,

 since discarding disrupts almost all decks (with the exception of

 madness, hellbent, unearth, and possibly others... but I'm planning to

 play standard, so it shouldn't matter.) Also, My Nyxathid would be

 strengthened if my opponent has a small hand (or no cards at all!). As

 I disrupt my opponent, I will attack with all my creatures, either

 eating into their life or destroying their creatures. If Cunning

 Lethemancer forces me to discard cards, I would choose to discard

 creatures with unearth, especially scourge devil. This way, I can

 unearth everything on one turn (for a cheaper price, too) and swing.

 To ensure that nothing gets in the way, Swerve and Countersquall keep

 removal spells at bay, while dark temper gets rid of annoying

 creatures. As I said, I haven't come up with a sideboard yet, but I'm

 considering Bone Splinters, Tar Fiend, Agony Warp (cheaper removal,

 plus power reduction, could be better than dark temper depending on

 the situation) and possibly Rotting Rats. Unsummon is also a tempting

 choice, because the idea of bouncing a creature, then forcing my

 opponent to discard it seems evil for 1 mana. I considered using

 Scepter of Fugue, but 2 mana for 1 card to be discarded seems a waste,

 when there are other better cards in my deck that force cards to be

 discarded (blightning's great- 2 cards discarded and 3 damage dealt to

 an opponent, all for 3 mana).

 I would greatly appreciate all help in the creation of the sideboard

 and the refining of the deck. I think that this is one of the best

 decks I have come up with.

 Thanks yet again,

 Erick

So, step one: make the opponent discard.  Step two: beat down with your creatures.  Step three: unearth creatures to further exhaust opponent's resources.  Step four: profit?

Well, step one means we need to make sure you've got enough discard to outlast your opponent's ability to hold back cards in hand.  Blightning and Sedraxis Specter are excellent in that respect, because even if you topdeck them long after you've emptied your opponent's hand, you still get to use them to deal damage.  Cunning Lethemancer I'm not quite as sold on.  Yes, his ability is repeatable, but it's also two-sided.  Personally I'd be more likely to with the "as often as you've got mana for it" Scepter of Fugue, or the relentless Raven's Crime.  But since you've also built your deck off Unearth, you don't really mind discarding, do you?

Next, your creatures.  Only the best and most painful will do.  Your heavy hitters are good, I just wish you had more of them.  Cunning Lethemancer doesn't really count, and Scourge Devil is too expensive to hardcast plus you won't want to pay him if you don't have more creatures out.  The Devil belongs in a token creator deck, or something similar-- you just don't have the critical mass of creatures the Devil needs to be good.

No worries, though, since there's plenty of other good Unearth creatures.  Speaking of ones that are much cheaper to Unearth, there's Extractor Demon.  Forget his mill ability, you just want to swing for 5 in the air with him.  There's also Hellspark Elemental for when all you really want to do is knock someone for 3.  Or my personal favorite, Kederekt Leviathan.  He wipes the board and swings for 5 unblocked, then next turn you have at least seven lands with which to play any other Unearthers you've got against your opponent's likely still-empty board, or to Blightning away some of the stuff you bounced.  I also have room in my heart for Fire-Field Ogre, just because first strike can be a useful tool against deathtouch, lifelink, and what have you.  Especially on a 4-power creature.

That takes care of your Unearth creatures, but what of your support?  Well, Blightning obviously.  Swerve and Countersquall and both sweet.  Dark Temper is pretty good too.  There are other cards I sort of want to suggest, but none that are strictly better here.

Now then, your sideboard.

Grixis Charm: Not only does this have the flexibility to come in against all sorts of matches, it gives your deck the alpha-strike capability that Scourge Devil provided.  Besides that, it can act as an Unsummon, and as a removal spell on par with Dark Temper or Agony Warp.  Heck, you may want to maindeck this and move one of your other cards to the sideboard.

Absorb Vis/Fiery Fall: These are added mostly for their potential to fix your mana, which in a three-color deck has ample opportunities to go awry. The main effect of the spell is really just gravy, so it's up to you to decide whether you'd rather have a life drain spell or 5 points of burn to a creature.

Elder Mastery: Auras are always a bit risky, but if you can drop this on a warm body and swing immediately, you're not likely to get blocked, and the two cards your opponent discards from it preempt the potential 2-for-1.  In a deck that wants to disrupt with discard, then swing for the fences, Elder Mastery is an elegant tool.

Banefire: Against counter-heavy or otherwise slow decks, this could be the finishing blow.  Or it could just be a cool burn spell.  Either way is good.

Hopefully this has helped you some, Erick.  Feel free to send in any other deck ideas you have.... just not all at once. ;-)

Good luck!

~BMoor