MTG Salvation

A most fascinating debate about card choices and strategies. I greatly enjoyed reading through the many many posts about the subject of what kaalia is trying to accomplish.
I've come to the conclusion that kaalia, in my playgroup, gets super hated out and I usually cannot play her until I can get at least one swing in with her. I built my deck to take advantage of ETB effects and also to put creatures into play that definitely will affect the board state either immediately or in a turn. I'm therfore curious about thoughts about Scourge of Kher Ridges. Big fat flying thing that has the advantage of being a board wipe too. It's funny because once Kaalia has died it seems very few people have responses to what she put down from my hand, so whatever was thrown down strangely stays around. I think that cheating into play specific effects that are stapled onto angels, demons, and dragons is a strong way to get value out of Kaalia, though I don't necessarily get immediate value out of them coming into play as has been discussed. My Kaalia is also a little more reanimator than what has been posted here, with an Academy Rector package to either rattlesnake wrath effects or profit when they do happen. Is including cards like Scourge of Kher Ridges that a product of flameblast syndrome?

Excellent. I will make a cut for the Disciple then. He has great utility and I'm looking forward to seeing how he performs for me. In addition to the synergy that you have in your list, with Rooftop Storm and Thrax you can actually sacrifice your general for profit with the Disciple and still pay only a marginal mana cost to bring Thrax back.
This is my Grixis Control decklist as it stands.



I took out Teferi to test out Dralnu because I'm using my Snapcaster Mage in my mono-blue deck currently and I really want a second way to get value out of my sorceries and instants in addition to Archaeomancer. I also have a soft spot for Dralnu because he used to be the commander for my best deck two years ago. It was an infinite turns deck and everyone hated it so I took it apart.
Anyways, as you can see I enjoy counterspells a great deal. With my extensive removal suite I find that there are few problems that I can't deal with effectively. This current iteration appeals to my playstyle greatly as I usually like to play draw-go. I'm considering taking out Sheoldred because I haven't yet drawn her. She essentially is a second Havengul Lich that also doubles as removal when I need it. In the last game that I played, it was nice to be able to reanimate someone else's Sheoldred after I had cleared the board a second time. She lasted one turn, kept the board clear for me that turn and reanimated Griselbrand (my playgroup lets me play with Griselbrand because I don't go infinite with him in any way. They're pretty cool about it...) on my upkeep. I took control of the game from there shortly and I got much value out of her. However, she could become something else pretty easily because I'm also thinking about including Volrath's Stronghold into my mana base. Choices, choices, choices. I think that she might become a Sword real soon. We'll see.
If you have any questions about specific cards let me know. I initially built this deck to be able to slaughter my friend's Animar deck. That's why there's so much more removal than what you would normally see in a Commander deck.

Ah! Work has a way of severely limiting how frequently I can visit this forum and respond to comments and stuff.
Currently I don't have time to write out my full decklist, but I will say that I am a dedicated control player and as such I am dedicated to counterspells and removal. When I originally built the list I designed it to slaughter my friend's Animar list. Without going into a rant about his Animar deck (no magic player should ever suffer the indignity of being killed by Birds of Paradise and Wood Elves that have been pumped up by Craterhoof Behemoth along with a whole bunch of other stupid creatures...) I included a metric ton of removal in my original iteration. After having played it a few times I realized that there is such a thing as too much removal. I've since tweaked the decklist to include a few more utility cards. When I have a chance either today or tomorrow I'll make a point to post it up.
Have you had the chance to play any games with the new changes yet? I am curious to see how Disciple of Bolas works for you as I'm strongly considering including him in my decklist.

I hope that the my suggestions increase the effectiveness of your deck. I really just have a thing for Havengul Lich. The art is cool and I just love the flavor of the card. A zombie creating zombies? Hella cool.
How have you liked Aetherling? It seems like a good card and I wasn't playing standard when it was the finisher of choice (or so I'm told), but it seems less effective in this style of deck. It seems to be a beater with evasion and a form of shroud and nothing more. In my opinion, I think Malignus does that job better and with cooler art. From earlier posts, you love spot removal as your decklist shows. What if there was a creature that was spot removal and a finisher at the same time? Perhaps you've already seen her, but I introduce my favorite vampire assassin. She takes mana and turns it into death, at instant speed too. Furthermore, she becomes an outlet for infinite mana in case you have her, Palinchron and Deadeye Navigator on the table at the same time. She costs less mana and has flying to boot. I would suggest that change if you want to try that also.
I agree with an earlier comment about Mogis, God of Slaughter. It's an awesome enchantment that forces a sacrifice, triggering Thrax for sure. The life tax, in my opinion, is what will always be paid instead of sacrificing a creature. At least that's what I would do. However, if you're looking for an enchantment that forces a sac at each turn, like I think you want with Mogis, I would suggest Call to the Grave. It has synergy with your general for sure and can be a way for creatures to get into your graveyard for Sheoldred and Havengul Lich to reanimate.
Sword of Feast and Famine is the best sword to carry. Ever. It gets you a second untap step to do more crazy things and really helps further the control aspect of the deck. Suit up a dude, play a removal spell, attack, and untap your lands so you can do activated abilities or instant speed removal effects. I don't know what I would recommend cutting, maybe Thassa? I personally think this Sword is actually the best, followed closely by Sword of Light and Shadow. Perhaps cutting Mystic Retrieval, since you have Archaeomancer and Snapcaster Mage doing the reanimation of spells for you.
Happy Grixis-ing. It's my favorite shard because Cruel Ultimatum is da best.

Hello there!
I have a Grixis Control deck with Nicol Bolas at the helm and I've tweaked it to be my most favorite deck. I recently added an infinte turn combo because I found myself in a 2 hour long game that I could have won at the 45 minute mark because I had locked down the table so well. It was an enjoyable game for me because there were lots of crazy plays and I had to win with combat damage. Who knew that Tezzeret did something other than ramp?
I think that each of the cards that you're adding are pretty good on their own, with the possible exception of Crystal Shard. After looking at your current list as posted on the OP, I see 7 creatures that you can effectively use the Shard for. If you think that's worth it, I say go for it. I think that having about 10 creatures that have ETB effects makes Crystal Shard a little more justifiable, but then again this is just my opinion. I think a better way to enable infinite turns, and this is just my playstyle, is to have Phyrexian Tower and Havengul Lich. Granted, the Lich is a pet card of mine but here are the reasons that I play him:
1. Spot removal is everywhere and mass removal is crazy too. He allows you to resurrect creatures that are in your graveyard
2. He also allows you to reanimate your opponents' creatures taht are dead. That's really powerful to me and makes him more valuable in the long game, which is what a control deck is trying to have happen. That 2 hour long game proved to me how powerful Havengul Lich is, allowing me to resurrect Fleshbag Marauder multiple times as well as Solemn Simulacrum a few times. The Fleshbag Marauder was the most backbreaking for sure because it puts itself back in the graveyard for the Lich to do it again. Most of my meta is blue and black, so I was actually able to steal someone's dead Geth, Lord of the Vault and go crazy.
3. Now when you combine the Lich with Phyrexian Tower you can turn creatures into mana and also enable a trigger for Thrax to get bigger while using that mana to pay their casting cost. Essentially, you're replaying your creature from the grave with no additionl mana cost. Think about resurrecting Snapcaster Mage in response to a spell and flashbacking a counterspell. In my deck I play Teferi, which turns the Lich into a sort of Prophet of sorts with dead creatures. It's a great feeling to EOT flash in their dead Sheoldred, Whispering One and then get an upkeep trigger with Sheoldred AND swing.
Now the combo to enable infinite turns is to sac the Archaeomancer to Phyrexian Tower and then resurrect it with the Lich to pick up your Time Warp again. Rinse and repeat. It requires different cards, but I think the Tower is something that you can incorporate into your mana base that is more effective than Crystal Shard. The Shard increases the utility of your own creatures mostly by returning it to your hand. The Tower becomes a part of your mana base that enables a sac trigger and also can ramp a bit with a useless creature that you might have stolen with Olivia. This also opens another slot for you to play with if you so desire. Also, how do you feel about Time Stretch? That was the time spell I chose to go with because casting it once usually puts me so ahead in the game as to ensure a victory almost every time. Even if I don't get infinite turns.
I like Rooftop Storm. It's something that can allow you to cast Thrax pretty early and makes him more effective as removal and a constant threat. If all you're paying is for the commander tax, then eventually your opponents are going to run out of removal and creatures really quickly in trying to deal with Thrax and then he'll stick and dominate the board. Thraximundar is a great card with the forced sac and can quickly become an opponents demise with enough attack steps. Again, in the long run, Rooftop Storm makes your general more effective as part of your deck instead of being prohibitively high in casting cost when it's been killed 3 or 4 times. I don't know if adding other zombies will be better for your deck because it might dilute the hard control that you want. Although I love Mikaeus a lot.

Since you're already running Mindcrank, have you considered running Duskmantle Guildmage? It would add a combo to the deck. If you aren't familiar with the combo the first activated ability of the Guildmage will cause your opponent to lose life for each card milled; Mindcrank registers life loss, causing the opponent to lose life because of the Guildmage, which then starts Mindcrank up again. No matter how many Eldrazi are in your opponents' deck, they will either mill their deck or lose infinite life.
Other suggestions are Grisly Spectacle as removal that also mills. Another card that destroys and mills, but is a little more conditional as it requires Lazav to have Darksteel Plate, is Life's Finale. Jace's Archivist might also be a consideration as it helps you draw cards, pitches any creatures that they might be holding onto, and is a creature that can hold equipment and swing if it needs to. I also like Sword of Feast and Famine. Green and black are relevant colors in this format and the untap trigger is what is especially powerful as you basically get a second turn on your second main phase. I'm currently in the process of building a Lazav deck. It's not going to be the most lethal deck ever but it will be flavorful and effective. Who knows? It might be a really good deck after all is said and done.

Hello there!
I think you'll want to streamline your deck to take advantage of some of the better ETB creatures that exist and also see if there's a way where you can just put a +1/+1 counter on a creature at will.
For creatures that have good and useful ETB effects,
Solemn Simulacrum is prolly the best thing you could ask for. It has ETB abilities and it also has death abilities. This is prolly the perfect card for this deck.
Rune-Scarred Demon is also good and if there were a way to give it +1/+1 counters at will and a sac outlet then you would be fantastic.
Deadeye Navigator is not necessarily a card that has relevant abilities, you'l' be wanting a similar effect that your commander brings to the table. Deadeye is an obvious inclusion here and really shines in repeating ETB effects.
Havengul Lich would also be really strong as a reanimator here and combined with River Kelpie makes for great card advantage.
These are just some initial thoughts on cards that you can add to replace the cards that Oracletext is suggesting you take out. I agree with his suggestions. Other card effects that you'll want are cards that give your creatures haste so that they can immediately take advantage of Marchesa's ability. The real power of this type of deck will come when you can abuse your creatures by sacrificing them with +1/+1 counters so that Marchesa reanimates them for free and can do that each turn.
Thinking about your deck, Mikaeus single-handedly becomes the most powerful card in your deck. He will always be your first tutor target and the thing you most desperately want to protect. While Marchesa enables her own effect, Mikaeus makes her effect unconditional, meaning you can put +1/+1 counters and your dude without having to depend on attacking your opponent. Your graveyard will want to be protected as well so that people can't mess with it easily. There's a Cerebrus from the Theros set that would be a good inclusion here.