I have been experimenting with Grixis control for a while. My version focuses alot more on board control and less permission, not alot to say about it but it is quite solid.
The only quams i have with the deck right now are that Niv Mizzet is a bit clunky although untapping with him can end games.
The hawk and the augurs are in the board against aggro.
The negates, duress and slaughter games are for control.
Slaughter games and Rakdos charm work wonders against Rites decks.
As far as think twice Vs. desperate ravings, ravings is more card advantage and lets you dig further.
I prefer a flames/mizzium package mizzium will kill loxodon and pretty much any creature you will see before turn 6 while it can also sweep. They are sorceries but the utility is worth it imo.
I can see Barter in Blood having good synergy with Demonic rising to ensure you have just one creature on the board while also clearing some of your opponents
Hopefully my list could give you some ideas for your Demonic Control
Muddle is really an all star if youre every missing a piece or need a utility card it can fetch but the amount of draw should give you all the pieces you need. I am tempted to drop the Forbidden Alchemy's I agree that it can be slow and clunky although I have not found a suitable replacement.
The deck does well against aggro, Jund can be a real problem with the amount of hand hate it main decks
Against control I have more inevitability and i can push through a few counters in a turn or i can get a vengeance off before they are set up.
Bolas is absolutely brutal early game. Kokusho has always been solid. Griselbrand is great in a bind or after shelling out your hand to set up the lifelink can save the day in aggro matches and the draw crushes control with sheer card advantage.
The ability to hardcast beaters is also important i believe for the deck to win matches that go to topdecking.
The main vulnerability of the deck is having the beaters sit in the grave, The amount of grave hate in modern is pretty high right now.
Hide//Seek is the only way i have figured out to deal with artifacts and enchantments in these colors
It's pretty straightforward, control the board and get fatties in the grave to reanimate. I included some sac outlets to avoid the exile from vengeance but they are not always necessary.
The deck can do some pretty rediculous things with a turn 2 vengeance after a good turn 1 Loot.
I would love any comments or suggestions.
I haven't started a sideboard but it would include
Hurkyls Recall
Thoughtsieze
Manic Vandal
Spell Snare/Pierce
Kazuul makes 3/3s which will die to a sideboarded slagstorm. If youre looking for a 5 drop id suggest Urabrask the Hidden gives your titans haste and is a viable combobreaker
4 Blood Crypt
3 Dragonskull Summit
4 Drowned Catacomb
4 Steam Vent
2 Sulfur Falls
3 Island
2 Swamp
2 Mountain
Creatures: 6
3 Snapcaster Mage
2 Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius
1 Hypersonic Dragon
Planeswalkers: 4
3 Jace, Architect of Thought
1 Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker
3 Izzet Charm
3 Desperate Ravings
2 Essence Shatter
1 Cyclonic Rift
Sorceries: 17
3 Dreadbore
3 Pillar of Flame
2 Barter in Blood
2 Mizzium Mortars
2 Flames of the Firebrand
2 Bonfire of the Damned
2 Rakdos's Return
1 Devil's Play
3 Vampire Nighthawk
3 Duress
2 Slaughter Games
2 Negate
2 Rakdos Charm
2 Augur of Bolas
1 Dissipate
The only quams i have with the deck right now are that Niv Mizzet is a bit clunky although untapping with him can end games.
The hawk and the augurs are in the board against aggro.
The negates, duress and slaughter games are for control.
Slaughter games and Rakdos charm work wonders against Rites decks.
As far as think twice Vs. desperate ravings, ravings is more card advantage and lets you dig further.
I prefer a flames/mizzium package mizzium will kill loxodon and pretty much any creature you will see before turn 6 while it can also sweep. They are sorceries but the utility is worth it imo.
I can see Barter in Blood having good synergy with Demonic rising to ensure you have just one creature on the board while also clearing some of your opponents
Hopefully my list could give you some ideas for your Demonic Control
As always feedback is appreciated.
Here is my version of URB Reanimator is less combo oriented so it may not be your style but it is very consistent.
2 Marsh Flats
3 Scalding Tarn
3 Blackcleave Cliffs
1 Steam Vents
1 Watery Grave
2 Blood Crypt
1 Hallowed Fountain
2 Sunken Ruins
1 Cascade Bluffs
1 Desolate Lighthouse
1 Shizo, Death's Storehouse
2 Mountain
2 Swamp
1 Island
Creatures: 11
2 Griselbrand
2 Nicol Bolas
3 Kokusho, The Evening Star
3 Snapcaster Mage
1 Stinkweed Imp
4 Faithless Looting
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
1 Pyroclasm
1 Ideas Unbound
1 Unburial Rites
Instants:13
3 Goryo's Vengeance
2 Forbidden Alchemy
3 Lightning Bolt
2 Terminate
2 Muddle the Mixture
1 Silent Departure
Artifacts: 3
3 Culling Dais
2 Hurkyl's Recall
2 Shred Memory
2 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
2 Thoughtseize
2 Into the Roil
2 Negate
2 Hide//Seek
1 Torpor Orb
Muddle is really an all star if youre every missing a piece or need a utility card it can fetch but the amount of draw should give you all the pieces you need. I am tempted to drop the Forbidden Alchemy's I agree that it can be slow and clunky although I have not found a suitable replacement.
The deck does well against aggro, Jund can be a real problem with the amount of hand hate it main decks
Against control I have more inevitability and i can push through a few counters in a turn or i can get a vengeance off before they are set up.
Bolas is absolutely brutal early game. Kokusho has always been solid. Griselbrand is great in a bind or after shelling out your hand to set up the lifelink can save the day in aggro matches and the draw crushes control with sheer card advantage.
The ability to hardcast beaters is also important i believe for the deck to win matches that go to topdecking.
The main vulnerability of the deck is having the beaters sit in the grave, The amount of grave hate in modern is pretty high right now.
Hide//Seek is the only way i have figured out to deal with artifacts and enchantments in these colors
1 Mountain
1 Island
2 Swamp
3 Blackcleave Cliffs
2 Watery Grave
2 Steam Vents
1 Blood Crypt
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Misty Rainforest
1 Arid Mesa
1 Miren, The Moaning Well
1 Desolate Lighthouse
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
2 Kokusho, The Evening Star
1 Child of Alara
2 Griselbrand
1 Kagemaro, First to Suffer
2 Phyrexian Rager
2 Snapcaster Mage
1 Stinkweed Imp
Spells:23
3 Goryo's Vengeance
2 Footsteps of the Goryo
3 Faithless Looting
1 Forbidden Alchemy
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Terminate
4 Remand
3 Lightning Bolt
2 Altar's Reap
2 Culling Dais
Planeswalkers: 2
2 Lilliana of the Veil
It's pretty straightforward, control the board and get fatties in the grave to reanimate. I included some sac outlets to avoid the exile from vengeance but they are not always necessary.
The deck can do some pretty rediculous things with a turn 2 vengeance after a good turn 1 Loot.
I would love any comments or suggestions.
I haven't started a sideboard but it would include
Hurkyls Recall
Thoughtsieze
Manic Vandal
Spell Snare/Pierce
Its instant dredge if you need it for a kill or to dodge graveyard hate. 2 life can come at a price if you pay for shocklands often
if you play counter heavy it can give you some good vial tricks
considering alot of our beaters come in on a vial at 2 counters
(lord, coralhelm, silvergil, and phantasmal image if you run it)
4 Razorverge Thicket
4 Copperline Gorge
4 Evolving Wilds
5 Mountain
4 Forest
1 Plains
Creatures:
3 Grim Lavamancer
3 Avacyn's Pilgrim
4 Stormblood Berserker
3 Cloistered Youth
3 Skinshifter
4 Blade Splicer
3 Porcelain Legionnaire
4 Arc Trail
4 Galvanic Blast
3 Brimstone Volley
2 Ancient Grudge
2 Ratchet Bomb
2 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Nevermore
2 Whipflare
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
Any input would be really appreciated. I know i dont run mayor but in all honesty i dont think its worth it