I play value cards such as planeswalkers, young pyromancer, brazen borrower and kess, dissident mage to keep a lot of pressure on the board. The deck loses life quickly and uses deaths shadow and other creatures to win through combat damage. Currently, grixis is considered the best deaths shadow variant and is a toptier deck. The fact that fatal push hits all of the creatures in traverse deaths shadow but misses gurmag angler from grixis deaths shadow also mattered a lot.
On top of that, you are playing a control deck that always starts at around 810 life points, and you have some very bad matchups. Grixis death s shadow gds is the culmination of development and crosspollination across three previouslymorepopular modern decks, all working on different axes. How to play it, how to sideboard with it, as well as what i would do to it moving forward. When mike was nearly at thirteen, the deaths shadow looked barely broken as a card. As usual ive made a couple tweaks to my grixis deaths shadow deck. Grixis delver click the links for reference lists, a tempo deck, which aims to establish an early evasive threat backed up by protection and removal. Aug 16, 2019 this trick actually means a lot more in grixis deaths shadow since it can play cantrips, but it is still best to get the most value possible out of your cards whenever you can. The ultimate guide to grixis deaths shadow scg articles. Granted, if you have a real reason to cycle, do it. In addition to phoenix itself being a good matchup, i also think its. The brutal efficiency of the decks namesake card, supported by the formats best disruption package and one of its best cards in snapcaster mage, gives you a good chance in any matchup, which is a great quality in and of itself, but it also attracts the best players who want to play decision. Is a faster, more proactive version of grixis control, trading its top end for a quick clock.
Grixis deaths shadow is not a great midrange deck it is a great legacy style delver deck in modern. For your reference, this is the decklist once again. Grixis deaths shadow was the goto deaths shadow deck until it fell out of favor with the rise of humans and the printing of blast zone. Jund tries to occupy the space between them, offering a brutally low mana curve backed by cheap, powerful threats like deaths shadow and tarmogoyf. Metagame help ive been seeing this deck pop up sporadically after the drs ban and have most of the cards for it already so my question for those who play itknow the matchup is, what is is strong against and what are its bad matchups. This deck was built to be played as a midrange deck jund style while having an edge in the mirror. Choosing the right flavor of deaths shadow mtgmintcard.
Ill often cycle when im looking for a certain type of card on a specific turn. By blaze8dventures created dec 28, 2017 updated dec 28, 2017. Nov 08, 2017 enter 5 color shadow, aka jund shadow with splashes. The real buoying factor was when i moved from terminate to dismember in both lists, as dismember kills all of the key delve threats in the format while powering out early shadows. Tips and tricks in grixis deaths shadow for beginners. To get the best out of deaths shadow the deck has a ton of effects that inflict damage on their caster thoughtseize, gitaxian probe, shock lands and cycling street wraiths. Is jund really the best modern deck for kroxa, titan of death. There are also some very problematic matchups that could pop up. Everything you need to know about grixis control in legacy by. Grixis death s shadow deck list with prices for magic.
I tested grixis deaths shadow exclusively for pro tour rivals of ixalan. Apr 20, 2018 grixis deaths shadow is an aggrocontrol deck that is set up to take advantage of the potentially cheap casting costs of large creatures like deaths shadow, gurmag angler, and tasigur, the golden fang alongside efficient disruption like thoughtseize and stubborn denial. After the banning of gitaxian probe, it looked like the card didnt quite have enough support to be a force in modern anymore. Shifting toward a more proactive is likely the way to go. The ultimate deaths shadow matchup guide mtgmintcard. I see lots of people complaining about poor performances from their shadow deck. With that said, i still think grixis control is a very good deck in legacy, boasting favorable matchups against most of the field. The thoughtseize manual for grixis shadow by steve rubin magic. Some of you may know me from my other grixis deaths shadow articles, or my recent modern grand prix win in toronto. With snapcaster mage and kolaghans command, their hand would regularly contain two or three cards, so the ticking up of liliana of the veil would often be detrimental.
Digging into grixis deaths shadow may 12, 2017 by trevor holmes 3 last week, i suggested grixis deaths shadow as one of a shortlist of archetypes that i felt was strongly positioned against the major players in the format. Grixis deaths shadow is an aggressive deck in modern. Disruption plus a clock a mantra as old as magic itself is the key to beating these decks, and grixis shadow does exactly that. Death s shadow has since become one of the most played cards in modern and has appeared in various shells. I ended up doing that, and it felt like the most death s shadow. I cant say ive played against the matchup, but shutting down almost everything except t2 tas or forcing them to naturally hit the one to two kommands main deck sounds like a solid matchup. Grixis shadow is probably the deck running snapcaster mage that less profit can get from them, basically because you play so tight on mana you rarely can give flashback to anything that costs more than one mana. Grixis shadow main decks tend to be pretty stock these days, with the core of the deck being something like this. Grixis kroxa against grixis deaths shadow is fairly close to a mirror match the support cards are largely the same, but the threats are different. First place at grand prix toronto by michael rapp february 25, 2019 october 10, 2019 my name is michael rapp, i am a grinder from the boston area, and i was fortunate enough to win grand prix toronto playing grixis deaths shadow.
Beating the modern menace dredge with grixis deaths shadow. These problems carried us right into the printing of hogaak, arisen necropolis, which is a difficult matchup for grixis deaths shadow. Grixis deaths shadow deck guide channelfireball magic. Updated jan 21, 2019 by midnightcarnival using our mtg deck builder. Jan 04, 2018 channel reid grixis deaths shadow channelfireball. This decks goal is to disrupts your opponents hand and outgrind him on midlate game with the advantage of a very large board and powerful planeswalkers. To get the best out of death s shadow the deck has a ton of effects that inflict damage on their caster thoughtseize, gitaxian probe, shock lands and cycling street wraith s. Tarmogoyf is one of the best cards in the format against burn. Its consistency has been very surprising so far despite my forgotten bauble triggers. Modern mondays humans v grixis death s shadow 04 15 2019 duration. Becoming a modern man grixis deaths shadow puremtgo. Modern pptq 093017 semi finals grixis death s shadow vs eldrazi tron duration. On my draw, i pick up a dismember and tank for a bit. Deaths shadow is the good guy article by andrew jessup.
Grixis delver click the links for reference lists, a tempo deck, which aims to establish an early evasive threat backed up. Aug 23, 2019 grixis deaths shadow was the goto deaths shadow deck until it fell out of favor with the rise of humans and the printing of blast zone. Currently, grixis deaths shadow and urza are not only two of the most powerful decks in modern, but two of the most popular. Almost always the configuration of four deaths shadow, four street wraith, three snapcaster mage, and four gurmag angler. With arclight phoenix dominating the modern meta, its only appropriate with start there. Dec 07, 2018 modern pptq 093017 semi finals grixis death s shadow vs eldrazi tron duration.
Ive been working on a deck list that combines the threat density and beat down capability of jund deaths shadow, with the consistency of grixis deaths shadow. Dredge 4 thoughtseize, 1 fatal push draw3 fatal push, 2 dismember play. Jun 09, 2017 grixis deaths shadow is the best deck in modern, and hopefully it stays that way until grand prix las vegas. Grixis shadow therefore seems to me like a slightly clunkier version of dsj thats favored in the deaths shadow mirror and in grindy matchups generally but weaker against decks that require their opponents to play proactively most of the format. Reanimate to turn on death s shadow and attack opposing combo strategies was also a huge innovation for the deck. Grixis deaths shadow is an aggrocontrol deck that is set up to take advantage of the potentially cheap casting costs of large creatures like deaths shadow, gurmag angler, and tasigur, the golden fang alongside efficient disruption like thoughtseize and stubborn denial. This time, he tackles modern humans and how to beat the deck. The ultimate deaths shadow primer and tournament report.
What is the best deck against grixis deaths shadow. A few days ago, you got to see my latest decklist and the results of my 20 most played matchups. In legacy, you are usually pretty low on resources by the time you hit your third. This is the list lukas blohon and i played at the pro tour. I am excited to continue my string of matchup spotlights here on hipsters of the coast. The deaths shadow lists were caught being too reactive this past weekend, and were punished by running into matchups they werent prepared for like affinity. Over the course of the last few weeks i have had a lot of questions come in. And with this guide, you will be better equipped to survive such excursions than the average opponent.
I wanted to do this to help sculpt a sideboard for the pro tour, as well as gauge just exactly what decks were the most popular. Michael rapp is back with his third installment of matchup spotlight. Fullpowered miracles with counterbalance and sensei s divining top was always pretty good against delver decks, and i dont know if death s shadow is much different. Why you should be playing jund shadow, and not grixis. In grixis, you have a manaintensive lategame that consists of snapcaster mage, kolaghans command, and tasigur, the golden fang. If you can kill a 55, they cant really kill you in return. The maindeck for grixis deaths shadow has converged hard, with. Being able to split the payment of replaying expensive spells with jace is certainly useful, and the looting is also welcome. Aug 28, 2018 death s shadow is best paired with these cogs, which benefit the green creature suite in multiples.
Jun 20, 2017 there was a lot of hate targeted at shadow, and it will be interesting how deaths shadow players react in the coming weeks. Choosing the right flavor of death s shadow even after two years of playing almost exclusively death s shadow decks, it remains my favorite card to build around. Frankly, i think you want access to the blue no matter what and having lingering souls in my sideboard has done a lot to improve the grixis deaths shadow matchup that can grind you out with snapcaster mage if you dont have adequate countermeasures. Beyond death spoilers other spoilers throne of eldraine commander 2019 core set 2020 modern horizons war of the spark ravnica allegiance decks build a deck articles new posts cards trading post. Having already written about both of those decks, i figured it was time to break down the latest deaths shadow archetype. I wanted to do this to help sculpt a sideboard for the pro tour, as well as gauge just exactly what decks were the most. Hopefully i will get the chance to get to know many more of you going forward. Grixis deaths shadow gds is the culmination of development and crosspollination across three previouslymorepopular modern decks, all working on different axes. Death s shadow has some weird interaction with damage.
Maybe it is because i enjoy the play style, but most likely it is because it is so powerful. Top 8 modern decks in the metagame february 2019 flipside. The main strategy is to hurt yourself and make deaths shadow become stronger. Deaths shadow has a pest control problem dead on board podcast. Playing the mythic championship qualifier season with grixis. Maingoal turn one is to thoughtseize the opponent so if you dont have it cycle some street wraith to try and find it. Death s shadow is a one mana with the downside that it gets xx where x is your life total. There are lots of ways to build the deck but here is the list i will be working with. Updated feb 01, 2018 by fromberger using our mtg deck builder. These problems carried us right into the printing of hogaak, arisen necropolis, which is a difficult matchup for grixis deaths shadow, but an excellent one for mardu. Deaths shadow decks enjoy high reversibility, allowing them to take on tempo roles with ease in matchups that require it of them. Deaths shadow jundbgx in general i would take out all discard 1x street wraith bring in 2x stubborn denial 2x ltlh 1x ee 1x kozileks return 1x terminate the return isnt nessisary unless you think that you will see souls for the grixis matchup i would probably take the bolts out and keep two thought seizes in. When last we looked at modern, it was a format with a clear best deck in grixis death s shadow.
I use three steps in order to tune my deck selection process, and today we are going to put one of the biggest gainers from the ban grixis deaths shadow through the process. The future of death s shadow in legacy with control coming back in a big way in both grixis and azorius forms, it could become an uphill battle for fair aggressive decks. When his life total plummeted, and mikes fears of never being able to play the deaths shadow were assuaged, he gleefully summoned forth the cheap creature. The most popular shell of the moment is grixis death s shadow which is the deck i will be looking at in this article. Jund deaths shadow only plays eighteen lands, mostly because of mishras bauble acting as a free cantrip, but also because traverse the ulvenwald can find swamp in a pinch. Grixis death s shadow, as a deck, is quite similar to jund deaths shadow herein known as dsj in playstyle, and grixis delver in card composition.
In this episode of beat the boogeyman, well be taking a look at how to beat the premier tempo strategy in modern, grixis deaths shadow. Feb 19, 2018 i tested grixis death s shadow exclusively for pro tour rivals of ixalan and i decided to keep track of results on a spreadsheet so i could better understand which matchups might feel strong but in reality be weak on paper. In this new matchup spotlight series on i will be exploring individual modern matchups from the grixis deaths shadow or gds side of view. Jonathan played grixis deaths shadow to a top 4 finish at a recent. Many of you may know me from my previous work on both grixis and mardu deaths shadow. Ive been playing a ton with death s shadow a lot of that is because i just started streaming, but it also has to do with the fact that exploring death s shadow has opened up a new archetype in modern, one that i find truly enjoyable to play, as you are functionally playing legacy against your opponent. I decide that i can perfectly kill him if i play an angler, dismember the angler, and paying 4 life, which would put me to 1 and make my shadow a 1212 and swing for exacies. Oct 03, 2019 this lowtotheground shell isnt one we see in other shadow variants. You have the ability to block and to race, and you can make them walk a tightrope regarding your life total and the size of your deaths shadows.
Grixis kroxa is quite good at answering the threats in grixis deaths shadow, and i think kroxa would really shine in this matchup, so i think grixis kroxa would have a big advantage. Is jund really the best modern deck for kroxa, titan of. And when it comes to grixis deaths shadow, theres place to go for the. I ended up doing that, and it felt like the most death s shadow way to win a match possible. Mar 04, 2020 grixis kroxa against grixis deaths shadow is fairly close to a mirror match the support cards are largely the same, but the threats are different. Grixis is a tempo deck, while mardu is more of a traditional midrange deck. Then with nurturing peatland and wrenn and six, the matchup shifted around again, as a stuck wrenn and six will quickly snowball into an insurmountable advantage for the jund version of the. Traverse shadow was a deck you might remember josh utterleyton championing during the infancy of deaths shadow development.
But as deaths shadow is going to be a major focus of this article series, its important to be clear about the downsides as well as the upsides. But at gp vancouver, the pros picked up a deck designed by mtgo grinder ghash77 before probe was even banned. Nov, 2018 deaths shadow has a pest control problem. Fliers are the main reason this matchup is so good. This trick actually means a lot more in grixis deaths shadow since it can play cantrips, but it is still best to get the most value possible out of your cards whenever you can. In my opinion, this is the most consistent version of shadow you just want to play with as many underground seas in play as possible. Grixis control jund please select an opponent s deck in order to see the sideboard plan against it. Thats tournament magic, and thats grixis deaths shadow. Everything i know about grixis deaths shadow right now. Modern is home to so many interesting and unique decks and strategies from mill, to urza decks, to tron, and even bogles. Grixis shadow relies pretty heavily on its big threats to protect itself from lethal attacks when it gets its life total low. Temur battle rage has been a new inclusion and it is great for making a large death s shadow get in against decks that like to chump block with a 11 then you can blow them out. If graveyard hate becomes more prevalent, grixis is probably not the best version of deaths shadow to play.
Exploring deaths shadow in jund, grixis, and zoo modern. Everything i know about grixis deaths shadow right now magic. The snapcaster mage plus kolaghans command engine gives it more 2for1s and the ability to win the long game. Grixis deaths shadow is arguably one of the hardest decks youre ever going to. Welcome back for this weeks matchup spotlight through the eyes of grixis deaths shadow as we tackle the modern menace in dredge dredge is historically a tricky matchup to navigate as grixis deaths shadow, and the printing of creeping chill makes the matchup even more tricky. Dec 28, 2017 but as deaths shadow is going to be a major focus of this article series, its important to be clear about the downsides as well as the upsides. You have no control over those cantrips, and that will have a huge impact on the game. May 12, 2017 grixis deaths shadow was one of three archetypes that came to mind as being strongly positioned against both the top decks, and the majority of the field, and i felt it warranted a deeper look. I tested grixis death s shadow exclusively for pro tour rivals of ixalan and i decided to keep track of results on a spreadsheet so i could better understand which matchups might feel strong but in reality be weak on paper. A bad matchup for grixis shadow, but a fine one for traverse shadow. Folks have been clamoring for updates, and i aim to give the. The first step is to understand what changed due to the shakeup. Grixis shadow has an inherent advantage against the tarmogoyf versions of black midrange.
Grixis deaths shadow is not a great midrange deck it is. Having a high density of flying creatures completely changes this. However, its greedy consequences means that it s both grixis best weapon, and their achilles heel. May 12, 2017 grixis and esper shadow play cards often associated however correctly with thresh decks, including serum visions, thought scour, stubborn denial, and tasigur, the golden fang. Dec 05, 2019 disruption plus a clock a mantra as old as magic itself is the key to beating these decks, and grixis shadow does exactly that. Obviously these numbers change along with the matchup and your sideboard. How to play it, how to sideboard with it, as well as what i.
Aug 27, 2016 deaths shadow is a one mana with the downside that it gets xx where x is your life total. Jeskai tempo vs grixis shadow adventure spells in modern. Today, i want to talk about my favorite matchup in all of modern. The thoughtseize manual for grixis shadow by steve rubin. A couple of weeks ago, i played grixis deaths shadow at grand prix sao paulo. Jan 22, 2019 on my draw, i pick up a dismember and tank for a bit.
The snapcaster mage plus kolaghans command engine gives it more 2for1s and the ability. Grixis deaths shadow, as a deck, is quite similar to jund deaths shadowherein known as dsj in playstyle, and grixis delver in card composition. Burn vs grixis death s shadow mtg modern matchup vs series with decklists duration. The best deaths shadow in modern is not grixis scg articles. During the heyday of grixis deaths shadow andrew jessup tweaked the decks manabase in order to make room for a full three copies of watery grave. While liliana of the veil was never great in the grixis death s shadow decks in modern, those decks were much better at playing the lategame.
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