One of the best things about a new set is finding homes for the new cards. War of the Spark has such an incredible power level in so many cards, trying brew after brew has been a real joy. As I'm exploring the new Standard, every pathway I've gone down has been a pleasure, even when it hasn't panned out at all.

One of the first decks that I tried to make work was an update to the Big Red Rakdos deck that Jody Keith used to win Grand Prix Memphis. I was excited to give this one a go, and pumped to try out Ugin, the Ineffable in it.

Ugin was great, but the brew itself was so lackluster, I don't think sharing it would do much good. I did, however, get torn to pieces in one match by Ugin's brother, Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God.

On its face, Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God is certainly a good card. The card advantage that it rips in a +1 single activation is the same amount you get from an Ancestral Recall, and that is the case even if your opponent doesn't have a card in hand. The grinding power of the card is pretty phenomenal, and after being on the receiving end, I knew I had to take the card up myself.

Thankfully, I already had four, so I got to grinding immediately.

With "grinding" in mind, I quickly went to the deck I'd taken to Mythic in March, Grixis Control.

Bringing Back the Panic

Early in March, I'd named TedPanic's Grixis Control deck as one of my top three decks in Standard. "My" build was just exactly TedPanic's build, not even with a card changed:

Grixis Control | Allegiance Standard | TedPanic, 5-0 Competitive Standard League

• Creatures (8)
• 4 Thief of Sanity
• 4 Nicol Bolas, the Ravager

• Planeswalkers (2)
• 2 Angrath, the Flame-Chained

• Instants (14)
• 2 Carnival // Carnage
• 2 Chemister's Insight
• 2 Moment of Craving
• 2 Negate
• 2 Vraska's Contempt
• 4 Cast Down

• Sorceries (7)
• 3 Duress
• 4 Thought Erasure

• Enchantments (4)
• 2 Search for Azcanta
• 2 The Eldest Reborn

• Lands (25)
• 2 Island
• 3 Swamp
• 2 Dragonskull Summit
• 2 Sulfur Falls
• 4 Blood Crypt
• 4 Drowned Catacomb
• 4 Steam Vents
• 4 Watery Grave

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Duress
• 1 Moment of Craving
• 2 Negate
• 1 Vraska's Contempt
• 1 Arguel's Blood Fast
• 3 Cry of the Carnarium
• 1 Disdainful Stroke
• 2 Hostage Taker
• 1 Ral, Izzet Viceroy
• 2 Unmoored Ego

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There were several weaknesses to the deck, to be sure. The deck was only okay versus Red, though sideboarding helped. Esper Control, a matchup I was sure would be a runaway hit, could end up slipping out of your control because of the game one potential for too much creature removal and not enough access to ways to kill a Teferi, Hero of Dominaria. Wilderness Reclamation decks could just overwhelm you with cards you cared about.

Still, after sideboarding, you could very strongly shore up any of those weaknesses.

Fixing things after sideboarding really felt unsatisfying, though. If only there were fast removal that could take out a Planeswalker. If only there were a reliable card for hurting fast decks when you got to higher mana counts but could also be good against aggressive decks.

If only there were a way to shut the door on games when you got ahead besides Thief of Sanity.

Well, between Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God and Angrath's Rampage, you have exactly the tools you need to do all of those things.

The format is still in its early stages, but here is my current build of Grixis Control.

Grixis Control | War Standard | Adrian Sullivan

• Creatures (8)
• 4 Thief of Sanity
• 4 Nicol Bolas, the Ravager

• Planeswalkers (4)
• 4 Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God

• Instants (11)
• 2 Chemister's Insight
• 2 Negate
• 3 Vraska's Contempt
• 4 Cast Down

• Sorceries (9)
• 2 Angrath's Rampage
• 3 Duress
• 4 Thought Erasure

• Enchantments (2)
• 2 Search for Azcanta

• Lands (26)
• 2 Island
• 3 Swamp
• 2 Sulfur Falls
• 3 Dragonskull Summit
• 4 Blood Crypt
• 4 Drowned Catacomb
• 4 Steam Vents
• 4 Watery Grave

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Duress
• 3 Enter the God-Eternals
• 1 Negate
• 1 Disdainful Stroke
• 1 Sinister Sabotage
• 1 Commence the Endgame
• 1 Arguel's Blood Fast
• 3 Cry of the Carnarium
• 2 Hostage Taker
• 1 Ugin, the Ineffable

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Still, on the balance, it may be that the deck will want to add back in a single Carnival // Carnage simply to not be down to zero one casting cost removal. Despite that, Carnival // Carnage was still the most often sided out card, so losing it doesn't feel like it hurts all that much

Where I don't much miss Carnival // Carnage, there are some other things that I do miss. Bringing back a Niv-Mizzet, Parun or Teferi, Hero of Dominaria was a very fun thing to do in Grixis. Stealing a Hydroid Krasis with Angrath, the Flame-Chained for the kill was also great, as was simply stealing something small to kill both the stolen creature and an opposing Planeswalker. These were fun aspects of the original deck, but they frankly feel like they took care of games only infrequently. On the other hand, Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God feels like it steals an incredible amount of games, even from Red decks, as you knock down their mana and take outs away from them, like Experimental Frenzy, for example.

Enter the God-Eternals feels like a massive game-change against the Red decks, even at the high cost. I'm still not certain if three is the correct number, if I want the full four, or if I want to supplement it with Moment of Craving for a cheaper effect, but whatever the case may be, adding in the means to pull ahead by such a massive amount of life is huge.

Sinister Sabotage was a card that I'd added in before War of the Spark, and it was there to replace an extra Negate. Sometimes, you just needed the versatility of a solid counter that could stop basically anything, and this card might not be as good as Negate for what it does, but when you're supported by so much discard, it just felt better to add in the more flexible card.

Ugin, the Ineffable has sometimes been Dream Eater, but the plan for the card is the same in any case: be a catch-all answer and also potentially provide more fuel for a grind. It's even possible that this card should simply be more focused, like a Ritual of Soot or an Unmoored Ego, but for now, this is a good place-holder. As Standard continues to develop, I like the way that I can count on this slot to solve any potential problem.

This deck is still a work in progress, but I know what I like about the core of it: I like feeling like I can grind the hell out of nearly any opponent. The biggest potential change I see moving forward are a sharpening of the specific removal selection, the potential move of Duress to the sideboard, and the possible removal of Chemister's Insight (though I do like this card a lot as a means to make Game 1 have less likelihood of dead cards).

If you like grinding an opponent down, this is a deck for you!

Grand Prix Madison is right on the Horizon! I'll see you there, and I'll try to bring home the Wisconsin trophy. I'm sorry that I didn't stream last month, but I'm preparing for a move to New York City - almost twenty years to the day that I last moved to the Big Apple.

There is going to be a lot of incredible Magic coming from me this year. I'm excited for the growth of the game this last year, and I'm looking forward to moving forward and growing with it!

- Adrian Sullivan

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