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Main » Articles » Grixis Shadow Deck Guide

Grixis Shadow Deck Guide

Kyle Boggemes
Posted on April 6, 2022
 Reddit

Hey everyone!

I'm back with a near miss for Top 8 at the NRG Showdown in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Overall, the Grixis Shadow deck performed very well and I was happy with most of my plans.

There were over 200 players and nine rounds of swiss. This is a daunting schedule on a regular day, but my car made the three hour drive the morning of the tournament. I didn't get much sleep and woke up at 2 in the morning so it was a grueling event for me.

I finished in the Top 32 good for $200.

Here's the list I played:

Grixis Shadow | Modern | Kyle Boggemes

I haven't made many changes to the deck because I have been on a month-long winning streak with this version of Shadow. The metagame is starting to move without Lurrus, so I have some ideas on how to improve the list.

Here's my matchup schedule from the NRG Showdown:

Round 1: uw Control (no Kaheera) WIN

Round 2: Golgari Midrange WIN

Round 3: Rhinos WIN

Round 4: uw Control: Zach Allen (Kaheera) WIN

Round 5: Blue Moon WIN

Round 6: Four-Color Control (Yorion) Jon Hobbs LOSS

Round 7: Esper Reanimator WIN

Round 8: Four-Color Control (Yorion) LOSS

Round 9: Four-Color Control (Yorion) LOSS

If you are seeing a theme you would be correct. Shadow needs to adjust slightly to put up a proper fight against Four-Color Yorion. Most of the games were close, but the topdecking power of Four-Color Yorion has an edge in those situations. Luckily, this is well within our control for the future.

The rest of the matchups felt fine, but the games are naturally close. That's what you sign up for with Grixis Shadow.

My list had the proper respect for the linear decks of the format, but the search continues to find adequate interaction for control. Azorius Control just needs to check boxes for interaction, but you need to be more specific fighting Four-Color due to Veil of Summer.

In fact, I felt Game 1 against Four-Color Control was fine even when my draws didn't line up well. Things started to fall apart when Four-Color was able to substitute the worst cards in their decks for Veil of Summer. Kroxa's trigger not only evades Veil of Summer, but the opponent is likely to discard Veil for fear of it rotting in their hand once Kroxa escapes.

Most games against Four-Color were close, but if I drew a string of lands I would quickly lose my footing. Kroxa is an excellent mana sink in the mid game.

Tourach's trigger is countered by Veil and the 4/3 is blocked by Ice-Fang Coatl and Endurance. Many situations against Azorius Control involve topdecks where Tourach is less effective. For the time being, I'm low on Tourach.

Kaito Shizuki is not a bomb against either Azorius Control or Four-Color Control, but can filter away lands in the late game. This is a valuable ability because Shadow needs to cast their heavy-hitting spells such as Expressive Iteration, Kroxa, and Drown in the Loch to close the game. I never activated the minus abilities as the looting was better than expected.

I was let down by Spell Pierce against 4 Color Control. Ideally you counter an early Wrenn and Six or Teferi, but in practice they can wait which benefits the Yorion deck. Prismatic Ending is a very cheap removal spell against Shadow so it was rare it would be countered by Pierce.

Inquisition of Kozilek can take a redundant removal spell, but you risk walking into Veil of Summer. I can utilize Inquisition better if I focus my game plan more on Kroxa because the 6/6 is a large threat that is exiled by Prismatic Ending and March of Otherworldly Light.

Kolaghan's Command is strong against Hammertime, Amulet Titan, and Chalice of the Void. It also has value-generating applications against Azorius Control and Four-Color Control. Kroxa occupies a similar slot, but is much stronger against control decks. For the time being, artifacts aren't very popular because they are easily answered by Prismatic Ending and March of Otherworldly Light.

Here's the list I'm excited to play moving forward:

Improved Grixis Shadow | Modern | Kyle Boggemes

I'm still happy with Snow-Covered Mountain over the fourth Scalding Tarn. I would frequently fetch the second basic to cast Jegantha without taking extra damage in the late game. The matchup against Burn is drastically different because each game is won and lost quickly and in close fashion. I also don't like that Scalding Tarn is no longer able to fetch a basic. Adding an extra bad fetch to the deck is awkward.

If I was going to change the mana base I would lean toward Michael Rapp's idea of playing eighteen lands. It's Mountain or nothing for me.

Here's the matchup guide!

Azorius Control

On the play I like to lead on Ragavan. The draw is trickier; Kaheera as a companion indicates maindeck Chalice of the Void. In this case I would lead on a discard spell over Ragavan.

Solitude is annoying, but not game-ending. Remember not to play two Shadows at the same time until the late game after you have concluded there isn't a Solitude or Supreme Verdict at the ready.

Unholy Heat is a strong removal spell in the matchup because it ends with a topdeck war. It's crucial to answer a shark token, Teferi, or creature land. Fatal Push can be sided out, but can be useful in the late game for this reason, too.

Jegantha as a late game threat is a common occurrence. This is because you will often spend a turn in the mid game playing around Counterspell to add the companion to your hand.

Most of my counters end up hitting Archmage's Charm and it's often the best spell to hit with discard spells.

Spell Pierce is stronger than Inquisition because they play expensive targets so it scales better into the late game. Dress Down can stop Solitude from exiling a creature, but it's too narrow. You need to play around Supreme Verdict anyway.

Four Color Control (Yorion)

Like Azorius Control you must respect a powerful two-drop, Wrenn and Six. This means starting with Ragavan on the play, but discard spells on the draw. If you don't have discard then you can lead on Dragon's Rage Channeler because Ragavan can dash the next turn to attack Wren for lethal.

Hand disruption should focus on card advantage and worry less about removal like Prismatic Ending and March of Otherworldly Light. This is because removal can only be cast if you give them a target. It will give more mileage to hand disruption drawn later.

If you see Ephemerate they are likely playing Eternal Witness and not Ragavan. There are a ton of juicy targets for Ragavan to hit off of your deck so beware of the dash potential. Just because you see a single Eternal Witness doesn't mean Ragavan isn't in their deck because it could be a tutor target for Eladamri's Call.

It can be tempting to continuously shock lands into play, but respect the possibility of Lightning Bolt and Wrenn going to the face. They can also put Abundant Growth on a fetch land which easily enables Omnath to get three landfall triggers in the same turn.

There's typically a single Endurance in the maindeck because it can be found with Eladamri's Call. In addition, Ice-Fang is currently the flavor of the week so there are plenty of flash blockers.

Dress Down seems good on the surface, but it takes proper timing and will likely just prevent a card from being drawn.

There were multiple games where Sokenzan made chump blockers each turn combined with Wrenn and Six. This ambushed Ragavan and also can't be discarded with Thoughtseize. A minor interaction if you play Tourach is that channel gives it a +1+1 counter.

Unholy Heat is good in the matchup because it can stop a Wrenn that has activated a few times or just a Yorion or Omnath. If you can, play around the potential of Endurance removing delirium at instant speed.

Be wary of Veil of Summer on the first turn when thinking about an early Thoughtseize in post board games.

Izzet Murktide

Shadow will go over the top of Izzet Murktide as long as you don't get run over by a big dragon. This is because you have a companion and Kroxa.

Be careful not to walk your early Thoughtseize into a Spell Pierce or Counterspell because it needs to discard Murktide Regent. This is critical in the first game because you would otherwise need to combine Unholy Heat with another source of damage to take down an 8/8 flyer. This is most commonly a delirious Dragon's Rage Channeler that blocks.

The threat of Blood Moon exists in all three games. Jegantha can not only be cast when Blood Moon is on the battlefield, but helps you cast Drown in the Loch.

Spell Pierce is better than Inquisition because it's very likely to counter Blood Moon, Counterspell, Archmage's Charm, and Expressive Iteration for most of the game while burning the opponent's mana.

Ragavan has plenty of hits in this matchup on both sides. Use non-Terminate removal when possible to save for Murktide.

Living End

Ragavan is great here as they don't play real removal. The cards flipped over by Ragavan will likely be blanks, but the mana allows you to deploy additional threats while leaving up Drown in the Loch.

I prioritize discard spells to take as many Shardless Agents and Violent Outbursts as possible.

Be mindful of Leyline of Sanctity as a potential sideboard card out of Living End. This turns off hand disruption and Nihil Spellbomb, but not Kroxa's discard.

The potential of Grief can affect your early sequencing. If Leyline isn't on the battlefield it can be correct to get Nihil Spellbomb out of your hand.

Dress Down isn't great against the opponent's cards, but the prospect of comboing with Kroxa and Death's Shadow is better than a stray removal spell.

Temur Rhinos

Crashing Footfalls is less catastrophic to resolve than Living End, but you can still play on the patient side.

Unholy Heat is fine in the matchup as you can kill a Rhino with delirium. Terminate costs two mana so I would prefer to jump through some hoops with Heat. Again, watch out for Endurance taking you off delirium as they will play them from the sideboard.

That's all I have for today. Shadow is still a great deck, but is no longer the default best deck without Lurrus. This is still an archetype that rewards dedication as you can win an above-average amount with the deck.

Thanks for reading!

-Kyle

TAGS articles, metagame, constructed, analysis, modern, decklist, kyle boggemes, sideboard guide, 04062022, grixis shadow

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