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Main » Articles » Updates to Modern Grixis Shadow

Updates to Modern Grixis Shadow

Kyle Boggemes
Posted on November 10, 2021
 Reddit

Hey everyone!

I'm putting the rhinos aside for a moment because Corey Baumeister won the SCG Invitational with one of my favorite archetypes: Grixis Death's Shadow. I wasn't a Shadow player before Lurrus was printed, but I've really taken a liking to the strategy recently.

His list is pretty solid so let's begin with his weapon of choice:

Grixis Death's Shadow | Modern | Corey Baumeister

Grixis Death's Shadow was on the decline, but Corey made some major revisions to the archetype. The overall idea of the deck remains the same: deal yourself at least eight damage to get Death's Shadow on the battlefield and interact the opponent to death. In the details there are many big upgrades to the deck that put it back to tier 1 status.

The biggest change to the deck is not playing any Lightning Bolt. This appears blasphemous on the surface, but is actually quite reasonable. Three damage isn't good against Azorius Control, Rhinos, and Four-Color Piles which have been prominent players in the metagame. There aren't many situations where Grixis Death's Shadow wins by sneaking in damage as most of the cards are good at constraining resources and closing with a threat.

Unholy Heat is the featured removal spell because it kills Teferis and Rhino tokens. Tarmogoyf is also more popular as it can block rhinos which makes dealing a lot of damage important in the metagame.

It was also stock to play eighteen lands in Grixis Death's Shadow for most of its life as a Lurrus deck. Aspiringspike began with a Fiery Islet as the nineteenth land which was quickly cut. The secret to the last land is that fetches are very powerful and you can always play more.

I've played Grixis Shadow in two large 2Ks and made the top 8 of both. Most of the games I lost in those events were to land screw. Grixis can utilize mana effectively because it can filter draws with Dragon's Rage Channeler and add Lurrus to hand.

Corey also brought back the third Kroxa to have an additional midrange threat to go with the nineteenth land.

1/60 = 1.67%

Adding the nineteenth land helps you get mana screwed less often, but it's still a minor upgrade in the big picture. Rather than having 30% of your deck being lands it's now 31.67%. It's better, but not enough to change the deck heuristics.

I am still skeptical of keeping most one-land hands and likely need to be on the draw with Dragon's Rage Channeler and Mishra's Bauble. The deck mulligans well because Lurrus can help recoup card disadvantage.

Dress Down gains a lot of equity in the post board games because it nullifies your nemesis, Sanctifier en-Vec. The third Kroxa synergizes with the third Dress Down which is a flex slot in my opinion.

I don't value Dress Down high against Azorius Control because stopping Solitude doesn't come up often. It's already true I want to take a slow and steady approach to the matchup to play around Supreme Verdict. If you have two Death's Shadows on the battlefield and one is hit by Solitude you will go to thirteen life and the second will die. If you decide it's best to have a Shadow and another creature on the battlefield, be sure to have a low enough life total to play around Solitude.

The sideboard also received a face lift. Collective Brutality is the best way to fight your worst matchup, Burn. You're likely to face Burn in paper Modern events because it's easy to assemble and doesn't require continuous format adaptation.

Dragon's Claw takes more time to establish, making it a riskier sideboard option to fight Burn. If you draw it later in the game it could potentially be too late. I also want to be able to have more ways to take key cards from their hand as Thoughtseize can be painful. Deflecting Palm and Searing Blaze can be backbreaking if not respected.

I don't think Deflecting Palm is good against Shadow, but it's almost always boarded in against me. There are so many ways Shadow can punish Burn for trying to take a reactive stance.

I agree with the overall theory of Corey's list so I'm going to focus on the details. Here's my current version:

Grixis Death's Shadow | Modern | Kyle Boggemes

I still play a single Lightning Bolt because it's a one-mana removal spell that has some proactive qualities if I happen to face a deck without many creatures. I'm able to Lightning Bolt myself to stick a quick Death's Shadow.

Fatal Push is another option for the fifth removal spell in the maindeck, but it runs the risk of not having any targets. I prefer Fatal Push as my sixth one-mana removal spell in the sideboard because I won't draw it in awkward matchups. It's also not uncommon to cut discard spells when I want more creature removal and overloading on Red cards will skew my shock land choices. Ideally, I fetch Watery Grave ahead of Steam Vents because it plays better with Lurrus.

Typically, when I sideboard against creature decks it's common to cut a Kroxa, but the remaining two-drops are solid. In addition, I'm likely adding Engineered Explosives which often kills two-drops because most of my threats cost one-mana. This is a massive jolt to my mana curve so I prioritize one-mana plays to swap with Thoughtseize.

Lightning Bolt and other one-mana removal spells are also better on the draw against decks where Ragavan loses its luster. I've had so many games where I lost the die roll with Ragavan that would have been auto-wins on the play. It's more difficult to come back on the draw against decks with creatures so I would like more early plays to interact.

I made room for Lightning Bolt, the fifth removal spell, by moving the third Dress Down to the sideboard. They're good in similar matchups and can both be used proactively. As I mentioned before, Sanctifier en-Vec is the best creature to defensively Dress Down.

The last change I made to the maindeck is to cut the third Kroxa, Titan of Death's Hunger for Kolaghan's Command. Kroxa is a mana sink to support the nineteenth land and Kolaghan's Command plays a similar role.

Kroxa suffers from not being fast enough to impact the board in Game 1 racing situations on the draw. Kolaghan's Command is able to interact with early threats, especially against Hammertime. Kroxa escapes in longer games which are more likely when both players have the appropriate interaction; this is more common after sideboard.

I want exactly one Kolaghan's Command in the seventy-five because it kills problematic artifacts such as Ensnaring Bridge and Chalice of the Void so I'm able to free up a sideboard slot. A third Engineered Explosives could accomplish the same goal, but it's more mana-intensive as I rarely make x=1. I view the third EE as a dedicated rhino removal spell.

So far, I haven't had an issue with delirium, but I will say that Unholy Heat is less likely to deal six damage without the third maindeck Dress Down and Kroxa because instant, sorcery, and land are the most likely types in the graveyard.

There isn't much left to say about the maindeck because Corey did a good job making a smooth list. His maindeck is cohesive and my changes help shore up Game 1s where I lose the die roll. Both versions are very defensible.

Grixis always has plenty of customization in the sideboard because it doesn't have the general interaction White has in Modern.

Spreading Seas is perhaps the most shocking card in the sideboard. Corey gave Spreading Seas a try on his stream and I am a fan. Spreading Seas is great against one of your worst matchups, Tron. Alpine Moon is able to shut off Tron as long as it's on the battlefield, but is often removed a couple turns later from Blast Zone. Your beginning draw against Tron can be absurd, but will always be cut short by the Blast Zone found off Sylvan Scrying and Expedition Map. Not only does Blast Zone kill your Moon, but also your pressure.

I've also liked Spreading Seas against Burn because it's more impactful than Expressive Iteration. Casting a Blue spell against Burn often means fetching a shock land so you need to make them count. It was also a way to slow down Eldrazi Temple without being down a card from Alpine Moon. Modern is full of weird decks and Seas comes up more often than you would expect.

There are two considerations for Spreading Seas: watch out for Veil of Summer and make sure you don't have too many two-drops in your deck after sideboard. I still have an Alpine Moon because Urza's Saga decks are often too fast to justify Spreading Seas and I still wouldn't mind some interaction in those matchups. If I don't hit Urza's Saga it will get hit by my Engineered Explosives for x=2 to kill Sanctifier en-Vec.

Spell Pierce is a card I've favored in Grixis Death's Shadow sideboards for a while and is now picking up steam. I want Spell Pierce against Tron, Burn, Dredge, Azorius Control, Living End, Temur Rhinos, and much more. Flusterstorm is able to counter Crashing Footfalls, but falls short against Blood Moon. Flusterstorm can counter Archmage's Charm, but miss Teferi, Chalice of the Void, and Rest in Peace against Azorius Control.

Terminate is a pretty mediocre card, but I want to respect Murktide Regent. There are matchups where I know graveyards will be under siege which makes Drown in the Loch less powerful and Terminate can be a suitable replacement. Against Izzet Murktide I try not to Terminate Ragavan and Dragon's Rage Channeler because you only have one or two turns to not die to the Regent.

Murktide could make a resurgence in the next couple weeks as players continue to respect Azorius Control and take them out of the winner's metagame.

A minor upside of Terminate is the creature cannot regenerate. This isn't important in Modern as Thrun, the Last Troll has hexproof, but it can beat Welding Jar. A weird rules interaction with Dress Down is that it does not remove regeneration shields.

I can't think of a non-Burn matchup where I want Collective Brutality. Terminate will likely be better in a creature matchup and you can only play so many two-drops. It's a very narrow sideboard card, but is justified given that it's likely the hardest matchup.

There's a split of Nihil Spellbomb and Soul-Guide Lantern because they're good in different matchups.

Nihil Spellbomb shines against other fair decks that utilize the graveyard for additional card advantage such as the mirror. The downside is Drown in the Loch is less effective if you exile their entire graveyard, but the average mana value of spells is so low you can find a good window to cast it. I don't play more Nihil Spellbombs because the other Lurrus value deck, Jund Sagavan, has too many good cards in the matchup. Spreading Seas, Dress Down, and Spellbomb are all good at mitigating their primary threats.

Soul-Guide Lantern is better against reanimator and Dredge because it can exile a critical spell in the graveyard when it enters the battlefield and then get the rest when you're under pressure. It can in theory also exile the opponent's graveyard with Leyline of Sanctity on the battlefield, but that card isn't popular in Modern. Drawing a card is less important in those matchups because it's more about cutting off their core game plan and rebuying the artifact with Lurrus.

Mystical Dispute acts as a second Terminate to interact with Murktide Regent without costing two-mana.

That's all I have for today. Grixis Death's Shadow is back on the menu and I'm excited. Give the deck a spin!

Thanks for reading!

-Kyle

TAGS articles, metagame, constructed, analysis, modern, decklist, kyle boggemes, grixis death's shadow, 11102021

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