Standard - Grixis Dragon Control

Today we're going to be discussion a deck I had come up with early on when BFZ first came out. It did not end up doing well at all but I really enjoyed played it as the Control style is one of my other favorite archetypes to play as well. Grixis contains three of my favorite colors in magic, Red, Blue and Black. I've been working on building Grixis in Modern so when BFZ came out I thought it was time for Grixis in Standard as well. You'll come to find out I was wrong but nonetheless let's talk about the deck anyway.

In the previous Standard one of my favorite decks to play at the time was UB Control. I never hopped on board the Esper Control train at that time (Ojutai was a bit pricey then) so I stuck with UB. I won a few FNM's with that deck and consistently placed in the Top 4 as well. So I thought, why not try to do the same now that BFZ is out but add some red?

Creatures

Dragonlord Kolaghan: With his Haste ability and giving other creatures haste, he seemed too good in the meta at the time. Thinking back on it now I probably should have taken this out for another Kolaghan, the Storm's Fury. This card ended up not doing much for me in the end.

Dragonlord Silumgar: Do I want to take your creature or planeswalker? Yes I would like to take your creature or planeswalker. Dies too easily to removal though.

Dragonmaster Outcast: What was I thinking putting this in here? Dies way too easily and ended up not being very good for a control matchup. If I could go back I would nix these and put in more removal/counters.

Kolaghan, the Storm's Fury: As I mentioned earlier I should've made this a 2 of as it's dash ability is just so handy and it's pump ability.

Silumgar, the Drifting Death: Flying, Hexproof and can kill 1/1 Tokens when it or another dragon I control attacks? Count me in!

Thunderbreak Regent: Besides the Dragonlords, this has been one of my favorite dragon cards through the Tarkir set. The fact it hits your opponents face for 3 if they target it makes it that much better. Even if  the card resolves and it ends up dying before you can attack with it, makes it worthwhile in the long run. Especially if you just keep bringing the Regent's out.


Spells

Complete Disregard: This still isn't a bad card, but mainboardable? Probably not but it does get rid of Jace which is only too prevalent in my local meta. 2 of is not enough though if I were to keep it mainboard, possibly 3.

Crux of Fate: Perfect board wipe for our deck. Not much more to say.

Dig Through Time: Still one of my favorite cards in this current Standard and I'll be sad to see it go. It'll become a small piece to some future EDH deck I build when it rotates out. To me, this card is still a must for any control deck.

Radiant Flames: Hey a board wipe against aggro decks on turn 3? Count it in. Proved to be useful sometimes.

Ruinous Path: A slower Hero's Downfall. Turns out Instant Speed is pretty good.

Silumgar's Command: This card was very conditional in it's use, by the time you get to 5 mana you should be having better things to do than cast this card or wait on your turn and be reactive. If only it cost 4 mana it would be tons better.

Silumgar's Scorn: The closest we've gotten to normal Counterspell in Standard in awhile. Good thing all your creatures are Dragons so this won't be too hard to pull off, right? Right?

Tormenting Voice: Why did I put this in?


I'm going to skip the sideboard in this article and just focus on where I think I went wrong with this deck. I made the mistake a lot of people make when a rotation occurs, thinking they can build their favorite deck from the previous Standard and just add to it and hope it works out. The meta was still forming in BFZ and I was hoping control would take more of a forefront.

If I went back to the deck now what changes would I make? What Oath cards would I include in as well? I think I would definitely add in either a playset or 3 of Draconic Roar. I would definitely take out the Dragonmaster Outcast and Dragonlord Kolaghan's as well and add in another Kolaghan, the Storm's Fury and another removal/counter spell. Possibly go down to 3 Dig's?

I may just go back and retool this deck soon and test it out online and see how it does in this current meta. I've seen R/B Dragons become slightly more popular in the meta, perhaps a more control variant of that list splashing Blue can be done. If I do decide to retool it, I'll be sure to do another showcase talking about it. For the time being, I consider this a dud deck showcase. A good idea on paper, but end up not panning out.