We ended up with a combined record of 9-3-2 with the deck, and a loss and draw of those were to Nick Spagnolo in the mirror. (Nick was playing almost the same list, since Ben had given it to Lewis Laskin.)

Let’s go over some of the card choices.

Black Sun’s Zenith

Many recent lists had two or even zero copies main, and Ben started with four, but I think three is the right number. You do want access to all four against creature decks, since you often need one relatively early, and casting the card repeatedly makes it nigh impossible to lose. But I found there were enough matchups where it was mediocre that I did not want the fourth main.

Virulent Wound

The most common question I got about the deck was “why that over Wring Flesh?” Well they are the same card the vast majority of the time, so I honestly don’t think it matters that much. But the upsides to Wound are: it blanks Mutagenic Growth, and, more importantly, it lets you catch up if they have a guy bigger than you can Zenith for. Sometimes a Champion of the Parish or a Stromkirk Noble will outpace your ability to Zenith, and you don’t draw the Wound/Wring Flesh on time. Wound still does something in this spot. The main argument for Wring Flesh is that it lets Snapcaster kill a larger creature while surviving, but in testing this came up far less often than the being behind on Zenith issue.

Last night my friend Shaheen Soorani told me that he couldn’t bring himself to play this sort of card because it is “just too bad.” Obviously Virulent Wound is not a strong card in a vacuum. But you need this sort of cheap effect. There are far more one-drop creatures being played right now than in a typical Standard format. Living through the early turns is basically all that matters, since if you get to the late game, you will take control and find a way to win. Don’t be a Shaheen: leave Virulent Wound or Wring Flesh in your deck.

Liliana of the Veil

I actually said how much I disliked this card a few weeks ago. I guess I just didn’t have the right supporting cast for Liliana when I tried her before because she is actually awesome. It does require a bit of maneuvering to get the maximum effect out of her, but Liliana will often take over the game with a little help from counterspells and removal. That you have flashback cards along with cards that are sometimes dead (I’m looking at you, Virulent Wound) means that the discard ability isn’t quite symmetrical. Her ultimate is less “game over” than some planeswalkers, but it always puts them in a bad position. And between Thrun, Mirran Crusader, and Geist of Saint Traft, there are certainly plenty of things that need edicting. (Though the last two are actually not that problematic, thanks to Black Sun’s Zenith.) At her worst, she will kill a guy and absorb some damage, which is good enough in a deck that is just trying to survive to the late game.

Consecrated Sphinx/Blue Sun’s Zenith

These are your win conditions. For a while we considered only running two Zeniths. Zenith goes very well with the plan of sitting back and milling them, since you fill your hand with answers in the mid game, and in the late game you make them draw the rest of their deck. But I found that I wanted a way to close the game out fast sometimes, such as against Red, so I added the Sphinxes back in. I do think Zenith is the generally superior card, since Sphinx turns on their removal and forces you to tap low during your own turn, but sometimes you just need a guy. Having access to a large flyer also means you aren’t just cold if they resolve a planeswalker.

Doom Blade/Go for the Throat Split

I think in general Doom Blade is just better right now, since having to kill Inkmoth Nexus is a very real concern, and there are almost no black creatures seeing play. But I did not want to just be cold if a Grave Titan or Olivia was resolved against me, so I played one Go for the Throat. Plus Kibler and I get paired in basically every tournament, so I figured I should be able to kill a Skithiryx. We played in Legacy instead.

The Rest

The other cards are the basic shell of the deck should be fairly self-explanatory. Counterspells, instant card draw, and Snapcaster Mage work pretty well together!

Sideboard

Black Sun’s Zenith / Virulent Wound / Doom Blade

You are already strong against aggro with three of each card main, but completing the sets further cements the matchups. You can never have too many Black Sun’s Zenith against Humans or Illusions. Virulent Wound is far more important on the draw, so feel free to not go up to four if you are playing first (and not playing against Illusions or G/W where it is obviously the nuts).

Tribute to Hunger

Ben originally had three of these, but that was from before we were playing Liliana. I think even having two might be playing scared, though I do want access to at least one. The main purpose of the card is to kill Thrun, while also not needing to tap out. You might be tempted to side it in to kill Geist or Mirran Crusader, but honestly Liliana and four Zeniths are good enough there.

Despise

I don’t like siding this in against pure creature decks, since you have a ton of removal already. But the effect is pretty important against any deck with planeswalkers (which thankfully also means creatures in the current format). Aside from attacking, you have no way to deal with a resolved planeswalker, so the extra protection is appreciated.

Despise is also great with Snapcaster, since it is so cheap. I had a match this weekend where I went turn 1 Despise, turn 3 Liliana, and turn 4 I know his hand is Batterskull and Wurmcoil. I Snapcaster-ed back Despise to take Wurmcoil and ticked up Liliana to make him discard Batterskull. Nah I’m just kidding. I planned on doing that but did it in the opposite order accidentally, and he discarded Wurmcoil to Liliana. Crap! But you could see how Snapcaster/Despise would have been sick there if I’d played tight.

Negate

Negate is always strong in the control mirrors, but it is especially good right now due to the relatively small number of creatures being played alongside counterspells. Mana Leak gets blanked very quickly in these matchups, but Negate is always good. It is also pretty decent against Wolf Run: countering Rampant Growth, Zenith, and Planeswalkers (and Birthing Pod, if Reid’s deck catches on). I wouldn’t mind having a third, perhaps over a Tribute.

Surgical Extraction

Extraction is most important against Solar Flare, but it is good in any control mirror. It essentially counters Snapcaster, as well as letting you take a look at their hand if you are looking to force a threat through. There are also very few relevant cards in most of these matchups, so completely taking away access to a key card is a big game. Nick extracted my Drownyards after milling one in our match, and it left me more or less very screwed. Extraction also comes in against Red, since Chandra’s Phoenix is a close second to Shrine in the “most annoying card on Earth” contest.

Nephalia Drownyard

This is the most important card in any control matchup. Ben originally had three, but I upped it to four once I realized it was basically the only card that mattered. Any two-color deck will be running Ghost Quarters, so having access to all four Drownyards is pretty nice. Not to mention that once you get two going, the game ends very quickly. In my match against Nick, game 1a took ~20 minutes. Game 1b (i.e. after he reset with Karn) he immediately got two unanswered Drownyards going, and we were done in 7-8 minutes.

Batterskull

I was unwilling to have very narrow answers to Red like Steel Sabotage, but I also didn’t want to be completely cold to burn spells, so I added a Batterskull. The card is rarely actually bad and can come in basically any time you have an excess of spells to side out. During the tournament, I sided it in against Humans twice and against a three-color burn/control deck; it was great every time it hit the board. Orrin had the misfortune of being paired against Red and despite sideboarding horribly, managed to win on the back of Batterskull.

The Matchups

Wolf Run

When I started testing Grixis, I assumed Wolf Run would be a good matchup because I had counters and removal. What else could you need? Well the matchup wasn’t that good, and it turns out the answer was “more counters and Ghost Quarter.” This matchup isn’t a bye or anything, but between counters and Liliana you can typically run them out of cards and put them into topdeck mode. Between Ghost Quarter and your instant removal, it isn’t too likely that you’ll be poisoned to death.

Thrun is the scariest card here and is the reason for the Tribute to Hungers in the sideboard. Inkmoth makes it a little difficult to edict them, but you can also chump with a Snapcaster or two until you have enough mana to Zenith.

Humans

Maxing out on Black Sun’s Zenith along with cheap removal makes this matchup pretty easy. You might think the most problematic card is Mirran Crusader or Hero of Bladehold; I know I did when I was piloting Humans. I don’t think I have ever lost to Crusader, and a loss to Hero is rare. Zenith and sometimes Liliana will deal with Crusader. Hero is a much scarier threat but dies to Doom Blade. They typically cast Hero the turn after you have Zenithed, so Liliana deals with her nicely as well.

The actual scary cards are Moorland Haunt and… Doomed Traveler? Yes, crappy little Doomed Traveler is actually quite the pain to deal with. You often have to use a removal spell on him so you can then Zenith their board to clear the way for Liliana next turn.

Moorland Haunt is even more of a headache. Your deck does not win quickly and also puts tons creatures in their graveyard between all of the removal and milling, so Haunt even without an anthem is a legitimate threat. Fortunately you have Ghost Quarter. If you Ghost Quarter their Haunt on your turn, they are pretty much forced to make a guy, at which time you Zenith away their board.

Virulent Wound is good, not great, here because of Honor of the Pure and the general size of their guys. You do still want all four on the draw to combat aggressive starts, but I stay at three on the play.

Don’t be afraid to side out some counters here, since nothing they cast is so scary that it can’t be dealt with by a Zenith or a Doom Blade. Also, if they stick Grand Abolisher on turn 2, you don’t want to have a bunch of unusable spells in your hand. Though typically this guy is not that big of a deal, since you just cast your card draw spells on your turn and then Zenith away Abolisher and whatever else they have subsequently cast.

Illusions

As far as you are concerned, this is almost the same deck as Humans. The card you are most worried about is Moorland Haunt. Geist of Saint Traft is basically the same thing as Mirran Crusader: seems scary, but easily Zenithed or edicted with Liliana. Obviously Virulent Wound is just awesome here, so you want all four no matter who is on the play. Vapor Snag makes Sphinx a lot worse, so try not to cast it if their bouncing it will put you in a rough spot. You also need to be wary of them copying Sphinx, though it is pretty likely you will have a spell that targets in hand.

G/W Tokens

G/W has somewhat fallen out of favor, but since I’m familiar with both sides of the matchup I might as well talk about it a little. Unlike Humans or Illusions, it is dangerous to tap out for Zenith here. The worst those decks can do is present another threat to be Doom Bladed or Zenithed. G/W can drop planeswalkers, which you have a difficult time interacting with once in play. Basically your only way to kill a planeswalker is with a Sphinx, which is a lot of why they are in the deck.

This means you will often have to let Mirran Crusader hit you for a while until you can Zenith it with Mana Leak up. Liliana is a lot weaker here than other creature matchups, since you don’t want to tap on their turn, and many of their cards make more than one creature. Tribute to Hunger is far better here due to the instant speed. Despise is great, and this matchup is the main reason it is in the board. It hits every threat in their deck and also lets you know if it is safe to tap on your turn.

Control (any variety)

There are a lot of flavors of control at the moment, but the games all play out similarly. Basically you both sit there forever doing nothing and eventually fight over a threat, but in the meantime you get to mill them every turn. This generally works out pretty well for you.

A few things to keep in mind:

• Avoid playing your Drownyards into Ghost Quarters. If you can wait to kill their Ghost Quarter with your own before laying a Drownyard, that is ideal.
• Be aware of what they can do if/when you tap out. If you flashback Alchemy end of turn, are they going to make a bunch of Cat tokens, and do you have a Zenith in hand to deal with that? If you cast Sphinx, are they going to go over the top with Karn?
• If you have no action, it is okay to mill yourself a few times first to find some Think Twices and Forbidden Alchemies. I’d avoid doing this in the actual mirror, but against another deck without Drownyards you are not going to run out of cards first.
• Blue Sun’s Zenith is a win condition here. If they tap out with a low number of cards in library, go ahead and Zenith them. Even if they don’t lose on the spot, if they have <4 cards left, they should not be able to kill you in that amount of time.

Red

This matchup is abysmal. You have very few ways to end a game quickly, and Shrine of Burning Rage gives them inevitability. If they manage to resolve a Shrine on turn 2, you are essentially already dead. As I mentioned earlier, we tried Steel Sabotage to combat this. It worked okay when they had Shrine but was too narrow, and sometimes you would lose games to drawing multiples when they had no Shrine. We also tried Ratchet Bomb alongside Spellskite for a while but found that people were often siding in Manic Vandals. I don’t like having no answer to Shrine in the board, but I’d rather devote slots to shoring up better matchups than waste them on one that will still be bad.

The other problematic card is Chandra’s Phoenix. You do have Dissipate to combat it, but you won’t always have one when they cast it, and in a given game you will often have to spend at least two cards on Phoenix. It is worth siding in Surgical Extraction here both to stop Phoenix and to remove Shrine if one makes its way into the yard. Phoenix makes it dangerous to mill them, so if that is your planned route to victory you probably want to wait until you have an Extraction.

Okay that’s about all I’ve got for today. If you enjoy control (or winning), and you don’t expect a lot of Red in your field, I’d recommend giving U/B Control a try. I am considering making a video playing the deck in a Daily Event, so if that is something you’d be interested in, or you have anything else you think I should be writing about, feel free to let me know in the comments or on Twitter.

Thanks for reading!

Pat Cox

@wildestnacatl on Twitter