How I Made the Top 4 of RC Naples with Grixis Midrange in Standard MTG

Standard Grixis Midrange by Andrea Mengucci

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Card Choices

Javier was very high on Gix’s Command, a card that both Pivo and I were not impressed with in our testing. Against Mono-Red in particular, Javier claimed it was the best card possible whereas my concern with the matchup was that Game 1 they would overload with cheap creatures and post-sideboard they would swap into a more controlling version with planeswalkers, making the deck and matchup hard to attack. I wanted to have Brotherhood’s End on turn three in Game 1 and pressure post-sideboard for the planeswalkers like Graveyard Trespasser. Needless to say, I ended up picking up my first loss in Round 2 versus Mono-Red despite my testing and deckbuilding changes.

Another argument was having main-deck anti-mirror tech. Calc and I realized that Siphon Insight was just a trap, a fake anti-mirror card when it was simply a slightly better Think Twice. It’s definitely not worth the sideboard slots and we’d rather have something better in the main deck too.

I was strongly against having Bladecoil Serpent because of how bad it was against anything but the mirror and I was also against Razorlash Transmogrant for many days because I was scared of facing an aggro deck and drawing it in my top 10 cards. In the end, I decided to play a Transmogrant and was rewarded by a metagame full of control decks, even though my pairings didn’t quite match up perfectly and I wished it was something else.

Finally, Pivo and I replaced Takenuma, Abandoned Mire for a third Swamp at the last minute. This was due to Razorlash Transmogrant and Furnace Punisher rewarding you for playing basics over nonbasics and also because we both never used Takenuma in our testing games. A group of people ended up playing Mono-White with four Demolition Field and four Field of Ruin. I didn’t get paired against them, but I’m sure that having an extra basic would’ve been great. Pivo told me he had a game against the mirror where he drew two Swamps and three nonbasic lands and his opponent wasn’t able to reanimate Razorlash Transmogrant, which was eventually exiled by a Corpse Appraiser.

The Sideboard

We also liked having a removal spell to kill Raffine, Scheming Seer with some extra counters on it since both Cut Down and Whack only worked against a 1/4. We found out about Anoint with Affliction which also happens to get rid of other annoying creatures like Furnace Punisher and Razorlash Transmogrant. I never sideboarded it in the mirror but I can consider doing so if in open deck lists I see my opponent has four Razorlash Transmogrant.

Soul Transfer was mostly for Mono-White Control with Ao, the Dawn Sky and Sanctuary Warden, which are two super annoying creatures to deal with. The games against Mono-White Control go super long and you’re able to set up a Soul Transfer with both Fable of the Mirror-Breaker and some Treasures in play. This, paired with the fact that you’re removing a couple of Corpse Appraisers, will often make for a great two-for-one play that will not only grant you card advantage but also answers to permanents that are very difficult to deal with.

How to Play the Mirror

Despite only playing the Grixis mirror in one out of the 15 rounds, it’s the matchup that I tested for the most with my teammates Christian Calcano and Marco Del Pivo. 

• Hit your land drops. Don’t be afraid to keep land-heavy hands that don’t do much. It’s a midrange fight and hitting land drops is extremely important. I kept six lands and Bloodtithe Harvester and five lands and two Corpse Appraisers and I would do it again.
• Don’t expose a Rackoner Bankbuster to an Abrade unless you feel under pressure. For example, if your opponent has a turn two Razorlash Transmogrant, it’s okay to play a turn two Bankbuster but if they have two mana up, don’t make them spend their mana and use Abrade or Make Disappear on it without gaining card advantage.
• While Sheoldred, the Apocalypse seems like just a creature that dies to removal, it has an important role in the matchup. It’s usually a late game threat to deploy after your opponent has used their answers on your Fable of the Mirror-Breaker and Sheoldred can take the game over. In the same way, you should try your best to not spend every Go for the Throat you have and keep one for their Sheoldred.
• Brotherhood’s End has an interesting role in the matchup. You can either use it as an expensive Abrade to answer your opponent’s Reckoner Bankbuster and their Blood or you can slowroll your threats and try to get card advantage with it. Post-sideboard, I like it on the draw but dislike it on the play so try to play around it post-sideboard if you’re on the play.
• There’s not a consensus list so don’t make a rigid sideboard plan, especially at a tournament with open deck lists. Be ready to change your plan because there will be lists with zero Razorlash Transmogrant and two Bladecoil Serpent and you need to adjust accordingly.

How to Play Against Aggro Decks

My RC matchups were mostly aggro decks, which is a good place to be since I believe Grixis to be slightly favorite against both GW Toxic and Esper Legends while having a 50-50 matchup against Mono-Red.

• Winning the die roll is as important as drawing a Brotherhood End, which is most of the times your best card to have in your opening hand since you’ll be able to shape your plan around it.
• Most recent Esper Legends lists are adopting Wedding Announcement, which might be hard to deal with since it provides a lot of card advantage as well as making their X/3 dodge your Abrade and Broterhood End.
• On the contrar, when playing the mirror, in open deck lists you need to mulligan slow hands or hands that don’t have a two-drop. It’s extremely important to get on the board or answer your opponent’s two-drop.
• Don’t be afraid to mulligan to five. Go for the Throat or Abrade into Corpse Appraiser and three lands is your ideal opener.
• Similarly to what you would do in the mirror, try to slowroll Sheoldred, the Apocalypse. Against Mono-Red, slamming her on turn four might be risky as they’re usually loaded with burn spells that you would love them to unload on your Corpse Appraiser or Goblin Shaman token instead. The same goes for Esper Legends since they only have two Go for the Throat as removal spells.
• Reckoner Bankbuster isn’t just a Mazemind Tome, it’s a great blocker that trades with Adeline and doesn’t let Skrelv, Defector Mite make their creature unblockable.

Sideboard Guide

This is my generic sideboard guide that I had leading up to the event, but keep in mind that the event was open deck list. This meant that my sideboarding often changed based on my opponent’s list, and if you’re planning to compete in your next Regional Championship, you’ll have to do the same.

Grixis Midrange

Esper Legends

Mono-Red

Selesnya Toxic

Mono-White Control

Azorius Soldiers

Mono-Blue

Jund Midrange

Grixis Reanimator