<p style="text-align: right;"><em><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Hymn to Tourach|FEM|38b" href="#" target="_blank">Hymn to Tourach</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://www.lizdanforth.com/">Liz Danforth</a></em></p>
<p>Welcome back to <em>60 to 100</em>, a series where I take beloved decks from 60-card formats and convert them to Commander.</p>
<p>I often write about my competitive <em>Magic</em> origin story, which was mostly comprised of me voraciously consuming tournament coverage to get a feel for the game. My all-time favorite tournament to watch was Grand Prix Richmond, a Legacy tournament from 2018. This tournament is often referred to as GP Reid Duke, because the coverage for Grand Prix Richmond showed every match that legendary <em>Magic</em> player Reid Duke played. The table microphones were on, so the viewers could hear Reid and his opponent talking during each match and the commentators took a back seat. The result was magical. Everything that I know about the mechanical process of playing the game, I learned from watching and re-watching this tournament.</p>
<p>Because of how foundational this tournament was for my development as a <em>Magic </em>player, I hold a tremendous fondness for both the deck he played, Grixis(<span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-u" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-b" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-r" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span>) Control, and this era of Legacy as a whole. So, in this installment of <em>60 to 100</em>, I'm going to take a stab revamping Reid's deck into a playable Commander deck. Let's get to the source material.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="2018 Grixis Control by Reid Duke" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Planeswalkers]
*3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
*1 Liliana, the Last Hope
[/Planeswalkers]
[Creatures]
*4 Baleful Strix
*2 Gurmag Angler
*3 Snapcaster Mage
[/Creatures]
[Sorceries]
*3 Hymn to Tourach
*1 Inquisition of Kozilek
*4 Ponder
*1 Thoughtseize
[/Sorceries]
[Instants]
*4 Brainstorm
*2 Diabolic Edict
*2 Fatal Push
*4 Force of Will
*3 Kolaghan&#039;s Command
*2 Lightning Bolt
[/Instants]
[Lands]
*2 Badlands
*3 Bloodstained Mire
*2 Island
*4 Polluted Delta
*3 Scalding Tarn
*1 Swamp
*4 Underground Sea
*2 Volcanic Island
[/Lands]"></span></div>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Jace, the Mind Sculptor"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Hymn to Tourach"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Kolaghan&#039;s Command"></div></div>
<p>This build of Grixis comes from the tail end of what I call the two-for-one era of <em>Magic</em>. In this era, control decks like this one are highly card-advantage-focused. This deck wants to fend off the opponent's attempts to win the game while sitting back and building card advantage. Common play play patterns like using <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kolaghan&#039;s Command" href="#" target="_blank">Kolaghan&#039;s Command</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> to make the opponent discard one card and get back a creature that builds card advantage, like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Baleful Strix" href="#" target="_blank">Baleful Strix</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Snapcaster Mage" href="#" target="_blank">Snapcaster Mage</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. Once the opponent has been <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Hymn to Tourach" href="#" target="_blank">Hymn to Tourach</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>ed to death and buried in card advantage, winning the game can be accomplished with nearly anything.</p>
<h2>Choosing a Commander</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Zevlor, Elturel Exile"></div></div>
<p>To reconstruct this Grixis Control deck in Commander, I'm going to have to pick a direction and commit to it. There are a ton of options, from a <a href="https://edhrec.com/tags/planeswalkers">Superfriends</a> strategy that wants to play and protect planeswalkers to simulate the experience of sitting behind a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Jace, the Mind Sculptor" href="#" target="_blank">Jace, the Mind Sculptor</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> to a game plan focused around building card advantage by blinking dorky creatures, like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Baleful Strix" href="#" target="_blank">Baleful Strix</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Augur of Bolas" href="#" target="_blank">Augur of Bolas</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<p>I'm choosing to lean into the discard spells. Watching Reid go through the motions of resolving <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Hymn to Tourach" href="#" target="_blank">Hymn to Tourach</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>es and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Thoughtseize" href="#" target="_blank">Thoughtseize</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>s is my favorite part of GP Reid Duke, so I'm looking for a commander that enables me to run single-target discard spells, a type of card that is usually laughably bad in Commander. Thankfully, <em>Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate</em> has just the solution: <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Zevlor, Elturel Exile" href="#" target="_blank">Zevlor, Elturel Exile</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. This Tiefling specializes in taking single-target spells that don't work very well in a Commander context and beefing them up by copying them for each opponent.</p>
<h2>Key Cards for Grixis Control</h2>
<h3>Setting Up</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Nightscape Familiar"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Force of Will"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Commandeer"></div></div>
<p>The early turns with this deck follow a simple script: a turn-two ramp spell into a turn-three <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Zevlor, Elturel Exile" href="#" target="_blank">Zevlor, Elturel Exile</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> (preferably protected with free interaction, like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Force of Will" href="#" target="_blank">Force of Will</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>), then a two- or three-mana disruptive spell on turn four, copied with Zevlor. From then on, each turn will be copying the most heinous spell in my hand for each opponent until the opponents' strategies have been rendered totally inert.</p>
<p>The biggest point of failure for Zevlor is having the commander removed immediately, which is why I've invested seven deck slots into free interaction to protect him. I wouldn't be surprised to see a savvy opponent figure out that using their <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Swords to Plowshares" href="#" target="_blank">Swords to Plowshares</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> on Zevlor at my end step on turn three is the only surefire way to avoid getting their hand (and everyone else's) <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mind Twist" href="#" target="_blank">Mind Twist</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>ed away on turn four or five.</p>
<h3>Being Annoying</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Hymn to Tourach"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Exhaustion"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Leadership Vacuum"></div></div>
<p>Phase two of Zevlor's game plan is just being annoying! Turns four and five are for resolving cheaper spells to slow the opponents down just a little, like a speed bump. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Hymn to Tourach" href="#" target="_blank">Hymn to Tourach</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is my favorite, ripped straight from the source material. The part of playing the deck that I live for is when it's time to resolve three Hymn to Tourachs and I get to make my opponents shuffle their hands and lay them out on the table so I can roll a die to decide which ones they'll discard.</p>
<p>In a game where the three other players at the table understand what Zevlor is trying to accomplish, they should be using their combat step to put pressure on this deck's life total. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Exhaustion" href="#" target="_blank">Exhaustion</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a great release valve for that pressure, forcing your opponents to skip untapping their creatures and likely buying a welcome reprieve from being bludgeoned to death with big Dinosaurs.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Leadership Vacuum" href="#" target="_blank">Leadership Vacuum</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Repulse" href="#" target="_blank">Repulse</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> are phenomenal tempo plays that help fend off creature decks while sculpting a hand that can carry Zevlor into the late game. More often than not, all it takes to turn the tide of a game is buying one or two additional turns to resolve the deck's haymakers.</p>
<h3>Hand Destruction</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Amnesia"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Mind Twist|3ED|117"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Rakdos&#039;s Return"></div></div>
<p>In 2018 Legacy, getting a two-for-one out of a discard spell like Hymn to Tourach was often enough to start pulling ahead. In Commander, everything is just a little bigger. The threats are scarier and there are three times as many opponents out to get you. If I want to gain an advantage from discard spells, they need to scale up as well.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mind Twist" href="#" target="_blank">Mind Twist</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is the definitive hand destruction spell. In the earliest days of <em>Magic</em>, using fast mana to slam an early Mind Twist was one of the best strategies in game. Decks were restricted to just one copy of Mind Twist in 1994, and it remains banned in Legacy today. Zevlor grants me the ability to Mind Twist three people at the same time! The ideal scenario is copying a Mind Twist with Zevlor to discard each opponent's entire hand.</p>
<p>Because of the nature of Commander, where each player has an eighth (or even ninth!) card in their opening hand conveniently stowed away in their command zone, Mind Twist can never be as backbreaking as it was in the early days of <em>Magic</em>. However, the task it accomplishes very well here is drastically reducing the range of plays my opponents can make for the next several turns. This frees me to tap out for more big spells for a few turn cycles while not having to worry about as much interaction or having to fear an opponent has a win condition in their hand that I have to hold up my own interaction for.</p>
<p>Despite Commander's singleton nature, I simply cannot accept only running one copy of Mind Twist, so instead I've decided to play three. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rakdos&#039;s Return" href="#" target="_blank">Rakdos&#039;s Return</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a second copy of Mind Twist that comes with a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Fireball" href="#" target="_blank">Fireball</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> attached. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Amnesia" href="#" target="_blank">Amnesia</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> takes the spot of Mind Twist number 3, but rather than getting to choose a value for <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-x" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span>, it simply looks at my opponents' hands and discards all the nonlands, all while being one of the most beautiful cards I've ever laid eyes on.</p>
<h2>Winning the Game</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Bribery"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Rite of Replication"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Relm&#039;s Sketching"></div></div>
<p>The most straightforward way to close a game with this control deck is turning my opponents' cards against them. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bribery" href="#" target="_blank">Bribery</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is the best method for accomplishing this task, as it doesn't require the opponent to have anything on their board. Bribery lets me pick up their deck and find whatever the biggest, coolest thing is and turn it against them. I love pointing it at mono-green players, they always have the most absurd creatures to steal.</p>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rite of Replication" href="#" target="_blank">Rite of Replication</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Relm&#039;s Sketching" href="#" target="_blank">Relm&#039;s Sketching</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> are really good in the early stages of a game for establishing a state of parity. Sure, everyone has a good creature on their board, but now so do I. As the game goes on, I'll be destroying or forcing my opponents to sacrifice all of those permanents that I've copied, and that parity will be broken.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Worst Fears"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Wishclaw Talisman"></div></div>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Worst Fears" href="#" target="_blank">Worst Fears</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> may not have the text "you win the game" written on it, but it comes very close. Using Zevlor's ability to control an entire turn cycle will usually just result in the game becoming totally unplayable for everyone else. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Wishclaw Talisman" href="#" target="_blank">Wishclaw Talisman</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a venomous tool in combination with Worst Fears, enabling me to give it to an opponent, then use it while I control their turn and find a spell from their deck that is destructive to their game plan. This sequence just kills anyone that has a <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Toxic Deluge" href="#" target="_blank">Toxic Deluge</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Fire Covenant" href="#" target="_blank">Fire Covenant</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> in their deck, as I can tutor for it and then cast it paying their entire life total.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Eldritch Pact"></div></div>
<p>Finally, and one of the most common ways I finish games with my Grixis <a href="https://edhrec.com/tags/spellslinger">Spellslinger</a> decks, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Eldritch Pact" href="#" target="_blank">Eldritch Pact</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is an unassuming seven-mana draw spell with a secret mode: in the late game the life loss inflicted by Eldritch Pact is often enough to kill players out of nowhere, especially when played in a deck that is forcibly filling opposing graveyards. I have yet to target myself with Eldritch Pact, and I hope I never have to.</p>
<h2>Grixis Control Commander Deck List</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Grixis Control" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Commander]
*1 Zevlor, Elturel Exile
[/Commander]
[Sorceries]
*1 Amnesia
*1 Blasphemous Act
*1 Bribery
*1 Choice of Damnations
*1 Cruel Ultimatum
*1 Eldritch Pact
*1 Exhaustion
*1 Extract Brain
*1 Flow State
*1 Go Blank
*1 Hell to Pay
*1 Hymn to Tourach
*1 Invoke Despair
*1 Jeska&#039;s Will
*1 Lórien Revealed
*1 Mind Twist
*1 Rakdos&#039;s Return
*1 Relm&#039;s Sketching
*1 Rite of Replication
*1 River&#039;s Rebuke
*1 Sorcerous Squall
*1 Toxic Deluge
*1 Worst Fears
[/Sorceries]
[Artifacts]
*1 Arcane Signet
*1 Fellwar Stone
*1 Firemind Vessel
*1 Izzet Signet
*1 Patriar&#039;s Seal
*1 Relic of Sauron
*1 Resonating Lute
*1 Sol Ring
*1 Tablet of Discovery
*1 Talisman of Creativity
*1 Talisman of Dominance
*1 Talisman of Indulgence
*1 Wishclaw Talisman
[/Artifacts]
[Creatures]
*1 Nightscape Familiar
*1 Nimbleclaw Adept
*1 Storm-Kiln Artist
[/Creatures]
[Instants]
*1 Abrade
*1 Chaos Warp
*1 Commandeer
*1 Crosis&#039;s Charm
*1 Deflecting Swat
*1 Electrodominance
*1 Fierce Guardianship
*1 Flick a Coin
*1 Force of Negation
*1 Force of Will
*1 Fortune&#039;s Favor
*1 Leadership Vacuum
*1 Mental Misstep
*1 Misdirection
*1 Mystic Confluence
*1 Narset&#039;s Reversal
*1 Outrageous Robbery
*1 Repulse
*1 Snap
*1 Swan Song
*1 Traumatic Critique
*1 Waterlogged Teachings
*1 Withering Torment
[/Instants]
[Lands]
*1 Arid Mesa
*1 Blazemire Verge
*1 Blightstep Pathway
*1 Blood Crypt
*1 Bloodstained Mire
*1 Flooded Strand
*1 Gloomlake Verge
*1 Horizon of Progress
*1 Island
*1 Luxury Suite
*1 Marsh Flats
*1 Minamo, School at Water&#039;s Edge
*1 Mistrise Village
*1 Misty Rainforest
*1 Morphic Pool
*1 Mountain
*1 Polluted Delta
*1 Prismatic Vista
*1 Raucous Theater
*1 Riverglide Pathway
*1 Riverpyre Verge
*1 Scalding Tarn
*1 Shivan Reef
*1 Steam Vents
*1 Sulfurous Springs
*1 Sunken Palace
*2 Swamp
*1 Thundering Falls
*1 Training Center
*1 Turbulent Springs
*1 Undercity Sewers
*1 Underground River
*1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
*1 Verdant Catacombs
*1 Watery Grave
*1 Wooded Foothills
[/Lands]"></span></div>
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
<p>This is an installment of <em>60 to 100</em> I've been looking forward to writing for a long time. Way back in December 2024 when I picked up writing this series, I pitched the series with a wildly different take on this deck, and I'm so thankful that I allowed my ideas to simmer for a year or so before coming back to it. Thanks for reading!</p>


zevlor

Building Legacy Grixis Control In Commander