Keeping Up With Griselbrand

Have I mentioned how not cool it is that Griselbrand is banned? At 8cc mana, he shows up right on time to refill my hand. You know what happens now when I hit 8cc mana? A whole lotta nuthin. Reiver Demon, sometimes.

Anyway, I made some changes to the Demons Deck. I still swap in Nefarox, Overlord of Grixis when playing "for real" and swap out Griselbrand so that the deck is legal.




I swapped out the Darksteel Pendant for Phyrexian Arena. I love the Pendant, for sure. But, most of the time I just want the extra card no matter what it is.




I'm also testing out Jet Medallion over Barren Moor.





This sounds crazy, but I swapped out Loxodon Warhammer and Nihil Spellbomb for Lashwrithe and Bonehoard, both of which are Living Weapons.





The Warhammer is undeniably awesome, but I often found myself needing a creature to put it on. When it works, it really works. Otherwise, it just sits there. The Living Weapons come into play with a 0/0 germ attached, so they pull double-duty. And even though neither piece of new equipment adds trample or lifelink, they both do a decent job of turning one of my demons into a must-deal-with threat when equipped.

As for the spellbomb, it's one card. I do have tutors to go and get it, but I can get the Bojuka Bog instead if I really need to get rid of a graveyard. I'm weak to lots of things, so I'm okay with being weak to graveyard recursion, too. Adding the Sepulchral Primordial to the mix gives me a way to grab creatures anyway. Too bad it's not a demon, but a little flexibility on the theme seems justifiable.

Speaking of flexibility, I'm considering slots for Massacre Wurm, Wurmcoil Engine, Phyrexian Obliterator, and Spreading Plague. The first three look pretty savage. The last one looks like a card that would complement the deck nicely and reminds me of Painful Quandary in that it causes opponents to make tricky decisions.




Finally, I found a spot for Liliana Vess by dropping Mimic Vat. I already had Liliana of the Dark Realms in there and I like the idea of Liliana / Demons (Griselbrand!) being the theme of the deck. If I ever end up with Liliana of the Veil, that would be sexy too.




Future cards I'm looking at include Rise of the Dark Realms at 9cc and Shadowborn Demon at 5cc (replacing Bone Shredder).