Grixis Midrange ***performing very well*** (Bo1) (Standard)

I'm going to share a deck that I have had close to 100 reps playing on Arena Bo1. The deck has performed with amazing results. I have tried to play a bunch of midrange decks over the last few months with little success. The format is not really set up right now to do well with midrange decks, however this Grixis deck has done well for me (opposed to Naya and Sultai lists I have played).

Why is the deck performing well?
I believe it is a combination of things, however the major component of the deck has been the hand disruption. The deck forces the opponent to discard a lot of cards, and Thought Erasure is the perfect card on turn 2 in so many matchups.
The deck draws a fair amount of cards, without having to put too much in the way of resources into doing so.
Many cards are very flexible in casting cost and purpose. There are very few cards that are ever dead (a few in control matches).
The win conditions in the deck are difficult to interact with. There are multiple ways to win, with both your own cards and the opponents.

When does the deck struggle?
You can have problems with decks that are low to the ground. Being completely honest, I have not had much trouble against mono white or mono red. I'm able to hang around long enough that I get to stabilize and they end up topdecking.
Mono blue can be an issue if they play Curious Obsession and we cannot answer it on the spot. I have found I tend to win games where I kill the dork right away, but if they are on the play and get untapped with protection in their hand then I'm not likely to ever catch up. I have had games though where I played Thief of Sanity into Bolas and outraced them. It is hard to race their card draw, but it can be done.

Keys to playing the deck well (from my experience):
Be willing to mulligan and know when to mulligan. Check that you can cast Thought Erasure turn 2 and remember that Discovery can fix a two land hand pretty easy. You should value Thought Erasure higher in your opening hand then everything else, otherwise I like to have Discovery or lots of removal to consider keeping it.
Recognize what your opponent is playing early and be careful with your shocklands. Turn one should always be a shock tapped (unless you read mono blue). Turn 3 is also a great time to play a shock tapped as only Thief of Sanity costs 3cmc or a combination of a 2mc card + Carnival.
*I tend to play discard first, Thief of Sanity on curve if I have it otherwise Discovery, then spot removal, then look at my options from there. Playing Thought erasure turn 2 takes precedent over everything else, the same goes for Carnage on turn 4. I like to hold back Hostage Taker and The Eldest Reborn for the most value possible.

Here I will do a card by card breakdown:

Creatures-

(1) Thief of Sanity (3cmc)
It has to be removed, such an amazing card draw engine.
Games where it dies to Shock are a bummer, but it is 2 less damage to the face. Look for the positive lol.

(2) Nicol Bolas, the Ravager
the most Ravishing thing since Rick Rude. It is a discard effect at the perfect point of the game when it comes on curve. It usually forces out some juicy stuff.
a 4/4 flyer is nothing to sneeze at, and it dodges Cast Down which has payed off for me (I feel it has) in many games where I know the opponent has removal, but they can't deal with Bolas.
*I've only flipped it once. I was playing another midrange deck in a grindy match. I played the Bolas off of The Eldest Reborn and payed the mana on the spot to flip it. I drew the cards that turn. If memory serves me right, I had an Angrath in my graveyard. I'm guessing the opponent did not have an answer for a planeswalker because they scooped after drawing their card for turn.

(3) Ravenous Chupacabra
I play it over Vraska's Contempt because the body is way more valuable right now then the exile. I admit that some games a quick answer to a planeswalker would be nice.
I have done a ton of damage attacking with the little 2/2, sometimes 8/10 damage over the course of a game. I wonder sometimes if opponents are just holding removal for a bigger creature that is never going to come.
*A 2/2 for 4 is really bad against control.

(4) Hostage Taker
I feel lot of times I was using this card wrong when I first started playing the deck. I would rush it out on turn 4 and just hope the opponent did not have removal. Since I have started being more patient the card has flat out won me games on multiple occasions.
A 2/3 for 4 is pretty bad against control.

(5) Rix Maadi Reveler
*I initially included the card for the draw three. That has come up a few times in grindy games (and is awesome when it does), but the best use of the card has been hand fixing on turn 2 or 3. Digging for or ditching an extra land has helped me curve out so many times.

(6) Dire Fleet Daredevil
My favorite two targets have been Shock and Vraaska's Contempt. Shock helps keep down board presence against the mono red decks and targeting Contempt has helped me kill more than one Teferi.
An often overlooked part of this card is the first strike. Comes in handy against white and red aggro decks. Taking one of theirs every turn means they have to remove it. A 2cmc creature with upside that must then be removed before the opponent can sensibly attack is very nice.
*The card can be somewhat dead some games. Mono blue has less to target (you can draw cards off of it) and heavy green decks attack over the top of it and offer little in the way of good targets.

Planeswalkers & Enchantments-

(1) Angrath, the Flame Chained
Stealing a creature is fun. It just is. Getting to sacrifice afterwards is even better.
I tend to tick this up pretty much every time. It is such a great clock to put on an opponent, 2 life every turn and by the way you better play those cards from your hand as you top deck them. Control hates to see this guy resolve.
*My favorite all time moments playing Angrath have come against Gates decks. They work so hard trying to stabilize and then drop a Hydroid Krasis or a Gate Colossus and you steal it and whack them in the face with it to win the game. Oh it is a good feeling.

(2) Karn, Scion of Urza
tick it up as it gets out of reach, giving you a card every turn and stashing away all the juicy stuff for the moment you will need it later.
Karn is a real problem and is often not dealt with in a serious enough manner.

(3) The Eldest Reborn
This is just the card that swings games better than any other in the deck. I keep the board down and then it drops. It is pretty ugly.
The end of the saga is the best...they work so hard to kill your big threat, yup it is coming back. So you discarded your bomb to Bolas or Carnage, yup that's going to hurt.

Other spells-

(1) Carnival // Carnage
one of my favorite spells in the format. I always use Carnival early to kill any creature that hits (saves me some much needed damage in the early turns). If I don't have an early target of topdeck it afterwards then it is amazing on turn 4.
Carnival is amazing against mono blue, mono white, and Llanowar Elves.
*Carnage is good against almost everything. Unless they are playing so fast that they have emptied the holster by turn 4, you are getting the juiciest meat here.

(2) Cast Down
*I feel it has been the best 2cmc removal I have played in the past few months. I feel the legendary clause has not been that big a loss, but when I played Lava Coil I felt I was struggling in certain matchups with the 4 damage limit and even more so with the sorcery speed.

(3) Moment of Craving
The deck needed a way to gain a few life and to kill early creatures. The life gain is the only reason this is not Shock.
I've felt the card justified, however if any card was to get an upgrade this would probably be it.

(4) Discovery // Dispersal
Discovery is best on turn 2 or 3 to setup your midgame.
I have found Discovery extremely valuable against control. Yesterday I had a game where a late Discovery allowed me to dump a Moment of Craving and Hostage Taker into my yard.
*I'm not sure if I have ever cast Dispersal. The situation just does not come up as much s you would think. It would work best against Teferi, but they always have cards in hand. A very well may be casting Discovery sometimes where Dispersal may be the correct play.

Mana Base
Not going to get into too much detail here. the hardest cards to cast are Thought Erasure, Nicol Bolas, and Ravenous Chupacabra. I have only ever struggled to cast a card on curve a handful of times in the deck.
You must be willing to mulligan bad opening land hands, but also recognize that you can keep 2 landers if you have Discovery or Rix Maadi and your hand is otherwise well situated.