Grixis Midrange (deck 8a in series) (Frontier)

Continuation of my three colored midrange deck series, where I try to make classic midrange decks. I start with the colors best midrange cards and then work out from there.

What the deck does:

What inspired the deck:

Step 1: What are the best midrange cards.

(a) The Scarab God. 2 copies.
*TSG is my favorite creature to build around, obvious from how many decks he appears in that i make. Just so many ways you can go with it.

(b) Chandra, Torch of Defiance. 2 copies.
*Versatile, with purpose against almost any deck.

Step 2: What are the best removal cards at our disposal.

a) Fatal Push. 3 copies.

b) Grasp of Darkness . 2 copies.
*Abrade doesn't kill Hazoret.

c) Doomfall. 2 copies.

d) Vraska's Contempt. 2 copies.
need exile removal
have to be able to answer planeswalkers in the main deck.

Step 3: What is the best card draw at our disposal.

a) Jace, Vryn's Prodigy. 4 copies.
*early game setup

b) Dig Through Time. 2 copies.
*late game finisher

Step 4: Choose a subtheme.
There is graveyard matters in play thus far.
The deck could take a hard line into being a midrange control deck by utilizing hand disruption to get us into Chandra and TSG.

Step 5: Hand disruption.

a) Despise. 2 copies.
*going to grab a quality card to help stall things.

b) Transgress the Mind. 2 copies.
*the opponent really has to be low to the ground to avoid this.

c) Kolaghan's Command. 2 copies.
instant speed discard.
always has a relevant second option.

Step 6: Mass removal, to further stall things out.

a) Languish. 2 copies.
Play it before TSG gets to doing work.
dismantles every creature in red aggro, including Hazoret.

Step 7: Play threats that survive Languish.

a) Tasigur, the Golden Fang. 1 copy.
5 toughness, survives a lot of removal
low entry cost
*extra card draw

b) Chandra, Flamecaller. 2 copies.
Big time finisher.
emergency back up board wipe for aggressive creature decks.
*creature tokens exiled at end of turn, so no concern about Languish.

c) Rekindling Phoenix. 2 copies.
Does not survive a Languish, but does return from the graveyard if they don't remove the token.
recursion is great in a deck like this as our opponent must kill it multiple times.
*Unfortunately, since we play so few creatures, the opponent may have multiple removal spells wasting in their hand to remove it. At least that is removal they won't have for our other late game threats.

Step 8: Need more things to do on turns 1 and 2.

a) Opt. 2 copies.
*Very cheap card draw that can fit into any turn.

b) Collective Brutality. 2 copies.
*kills a creature versus aggro, grabs a spell against everything else.

Step 9: Build the mana base.

a) Polluted Delta. 4 copies.
b) Bloodstained Mire. 4 copies.
c) Sunken Hollow. 2 copies.
d) Smoldering Marsh. 3 copies.
e) Swamp. 3 copies.
f) Mountain. 2 copies.
g) Island. 1 copy
h) Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth. 1 copy.
i) Wandering Fumarole. 2 copies. man-lands are great when finishing games
j) Dragonskull Summit. 2 copies.
k) Field of Ruin. 1 copy. Great disruption

Step 10: Sideboard

a) Disdainful Stroke. 2 copies.
*Takes care of so many of the real threats in the format.

b) Sorcerous Spyglass. 2 copies.
*Turns off a ton of important threats and messes with fetch lands.

c) Dragonlord Silumgar. 1 copy.
*Better against midrange than Flamecaller.

d) Languish. 2 copies.
*Sometimes opponents try to go really fast.

e) Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet. 2 copies
A fierce enemy of aggro.
Also, a fierce enemy of TSG.

f) Duress. 2 copies.
*For when the removal is dead draws.

g)Chandra, Torch of Defiance. 2 copies.
*sometimes Languish is a dead card.

h) Murderous Cut. 1 copy.
*Fatal Push and Grasp of Darkness have limitations.

i) Lost Legacy. 1 copy.
*You won't play it often, but it can just outright win games.

Final Thoughts

A) The deck is a borderline control deck. I think it qualifies as midrange because of the absence of Torrential Gearhulk and hard counterspells. A control deck in Grixis would look a lot different then this.

B) The midgame is strong. Our threats are difficult to remove and there is a decent amount of recursion.

C) Our ability to disrupt our opponents hand allows us to decide how games will play out. We can take whatever we cannot remove or take whatever can remove our threats.

D) The Scarab God is a true beast in this deck, if the opponent is playing any amount of creatures at all.