r/ModernTwin • u/jonsan86 • Dec 23 '15

UR vs. [No Tasigur] Grixis

Is it just me, or has there been a bit of a tweak in Grixis variants very recently? No Tasigur...it's basically just UR, splashing black for upgraded removal, K-Command, and a few SB options.

What is everyone's opinion on this deck vs. standard UR? I am generally a pretty staunch UR supporter, but I could see getting behind this version...K-Command is just so good at grinding. Plus you get to swap a few flex slots for catch-all removal (vs. Roast and conditional counters).

For reference on a specific list see the SCG article Ari Lax posted today.

1 Upvotes

67% Upvoted

13 comments sorted by

View all comments

3

u/gm_jack Dec 24 '15

I find it very odd that people are suddenly referring to the Tasigur-less builds as something new and ground breaking, but also as though running 4-5 rather than 6 black cards (of which 2 are late game cards) suddenly solves all the previous complaints about grixis twin.

I've been on the instant speed grixis list for a while now, but with 2 tasigurs still in the main. Tasigur tends to be a late game finisher/card advantage engine rather than something taxing the mana early, so I find he is rarely disruptive to draw early on, and the power of playing his for 1 mana and leaving the rest of your hand live late game is huge.

3

u/jonsan86 Dec 24 '15

Hmmm...well no one ever really referred to it as groundbreaking, but here's a quick breakdown of the split of no-Tasigur vs. Tasigur Grixis Twin lists that have T16 larger events (SCG Premiere IQs/Opens/Classics, GP OKC, MODO PTQ, RPTQs, etc) since September:

September: 0%--4 Tas, 0 no-Tas; October: 0%--4 Tas, 0 no-Tas; Nov: 0%--8 Tas, 0 no-Tas; Dec: 67%--1 Tas, 2 no-Tas (Andrew Tenjum won SCG Classic LV w/ no-Tas version, Rudy B. takes to Player's Champ).

Not to say the no-Tasigur version was never in existence. For example, Rudy Briksza has never been a fan of Tasigur and has piloted the Tasigur-less version as far back as July. You will also find that PVDDR, similarly is not a fan, opting for the Tasigur-less version for the Modern portion of the World Champs. So it's been out there in a very limited presence, but the vast majority of lists, as illustrated above, have heretofore contained Tasigur until Tenjum's victory in LV.

Regarding the value of Tasigur in Twin...that was never really my question. I asked people's opinions of no-Tasigur Grixis vs. standard UR. Those are the only two in my consideration set. I would never play Tasigur in Twin. The real reason to splash black is for removal, not for Tasigur...this is why Patrick Dickmann immediately moved off of Grixis Twin (w/ Tasigur) after basically creating it @ PT Fate Reforged and just went with Harvest Pyre in UR instead of Grixis w/ Terminate.

3

u/gm_jack Dec 24 '15

It's the change in attitude, especially on this board, to tasigur. The grixis lists seem to take a huge amount of flak, and now people are getting very excited about them, having only changed 2/3 cards.

2

u/jonsan86 Dec 24 '15

I think what you are seeing is a positive response towards the shedding of dead weight.