Grismold, the Cheekclapper or How to Heel-Turn in EDH

[kirkusjones]

The Legend of the Cheekclapper

BG has long been my favorite color combination in Magic. I enjoy playing token strategies and have dabbled in group hug from time to time, but it always felt like I was playing kingmaker instead of the Rattlesnake. Enter Commander 2019 and the printing of Grismold. Immediately, I knew I had found my next deck. It started as a hybrid of group slug with a lands subtheme to act as back up plan (big Scapeshift into lots of Titania, Protector of Argoth and Worm Harvest tokens in case Grismold got commander-taxed into oblivion) but I often found that it was like trying to play two decks in one and neither was as successful as I wanted it to be.

Eventually I decided to go all-in on the Grismold plan and haven't looked back since. The plan is very simple. Cast symmetrical and/or cheap token producers, build a little good will with the table and then start killing things to grow the troll. It's amazing to me the number of times people forget that tokens dying grows Grismold and with the popularity of token decks, there's usually someone else at the table that thinks we're going to be friends...I love the dazed look in those player's eyes as they're shuffling up their decks, still a little disoriented from being run over by a roided out, unblockable troll gardener.

I've recently decided to pair my collection down to five decks, with Grismold being the flagship. I'm working on old-bordering and black bordering the deck wherever possible, which has been a fun, though at times pricey, project.

Why Play Grismold?

If you like token and voltron strategies with a touch of aristocrats and a whole lot of board control, this is the deck for you.

Budget Considerations

There are some cards included in the list (I'm looking at youse, Mana Crypt, Gaea's Cradle, Bayou), that are included because I wanted to build the most optimized version of the deck. None of the above cards are necessary for the deck to function well, they just make it better.

Notable Exclusions

SPOILER

Show

Hide

Ashnod's Altar - Colorless mana is great and with the addition of stuff like The Meathook Massacre, this might be worth testing, but for right now, the deck works well without it.

Parallel Lives - I like creating more tokens, but I'd much rather just use Doubling Season for as it buffs both of Grismold's abilities.

Primal Vigor - the symmetrical nature of this card was good in the original group-huggish version, but mostly because I didn't want to draw as much attention with Doubling Season, in testing, it was just too swingy and so I decided to cut it.

Grismold, the Cheekclapper

DecklistCMCManaPricesChartsDraw 7

Creatures (27)

1 Birds of Paradise

1 Elves of Deep Shadow

1 Elvish Mystic

1 Fyndhorn Elves

1 Llanowar Elves

1 Deathrite Shaman

1 Ravenous Squirrel

1 Viscera Seer

1 Blood Artist

1 Zulaport Cutthroat

1 Chatterfang, Squirrel General

1 Grismold, the Dreadsower

1 Ophiomancer

1 Night Clubber

1 Scute Swarm

1 Liliana's Standard Bearer

1 Creakwood Liege

1 Pitiless Plunderer

1 Poison-Tip Archer

1 Yawgmoth, Thran Physician

1 Clackbridge Troll

1 Massacre Girl

1 Mycoloth

1 Sidisi, Undead Vizier

1 Syr Konrad, the Grim

1 Massacre Wurm

1 Avenger of Zendikar

Artifacts (11)

1 Engineered Explosives

1 Mana Crypt

1 Skullclamp

1 Sol Ring

1 Genesis Chamber

1 Lightning Greaves

1 Swiftfoot Boots

1 Phyrexian Altar

1 Sword of Feast and Famine

1 Sword of Hearth and Home

1 Whispersilk Cloak

Enchantment (14)

1 Exploration

1 Illness in the Ranks

1 Cultist of the Absolute

1 Bitterblossom

1 Sylvan Library

1 Tribute to Horobi

1 The Meathook Massacre

1 Bastion of Remembrance

1 Pernicious Deed

1 Last Laugh

1 Tombstone Stairwell

1 Grave Pact

1 Dictate of Erebos

1 Doubling Season

Instants (6)

1 Assassin's Trophy

1 Golgari Charm

1 Plumb the Forbidden

1 Beast Within

1 Bloodline Culling

1 Force of Vigor

Sorceries (5)

1 Diabolic Intent

1 Cultivate

1 Kodama's Reach

1 Toxic Deluge

1 Culling Ritual

Land (37)

1 Bayou

1 Bloodstained Mire

1 Blooming Marsh

1 Bojuka Bog

1 Command Tower

1 Forbidden Orchard

7 Forest

1 Gaea's Cradle

1 High Market

1 Khalni Garden

1 Llanowar Wastes

1 Marsh Flats

1 Misty Rainforest

1 Nurturing Peatland

1 Overgrown Tomb

1 Phyrexian Tower

1 Polluted Delta

1 Prismatic Vista

1 Rogue's Passage

6 Swamp

1 Undergrowth Stadium

1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

1 Verdant Catacombs

1 Windswept Heath

1 Woodland Cemetery

1 Yavimaya Hollow

Approximate Total Cost:

Song of Freyalise is currently a flex slot. I'm giving it a few more games before I swap it for Deadly Dispute.

[kirkusjones]

Playing the Deck

Generally, you're going to want some kind of token producer, some ramp and either a sac outlet or a way to kill off tokens in your opening hand. While Grismold has built in token production, it's best to have some redundancy should he draw the ire of one or more players early in the game.

I usually wait to cast Grismold until I have a protection piece on board (boots, greaves, sword of X&Y, Yavimaya Hollow, etc.). If you have a hand that sets up Grismold into an anti-anthem (Illness in the Ranks, Plague Engineer), those can be hands where it can be worth running Grismold out early.

Usually I play my symmetrical token producers and let them generate good will for a few turns before dropping an aristocrat piece. If you're the second or third biggest threat at the table, you're ready to start dropping board control pieces like Pernicious Deed or Toxic Deluge.

Unless you're 98% sure you've got the win, I'd avoid running out multiple aristocrat critters to mitigate the impact of a boardwipe and set yourself up for a relatively quick rebuild.

Changelog

- Awakening Zone + Tombstone Stairwell

this was an easy swap, thanks to @toctheyounger for pointing out how great the Stairwell is for Grismold over in the Varina, Lich Queen thread!

[kirkusjones]

After playing a few games with the updated list, I think I want to find room for The Ozolith. Being able to store Grismold counters after a wipe would be helpful. Just not sure what to cut for it.

[Artaud]

I like this concept but you could capitalize more on your own tokens. Spells with convoke will make your day especially Chord of Calling and Sprout Swarm. Avenger of Zendikar is great here as Grismold creates Plants and Craterhoof Behemoth makes for a decent plan B (token overrun). Also Earthcraft .

Going further into troll territory there is Hunted Troll with 4 faeries to kill and Akroan Horse to make tokens each turn for cheap.

For anti-anthems there is Night of Souls' Betrayal and Ascendant Evincar to "troll" your foes even more (your mana-elves die though).

[kirkusjones]

Earthcraft has been in and out of the list since I first put it together, I'm not sure if I ever saw it and that's probably why it got cut. I'll swap it for Song of Freyalise for a month or so and see how I like it.

Night of Souls' Betrayal killing my dorks keeps it out of the list, I like the flexibility of deed and explosives and Plague Engineer.

Avenger was also in the "lands plan B" version of the deck. While it creates plants, Scute Swarm outclasses it in terms of token production and comes down way earlier, feeding Grismold.

I'll have to dig out my Akroan Horse, I forgot that it exists!

[yeti1069]

In terms of Avenger vs Scute, Scute makes an army pretty quickly, especially if you have land tutors or extra land drops, but takes time to build up, whereas Avenger comes down and makes your army immediately.

Scute is better early, and Avenger is better late as well as being a better top deck most of the time.

[kirkusjones]

In terms of Avenger vs Scute, Scute makes an army pretty quickly, especially if you have land tutors or extra land drops, but takes time to build up, whereas Avenger comes down and makes your army immediately.

Scute is better early, and Avenger is better late as well as being a better top deck most of the time.

What to cut for Avenger, though?

[yeti1069]

Maybe Vorinclex? Looks like it's really only buffing your commander more, which is good, but you still need a board state for that to do anything other than be a 6/6 beater, whereas Avenger makes its own board state, and the tokens dying has basically the same effect of buffing your commander. Also, while Vorinclex sometimes hoses decks, it also sometimes turns on combos.

[kirkusjones]

Maybe Vorinclex? Looks like it's really only buffing your commander more, which is good, but you still need a board state for that to do anything other than be a 6/6 beater, whereas Avenger makes its own board state, and the tokens dying has basically the same effect of buffing your commander. Also, while Vorinclex sometimes hoses decks, it also sometimes turns on combos.

Fair enough. I'll dig up my copy of Avenger and give it a whirl. Vorinclex was a bit of a question mark for me in the first place, I liked punishing other counter-based decks, but I can see how Avenger could close games rather than just slowing them down. Thanks!

[kirkusjones]

Anybody see a good cut to make room for Ashnod's Altar? It's been in and out of the deck through different versions and I feel like it's time to test it again.

[kirkusjones]

Tribute to Horobi seems like a spicy addition. Probably the first thing I've seen (besides Boseijiu) that'll make it's way into the deck from this set.

[Zerro]

With the Land sweet that you have I wonder if you can fit in Field of the Dead for some extra token production. If you feel like you have too many basics you can add in some snow covered ones just to get the different names. For sort of the same reason with the surplus of fetch lands what do you think about Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest Trigger with your fetches and when you force opponents to sac with Dictate of Erebos and Grave Pact. This last one is just a flavor thing for me but for either Cultivate or Kodama's Reach what do you think about Primal Growth . It's just the previous to as a sac outlet with the lands coming in untapped. Love the list! It has inspired me to create my own!

[TheAmericanSpirit]

Tribute to Horobi seems like a spicy addition. Probably the first thing I've seen (besides Boseijiu) that'll make it's way into the deck from this set.

Good golly, I pulled one at prerelease and thought of this sweet deck. The cost is aggressive, the output relevant, and lemme tell you, the flip side does some serious work. Maybe there's an insider Grismold guy at WotC who finally had his day. How else could Horobi of all spirits give up its aptitude for indiscriminate murder to break into the vermin distribution business?

[kirkusjones]

With the Land sweet that you have I wonder if you can fit in Field of the Dead for some extra token production. If you feel like you have too many basics you can add in some snow covered ones just to get the different names. For sort of the same reason with the surplus of fetch lands what do you think about Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest Trigger with your fetches and when you force opponents to sac with Dictate of Erebos and Grave Pact. This last one is just a flavor thing for me but for either Cultivate or Kodama's Reach what do you think about Primal Growth . It's just the previous to as a sac outlet with the lands coming in untapped. Love the list! It has inspired me to create my own!

Glad to see someone else pick up the deck! Primal Growth will get swapped in for Cultivate for sure. Field of the Dead used to be in the deck when it had the Scapeshift back up plan, I ran snow basics at that point to help trigger it. My copy is currently in my Archelos lands build, but could definitely find it's way back into Grismold.

Mazirek is a card I used to play in Ghave, but for whatever reason, it never performed for me. Could be worth testing again, though.

[kirkusjones]

Kamigawa update:

- Liliana's Standard Bearer + Tribute to Horobi // Echo of Death's Wail

What can I say? I just love giving.

[kirkusjones]

In the process of overhauling the deck and considering swapping Three Visits and Nature's Lore for Kodama's Reach and Cultivate. Anybody have thoughts? Being able to grab a dual AND have it come in untapped is probably better, though not being able to grab a basic swamp is a drawback.

[pokken]

In the process of overhauling the deck and considering swapping Three Visits and Nature's Lore for Kodama's Reach and Cultivate. Anybody have thoughts? Being able to grab a dual AND have it come in untapped is probably better, though not being able to grab a basic swamp is a drawback.

Ramp on 1 and 3 is likely to sequence better in this deck than 2, especially because you have a ton of on curve 1s and 2s. So you'll curve out with 1 2 3 without any ramp with some frequency.

Just my opinion though. I'm not a huge fan of the natures lore effects if your commander isn't directly drawing cards tho.

[kirkusjones]

In the process of overhauling the deck and considering swapping Three Visits and Nature's Lore for Kodama's Reach and Cultivate. Anybody have thoughts? Being able to grab a dual AND have it come in untapped is probably better, though not being able to grab a basic swamp is a drawback.

Ramp on 1 and 3 is likely to sequence better in this deck than 2, especially because you have a ton of on curve 1s and 2s. So you'll curve out with 1 2 3 without any ramp with some frequency.

Just my opinion though. I'm not a huge fan of the natures lore effects if your commander isn't directly drawing cards tho.

Good call, thanks! I'm going to find room for Crop Rotation as well, given the amount of non-basics/utility lands. Adding more card selection/raw draw is a priority as well. Hoping to have a new list up later today to offend everyone's sensibilites.