Grixis Tezzeret Deck by Patrick Chapin (Pro Tour Top 8 Finish)
February 20, 2011 | Posted by Dee
Update July 6, 2011: This deck is no longer Standard legal. Here’s an interesting Tezzeret deck that is legal for Standard. It won 14 matches in a row.
Patrick Chapin’s Grixis Tezzeret deck was one of the most innovative decklists to come out of last weekend’s Pro Tour in Paris. Not only does it play a full set of Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas and other new cards from Mirrodin Besieged, but it also uses a couple cards that you don’t often see in the top decks. Chapin played the deck to a sixth place finish including an 8-1-1 record in the Standard swiss rounds.
This intricate Blue-Red-Black (UBR) control deck is typical for Chapin. It has a ton of interactions between the cards. It will probably take you a few games to realize how the deck is supposed to work. All those interactions gives you many options, so you have many chances to outplay your opponent. However, that also means that the deck is harder to play than most decks. You really need to practice and evaluate your plays to make sure you’re making good decisions in your games.
Here’s the list.
| Grixis Tezzeret Control | |||||||||||
Creatures (2) Spells (36) | Lands (22)
Sideboard (15) |
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Deck Analysis
Chapin takes advantage of Tezzeret by playing 21 artifacts (including 1 Treasure Mage and 2 Inkmoth Nexus). Also, nine of the artifacts provide mana acceleration so you have a good chance of casting the planeswalker on turn three.
Like Jace TMS, all of Tezzeret’s abilities are very useful. Against control players, you can bury them with card advantage with the +1 ability. Then, once you have a bunch of artifacts, you can use the ultimate ability to deal a lot of damage. In his top 8 profile interview, Chapin mentioned that he played this deck because he felt it was the best Jace deck. He thought Tezzeret won the Jace deck mirrors. This makes sense because Tezzeret trumps your opponent’s Jace with the -1 ability. When you use this ability on an artifact that was on the battlefield the previous turn, you can attack Jace with a 5/5 “haste” creature.
Against aggro, your typical play with Tezzeret is making 5/5s. Your opponent will often have a hard time dealing with the big artifact creatures. The 5/5s are bigger than most creatures in aggro decks so they are great blockers. Also, many of the common removal spells like Lightning Bolt and Go for the Throat are ineffective against them. They protect Tezzeret and even if your opponent has a Bolt to take out Tezzeret, you still have the 5/5. Now if your opponent is trying to burn you out, you can use the +1 ability instead and then gain life with the ultimate ability next turn.
(Find a deal on Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas at eBay.)
Prophetic Prism helps you play three colors easily. One play you can do is tap out for Everflowing Chalice and then make colored mana with it through Prism. For example, if you have four open mana, you can spend it all on a Chalice with two counters and then tap it along with Prism to cast Pyroclasm, Galvanic Blast, or Preordain.
Tumble Magnet is great right now because it keep Titans and equipped creatures from attacking. This artifact gives you a “removal” spell that combos with Tezzeret especially his first ability when you’re digging for removal.
Treasure Mage lowers your mana curve so you don’t have to play a lot of expensive finishers. Also, it gives you the flexibility to play finishers geared to different decks. Wurmcoil Engine is great against aggro while Mindslaver helps you fight control and combo effectively.
Preordain ties the whole deck together. It can dig for whatever card you’re looking for, whether that’s a land, removal spell, planeswalker, or just another artifact for Tezzeret to turn into a 5/5.
With all the artifacts in the deck, it makes sense to play metalcraft cards. Chapin chose Stoic Rebuttal and Galvanic Blast. Stoic Rebuttal is catchall card that protects your permanents. Also, it deals with cards that are hard for you to beat like Green Sun’s Zenith, Primeval Titan, Eldrazi Monument, and Genesis Wave.
Galvanic Blast fits the deck well. Early in the game, two damage is usually enough to kill a creature. By mid game, you should have metalcraft so you can take out creatures like Celestial Colonnade and a Stoneforge Mystic equipped with Sword of Feast and Famine.
The mass removal spells, Pyroclasm and Slagstorm, may seem like they don’t fit the deck but they do buy you a lot of time against aggro decks. They provide a similar role as the removal in Valakut decks. You need some time to setup Tezzeret and take control of the game and these spells help stop the early rush. If you don’t have a lot of aggro in your metagame, feel free to move all or some of them to the sideboard.
Jace TMS is not as good as Tezzeret in this deck but he’s still powerful especially with all your mana ramp. Turn three Jace on the play is hard for many decks to beat. And having both Tezzeret and Jace on the battlefield is really good. Tezzeret’s artifact creatures can protect Jace while Jace draws a ton of cards or works toward his -12 game-ending ultimate ability.
(Buy Jace, the Mind Sculptor on eBay.)
Find out how much this deck costs on eBay.
4 Responses to “Grixis Tezzeret Deck by Patrick Chapin (Pro Tour Top 8 Finish)”
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Galvanic blast can’t kill thrun.
Whoops, you’re right. I fixed it.
I have a similar deck I’d like to share. Ive only played it once in a FNM tournament, but I did manage to win.
Creatures [6]
Treasure mage x2
Thopter assembly x1
Myr battlesphere x2
Kuldotha phoenix x1
Artifacts [14]
Sphere of the sun’s x3
Everflowing chalice x3
Prophetic prism x4
Mind Slaver x1
Mox opal x2
Tumble magnet x1
Contagion Engine x1
Spells [12]
Stoic rebuttal x2
Pyroclasm x2
Slagstorm x2
Preordain x4
Black sun’s Zenith x1
Plainswalker [4]
Tezzeret, AOB x4
Lands [25]
Scalding tarn x4
Creeping tarpit x4
Dragonskull summit x2
Blackcleave cliffs x1
Terramorphic expanse x1
Inkmoth nexus x2
Tectonic edge x4
Island x3
Mountain x3
Swamp x1
SB
Jace Beleren x2
Pyroclasm x1
Shatter x3
Spreading sea’s x2
Duress x3
Titan Forge x1
Phyrexian revoker x2
Black Sun’s Zenith x1
[...] are some sideboard plans for Patrick Chapin’s top eight Grixis Tezzeret deck from Pro Tour Paris 2011. The decklist is at the [...]