Nov 4, 20222 min read

World Champion Deck of the Week: Standard Grixis Midrange

Updated: Aug 23, 2023

Deck Overview

Your 2022 World Champion, Nathan Steuer, made a bold decision for this year’s World Championship. In a field of 32 of the world’s best players, where 22 players (69%) opted to play some form of Esper Midrange, Nathan decided to buck consensus and be the only player

on Grixis Midrange in Standard.

Boy did it work out.

In a field with an overwhelming number of players opting in for one type of deck, picking a different deck that is favored in the matchup paid enormous dividends for Nathan. Seemingly tailored to win that matchup, essential decisions like main deck Duress and Abrade were perfect for a field of decks running planeswalkers, efficient removal, and a host of Reckoner Bankbusters.

Grixis Midrange gave him access to Standard all-stars Sheoldred, the Apocalypse and Fable of the Mirror Breaker. Sheoldred remains the must-answer card in the format and runs away with the game in all of the midrange mirrors if an opponent cannot find an answer quickly. Fable of the Mirror Breaker was the one card that I thought would get fewer people playing Esper so they could have access to it, but clearly, many players decided to opt for Esper anyways. In Nathan’s Grixis deck, having access to both Bloodtithe Harvester and Corpse Appraiser to copy meant an endless stream of additional cards and removal.

And the final piece, the best card in Nathan’s deck seemingly all weekend, was Invoke Despair. Simply put, it was always a three-for-one, and in the Esper matchups, as much as we all love drawing cards, being able to nab a creature, Wandering Emperor, and a Wedding Announcement is just a backbreaker in so many games. Plus, being in Grixis gives you a solid and consistent mana base, so the 1BBBB mana cost is not as restrictive as it seems in this build.

Congratulations to Nathan Steuer on a fantastic meta-game call and an amazing tournament overall!