Grixis decks in Standard have been looking for something to rally around.

Pretty much every variation possible has been tried, from being base Dimir and splashing Red, to base Rakdos and splashing Blue, to even being more Izzet spell-based and splashing Black. Some play creatures like Thief of Sanity, some play more like a control deck, some play more like Rakdos Midrange just splashing for a touch of Blue.

The only unifying force behind Grixis decks in Standard is that they lack unity. They are divided, confused, and ultimately unsure of exactly what they want to be and who they are.

Well their leader as arrived.

Thanos has arrived in Wakanda.

Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God is a very powerful Standard planeswalker, checking all the boxes despite weighing in with a pretty restrictive mana cost. He provides heavy card advantage, he kills most relevant things, and when all of the heroes are dead he can win the game by himself. He also helps to drive the deck into a base-Black, sorcery speed, tap out midrange style, helping to bring some unity where there was none.

Time Stamps:

Match 1 - 00:06:00

Match 2 - 00:16:50

Match 3 - 00:26:19

Match 4 - 00:45:15

Match 5 - 00:57:07

Match 6 - 01:09:39

Bolas Midrange | War Standard | Jim Davis

• Creatures (8)
• 4 Thief of Sanity
• 4 Nicol Bolas, the Ravager

• Planeswalkers (8)
• 1 Karn, Scion of Urza
• 2 Liliana, Dreadhorde General
• 2 Saheeli, Sublime Artificer
• 3 Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God

• Instants (7)
• 2 Shivan Fire
• 2 Tyrant's Scorn
• 3 Bedevil

• Sorceries (11)
• 2 Duress
• 2 Lava Coil
• 3 Enter the God-Eternals
• 4 Thought Erasure

• Lands (26)
• 2 Swamp
• 4 Blood Crypt
• 4 Dragonskull Summit
• 4 Drowned Catacomb
• 4 Steam Vents
• 4 Sulfur Falls
• 4 Watery Grave

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Banefire
• 1 Chandra, Fire Artisan
• 2 Cry of the Carnarium
• 2 Disdainful Stroke
• 2 Duress
• 2 Hostage Taker
• 2 Moment of Craving
• 2 Negate
• 1 Ritual of Soot

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Nicol Bolas arrives alongside a suite of new powerful cards for the deck, further cementing it into a tapout-style, heavy-hitting midrange deck.

Liliana, Dreadhorde General is one of the best curve toppers Standard has seen in a long time, calling to mind memories of Elsepth, Sun's Champion, while Enter the God-Eternals is an extremely powerful stabilizing tool that slams the door on most aggro decks. The deck also gets some nice new tools like Tyrant's Scorn.

Saheeli, Sublime Artificer is a great card but wasn't well suited for the deck and there's still tons of room for growth. Other planeswalkers like Angrath, the Flame-Chained and Ral, Izzet Viceroy could definitely get slots, while the removal package will also have to adapt to the format as well. But overall, as our 5-1 record would indicate, there is some serious staying power here.

Bolas is coming. You've been warned.