Shard · Color Identity
Grixis (Blue-Black-Red): History, Playstyle and Best Commanders
Grixis takes what it wants and burns what it cannot take. It has the best removal and the best card advantage of any shard, and no lifegain, no ramp and nothing green or white to stabilise with.
Grixis is blue, black and red, the three-color identity. A dead world run by Nicol Bolas: theft, reanimation, removal and no creatures worth blocking with.
Also called UBR, Maestros.
Where the Name Comes From
The shard of Grixis, from Shards of Alara (2008): black's shard, with its allies blue and red.
Grixis is the black shard of Alara, and the one that had gone worst: a dead world of undead, necromancers and demons where white and green magic (and with them healing and growth) simply did not exist, so nothing could be created and everything had to be taken from something else. Nicol Bolas made it his base of operations, which is most of why the shard has more story weight than the other four.
As a Commander identity, blue-black-red is the format's "do anything reactive" shard. Every removal spell, every counterspell, every tutor and every reanimation effect is available, and its weaknesses are the two things Commander punishes most: no ramp and no way to gain life. Streets of New Capenna named the same trio the Maestros in 2022, and Grixis remains the name in use.
All 32 color combinations and where each name came from →How Grixis Plays
Grixis is a theft and reanimation identity. Blue steals permanents, black reanimates whatever has died in any graveyard, and red takes things temporarily and sacrifices them for value. In a four-player game that is enormously efficient: every creature anybody plays is potentially yours, and the deck's best creature is usually one somebody else paid for.
It also has the most complete removal of any shard. Counterspells for the stack, unconditional destruction and edicts for creatures, burn for artifacts and planeswalkers, and discard for what has not been cast yet. There is no permanent Grixis cannot answer except an enchantment, and no plan it cannot at least slow down.
The catch is that Grixis has no way to build. No ramp, no lifegain, no way to stabilise a board that has got ahead of it, and a creature base that is mostly value rather than defense. Grixis decks that win do it by controlling the game early enough that they never need to stabilise, and they lose to whichever deck was allowed to develop while the removal was pointed elsewhere.
What It Does Well, and What It Doesn't
Strengths
- The most complete removal and interaction of the five shards, at every point on the curve.
- The best theft and reanimation package in Magic: other people's creatures are your creatures.
- Excellent card advantage from blue and black, plus red's rituals for explosive turns.
- Deep tutoring, which makes combo lines and specific answers reliable.
Weaknesses
- No ramp beyond artifacts and rituals, so the deck is slow to reach its expensive plays.
- No lifegain at all, and no way to stabilise once a board has got ahead of it.
- No enchantment removal from any of its three colors.
- Small, fragile creatures, so it loses badly to a wide board it cannot sweep in time.
Best Grixis Commanders
The command zones that define the identity rather than the ones winning this week: the pips beside each name are its color identity, which is what it lets you play in the other 99.
Commander Spotlight
Marchesa, the Black Rose ↗
Your creatures come back at end of turn if they had a +1/+1 counter and died, which turns every sacrifice outlet into a free engine and makes your whole board unkillable.
Nekusar, the Mindrazer ↗
Every opponent draws an extra card and takes a damage for each card drawn. Wheel effects turn a friendly-looking symmetrical draw into a kill.
Kess, Dissident Mage ↗
Cast an instant or sorcery from your graveyard each turn. Every removal spell and every tutor is worth two, which is why she is a competitive fixture.
Thraximundar ↗
Grows every time a player sacrifices a creature and forces the defending player to sacrifice one when it attacks. A seven-mana threat that ends games on its own.
Sedris, the Traitor King ↗
Gives every creature in your graveyard unearth. A one-card reanimation engine with a sacrifice-friendly clause built in.
Mairsil, the Pretender ↗
Exiles creatures and artifacts with your cage counters and uses all their activated abilities. A puzzle-box commander with a very deep combo pool.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Grixis mean in Magic?
Grixis is the blue-black-red color combination, named after the black shard of Alara from the 2008 set Shards of Alara: a dead, undead-ridden world without white or green magic, and Nicol Bolas's base. Streets of New Capenna renamed the same trio the Maestros in 2022, but Grixis is the name in common use.
Why does Grixis struggle in casual Commander?
Because its two missing colors are the two that stabilise. No lifegain, no ramp, no fogs, no mass protection, so a Grixis deck that falls behind on board has no way back other than a sweeper it has to draw. At a table of creature decks that is a real disadvantage; against combo and control it is much less relevant, which is why the identity performs so differently at different power levels.
What is Grixis best at?
Using other people's cards. Between blue's theft, black's reanimation and red's temporary steal effects, a Grixis deck can play the best creature anybody at the table has cast, and can do it repeatedly. In a four-player game, that scales with the number of opponents in a way no other identity's card advantage does.
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