Choosing Your Commander - Grixis

Next, we will take a look at the blue/black/red color combination, otherwise known as the Grixis shard.  If all three colors had to decide what they had in common, it would be tough to say.  One thing is that they are all th ecolors of discard spells, with black taking the lead.  They all also identify with their weaknes to enchantments.  Overall, there isn't a lot of identity to Grixis, but there is definitely a lot of power.

Crosis, the Purger:  Crosis is fairly decent at what he does, although being in the same colors as Nicol Bolas its hard to compete with his discard ability.

Garza Zol, Plague Queen:  Garza Zol has a few nice things going for her.  Haste, evasion in the form of Flying, and the Ophidian ability are all huge upsides to a 5/5 creature for 7 mana that make he owrth playing.  The +1/+1 counter ability is definitiely something to build around, especially since it counts any damage and not just combat damage.  Equipment such as Livewire Lash and Thornbite Staff can help Garza Zol deal damage without combat and allow her to grow.  Garza Zol isn't flashy, but she is definitely efficient and potentially deadly.

Gwendlyn Di Corci:  Gwendlyn is not bad, but her ability isn't really good in multi-player.

Lord of Tresserhorn:  Lord of Tresserhorn demands a steep price be paid when you summon him, and managing that cost is key to keeping him happy as your commander.  The lif loss is not an issue, and the giving an opponent two cards can often gain you some political capital in the process.  It's the sacrifice of two creatures that can sometimes make him very hard to cast profitably.  You are getting 10 power for only 4 mana, so there is definitely some upside to work with. 

Mishra, Artificer Prodigy:  Mishra has an absolutely fantastic ability that would be great to build around.  Unfortunately, the "highlander" nature of the format makes him unplayable.

Nicol Bolas:  Most of the Elder Dragons only see play for nostalgic value, but Nicol Bolas has risen to a higher plane of awesomeness compared to his fellow bretheren.  Being able to Mind Twist someone on contact is one of the more brutal abilities given to any creature.  With a cool backstory that includes Nicol Bolas now being a Planeswalker scheming for power on multiple worlds, it is no doubt that a Nicol Bolas themed deck can be both powerful and interesting.










Sedris, the Traitor King:
Sedris is awesome.  Giving you a built-in reanimation for all your creatures in the graveyard can be brutal, even if it is only temporary.  You can use him to make your opponents have to run through your army twice, or you can self-mill yourself and live out of your graveyard.  Sedris also works well with creature sacrifice effects as you can get double use out of them.

Sol'kanar the Swamp King:  In my Top 5 as far as best names go, Sol'kanar is actually quite an efficient package for Legends card.  5-power for 5 mana, Swampwalk and a small lifegain ability is pretty decent when all added together.  Its just not commander material.

Tetsuo Umezawa:  Known more for his Jitte than anything else, Tetsuo Umezawa suffers from "other creatures do the same thing only cheaper"-itis. 

Thraximundar:  Thraximundar is great because he not only keeps the field of play clear of critters but he also plays right into your own creature sacrifice theme to grow large and start taking out opponents with general damage in 1 or 2 swings.  Thraximundar and Sedris have a bit of overlap in what they are trying to do sacrifice-wise, and I think they would compliment each other no matter how you build your deck.