Old video, but Bloomburrow set that just released has an incredible option for a board wipe in this deck: Swarmyard Massacre. You create two Squirrel Tokens, and then all creatures that are NOT Squirrels, Rats, Insects, or Spiders get -1/-1 until the end of turn for each creature of those types that you control. Great way to wipe out everyone's board except yours.
Good to see the classic start with Wayfarer’s Bauble is back, Mitch’s power and toughness are equal to the difference between the bauble’s price and a dollar in cents divided by ten and rounded down to the nearest ten.
I actually built this commander with a dual tribal theme : Insects and Skeletons, mostly due to Grist reminding me of the Revenant enemy from Doom. So I got quite a few changelings to compensate for the dual tribal theme, and it includes Skeletal Swarming as a nice way to utilize those Skeletons. I'll look to see if I can slot in Warlock Class in the deck.
IMO one of the coolest commanders ever made. One thing that was not mentioned here but that it works really great is that Grist counts as a creature everywhere that is not the field. This mean you can easily let him die and reanimate him with spells that bring creatures back, skipping the commander tax. When i played this deck, the turn where i use forever young, If Grist is in the grave, you can put everything back with him on top and instantly draw him back.
Another thing that means is that he dodges common cheap planeswalker counters like Negate or Dovin's Veto, since she counts as a creature while she's on the stack. And then while in play she avoids common commander hosing cards like Darksteel Mutation and other effects that only target creatures since she loses her creature type and only becomes a planeswalker.
This is my first commander and I’ve been working on grist for a couple months: Best ramp - primal growth Best card draw - skull clamp Best creature - Realmwalker Alt win con - mortal combat
@@k_keebs6062 A number of planeswalkers have text allowing them to be used as the head of a deck. Grist is more interesting because it's an insect creature whenever it isn't on the battlefield, which means it's a legendary creature and thus can start the game in the command zone.
Love the deck techs Mitch! Constructive criticism though: I would love it if you included a section in your deck techs where you more clearly laid out the decks strategy/general play pattern. Maybe it would make more sense to weave that into your current sections for the video, but there are a couple deck techs where I've been left wondering exactly how the deck comes together. Likely I could see it if I stared at the deck list long enough, but I'd personally enjoy hearing it in the video. Perhaps others wouldn't agree though and would prefer a shorter video. 🤷♂️
I think the only way to upgrade the deck is to just remove everything that isn't an insect, file your land base down so low that you just get your 3 lands to cast grist (I'm still working on this number lol) and then you just go wild with his first ability and attempt to kill with the ult as quickly as possible
@@trevormanning4596 You could mill yourself, use Grist's -5, put all your creatures back on your deck, and do it all over. Gravepurge, Footbottom Feast, Forever Young, and bone Harvest all have the same effect: "Put any number of target creature cards from your graveyard on top of your library. Draw a card." So you mill yourself, put them all on top, use Grist's +1 to mill them all over for 15+ loyalty points, then just do her -5 every turn for 15+ damage.
Grist is one of my favorite commanders and I have won a lot of games with the deck. Some of my favorite cards you could include if you got them or can afford them are Scroll Rack, Beastmaster Ascension and Triumph of the Hoard. I found the tokens can easily overrun my opponents with just a few stats and being able to control what's on top of your deck helps fill your yard and board. Speaking of which you can even turn Grist itself into a potential threat with Luxior, Giada's Gift.
@@justintibbetts9849 the passive ability says when anywhere but in play he is considered an insect creature. When the card was first introduced the creator of the card came out and confirmed that he could be a commander and that they created the card with that in mind.
@@aneleganthobo2715 makes better sense then being a strong card in modern. Tried a bunch of different things to use this card the opponent usually just kills it the second turn it’s out.
I run Grist as a creature tutorable removal piece in my Gitrog deck. Its nice to have some added utility and the fact that its a creature when its not on the battlefield makes it dodge a lot of the common counterspells
Immediately checked this video out when I saw Grist. I play that card in my Golgari value pile deck that I shared on here, it's such a solid card whether as a commander or in the 99
Ordered a near identical deck the other day, only major differences is I have Songs of the Damned/Finale of Eternity and Twilights Call as other win cons.
My friends made a roulette wheel of commanders and has us all spin to decide the deck we build. I got this guy and got very excited. Considering Izoni is one of my characters, having an excuse to use them is a treat... though I am not on a complete budget soI may actually use some poison just to antagonise my group.
@@MigglyPuff94 This also means that if you have reanimation going on in your deck (not a bad idea to throw in a couple of mass reanimations like Living Death, Haunting Voyage or Patriarch's Bidding here), you can actually get your commander out of the yard like a creature
Hey, I want to make sure I'm understanding an interaction correctly. With the Sylvan Anthem in play, which states "whenever a green creature enters the battlefield under your control, scry 1."; when i use Grist's +1 ability that says "Create a 1/1 black and green insect creature token, then mill a card. If an insect card was milled this way, put a loyalty counter on Grist and repeat this process." If I hit an insect with the ability would I get the chance to scry before continuing on to mill the next card? Or does the planeswalker ability resolve until it misses and i get all of the scry triggers on the stack afterwards?
If I understand correctly you would get the scry triggers afterwards, Grist’s +1 is a single ability so once on the stack / resolved it’ll keep going until it misses
I knew he wasn't going to talk about grist 12 entombs but I was slightly hoping he was gonna talk about grist 12 entombs or some hulk variety. Yes I know it's a cedh but I can dream.
@@w4tch0ut10 I agree the abuse of the card is probably faster in other decks but I have a grist deck I use and its pure insect theme with the occasional shapeshifter but early game scute swarm can get out of hand. I also run crucible of worlds with it so while im milling I can get lands on lands and it gets dumb.
I know its not likely to happen but it would be nice if you put the price of each card below the card on the screen so i know how much it used to cost when you made the video
Am I missing something? Grist may be a legendary planeswalker, but I don't think it can be your commander, can it? Unless this is a brawl deck (I think that's the format in which a planeswalker without the important line of text can be your commander). Did I miss a rule somewhere? Can legendary planeswalkers without "This planeswalker can be your commander." be your commander?
It can be your commander because in every zone except the battlefield, it counts as a legendary creature, not Planeswalker. The first line of text on the card says this. Since it isn't a Planeswalker in the command zone, it can be your commander
i love it but i hate that all it is is a "graveyard" deck so if your up against an opponent who is either exiling your graveyard or threatening to exile your graveyard, leaning on green to have artifact or enchantment removal could help alot. But then what do you do once not enough creatures are in your graveyard at all?
the thing thats nice here is that even if your graveyard is dealt with, you are producing a massive amount of insects through grist. if the grave plan fails, you can fall back on an overrun strategy and still pound faces. you can now even use luxior to voltron all out. A syr konrad also means that even if your grave survives or gets exiled, the enemies still get chunked out quite a bit.
Is it possible to see a Will & Rowan Kenrith commander deck based on spell copies? Some fun cards to include could be Artificer Class and Twinning Staff.
Because Elves aren't Insects, and in an insect tribal deck..... Well, that's not very helpful, is it? Remember this is just a cheap insect tribal build of a Grist deck, not a super strong super well built Grist cEDH level deck.
You want more creatures in the graveyard than on the battlefield most of the time and for insect tribal well, basically all of your creature slots need to be bugs.
@@othellosmistake how about you realise this is an insect tribal and you notice that literally every creature is an insect? Mitch built the deck with that in mind, this wasn't his idea originally, it was a patreon's suggestion. So, to go with the whole THEME that they asked for, the mana elves are a dumb addition for insect TRIBAL, so you should just turn around and leave this conversation before you make yourself look dumber. TL:DR, Mitch was given a prompt for Grist insect tribal, so the decks got only insects for that literal reason.
@@AkureiLyvnn I think that makes it worse actually. Mitch didn't build anything btw. He just read the top list off EDHrec. It's not against theme to both lower the cost and make the deck better.
syr konrad the grim. Mill insects into the graveyard? Everyone take damage. Forever young back to topdeck? Everyone take damage. Mill them again? Everyone take damage
"As long as Grist, the Hunger Tide isn't on the battlefield, it's a 1/1 Insect creature in addition to its other types." So in the graveyard, in your hand, in exile, and also in the command zone, Grist is 1/1 insect creature as well as a legendary planeswalker with 3 starting loyalty. Being a creature in the command zone allows Grist to be a legal commander.
Because if it's not on the battlefield, it's a creature with the Legendary supertype. The command zone is not on the battlefield, so Grist is a creature.
Can you play Grist as a commander without the text about him being able to be your commander? I guess if you were playing with friends, you could but I doubt at an LGS it would be allowed.
@@willipic why you think you cant bring her into the battlefield? from the command zone that would be op af xD you still have to cast her. But she becomes a regular planeswalker on the board. I am surprised how many people didnt know about this.
The text says: As long as Grist, the Hunger Tide isn’t on the battlefield, it’s a 1/1 Insect creature in addition to its other types. So it can be your commander
Grist says "When it is not on the battlefield, Grist is a 1/1 insect creature as well as it's other types", which means even in the command zone, it would be a "Legendary Planeswalker Creature - Insect"
Old video, but Bloomburrow set that just released has an incredible option for a board wipe in this deck: Swarmyard Massacre. You create two Squirrel Tokens, and then all creatures that are NOT Squirrels, Rats, Insects, or Spiders get -1/-1 until the end of turn for each creature of those types that you control. Great way to wipe out everyone's board except yours.
Good to see the classic start with Wayfarer’s Bauble is back, Mitch’s power and toughness are equal to the difference between the bauble’s price and a dollar in cents divided by ten and rounded down to the nearest ten.
That formula would imply, that a 10€ bauble price, would be good for the card o.O?
@@Link6817 yes because mitch has so much of them he would be rich
I actually built this commander with a dual tribal theme : Insects and Skeletons, mostly due to Grist reminding me of the Revenant enemy from Doom. So I got quite a few changelings to compensate for the dual tribal theme, and it includes Skeletal Swarming as a nice way to utilize those Skeletons.
I'll look to see if I can slot in Warlock Class in the deck.
IMO one of the coolest commanders ever made. One thing that was not mentioned here but that it works really great is that Grist counts as a creature everywhere that is not the field. This mean you can easily let him die and reanimate him with spells that bring creatures back, skipping the commander tax. When i played this deck, the turn where i use forever young, If Grist is in the grave, you can put everything back with him on top and instantly draw him back.
Another thing that means is that he dodges common cheap planeswalker counters like Negate or Dovin's Veto, since she counts as a creature while she's on the stack. And then while in play she avoids common commander hosing cards like Darksteel Mutation and other effects that only target creatures since she loses her creature type and only becomes a planeswalker.
Her*
I built this deck with 67 insect creatures and the rest lands. And it’s so satisfying milling 15 with grist on a lucky activation.
@@mrjey3434 you don’t need power, just to be ignored long enough to pull out a surprise win by ult-ing Grist
I built with 87 Insects and 2 fetch 2 pain and 4 basic of each...when I pull him out, 2 turns to victory
I need both of your decklist jajajaja
This is my first commander and I’ve been working on grist for a couple months:
Best ramp - primal growth
Best card draw - skull clamp
Best creature - Realmwalker
Alt win con - mortal combat
Hotel - Trivago
I thought planeswalkers can’t be a commander?
@@k_keebs6062 A number of planeswalkers have text allowing them to be used as the head of a deck. Grist is more interesting because it's an insect creature whenever it isn't on the battlefield, which means it's a legendary creature and thus can start the game in the command zone.
Love the deck techs Mitch! Constructive criticism though: I would love it if you included a section in your deck techs where you more clearly laid out the decks strategy/general play pattern. Maybe it would make more sense to weave that into your current sections for the video, but there are a couple deck techs where I've been left wondering exactly how the deck comes together. Likely I could see it if I stared at the deck list long enough, but I'd personally enjoy hearing it in the video. Perhaps others wouldn't agree though and would prefer a shorter video. 🤷♂️
Would love to see an upgraded version of this deck, would be interested to see what you put in and what you'd take out
I think the only way to upgrade the deck is to just remove everything that isn't an insect, file your land base down so low that you just get your 3 lands to cast grist (I'm still working on this number lol) and then you just go wild with his first ability and attempt to kill with the ult as quickly as possible
This of course is less fun and kind of not insect tribal so take it with a grain of salt
@@trevormanning4596 You could mill yourself, use Grist's -5, put all your creatures back on your deck, and do it all over. Gravepurge, Footbottom Feast, Forever Young, and bone Harvest all have the same effect: "Put any number of target creature cards from your graveyard on top of your library. Draw a card."
So you mill yourself, put them all on top, use Grist's +1 to mill them all over for 15+ loyalty points, then just do her -5 every turn for 15+ damage.
@@trevormanning4596 z
2:00 First up!
Grist is one of my favorite commanders and I have won a lot of games with the deck. Some of my favorite cards you could include if you got them or can afford them are Scroll Rack, Beastmaster Ascension and Triumph of the Hoard. I found the tokens can easily overrun my opponents with just a few stats and being able to control what's on top of your deck helps fill your yard and board. Speaking of which you can even turn Grist itself into a potential threat with Luxior, Giada's Gift.
I am so confused because Grist doesn't say he may be your commander???
@@justintibbetts9849 the passive ability says when anywhere but in play he is considered an insect creature. When the card was first introduced the creator of the card came out and confirmed that he could be a commander and that they created the card with that in mind.
@@aneleganthobo2715 makes better sense then being a strong card in modern. Tried a bunch of different things to use this card the opponent usually just kills it the second turn it’s out.
@@chamllis I didn't think they designed it with modern in mind. It felt more commander based, but they didn't have a set to throw it into.
I like it! Another benefit of going a little higher on ramp is getting those lands outta the way.
Virus beetle is a great multiplayer insect and Path of Discovery can work as a even better sylvan anthem.
I love Virus Beetle, who would have thought making Burglar Rat an artifact would make it have so much more potential.
Built this deck on release and I've loved it! Just spinning the mill wheel and making the friends is so fun
I run Grist as a creature tutorable removal piece in my Gitrog deck. Its nice to have some added utility and the fact that its a creature when its not on the battlefield makes it dodge a lot of the common counterspells
Flipping your graveyard and library with Morality Shift is the most satisfying way to win with this deck.
Add mortal combat
@@roubenjudilla1940 nice! Never seen that
@@roubenjudilla1940 never seen this card and I’m buying it immediately for my meren deck thanks!
Morality Shift is my game ender in my Syr Konrad deck
Immediately checked this video out when I saw Grist. I play that card in my Golgari value pile deck that I shared on here, it's such a solid card whether as a commander or in the 99
Ordered a near identical deck the other day, only major differences is I
have Songs of the Damned/Finale of Eternity and Twilights Call as other win cons.
Luxior, Giada's Gift is also very fun in this deck
I just ordered a Grist deck a few days ago, could have used this video a bit earlier. Crawling infestation would have been a great addition.
My friends made a roulette wheel of commanders and has us all spin to decide the deck we build. I got this guy and got very excited. Considering Izoni is one of my characters, having an excuse to use them is a treat... though I am not on a complete budget soI may actually use some poison just to antagonise my group.
Sweet build ! Thanks Mitch
I got a grist insect tribal deck that wins 70% of the games in my pod
Mitch could we please get a break the bank version of this? I love Golgari and have this card in my binder and would love to utilise it
He may not be low budget or an insect, but I really like Bontu, God Eternal for this deck
Wait where on this planeswalker does it say you can use it as a commander?
Because when it isn’t on the battlefield it says it is treated as a creature.
@@MigglyPuff94 oh I see
@@MigglyPuff94 that is the biggest brain play I didn't even consider lol
@@MigglyPuff94 This also means that if you have reanimation going on in your deck (not a bad idea to throw in a couple of mass reanimations like Living Death, Haunting Voyage or Patriarch's Bidding here), you can actually get your commander out of the yard like a creature
@@MigglyPuff94 but it's not still considered as a lengendary plamewalker ?
i'm new to commander so i'm a little confused, can't a planeswalker only be a commander if it says it can on the card on the card?
Grst says that if it isn't on the battlefield it is a creature, and that counts for in the command zone.
This was also confirmed by the commander rules comittee.
@@jessewyatt6776 this specific card?
@@jackgoodman641 yes
I made an insect tribal Izoni deck. Needs some work but I like it.
Might need to try this out. I have a concordant crossroads just waiting to slot I to this deck haha
A fun card for this deck is unearth or other reanimate cards to target grist
I have this planeswalker in my korvold deck it’s pretty solid
Ohh ya this boy is one of my favorite commanders I play! My friends not so much...
Dictate of erabos would be a good include in this deck
Hey, I want to make sure I'm understanding an interaction correctly. With the Sylvan Anthem in play, which states "whenever a green creature enters the battlefield under your control, scry 1."; when i use Grist's +1 ability that says "Create a 1/1 black and green insect creature token, then mill a card. If an insect card was milled this way, put a loyalty counter on Grist and repeat this process." If I hit an insect with the ability would I get the chance to scry before continuing on to mill the next card? Or does the planeswalker ability resolve until it misses and i get all of the scry triggers on the stack afterwards?
If I understand correctly you would get the scry triggers afterwards, Grist’s +1 is a single ability so once on the stack / resolved it’ll keep going until it misses
@@MaximusArgyros That's what I thought unfortunately. It would be sick if that wasn't the case.
I knew he wasn't going to talk about grist 12 entombs but I was slightly hoping he was gonna talk about grist 12 entombs or some hulk variety. Yes I know it's a cedh but I can dream.
2:01 The moment we all knew would come.....
This is going to heavily inspire my golgari mill deck
Two words: Scute Swarm. Must add card for the deck.
shouldn't that work better in a dedicated landfall deck? Tatyova could get you some serious numbers quickly
@@w4tch0ut10 I agree the abuse of the card is probably faster in other decks but I have a grist deck I use and its pure insect theme with the occasional shapeshifter but early game scute swarm can get out of hand. I also run crucible of worlds with it so while im milling I can get lands on lands and it gets dumb.
I know its not likely to happen but it would be nice if you put the price of each card below the card on the screen so i know how much it used to cost when you made the video
Am I missing something? Grist may be a legendary planeswalker, but I don't think it can be your commander, can it?
Unless this is a brawl deck (I think that's the format in which a planeswalker without the important line of text can be your commander).
Did I miss a rule somewhere? Can legendary planeswalkers without "This planeswalker can be your commander." be your commander?
It can be your commander because in every zone except the battlefield, it counts as a legendary creature, not Planeswalker. The first line of text on the card says this. Since it isn't a Planeswalker in the command zone, it can be your commander
i love it but i hate that all it is is a "graveyard" deck so if your up against an opponent who is either exiling your graveyard or threatening to exile your graveyard, leaning on green to have artifact or enchantment removal could help alot. But then what do you do once not enough creatures are in your graveyard at all?
the thing thats nice here is that even if your graveyard is dealt with, you are producing a massive amount of insects through grist. if the grave plan fails, you can fall back on an overrun strategy and still pound faces. you can now even use luxior to voltron all out.
A syr konrad also means that even if your grave survives or gets exiled, the enemies still get chunked out quite a bit.
luckily u could add some instants that just put them back into ur library if that does happen
Yooo I made a grist commander deck a while back and my name is Corey! What a Coincidence
I know this is budget, but no endless cockroaches makes me sad. Same with swarmyard for the lands
Is it possible to see a Will & Rowan Kenrith commander deck based on spell copies? Some fun cards to include could be Artificer Class and Twinning Staff.
If you were to sub in a scute swarm( I know it's over a dollar but I pulled several of them) what would you take out?
First 10 cards for ramp are horrible adds. Why use spells and artifacts to ramp when you can use creatures like mana elves to ramp?
Because Elves aren't Insects, and in an insect tribal deck..... Well, that's not very helpful, is it? Remember this is just a cheap insect tribal build of a Grist deck, not a super strong super well built Grist cEDH level deck.
You want more creatures in the graveyard than on the battlefield most of the time and for insect tribal well, basically all of your creature slots need to be bugs.
@@AkureiLyvnn read the commander one more time lol
@@othellosmistake how about you realise this is an insect tribal and you notice that literally every creature is an insect? Mitch built the deck with that in mind, this wasn't his idea originally, it was a patreon's suggestion. So, to go with the whole THEME that they asked for, the mana elves are a dumb addition for insect TRIBAL, so you should just turn around and leave this conversation before you make yourself look dumber.
TL:DR, Mitch was given a prompt for Grist insect tribal, so the decks got only insects for that literal reason.
@@AkureiLyvnn I think that makes it worse actually. Mitch didn't build anything btw. He just read the top list off EDHrec. It's not against theme to both lower the cost and make the deck better.
Ant Queen is 99c right now. It's a great card.
Good video but I think when you explain shapeshifter once, you don't have to explain it again.
im actually in the middle of building this deck right now though not this EXACT deck but pretty close in terms of operation amd card choice
Does grist’s static ability allow it to be a commander? Or is this an illegal deck?
Yes, it's a legendary insect as long as it's not on the battlefield.
Anyone know how grist interacts with dermotaxi?
Would love to see the $100 and break the bank versions.
My guess would be that a break the bank version oft Grist ends up with Maskwood Nexus and Conspiracy as keypieces.
sorry if this is a stupid question but how can grist be your commander/?
It’s a 1/1 insect creature when not on t)3 battlefield. So it’s technically a legendary creature.
Because of the text "isn't on the battlefield" means while in the command zone, it's a legendary planeswalker insect creature.
Oogie Boogie, the deck!
Whats the power scale on this
syr konrad the grim. Mill insects into the graveyard? Everyone take damage. Forever young back to topdeck? Everyone take damage. Mill them again? Everyone take damage
I reccomend Mortal Combat. Alt win con for a full graveyard
Is this actually a commander you can use? I don’t see anything saying that it can be used as a commander
"As long as Grist, the Hunger Tide isn't on the battlefield, it's a 1/1 Insect creature in addition to its other types."
So in the graveyard, in your hand, in exile, and also in the command zone, Grist is 1/1 insect creature as well as a legendary planeswalker with 3 starting loyalty.
Being a creature in the command zone allows Grist to be a legal commander.
WotC needs to release a Golden Pig commander
I swear if this video spikes any of these cards before I am able to buy some of them…
Can grist be a commander if he doesnt have "this planeswalker can be your commander" ?
Yeah cuz she’s a 1/1 insect creature when not on the battlefield.
This deck sorely lacks a Swarm Yard
First Also, showcase reaper king in a commander fight, that would be sick
It doesn’t say it can be your commander. How are you using it as such
literally everyone knows you can use it as such and Maro himself said you can use it as a commander
Because if it's not on the battlefield, it's a creature with the Legendary supertype. The command zone is not on the battlefield, so Grist is a creature.
patriarchs bidding & living death. play more bugs
how man forests and swamps?
But luck has it that you always mill your recursion pieces and never actually draw them
is this allowed to be a commander?
Where is Swarmyard?
Did you mean swarmyard?
Can you play Grist as a commander without the text about him being able to be your commander? I guess if you were playing with friends, you could but I doubt at an LGS it would be allowed.
He is a creature when not on the battlefield, so he is totally legal as a commander
yes. you can play him as commander thanks to his static ability. this was confirmed by the commander rules. comittee
Grist is a creature.
@@xCratuss and you can play the triggered abilities from the command zone then since you can't bring her onto the battlefield?
@@willipic why you think you cant bring her into the battlefield? from the command zone that would be op af xD you still have to cast her. But she becomes a regular planeswalker on the board. I am surprised how many people didnt know about this.
So what is the commander for the deck? It cant be grist because its a planeswalker and it doesnt have text that says it can be a commander
The text says: As long as Grist, the Hunger Tide isn’t on the battlefield, it’s a 1/1 Insect creature in addition to its other types.
So it can be your commander
Can she be a commander? Isnt it supposed to say it on the card?
Grist says "When it is not on the battlefield, Grist is a 1/1 insect creature as well as it's other types", which means even in the command zone, it would be a "Legendary Planeswalker Creature - Insect"
@@AkureiLyvnn bruh I see, Thx
Can any legendary planeswalker be a commander?
Because Grist is considered an insect creature in addition to its other types outside of the battlefield it can be your commander
in this case thanks to his static abiliy, yes he can!
Walker Karen Martinez Anthony Anderson Michael
This can't legally be a commander right? I thought only planeswalkers where the card text says you can were legal commanders?
It has the text that if it is anywhere other than the battlefield it is a 1/1 insect creature which means it is a legal commander.
yes he is a legal commander because in the command zone he is a *Legendary Planeswalker Creature - Grist Insect*
So where exactly is Bayou? Doesnt look to me as this is build to win, its just a Kitchen Table Throw Thematic o.o
Why do you keep making decks around the same idea of decks I made a month or two ago, this one and the play other people cards deck
Well, this one was a suggestion from a Patreon that they wanted Mitch to make..
She can’t be a commander, it is not written in the card