Mind Seize Precon: Decklist, Value, and Verdict

Mind Seize might be the weakest of the Commander 2013 precons. Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge’s ability triggers by casting it from the command zone multiple times for more and more mana each time. I might be old-fashioned, but I thought green decks made lots of mana, not Grixis ones?

Recasting your commander over and over has never been the best play considering you have 99 other cards you’re also interested in playing. On top of all that you’re relying on your opponents’ top-decks to come up with a game ender and that’s almost never reliable.

• Magic the Gathering - Commander 2013 - Mind Seize Deck

The Grixis Mind Seize features Jeleva, Nephalia’s Scourge plastered across the front, all but ignoring the presence of the much more exciting Nekusar, the Mindrazer and Thraximundar.

This deck wants to play a control game, politically maneuvering itself in the early game by countering or killing opponents’ threats with instants and sorceries and then casting Jeleva, Nephalia's Scourge to dig through their libraries for a way to end the game. It can also feature Nekusar, the Mindrazer, at which point the deck runs by wheeling and forcing draws on your opponent with Prosperity, Jace's Archivist, and Spiteful Visions.

It’s a slow deck without any single huge threats that prefers to spread its damage out with cards like Starstorm and Army of the Damned.

• All 8 Grixis Commander Precons in Magic Ranked by Jeff Dunn (June 3, 2026)