The 30 Best Grixis Cards in Magic Ranked

Last updated on March 30, 2026

Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God | Illustration by Raymond Swanland

Grixis is one of the best color combinations in MTG, if your goal is to cause pain around the table, draw a bunch of cards, or make players discard. It’s the color of raw card advantage and malicious acts, personified by one of MTG’s best villains, Nicol Bolas. He’s wise, aggressive, ruthless, evil, and that’s what Grixis is all about.

Today, we take a look at the best cards this color combination has to offer. A quick note, before we begin: Although this article isn’t specifically aimed at Commander, most of the tri-color cards these days are aimed at that format, so expect to see a lot of legendary creatures (that are also good commanders) and expensive spells.

What Are Grixis Cards in MTG?

Sedris, the Traitor King | Illustration by Paul Bonner

Grixis cards are cards with a blue, black, and red color identity. If green and white are the colors of creatures, nature balance, and community, then blue, black, and red often seek to undo that balance. These are often cards that give you immediate card advantage when you cast them, and you get even more benefits as the game goes on.

For example, some cards enter and draw, make your opponents discard, remove something, or some combination of those effects. It’s common for Grixis cards to use the graveyard in some way, either casting cards from there or stealing cards from your opponents’ graveyards.

#30. Nicol Bolas

Original Nicol Bolas still packs a punch, especially if you can give it haste to surprise someone. It’s at the bottom of this list because it’s a big, expensive card with no real defense, and you need to pay on upkeep every turn. That’s why a card like Swiftfoot Boots works so well in many scenarios because it offers haste and protection for your 8-mana threat.

#29. Thraximundar

Thraximundar is a big hasty beatstick. It already attacks as a 7/7, and when you’re sacrificing your own stuff in an aristocrats deck, this card can one-shot players. At worst, they’ll sacrifice a creature and chump with another one, and that’s not that bad. 

#28. Sedraxis Specter

Sedraxis Specter is a take on a classic card, Hypnotic Specter, but with Grixis mana. It’s okay as a 3/2 flier that makes your opponent discard, but the best part about this card is the unearth ability. You can mill this card or discard it to another effect, and still unearth it with haste to catch someone off guard, and it’s much better when you have discard synergies.

#27. Sedris, the Traitor King

Giving every creature you have unearth is almost like a Past in Flames for creatures. Sedris, the Traitor King can give you a lot of value from your own graveyard, especially when you have many creatures that enter and do something strong. Or just big creatures that wreak havoc when they attack.

#26. Phyrexian Tyranny

In a Commander world where many decks make players draw cards with wheels effect, this card is a nice payoff. Not that many players will have 10 mana or more available to prevent the life loss from Phyrexian Tyranny, and if they do, it’s good for you because they’re not doing anything relevant. The effect applies to you, too, so beware.

#25. Maestros Charm

Flexibility is the name of the game here. Maestros Charm is never dead as a super Impulse that also fills your graveyard. And sometimes you’ll use this card as removal or as a life drain effect. It’s also a good spell to copy and make players lose a bunch of life, if you have something like Thousand-Year Storm.

#24. Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker

The first Nicol Bolas planeswalker card, and an 8-mana card at that, Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker is still worth having in your deck, especially in lower Commander Brackets. It’s one of the few ways Grixis can deal with enchantments cleanly, and alternating between a Bramblecrush and a Mind Control isn’t bad at all.

#23. Cruel Ultimatum

Cruel Ultimatum isn’t the powerhouse it once was, especially in a Commander world where you have to deal with multiple opponents, since this card targets. But it gives you a lot of value if you can resolve it. It’s best used in decks that can cheat out spells by casting instants and sorceries without paying their mana costs.

#22. Sauron, Lord of the Rings

Sauron, Lord of the Rings is pretty powerful, but it’s 8 mana nonetheless. You’ll get a 9/9 trampler that amasses orcs 5 (usually to create a 5/5) and reanimates something. It’s just on cast, though, so it’s not the best reanimate or blink target. If you need an excuse to play a lot of mana rocks and rituals, this might be it.

#21. Nicol Bolas, God-Pharaoh

For 7 mana, Nicol Bolas, God-Pharaoh delivers a lot. The +1 ability is perfect for Commander games to make all your opponents lose two cards every turn. The +2 gives you a card from an opponent, and you can choose whoever you think has the best card for you to steal. And if you can get to the ultimate, it’s a pretty strong Plague Wind effect that leaves you at a big advantage.

#20. In the Darkness Bind Them

In the Darkness Bind Them is a nice saga if you’re into Ring tempts you effects. Each turn, you’ll get a new 3/3 wraith token, giving you a lot of resources, and it feels like you’re really summoning the Nazgûl to your side. Combine this with Sauron, the Dark Lord, and you’ll draw a lot of cards, too.

#19. Admiral Beckett Brass

Admiral Beckett Brass is a strong leader for a pirate deck, and it does everything this deck wants, both mechanically and thematically. You can play all colors of pirates, they get stronger while the Admiral is in the field, and you have more incentives to attack. Many pirate cards have saboteur abilities as well, so you’ll want to hit your opponents anyway.

#18. Saruman, the White Hand

Saruman, the White Hand amasses army tokens while you’re casting noncreature spells, and you can “opt” between cheap spells or more expensive ones, if you want larger armies. It’s a card that leads its own decks or is a good support card in Sauron, the Dark Lord decks. The Lord of the Rings set has good Grixis support for amass cards, and goblins like Goblin Electromancer or Guttersnipe help Saruman while enjoying the ward protection.

#17. Obeka, Splitter of Seconds

Obeka, Splitter of Seconds deserves a mention because of how well it works with cards that produce a powerful effect on your upkeep. One obvious inclusion is the cycle of Court enchantments (Court of Ambition, etc.) that give you extra benefits when you’re the monarch on your upkeep, but don’t forget more common cards like Phyrexian Arena, Bitterblossom, or Twilight Prophet.

#16. Corpse Appraiser

Corpse Appraiser is a card that was heavily played in formats like Standard and Pioneer. Getting value when exiling cards from a graveyard is very important when people have powerful recursion cards or reanimation, and you’ll get card advantage and card selection this way. It’s a solid role-player, and you can exile creatures from your graveyard too, when opponents don't present better targets.

#15. Anhelo, the Painter

Anhelo, the Painter synergizes a lot with cards that produce 2/2 tokens, because it needs some fodder for the casualty 2 ability. Once you have a nice supply of 2-power creatures or tokens, it’s time to start copying powerful spells like Time Warp, Stock Up, spot removal spells, or even Cruel Ultimatum. To complement Anhelo’s powerful ability, you'll want cards that have magecraft, like Archmage Emeritus, because they’ll trigger when you cast and when you copy a spell.

#14. Bladecoil Serpent

Bladecoil Serpent is a nice design that gives us options in how we use our mana. lets you spend as much mana as you can, and depending on which colors, you’ll either draw many cards, make your opponent discard cards, or produce a powerful trampling threat. for a 6/4 trampler with haste that draws a card and makes everybody discard a card sounds like a great Cube card, since it’s flexible and bridges the gap between many strategies.

#13. Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God

Nicol Bolas, Dragon-God is a powerful planeswalker, even if its mana cost is a bit restrictive. Making everybody choose between exiling a card from their hand or a permanent is powerful, but it’s weak to tokens. It’s nice that you can copy all planeswalker abilities on the field, not only yours. This card shines in planeswalker-heavy decks that can gum up the board to protect it while giving more options of abilities to copy.

#12. Norman Osborn / Green Goblin

By itself, Norman Osborn is a 1/1 unblockable creature that connives, which means it gets stronger as time goes by, while discarding key cards to use later. Transforming this card into Green Goblin, or just casting it outright means you’ll have cost reduction on all spells you cast from your graveyard (not only instants and sorceries), and you can set up an engine where you discard a card and immediately cast it for a reduced cost. Or even cast some artifacts like Prophetic Prism for free.

#11. Marchesa, the Black Rose

Marchesa, the Black Rose makes it free to attack the player with most life. You’ll put a counter on the creature, and if it dies, you get to return it to the battlefield, usually getting more benefits when they enter. You can play a saboteur gameplan with Marchesa at the helm, sleeve up some evasive creatures that get stronger, combo with enter effects and ninjutsu, or even get more value out of the persist mechanic.

#10. Abaddon the Despoiler

Abaddon the Despoiler can give you a lot of value by giving your spells cascade. You’ll have to make your opponents lose life, but in Commander games it’s fairly easy to deal 1 damage to each player, and thus your spells with mana value 3 or less gain cascade. You can combine that with Rakdos, Lord of Riots, a famous commander that lowers the cost of creature spells, also based on life loss, to make a powerful combo.

#9. Inalla, Archmage Ritualist

Inalla, Archmage Ritualist makes great use of the eminence mechanic. Just cast a wizard and immediately pay more mana to create a token copy of it until the end of the turn. Or twice as many tokens with Naban, Dean of Iteration. Or Harmonic Prodigy. And you don’t even need Inalla around for the ability to work. Suddenly, you’re drawing a bunch of cards with your wizards, or retrieving instants and sorceries from your graveyard at double the rate.

#8. Wick, the Whorled Mind

The play pattern with Wick, the Whorled Mind is basically to cast some rats, make a big slug, and sacrifice it to deal damage to opponents while drawing cards. It’s a win condition and a source of card advantage. Plus, rats are a well-supported creature type, and you can create a lot of rat tokens quickly with cards like Song of Totentanz or Vren, the Relentless.

#7. Fire Lord Azula

The best part of Fire Lord Azula is that it can copy any number of spells you cast, as long as it’s attacking. Need more mana? Cast rituals. Need more cards? Cast cantrips. Just copying a card like Big Score is powerful, giving you many cards and Treasure tokens. It’s easy to get huge value when Azula attacks, even if it dies during the fight.

#6. Sauron, the Dark Lord

Sauron, the Dark Lord is one of the top Grixis commanders, and with good reason. It’s an extremely powerful card and a massive body, but it’s also versatile to build around. The ward ability is very powerful, and sacrificing something legendary is a real cost. Plus, the ability to discard your hand and draw four cards is a lot of card advantage, so you’ll often cast a lot of spells, get empty-handed, and just refill by drawing four cards.

#5. Nekusar, the Mindrazer

Nekusar, the Mindrazer is a pretty popular Grixis commander just because it is the strategy. Making players lose life while they draw cards is interesting because you’re giving them more cards, but you deal damage at the same time. They want to draw more cards, so they’ll be tempted to leave your Nekusar alive. But when you can chain your combos and your wheel effects, they might as well be dead. It’s nice to complement this strategy with cards like Sheoldred, the Apocalypse or Psychosis Crawler.

#4. Nicol Bolas, the Ravager / Nicol Bolas, the Arisen

Nicol Bolas, the Ravager is an efficient creature that saw competitive play in many formats. Having a 4/4 flier that immediately makes your opponent discard a card is great and scales well in Commander, and you have the option to turn it into a powerful planeswalker that upticks by drawing two cards. Not to mention the reanimation and removal abilities.

#3. Kess, Dissident Mage

Kess, Dissident Mage is one of the better cards to support a spellslinging strategy. What else do you want besides to cast spells from your graveyard? With this card around, you just need a good supporting crew that benefits when you cast noncreature spells. Also, Kess is a strong competitive combo enabler that synergizes with cards like rituals or tutors, provided you use its ability on your turns.

#2. Kefka, Court Mage / Kefka, Ruler of Ruin

Very similar to Nicol Bolas, the Ravager, Kefka, Court Mage is pretty interesting. Not only are you making your opponent discard, but you also draw cards based on which cards are discarded, which is pretty powerful. It’s a great blink target, and later in the game, you can transform it into Kefka, Ruler of Ruin, a strong flier that can draw you so many cards just by attacking and dealing damage.

#1. Be'lakor, the Dark Master

Be'lakor, the Dark Master does it all, really. It’s a big, evasive demon, it gives you a strong reason to have demons around, and it replaces itself, among other things. Just making a copy of Be’lakor means 6 damage to any target and at least two cards. And once you have good demons around, blinking it gives you a free tutor effect on top of the extra damage when it enters.

Best Grixis Payoffs

Blue, black, and red all have cheap instants and sorceries to play, which favors a spellslinging strategy. Cards like Young Pyromancer and Guttersnipe shine in these environments.

If you rely more on black and red, there’ll be some sacrifices, so Mayhem Devil is a natural choice. You’ll be removing some creatures and planeswalkers, so you’ll probably be the table’s fun police. And when creatures die, you can further profit with certain mechanics like morbid.

From the blue and black side, you can exploit theft, draw, and discard. Cards that get better when you cast or control permanents you don’t own, like Agent of Treachery, are good in these situations.

Between all the drawing, discarding, and wheeling, you can support reanimation, too. Look for cards that get value from a filled graveyard or that you can cast from the graveyard cheaper than from your hand. Unearth is also a really good mechanic here.

What Is Grixis Good at in MTG?

Aside from making people’s lives miserable, Grixis is usually good at getting midrange value. You get access to the best spot removal in black and red, discard, card draw, and more. Think about what Jund () is famous for doing, but instead of strong green threats, you have access to blue fliers, blue card draw, and counterspells. Unlike Azorius () or Esper (), Grixis Control decks are often tap-out decks instead of draw-go decks.

Grixis is good at getting more value from its own graveyard with mechanics like flashback and unearth, or discard-matters decks. It’s also good at spellslinging, adding black to classic Izzet () spellslinging, with cards like Kuja, Genome Sorcerer, Black Mage's Rod, and Sedgemoor Witch.

Creature typal decks like wizards can be found in this color combination, and it’s a strong artifact color combo as well.

Commanding Conclusion

Grixis Charm | Illustration by Lars Grant-West

I love Grixis cards, and I usually play a Grixis deck whenever it’s viable. The combination of discard, counterspell, direct damage, and recursion means that you’ll usually have the right tools for the job, especially if the game goes long. Plus, there are many different engines you can set up with Grixis cards, with different gameplay options, and that’s one thing I appreciate from a color combination.

What are your favorite Grixis cards, guys? Did I forget one of your favorites? Let me know in the comments below, or let’s discuss it over on the Draftsim Discord.

Want to see the best cards in other color combinations? We've got them: Bant, Naya, Jund, Esper, Sultai, Temur, Mardu, Abzan, Jeskai.

Thanks for reading, and keep beating your opponents with card advantage.