Claim//Fame was one of the cards that was spoiled from Hour of Devastation that peaked the interest of Grixis Death Shadow players such as myself. Now that the set is out it is time to answer whether or not it good enough to claim a place in an already powerful deck? This is the first time we have had a similar card to Unearth in modern but is this what the deck wants?

Let’s look at the card itself . The first half of the card returns a creature from the graveyard to the battlefield if its converted mana cost is 2 or less. This ability is very powerful in a format like Modern when most of the powerhouse creatures cost 2 or less such as Tarmogoyf , Snapcaster Mage and the all-important Death’s Shadow amongst many others. So, in a deck like Grixis Death Shadow, containing playsets of both Snapcaster Mage and Death’s Shadow, this card seems like an obvious fit.

The second part of the card or the aftermath ability (can only be cast from a graveyard) allows one target creature to gain haste and +2+0 for the remainder of the turn. So, for a mere 3 mana you can return a creature and attack with it on the same turn. This mode can lead to a lot of top deck kills and surprise kills, which is the main reason I like this card in the deck. This is part due to the way in which currently when someone kills one of your threats they might feel safer to start attacking and pressuring your life total, however this is a card that your opponents will have to start playing around. This might buy you time to catch back up in the game. Another great upside to this card is it can be cast from the graveyard so if you were to mill it with Thought Scour you could just cast it and get free value which is always sweet.

Ok so now we have looked at the card but the question remains is Claim// Fame good enough for Grixis shadow.  Let’s begin by looking at my old Grixis Shadow list from my recent 10-5  finish at Grand Prix Las Vegas and see what we would cut from this to make space.

My list contained Rise//Fall for the mirror as I expected there to be a lot of the mirror in Vegas, but as I tested the card it was great in most matchups as the Hymn to Tourarch effect was extremely powerful. Despite this it is most likely the card I would cut from the deck as this deck has only a few flex slots within the deck and most of the cards are necessary for the the deck to function.

Ok so this is the deck I’m going to play this deck for the foreseeable future.

I have added Temur Battle Rage and 2 Claim//Fame and 2 Liliana’s Defeat in the sideboard. With Claim//Fame in the deck and many copies of Lingering Souls running around I believe that battlerage is now going to be good for the deck.

Ok so now I have come to the end of my article and now it’s time to answer the question is Claim//Fame good enough for Grixis Death Shadow.

Yes, it is. But this answer may change during the weeks of testing.  

Thanks again for reading my article see you next time. If you have any questions or comments, please post in the comments below.