Hello I'm Adriano Moscato and today I'm gonna share with you my deck guide of Goryo's Vengeance which is the deck that brought me to the TOP 4 of the MagicCon: Amsterdam 75k Modern Open thanks to which I qualified for the next Pro Tour.
This is the decklist I chose for the tournament.
This is a combo deck that tries to reanimate Atraxa, Grand Unifier or Griselbrand from your graveyard as soon as possible with Goryo's Vengeance or Priest of Fell Rites.
When you reanimate with Goryo's Vengeance you always want to Ephemerate the creature to not sacrifice it at the end of the turn. Remember that Goryo's Vengeance is an Instant so If you do it at the end of your opponent turn, the creature will be sacrified at the end of your turn.
The strength of the deck is also that you have Grief/Solitude + Ephemerate, that allows you to make a lot of advantage in early game.
After you reanimate your Atraxa and Ephemerate it is really hard to loose the game: you draw a lot of cards and with the help of 0-mana spells and creatures you can deal with all the cards your opponent has.
FALLAJI ARCHAEOLOGIST
Is one of the best card of the deck, it allows you both to dig for Goryo's Vengeance and put Atraxa, Grand Unifier or Griselbrand in your graveyard.
Is also good to take less damage in early game and find some early game answers to your opponent, and is extremely good with Ephemerate.
Is also good to take less damage in early game and find some early game answers to your opponent, and is extremely good with Ephemerate.
PRIEST OF FELL RITES
I never played this card before MH3 but I have to say it performed really well:
- The uncounterable unearth ability wins some games against decks with counters
- Sometimes you just go Turn 1 Thoughtseize or Grief to discard the answer and protect the Priest on turn 2, allowing you to reanimate on turn 3
- Without this card I used to lose games just because my 4 copy of Goryo's Vengeance were in like last 30 cards of the deck, with this you have another way to "combo".
GRIEF//SOLITUDE
Those elementals are the key of the deck, with Ephemerate they are just crazy! The 1st allows you to deal with most of the cards of your opponent deck and the second is so important to deal with opponent's creature. They are not important only in early game but also to protect your "combo" and to use them for free when you draw like 10 cards with Atraxa, Grand Unifier or 14 with Griselbrand.
ATRAXA, GRAND UNIFIER
This angel is the star of the deck!! The best creature you can reanimate and is insane with Ephemerate! Is also all of your colors so you can exile her to cast Grief/Solitude/Force of Negation.
GRISELBRAND
He's basically your 5th Atraxa, Grand Unifier. Like her, he allows you to make lifegain and card advantage, but is so worse with ephimerate and can be exiled only to cast Grief
EPHEMERATE
With elementals this card is also a key of the deck, is pretty good with all of your creatures and it allows you to not sacrifice the creature that came back with Goryo's Vengeance.
The deck wouldn't exist without this card.
THOUGHTSEIZE
A good way to protect your combo and early interact with your opponent, is also a sorcery to take with Atraxa, Grand Unifier to draw more cards.
GORYO'S VENGEANCE
The card that gives the name to the deck, the fact that is istant allows you to play against graveyard hate. You can also play around counters, by making one at the end of your opponent turn to make another in your.
You rarely want to use if you don't have another mana to cast Ephemerate on your creature, but sometimes you have to.
TAINTED INDULGENCE/FAITHFUL MENDING
You rarely want to use if you don't have another mana to cast Ephemerate on your creature, but sometimes you have to.
TAINTED INDULGENCE/FAITHFUL MENDING
Those cards allows you to put your big monsters to graveyard when you draw it. Both of them are also bicolor and are good to be exiled with your "free" spells.
PRISMATIC ENDING
PRISMATIC ENDING
This card allow you to remove all boring artifacts and permanents from battlefield. Is the best way you have to deal with graveyard hate, you cast this for example on a soul-guide lantern, your opponent will exile your graveyard in response and
you can cast instant-speed goryo at this point.
This 1x is important when you dig all your deck with Atraxa, Grand Unifier, having one in the deck to take can be game-changing.
BURIED ALIVE
I didn't like this card a lot, is a bit too slow for modern, in fact i started with 2, then dropped to 1 and now i'm considering to remove it. Is good with Priest of Fell Rites and obviously allows you to put Atraxa, Grand Unifier and Griselbrand to your graveyard. Is the card you side-out the most because is so bad against graveyard hate.
18 "MUST LANDS"
9x fetch, 3x shocklands, 3x surveilands, 3x basics are a MUST, so won't say anything about them.
OVERGROWN TOMB or HEDGE MAZE
Your decks needs a green mana source, because some times you have to "hard-cast" Atraxa, Grand Unifier
and to play Prismatic Ending with X equal 4(on a The One Ring for example)
I chose Overgrown Tomb over Hedge Maze because as 20th land i was playing Waterlogged Teachings // Inundated Archive and didn't want 5 tapped land in my mana base.
WATERLOGGED TEACHINGS or CEPHALID COLISEUM
I chose Overgrown Tomb over Hedge Maze because as 20th land i was playing Waterlogged Teachings // Inundated Archive and didn't want 5 tapped land in my mana base.
WATERLOGGED TEACHINGS or CEPHALID COLISEUM
I tried them and both are good 20th land choice.
I chose Waterlogged Teachings // Inundated Archive and I have to say it performed really well, you can consider it as a 5th really mana-expensive Goryo's Vengeance but i loved it because a lot of times you exile it with Grief or Force of Negation.
I chose Waterlogged Teachings // Inundated Archive and I have to say it performed really well, you can consider it as a 5th really mana-expensive Goryo's Vengeance but i loved it because a lot of times you exile it with Grief or Force of Negation.
SIDEBOARD
CONSIGN TO MEMORY
This is the best card vs tron and The One Ring decks, and you can use it also for cascade decks.
Depending from meta you can consider to play 3 of them.
CELESTIAL PURGE
This is your best answer to both Blood Moon and Leyline of the Void, it helps you a lot against mono-black that is your worst match-up.
Depending from meta you can consider to play 3 of them.
DRANNITH MAGISTRATE
Your best weapon against storm, if this in play storm is totally useless. Be careful to play it in the right spot(for exaple on turn 3 protected by an Ephemerate). And you can also side them against Phlage, titan of fire's fury decks and cascade decks.
WRATH OF THE SKIES
This card is super good. Even if you don't have other ways to generate energy it helps a lot against a ton of match ups(nadu over all). I'm definitely consider to play 3 of them.
TEFERI, TIME RAVELER
This card is really good against control decks and cascade decks, but is also a little slow so you can consider playing it or not based on meta.
FORCE OF NEGATION
Those 2 "free" counters are really good to protect goryo in your opponent turn against a lot of match ups and is also a really good counter against some combo decks(like storm).
SUBTLETY
I really liked the mono-copy of it in sideboard, i think is the right number. Is good in a lot of match ups(nadu over all) and is another elemental you can do things with Ephemerate.
PSYCHIC FROG
I have to talk a lot about this card...
I tried it in main deck when i was playing without the Priest of Fell Rites and this card is really good, is a powerful turn 2 play and allows you to discard big monsters to reanimate.
However i chose to play them in sideboard for two reasons:
- The tournament i was going to play was not "open-decklist" and most of the times your opponent side-out some cheap removals against your deck and that makes your frogs even better!
- Post side you straggle more against decks with a lot of graveyard hate, and this could be a plane B for that reason
MAY BE BOARD
Here there are some of the cards i'm considering for sideboard
SOLITUDE
This is the best card in mirror, in fact I lost round 1 mirror because he had some copies in sideboard, can be also good against combo decks: you can make a Thoughtseize or Grief and if you find a piece of their combo you can remove all of them from your opponent deck.
SUPREME VERDICT/TOXIC DELUGE
If meta turns on a lof of creature-based decks you might need another "wrath" effect in your sideboard.
SIDEBOARD GUIDE
NADU
I think Nadu is a positive match up for the deck, you can just be as fast as him but while he interupts you only with Endurance, you have a lot of ways to interact and after you resolve your Atraxa, Grand Unifier you can just discard his key cards and have a solitude if they topdeck.
Be careful if they can Chord of Calling for Endurance of play Summoner's Pact for it and remember that you can play around endurance with a Thoughtseize or Grief, and if they endurance in responde you can goryo instant-speed.
Also try to not keep hands too slow, nadu is so fast at doing his combo so you want at least some early interaction or a really fast goryo on Atraxa, Grand Unifier!
-1 priest(most of the time is risky to tap 2 mana for no interaction)
-1 buried alive (too slow)
-1 force of negation (even if you have some targets i don't like it in this match up)
+2 wrath of the sky +1 subltely (both really good in this match up)
TRON
I think we are slightely unfavourite in this match up, expecially g1, Grief + Ephemerate turn 1 is the best thing you can do as well as a really fast Atraxa, Grand Unifier.
Best card they have against you is Kozilek's Command because they can exile your graveyard really fast and ramp to make big monsters.
Post side the matchup becomes really better.
-3 priest
-1 buried alive
-2 solitude
-1 ending
+3 frog
+2 force of negation
+2 consign to memory
MONO BLACK NECRO
This match up is really bad, they have grave hate and too many discard spells, but i was not expecting a lot of this in meta, if you expect a lot of them you can put more Celestial Purge.
Priest + buried alive are good in this match up.
Be really carefull with dauthi voidwalker, if this hits an Atraxa or Griselbrand game is just over.
-2 faithful mending (can't do card disadvantage)
-2 thoughtseize
+2 force of negation (only if they have both ring and necro)
+2 celestial purge
JESKAI CONTROL(THE ONE RING)
This match up is positive, you can resolve your Goryo's Vengeance by making one at the end of turn and in your turn a discard spell + another Goryo's Vengeance: you have time to build this because he doesn't put a lot of pressure on you, but be careful because if he resolves The One Ring early it becomes hard.
-3 solitude
-1/2 ending (depends if they have graveyard-hate artifacts in side)
-2 faithful mending
+2 force of negation
+1 teferi, time reveler
+3 psychic frog
Some people put consign to memory in this match up, personally i don't like them for your plane.
BOROS ENERGY
This match up, like the other aggro decks with no interaction, are really positive.
Best way to beat them is to do Atraxa, Grand Unifier as soon as possible, but you can take some turns with your early interactions.
-2 thoughtseize
-1 buried alive
-3 priest
-1 force of negation
+2 drannit
+2 celestial purge
+2 wrath of the skys
+1 subtlety
If you don't have Celestial Purge in your hard be really careful with your fetches for Blood Moon.
STORM
This match up is really good, expecially post sideboard.
If you are not playing open decklist you can easy lose game 1, but post sideboard you just have Drannith Magistrate and too many/counters and discards, it's a nightmare for storm to play against all of that!
Remember that drannith magistrate is your best card in this match up, but you can easily protect it with Ephemerate/Force of Negation and you can also kill their removal spells from it.
-2 solitude
-1 buried alive
-1 priest
+2 force
+2 drannit
You can consider side in frogs on the play.
If you have more questions i will be happy to answer on X: @MoscatoAdriano
Thank you for reading!