Goyf Sligh (RG Beats)
Introduction
What is Goyf Sligh? Goyf Sligh is a traditional RG beats deck – little men and burn. The deck aims to play a critter on turn 1 and possibly turn 2, sneak in some combat damage, and then finish with burn spells to the dome. What has renewed this tired deck is the printing of the best “little” man ever – Tarmogoyf. For a measly, you get a great Power to CC ratio critter. Two or three unblocked swings from Goyf + a few burn spells is often enough to beat many opponents. Plus, Goyf gives the deck what it sorely lacked – a late game finisher.
Goyf Sligh is a good deck but not a great deck. It is easy to play but also easy to hate. Now I’m not talking about “Affinity easy to hate,” but if you play Goyf Sligh, you must accept a few unfortunate realities. There exists plenty of relevant cards that big-job this deck. Silver Knights carrying Jittes? CounterTop? Chalice for 1? Fast combo?
Playing the deck is rather straight forward and great for rusty players like me. Simply cast your critters first, clear out any blockers, and then when your critters are outclassed, toss burn at the opponents head. Simple and effective.
Feel free to read the original Dryad Sligh Thread. It has an excellent opening post and is even more detailed than this one. For example, it has a quick but worthwhile guide to play strategy:
“-It’s better to start off with a creature rather than burn, except when your opponent’s on the play and casts a Lackey. More on this later.
-Maximize your mana. Take advantage of the fact that the deck’s curve is pretty low.
-Don’t be afraid to block! Yes, this is an aggro deck, but when you’re forced to block (which is usually in the late game), don’t panic. You have burn for reach anyway.
-Aiming your 3 damage spells at X/1’s if you have to clear the way is not wastage. Especially not when you absolutely have to kill the creature (Confidant, Mother of Runes, etc.)
-Sacrificing lands for Fireblast in response to LD is sometimes the btter play, even when it leaves you with one land. Better than nothing, plus it feeds your Lavamancer.”
Lists
My List (Heavily based off of Dean Bilz’s T8 list)
Creatures (16)
4 Mogg Fanatic
4 Grim Lavamancer
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Quirion Dryad
Spells (26)
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Chain Lightning
4 Lava Dart
4 Magma Jet
3 Fireblast
3 Seal of Fire
2 Incinerate
2 Price of Progress
Lands (18)
4 Taiga
4 Wooded Foothill
2 Bloodstained Mire
1 Forest
7 Mountain
A Japanese List:
Creatures (19)
4Mogg Fanatic
4Kird Ape
3Grim Lavamancer
4Tarmogoyf
4Quirion Dryad
Spells (22)
4Lightning Bolt
4Chain Lightning
3Reckless Charge
3Lava Dart
4Fireblast
4Seal of Fire
Lands (19)
7Mountain
1Forest
4Taiga
4Wooded Foothills
3Bloodstained Mire
A German List:
Creatures (20):
1Magus of the Moon
4Tarmogoyf
4Mogg Fanatic
4Kird Ape
3Grim Lavamancer
2Skyshroud Elite
2Tin Street Hooligan
Spells (22):
4Magma Jet
3Price of Progress
4Fireblast
4Lightning Bolt
1Chain Lightning
3Rancor
2Blood Moon
1Pithing Needle
Lands (18):
3Bloodstained Mire
4Wooded Foothills
1Volcanic Island
4Taiga
4Mountain
2Forest
The Basics – Mandatory Cards
Mandatory Critters (12)
- 4 Goyf – The best beater in the game. See the Introduction if you need an explanation as to why you should play him.
- 4 Fanatic – He is the little man that helps improve your odds of removing those Bridge from Below
. And BTW, he kills so many utility critters – Confidants, BoPs, and Elves – and trades with 2 toughness. Plus he helps kill opposing Goyfs in a Goyf-standoff.
- 4 Grim– Another little man that helps kill opposing Goyfs in a Goyf-standoff. Also, you can use this guy to manipulate the size of the Goyfs. Grim’s job is to deal 4+ damage to the opponent and/or keep chump blockers off the table.
Mandatory Burn (11)
- 4 Lightning Bolt – It’s the best burn spell ever. Three damage, instant speed, 1cc.
- 4 Chain Lightning – It’s arguably the 2nd best burn spell ever.
- 3 Fireblast – This is your brutal finisher that keeps most opponents quaking in their boots. Even though we love a “free” 4 damage spell, I don’t recommend running more than three. It will be too tough to support four copies.
Mandatory Lands (18-20)
- 1 Forest – This is necessary for avoiding Wasteland and having dead Goys in hand. If you are running more than 4 Green spells, I would not run the deck without the single forest. If your only Green spells are Goyfs, then you can consider dropping this for a basic Mountain.
- 4 Taiga –Wasteland is still popular enough that you should play these carefully and only when necessary. If it does get targeted by Wasteland, consider sacking it to a Lava Dart or Fireblast.
- 4 Wooded Foothill – obviously
- 2-4 Bloodstained Mire – I personally feel that 6 sac lands may be enough, but you may wish to run 8.
- X – Mountains
- 0-2 – Barbarian Ring – I don’t advise playing the Ring since you can’t sac it to Fireblast (or Dart) and you already have one non-Mountain land. Plus, damage from sac lands and the Ring may simply be too much to handle.
The Core Deck:
Creatures (16 or more)
4 Goyf
4 Fanatic
4 Grim
4 (Meta/personal choice)
Burn Spells (20 or more)
4 Lighnting Bolt
4 Chain Lightning
3 Fireblast
9 or more various Burn spells.
Lands 18-20
4 Taiga
4 Foothill
2-4 Bloodstained Mire
1 Forest
X Mountains
The “Advanced” Choices– Choose cards from these possible cards and metagame calls
Possible Critters (4-8)
This deck wants critters that are cheap, efficient, and full of "face-beatings." I currently see no critter that costs 3 that could fit in this deck.
- Quirion Dryad – I recommend running this guy although many do not. He often swings for 3 or 4 on turn 3 and has the possibility of getting bigger than many of the critters on the board. He is a nice target for your opponent’s removal – leaving your Goys unmolested. If given the choice between playing him or Goyf on turn 2, 9/10 times you want to play him. Lastly, if you decide to run Dryad, I recommend running Lava Dart for its ability to “double pump” your Dryad.
- Kird Ape – Ape has fallen out of favor with me. He will never be more than a 2/3 and has no special abilities. However, some people run him for the ability to swing on turn 2 for 2. Is that turn 2 swing so valuable that we can run a now sub-par critter? I think not. If you are running him, consider switching to the creature heavy versions that play Rancor and/or Reckless Charge
- Skyshroud Elite - See above since this little man is essential a Kird Ape.
Possible Burn (13-15)
Not only do you want your burn to be cheap, you want it to be flexible. It will not only be tossed at the opponent's grill, but it will also be used to clear out blockers. With the exception of Price of Progress, the burn must be able to target both players and creatures.
- Incinerate – Simple burn, fairly costed. And on a rare occasion you get to remind your opponent that he cannot regenerate his critter
- Magma Jet – I recommend running this card as a four of. Even though its burn to mana ratio is far from hot, this deck needs any sort of library manipulation it can get. Scry away those late game lands and critters and try to find the finishing burn spells.
- Price of Progress – I recommend two main. No burn spell scales so immensely. Nothing feels as good as dealing 8 damage from a 2cc spell. Once, against Aluren, this card did 18 damage over two games and I only cast it twice. However, it can be dead and opponents can sometimes play around it. On a rare occasion, you'll curse it for not being able to taget creatures.
- Lava Dart – Run this only if you are running Dyrad. I do like the ability to spread my damage out over 2 turns, but this spell can be rather underwhelming when you’re looking to deal 3 damage.
- Seal of Fire – You can run this over Shock to help pump that Goyf. Also, it is an acceptable first turn play in so much as it saves mana during the later turns.
- Tarfire – rather meh, but it is cute for pumping Goyf a little extra.
- Pyrite Spellbomb – FU, Silver Knight, FU. Hardly cost effective, but it could be theoretically cycled at a key time. And, of course, it puts an artifact in the yard for Goyf pumps.
- Cursed Scroll – another possible answer to Silver Knight. Also recurring damage can’t be too bad, right? Unfortunately, this is a great Pithing Needle target and surprisingly mana hungry.
- Rift Bolt – 3 damage for 1 mana. However, this deck often hits top deck mode and “hard casting” this spell is terribly cost inefficient compared to your other spells. Also, it is hardly any good with an early Dryad.
Possible Spells for Creature Heavy Versions (not recommended for decks running less than 17 creatures):
- Rancor – makes anything bigger and full of Trample
- Reckless Charge – don’t forget to flash it back
- Jitte – Personally, I feel that Jitte is too mana hungry for this deck. If you are running Jitte, than be sure to run 20 or more lands.
Side Board
Mandatory SB Cards
- Krosan Grip – You must have a way to deal CounterTop and Jitte. I’d run Naturlize but it doesn’t have Split Second, now does it?
Possible SB Cards
- Price of Progress – more efficient burn
- Tormod’s Crypt – for the yard reliant combo decks
- Pryoclasm – screw goblins and the new popular Elf decks.
- Flamebreak – I prefer Pyroclasm because of its cheaper cc.
- Pithing Needle – the catchall answer to troublesome permanents
- Tin Street Hooligan – a beater and artifact removal
- Red Blasts – I originally thought that these may be good in the board, but they don’t deal any damage. And, son, you’re running a burn deck, not a control deck.
- Pyrostatic Pillar - Personally, I don't like "passive" cards like this, but it can be helpful against storm combo.
The Sucky Stuff That Should Not Be in The Deck:
- Browbeat – 3 mana for a sorcery speed 5 damage spell is not that good in Legacy. Plus, it lets the opponent make a strategic decision that will never be in your favor.
- Shock – Is there a reason to play this over Tarfire or even Seal of Fire?
- Lava Spike – It can’t target critters. You want as much flexibility as possible. “But wait, Price or Progress doesn’t target critters!” Fair enough, but Lava Spike will never deal ten damage to the opponent.
- Chain of Plasma – This is a 2cc spell that will be copied to kill your critters. No thanks. Once again, this is a card that lets your opponent make a strategic decision that will never be in your favor. If you are looking for a 3 damage spell for
, run Incinerate.
Even more variants:
Black Splash Variant (Japanese List)
Creatures (23)
4Mogg Fanatic
4Dark Confidant
4Tarmogoyf
3Blood Knight
3Grim Lavamancer
3Keldon Marauders
2Goblin Tinkerer
Spells (18)
4Lightning Bolt
3Fireblast
3Pyrite Spellbomb
3Reckless Abandon
3Chain Lightning
2Cursed Scroll
Lands (19)
4Bloodstained Mire
4Badlands
4Taiga
3Wasteland
2Snow-Covered Mountain
1Polluted Delta
1Wooded Foothills
Even though Goyf Sligh sorely needs card drawing, I’d hate to butcher the already shaky mana base by adding black. Dark Confidant is also a critter that hardly ever lives to do his job. Plus, I want beaters in this deck, not critters that will sit on the table and be overvalued. Lastly, don’t let him flip over Fireblast.
A creature heavy German List:
Creature (21)
4 Kird Ape
4 Mogg Fanatic
2 River Boa
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Troll Ascetic
4 Vinelasher Kudzu
Spells (16)
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Chain Lightning
2 Life from the Loam
3 Rancor
2 Seal of Fire
2 Umezawa's Jitte
Land (24)
3 Bloodstained Mire
2 Forest
4 Mishra's Factory
2 Mountain
4 Taiga
4 Wasteland
1 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills
Originally Posted by Cavius The Great
Isn't this just like Dryad sligh that simply added a Goyf?
Shouldn't this be in the New and Developmental Decks Forum?
I'm not trying to bring this idea down or anything but shouldn't there be more testing before putting it in this forum?
YES! A chance to quote myself!
Here is a list of its recent T8 performances:
Cuse
Germany
Germany
Japan
Mass
The deck has been around for a rather long time in its weaker Goyf-less version. It is a "finished" decks which is optimized and thoroughly tested. Maybe the Dryad Sligh thread should have been moved earlier.
[Removed poor joke]
-Edit-
Just kidding. I was reading your comments about creatures and saw how you didn't like Kird Ape. I always thought that Kird Ape was a staple in R/G beats. Is there simply no room for the classic?
I really think that the black splash is too good to not run. I think the right way to go with it is take advantage of blacks disruption and let the deck slow down but be more consistent (for example no all or nothing Fireblasts). I've been running this list for a while:
//Creatures (16)
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Q. Dryad
4 Nantuko Shade
4 Dark Confidant
//Burn (12)
4 Bolt
4 Chain
4 Magma Jet (or Seal of Fire or Mogg Fanatic)
//Discard (12)
4 Duress
4 Hymn
4 Thoughtseize
//Land (20)
8 Black fetches
4 Bayou
4 Badlands
3 Swamp
1 Mountain
It's almost GAGOMY, but I think it fits here better. I really like this build because it can play aggro or aggro/control thanks to the strength and independence of its creatures (much like Thresh, I only ever really need one on the board to win) and Dark Confidant is just too perfect in Sligh to pass up.
I'm having trouble with pinning down that burn spot as I love Magma Jet (and it is great with Dryad) but it might be too mana intesive, and Seal is great to pump Goyf, and Fanatic is his usual amazing self (I'd definitely go with him if I ran Jitte, but there is really no reason for it here). Lava Dart is not something I had considered, but I'm not sure it fits.
I've never seen him so upset....or ever before.
But nothing in Amercia, so those don't count.
The E.P.I.C. Syndicate: I mean, if they play a lullaby for babies they should at least play the Monster Mash when somebody dies.
Why not splash blue for complete brokeness with Wee Dragonauts and Intuition?
A local plays this deck since ages and it can do some really stupid things and doesn't look all that off from this list. You basically sacrifise some aggressiveness/creatures and burn for a more combo-like finish and more carddraw/filtering.
I don't have his exact list, but it roughly looks like this:
Code:4 Wee Dragonauts 4 Quirion Dryad 4 Tarmogoyf 3 Intuition 4 Accumulated Knowledge 4 Brainstorm 4 Ponder 4 Force of Will 4 Lava Dart 4 Lightning Bolt 4 Chain Lightning 4 Wooded Foothills 1 Windswept Heath 2 Flooded Strand 2 Polluted Delta 3 Volcanic Island 3 Tropical Island 2 Taiga
I strongly advocate Pyrostatic Pillar here, especially in the more burn-oriented versions. Great against Thresh, Storm-based combo, a large number of control decks. It should be in the Sideboard, and could even add to the Maindeck.
On the Sep 2011 Ban List Updates,
I would avoid splashing a third color. Any benefit form Black (or Blue) can hardly justify butchering the mana base. Keep in mind, we don't have Thresh's cantrips to smooth the manabase and ensure land drops.
@ the Blue/Wee Dragonaut list
After looking at that list, I would ask myself, "Why not run UGr Thresh?" It could run better critters, the same burn, and better draw/manipulation.
@ the Black Nantuko Shady list.
Your mana should be used to cast burn spells after turn three - not pump a mediocre critter. Plus, making sure you haveon turn two could really be a pain. Goyf Sligh wants good top decks towards the mid/late game. Burn spells are good top decks - black discard spells are not. Plus, Goyf Sligh wants to run 16 or more burn spells.
Remember the game plan: early critter damage then finish with burn.
Pillar is a solid suggestion for the SB and I'll edit into the original post.
Is it possible that this deck could utilize Lotus Petal? It seems that it would help power out two early critters or a turn 1 Tarmogoyf or Quirion Dryad. Even a burn spell plus Fanatic would help get the early jump. It might hurt a bit in the late game, but I'm thinking this deck can use the tempo in the early game to win very quickly.
You mean my pet deck was actually close to getting out of N&D?! And P_R quoted me in an OP?! Cool..
Regarding Lotus Petal, it's not really worth it. If you fit in Petals, you'll be taking out either creatures (which lessens your permanent threat density), burn (which lessens your reach and removal), or lands (which the deck already runs a minimum of). I think the deck structure's fairly tight as it is, and besides, being red, it already has enough of an early start to win against non-combo.
Well I was thinking something like this -
4 Mogg Fanatic
4 Grim Lavamancer
4 Kird Ape
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Chain Lightning
4 Magma Jet
4 Incinerate
3 Fireblast
4 Lotus Petal
4 Wasteland
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Bloodstained Mire
3 Taiga
6 Mountain
Elite seem solid against almost every deck and Lotus Petal and Wasteland should provide tempo boost in many situations.
EDIT - I guess Elite is just worse than Kird Ape in this deck.
25 sources for mana is too much in the deck. I only have 18, and I think that number is just about right to avoid constant mullligans and have enough when one or two are Wastelanded or LD'd. Speaking of which, Wasteland is weak in the deck when there's nothing that could really complement it... I guess you could say that Wasteland "hampers" them while you beat down, but seriously, will any deck fold to a Wasteland not backed up by some other significant disruption?
This is in fact a pretty good deck. Here is the build that I've been wrecking face with lately, whenever I feel like taking a break from slivers:
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Taiga
1 Stomping Ground
6 Mountain
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Grim Lavamancer
4 Tin-Street Hooligan (solves a lot of problems!)
4 Kird Ape
4 Mogg Fanatic
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Chain Lightning
4 Magma Jet
4 Seal of Fire
3 Fireblast
2 Brute Force
I don't like basic Forest in the deck. I tried that way back when, and always found it clunky. I even sat down one night and goldfished several dozen games, keeping track of the games that I drew Forest and how it affected my critical turn. I found that putting a basic forest into play almost always slowed me down by a turn or more.
I also don't care for playing Lava Dart and Fireblast in the same deck, but I know many people swear by it. I just don't think the deck can easily support so many spells that require mountains to be sacrificed.
I agree that Kird Apes ain't what they used to be, but I haven't really come up with anything better to put in that slot.
I can take or leave Quirion Dryad in this deck. Obviously, it's terrific if you play it early. As we all know, it's also an annoying topdeck later in the game.
Oh, and I really don't get why people want to play Incinerate any more. It's just plain bad.
Btw, Engineered Explosives out of the sideboard has been amazing for me.
Team Info-Ninja: Shhh... We don't exist.
Magus of the Moon could be pretty good in here as at least a nominal form of disruption, when Creatures+Burn.dec won't cut it. It can hang out at the top of the curve and wreck random multicolored decks when they show up - though that may not be needed as much as combo protection, among other things.
I don't doubt that the basic Forest slows down the goldfish, but I believe it's a necessary evil in tournament play. If you are running 8 green spells, you will need that Forest for decks running Wastelands and random stupid situations like this one: My opponent is running Death and Taxes - a surprisingly rough match for me. Silver Knights and Jittes are big-jobbing me. He Ghost Quarters my friggin' Taiga to cut me off of Green for my SBed Grips. I search for my Forest
Magus of the Moon is a very interesting card. It doesn't quite fit into the plan of Cheap Beats and Burn, but it is alluring in so much as it can completely shut out an opponent. Against which decks would you play it? Also, is he worth giving up Price of Progress?*
* Quick rules check. Magus of the Moon in play makes Price of Progress suck, correct?
Nope, Magus doesn't hurt Price at all. They become non-basic Mountains.
They would still take damage from PoP as the lands would be non-basic mountains.
EDIT: Damn, beat me by 1 min.
info.ninja
Lol, poor monkey.
Anyone thought about using Burning-Tree Shaman as a sideboard card against control? It seems good versus a deck like Landstill or 43, despite the symmetrical pain.
hey so, would this be better with Wasteland, Port and Tangle Wire? A certain deck that ran those cards in extended was around forever.
A good friend of mine once said:
>Pron w/sound FTW... Actually, Porn FTW. Yep. Fixed.
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