With all the extremely competitive commanders available, why play Godo, Bandit Warlord?
There are several reasons:
Perhaps one of the most alluring reasons to play Godo: he's good. He has built in search, all too easy casting cost, and gets stronger every time he's played. He's also capable of inflicting 21 pts of dmg before the enemy has time to develop virtually any resources.
Competitive against ANY deck, yes you can finish off even the most competitive deck in short order.
Blue decks are probably the most heavily played of the five colors, and Godo excels at ending control players.
All business. This is one of the most consistent decks and has many favorable matchups. That is, you will have Godo on the table turn 4-5 over 50 percent and on turn 2-3 roughly 10 percent. Godo on turn 2 digging Sword of war and Peace will make even the mightiest opponents sweat.
Most of the cards mentioned are self explanatory hate. Gorilla Shaman can be absolute murder against low cc artifacts. Combust is not on the list because it is strictly inferior to the blasts. Meltdown will most likely destroy you fast than your opponent. Dwarven Miner, Dwarven Blastminer, Seismic Mage aren't terrible, but tend to be a bit mana intensive for my tastes.
Next, lets discuss the various card choices for what hasn't been included by answering a few imminent questions.
This list isn't French legal, what would you replace for French legal version?
Sadly, this deck isn't even viable without srsly broken artifacts to power out an early Godo. Trying to ramp without the banned cards is moot, you'd be better off trying a Akroma, Angel of Fury build.
Where are the accelerators such as Extraplanar lensGauntlet of Power and Caged Sun?
Simply put: your plan is to have your opponent against the ropes via Godo or broken combos before the mid to late (3-6 cc) game. Also, artifact removal is quite prevalent in the format, so tapping out for 6 is quite risky indeed.
Where is Swiftfoot Boots? Swiftfoot Boots Believe it or not the 1 mana equip cost is too weighty. Consider a turn 2-3 Godo and tapped out as you will likely be. Fetching the boots without equip is worse than greaves every time.
Where is Blood MoonMagus of the Moon and Stranglehold?
After extensive playtesting, it is quite rare that Blood Moon actually disables your opponents mana base. In every case Ruination far superior. Stranglehold would be quite attractive if not for the mid game cc, by then your opponent has ramped/tutored already.
What are the good and bad matchups for this deck? After extensive playtesting:
Favorable: GAA4, Zur, Edric(banned), Teferi, Geist, Wydwen, almost all Blue
Unfavorable: Doran, Maelstrom Wanderer, Skittles, 5cc builds with full tutors
I don't understand which decks will be favorable matchups and which won't!
Does your opponent run 25+ dorks? If yes, it's unlikey Godo will connect without some serious help. Does your opponent run less than 10 creatures? It's quite likely Godo will be whirlwinding them in the face.
I have no idea how to play this deck, help!
Now that we've seen the list, let's go over some of the basic strategies: Early Godo, Mid Godo, and late/no Godo. As a general rule: Ramp like crazy cast Godo and select the appropriate weapon!
Early Godo- If you suspect your opponent is light in the removal/counter department, it's time to pillage like only Godo can. Don't be afraid to dump Crystal Vein or Dwarven Ruins early and get Godo online early. Top two weps early (choose one of these early if your opponent is playing multi colored) Sword of Fire and IceLightning Greaves. If you can afford it try for the Fire and ice as it will wreck your opponent, but don't feel bad to get those early swings or prepare for a mid/late godo with lightning greaves. Some interesting points here, be cautious with greaves as equipping it can limit your other equips. Generally I only go for greaves if I know the opponent has a strong endgame and I need to get damage up beforehand. Choices on monocolored: one of my favorite aspects of playing Godo is his ability to absolutely disable decks by choosing the appropriate weapon. Against mono black Sword of feast and famine tends to be stronger than Sword of light and shadow. Similarly, against mono white I tend to choose Sword of War and Peace over Sword of light and shadow.
Mid Game - If your opponent has a strong early game, avoid casting Godo early. Instead, hardcast your equipments and creatures, and let your other creatures gain control of the board via equipments/combos. Many times these combos will be enough to defeat your opponent without relying on Godo. Essentially, let your Army get some Arsenal equipped and stall the game for a combo (Kiki+MTGCARD, Koth etc)
Late Game - If your opponent has locked up the game or is stalling you out, don't fret. Devastation, Thoughts of Ruin and wipes like Earthquake should be able to turn things around. By now you may have casted Godo a few times so Godo will likely be pretty geared when you cast him a 2-4th time and left unchecked can end your opponent in a single turn.
Now that we've discussed very general deck aims, let's discuss strengths and weaknesses and follow up with specific match-up do's and don'ts.
Strengths - Extremely strong early game, Strong mid game, and moderately strong late game. Threatening turn 4 wins isn't something most cmdr decks are capable of, but this one is. While you may not have the strongest endgame such as Time Stretch recursion or other combos, cards like Combust can definitely slow those plans down.
Weaknesses - Fast ramp/combo decks such as Maelstrom Wanderer and Riku, of Two Reflections tend to be more troublesome than other aggro heavy decks. Your best bet against fast ramp is to drop Godo early and get the kill before they get momentum.
Control Blue - If you suspect they are running full set of clones, tutor Sword of fire and ice first for your other creatures. It will be much more difficult for them to deal with every creature who can equip it. Also, Valaukut, the Molten Pinnacle can be quite good with Solemn Simulacrum combos, be sure to get your Valukut with Expedition Map early if possible.
Edric and other weenie decks - Volcanic Fallout and friends can be a nightmare for these decks. This is a great match-up for Godo. Don't use a wipe unless you can kill 2-3 enemy creatures, unless you are preventing enemy draw.
Kaalia/LD aggro - your massive amounts of mana artifacts and burn pretty much neutralize this threat. Be wary of artifact destruction as it can take what should have been an easy win. Also, some decks use Arrest type cards. Equipping a sword with protection from one of the enchantment's colors will destroy it.
Well, I hope this guide has helped you understand a very fun commander. Good luck!
both have merits, but not really for this deck. often you dump your hand in 1-2 turns, so gamble takes more away than gives, i d rather just draw something else. as for wheel, giving your opponents cards without a control deck is probably just bad.
in my playtesting I found the high equip cost typically not worth it. E.g. an opening hand with argentum armor is no fun. In fact, armor is almost always a dead draw unless you have welder to help out. On batterskull, the lifelink and bounce are nice, but i d prefer two sword activations almost every time.
in my playtesting I found the high equip cost typically not worth it. E.g. an opening hand with argentum armor is no fun. In fact, armor is almost always a dead draw unless you have welder to help out. On batterskull, the lifelink and bounce are nice, but i d prefer two sword activations almost every time.
Fair enough my friend.
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Currently Playing
Modern
:rakdos::selesnya: goblins
:symr::symb::symg: Glass Cannon Griselbrand
decided 6 cc creatures too risky, aside from the obvious (mana drain, bribery) against the most prevalent contenders they are more of a liability than asset.
grafted exoskeleton is an amazing card and can win games in short order. sadly, it offers no protection, although i have seen and used myself this card to great effect. great idea, ill add it to the play testing. Also, considering kargan dragonlord.
Any reason not to run Mutavault, Ghitu Encampment, or Mishra's Factory as additional threat density that can carry a weapon or two? You still have enough mana and most of your spells don't require multiple red mana sources except for the stuff that is in the higher converted mana cost ranges. You're a mono-colored deck so color issues shouldn't be an issue.
Any reason not to run Mutavault, Ghitu Encampment, or Mishra's Factory as additional threat density that can carry a weapon or two? You still have enough mana and most of your spells don't require multiple red mana sources except for the stuff that is in the higher converted mana cost ranges. You're a mono-colored deck so color issues shouldn't be an issue.
stingscourger is a great red removal, more of a bounce, but his echo is the hurtful part, but with SoLaS he's easily recurable, and kiki makes fun copies of him too.
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It's not the fall that hurts, it's the sudden stop at the bottom.
the red mage lives by the variance and dies by the variance. May the variance be with you, always.
Thoughts about adding urabrask? Drop him turn out before Godo, if they had no dudes to block him leading up to his next turn you can always get a near guaranteed swing in.
I've been playing Godo for a couple of years now as he's kind of my pet deck. The catch? I've played him in multiplayer only. Recently the playgroup has expressed some interest in 1v1 due to an upcoming tournament so relearning the format is an understatement. Now with that said I'll speak on my experiences.
in my playtesting I found the high equip cost typically not worth it. E.g. an opening hand with argentum armor is no fun. In fact, armor is almost always a dead draw unless you have welder to help out. On batterskull, the lifelink and bounce are nice, but i d prefer two sword activations almost every time.
I hated Armor. I cut it early and it's never seen it's way back into my list. the 6 to equip is sick and not in a good way. Batterskull however, is totally different. This card has been a first go to equipment due to Living Weapon. People forget that it has Vigilance so therefore can attack along with Godo, Twice! It also helps and is more resilient vs spot removal. Now instead of 1 removal needed they need two.
Any reason not to run Mutavault, Ghitu Encampment, or Mishra's Factory as additional threat density that can carry a weapon or two? You still have enough mana and most of your spells don't require multiple red mana sources except for the stuff that is in the higher converted mana cost ranges. You're a mono-colored deck so color issues shouldn't be an issue.
I would recomend Mutavault but not ethier of the others. Mutavault is a samurai so it will untap with Godo. That can be pretty powerful.
Thoughts about adding urabrask? Drop him turn out before Godo, if they had no dudes to block him leading up to his next turn you can always get a near guaranteed swing in.
In my experience, you'd like to grant Godo as many ways to gain haste as possible.
I disliked the enchantments that gave ALL dudes haste. It hurts more than it helps. Even thou Necropouncer seemed great and the Living Weapon was very nice in the end it simply didn't make the cut.
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BGUSULTI ELEVENSBGU
hatred
I will flay the skin from your flesh,
the flesh from your bones,
and scrape your bones dry,
and still you will not have suffered enough!
Quote the Ryxsyn;
NeVeRMoRe!
You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain!
-Harvey Dent
Thoughts about adding urabrask? Drop him turn out before Godo, if they had no dudes to block him leading up to his next turn you can always get a near guaranteed swing in.
I think i ran urabrask for a time but became dismayed with his lack of evasion. However, the deck was quite different then so I ll playtest him a bit and see how that works out. Thnks!
@ryxsyn a lot of good ideas, perhaps i ll reconsider batterskull and i ll def be playtesting ura again. Thnx guys!
I've been playing Godo for a while myself now (my list on here isn't updated), and here are some of my thoughts:
Running cheap, aggressive creatures is great. It forces your opponent to either use their removal on them, or can cut their life points down to the point where Godo can win with just one swing (as opposed to 3 if you're going for general damage with a sword).
Scroll Rack is really terrible in mono-red. I'm not sure why you're still running it.
Blood Moon should probably be in here. I used to think it was pretty bad and just beats bad players... but it turns out that it can win plenty of games on its own. It's also really our only way of beating Doran.
Batterskull is probably the best equipment for Godo. Have you tried it?
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There are several reasons:
1 Godo, Bandit Warlord
Lands
1 Darksteel Citadel
1 Great Furnace
1 Crystal Vein
1 Dwarven Ruins
1 Homeward Path
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Wasteland
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Strip Mine
1 Valukut, the Molten Pinnacle
1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
1 Cavern of Souls
24 Snow-Covered Mountain
1 Scrying Sheets
Plundered Loot
1 Grim Monolith
1 Sol Ring
1 Mox Diamond
1 Chrome Mox
1 Mana Vault
1 Mana Crypt
1 Gauntlet of Might
1 Thran Dynamo
1 Everflowing Chalice
1 Fire Diamond
1 Mind Stone
1 Basalt Monolith
1 Coalition Relic
1 Worn Powerstone
1 Static Orb
1 Winter Orb
1 Goblin Welder
1 Spikeshot Elder
1 Imperial Recruiter
1 Palladium Myr
1 Pilgrim's Eye
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Anger
1 Duplicant
1 Urabrask the Hidden
1 Kiki-Jiki,Mirror Breaker
1 Flametongue Kavu
Dirty Tricks
1 Lightning Bolt
1 Flame Slash
1 Chain Lightning
1 Shattering Spree
1 Vandalblast
1 Combust
1 Skred
1 Chaos Warp
1 Volcanic Fallout
1 Ruination
1 Aftershock
1 Violent Eruption
1 Devastation
1 Devil's Play
1 Earthquake
1 Comet Storm
1 Starstorm
1 Molten Disaster
1 Price of Glory
1 Skullclamp
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
1 Sword of War and Peace
Utility
1 Mimic Vat
1 Scroll Rack
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Brittle Effigy
1 Expedition Map
1 Wayfarer's Bauble
1 Sculpting Steel
Draw
1 Wild Guess
1 Faithless Looting
Right Hand
1 Koth of the Hammer
Change Logs and Cards under Review
play testing 10-14-14
Prophetic Flamespeaker
Change log:
Cards that are in:
Meta Choices/Playtesting
All of these are fine choices for your typical trouble areas:
Playtesting
Next, lets discuss the various card choices for what hasn't been included by answering a few imminent questions.
This list isn't French legal, what would you replace for French legal version?
Sadly, this deck isn't even viable without srsly broken artifacts to power out an early Godo. Trying to ramp without the banned cards is moot, you'd be better off trying a Akroma, Angel of Fury build.
Where are the accelerators such as Extraplanar lens Gauntlet of Power and Caged Sun?
Simply put: your plan is to have your opponent against the ropes via Godo or broken combos before the mid to late (3-6 cc) game. Also, artifact removal is quite prevalent in the format, so tapping out for 6 is quite risky indeed.
Where is Swiftfoot Boots?
Swiftfoot Boots Believe it or not the 1 mana equip cost is too weighty. Consider a turn 2-3 Godo and tapped out as you will likely be. Fetching the boots without equip is worse than greaves every time.
Where is Blood Moon Magus of the Moon and Stranglehold?
After extensive playtesting, it is quite rare that Blood Moon actually disables your opponents mana base. In every case Ruination far superior. Stranglehold would be quite attractive if not for the mid game cc, by then your opponent has ramped/tutored already.
What are the good and bad matchups for this deck? After extensive playtesting:
Favorable: GAA4, Zur, Edric(banned), Teferi, Geist, Wydwen, almost all Blue
Unfavorable: Doran, Maelstrom Wanderer, Skittles, 5cc builds with full tutors
I don't understand which decks will be favorable matchups and which won't!
Does your opponent run 25+ dorks? If yes, it's unlikey Godo will connect without some serious help. Does your opponent run less than 10 creatures? It's quite likely Godo will be whirlwinding them in the face.
I have no idea how to play this deck, help!
Now that we've seen the list, let's go over some of the basic strategies: Early Godo, Mid Godo, and late/no Godo. As a general rule: Ramp like crazy cast Godo and select the appropriate weapon!
Early Godo- If you suspect your opponent is light in the removal/counter department, it's time to pillage like only Godo can. Don't be afraid to dump Crystal Vein or Dwarven Ruins early and get Godo online early. Top two weps early (choose one of these early if your opponent is playing multi colored) Sword of Fire and Ice Lightning Greaves. If you can afford it try for the Fire and ice as it will wreck your opponent, but don't feel bad to get those early swings or prepare for a mid/late godo with lightning greaves. Some interesting points here, be cautious with greaves as equipping it can limit your other equips. Generally I only go for greaves if I know the opponent has a strong endgame and I need to get damage up beforehand. Choices on monocolored: one of my favorite aspects of playing Godo is his ability to absolutely disable decks by choosing the appropriate weapon. Against mono black Sword of feast and famine tends to be stronger than Sword of light and shadow. Similarly, against mono white I tend to choose Sword of War and Peace over Sword of light and shadow.
Mid Game - If your opponent has a strong early game, avoid casting Godo early. Instead, hardcast your equipments and creatures, and let your other creatures gain control of the board via equipments/combos. Many times these combos will be enough to defeat your opponent without relying on Godo. Essentially, let your Army get some Arsenal equipped and stall the game for a combo (Kiki+MTGCARD, Koth etc)
Late Game - If your opponent has locked up the game or is stalling you out, don't fret. Devastation, Thoughts of Ruin and wipes like Earthquake should be able to turn things around. By now you may have casted Godo a few times so Godo will likely be pretty geared when you cast him a 2-4th time and left unchecked can end your opponent in a single turn.
Now that we've discussed very general deck aims, let's discuss strengths and weaknesses and follow up with specific match-up do's and don'ts.
Strengths - Extremely strong early game, Strong mid game, and moderately strong late game. Threatening turn 4 wins isn't something most cmdr decks are capable of, but this one is. While you may not have the strongest endgame such as Time Stretch recursion or other combos, cards like Combust can definitely slow those plans down.
Weaknesses - Fast ramp/combo decks such as Maelstrom Wanderer and Riku, of Two Reflections tend to be more troublesome than other aggro heavy decks. Your best bet against fast ramp is to drop Godo early and get the kill before they get momentum.
Control Blue - If you suspect they are running full set of clones, tutor Sword of fire and ice first for your other creatures. It will be much more difficult for them to deal with every creature who can equip it. Also, Valaukut, the Molten Pinnacle can be quite good with Solemn Simulacrum combos, be sure to get your Valukut with Expedition Map early if possible.
Edric and other weenie decks - Volcanic Fallout and friends can be a nightmare for these decks. This is a great match-up for Godo. Don't use a wipe unless you can kill 2-3 enemy creatures, unless you are preventing enemy draw.
Kaalia/LD aggro - your massive amounts of mana artifacts and burn pretty much neutralize this threat. Be wary of artifact destruction as it can take what should have been an easy win. Also, some decks use Arrest type cards. Equipping a sword with protection from one of the enchantment's colors will destroy it.
Well, I hope this guide has helped you understand a very fun commander. Good luck!
Modern
:rakdos::selesnya: goblins
:symr::symb::symg: Glass Cannon Griselbrand
sig made by Hakai Studios (http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?p=6100225)
Fair enough my friend.
Modern
:rakdos::selesnya: goblins
:symr::symb::symg: Glass Cannon Griselbrand
sig made by Hakai Studios (http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?p=6100225)
Legacy Deck:
Punishing Jund
kavu solid, worked him in.
ghitu is way too slow to even consider. spitting earth koth of the hammer ruination gauntlet of might.
if i were to cut some mountains it would be for rishadan port dust bowl etc.
the red mage lives by the variance and dies by the variance. May the variance be with you, always.
I hated Armor. I cut it early and it's never seen it's way back into my list. the 6 to equip is sick and not in a good way. Batterskull however, is totally different. This card has been a first go to equipment due to Living Weapon. People forget that it has Vigilance so therefore can attack along with Godo, Twice! It also helps and is more resilient vs spot removal. Now instead of 1 removal needed they need two.
I would recomend Mutavault but not ethier of the others. Mutavault is a samurai so it will untap with Godo. That can be pretty powerful.
In my experience, you'd like to grant Godo as many ways to gain haste as possible.
Urabrask the Hidden
Lightning Greaves
Swiftfoot Boots
Anger
Fervor
Dragon Breath
Necropouncer
Mass Hysteria
I disliked the enchantments that gave ALL dudes haste. It hurts more than it helps. Even thou Necropouncer seemed great and the Living Weapon was very nice in the end it simply didn't make the cut.
hatred
I will flay the skin from your flesh,
the flesh from your bones,
and scrape your bones dry,
and still you will not have suffered enough!
Quote the Ryxsyn;
NeVeRMoRe!
You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain!
-Harvey Dent
I think i ran urabrask for a time but became dismayed with his lack of evasion. However, the deck was quite different then so I ll playtest him a bit and see how that works out. Thnks!
@ryxsyn a lot of good ideas, perhaps i ll reconsider batterskull and i ll def be playtesting ura again. Thnx guys!
good idea, added. thx.
Running cheap, aggressive creatures is great. It forces your opponent to either use their removal on them, or can cut their life points down to the point where Godo can win with just one swing (as opposed to 3 if you're going for general damage with a sword).
Scroll Rack is really terrible in mono-red. I'm not sure why you're still running it.
Blood Moon should probably be in here. I used to think it was pretty bad and just beats bad players... but it turns out that it can win plenty of games on its own. It's also really our only way of beating Doran.
Batterskull is probably the best equipment for Godo. Have you tried it?