Does anyone have any experience with the Esper Goryo's lists that have been running around lately? Not sure if this is the place for it but I am thinking of testing the following list this week. I noticed he dropped Griselbrand for another Obzedat but I'm going to do the reverse and try something more similar to Gerry T's list and run a single Griselbrand. I have seen several videos that have popped up the past few months running Goryo's in a Esper shell but it doesn't seem all that popular.
cute corner case - you cac still win vs infinite life from vizier coco via annihilating with Emrakul through breach, ramping to hardcasting Griselbrand in order to consistently draw to Emrakul and repeating with the TTB to never mill and lock them out by never allowing them to have more than 3 permanents. The feel goods are real when that happens
Does anyone have any experience with the Esper Goryo's lists that have been running around lately? Not sure if this is the place for it but I am thinking of testing the following list this week. I noticed he dropped Griselbrand for another Obzedat but I'm going to do the reverse and try something more similar to Gerry T's list and run a single Griselbrand. I have seen several videos that have popped up the past few months running Goryo's in a Esper shell but it doesn't seem all that popular.
So I have been playing Esper Goryo's for a few weeks now. I started with the all obzedat build that Frank ran with. It is actually pretty good, but felt really clunky. Marc Tobiach ran one that relied heavily on Griselbrand and Lili at GP vegas, I put it together on MTGO saturday and have been playing it a bunch. It runs much more like a control deck relying on 1 for 1ing opponents then landing a griselbrand or obzedat to close out the game. I found that in the older version I had a lot of issues with opponent's planeswalkers, Marc's version plays a green splash for Abrupt decay and Pulse which shore up a lot of the original deck's downfalls.
That is Marc's list, it is a lot more expensive than the other one, but feels a lot more powerful to me, also it grinds games to a halt if you are into that. The Obzedat heavy version though has some legs if you dont want to shell out for this list. It is super strong against GDS and other fair decks, Marc's version makes the linear match up a bit better though.
I personally would switch 2 Collective Brutality for 2 more Thoughtseize, but that's just because the one I ran over a year ago was like that.
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Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
feel like the deck is missing some discard outlet though which I suspect is what Brutality is for. I jammed a few games also and I was wishing I could reanimate griselbrand many times.. maybe cut one Obzedat for Griseldaddy or am I missing the point of the deck?
I'm not sure if it's appropriate to post about Esper Goryo's but I don't see a thread for that archetype. If there's a more appropriate place to discuss this, please let me know but as this archetype has become more prominent over the last bit (Tobiasch having multiple prominent finishes, Hoogland playing this) I wanted to discuss more of this.
I've been jamming this online a bit and have been having a blast, getting a bunch of 3-2s and 4-1s including one 5-0. Here's the list I'm playing:
1. This may be the Grishoalbrand player in me still, but I've been including Griselbrand thus far but I'm not sure how I feel about it. The cost of including the one card is low, and I think there are some matchups where a t4/t5 Iona/Elesh Norn is not enough. a t2/t3 goryo's into a Griselbrand vs fast decks like Burn/Affinity/Dredge have been good for me to weather the early storm. Also, an Unburial Rites into Griselbrand is hard for Death's Shadow/Eldrazi Tron/other midrange decks to beat (although Iona on Black is likely better vs Death's shadow). Thoughts on Griselbrand's place in this shell?
2. Removal suite/discard suite: I feel dirty for not having more than 2 pushes but it's hard to make room in the 75 I feel. Also, Given the metagame I feel like we should be running more Thoughtseizes.
3. mana base. Fetid Heath just seems out of place. Am I crazy?
4. Sideboard. I haven't had enough reps to know what the bad matchups are. Conceptually, it seems like super fast aggro decks like burn (although 3 MD brutalities seem like a beating) and affinity/zoo type decks, as well as big mana like tron or combo like Ad Nauseam. My SB is off of Hoogland's and currently seem unfocused so would appreciate feedback here. Also I feel like Geist of Saint Traft belongs in here somewhere but this is just a gut feeling.
I'm not sure if it's appropriate to post about Esper Goryo's but I don't see a thread for that archetype. If there's a more appropriate place to discuss this, please let me know but as this archetype has become more prominent over the last bit (Tobiasch having multiple prominent finishes, Hoogland playing this) I wanted to discuss more of this.
this is going to be modern legal now. would this theoretically be an upgrade in the grixis shell? realize that the grixis lists that I have seen did not play hug or tormenting voice but digging 3 cards deep and binning creatures seem interesting
understand that taigams scheming exists but i thought theoretically the card that you get would be mucu better than the extra dig when you aren't casting this turn 2. not sure if this makes it better than whispers or voice or hug. i am liking whispers less and less in an aggressive meta
and i dont think scour is playable at all in this archetype. you can mill your creature or enabler when you dont want to (like when you are going through breach)
Schemeing is a lot better I believe. I use to run it in early grixis shells. Digging 5 cards for two mana feels a lot better than the card draw I would think. Either way both if you hit a wurm you get a mini reshuffle effect if you whiff on the dig. Idk this deck was sweet but I just don't feel it's well positioned anymore. So many decks running hand hate, counter magic and blood moons game one. Just gets worse post board. I was testing a build around chalice as chalice on one pretty much stops everything we want and you can use scheming and izzet charm, also brutality to replace looting and other one drop effects
BR Breach with a 5-0 finish today. I've always been fascinated by pentad prism for turn 3 breaches. However, Obzedat seems to be miscast in this shell and I think adding blue is just better as SV I think is infinitely better than Neonate.
TEMPEST_1586 (5-0)
DECKLIST STATS SAMPLE HAND
SORT BY:
Creature (18)
4 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
4 Griselbrand
4 Insolent Neonate
2 Obzedat, Ghost Council
4 Simian Spirit Guide
Sorcery (12)
4 Faithless Looting
4 Night's Whisper
4 Tormenting Voice
Instant (8)
4 Goryo's Vengeance
4 Through the Breach
Artifact (3)
3 Pentad Prism
Land (19)
2 Blackcleave Cliffs
2 Blood Crypt
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Mountain
4 Swamp
3 Temple of Malice
60 Cards
Sideboard (15)
2 Anger of the Gods 3 Blood Moon 3 Collective Brutality 2 Engineered Explosives 3 Nihil Spellbomb 2 Noxious Revival
Game 2: I get out a turn 2 Blood Moon. In the ensuing garbage game, my opponent gets out a Primeval Titan, but I Through the Breach out a Worldspine Wurm before my opponent can kill me.
1-0
Round 2: Eldrazi Tron
Game 1: Neither of us do much to start. I have nothing going on and Goryo's a Borborygmos Enraged to hit for 7. I start to get beat down but Through the Breach for Worldspine Wurm for exactly lethal.
Game 2: Relic of Progenitus and a Chalice of the Void for 5 disrupt me. I have a window to draw a fatty or a green spell to splice Through the Breach onto a Nourishing Shoal to get around the Chalice, but I miss and die.
Game 3: I get hit twice with a Reality Smasher but a Nourishing Shoal splicing Through the Breach for Worldspine ends it.
2-0
Round 3: Affinity
Game 1: My opponent is on the play and dumps out creatures turn 1 and swings with an equipped Cranial Plating turn 2. To stay alive I have to Goryo's a nonlethal Borborygmos and kill all the creatures, but I lose to a Blinkmoth Nexus and the Plating.
+1 Shattering Spree, +2 Bontu's Last Reckoning, +1 Anger of the Gods, +1 Chalice of the Void, +1 Blood Moon, -1 Manamorphose, -3 Night's Whisper, -1 Cathartic Reunion, -1 Faithless Looting
Game 2: My opponent leads with land, Mox Opal, Ornithopter, Signal Pest, Signal Pest, and equips Cranial Plating and swings for 10 on turn 2. I stay alive with a Nourishing Shoal for 11 on turn 3, but die turn 4.
2-1
Round 4: Esper Goryo's
Game 1: I have a good draw but lose my Goryo's Vengeance to a Collective Brutality, but draw another one off a Faithless Looting and kill on turn 3.
Game 2: I go off with Goryo's Vengeance on turn 2 through an Inquisition of Kozilek, casting Pact of Negation on a Path to Exile on my Griselbrand. I draw 21 cards and miss, forced to pass the turn with my opponent at 12. I discard down to Goryo's, Goryo's, five lands, discarding a Borboryogmos Enraged. My opponent then Inquisitions me again but can only take one of the copies of Goryo's, and I cast the other one on Borborygmos to kill on turn 3 with the Pact of Negation trigger on the stack.
3-1
Round 5: ID with Abzan
Top 8: Amulet Titan
Game 1: On the draw, I have a turn 2 Goryo's Vengeance on Griselbrand. However, my opponent plays a Relic of Progenitus before I can Goryo's. Unfortunately, he's drawing poorly and has no action. He does however play 3 (!!!) maindeck Relics and a maindeck Bojuka Bog. I kill him with a Worldspine Wurm.
Game 2: I play a Blood Moon on turn 2. The game progresses and neither of us can do anything. I hit for 15 with a Worldspine Wurm, but the Wurm tokens are destroyed by Engineered Explosives. I get stuck on 3 Swamps and a bunch of Mountains and am drawing to Goryo's Vengeance, Through the Breach, or Swamp (to hardcast Griselbrand), but am missing over several draw steps. I'm getting beaten down by Sakura-Tribe Scout and Azusa, Lost but Seeking and cast a Simian Spirit Guide to hold the fort. I then draw another Simian Spirit Guide and begin attacking. By this time my opponent has drawn a Forest. Before I can kill, my opponent topdecks a sideboarded Ruric Thar, the Unbound. I'm at 9 and draw a land and a Night's Whisper and die to the Ruric Thar.
Game 3: I play a Blood Moon on turn 2. In the ensuing garbage game, I draw absolutely nothing and am holding a Worldspine Wurm and some Simian Spirit Guides, looking for a Through the Breach. I draw more lands and cast a Spirit Guide, keeping enough mana to Through the Breach if I draw it. My opponent is still helpless and I'm still drawing lands and bricks so I cast a second Spirit Guide. The two Simian Spirit Guides beat my opponent to death from 20. I've never won like that before and will probably never win like that again.
Top 4: Merfolk
Game 1: My opponent opens with Cursecatcher and two lords. I have a bunch of card draw but don't draw anything of consequence and die horribly.
+2 Bontu's Last Reckoning, +1 Anger of the Gods, +1 Engineered Explosives, +2 Pact of Negation, -1 Manamorphose, -2 Cathartic Reunion, -1 Desperate Ritual, -1 Night's Whisper
Game 2: My opponent mulls to 5 but leads on Cursecatcher then Lord of Atlantis. I get to four mana and Anger of the Gods them away, but lose to three more lords before I can draw anything useful.
Overall happy with the deck performance. The deck failed hard on me in the Top 8 but I somehow won my Top 8 match. I never got to cast Bontu's Last Reckoning but I think it's the card I want vs fast aggro decks and decks that can present large creatures like Death's Shadow, Merfolk, and Eldrazi variants. I'm probably going to keep playing this through the Modern PPTQ season as I've become very experienced with it and not many people can play properly against me.
Thanks for the report. unlucky on the Merfolk matchup there. Bontu's Last Reckoning is fascinating - how has it worked out in testing? I was just thinking of playing Grishoalbrand for my PPTQs and was contemplating my sweeper suite and Reckoning seems interesting.
ON a seperate note, have you considered Kozilek's return? It'd be a nod to affinity which is pretty popular at the moment and I don't know if there's any meaningful appeals to Anger right now (Dredge has declined and should be a good matchup anyway, KReturn is pretty good against Vizier coco too)
FYI, I've been testing and have been loving your suggestions of mass chalice/moon and transforming into a decent imitation of Legacy Big Red/Modern Sun & Moon. The problem I've had is that bringing too many of these lock pieces dilutes our deck too much. I've felt like 2 Moons/3 Chalices seems like a right number.
For example, what is your sideboard plan against Grixis Shadows? Arguably you could make an argument for Chalices (a lock to come in), Moons (much better on the play and without them knowing about it), Reckonings, Pacts and Boseijus (nonbo with Moons, obviously). I've been doing something like:
+3 Chalice
+2 Moon (OTP)
+1 Read the Bones
-1 brutality
-2 Hug
-2 Ritual (this is not ideal for the prospects of t2 moons, but i don't see what else we should cut - a land? read the bones?)
Also, have you felt like you've missed brutalities and/or the 4th whisper?
Finalnub: what's your current list? I run 2 Manamorphoses and always side out one of them. After that I side out Whispers then Cathartics vs fast decks, and a split of Cathartics and Desperate Rituals vs countermagic.
You're right that you can only board in maybe five or six cards before your deck breaks, so I just try to pick the best six.
I never got to cast a Bontu's Last Reckoning in testing or in matches, but in theory it sounds like the sweeper I want. I do want to try K-Return as I have died to creature lands a lot and K-Return can get them. It's probably at least better than Anger.
I don't like Cathartic that much and the 4th Whisper is possibly better. I have never liked Collective Brutality, although I didn't test with it. I don't think it's a game 1 card and it's not a sweeper or crazy haymaker like the rest of my sideboard.
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What are you taking out in each matchup? That's almost as important as what comes in.
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/archetype/modern-wub-38931#online
http://www.starcitygames.com/article/34930_Video-Esper-Goryos-Vengeance-In-Modern.html
https://www.channelfireball.com/articles/deck-of-the-day-esper-goryos-modern/
URGifts StormUR
URBlue MoonUR
URKiln FiendUR
BURStormBUR
So I have been playing Esper Goryo's for a few weeks now. I started with the all obzedat build that Frank ran with. It is actually pretty good, but felt really clunky. Marc Tobiach ran one that relied heavily on Griselbrand and Lili at GP vegas, I put it together on MTGO saturday and have been playing it a bunch. It runs much more like a control deck relying on 1 for 1ing opponents then landing a griselbrand or obzedat to close out the game. I found that in the older version I had a lot of issues with opponent's planeswalkers, Marc's version plays a green splash for Abrupt decay and Pulse which shore up a lot of the original deck's downfalls.
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/675970#paper
That is Marc's list, it is a lot more expensive than the other one, but feels a lot more powerful to me, also it grinds games to a halt if you are into that. The Obzedat heavy version though has some legs if you dont want to shell out for this list. It is super strong against GDS and other fair decks, Marc's version makes the linear match up a bit better though.
SORT BY:
Creature (10)
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
4 Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
3 Obzedat, Ghost Council
1 Snapcaster Mage
4 Collective Brutality
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Lingering Souls
4 Serum Visions
1 Thoughtseize
1 Unburial Rites
3 Fatal Push
3 Gifts Ungiven
1 Go for the Throat
3 Goryo's Vengeance
1 Path to Exile
2 Creeping Tar Pit
2 Darkslick Shores
1 Fetid Heath
4 Flooded Strand
2 Godless Shrine
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Island
4 Marsh Flats
1 Plains
1 Seachrome Coast
2 Swamp
1 Watery Grave
60 Cards
1 Celestial Purge
1 Countersquall
1 Disdainful Stroke
2 Disenchant
1 Dispel
2 Liliana of the Veil
1 Murderous Cut
1 Negate
2 Stony Silence
2 Supreme Verdict
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)I've been jamming this online a bit and have been having a blast, getting a bunch of 3-2s and 4-1s including one 5-0. Here's the list I'm playing:
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Griselbrand
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
4 Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
2 Obzedat, Ghost Council
1 Snapcaster Mage
3 Collective Brutality
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Lingering Souls
4 Serum Visions
1 Thoughtseize
1 Unburial Rites
2 Fatal Push
3 Gifts Ungiven
1 Go for the Throat
3 Goryo's Vengeance
2 Path to Exile
2 Creeping Tar Pit
2 Darkslick Shores
1 Fetid Heath
4 Flooded Strand
2 Godless Shrine
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Island
4 Marsh Flats
1 Plains
1 Seachrome Coast
2 Swamp
1 Watery Grave
1 Celestial Purge
1 Countersquall
2 Detention Sphere
1 Disdainful Stroke
1 Disenchant
1 Murderous Cut
1 Negate
2 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Ojutai's Command
2 Stony Silence
2 Supreme Verdict
1. This may be the Grishoalbrand player in me still, but I've been including Griselbrand thus far but I'm not sure how I feel about it. The cost of including the one card is low, and I think there are some matchups where a t4/t5 Iona/Elesh Norn is not enough. a t2/t3 goryo's into a Griselbrand vs fast decks like Burn/Affinity/Dredge have been good for me to weather the early storm. Also, an Unburial Rites into Griselbrand is hard for Death's Shadow/Eldrazi Tron/other midrange decks to beat (although Iona on Black is likely better vs Death's shadow). Thoughts on Griselbrand's place in this shell?
2. Removal suite/discard suite: I feel dirty for not having more than 2 pushes but it's hard to make room in the 75 I feel. Also, Given the metagame I feel like we should be running more Thoughtseizes.
3. mana base. Fetid Heath just seems out of place. Am I crazy?
4. Sideboard. I haven't had enough reps to know what the bad matchups are. Conceptually, it seems like super fast aggro decks like burn (although 3 MD brutalities seem like a beating) and affinity/zoo type decks, as well as big mana like tron or combo like Ad Nauseam. My SB is off of Hoogland's and currently seem unfocused so would appreciate feedback here. Also I feel like Geist of Saint Traft belongs in here somewhere but this is just a gut feeling.
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/modern/deck-creation-modern/633198-fathers-day-uwb-reanimator-goryos-vengeance
Greetings,
Kathal
Modern/Legacy
either funpolice (Delver, Deathcloud, UW Control) or the fun decks (especially those ft. Griselbrand)
Thought Scour costs 1 less, is instant, and does exactly what you'd do with Planning 1/3 of the time
| Ad Nauseam
| Infect
Big Johnny.
-How many times is Thought Scour going to mill Goryo's Vengeance, when you have Gris in the yard?
-How many times is Scour going to mill Gris when you have Through the breach in your hand?
-How many times is Scour going to mill a Land when your mana screwed?
Scour can badly back fire on you. The lack of true card selection is a huge draw back.
Very different cards.
understand that taigams scheming exists but i thought theoretically the card that you get would be mucu better than the extra dig when you aren't casting this turn 2. not sure if this makes it better than whispers or voice or hug. i am liking whispers less and less in an aggressive meta
and i dont think scour is playable at all in this archetype. you can mill your creature or enabler when you dont want to (like when you are going through breach)
TEMPEST_1586 (5-0)
DECKLIST STATS SAMPLE HAND
SORT BY:
Creature (18)
4 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
4 Griselbrand
4 Insolent Neonate
2 Obzedat, Ghost Council
4 Simian Spirit Guide
Sorcery (12)
4 Faithless Looting
4 Night's Whisper
4 Tormenting Voice
Instant (8)
4 Goryo's Vengeance
4 Through the Breach
Artifact (3)
3 Pentad Prism
Land (19)
2 Blackcleave Cliffs
2 Blood Crypt
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Mountain
4 Swamp
3 Temple of Malice
60 Cards
Sideboard (15)
2 Anger of the Gods 3 Blood Moon 3 Collective Brutality 2 Engineered Explosives 3 Nihil Spellbomb 2 Noxious Revival
4 Bloodstained Mire
1 Polluted Delta
4 Temple of Malice
2 Blackcleave Cliffs
2 Blood Crypt
4 Swamp
2 Mountain
Creatures:
4 Simian Spirit Guide
2 Borborygmos Enraged
4 Griselbrand
4 Worldspine Wurm
4 Faithless Looting
3 Cathartic Reunion
3 Desperate Ritual
4 Goryo's Vengeance
2 Manamorphose
3 Night's Whisper
4 Through the Breach
4 Nourishing Shoal
4 Chalice of the Void
3 Blood Moon
2 Pact of Negation
1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
1 Shattering Spree
1 Anger of the Gods
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Bontu's Last Reckoning
Round 1: R/G Scapeshift
Game 1: I know my opponent has no maindeck Relic of Progenitus. I get a turn 3 kill with Goryo's Vengeance on Griselbrand.
+3 Blood Moon, -1 Manamorphose, -2 Cathartic Reunion
Game 2: I get out a turn 2 Blood Moon. In the ensuing garbage game, my opponent gets out a Primeval Titan, but I Through the Breach out a Worldspine Wurm before my opponent can kill me.
1-0
Round 2: Eldrazi Tron
Game 1: Neither of us do much to start. I have nothing going on and Goryo's a Borborygmos Enraged to hit for 7. I start to get beat down but Through the Breach for Worldspine Wurm for exactly lethal.
+3 Blood Moon, -1 Manamorphose, -2 Cathartic Reunion
Game 2: Relic of Progenitus and a Chalice of the Void for 5 disrupt me. I have a window to draw a fatty or a green spell to splice Through the Breach onto a Nourishing Shoal to get around the Chalice, but I miss and die.
Game 3: I get hit twice with a Reality Smasher but a Nourishing Shoal splicing Through the Breach for Worldspine ends it.
2-0
Round 3: Affinity
Game 1: My opponent is on the play and dumps out creatures turn 1 and swings with an equipped Cranial Plating turn 2. To stay alive I have to Goryo's a nonlethal Borborygmos and kill all the creatures, but I lose to a Blinkmoth Nexus and the Plating.
+1 Shattering Spree, +2 Bontu's Last Reckoning, +1 Anger of the Gods, +1 Chalice of the Void, +1 Blood Moon, -1 Manamorphose, -3 Night's Whisper, -1 Cathartic Reunion, -1 Faithless Looting
Game 2: My opponent leads with land, Mox Opal, Ornithopter, Signal Pest, Signal Pest, and equips Cranial Plating and swings for 10 on turn 2. I stay alive with a Nourishing Shoal for 11 on turn 3, but die turn 4.
2-1
Round 4: Esper Goryo's
Game 1: I have a good draw but lose my Goryo's Vengeance to a Collective Brutality, but draw another one off a Faithless Looting and kill on turn 3.
+2 Pact of Negation, +3 Blood Moon, -1 Manamorphose, -3 Cathartic Reunion, -1 Desperate Ritual
Game 2: I go off with Goryo's Vengeance on turn 2 through an Inquisition of Kozilek, casting Pact of Negation on a Path to Exile on my Griselbrand. I draw 21 cards and miss, forced to pass the turn with my opponent at 12. I discard down to Goryo's, Goryo's, five lands, discarding a Borboryogmos Enraged. My opponent then Inquisitions me again but can only take one of the copies of Goryo's, and I cast the other one on Borborygmos to kill on turn 3 with the Pact of Negation trigger on the stack.
3-1
Round 5: ID with Abzan
Top 8: Amulet Titan
Game 1: On the draw, I have a turn 2 Goryo's Vengeance on Griselbrand. However, my opponent plays a Relic of Progenitus before I can Goryo's. Unfortunately, he's drawing poorly and has no action. He does however play 3 (!!!) maindeck Relics and a maindeck Bojuka Bog. I kill him with a Worldspine Wurm.
+3 Blood Moon, -1 Manamorphose, -2 Cathartic Reunion
Game 2: I play a Blood Moon on turn 2. The game progresses and neither of us can do anything. I hit for 15 with a Worldspine Wurm, but the Wurm tokens are destroyed by Engineered Explosives. I get stuck on 3 Swamps and a bunch of Mountains and am drawing to Goryo's Vengeance, Through the Breach, or Swamp (to hardcast Griselbrand), but am missing over several draw steps. I'm getting beaten down by Sakura-Tribe Scout and Azusa, Lost but Seeking and cast a Simian Spirit Guide to hold the fort. I then draw another Simian Spirit Guide and begin attacking. By this time my opponent has drawn a Forest. Before I can kill, my opponent topdecks a sideboarded Ruric Thar, the Unbound. I'm at 9 and draw a land and a Night's Whisper and die to the Ruric Thar.
Game 3: I play a Blood Moon on turn 2. In the ensuing garbage game, I draw absolutely nothing and am holding a Worldspine Wurm and some Simian Spirit Guides, looking for a Through the Breach. I draw more lands and cast a Spirit Guide, keeping enough mana to Through the Breach if I draw it. My opponent is still helpless and I'm still drawing lands and bricks so I cast a second Spirit Guide. The two Simian Spirit Guides beat my opponent to death from 20. I've never won like that before and will probably never win like that again.
Top 4: Merfolk
Game 1: My opponent opens with Cursecatcher and two lords. I have a bunch of card draw but don't draw anything of consequence and die horribly.
+2 Bontu's Last Reckoning, +1 Anger of the Gods, +1 Engineered Explosives, +2 Pact of Negation, -1 Manamorphose, -2 Cathartic Reunion, -1 Desperate Ritual, -1 Night's Whisper
Game 2: My opponent mulls to 5 but leads on Cursecatcher then Lord of Atlantis. I get to four mana and Anger of the Gods them away, but lose to three more lords before I can draw anything useful.
Overall happy with the deck performance. The deck failed hard on me in the Top 8 but I somehow won my Top 8 match. I never got to cast Bontu's Last Reckoning but I think it's the card I want vs fast aggro decks and decks that can present large creatures like Death's Shadow, Merfolk, and Eldrazi variants. I'm probably going to keep playing this through the Modern PPTQ season as I've become very experienced with it and not many people can play properly against me.
ON a seperate note, have you considered Kozilek's return? It'd be a nod to affinity which is pretty popular at the moment and I don't know if there's any meaningful appeals to Anger right now (Dredge has declined and should be a good matchup anyway, KReturn is pretty good against Vizier coco too)
For example, what is your sideboard plan against Grixis Shadows? Arguably you could make an argument for Chalices (a lock to come in), Moons (much better on the play and without them knowing about it), Reckonings, Pacts and Boseijus (nonbo with Moons, obviously). I've been doing something like:
+3 Chalice
+2 Moon (OTP)
+1 Read the Bones
-1 brutality
-2 Hug
-2 Ritual (this is not ideal for the prospects of t2 moons, but i don't see what else we should cut - a land? read the bones?)
Also, have you felt like you've missed brutalities and/or the 4th whisper?
You're right that you can only board in maybe five or six cards before your deck breaks, so I just try to pick the best six.
I never got to cast a Bontu's Last Reckoning in testing or in matches, but in theory it sounds like the sweeper I want. I do want to try K-Return as I have died to creature lands a lot and K-Return can get them. It's probably at least better than Anger.
I don't like Cathartic that much and the 4th Whisper is possibly better. I have never liked Collective Brutality, although I didn't test with it. I don't think it's a game 1 card and it's not a sweeper or crazy haymaker like the rest of my sideboard.