Golgari has received a shot in the arm with Journey to Eternity, a card that has the chance to be very strong when paired with the right pieces.
There are two ways you can go with this: self-sacrificing creature, which interact well, or strong ETB effects. Current Standard format creatures typically don't have both.
Here's a deck list to start with:
Benefaction of Rhonas is the best tutor I could find, but we still need to play 4x Journey to Eternity to have a chance to get it early. I experimented with other payoff cards like the new Akromasaur, but we can never cast it from our hand to it's too often a dead card.
After the rotation of Shadows Over Innistrad, in BG we don't have much to fill our graveyard. In red, we could use Cathartic Reunion, but since we need a creature in play to flip JtE, a straight up reanimator plan is going to fizzle.
So, here's the general idea: Arborback Stomper keeps you in the game against aggro. Ravenous Chupacabra kills creatures. Bontu is the best sac outlet I could find, and the scry really works well. Even when facing Scavenger Grounds, we can still have a strong game, so GY hate is not a problem for us.
Ghalta is often playable by T5 - I know there are ways to bring him quicker, but we're not a fast deck at all. Ghalta is still the #1 kill in this deck, sometimes Arborback stomper can do a little damage but he often gets blocked and killed.
Realistically, the deck does not do a whole lot before T5, we can only play one spell per turn until that point. I would rate it a slow midrange deck.
It's nowhere near a final list, but it works extremely well againt Temur Energy. Ramunap Red is a much tougher matchup since we have a really tough time against Hazoret. We might need to forgo the JtE plan entirely against that deck and go with BG Snake. Mana base is very vanilla, there are ways to improve it.
One note on Walking Ballista: Awesome sac outlet for Journey to Eternity, but a terrible reanimation target, therefore a very bad idea in this deck. I tried it of course, you're never happy to topdeck it. Thrashing Brontodon: besides the sac ability, a decent body for the cost. Probably 2 more in the sideboard against GpG. Merfolk Branchwalker: Explores, so it can help filter cards, and exploring again when we reanimate isn't bad. We need a 2-drop to not get blown out straight up against Ramunap.
Other options: Deathgorge Scavenger: probably a good choice against GpG or other gy strats. The life gain isn't bad either, but Arborback Stomper is way more consistent in that department.
If you need to fill the graveyard Jadelight Ranger can help by filtering out lands and dumping anything that isn't a land into the yard. It basically does 2x the work of a single branchwalker and can potentially be a 4/3 on turn 3.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
I'm brewing a Jund list based on the same idea to add more discard and card draw. Also the enablers are way better in red. Fanatic Firebrand is awesome with journey.
There are for sure some ideas here I hadn't seen. I still think that the creature we want to be reanimating though is Tetzimoc. The ability to wrath seems very important, as this is not a turbo Reanimator strategy,more of a grindy one. Any thoughts?
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
How I like to win games:
Modern:
Grixis Shadow
Burn
Titanshift
Copycat (Given up currently, not entirely sure what it needs)
There are for sure some ideas here I hadn't seen. I still think that the creature we want to be reanimating though is Tetzimoc. The ability to wrath seems very important, as this is not a turbo Reanimator strategy,more of a grindy one. Any thoughts?
What exactly does reanimating Tetzimoc, Primal Death do? If he's in your GY how are you putting prey counters on their creatures? I guess you could keep one in your hand to constantly reveal then reanimate one from the 'yard, but that relies on having two copies of a Legendary creature in two specific zones and doesn't seem particularly better than just reanimating a Ravenous Chupacabra or a Noxious Gearhulk every turn.
Razaketh is probably the best reanimator target in the format as it is also a sac' outlet and a tutor all in-one, much better than a creature like Ghalta. Noxious Gearhulk is probably a better option than Arborback Stomper as well, besides the vulnerability to Abrade.
Another cheap enabler for Journey can be Hope of Ghirapur which can also lockdown the opponent from casting non-creature spells later in the game by sac'ing it and bringing it back on the opponent's turn to later attack and sac' it again.
It can also provide a target for Brontodon in a pinch if there is nothing else to target.
It can also provide a target for Brontodon in a pinch if there is nothing else to target.
If you mean because you have a Journey to Eternity enchanting your Thrashing Brontodon, you can just target the Journey with the Brontodon's ability to flip it and get your Brontodon back.
I ended up finishing 2-1, winning against Mono-Red and a G/W midrangy deck with Heart of Kirans, Gideon of the Trials' and Nissa, Vital Forces. Loss came against a W/B Mastermind's Acquisition deck with just infinite numbers of Settle the Wreckage and Fumigate, and I also took mulligans both games against this deck (once to 6 once to 5) so this may might not have been the best example of this match up. Either way I don't think it's a good match up.
Thoughts on the deck: Verdurous Gearhulk and Ghalta, Primal Hunger really shouldn't be in the deck. Gearhulk is alright because it's actually castable on T5 and can help pump other creatures (especially Yahenni who is surprisingly difficult to get rid of in this deck) but it ultimately doesn't do enough to warrant inclusion in my opinion. Ghalta is just terrible. If I already have enough creatures to make Ghalta's discount a real factor I'm probably winning anyway, and reanimating a 12/12 trample sounds good but often I'd rather just bring back Ravenous Chupacabra over and over until they don't have any creatures left to trample over. As I said earlier, I built this deck together the day before, and I happened to have this cards so I threw them in.
Bontu the Glorified also turned out to be pretty mediocre but a necessary part of the deck. You need enough repeatable sacrifice outlets to ensure you can always recycle your creatures every turn, but Bontu is significantly worse than Yahenni. Having an activation cost and not always being a creature make is a pretty flimsy play and I really wish there were better sacrifice outlets in B/G.
On the flip side; I think Tendershoot Dryad is a house. I really think the Gearhulk and Ghalta should be replaced with Dryads. It does basically everything you want: it helps stabilize the board with chump blockers before turning on ascend (which actually happens faster and more reliably than I anticipated) and becoming a pretty fast win condition in it's own right. Likewise, I was extremely pleased with both Jadelight Ranger and Merfolk Branchwalker. Definitely worth running the full 4 of each.
Overall I was quite happy with the deck. The inevitably is great and the aggro matchup isn't as terrible as I feared, being able to aggressively trade off Jadelights and Branchwalkers to preserve your life total, before fully stabilizing with Chupacabras and planeswalkers.
This looks pretty good to me though the manabase is pretty bad imho with too much green over black and maybe the 3rd Gonti is too much and can probably be replaced with a copy of Benefaction of Rhonas (or maybe a Razaketh).
I really wish PV had explained his reasoning a little more in his article. I just don't understand the need for Dusk Legion Zealot or Gonti, Lord of Luxury. Dusk Legion Zealot blocks pretty poorly and isn't really a great target to be constantly bringing back with Atzal, Cave of Eternity because the life loss really does add up against aggressive decks. Gonti, on the other hand, is more useful against slower decks to help grind out value as a 2-for-1 but once we flip Journey to Eternity we're basically guaranteed to win a long drawn-out game anyways so do we really need extra help in that department?
Going back to my previous post, I think I'm going to try to splash White in my version. After doing a search for all the available White cards in Standard right now, I saw a bunch that I think would be a good fit for this style of deck:
Hidden Stockpile -- A significantly better sac outlet than Bontu. It's cheaper to cast, cheaper to activate, and creates bodies to chump with or sac to Yahenni. I don't know how easy it will be to get WB on T2, however.
Renegade Rallier -- Now this is a spicy one that I kind of forgot existed until I did my search. This card is a solid reason to alter my deck to include more 2-drops like Dusk Legion Zealot (despite how I previously said I dislike it), as well as 4x Evolving Wilds to both help turn on Rallier and Hidden Stockpile and to be something to return. Also works well with Field of Ruin but I don't think I'll realistically be able to support colorless utility lands in a 3 color deck.
Elenda, the Dusk Rose -- Not sure what to think about this card. There certainly are a lot of creatures dying in this deck, and I like that both she and all of the tokens she leaves behind have lifelink to help pad my life total. That said, she's a 4 mana 1/1 with no immediate value. Probably not good enough but worth consideration, especially for the sideboard against aggro decks.
Vona, Butcher of Magan -- Similar to Elenda, Vona is primarily to help pad the life total against aggressive decks, and she does a pretty good job gaining life on both offense and defense. She also has random upside in being able to destroy high value permanents and can even target herself to flip Journey, in things get desperate enough. I think she's a more likely inclusion than Elenda.
Cataclysmic Gearhulk -- A good answer to go-wide decks like Merfolk. Assuming I do in fact add White to the deck, I will definitely find room for at least 1 Cataclysmic, possibly 2. The games I lose tend to be the ones in which my opponent floods the board quickly and I am just never able to stabilize. Having Gearhulks in the deck gives me an out to those situations.
Angel of Invention -- Another option in the vein (pun intended) of Elenda and Vona as a way to stabilize and pad the life total, and it does that job pretty well, arguably better than either of the two legendary vampires. It's versatile, gets value immediately, and gains life. Does everything I want. The only downside is the double White casting cost.
Ajani Unyielding -- A fairly clean answer to Gods that sticks around to keep generating value. His uptick only misses on lands and Fatal Push in my current list, and I assume the same would be true in any B/G/w build. Probably relegated to the sideboard.
Those are my thoughts right now. I don't have an updated list to include White yet but I'm going to work on it this week and try to make a workable manabase and get some testing in before the weekend. Thoughts and opinions?
I'm not sure how good an Abzan manabase would be for this deck as it doesn't have anything besides fastlands (no checklands or cycling duals).
Zealot probably just acts as a cantrip to cycle faster through the deck, maybe an explore 2-drop can be an alternative (Squire/Branchwalker) though it doesn't guarantee a card draw.
I'm not sure how good an Abzan manabase would be for this deck as it doesn't have anything besides fastlands (no checklands or cycling duals).
Zealot probably just acts as a cantrip to cycle faster through the deck, maybe an explore 2-drop can be an alternative (Squire/Branchwalker) though it doesn't guarantee a card draw.
Renegade Rallier seems questionable to me because there is nothing good for it to get back as getting back a 2-drop creature isn't particulary good
(even if it is Gifted Aetherborn which is probably the best 2-drop in these colors).
Getting back a deseret or Evolving Wilds doesn't seem that great either.
Hidden Stockpile can sacrifice creatures (which Yahenni can also do) but besides that has little value here with the tokens as I don't really see the need to use more chump-blockers.
I haven't tried Tendershoot Dryad so I don't know how it performs, I like Regisaur Alpha as it creates two bodies and one of them can attack immediately (more immediate and unconditional value).
Also giving haste to Thrashing Brontodon (or other dinosaurs if you happen to run them) can be good.
If "Ascend" can be consistently hit early enough than Dryad should probably deserve more consideration.
Burning Sun's Avatar is a bit questionable (because of the RRR cost mostly) but both it and Glorybringer help close out games faster with direct damage to the face and a flying attacker compared to the black creatures which offer better removal capabilities.
So after some testing this week with the GBW version, I decided to go back to the straight GB version (with a few slight modifications) that I posted earlier in the thread:
After testing, I liked adding White (especially for Hidden Stockpile and Cataclysmic Gearhulk) but the deck just felt less consistent. I think I underestimated how good just curving out with Merfolk Branchwalker, Jadelight Ranger and Ravenous Chupacabra really is. I felt the increase in power was ultimately minimal and wasn't worth the worse mana and less consistent play. As such, I basically ran back the same version I initially posted for Standard Showdown this week to another 2-1 record. Win against W/B/u Mastermind's Acquisition (these were some crazy good games, too), Win against W/B Crested Sunmare and Loss against U/W Auras.
All in all I actually think this is a really strong deck. I think it has a reasonable match-up against basically anything, and can easily play the role of aggressor or control in any given match. I think the next changes I'm looking at are dropping the Bontus entirely, going up to 4 Yahennis, and trimming elsewhere and putting in some Gifted Aetherborns. I really don't think Bontu pulls his weight and the extra sacrifice outlet isn't really necessary in my opinion. The Aetherborns, however, make great early blockers and help preserve the life total, and I'm looking for some extra 2-drops beside Branchwalker, and I'm not a fan of Dusk Legion Zealot because of how miserable the body is. Any other suggestions are welcome.
He seems more focused on trying to flip JtE as quickly as possible, which would explain the high number of 2-drops. That is not the route I've taken so I can't comment too much on it other than I find it kind of weak and unnecessary. It opens yourself up to some pretty big blowouts if you just go for it every game on T3. My belief is that the deck is at it's best when you play it as straight G/B midrange deck with the ability to just absolutely grind out an opponent if you ever flip Journey. I will agree that Glint-Sleeve Siphoner is a good card, but with literally no other way to make energy, I'm not sure that's where I want to be.
I actually think I'd be more inclined to try Servant of the Conduit, though. The body is a decent roadblock against aggro decks, and ramping into a 4 or 5 drop is pretty great, especially Tendershoot Dryad. You said you haven't tried the Dryad yet; I strongly recommend it. I think it might secretly be the best card in the deck, and they get significantly better in multiples. Making a 3/3 every upkeep is pretty good, but you know what's even better? Two 5/5s every upkeep! I'm currently running 2, and I think I'm gonna try and make room for a 3rd. Definitely the first finisher you should try.
So I tweaked my list again and ran it again for Standard Showdown this week:
I've settled on a very light White splash, for Vona in the main and Ajani in the side. Between Field of Ruin, Atzal, Cave of Eternity and the sheer number of lands we go through via Explore, it's basically a free splash. Vona is basically a freeroll as a catch-all against any kind of permanent that could be giving me problems. Ajani is a way to deal with Scarab God, and a card-advantage machine in grindy matches.
The Gifted Aetherborns are actually pretty tough on the mana, so much so that they might have to go. Getting BB T2, GG T3 isn't a given, and I'd rather lean towards GG on T3 as Jadelight is more important to cast on curve and helps set us up for the next few turns. Thanks to this thread, I think I might try Servant of the Conduit in the spot. He's green, making him easier on the mana, he helps fix for the BB in Ravenous Chupacabra, he ramps into our sweet 4's and 5's, and he also makes the splash even more free. Worth a try.
As for how the deck performed this week: 3-0, 6-0. Most games weren't even particularly close. I don't know if it was just running good or what, but I was quite impressed. I played against a Jund midrange deck, a Merfolk deck, and a Grixis Control deck. Beating Merfolk so easily was the biggest surprise, in my opinion. Game 1 was just a perfect curve out: Fatal Push his T2 play then play Merfolk Branchwalker on our 2nd turn, followed by Jadelight then Chupacabra eating his lord, and then it was over. Game 2 we each mulliganed to 6 and both ended up stuck on 2 lands for at least 3 or 4 turns, but luckily our 3/2 Branchwalker outraced 2 of the 1/1 unblockable merfolk. I also drew a land first, which helped but the game was mostly over by that point.
I'm really in on this deck. I think this could end up being one of the better decks in the format.
EDIT: Thinking a little more... Panharmonicon. Too greedy? The 4 drops in my list are actually pretty lean so fitting a miser copy of Panharmonicon probably wouldn't be too hard (almost certainly in place of Razaketh). Do we think that's a good idea? Taking T4 off might be a little too much without an immediate Chupacabra follow up, but the idea is tempting. Or is it too win-more?
How paramount is jadelight ranger to this build? Could I drop down to seekers squires for budgetary reasons? I guess its mostly because I don't wanna break down my merfolk deck....
I wouldn't say Jadelight Ranger is paramount. I'm sure you could make it work without them. But the rangers are quite good. If you physically own the cards I think they're worth playing. Hitting land drops and dumping large creatures into the graveyard are both things the deck want, and Jadelight Ranger does them both pretty well.
I already had this deck running in Abzan using legions landing to try to flip Eternity as soon as possible. However, that was flimsy and the mana was janky as well. I think I like your list better (pretty much the same core and finishers as i already had anyway). I do like the Dryad idea so I've added a couple into my own list.
My own sideboard is still up in the air. Currently it is rocking 2 Polyraptor, 2 Lost Legacy, and 3 plummet
After play testing some games last night I have to save this deck is a blast. It seems to have good flexibility and a good set of answers when presented with threats. This obviously comes in the form of all the recursion and removal but I literally kept an almost completely clear board in the games I played last night with it. I'm truly happy with it so far. I'll keep play testing it but I'm thinking about taking it to FNM tonight if I can get permission from my fiance of course
I took the most recent list to Standard Showdown again this week as is. Ended up 2-1. Win against Merfolk, Loss to U/W Auras, Win against what appeared to be budget U/R Pirates.
Not sure what to do about U/W Auras. The deck is kind of soft to fliers.
Id suggest running 2-3 plummet in the board. That's what im doing at least. The amount of removal in this deck can be good against fliers but of course some get through if given enough time. Couple more options against fliers seems good in my opinion
Golgari has received a shot in the arm with Journey to Eternity, a card that has the chance to be very strong when paired with the right pieces.
There are two ways you can go with this: self-sacrificing creature, which interact well, or strong ETB effects. Current Standard format creatures typically don't have both.
Here's a deck list to start with:
# 24 lands
4 Blooming Marsh
10 Swamp
10 Forest
# 22 Creatures
2 Thrashing Brontodon
4 Merfolk Branchwalker
4 Bontu the Glorified
4 Ravenous Chupacabra
4 Ghalta, Primal Hunger
4 Arborback Stomper
# 10 Spells
4 Benefaction of Rhonas
4 Fatal Push
2 Vraska's Contempt
# 4 Others
4 Journey to Eternity
Benefaction of Rhonas is the best tutor I could find, but we still need to play 4x Journey to Eternity to have a chance to get it early. I experimented with other payoff cards like the new Akromasaur, but we can never cast it from our hand to it's too often a dead card.
After the rotation of Shadows Over Innistrad, in BG we don't have much to fill our graveyard. In red, we could use Cathartic Reunion, but since we need a creature in play to flip JtE, a straight up reanimator plan is going to fizzle.
So, here's the general idea: Arborback Stomper keeps you in the game against aggro. Ravenous Chupacabra kills creatures. Bontu is the best sac outlet I could find, and the scry really works well. Even when facing Scavenger Grounds, we can still have a strong game, so GY hate is not a problem for us.
Ghalta is often playable by T5 - I know there are ways to bring him quicker, but we're not a fast deck at all. Ghalta is still the #1 kill in this deck, sometimes Arborback stomper can do a little damage but he often gets blocked and killed.
Realistically, the deck does not do a whole lot before T5, we can only play one spell per turn until that point. I would rate it a slow midrange deck.
It's nowhere near a final list, but it works extremely well againt Temur Energy. Ramunap Red is a much tougher matchup since we have a really tough time against Hazoret. We might need to forgo the JtE plan entirely against that deck and go with BG Snake. Mana base is very vanilla, there are ways to improve it.
One note on Walking Ballista: Awesome sac outlet for Journey to Eternity, but a terrible reanimation target, therefore a very bad idea in this deck. I tried it of course, you're never happy to topdeck it.
Thrashing Brontodon: besides the sac ability, a decent body for the cost. Probably 2 more in the sideboard against GpG.
Merfolk Branchwalker: Explores, so it can help filter cards, and exploring again when we reanimate isn't bad. We need a 2-drop to not get blown out straight up against Ramunap.
Other options:
Deathgorge Scavenger: probably a good choice against GpG or other gy strats. The life gain isn't bad either, but Arborback Stomper is way more consistent in that department.
Also, if you are willing to go blue there is Strategic Planning and Champion of Wits.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
Benefaction of Rhonas is a great addition!
Modern: WUBRG Humans - GBW Traverse - GWU Knightfall - GRW Bushwhacker Zoo -
Modern:
Grixis Shadow
Burn
Titanshift
Copycat (Given up currently, not entirely sure what it needs)
Legacy:
Burn
B/R Reanimator (slowly building
EDH:
Sedris Control/Reanimation
Noxious Gearhulk is probably a better option than Arborback Stomper as well, besides the vulnerability to Abrade.
Another cheap enabler for Journey can be Hope of Ghirapur which can also lockdown the opponent from casting non-creature spells later in the game by sac'ing it and bringing it back on the opponent's turn to later attack and sac' it again.
It can also provide a target for Brontodon in a pinch if there is nothing else to target.
1 Arch of Orazca
2 Field of Ruin
4 Blooming Marsh
2 Foul Orchard
9 Forest
7 Swamp
Creatures: 25
4 Merfolk Branchwalker
4 Jadelight Ranger
3 Thrashing Brontodon
3 Yahenni, Undying Partisan
3 Bontu the Glorified
3 Ravenous Chupacabra
1 Tendershoot Dryad
1 Verdurous Gearhulk
1 Noxious Gearhulk
1 Verdant Sun's Avatar
1 Ghalta, Primal Hunger
1 Arguel's Blood Fast
4 Journey to Eternity
Planeswalkers: 3
2 Liliana, Death's Majesty
1 Vraska, Relic Seeker
Instants: 2
2 Fatal Push
3 Gifted Aetherborn
3 Yahenni's Expertise
2 Lost Legacy
2 Doomfall
2 Ripjaw Raptor
1 Hour of Glory
1 Vraska's Contempt
1 Heroic Intervention
I ended up finishing 2-1, winning against Mono-Red and a G/W midrangy deck with Heart of Kirans, Gideon of the Trials' and Nissa, Vital Forces. Loss came against a W/B Mastermind's Acquisition deck with just infinite numbers of Settle the Wreckage and Fumigate, and I also took mulligans both games against this deck (once to 6 once to 5) so this may might not have been the best example of this match up. Either way I don't think it's a good match up.
Thoughts on the deck: Verdurous Gearhulk and Ghalta, Primal Hunger really shouldn't be in the deck. Gearhulk is alright because it's actually castable on T5 and can help pump other creatures (especially Yahenni who is surprisingly difficult to get rid of in this deck) but it ultimately doesn't do enough to warrant inclusion in my opinion. Ghalta is just terrible. If I already have enough creatures to make Ghalta's discount a real factor I'm probably winning anyway, and reanimating a 12/12 trample sounds good but often I'd rather just bring back Ravenous Chupacabra over and over until they don't have any creatures left to trample over. As I said earlier, I built this deck together the day before, and I happened to have this cards so I threw them in.
Bontu the Glorified also turned out to be pretty mediocre but a necessary part of the deck. You need enough repeatable sacrifice outlets to ensure you can always recycle your creatures every turn, but Bontu is significantly worse than Yahenni. Having an activation cost and not always being a creature make is a pretty flimsy play and I really wish there were better sacrifice outlets in B/G.
On the flip side; I think Tendershoot Dryad is a house. I really think the Gearhulk and Ghalta should be replaced with Dryads. It does basically everything you want: it helps stabilize the board with chump blockers before turning on ascend (which actually happens faster and more reliably than I anticipated) and becoming a pretty fast win condition in it's own right. Likewise, I was extremely pleased with both Jadelight Ranger and Merfolk Branchwalker. Definitely worth running the full 4 of each.
Overall I was quite happy with the deck. The inevitably is great and the aggro matchup isn't as terrible as I feared, being able to aggressively trade off Jadelights and Branchwalkers to preserve your life total, before fully stabilizing with Chupacabras and planeswalkers.
Ultimately, I think adding another color could end up being beneficial, but I'm not entirely sure which color to add. Red gives Cathartic Reunion and some sweet midrange cards in Rekindling Phoenix and Glorybringer. Blue gives Champion of Wits, Chart a Course and The Scarab God. White gives Hidden Stockpile mostly but maybe other things that I can't think of off the top of my head. Anyone have any suggestions?
4x Dusk Legion Zealot
4x Kitesail Freebooter
4x Thrashing Brontodon
4x Jadelight Ranger
4x Ravenous Chupacabra
3x Gonti, Lord of Luxury
2x Noxious Gearhulk
3x Liliana, Death's Majesty
Instant (4)
4x Fatal Push
Enchantment (4)
4x Journey to Eternity
Land (24)
2x Ifnir Deadlands
4x Blooming Marsh
3x Foul Orchard
10x Forest
5x Swamp
Going back to my previous post, I think I'm going to try to splash White in my version. After doing a search for all the available White cards in Standard right now, I saw a bunch that I think would be a good fit for this style of deck:
Renegade Rallier -- Now this is a spicy one that I kind of forgot existed until I did my search. This card is a solid reason to alter my deck to include more 2-drops like Dusk Legion Zealot (despite how I previously said I dislike it), as well as 4x Evolving Wilds to both help turn on Rallier and Hidden Stockpile and to be something to return. Also works well with Field of Ruin but I don't think I'll realistically be able to support colorless utility lands in a 3 color deck.
Elenda, the Dusk Rose -- Not sure what to think about this card. There certainly are a lot of creatures dying in this deck, and I like that both she and all of the tokens she leaves behind have lifelink to help pad my life total. That said, she's a 4 mana 1/1 with no immediate value. Probably not good enough but worth consideration, especially for the sideboard against aggro decks.
Vona, Butcher of Magan -- Similar to Elenda, Vona is primarily to help pad the life total against aggressive decks, and she does a pretty good job gaining life on both offense and defense. She also has random upside in being able to destroy high value permanents and can even target herself to flip Journey, in things get desperate enough. I think she's a more likely inclusion than Elenda.
Cataclysmic Gearhulk -- A good answer to go-wide decks like Merfolk. Assuming I do in fact add White to the deck, I will definitely find room for at least 1 Cataclysmic, possibly 2. The games I lose tend to be the ones in which my opponent floods the board quickly and I am just never able to stabilize. Having Gearhulks in the deck gives me an out to those situations.
Angel of Invention -- Another option in the vein (pun intended) of Elenda and Vona as a way to stabilize and pad the life total, and it does that job pretty well, arguably better than either of the two legendary vampires. It's versatile, gets value immediately, and gains life. Does everything I want. The only downside is the double White casting cost.
Ajani Unyielding -- A fairly clean answer to Gods that sticks around to keep generating value. His uptick only misses on lands and Fatal Push in my current list, and I assume the same would be true in any B/G/w build. Probably relegated to the sideboard.
Zealot probably just acts as a cantrip to cycle faster through the deck, maybe an explore 2-drop can be an alternative (Squire/Branchwalker) though it doesn't guarantee a card draw.
I don't really think that white is that great of a splash color anyway, Red would probably be a better option with cards like:
Glorybringer, Regisaur Alpha (Burning Sun's Avatar) and more removal options (Abrade, Unlicensed Disintegration, Cut // Ribbons and Sweltering Suns).
I'd definitely play Merfolk Branchwalker over Dusk Legion Zealot. I don't know which I'd play between Zealot and Seekers' Squire.
I disagree. I think Hidden Stockpile and Renegade Rallier are worth going into White for. The other cards I could take or leave but would be solid roleplayers assuming I'm already in White. Most of the cards you list in Red just seem to be worse versions of cards we already have in B/G. Glorybringer and Burning Sun's Avatar seem worse than Ravenous Chupacabra and Noxious Gearhulk. Regisaur Alpha makes one body, Tendershoot Dryad makes all of the bodies. Personally I'd like my creatures to be doing the heavy removal lifting in this deck, but even if I wanted to use spells to do so Black alone has Fatal Push, Moment of Craving, Vraska's Contempt and Yahenni's Expertise.
Renegade Rallier seems questionable to me because there is nothing good for it to get back as getting back a 2-drop creature isn't particulary good
(even if it is Gifted Aetherborn which is probably the best 2-drop in these colors).
Getting back a deseret or Evolving Wilds doesn't seem that great either.
Hidden Stockpile can sacrifice creatures (which Yahenni can also do) but besides that has little value here with the tokens as I don't really see the need to use more chump-blockers.
I haven't tried Tendershoot Dryad so I don't know how it performs, I like Regisaur Alpha as it creates two bodies and one of them can attack immediately (more immediate and unconditional value).
Also giving haste to Thrashing Brontodon (or other dinosaurs if you happen to run them) can be good.
If "Ascend" can be consistently hit early enough than Dryad should probably deserve more consideration.
Burning Sun's Avatar is a bit questionable (because of the RRR cost mostly) but both it and Glorybringer help close out games faster with direct damage to the face and a flying attacker compared to the black creatures which offer better removal capabilities.
1x Cataclysmic Gearhulk
3x Dusk Legion Zealot
3x Jadelight Ranger
4x Merfolk Branchwalker
1x Noxious Gearhulk
3x Ravenous Chupacabra
4x Renegade Rallier
1x Tendershoot Dryad
1x Verdant Sun's Avatar
1x Vona, Butcher of Magan
2x Yahenni, Undying Partisan
4x Blooming Marsh
4x Concealed Courtyard
4x Evolving Wilds
2x Forest
2x Foul Orchard
2x Plains
2x Scattered Groves
2x Sunpetal Grove
2x Swamp
4x Hidden Stockpile
4x Journey to Eternity
Instant (2)
2x Fatal Push
Planeswalker (2)
2x Liliana, Death's Majesty
1 Arch of Orazca
2 Field of Ruin
4 Blooming Marsh
2 Foul Orchard
9 Forest
7 Swamp
Creatures: 25
4 Merfolk Branchwalker
4 Jadelight Ranger
3 Thrashing Brontodon
3 Yahenni, Undying Partisan
2 Bontu the Glorified
3 Ravenous Chupacabra
2 Tendershoot Dryad
1 Carnage Tyrant
2 Noxious Gearhulk
1 Verdant Sun's Avatar
1 Arguel's Blood Fast
4 Journey to Eternity
Planeswalkers: 3
2 Liliana, Death's Majesty
1 Vraska, Relic Seeker
Instants: 2
2 Fatal Push
3 Gifted Aetherborn
3 Yahenni's Expertise
2 Lost Legacy
2 Doomfall
2 Ripjaw Raptor
1 Hour of Glory
1 Vraska's Contempt
1 Heroic Intervention
-1 Bontu the Glorified
-1 Verdurous Gearhulk
-1 Ghalta, Primal Hunger
+1 Tendershoot Dryad
+1 Carnage Tyrant
+1 Noxious Gearhulk
All in all I actually think this is a really strong deck. I think it has a reasonable match-up against basically anything, and can easily play the role of aggressor or control in any given match. I think the next changes I'm looking at are dropping the Bontus entirely, going up to 4 Yahennis, and trimming elsewhere and putting in some Gifted Aetherborns. I really don't think Bontu pulls his weight and the extra sacrifice outlet isn't really necessary in my opinion. The Aetherborns, however, make great early blockers and help preserve the life total, and I'm looking for some extra 2-drops beside Branchwalker, and I'm not a fan of Dusk Legion Zealot because of how miserable the body is. Any other suggestions are welcome.
https://decks.tcgplayer.com/magic/standard/sbmtg-dev/gb-journey-to-eternity/1313184
I like Siphoner here but Servant doesn't seem great over a value creature (Zealot/Squire) or an Aetherborn/Freebooter.
I actually think I'd be more inclined to try Servant of the Conduit, though. The body is a decent roadblock against aggro decks, and ramping into a 4 or 5 drop is pretty great, especially Tendershoot Dryad. You said you haven't tried the Dryad yet; I strongly recommend it. I think it might secretly be the best card in the deck, and they get significantly better in multiples. Making a 3/3 every upkeep is pretty good, but you know what's even better? Two 5/5s every upkeep! I'm currently running 2, and I think I'm gonna try and make room for a 3rd. Definitely the first finisher you should try.
So I tweaked my list again and ran it again for Standard Showdown this week:
1x Arch of Orazca
2x Field of Ruin
2x Sunpetal Grove
2x Foul Orchard
4x Blooming Marsh
1x Plains
7x Forest
6x Swamp
Creatures: 26
4x Merfolk Branchwalker
3x Gifted Aetherborn
3x Jadelight Ranger
3x Thrashing Brontodon
4x Yahenni, Undying Partisan
3x Ravenous Chupacabra
2x Tendershoot Dryad
1x Vona, Butcher of Magan
1x Noxious Gearhulk
1x Verdant Sun's Avatar
1x Razaketh, the Foulblooded
3x Fatal Push
Enchantments: 4
4x Journey to Eternity
Planeswaklers: 2
1x Liliana, Death's Majesty
1x Vraska, Relic Seeker
1x Arguel's Blood Fast
1x Heroic Intervention
2x Appetite for the Unnatural
1x Bontu's Last Reckoning
2x Lost Legacy
1x Lifecrafter's Bestiary
3x Yahenni's Expertise
2x Vraska's Contempt
1x Carnage Tyrant
1x Ajani Unyielding
The Gifted Aetherborns are actually pretty tough on the mana, so much so that they might have to go. Getting BB T2, GG T3 isn't a given, and I'd rather lean towards GG on T3 as Jadelight is more important to cast on curve and helps set us up for the next few turns. Thanks to this thread, I think I might try Servant of the Conduit in the spot. He's green, making him easier on the mana, he helps fix for the BB in Ravenous Chupacabra, he ramps into our sweet 4's and 5's, and he also makes the splash even more free. Worth a try.
As for how the deck performed this week: 3-0, 6-0. Most games weren't even particularly close. I don't know if it was just running good or what, but I was quite impressed. I played against a Jund midrange deck, a Merfolk deck, and a Grixis Control deck. Beating Merfolk so easily was the biggest surprise, in my opinion. Game 1 was just a perfect curve out: Fatal Push his T2 play then play Merfolk Branchwalker on our 2nd turn, followed by Jadelight then Chupacabra eating his lord, and then it was over. Game 2 we each mulliganed to 6 and both ended up stuck on 2 lands for at least 3 or 4 turns, but luckily our 3/2 Branchwalker outraced 2 of the 1/1 unblockable merfolk. I also drew a land first, which helped but the game was mostly over by that point.
I'm really in on this deck. I think this could end up being one of the better decks in the format.
EDIT: Thinking a little more... Panharmonicon. Too greedy? The 4 drops in my list are actually pretty lean so fitting a miser copy of Panharmonicon probably wouldn't be too hard (almost certainly in place of Razaketh). Do we think that's a good idea? Taking T4 off might be a little too much without an immediate Chupacabra follow up, but the idea is tempting. Or is it too win-more?
If you just don't have them, you could try using Tishana's Wayfinder instead, or upping the numbers on some of the other cards like Thrashing Brontodon and Ravenous Chupacabra. Or maybe turn to Path of Discovery as an Explore replacement.
My own sideboard is still up in the air. Currently it is rocking 2 Polyraptor, 2 Lost Legacy, and 3 plummet
Not sure what to do about U/W Auras. The deck is kind of soft to fliers.