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SCG Daily: Godo-a-Go-Go

Last time, we saw that adding Godo to the GWU Control framework didn’t go too badly – if I had kept better hands here and there, I might have made Top 8 of the tournament I played it in – but I wasn’t satisfied. The deck had problems, and since that tournament the format has shifted in ways that only exacerbate those problems. Let’s see if we can fix some of those today, shall we?

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Sure, I could have called it the Godo Experiment like last time, but for my current turn on the Daily I wanted something that sounded a little goofy. So, welcome back to the Godo-a-Go-Go!

Last time, we saw that adding Godo to the GWU Control framework didn’t go too badly – if I had kept better hands here and there, I might have made Top 8 of the tournament I played it in – but I wasn’t satisfied. The deck had problems, and since that tournament the format has shifted in ways that only exacerbate those problems.

The first, and biggest, problem is that if you’re not running instant-speed removal then the White Weenie decks can blow you out with the four Hokori, Dust Drinker that they are usually boarding in. Second, I was concerned about my matchup against the O-Naginata Black decks; if you look at yesterday’s list, then you’ll see that I don’t have a ton of answers for a turn 3 Ogre Marauder, turn 4 equip (let alone a Naginata-bearing Oni-Slave). So, back to the drawing board.

At the same Grand Prix trial mentioned yesterday, 2005 Mid-Atlantic Regionals champion Tommy Ashton made top 8 with a U/R Splice deck similar to the one you’ll find here. After the tournament he pointed out that most of his wins did not come via Ire of Kaminari. “Kumano is amazing!” he announced.

This in turn reminded me of an e-mail sent to me by our esteemed editor several months ago – Ted still has a lot of good deck ideas, despite the fact that he has become The Man. He suggested the use of Tenza, Godo’s Maul in mono-Red Standard decks, because “turning Kumano into a 7/7 trampling pinging beatstick is pretty good.”

Hmmm … Kumano is good, he’s in the same color as Godo, who can tutor up his own Maul, which is great with Kumano … if only I could tutor up Godo and Kumano …

Our Most Desperate Hour

4 Time of Need
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
4 Orochi Sustainer
4 Brothers Yamazaki
4 Isao, Enlightened Bushi
4 Jiwari, the Earth Aflame
2 Arashi, the Sky Asunder
3 Kumano, Master Yamabushi
2 Godo, Bandit Warlord
4 Umezawa’s Jitte
1 Tenza, Godo’s Maul
1 Tatsumasa, the Dragon’s Fang
13 Mountain
10 Forest

I started this article a couple of weeks ago, as soon as I volunteered for this week’s Daily; since then Mike Flores suggested a similar R/G legends deck. Now that the whole planet seems to think Gifts Ungiven is the best deck – and yes, I will be talking about the Japanese Godo Gifts deck later this week – I prefer my version to Mike’s because mine has more early game in the form of Isao and the Yamazaki boys. However, if you wanted to lay money on who is right more often, Mike or me, I assume the smart money isn’t on me.

I excluded Kodama’s Reach and Honor-Worn Shaku from the deck because most of its best draws involve three-drop legends. Imagine turn 2 mana snake, turn 3 land + Brothers, turn 4 land + Time of Need for Brothers #2. Or you can use Time of Need to set up a board-clearing Jiwari channel (can’t use Eight-and-a-Half Tails on that; it’s not a “spell or permanent” when channeled) followed by a pair of Brothers in the same turn attacking for eight.

Sounds, nice, eh? If only that were the whole story.

The whole story with this deck has to mention its non-nut draws, which are, in a word, ugly. You can draw into too many equipment, too few equipment, too many of a legend, too few of a legend, no Times of Need, no mana acceleration, or just good, old-fashioned mana-screw.

Additionally, popular removal methods own you. Removing one Jitte counter kills any of your three-drops. Most of the Black decks will deal you some serious “splash damage” with Eradicate. Celestial Kirin blows you out when paired with a three-drop spirit (and if you’re not running Waxmane Baku in your Kirin deck, you should be).

Finally, this deck may simply be strictly worse than a White-based Legends deck running Day of Destiny. Day of Destiny itself is a big reason for this, making any White legend into a Kumano-killing powerhouse. Another reason is that Green and Red simply don’t have many good legends for two mana or less, and the White decks usually have up to 12-16 of them as auto-includes (3-4 each of Isamaru, Kentaro, Sensei Golden-Tail, and 8.5 Tails), so it can be very difficult to stabilize the board.

Thus, running Godo together with some of these White creatures is a natural plan. Tune in tomorrow…