[Deck] Goyf and Tog (GAT)

[Illissius]

People seem to be converging on this deck from several different angles (Landstill, black-splash Threshold, TarmoTog!), and it's been sitting on my hard drive for at least a month now (maybe two -- my sense of time is fantastically bad), and I still haven't managed to gather enough AntiLazy(tm) together to test is properly. WIth exam period upon me, the chances of that happening in the next two months approach zero, so I figured I might as well post it now, and see what people think and/or can do with it.

Sans further ado:

Goyf and Tog [GAT]

4 Tarmogoyf
3 Psychatog
1 Meloku the Clouded Mirror

4 Shriekmaw
3 Pernicious Deed

4 Thoughtseize
4 Force of Will
4 Spell Snare

4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
4 Standstill

4 Mishra's Factory
1 Volrath's Stronghold
4 Polluted Delta
4 Flooded Strand
4 Underground Sea
3 Tropical Island
1 Island

SB: 4 Extirpate
SB: 4 Engineered Plague
SB: 4 Dark Confidant
SB: 3 Winter Orb

The original idea I had was, (roughly), "Standstill is the best raw card drawer in the format -- all it requires is some Factories in the manabase in order to work. So why not just splash the two into Threshold?". It thus started evolving from the direction of Threshold, with the two best creatures ever printed, but later iterations were more controllish. It's essentially a blue midrange deck -- just about halfway between Threshold and Landstill (which is reflected in the land count: (24+18)/2=21).

I'm not sure what else I can elaborate on which isn't already apparent from the list. You play a slightly slower early game relative to Threshold (no Daze or Mongoose), in exchange for a big shot of power in the late game, when you can start kicking your Shriekmaws, Deeding the board away, beating down with giant Togs, and filling up with Standstills. Volrath's Stronghold is also pretty awesome.

I expect the toughest matchups to be Landstill and 43lands, and I'm not really sure how to sideboard against them. Landstill plays your own game against you only better, and something like half the deck is dead or mostly dead against Lands. Extirpate and Confidant can come in, but it doesn't seem like enough. I'd like something along the lines of an Armageddon, or a Back to Basics, if you weren't just as vulnerable to it yourself. Winter Orb seemed like the best option which was useful against both of them, but to say that I'm not satisfied with it would be understating things. Other ideas I had include Pithing Needle, Haunting Echoes, Gigapede, Teferi, Dust Bowl, and Sunder, which all have their own problems. I can't find any sort of silver bullet to give you strategic superiority, or at least take away theirs, unfortunately.

I'm interested to hear what people think; though this is sort of a "take it or leave it" thing, with me not likely to have any time for it in the next couple of months, but it's better than just leaving it to rot on my drive.

[insertnamehere]

Couple things I noticed for tweaking the deck:
There are not enough card types in the deck
1. Where is Leyline of the Void?
2. Vial always works well with Landstill.
3. If you remove the 8 counter spells you can run more discard to help you against 43 Land and other fast decks like Cephalid Breakfast.

That's just my opinion, Otherwise I like the deck.

[Maveric78f]

Remove Standstill and play a reliable drawer in the name of FoF, that does not require to play bad lands such as mishra (ok it's not bad, it's bad in your deck).
I don't get neither why you play snare in place of counterspell.

[Solpugid]

Tog doesn't seem like he'll get big very quickly. Have you had problems with that? I think you should try to fit fact or fiction in here somewhere, maybe in place of standstill as mentioned above. Of course, that sort of invalidates factory (again, as mentioned).

[Benie Bederios]

This is an old GAT list by Dan Spero, I think it's a better startingpoint than your list.

“Gro-a-Tog!”
By Dan Spero


4 Brainstorm
4 Sleight of Hand
4 Serum Visions
2 Cunning Wish


4 Force of Will
4 Daze
2 Counterspell
2 Duress


3 Pernicious Deed
2 Smother


4 Quirion Dryad
4 Dark Confidant
2 Psychatog


4 Polluted Delta
4 Flooded Strand
4 Underground Sea
4 Tropical Island
2 Island
1 Swamp


Sideboard
4 Engineered Plague
4 Hydroblast
1 Ghastly Demise
1 Brain Freeze
1 Misdirection
1 Naturalize
1 Extirpate
1 Berserk
1 Duress


This deck was the pre-Goyf era so the usual changes would be:
-4 Quirion Dryad
+4 Tarmogoyf
-4 Sleight of Hand
+4 Ponder

This deck is more like the Vintage GAT lists and can create a large Goyf quite easily. Turn 1 Fetch + Ponder, turn 2 Goyf and turn 3 Brainstorm and you have a 3/4 already. With Deed it is possible to get a 5/6. Cunning Wish for Berserk makes sure your Tog Will be deadly.

You probably need to make some changes for your metagame, but it is a good start.

BB

[troopatroop]

Couple things I noticed for tweaking the deck:
There are not enough card types in the deck
1. Where is Leyline of the Void?
2. Vial always works well with Landstill.
3. If you remove the 8 counter spells you can run more discard to help you against 43 Land and other fast decks like Cephalid Breakfast.

That's just my opinion, Otherwise I like the deck.

1. Leyline of the Void is a sideboard card. Sideboards should be adjusted to metagames. Maybe his doesn't need it, if you do, play it. Rocket surgery.

2. "Vial always works well with Landstill." No. It doesn't. He's playing 12 creatures if you really want to even stretch it there. Vial would be very very bad here.

3. Because discard is better than counterspells in Landstill/Blue Control in general? Wrong. How does he get rid of anything off the top? How does his card advantage generate a lock if he can't stop what's ever on the top of the deck?

I disagree with almost everything you said.

[BreathWeapon]

I can't see Standstill being better than either Gifts Ungiven or Intuition + Life from the Loam and Cycling Lands, Dark Confidant, Night Whispers or even Predict.

It's more of a mish mash of half a dozen decks than it is an actual deck, pick a direction and start from scratch. If you aren't using Quirion Dryad, you aren't playing Gro, so I'd suggest just building Ubg Tog + Tarmogoyfs and go from there.