Goyf Sligh (RG Beats)
Introduction
What is Goyf Sligh? Goyf Sligh is a traditional RG beats deck – little men and burn. The deck aims to play a critter on turn 1 and possibly turn 2, sneak in some combat damage, and then finish with burn spells to the dome. What has renewed this tired deck is the printing of the best “little” man ever – Tarmogoyf. For a measly :1::g:, you get a great Power to CC ratio critter. Two or three unblocked swings from Goyf + a few burn spells is often enough to beat many opponents. Plus, Goyf gives the deck what it sorely lacked – a late game finisher.
Goyf Sligh is a good deck but not a great deck. It is easy to play but also easy to hate. Now I’m not talking about “Affinity easy to hate,” but if you play Goyf Sligh, you must accept a few unfortunate realities. There exists plenty of relevant cards that big-job this deck. Silver Knights carrying Jittes? CounterTop? Chalice for 1? Fast combo?
Playing the deck is rather straight forward and great for rusty players like me. Simply cast your critters first, clear out any blockers, and then when your critters are outclassed, toss burn at the opponents head. Simple and effective.
Feel free to read the original Dryad Sligh Thread. It has an excellent opening post and is even more detailed than this one. For example, it has a quick but worthwhile guide to play strategy:
“-It’s better to start off with a creature rather than burn, except when your opponent’s on the play and casts a Lackey. More on this later.
-Maximize your mana. Take advantage of the fact that the deck’s curve is pretty low.
-Don’t be afraid to block! Yes, this is an aggro deck, but when you’re forced to block (which is usually in the late game), don’t panic. You have burn for reach anyway.
-Aiming your 3 damage spells at X/1’s if you have to clear the way is not wastage. Especially not when you absolutely have to kill the creature (Confidant, Mother of Runes, etc.)
-Sacrificing lands for Fireblast in response to LD is sometimes the btter play, even when it leaves you with one land. Better than nothing, plus it feeds your Lavamancer.”
Lists
My List (Heavily based off of Dean Bilz’s T8 list)
Creatures (16)
4 Mogg Fanatic
4 Grim Lavamancer
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Quirion Dryad
Spells (26)
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Chain Lightning
4 Lava Dart
4 Magma Jet
3 Fireblast
3 Seal of Fire
2 Incinerate
2 Price of Progress
Lands (18)
4 Taiga
4 Wooded Foothill
2 Bloodstained Mire
1 Forest
7 Mountain
A Japanese List:
Creatures (19)
4Mogg Fanatic
4Kird Ape
3Grim Lavamancer
4Tarmogoyf
4Quirion Dryad
Spells (22)
4Lightning Bolt
4Chain Lightning
3Reckless Charge
3Lava Dart
4Fireblast
4Seal of Fire
Lands (19)
7Mountain
1Forest
4Taiga
4Wooded Foothills
3Bloodstained Mire
A German List:
Creatures (20):
1Magus of the Moon
4Tarmogoyf
4Mogg Fanatic
4Kird Ape
3Grim Lavamancer
2Skyshroud Elite
2Tin Street Hooligan
Spells (22):
4Magma Jet
3Price of Progress
4Fireblast
4Lightning Bolt
1Chain Lightning
3Rancor
2Blood Moon
1Pithing Needle
Lands (18):
3Bloodstained Mire
4Wooded Foothills
1Volcanic Island
4Taiga
4Mountain
2Forest
The Basics – Mandatory Cards
Mandatory Critters (12)
- 4 Goyf – The best beater in the game. See the Introduction if you need an explanation as to why you should play him.
- 4 Fanatic – He is the little man that helps improve your odds of removing those Bridge from Below :wink:. And BTW, he kills so many utility critters – Confidants, BoPs, and Elves – and trades with 2 toughness. Plus he helps kill opposing Goyfs in a Goyf-standoff.
- 4 Grim– Another little man that helps kill opposing Goyfs in a Goyf-standoff. Also, you can use this guy to manipulate the size of the Goyfs. Grim’s job is to deal 4+ damage to the opponent and/or keep chump blockers off the table.
Mandatory Burn (11)
- 4 Lightning Bolt – It’s the best burn spell ever. Three damage, instant speed, 1cc.
- 4 Chain Lightning – It’s arguably the 2nd best burn spell ever.
- 3 Fireblast – This is your brutal finisher that keeps most opponents quaking in their boots. Even though we love a “free” 4 damage spell, I don’t recommend running more than three. It will be too tough to support four copies.
Mandatory Lands (18-20)
- 1 Forest – This is necessary for avoiding Wasteland and having dead Goys in hand. If you are running more than 4 Green spells, I would not run the deck without the single forest. If your only Green spells are Goyfs, then you can consider dropping this for a basic Mountain.
- 4 Taiga –Wasteland is still popular enough that you should play these carefully and only when necessary. If it does get targeted by Wasteland, consider sacking it to a Lava Dart or Fireblast.
- 4 Wooded Foothill – obviously
- 2-4 Bloodstained Mire – I personally feel that 6 sac lands may be enough, but you may wish to run 8.
- X – Mountains
- 0-2 – Barbarian Ring – I don’t advise playing the Ring since you can’t sac it to Fireblast (or Dart) and you already have one non-Mountain land. Plus, damage from sac lands and the Ring may simply be too much to handle.
The Core Deck:
Creatures (16 or more)
4 Goyf
4 Fanatic
4 Grim
4 (Meta/personal choice)
Burn Spells (20 or more)
4 Lighnting Bolt
4 Chain Lightning
3 Fireblast
9 or more various Burn spells.
Lands 18-20
4 Taiga
4 Foothill
2-4 Bloodstained Mire
1 Forest
X Mountains
The “Advanced” Choices– Choose cards from these possible cards and metagame calls
Possible Critters (4-8)
This deck wants critters that are cheap, efficient, and full of "face-beatings." I currently see no critter that costs 3 that could fit in this deck.
- Quirion Dryad – I recommend running this guy although many do not. He often swings for 3 or 4 on turn 3 and has the possibility of getting bigger than many of the critters on the board. He is a nice target for your opponent’s removal – leaving your Goys unmolested. If given the choice between playing him or Goyf on turn 2, 9/10 times you want to play him. Lastly, if you decide to run Dryad, I recommend running Lava Dart for its ability to “double pump” your Dryad.
- Kird Ape – Ape has fallen out of favor with me. He will never be more than a 2/3 and has no special abilities. However, some people run him for the ability to swing on turn 2 for 2. Is that turn 2 swing so valuable that we can run a now sub-par critter? I think not. If you are running him, consider switching to the creature heavy versions that play Rancor and/or Reckless Charge
- Skyshroud Elite - See above since this little man is essential a Kird Ape.
Possible Burn (13-15)
Not only do you want your burn to be cheap, you want it to be flexible. It will not only be tossed at the opponent's grill, but it will also be used to clear out blockers. With the exception of Price of Progress, the burn must be able to target both players and creatures.
- Incinerate – Simple burn, fairly costed. And on a rare occasion you get to remind your opponent that he cannot regenerate his critter :wink:.
- Magma Jet – I recommend running this card as a four of. Even though its burn to mana ratio is far from hot, this deck needs any sort of library manipulation it can get. Scry away those late game lands and critters and try to find the finishing burn spells.
- Price of Progress – I recommend two main. No burn spell scales so immensely. Nothing feels as good as dealing 8 damage from a 2cc spell. Once, against Aluren, this card did 18 damage over two games and I only cast it twice. However, it can be dead and opponents can sometimes play around it. On a rare occasion, you'll curse it for not being able to taget creatures.
- Lava Dart – Run this only if you are running Dyrad. I do like the ability to spread my damage out over 2 turns, but this spell can be rather underwhelming when you’re looking to deal 3 damage.
- Seal of Fire – You can run this over Shock to help pump that Goyf. Also, it is an acceptable first turn play in so much as it saves mana during the later turns.
- Tarfire – rather meh, but it is cute for pumping Goyf a little extra.
- Pyrite Spellbomb – FU, Silver Knight, FU. Hardly cost effective, but it could be theoretically cycled at a key time. And, of course, it puts an artifact in the yard for Goyf pumps.
- Cursed Scroll – another possible answer to Silver Knight. Also recurring damage can’t be too bad, right? Unfortunately, this is a great Pithing Needle target and surprisingly mana hungry.
- Rift Bolt – 3 damage for 1 mana. However, this deck often hits top deck mode and “hard casting” this spell is terribly cost inefficient compared to your other spells. Also, it is hardly any good with an early Dryad.
Possible Spells for Creature Heavy Versions (not recommended for decks running less than 17 creatures):
- Rancor – makes anything bigger and full of Trample
- Reckless Charge – don’t forget to flash it back
- Jitte – Personally, I feel that Jitte is too mana hungry for this deck. If you are running Jitte, than be sure to run 20 or more lands.
Side Board
Mandatory SB Cards
- Krosan Grip – You must have a way to deal CounterTop and Jitte. I’d run Naturlize but it doesn’t have Split Second, now does it?
Possible SB Cards
- Price of Progress – more efficient burn
- Tormod’s Crypt – for the yard reliant combo decks
- Pryoclasm – screw goblins and the new popular Elf decks.
- Flamebreak – I prefer Pyroclasm because of its cheaper cc.
- Pithing Needle – the catchall answer to troublesome permanents
- Tin Street Hooligan – a beater and artifact removal
- Red Blasts – I originally thought that these may be good in the board, but they don’t deal any damage. And, son, you’re running a burn deck, not a control deck.
- Pyrostatic Pillar - Personally, I don't like "passive" cards like this, but it can be helpful against storm combo.
The Sucky Stuff That Should Not Be in The Deck:
- Browbeat – 3 mana for a sorcery speed 5 damage spell is not that good in Legacy. Plus, it lets the opponent make a strategic decision that will never be in your favor.
- Shock – Is there a reason to play this over Tarfire or even Seal of Fire?
- Lava Spike – It can’t target critters. You want as much flexibility as possible. “But wait, Price or Progress doesn’t target critters!” Fair enough, but Lava Spike will never deal ten damage to the opponent.
- Chain of Plasma – This is a 2cc spell that will be copied to kill your critters. No thanks. Once again, this is a card that lets your opponent make a strategic decision that will never be in your favor. If you are looking for a 3 damage spell for :1::r:, run Incinerate.
Even more variants:
Black Splash Variant (Japanese List)
Creatures (23)
4Mogg Fanatic
4Dark Confidant
4Tarmogoyf
3Blood Knight
3Grim Lavamancer
3Keldon Marauders
2Goblin Tinkerer
Spells (18)
4Lightning Bolt
3Fireblast
3Pyrite Spellbomb
3Reckless Abandon
3Chain Lightning
2Cursed Scroll
Lands (19)
4Bloodstained Mire
4Badlands
4Taiga
3Wasteland
2Snow-Covered Mountain
1Polluted Delta
1Wooded Foothills
Even though Goyf Sligh sorely needs card drawing, I’d hate to butcher the already shaky mana base by adding black. Dark Confidant is also a critter that hardly ever lives to do his job. Plus, I want beaters in this deck, not critters that will sit on the table and be overvalued. Lastly, don’t let him flip over Fireblast. :frown:
A creature heavy German List:
Creature (21)
4 Kird Ape
4 Mogg Fanatic
2 River Boa
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Troll Ascetic
4 Vinelasher Kudzu
Spells (16)
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Chain Lightning
2 Life from the Loam
3 Rancor
2 Seal of Fire
2 Umezawa's Jitte
Land (24)
3 Bloodstained Mire
2 Forest
4 Mishra's Factory
2 Mountain
4 Taiga
4 Wasteland
1 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills
