Sorrow's Path Golos - another stupid deck by DirkGently (Decklist up!)

[materpillar]

@DirkGently I heard you like 5/4 dragons

...Vrondiss, Rage of Ancients

[DirkGently]

Vrondiss is cool, but not insane or anything. If the dragons stuck around they'd obviously be sweet, but as-is they're just kind decent. They're either chumpers, or like a slower version of brash taunter. Probably makes the cut, but not a slam dunk.

What is a slam dunk is Fiendlash. Holy cow, that could deal a TON of damage pretty quickly.

[Chromaticus]

Hey Dirk,

Did you ever arrive at your keep-together list for this project?

Interested to see what choices you wound up making for both the on plan and off plan components.

I'm running it out tonight after adding Flumph, Vrondiss, and Fiendlash, as well as a few shifts in the flex slots and utility lane base.

Decided against the proliferate enrage guy- and I wound up not adding any additional anthems.

[DirkGently]

I can put up the decklist when I have some time, it's pretty similar, just with a much much worse manabase. I do intend to get a fiendlash and a flumph at some point, haven't gotten around to it yet though. Vrondiss I'm less sold on just because he's 5 mana, so a little clunkier with golos also at 5. Still likely worth it, but less obvious imo. My LGS doesn't have a copy of him for trade, so I'll have to see if I can find an extra around.

[Chromaticus]

Had a no respect full participation Tempt with Discovery in my game last night.

It was my first time realizing that the lands come into play untappped… damn was that spicy.

No new cards showed up, but I thought I'd mention Tempt as another way to set up our utility lands ahead of schedule.

[DirkGently]

Tempt is in my current build and people do that regularly. Getting 4 lands is pretty bonkers…almost renders golos irrelevant.

[illakunsaa]

This the list I've been running
https://deckstats.net/decks/88154/21068 ... ad-path/en

I haven't tried Tempt mainly because it relies on people being stupid. My local lgs generally are pretty good players so I feel like tempt is just gonna be search one land.

I think cards like Heroic Intervention are good for this deck. Not only they are good reactive spells but also proactive because many times I found my sorrow was limited by my creatures' toughness. Cards like heroic essentially give infinite toughness.

I also did it guys. I bought the card. Should I get professional help?

[DirkGently]

There are a few issues with heroic intervention imo - 1, it's generally a weak Golos hit since it's usually best played reactively, and 2, it's prone to easy infinite combos with Cacophodon. It's as simple as getting a way to counteract the life loss and you've already won the game with infinite mana off SP + Golos, and even without a way to counteract the life there's a good chance you can find something with Golos before you die. A combo with 2 cards (plus one or two you commander can search for) is kosher for some groups, but I generally avoid combos to prevent games becoming homogenized. I did run a copy of Flawless Maneuver in my original version, but it's not in my perm version - partly for budget, and partly to avoid the combos. It can still go infinite, but it needs a lot more pieces so that it's an exciting rarity and not a common play pattern. But ofc YMMV in your group expectation and what you want from the deck.

[TheAmericanSpirit]

Where does this idea go now that Golos has been whacked?

[ISBPathfinder]

Vrondiss, Rage of Ancients or Daryl, Hunter of Walkers would be the two that make some level of sense in that they play to enrage mechanics fairly well. It seems likely that you would at least want access to RG colors from the standpoint that a lot of enrage mechanics are in those colors but there are some that don't fall into those colors. I could also see some commander focused on getting Sorrow's Path or keeping it in play but none seem to fit quite as well as Golos did. I suppose Lord Windgrace hits most of the colors you want and helps keep path in play.

Titania, Protector of Argoth and The Gitrog Monster could also play towards land concepts but I think they have the wrong colors to play towards an enrage concept which is why I think if you go lands its more likely that Windgrace is the way to go.

You could also stick to 5c and run Kenrith, the Returned King. I don't think its nearly as optimal as Golos was but it depends on how much you care about being 5c and having access to all of the enrage effects. Offhand I feel like the Gruul Commanders or Windgrace makes more sense but I didn't exactly look at all of the options.

[DirkGently]

Where does this idea go now that Golos has been whacked?

Into the dumpster.

Golos is the only option that searches for lands himself. Any other commander would need a crapzillion tutors because we need both sorrow's path AND a way to tap it. Oh, and ofc if it's not 5c then we can't run world tree either, plus some of our spicier enragers (high priest of penance, swans, and body of knowledge almost certainly since cutting any naya colors means losing a ton of enragers). Not to mention this deck often had a hard time getting enough CA without golos unless it hit one of the few creatures that draws cards, which are both in blue. I have a really hard time seeing any version of this deck where SP is actually the driving force behind it instead of a parasite dragging it down.

Realistically it has to be Esika. She at least solves the CA problem to a certain extent, and provides 5c. She'd also help the deck hit enough enragers despite the no-doubt diminished number of them once we've shoved in all the tutors we're going to need. Figuring out the tutors is going to be difficult, though, since black tutors heavily increase the risk of linearizing the strategy. So we're looking mostly at the green nonbasic land tutors. I think we've got about 13 available at most, which might be sufficient? Idk, it's a mess. Right now I'm a little too pissed off to want to work on this, but I can say with 95% certainty that esika is the way to go.

[RowanKeltizar]

RIP Golos. My good friend has 2 Golos decks that now he is going to have to beg whatever playgroup he's with to let him play now (he moved - im sure we would have all been happy to ignore the ban since both of his decks play pretty fairly)

Maze's End decks now lost their commander which really sucks. I hope wizards prints a less broken 5color lands commander in the future.

[illakunsaa]

Personally I'm just going to ignore banlist. The rc says they wanna have trite like "ladies looking left" and ban sorrows path. %$#% that bs.

[Chromaticus]

Thinking about doing Rule Zero Genju of the Realm for this deck, and leaning a bit more into the meme of killing with Sorrow's Path. It acts as a tap enabler - and we can get the lifelink going a little easier. It does mean that I want more of a voltron strategy in addition to the enrage payoffs, and I'm going to need a slew of land tutors to make sure I get The World Tree and the true commander.

I'll still have to have the "Can I use this commander?" conversation like I would if I was keeping Golos, but at least I won't be getting eye rolls and "of course you won" bs like I imagine I would.

I'm wondering if I would keep the lifelink counter package (requires a LOT of land tutors to get path, Nesting Grounds and a tap enabler) or if I would just run equipment that give lifelink - the list is pretty short for low equip cost lifelink.

Pretty sure this is the way forward for my version of the deck - I'll be working on a list!

[Chromaticus]

As mentioned, I need to go heavier on the land utility -- and will *definitely* need to bump up the mana base -- but here's what I've got so far.

Decklist

DecklistCMCManaPricesChartsDraw 7

Commander

1 Genju of the Realm

Creature (26)

1 Apex Altisaur

1 Bellowing Aegisaur

1 Body of Knowledge

1 Boot Nipper

1 Boros Reckoner

1 Brash Taunter

1 Cacophodon

1 Dryad of the Elysian Grove

1 Elvish Reclaimer

1 Flumph

1 Grimdancer

1 High Priest of Penance

1 Knight of the Reliquary

1 Hungering Hydra

1 Needletooth Raptor

1 Ranging Raptors

1 Ramunap Excavator

1 Ripjaw Raptor

1 Silverclad Ferocidons

1 Spitemare

1 Splendor Mare

1 Sporeweb Weaver

1 Stormwild Capridor

1 Stuffy Doll

1 Swans of Bryn Argoll

1 Tamanoa

1 Trapjaw Tyrant

1 Truefire Captain

1 Weathered Wayfarer

Artifact (5)

1 Blazing Sunsteel

1 Chromatic Lantern

1 Fiendlash

1 Expedition Map

1 Sol Ring

Land (38)

1 Command Tower

8 Forest

1 Exotic Orchard

1 Island

5 Mountain

1 Nesting Grounds

1 Path of Ancestry

5 plains

1 axgard armory

1 Selesnya Sanctuary

1 Sorrow's Path

1 Swamp

1 The World Tree

1 Thespian's Stage

1 Thriving Bluff

1 Thriving Grove

1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

1 Vesuva

1 Vivid Crag

1 Vivid Grove

1 Vivid Meadow

1 Yavimaya, Cradle of the Sun

1 Gruul Turf

Enchantment (9)

1 Abundant Growth

1 Collective Blessing

1 Dictate of Heliod

1 Glory of Warfare

1 Noxious Field

1 Pestilence

1 Pyrohemia

1 Rite of Passage

1 Urban Burgeoning

1 Wilderness Reclamation

Sorcery (12)

1 Blasphemous Act

1 Chain Reaction

1 Earthquake

1 Eerie Ultimatum

1 Fiery Confluence

1 Hour of Promise

1 Life from the Loam

1 Pir's Whim

1 Tempt with Discovery

1 Rolling Earthquake

1 Sylvan Scrying

Instant (6)

1 Beast Within

1 Crop Rotation

1 Generous Gift

1 Path to Exile

1 Pongify

1 Swords to Plowshares

Approximate Total Cost:

Small breakdown of roles:

Decklist

DecklistCMCManaPricesChartsDraw 7

Enrage!

1 Apex Altisaur

1 Bellowing Aegisaur

1 Body of Knowledge

1 Boot Nipper

1 Boros Reckoner

1 Brash Taunter

1 Cacophodon

1 Flumph

1 Grimdancer

1 High Priest of Penance

1 Hungering Hydra

1 Needletooth Raptor

1 Ranging Raptors

1 Ripjaw Raptor

1 Rite of Passage

1 Silverclad Ferocidons

1 Spitemare

1 Splendor Mare

1 Sporeweb Weaver

1 Stormwild Capridor

1 Stuffy Doll

1 Swans of Bryn Argoll

1 Tamanoa

1 Trapjaw Tyrant

1 Truefire Captain

Land Utility!

1 Abundant Growth

1 Dryad of the Elysian Grove

1 Chromatic Lantern

1 Crop Rotation

1 Elvish Reclaimer

1 Expedition Map

1 Hour of Promise

1 Knight of the Reliquary

1 Life from the Loam

1 Pir's Whim

1 Ramunap Excavator

1 Sylvan Scrying

1 Tempt with Discovery

1 Weathered Wayfarer

Approximate Total Cost:

With this, I believe I should be able to find Path + Tree in every game.

Now card advantage is the problem. Please help!

[Chromaticus]

Ill-Tempered Loner // Howlpack Avenger is perfect here as another Boros Reckoner style card that becomes NUTS when it flips.

It's almost like a Sorrow's Path lord at that point.

[DirkGently]

Oh yeah, that's an easy inclusion.

[Chromaticus]

… I caved and brought Golos, Tireless Pilgrim back as the commander. I've got a playgroup now instead of a meta.

I did have one fine fellow pass by the table and say "cheater" but ultimately there's no accounting for the emotional intelligence of strangers.

Pyrohemia was the all-star again last night. It takes what the deck likes to do and does it on crack. It's a nice perk that it (and Pestilence ) hard counter my friend's aggro Winota, Joiner of Forces deck.

The three enablers of the game were Ripjaw Raptor, Ranging Raptors, and Tamanoa. Rite of Passage also made an appearance - as did Mirage Mirror who spent most of its time as Zendikar Resurgent and threatening to be a big blocker.

I've noticed that it's good in this deck to try and wait til you have a couple enablers to start doing the Sorrow's Path thing. If you play creatures that naturally dissuade attacks, you prevent the early aggression - and no one is going to burn removal on Ranging Raptors if they see an Araumi of the Dead Tide with a big graveyard.

I've liked adding in Chromatic Lantern and Dryad of the Ilysian Grove so that my first fetch can be path instead of The World Tree.

[Chromaticus]

@Hawk inspired me with his recent thread to resurrect this topic - Rona, Herald of Invasion LOVES getting hit by Sorrow's Path - and it plays into a space that I find myself in with Golos, Tireless Pilgrim where you want to spin, but you have a Silverclad Ferocidons in your hand that is maybe the "right" play.

Turning Sorrow's Path into mini-Omniscience is at least on MY personal magic bucket list :D

Incidentally, this deck is still great for me. There is nothing more satisfying than assembling the Nesting Grounds lifelink counter on path or Pestilence or Pyrohemia.

I toyed with the idea of Vorinclex to live the dream of forcing fights with Stuffy Doll to the death, but 13 mana and three turns is a lot to ask.

[kylep33]

There are tons of new cards from the new ixilan set that make this deck pretty interesting again! https://www.moxfield.com/decks/hsFOgiMatk-VtZdD5T2S5A
heres my list if anyone is interested!
- Wayta, Trainer Prodigy ]] is the main one that made me look into this more!

[DirkGently]

@kylep33 tbh you got me thinking - this deck has been mostly shelved since the banning, but Wayta is not a bad choice at all to revive it. It will need a lot of land tutors to be "the sorrow's path deck" but Wayta provides a small version herself, plus multiplies the power of your creatures with and without path. I'd still prefer Golos of course, but Wayta does offer a different sort of bonus that could be equally valuable, and has the three primary colors.

I'll take a look at it when I have some time and see if I can make something work.

I see you've taken an interest in a couple of my other decks too - I'm curious why you'd pick out three of mine in particular to iterate on. Have you played them for a while or did you just put them together?

[Chromaticus]

I can speak to that @DirkGently — your decks are a really creative base to jump off of that are well put together, and occupy a nice space of not winning out of nowhere, while still "doing the thing" even if you don't wind up winning the game.

I've put together a few of your decks over the years and iterated on them as well.

[kylep33]

I see you've taken an interest in a couple of my other decks too - I'm curious why you'd pick out three of mine in particular to iterate on. Have you played them for a while or did you just put them together?

I've been playing pheldagrriffff for quite some time now, based initially off of one of your initial lists. I stopped playing casual as much and started playing more cedh, but more recently started getting back into deck building and remembered your Pheld deck!
I really like your philosophy as a deck builder, doing more than just the "This commander lets me do ___ so I'm going to build a deck that just does ___". While I am not against decks that are linear like this, I feel they do not quite spark as much interest in my mind. The youtuber Salubrious Snail also has a similar philosophy in deck building and I feel it feels likea fresh of breath air, especially with all the single lane commanders that are getting printed

I recently built up a couple of your lists to help start sparking some more casual sided decks that I'll enjoy more!

[DirkGently]

I appreciate the kind words Glad to know people are getting some use out of my ideas.

Life is a bit hectic at the moment, but I do want to try reimagining the deck under Wayta when I get the chance.