Introduction
I was always a huge fan of land go decks. Playing a land and reacting to what my opponent would do was the secret of my success at Magic, but I never thought Wizards of the Coast would take it to the next level. The Bant Golos deck is the ultimate land go deck and I love to play it. Jokes aside, let’s talk about the new Standard king.
The King of Standard: Bant Golos
If you are going to play Bant Golos, you have to know the ground rules. Land. Ramp. Zombie. Repeat. The deck is great because while you develop your lands, you put multiple threats on the board. I believe this advantage is all Golos’ fault. You search for the 《Field of the Dead》 and on the very next turn you usually activate it for three more cards. How can you beat a deck that never loses the gas? 《Hydroid Krasis》 helps to keep the cards at your hand and 《Agent of Treachery》 is an answer to almost any kind of danger you might face.
When Richard Garfield invented Magic, he invented the one land per turn rule as well. He was a smart guy and knew the game should have a pace so stronger cards could be played but only in the later turns. When you allow someone has seven lands on turn four against a three-lander opponent, of course the game will be unbalanced. When your lands produce ways to attack and defend, the opponent’s life will be tough.
The Core: 《Golos, Tireless Pilgrim》
Along with 《Field of the Dead》, this is the heart of the deck. It is not just a way to find THE land, like I said before, this is a way to keep your tank full of gas. I am pretty sure when they thought about the Golos’ ability, someone had the idea to put all five-mana on the activation cost so it would be very hard to activate it. The problem is the Bant Golos deck ignores the five-mana trouble. After the first 《Circuitous Route》, you have all the color mana you need. In my opinion, if this card were never invented, this deck would never be as good as it is right now.
My Deck Choice for the Mythic Championship V
- Carlos Romao
- – Bant Golos
- Mythic Championship V
2 《Forest》
2 《Island》
1 《Plains》
1 《Swamp》
2 《Breeding Pool》
2 《Temple Garden》
1 《Hallowed Fountain》
3 《Fabled Passage》
1 《Azorius Guildgate》
1 《Boros Guildgate》
1 《Dimir Guildgate》
1 《Selesnya Guildgate》
1 《Simic Guildgate》
1 《Temple of Epiphany》
1 《Temple of Malady》
1 《Temple of Mystery》
1 《Blossoming Sands》
1 《Thornwood Falls》
4 《Field of the Dead》
-Land (28)- 2 《Arboreal Grazer》
3 《Hydroid Krasis》
4 《Golos, Tireless Pilgrim》
1 《Kenrith, the Returned King》
3 《Beanstalk Giant》
2 《Realm-Cloaked Giant》
1 《Agent of Treachery》
-Creature (16)-
2 《Island》
1 《Plains》
1 《Swamp》
2 《Breeding Pool》
2 《Temple Garden》
1 《Hallowed Fountain》
3 《Fabled Passage》
1 《Azorius Guildgate》
1 《Boros Guildgate》
1 《Dimir Guildgate》
1 《Selesnya Guildgate》
1 《Simic Guildgate》
1 《Temple of Epiphany》
1 《Temple of Malady》
1 《Temple of Mystery》
1 《Blossoming Sands》
1 《Thornwood Falls》
4 《Field of the Dead》
-Land (28)- 2 《Arboreal Grazer》
3 《Hydroid Krasis》
4 《Golos, Tireless Pilgrim》
1 《Kenrith, the Returned King》
3 《Beanstalk Giant》
2 《Realm-Cloaked Giant》
1 《Agent of Treachery》
-Creature (16)-
4 《Growth Spiral》
4 《Once Upon a Time》
4 《Circuitous Route》
1 《Time Wipe》
2 《Teferi, Time Raveler》
1 《Oko, Thief of Crowns》
-Spell (16)-
4 《Once Upon a Time》
4 《Circuitous Route》
1 《Time Wipe》
2 《Teferi, Time Raveler》
1 《Oko, Thief of Crowns》
-Spell (16)-
3 《Devout Decree》
2 《Knight of Autumn》
2 《Agent of Treachery》
2 《Veil of Summer》
2 《Negate》
2 《Noxious Grasp》
1 《Time Wipe》
1 《Oko, Thief of Crowns》
-Sideboard (15)-
2 《Knight of Autumn》
2 《Agent of Treachery》
2 《Veil of Summer》
2 《Negate》
2 《Noxious Grasp》
1 《Time Wipe》
1 《Oko, Thief of Crowns》
-Sideboard (15)-
Why I Chose Bant Golos?
During the practice time I had, I was not happy with any of the decks. The only deck that made me happy was Bant Golos but playing a lot of mirrors was not my intention at the beginning. I tried BG Adventures, WG Adventures, Bant Food, UG Food and Mono Red. None of these decks made me feel comfortable. Even if you tuned the deck to beat Golos, the margin of victories was small. You always have to draw multiple copies of your best card against Golos in order to win. The only deck that dominates Golos was Mono Red, but it is almost impossible to beat Bant and UG Food.
Card Choices
Planeswalkers
After a lot of deception with the other metagame decks, I decided to embrace Golos and try new cards in the deck. The first one that impressed me was 《Oko, Thief of Crowns》. The number of planeswalkers in this deck is three and one 《Teferi, Time Raveler》 would have to leave to make a room for Oko. The problem with 《Questing Beast》 and 《Rankle, Master of Pranks》 is the evasive part. The Zombie tokens cannot block those creatures but with the help of Oko, you can. Oko is great against aggro decks too. It is best thing you can have on turn two with the help of 《Arboreal Grazer》.
Sweepers
The next dilemma was three or four sweepers in the main deck. Overall, 《Realm-Cloaked Giant》 is the best choice but 《Time Wipe》 can perform better in the specific situation where it bounces Golos, Krasis or Agent. Because of the large amount of lands in the deck, it is pretty hard to find slots in the main deck but I needed some space for 《Kenrith, the Returned King》 and Agent. Therefore, I cut the 4th sweeper and chose to play two 《Realm-Cloaked Giant》 and one 《Time Wipe》 because the giant is ideal for this deck.
The Last Slot
After submitting the deck, I was kind of unhappy because I didn’t have the second copy of 《Agent of Treachery》. The card is very good in the mirror but also in the Green-x match ups. It is another answer for 《Questing Beast》 and friends. Maybe I could cut one 《Beanstalk Giant》 and add one more Agent. The first Beanstalk is good but the second one is not what you are looking for after the ramp. With four 《Once Upon a Time》, I think two Beanstalk and two Agent would be the best configuration on this matter.
Noxious Grasp in the Sideboard
In the sideboard, because I have a basic 《Swamp》 for 《Kenrith》 and lots of ways to search for it, I decided to go with 《Noxious Grasp》 to stop anti Bant Golos players! A fast way to deal with 《the beast》 is all we want. I thought about 《Prison Realm》 to have an answer for 《Rankle》 too but they have 《Assassin’s Trophy》. 《Noxious Grasp》 has a limitation but looks better.
Overall
If you ask me if I am happy with my decklist and decision for the Mythic Championship, I have to say I am in the middle. Golos is the best deck in my opinion. The problem is I will play a lot of mirrors and I believe I could improve the decklist if I had more time and put more effort on it.
The 21st Octber Banned and Restricted Announcement
I will be fair and go right to the point: I believe they have to ban 《Field of the Dead》. The deck is too powerful on the current metagame and there is no efficient way to counter it. There will be no room for any modification because if you are not playing Golos, you will have to start your deck building with four 《Questing Beast》s.
I really don’t like when cards are banned because I know how much money and effort people put on to build their decks. It is probably one of the worst feelings in the game because most of the players are not prepared to change decks very quickly. The problem is that Golos will make this Standard life a hell.
On the other hand, if 《Field of the Dead》 would have gone by 21st October, I believe in two things: 《Oko, Thief of Crowns》 will be the best card in Standard and Esper Stax will live again! I am more excited about the second part because I really miss playing with Esper and Six mana planeswalkers. Esper Stax has a good match up against all the Green-x deck in my opinion. Maybe the Adventures decks can be problem since they have 《a draw engine》 that works very well, but you can counter it with removals and sweepers.
The Mythic Championship can prove me wrong, but I don’t believe this will happen. 《Field of the Dead》 is not healthy for this metagame and I think it has to pay the price. I started the article saying Bant Golos is the new king. I think its life will be not long after Mythic Championship V.
