Deck Spotlight Modern: Golgari Yawgmoth

Modern: Golgary Yawgmoth

A Deck Primer

Author: Zen Takahashi

Hello everyone!

As my previous articles have been on Legacy, I have decided to instead write about a format that I have been playing more of recently – Modern!

The One-Dimensional Nature of Modern

Although people often criticize the one-dimensional nature of gameplay, I have always been a big advocate of the format. I enjoy the wide variety of decks that exist, which is precisely possible only because the format doesn’t have the universal, well-rounded answers that Legacy has, like Daze, Wasteland and Force of Will, which keeps many archetypes in check.

Within this large spectrum of archetypes, everyone can find a deck that fits their personality, and I have always loved talking to Modern players who are passionate about their pet deck and feel that it closely resembles their identity as a Magic player.

While the games may sometimes feel like two ships passing in the night, the gameplay pattern of consistently being able to execute your deck’s gameplan is one that people with beloved pet decks very much appreciate.

The Chord of Calling Archetype

In that vein, one of my favorite archetypes in Modern has always been the Chord of Calling decks. I simply just love the card – I think it’s one of my favorite designs in Magic.

Chord of Calling Art Crop.jpeg

The flavor of convoke is incredible in the context of a creature deck, and it’s the right way to “cheat” mana as there’s a big upfront cost to casting multiple creatures, and creatures are generally easy to handle with removal spells.

While I love convoke in general, Chord of Calling specifically fits it so well as a creature tutor effect allows you to play different kinds of creatures and create distinct gameplay patterns that are otherwise unreplicable in your average constructed deck.

While cheap tutor effects usually incentivize maximizing consistency and making your deck more narrow-focused, expensive tutors like Chord of Calling have an opposite effect where they encourage you to play situational, yet highly impactful one-offs, aka “silver bullets”.

Angel Chord at the Pro Tour

In fact, one of my proudest deck building accomplishments was when my teammate and I brewed together Angel Chord, which over half of our team ended up playing at Pro Tour Oath of the Gatewatch.

archangel-of-thune-art-crop.jpeg

I worked a ton on the deck with my teammate as we played league after league on Magic Online, while also meeting up on a regular basis to test specific matchups. This was my second Pro Tour, and the first time I worked on an established team, and I was so proud when the brew I co-created was played by pro players I looked up to like Tomoharu Saito and Hao-Shan Huang.

Although the headlines from the weekend were all about the breakout Eldrazi decks, my teammate did go 9-1 with the deck in the Modern portion of the Pro Tour, and the deck was chosen as part of the Pro Tour Showcase Challenge that featured on Magic Online a few weeks after the event.

The list was as follows:


Chord Combo by Matthew Rogers

Chord of Calling in Modern today

Chord of Calling decks have unfortunately largely fallen out of favor in today’s Modern metagame. Although Abzan Company had some success a few years back, in recent years the card hasn’t really had its time in the spotlight as Kiki-Chord failed to ever properly establish itself.

However, a few weeks ago, I was looking through Magic Online decklists and came across Golgari Yawgmoth for the first time. The deck had just won a Modern Challenge, and I instantly fell in love with the deck upon seeing the list.

The list was as follows:


BGx Sacrifice by hoody66


My current list

After seeing the deck, I immediately joined a league with it on Magic Online and grinded through five matches. Although I went 2-3, I had a ton of fun, and I’ve since been playing the deck online. I have made a few changes to the Modern Challenge winning list based on my own experiences and seeing other decklists.

My list currently is as follows:


Chord Combo by Zen Takahashi


How the deck works

Throughout Modern’s history, we have seen many toolbox-creature decks with combos embedded in them.

How combo-focused they are lies on a wide spectrum, from the old Birthing Pod decks that played mostly fair but with the ability to assemble a combo via Melira, Sylvok Outcast and Viscera Seer, to Devoted Druid decks that seldom win without the combo.

Combo or Beatdown?

Golgari Yawgmoth lies somewhere between the middle and the combo end of the spectrum – it wins mostly via the combo, especially in pre-board games, but against certain matchups (those with a lot of disruption) and/or in post-board games, it may opt to go down the fair, beatdown route.

If I had to compare it to other decks, I think it’s slightly more combo-focused than Kiki-Chord, but slightly less combo-focused than Green-White Heliod.

yawgmoth-thran-physician.jpeg

Similar to Splinter Twin, the threat of the combo allows you to execute your fair game plan better. Since the deck can immediately win the turn you get a Yawgmoth into play, and often can assemble it out of nowhere with Chord of Calling, your opponent is forced to respect it and hold disruption up.

This allows you to beatdown with your subpar creatures, as your opponent cannot deploy all their cards in a timely manner out of respect for the combo.

The Importance of Timing with Yawgmoth

In most games, the timing of when you cast Yawgmoth will be the most important decision. The factors behind it are contextual game-to-game, but generally, against fair decks, you want to take your time and play it after you have baited out their removal or play it in a position where you can get value out of it by drawing a couple of cards from him.

The last thing you want to do is jam it on turn four and have it die to an Unholy Heat straight away. Against combo and big mana decks, you’re generally looking to combo as quickly as possible as you need to race them. This often means casting him in the first opportunity you get.

How the combo works

The Basics

strangleroot-geist.jpeg

The combo involves two creatures with undying (one must have no counters on it), and Yawgmoth. This lets you create a pseudo-Yawgmoth’s Bargain, as you can now pay one life to draw a card.

This works by initially sacrificing the undying creature with no counters, and either remove the +1+1 counter from the other undying creature or just don’t put a -1-1 counter on any creature as Yawgmoth says “up to”, which will draw you a card and the creature you sacrificed will come back with a +1+1 counter on it.

After that, sacrifice the other undying creature (which should now have no counters on it), and it will again draw you a card and come back with a +1+1 counter on it while removing the +1+1 counter from the first undying creature you sacrificed (putting a -1-1 counter on a creature with a +1+1 counter on it removes the +1+1 counter from the creature). You’ve now created a loop that you can repeat.

The next steps

zulaport-cutthroat.jpeg

Once you have this loop going, you can keep drawing cards until you find a Zulaport Cutthroat or a Chord of Calling/Eldritch Evolution to find it. Having a Zulaport Cutthroat in play means you’ll gain back the life you pay every time you sacrifice a creature, while also draining your opponent out.

One way to win

However, to win this way, you’ll need to have at least two life (you don’t gain back the life until you first pay a life as part of Yawgmoth’s cost), and your opponent’s life total must be less than the number of cards in your deck or else you will deck out before you can drain them out.

Another way to win

The other way to win is if one of the undying creatures you control is a Geralf’s Messenger. This way, every time it is sacrificed, your opponent will lose two life. Therefore, if your opponent’s life total is lower than yours, then they will die before you do once you start looping the creatures as they lose two life for every two life you pay (sacrificing Geralf’s Messenger and the other undying creature once each).

If you have two copies of Geralf’s Messenger, they will be losing four life for every two life you pay, so you can win as long as your life total is greater than half their life total.

Is the combo reliable?

It is worth noting that the combo is also quite a lot more resilient than it initially looks. If you have three undying creatures, they will not be able to break the undying loop even with a removal spell, as you can then use the third undying creature to recreate the loop with their removal spell on the stack

geralfs-messenger.jpeg

If you don’t have a third undying creature, you can still cast Yawgmoth and just leave the combo in play. This will leave your opponent in a bind as they won’t be able to kill your Yawgmoth since you can just combo off in response, which may buy you enough time to find a third undying creature.

You can also combo off at instant speed, as you can start looping at any time and Chord of Calling is an instant. In one game recently, I went off on my opponent’s upkeep, as I had used Wall of Roots’ mana ability on my own turn so I needed to pass the turn so I could use it again to have enough green sources to fetch a Zulaport Cutthroat.

What happens if you brick?

Finally, sometimes you may just brick while you try to go off. You either do not have a Geralf’s Messenger in play or cannot find a Zulaport Cutthroat/Chord of Calling/Eldritch Evolution.

It’s important to be aware of when you should stop digging, as often you can just draw enough cards that you can just win via overwhelming them on card advantage (this happens especially against fair decks), and it’s not worth the risk of putting yourself in Lightning Bolt range just to try to find the final combo piece.

My list compared to the stock list

My current list is fairly close to the stock versions, though the card choices in the deck are mostly set in stone due to the need to maximize consistency for the combo. Changes between lists mostly come in the form of silver-bullet targets and sideboard choices. Below, I have outlined the changes between my list and the more stock versions.

grist-the-hunger-tide.jpeg

  • Since the printing of Adventures in the Forgotten Realms, people have favored Prosperous Innkeeper over Essence Warden. This makes sense as the former lets you ramp and can fetch Yawgmoth with Eldritch Evolution. However, I still favor the one-drop as I believe when you’re going off, it’s crucial that you have a Chord target for one, as at two you will almost always fetch Zulaport Cutthroat instead. Essence Warden lets you draw as many cards as you want without paying life, and it’s often difficult to have in play enough creatures to convoke for two, especially with Geralf’s Messenger coming back into play tapped.
  • People are now starting to cut down to three Geralf’s Messenger, which is reasonable as the card can be clunky and it gets boarded out in many matchups (against creature decks and Blood Moon decks for example). That being said, I still like having the full playset in the main deck as in pre-board games you’re generally more focused on the combo, but I am happy to sideboard out multiple copies in post-board games. Since I am playing the full playset of Messengers, I am also still playing four Twilight Mires. This is not ideal but it’s necessary.
  • The final difference in the main deck is that I am playing two Grist, the Hunger Tide, and three Eldritch Evolution. The former is becoming more common now that people have realized how busted the card is, especially if you can play it on turn two. The deck also struggles with some creatures such as Dauthi Voidwalker and Murktide Regent, and so having more main deck answers to those cards is important. While people have generally shaved the fourth Geralf’s Messenger for it, I’ve instead cut the fourth Eldritch Evolution. I’m not sure if this is correct, especially as I like to be focused on the combo in pre-board games, but I have regularly found multiple copies of Evolution to be redundant and it lines up poorly against decks with lots of disruption.
  • In the sideboard, I like playing a package of three Endurance and two Go for the Throat to fight Blue-Red Murktide and the various Black-Red Lurrus decks. Endurance is great against Ragavan/Dragon’s Rage Channeler decks, while also having utility against decks like Living End, and Go for the Throat cleanly answers two problematic cards – Dauthi Voidwalker and Murktide Regent. Most people prefer Cast Down, but I found that Lurrus of the Dream-Den can often be a problem as games go long in post-board games, and you need an answer to it. Since I play three Force of Vigor, I’m hedged better against the drawback of Go for the Throat.
  • Combo decks and big mana strategies have been the matchups I have struggled with the most thus far. Necromentia is much narrower than a card like Thoughtseize, but I don’t think light disruption is enough to beat decks like Amulet Titan or Living End. Instead, I’ve opted for the narrow, yet high-potential extraction effect. Damping Sphere is also another option, but I’m worried it isn’t powerful enough against some combo decks and it also works poorly with your Twilight Mires.

Tips and Tricks

This deck has a lot of complicated and intricate lines. While I cannot cover them all, here are some that have come up in my games so far.

  • Wall of Roots can contribute two mana to Chord of Calling, as it can add mana via its ability and then tap itself for convoke.
  • Verdant Catacombs can be used to get Dryad Arbor, which can then be sacrificed to Eldritch Evolution/Grist/Yawgmoth. You can unexpectedly shrink a creature with Yawgmoth and eat it in combat by leaving an uncracked fetchland in play.
  • You want to maintain as high of a life total as possible for Yawgmoth. Therefore, try to sequence your lands to minimize the damage you take. However, don’t fetch a Forest if you do not have a Twilight Mire or Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, as it can get in the way of casting Geralf’s Messenger.
  • If you have an opportunity to deal some damage to your opponent, take it. If you are to win via Geralf’s Messenger, you need your opponent to be on a lower life total than you.
  • You can Chord of Calling for zero to find Dryad Arbor. This commonly comes up when you cast a turn one Young Wolf, as you can then Chord for a Dryad Arbor on turn two and cast Yawgmoth on turn three. In a pinch, it can also just act as a three-mana, instant-speed ramp spell.
  • Chord of Calling and Eldritch Evolution can fetch Grist, the Hunger Tide. This comes up quite a lot against fair decks – casting a turn one mana creature into a turn two Eldritch Evolution for Grist can be backbreaking against a deck like Blue-White Control.
  • Yawgmoth can be used to kill your opponent’s creatures. If your opponent has multiple 2/2s or 3/3s, you can even distribute the -1-1 counters between them and then proliferate multiple times to kill them all. Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons is incredible against creature decks, as whenever you put a -1-1 counter on an opponent’s creature, you create a deathtouch snake. If you sacrifice the snake, you’ll then get to put another -1-1 counter on a creature and make another snake. This essentially lets you kill all your opponent’s creatures as long as you have enough life, while also drawing you many cards in the process.
  • If you do not have two undying creatures, you can still try to go off assuming you have multiple other creatures in play. A single undying creature allows you to draw two cards per each non-undying creature, essentially creating a pseudo-Skullclamp. If you have three creatures in play that you don’t mind sacrificing, this would essentially let you draw six cards, and hopefully within that you either find another undying creature and/or the card advantage is enough to win the game.

Sideboard Guide


Blue-Red Murktide

The Reclamation Sage comes in against Blood Moon.


Hammertime


Temur Rhinos

The Reclamation Sage comes in against Blood Moon.


Blue-White Control

The Reclamation Sage comes in to fight Rest in Peace.


Green Tron (Karn, the Great Creator version)


Burn

Reclamation Sage comes in to battle against Eidolon of the Great Revel and Rest in Peace.


Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed this article as I covered in-depth my favorite Modern deck right now – Golgari Yawgmoth! Unfortunately, due to the recent COVID outbreak in New Zealand, I have been in lockdown again for the past month. However, I have been having a lot of fun playing leagues with this deck online, and I’m glad to see a Chord of Calling deck is once again competitive in Modern!

Till next time!

Zen Takahashi

@mtgzen on Twitter

About the Author

Zen Takahashi is a seasoned writer and mainstay on the Three for One Trading writing team. He is an avid Eternal player from Auckland, New Zealand and enjoys competing in local Legacy events and playing Old School over webcam with friends.

Previously, he was a Silver Pro for multiple years and his results included five Grand Prix Top 8s, a 27th place at Pro Tour Amonkhet, three consecutive online Regional PTQ wins, and he co-created the Modern Dredge deck.

Nowadays though, he primarily plays Legacy, his favorite format, but he also branches out into Pioneer and Modern.

Zen Takahashi

More Articles by Zen Takahashi

Mono Red in Standard

January 26th, 2024|Constructed, Highlights|

The perfect preparation for our next Store Championship! Zen gives you all the information you need to win in Standard with Mono Red Aggro. As usual he gives you a small run down of the deck together with a lot of different sideboard guides against almost every meta deck of the format.

  • Background-Zen-Rakdos-Update

Rakdos Midrange in Pioneer [Update]

December 7th, 2023|Constructed, Highlights|

Mistakes have been made and lessons have been learned, so it’s time for an update on Zen’s Rakdos Midrange deck in Pioneer. This time with a very detailed matchup guide on the current Pioneer Meta with sideboard options for each popular deck you’ll encounter.

  • Rakdos-Reanimator-Website

Rakdos Reanimator Guide [2023]

October 10th, 2023|Constructed, Events, Highlights|

Zen Takahashi played Rakdos Reanimator at the Magic: The Gathering World Championships in Las Vegas! In his latest article, he goes in-depth about how to play the deck, what to look out for in popular matchups and explains how to make best use of The Cruelty of Gix.

  • Living-End-Primer-Cover

Modern Living End Primer

August 18th, 2023|Constructed, Highlights|

Zen Takahashi played Living End during the Lord of the Rings Pro Tour in Barcelona. Now he's ready to share some insights on this powerful Modern deck including the card choices, what hands to keep and how to sideboard against different opponents.

  • Winners-RC-Sydney

Regional Championship Report – Sydney

July 6th, 2023|Constructed, Events|

Zen Takahashi played Mono White Humans in Pioneer during the Regional Championships in Sydney! Find out all about what deck he played, what useful tips and tricks he had up his sleeves and how it all went down in his latest article! Bonus insider info on where to get the best truffle pasta in Sydney!

  • Rakdos-Cover

Rakdos in Standard

May 24th, 2023|Constructed, Events|

Our author Zen Takahashi competed at the Pro Tour in Minneapolis, shortly before re-qualifying for another Pro Tour. Both times he played Rakdos: Reanimator and Midrange! In his latest article, he compares both experiences and goes over each of the two decks in detail.

  • Bloodtithe-Harvester-Art

Standard Grixis Midrange Primer

March 22nd, 2023|Constructed, Events|

Zen won the Australasian Championship with his Standard Grixis Midrange deck a few days ago. Lucky for us, he didn't take a break and wrote an in-depth primer for the deck including sideboard tips and card choices for us! Prepare yourself for future Regional Championships or Qualifiers, because you'll be either playing this deck or playing against it.

  • Goblin Guide Cover

Boros Burn in Modern

January 19th, 2023|Constructed, Highlights|

Our author Zen Takahashi is feeling nostalgic, so it was time for a break from Pioneer and time for Modern Burn, Modern Boros Burn, to be precise! As usual Zen gives you a detailed overview of the deck, nice tips and tricks on how to maneuver it around the Modern meta decks and a useful sideboarding options, based on his experience.

  • Kroxa,-Titan-of-Death's-Hunger-THB

Rakdos Midrange in Pioneer

December 29th, 2022|Constructed|

Zen Takahashi is not done with Pioneer yet! For the Regional Championschip in Sydney, he and his team of over 10 other players tested different decks extensively until they came up with their own twist on the popular Rakdos Midrange deck.

  • Thalia-Guardian-of-Thraben-Art

Mono White Humans in Pioneer

October 26th, 2022|Constructed, Highlights|

Zen Takahashi takes a closer look at his newest favorite deck in Pioneer: Mono White Humans! As usual, you can expect in-depth tips and tricks as well as a sideboard guide from Zen, who was already very successful with his Pioneer decks in his Regional Championship Qualifiers.

  • Grist-the-Hunger-Tide-Art

Best Cards in Modern – Multicolor [2022]

October 6th, 2022|Constructed, Highlights|

We asked our seasoned team of authors a tough question: What do they think are the best ten multicolored cards in Magic the Gathering's Modern format. We then went a step further and created a Top 5. Learn what they think about the very best cards of one of the game's most popular formats.

  • Otawara, Soaring City Art

Best Cards in Modern – Lands [2022]

October 4th, 2022|Constructed, Highlights|

We asked our seasoned team of authors a tough question: What do they think are the best ten lands in Magic the Gathering's Modern format. We then went a step further and created a Top 5. Learn what they think about the very best cards of one of the game's most popular formats.

  • Pithing Needle Art

Best Cards in Modern – Artifacts [2022]

September 27th, 2022|Constructed, Highlights|

We asked our seasoned team of authors a tough question: What do they think are the best ten artifacts in Magic the Gathering's Modern format. We then went a step further and created a Top 5. Learn what they think about the very best cards of one of the game's most popular formats.

  • Lightning Strike Artwork

Mono Red Primer for Pioneer

September 12th, 2022|Constructed, Highlights|

This time, Zen Takahashi writes in depth about his Regional Championship Qualifier Deck: Mono Red in Pioneer! That means we get a Primer for Mono Red Burn and Mono Red Frenzy. He also doesn't spare any details about key matchups in Pioneer and helps you to play your way around them!

Best Cards in Modern – White [2022]

August 5th, 2022|Constructed, Highlights|

We asked our seasoned team of authors a tough question: What do they think are the best ten white cards in Magic the Gathering's Modern format. We then went a step further and created a Top 5. Learn what they think about the very best cards of one of the game's most popular formats.

Legacy Reanimator 2022

June 14th, 2022|Constructed, Highlights|

If you are looking for a Reanimator Primer in Legacy, look no further! In his article, Zen Takahashi gives you everything you need to know about Reanimator: Which hands to keep? What are your opponents playing? How to sideboard? All these questions and more will be answered right here.

Blue-Red Ensoul in Pioneer

June 3rd, 2022|Constructed, Highlights|

After a longer break, our author Zen Takahashi is excited to get back into Pioneer and crush the first PTQ season with his version of Izzet Ensoul. You can read all about the new and old decklist as well as mulligan strategies and other tips right here!

Best Cards in Modern – Green [2022]

May 27th, 2022|Constructed, Highlights|

We asked our seasoned team of authors a tough question: What do they think are the best ten green cards in Magic the Gathering's Modern format. We then went a step further and created a Top 5. Learn what they think about the very best cards of one of the game's most popular formats.

Auckland Eternal Weekend Report

April 28th, 2022|Constructed, Events|

Our author, Zen Takahashi, spent an Eternal Weekend in Auckland where he played tournaments of Vintage, Old School and Legacy. Real Power Nine, no proxies allowed! You can read all about what decks he played and how it went right here on our blog!

Best Cards in Modern – Red [2022]

April 20th, 2022|Constructed|

We asked our seasoned team of authors a tough question: What do they think are the best ten red cards in Magic the Gathering's Modern format. We then went a step further and created a Top 5. Learn what they think about the very best cards of one of the game's most popular formats.

Top Ten Decks in Legacy 2022

April 1st, 2022|Constructed, Highlights|

In our latest article, Zen Takahashi analyses the best Legacy decks and comes up with his Top 10 Legacy decks of 2022. If you are curious to find out if your deck made the cut, or simply interested in what's going on in Legacy these days, keep on reading right here!

Best Cards in Modern – Black [2022]

February 28th, 2022|Constructed|

We asked our seasoned team of authors a tough question: What do they think are the best ten black cards in Magic the Gathering's Modern format. We then went a step further and created a top 5. Learn what they think about the very best cards of one of the game's most popular formats.

Rainbow Dredge in Modern

February 16th, 2022|Constructed|

Today’s article is all about Dredge in Magic: The Gathering, more specifically, Dredge in Modern. Zen Takahashi, one of the creators of Rainbow Dredge, took a look at the history of the deck and its current state in the meta. He’s also going over different iterations of the deck, as well as all the current sideboard options available.

Best Cards in Modern – Blue [2022]

February 4th, 2022|Constructed|

We asked our seasoned team of authors a tough question: What do they think are the best ten blue cards in Magic the Gathering's Modern format. We then went a step further and created a top 5. Learn what they think about the very best cards of one of the game's most popular formats.

Blue Zenith in Legacy

January 14th, 2022|Constructed|

Zen takes a look at a new deck that did surprisingly well in recent Legacy online events. Green Sun's Zenith and blue Counterspells are the engine in this midrange powerhouse.