UPDATE: GOLOS IS BANNED, THE END TIMES ARE UPON US. THIS DECK IS DOOMED! RUN Child of Alara IF YOU STILL WISH TO TRY, BUT THIS IS THE APOCALYPSE! I'm not going to edit anything about this description, but I am going to update the commander to Child of Alara. If you're still playing a 99 land deck post-Golos ban, then at least you can enjoy reading my old strategies.
Oops, it looks like Golos, Tireless Pilgrim went a bit overboard when looking for your Field of the Dead, and your entire deck is full of lands and nothing but lands. You could just turn the artifact on and off again, but maybe you have balls of steel like Golos and want to try this out.
Your deck is 1 creature, your commander Golos, Tireless Pilgrim, and 99 non-basic lands. Your aim is simple, use these lands to try and aggro down your enemies while swinging for commander damage with Golos.
Defining Lands:
I decided to be pretty strict when it came to defining lands. They have to be only lands, and nothing else, which is why Dryad Arbor isn't in the deck. And they have to enter the field as a land and nothing else, which is why Zoetic Cavern isn't in the deck. If you think they count, go ahead and put them in. Westvale Abbey
is my example of a card that narrowly fits into both of these definitions, my reasoning being that it is basically Dark Depths, both are lands that after a big investment replace themselves with powerful creatures. The only difference being that Dark Depths sacrifices itself while Westvale Abbey
transforms, which is basically the same thing, and the only reason it flips is because Innistrad sets started the double-sided card gimmick and the Abbey had to fit into that gimmick. If it was printed in another set, it wouldn't have the double-sided gimmick and would instead sacrifice itself to summon Ormendahl, Profane Prince.
Flaws:
The biggest issue with running only lands is that you can only play 1 land per-turn. You will pretty much always be at 6 or 7 cards in hand (assuming you didn't mulligan down). Because of this, card draw is not actually that valuable. So lands that serve only to draw you cards, such as Bazaar of Baghdad aren't included. You stand to capitalise very well if an opponent plays something that lets you play more than 1 land per turn though. In addition, your 1 land per turn restriction means that it isn't as damaging for this deck to mulligan down to lower numbers. You could theoretically do just fine if you were to mulligan down to just 1 card. But this is not an advantage, it is merely making the most out of a heavily restrictive situation.
You also are extremely vulnerable to land-destruction. One Blood Moon or Winter Orb is enough to make you concede right there and then.
There are 3 ways to win with this deck: Beatdown, Legend Swinging and Gates.
Beatdown:
Using your Token-Lands and Manlands, you will try to aggro your opponents down. Combined with Aggro-Lands such as Kessig Wolf Run and Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion, you can whittle down your opponents until you win. The Token-Lands are better than the Manlands long term, since you can go wider with Tokens than the Manlands, but both are decent to aggro with. Turn your Tokens into Deathtouch blocking machines with Vault of the Archangel. Swing for huge trample damage with Kessig Wolf Run! Inkmoth Nexus becomes especially dangerous as you pump it more and more with Kessig Wolf Run.
Your best Token lands are Field of the Dead and Westvale Abbey
. Everyone knows about the Field, it is probably one of the best lands to search up with Golos, Tireless Pilgrim's effect. And it's just as crucial here. While Westvale Abbey
turns your tokens into a lethal swinging machine. Speaking of...
Legend Swinging:
Doing 21 commander damage with Golos, Tireless Pilgrim may not be easy on its own, but it can definitely be improved with a few lands. If you aim for this method of play, you will be using cards such as Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion and Rogue's Passage in order to try and swing that damage in. Keep in mind that your Marit Lage token is also perfectly capable of being turned into lethal swingers with Shizo, Death's Storehouse, and both function amazingly with Kessig Wolf Run.
Gates:
Getting 10 gates using Maze's End may be one of the easiest methods of winning, but it will attract a lot of attention. If you aim for this method, you must play defensively, committing to trying to win as soon as possible. Using Sanctum of Eternity to put Golos, Tireless Pilgrim back into your hand to search for more Gates is a great combo.
If you choose this method of play, you must be very wary to create lots of tokens for defense. Do not swing, but hold back. Combine them with Vault of the Archangel in order to annihilate your opponents' swingers, and use Island of Wak-Wak to shut down threatening fliers. This method is definitely the most risky.
Other Utility:
You of course can assist your gameplan using other cards. Your Mill-Lands can remove valuable resources from your opponent's deck and turn into decent mana-sinks as the game goes on. Slowly draining your opponents with Orzhova, Church of Deals and Stensia Bloodhall can help as well. You can also use Bloodhall to kill Planeswalkers!
You can try and use politics to your advantage. This is why Throne of the High City is included, despite it not doing much for you. By adding the Monarch into gameplay, it will encourage the others to swing at each other, giving you plenty of time to build up your arsenal. In addition, Sorrow's Path and Rhystic Cave are so awfully bad that the site of them may make your opponent's laugh themselves to deck, winning you the game.
Command Tower is included because you can surprisingly get quite mana screwed when playing this deck, since most of your lands tap for colourless and you need to pay for your Kessig Wolf Run somehow.
Your commander, Golos, Tireless Pilgrim is an invaluable resource. You should be doing your absolute best to play him as many times as possible. Commander Tax can often be ignored by simply using Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth and Cabal Coffers to add obscene amounts of mana. The absolute best things for Golos to search out is Field of the Dead, much like in Standard. Field of the Dead provides a 2/2 Zombie every time you play a land while you have 7 or more lands. This basically means that you're getting a 2/2 Zombie every turn to block with or swing with.
The second best option for a commander is Progenitus, simply because it's great to swing with and super sticky. But it massively pales in comparison to Golos, Tireless Pilgrim. So it sits in the maybe board. Or, if you wanna break the spirit of the deck, you can just put Progenitus in the mainboard, taking out something like Sorrow's Path.
