Maybeboard

Planeswalker (1)

Instant (1)

Enchantment (1)


Marit Lage's Landing

“When I look down into the abyss, Down into the merciless blackness, Colder and deeper than Hades itself, There I see the Kraken rising.” ― Greig Beck, Kraken Rising

Primer updated: 14.10.2020

Hello Hivemind,

first of all I want to introduce myself. My name is Christian and I'm from Germany. I'm playing Magic the Gathering since 2006 and especially like the Elder Dragon Highlander Format. My Playgroup is Semi-Competitive. We optimize all of our decks, but exclude infinite combos.

In the following sections I want to explain the general idea of this Primer. Feel free to comment and to suggest cards. If you do, please let me know, why you would recommend them and which cards should be cut.

If you like my deck, don't hesitate to ring the bell ;)

Why should you take Golos, Tireless Pilgrim over any other 5-Color-Commander?

My personal Five-Color-Commander experiences

My first 5-Color-EDH was Jodah, Archmage Eternal . The deck was quite strong in my former highpower casual meta and played around Jodah's ability to constantly cast cards like Omniscience , Zacama, Primal Calamity or Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger in the Midgame (turn four) instead of the Endgame.

But because of that he got targeted every time I played him. So in the end, I played the control game and casted my creatures without him. Long story short: I stopped casting him at all.

For obvious reasons I searched for a new leader for my deck. I didn't find one.

So I started out different ways with other 5-Color-Commanders. Because I didn't want to play a tribal deck, I finally brewed some Golos, Tireless Pilgrim decks and I realized, how many possibilities he holds while using him as a commander.

As I said, my Meta is Semi-Competitive. So I came up with a "Lands Matter" idea, which doesn't rely on uncastable things like Avenger of Zendikar or Omnath, Locus of Rage . Don't get me wrong. I don't say those cards are bad for a casual meta, but they are to mana intense to play in my Metagame.

Let's come to the facts:

Golos as a card

Golos, Tireless Pilgrim is a colorless 3/5 Legendary Artifact Creature - Scout. That being said he can block the important threats in the format (e.g. Tymna the Weaver ). Furthermore he provides everything a commander needs. He searches for Utility-Lands like Gaea's Cradle and Field of the Dead by entering the battlefield and his activated ability is card advantage.

A downside I have to mention are his mana cost. is quite high for a commander in my meta. But the fact that we only have to spend colorless mana in a Five-Color-Deck makes up for it. We can most of the time play him on turn 1 or 2. The stats 3/5 for 5 cmc doesn't look too good as well, but luckily this doesn't matter to much in EDH. In addition I need to say that he is vulnerable to artifact removal.

But it's actually not too bad for us, when our opponents remove him. We can easily cast him again because he searched for a 6th mana source and we only have to play another land next turn. The great thing is that by casting him again, we will normally have our Combo-Pieces together.

So by slamming Golos, Tireless Pilgrim on the battlefield we put our opponents under mental pressure. Because we do not necessarily play around his second ability, they have to decide to either let us have the card advantage or give us another land tutor.

When I weigh the pros and cons I come to the conclusion that he's definitly worth to play as my General.

As I already said in the Introduction my playgroup is Semi-Competitive. We want to make the best of our decks, while excluding infinite combos. So don't expect any endless mana-Shenanigans or other loops. But let's get to the topic:

Short: e.g. Notion Thief + Wheel of Fortune

How does it work?

While the card combinations give you extreme value, they smash normally your opponents resources.

With Notion Thief you can even win by taking over your opponents wheel-effects out of nowhere.

After you successfully cast those cards there are two likely scenarios:

  1. You win the game on the spot, because everyone else concedes due to low/no resources.

  2. You become the Archenemy and have to expand your lead even more to win

Note:

The enabling cards like Narset, Parter of Veils or Notion Thief are strong cards even without the wheel-effects. Don't keep them unused in your hand, but don't give them up for free aswell.

Short: Bloom Tender + Jeskai Ascendancy / Faeburrow Elder / Living Plane

With this combination of cards you want to produce and to random mana to go nearly infinite. You're reading it correct. We won't produce infinite mana, but a whole bunch of mana to win the game.

By casting non-creature spells, we can loot and untap all of our creatures. With an activation of Golos, Tireless Pilgrim we will almost always get a non-creature spell for free, which feeds the engine. By casting low costing non-creature spells from our hand, we can fuel our mana even further.

In the end, we want to play some creatures out, or play an overloaded Cyclonic Rift and finally play a game winning Finale of Devastation , which gives all of our creatures for example +30/+30 and haste.

Note:

Zombie Tokens from Field of the Dead are black. This is important for Bloom Tender and Faeburrow Elder , which would only produce with Jeskai Ascendancy

Short: Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite + Living Plane / Zealous Persecution

To get a combination of cards including Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite on the battlefield, would normally be no easy task. But we have a lot of Manarocks and -dorks in our deck which will provide enough mana. Furthermore the combination of Gaea's Cradle + Living Plane gives us more than that.

Turn 1-2:

In the early game we focus on Fast Mana, drawing cards and slowing down the game.

If we can, we want to play Golos, Tireless Pilgrim on turn two.

Getting in a draw engine is important aswell. I look at cards like Mystic Remora or Rhystic Study .

While doing this we want to slow down our opponents with cards like Aven Mindcensor or Drannith Magistrate .

We can't do everything in these few turns. So focus on the pieces you already have and build around them.

Turn 3-5:

Now we want to get a combo going. Let's focus on resolving e.g. Notion Thief + Wheel of Fortune or card:Jeskai Ascendancy + Bloom Tender.

Again: Focus on the piece, which is already there and get the other one. It should be possible nearly every game.

More information is written down in the "Win Cons".

Turn 5-9:

If the game takes long enough, decide on grinding it out with Bloom Tender + Jeskai Ascendancy or Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite + Living Plane .

More information is written down in the "Win Cons".

What do we need in our starting hand?

  1. We want to have enough mana (lands and Fast Mana) for our first two to three turns.

  2. We want to have access to draw and/or tutors.

  3. We want cards to slow down the game.

Do we keep it or not?

To learn how to mulligan correctly, is an important thing to become a better Mtg-Player. In the following I will draw some random hands with the help of tappedout and give you my thoughts about them.

!Not updated!

1. Hand

Gaea's Cradle , Glacial Chasm , Gemstone Caverns , Assassin's Trophy , Finale of Devastation , Worldly Tutor and Solemnity

Not a great hand, but we can consider keeping it. We can play Worldly Tutor right before our first turn to get a mana dork and play Finale of Devastation or Solemnity on turn two.

2. Hand

Command Tower , Bayou , Sol Ring , Sylvan Library , Mystic Remora , Ramunap Excavator and Mystical Tutor

Good hand with several options to play.

3. Hand

Bayou , Dark Depths , Mana Crypt , Arbor Elf , Dockside Extortionist , Ramunap Excavator and Fire Covenant

If we had a Fetchland in hand, this hand would be great. But it's too topdeck dependent like this. We should take a mulligan.

4. Hand

Gaea's Cradle , Tundra , Taiga , Strip Mine , Birds of Paradise , Noble Hierarch and Gilded Drake

Not too good with four lands in hand. But we can consider keeping it. We will have Golos, Tireless Pilgrim on turn three for sure while having interaction with an opponents commander with Gilded Drake

5. Hand

Badlands , Mana Confluence , Thespian's Stage , Waste Not , Vexing Shusher , Ramunap Excavator and Wrenn and Six

No good turn one play and no great follow up. Let's take a mulligan.

6. Hand

Strip Mine , Arbor Elf , Grand Abolisher , Crucible of Worlds , Imperial Seal , Brainstorm and Red Elemental Blast

Not keepable for sure.

7. Hand

Taiga , Tropical Island , Thespian's Stage , Burning Inquiry , Timetwister , Assassin's Trophy and Vexing Shusher

No Fastmana and no ramp at all. Take another one

8. Hand

City of Brass , Savannah , Plateau , Field of the Dead , Arbor Elf , Chrome Mox and Dryad of the Ilysian Grove

Not too good with four lands again. But we can get a Golos, Tireless Pilgrim on turn three.

9. Hand

Forbidden Orchard , Ponder , Enlightened Tutor , Cyclonic Rift , Abrupt Decay , Smothering Tithe and Finale of Devastation

Not too bad. We hope to draw a land on turn one, to search for a Mana Crypt and play Smothering Tithe on turn two. If we're unlucky, we can Ponder .

10. Hand

Marsh Flats , Thespian's Stage , Flooded Strand , City of Brass , Underground Sea , Taiga and Noble Hierarch

Six lands is way to much. Let's get another one.

I hope you liked my idea of Golos, Tireless Pilgrim . If you did, leave an upvote and/or comment.

Anyways thank you for reading this primer. Maybe you got inspired by it, maybe not.

If you have questions, remarks or suggestions, please point them out! I would really like to discuss about card choices.

I'm looking to constantly update this deck and substantiate my amendments.

That's it so far. See you in the comments :)

Suggestions

Comments

Casual

95% Competitive

Date added 5 years
Last updated 3 years
Key combos
Legality

This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.

Rarity (main - side)

18 - 0 Mythic Rares

58 - 0 Rares

12 - 0 Uncommons

10 - 0 Commons

Cards 100
Avg. CMC 2.07
Tokens Bird 2/2 U, Elk 3/3 G, Food, Spirit 1/1 C, Treasure, Zombie 2/2 B
Folders More EDH
Votes
Ignored suggestions
Shared with
Views