Of all the new cards Edge of Eternities brought to the table, Cosmogoyf was certainly one of the most exciting. While the ‘Goyf name doesn’t hold quite as much weight in the game as it once did, new variants still tend to be worthy of hype. Unfortunately this hype didn’t translate into real play for the card: until now, that is. Today, an enterprising MTG player piloted a Jund Cosmogoyf deck to a 5-0 finish in a Pioneer League.
It may sound like a stretch to name an archetype after a card so soon, but this deck really is all about Cosmogoyf. It plays a lot of pieces to support the card, including cards widely considered unplayable in the past. Turns out exiling cards en masse is pretty powerful when it translates directly into stats on board. Throw in a solid Midrange outer shell, and this is a deck with real potential in the Pioneer format.
Jund Cosmogoyf In MTG Pioneer
Cosmogoyf is the clear star of this spicy new Jund Pioneer brew, which comes to us via MTG player Xfile. Like the original Tarmogoyf, this is a two-drop with the potential to scale far beyond reasonable stats for its cost. Unlike Tarmogoyf, it cares about cards in exile, not in the graveyard. This opens up the door for some unexpectedly potent synergies.
Perhaps the best this deck has to offer is Demonic Bargain. This is a forgotten three-mana tutor from way back in Innistrad: Crimson Vow. Its downside is that it requires you to exile the top 13 cards of your deck before you search, but with Cosmogoyf in the mix it’s all upside. The dream curve in the deck is Cosmogoyf on two followed by Bargain on three, which will let you swing with a 13/14 creature immediately. That’s terrifying in any format, especially a lower-powered one like Pioneer.
The deck even has a way to push this even further. With a couple of copies of Temur Battle Rage in the main, there’s a very real chance of a guaranteed turn four kill here. Hitting for a total of 26 damage, with Trample on top, is not something many Pioneer decks can survive. This line gives the deck a combo-esque edge, which separates it from its Midrange peers.
Of course, one exile outlet isn’t really enough to warrant Cosmogoyf’s inclusion. To back it up, Xfile also runs Tasigur, the Golden Fang and Graveyard Trespasser here. While these lack Bargain’s early potential, they’re still plenty scary with a Cosmogoyf in play. Tasigur alone can make it a 5/6, for example, while Trespasser can grow it gradually over time.
A Solid Backup Plan
These potent Cosmogoyf synergies are what make this deck unique, but they don’t tell the whole story. They sit on top of a tried-and-tested Midrange core, which long-time Pioneer players will recognize right away.
Most of the best Rakdos Midrange cards in the format have slots here, too. Bloodtithe Harvester and Fable of the Mirror-Breaker are as generically good as ever. They also help fill your graveyard, which is essential if you’re planning to cast Tasigur via Delve. The deck actually lacks much of the self-mill you’d expect, so this pair punches well above its weight.
Xfile also runs a ton of ways to clear the path here. Pioneer is a fairly grindy, board-centric format on the whole. Having access to good removal is important, as well as ways to stop your opponent’s. No matter how big Cosmogoyf gets, it still dies to Fatal Push, after all. Thoughtseize can rip such cards from your opponent’s hand before they get the chance to use them. You can then use your own copies, alongside Go for the Throat, to get pesky chump blockers out of the way for a chunky 13-damage swing.
A couple of copies of Sheoldred, the Apocalypse round out the list. There’s no real synergy here: it’s just one of the best pound-for-pound threats in the format. If your opponent deals with your early Cosmogoyfs, this is a solid backup plan.
This Midrange package gives the deck a solid base, which allows it to try out the Cosmogoyf strategy with minimal risk. In a way, it feels like a Rakdos Midrange deck with a powerful combo attached. That’s no bad thing: in a grindy format, the deck with a route over the top will often be the one that wins.
Too Big To Fail?
That said, Jund Cosmogoyf is by no means a sure thing in MTG Pioneer right now. Mono-Red Aggro is the best deck in the format by a considerable margin, and it poses just as much of a threat to Xfile’s list as it does to any other.
The big worry, as always, is getting run over before things really get going. There’s plenty of cheap removal and disruption in the deck, but many Heartfire Hero starts can get out of hand regardless. A huge Cosmogoyf can actually stonewall the deck pretty hard, but you won’t get that early every game. Even when you do, Screaming Nemesis is a pretty neat counter. If your opponent knows what you’re up to, removing a Cosmogoyf before it gets big is rather trivial for Mono-Red.
Against the other big decks in the format, Jund Cosmogoyf has more play. Rakdos Midrange is close to a mirror match, but with you running the Cosmogoyf package instead of the usual Demon-based card advantage setup. It’s hard to say which will win out more often with the current lack of data, but Cosmogoyf getting answered cleanly by Fatal Push and Go for the Throat is worrying.
Azorius Control may well be trickier. They have a ton of answers to your threats, and the card advantage necessary to grind you out. Regular Rakdos Midrange has Unholy Annex to keep up, but the Cosmogoyf version has to play it more straight. For this reason, I can’t imagine it being a particularly good matchup for the deck.
Overall Jund Cosmogoyf is a really interesting strategy, and a stellar showcase for a spicy new card, but Pioneer may not be in the right place for it to really shine.
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