Insane MTG Cleanup Step Combo Leads to Turn One Wins!

The most powerful Demon to ever be printed in Magic, Griselbrand Griselbrand Flying, lifelink
Pay 7 life: Draw seven cards. sees play in every format, at least, where it’s legal! Whether it’s with Reanimate Reanimate Put target creature card from a graveyard onto the battlefield under your control. You lose life equal to that card's mana value. , Show and Tell Show and Tell Each player may put an artifact, creature, enchantment, or land card from their hand onto the battlefield. , Goryo’s Vengeance Goryo’s Vengeance Return target legendary creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield. That creature gains haste. Exile it at the beginning of the next end step.
Splice onto Arcane {2}{B} (As you cast an Arcane spell, you may reveal this card from your hand and pay its splice cost. If you do, add this card's effects to that spell.) or Neoform Neoform As an additional cost to cast this spell, sacrifice a creature.
Search your library for a creature card with mana value equal to 1 plus the sacrificed creature's mana value, put that card onto the battlefield with an additional +1/+1 counter on it, then shuffle. , Griselbrand is one of the best possible targets to cheat into play.

Typically, the moment it enters play you pay 14 life, draw 14 cards and go to town from there. This version of NeoBrand features the ability to win as soon as turn one, with Pact of Negation Pact of Negation Counter target spell.
At the beginning of your next upkeep, pay {3}{U}{U}. If you don't, you lose the game. backup. Anything that can win on turn one in Modern is worth checking out. This version does it, with backup, and stops interaction for games two and three. This sets it apart from other versions.

On top of that, you get to play a math mini-game to win! First let’s look at the staple interactions that make NeoBrand function. Then we’ll go into why this version is far more powerful and consistent than it has ever been.

Free Dinosaurs Lead to Free Demons

For the cost of zero mana and exiling two green cards from your hand, you can cast Allosaurus Rider Allosaurus Rider You may exile two green cards from your hand rather than pay this spell's mana cost.
Allosaurus Rider's power and toughness are each equal to 1 plus the number of lands you control. . Since it’s a massive seven mana value, that means resolving either a Neoform Neoform As an additional cost to cast this spell, sacrifice a creature.
Search your library for a creature card with mana value equal to 1 plus the sacrificed creature's mana value, put that card onto the battlefield with an additional +1/+1 counter on it, then shuffle. or an Eldritch Evolution Eldritch Evolution As an additional cost to cast this spell, sacrifice a creature.
Search your library for a creature card with mana value X or less, where X is 2 plus the sacrificed creature's mana value. Put that card onto the battlefield, then shuffle. Exile Eldritch Evolution. immediately puts a Griselbrand Griselbrand Flying, lifelink
Pay 7 life: Draw seven cards. into play. That’s a pretty big investment, though, as it is four cards to get one card. Of course, once you draw seven or fourteen cards with Griselbrand you have now gained huge card advantage.

But Neoform or Eldritch Evolution is two or three mana, how are we potentially doing this on turn one? Chancellor of the Tangle Chancellor of the Tangle You may reveal this card from your opening hand. If you do, at the beginning of your first main phase of the game, add {G}.
Reach, vigilance gives us that bonus mana and is a green card to pitch to the Allosaurus Rider Allosaurus Rider You may exile two green cards from your hand rather than pay this spell's mana cost.
Allosaurus Rider's power and toughness are each equal to 1 plus the number of lands you control. . What if we don’t have the Rider in hand? Well, the deck also runs Summoner’s Pact Summoner’s Pact Search your library for a green creature card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle.
At the beginning of your next upkeep, pay {2}{G}{G}. If you don't, you lose the game. to tutor for whichever green creature you need. The drawback of losing the game will never occur if we win the game on the spot.

Draw Your Deck

It’s possible off your initial draw from Griselbrand you simply do not get the pieces you need. The single most important card in that case is Nourishing Shoal Nourishing Shoal You may exile a green card with mana value X from your hand rather than pay this spell's mana cost.
You gain X life. . For zero mana, you can exile a green card from your hand and gain life. Life allows you to draw more cards and continue making plays. The deck runs Autochthon Wurm Autochthon Wurm Convoke (Your creatures can help cast this spell. Each creature you tap while casting this spell pays for {1} or one mana of that creature's color.)
Trample to gain a massive 15 life which is enough to draw another 14 cards! After drawing 28 cards you should hit a Wurm or a Summoner’s Pact. At worst, a Chancellor of the Tangle can still gain seven so you can then draw seven.

The deck also has an incredible piece of tech that is a new, old, development. At 20 life and a resolved Griselbrand, you would be at six life after drawing 14 cards. Exactly two extra life puts you to eight so you can pay seven life and draw seven more cards. What lets you, for the low cost of zero, gain two life? Gee, there’s a Modern legal Artifact that used to be banned… the inclusion of Zuran Orb Zuran Orb Sacrifice a land: You gain 2 life. is the greatest thing since sliced bread!

This card, effectively, turns your one land into seven more cards and it does this for free. But wait, it does that in another situation as well! With your starting 20 life and 15 more life from Nourishing Shoal Nourishing Shoal You may exile a green card with mana value X from your hand rather than pay this spell's mana cost.
You gain X life. on an Autochthon Wurm Autochthon Wurm Convoke (Your creatures can help cast this spell. Each creature you tap while casting this spell pays for {1} or one mana of that creature's color.)
Trample you go to exactly 35. Four activations of Griselbrand is 28 life leaving you at seven. So to activate Griselbrand one more time, you need one more life. After nearly 30 years, Zuran Orb is still a highly functional card! This isn’t even the only place that Zuran Orb is currently seeing play!

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How Does it Win? Math

The setup is a bit complicated but Thassa’s Oracle Thassa’s Oracle When this creature enters, look at the top X cards of your library, where X is your devotion to blue. Put up to one of them on top of your library and the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order. If X is greater than or equal to the number of cards in your library, you win the game. (Each {U} in the mana costs of permanents you control counts toward your devotion to blue.) is your primary wincon. Nothing does it better for only two mana. Oh, about that? This deck almost never pays for anything; you’re cheating out the Oracle with Chord of Calling Chord of Calling Convoke (Your creatures can help cast this spell. Each creature you tap while casting this spell pays for {1} or one mana of that creature's color.)
Search your library for a creature card with mana value X or less, put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle. . Once you’ve drawn a pile of cards you can tap the Allosaurus Riders, Griselbrand or another free Creature, Endurance Endurance Flash
Reach
When this creature enters, up to one target player puts all the cards from their graveyard on the bottom of their library in a random order.
Evoke—Exile a green card from your hand. , to cast the Chord and put the Oracle directly into play. However, you can’t do this during your Main Phase, you have to wait until your End Step, particularly your Clean Up Step and that is why the deck runs Worldspine Wurm Worldspine Wurm Trample
When this creature dies, create three 5/5 green Wurm creature tokens with trample.
When Worldspine Wurm is put into a graveyard from anywhere, shuffle it into its owner's library.

With your Creatures in play and a pile of cards in hand, you proceed to the End Step. Because you have more than seven cards in hand, you have to discard down to seven. Well, when you discard Worldspine Wurm Worldspine Wurm Trample
When this creature dies, create three 5/5 green Wurm creature tokens with trample.
When Worldspine Wurm is put into a graveyard from anywhere, shuffle it into its owner's library. it has a re-shuffle trigger. Because of that trigger, you can respond during your Clean Up step. This is when you Chord of Calling Chord of Calling Convoke (Your creatures can help cast this spell. Each creature you tap while casting this spell pays for {1} or one mana of that creature's color.)
Search your library for a creature card with mana value X or less, put it onto the battlefield, then shuffle. for a Thassa’s Oracle Thassa’s Oracle When this creature enters, look at the top X cards of your library, where X is your devotion to blue. Put up to one of them on top of your library and the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order. If X is greater than or equal to the number of cards in your library, you win the game. (Each {U} in the mana costs of permanents you control counts toward your devotion to blue.) , put that ability on the stack and then respond to it. It gets quite a bit dicer here.

With two, one or zero cards in your Library the Oracle trigger wins the game on the spot. You can win in other situations as well, but the sequences required are beyond the scope of this article.

Between activating Griselbrand to draw seven more cards, putting an Endurance Endurance Flash
Reach
When this creature enters, up to one target player puts all the cards from their graveyard on the bottom of their library in a random order.
Evoke—Exile a green card from your hand. into play to put your graveyard back into your deck or casting more Nourishing Shoals to gain more life so you can draw more cards, you can always math out what your sequence needs to be so that when the Oracle trigger resolves, you win. It’s likely easier to show you so here’s a link to TheEpicStorm playing the math mini-game.

Matchups and Sideboarding

Both targeted discard and counter spells are strong against any combo deck and NeoBrand acknowledges that fact. However the banned in Pioneer Veil of Summer Veil of Summer Draw a card if an opponent has cast a blue or black spell this turn. Spells you control can't be countered this turn. You and permanents you control gain hexproof from blue and from black until end of turn. (You and they can't be the targets of blue or black spells or abilities your opponents control.) and zero mana Leyline of Sanctity Leyline of Sanctity If this card is in your opening hand, you may begin the game with it on the battlefield.
You have hexproof. (You can't be the target of spells or abilities your opponents control.) are extremely powerful options that are also flexible as they stop a huge variety of decks from interacting. On top of that, it runs Pact of Negation Pact of Negation Counter target spell.
At the beginning of your next upkeep, pay {3}{U}{U}. If you don't, you lose the game. in the main deck so it’s got protection even pre-sideboard.

NeoBrand accepts that with a good hand it wins but if not it has little chance. It’s a gambit and the player has chosen that at the deck selection screen. With a decent hand, an opponent only has one turn, at best, to stop the combo.

Post sideboard, they might have no hope against a Leyline of Sanctity Leyline of Sanctity If this card is in your opening hand, you may begin the game with it on the battlefield.
You have hexproof. (You can't be the target of spells or abilities your opponents control.) even if they are on the play. Stealing wins post sideboard, on the draw, and starting hand quality is a tradeoff. Brutal inevitability and relative consistency for explosive wins in game one and on the play is the payoff.

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A Long way from Tinfins and Grishoalbrand

Once Griselbrand Griselbrand Flying, lifelink
Pay 7 life: Draw seven cards. was spoiled, players saw the potential in a card that called back to powerful draw effects like Yawgmoth’s Bargain Yawgmoth’s Bargain Skip your draw step.
Pay 1 life: Draw a card. and the decks soon flowed. Most of them cheated out the Demon, drew a bunch of cards but then fizzled.

Over time, various incarnations got more tuned and proposed different solutions to win on the spot. One such version featured Borborygmos Enraged Borborygmos Enraged Trample
Whenever Borborygmos Enraged deals combat damage to a player, reveal the top three cards of your library. Put all land cards revealed this way into your hand and the rest into your graveyard.
Discard a land card: Borborygmos Enraged deals 3 damage to any target. and throwing Lands at players. This article from five years ago talks about the 17% chance of that version to go off on turn two and that deck had pact of Negation pact of Negation Counter target spell.
At the beginning of your next upkeep, pay {3}{U}{U}. If you don't, you lose the game. in the sideboard. Not only that but it featured Faithless Looting Faithless Looting Draw two cards, then discard two cards.
Flashback {2}{R} (You may cast this card from your graveyard for its flashback cost. Then exile it.) and Simian Spirit Guide Simian Spirit Guide Exile this card from your hand: Add {R}. which are now both banned in Modern.

The current incarnation, however, can win as soon as turn one, with multiple Pacts in the main deck. Optimizations have made the deck faster, more consistent and less vulnerable post sideboard. Time will tell if NeoBrand can continue to evolve until it’s recognized as a top tier deck, but it has come a long way since it’s original inception. With another synergistic card or two NeoBrand may be heading for a meta near you.

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