No UB or WU duals, since blue is our lightest color and RG are our heaviest.
OP: It came up in a topic in the main discussion, and once someone mentioned the idea of fetching Sorrow's Path with Golos, Tireless Pilgrim I just couldn't resist.
For those not in the know, Sorrow's Path is often cited as the worst card of all time. It has a very niche effect, which is fully on-the-table and playaround-able by your opponent. Plus it's a land that doesn't even tap for mana. But the biggest downside is that whenever it's tapped, it asymmetrically Volcanic Fallouts your butt.
Which, amusingly, is what makes it actually NOT so terrible, because in the game of magic, powerful effects - even negative effects - can almost always be made useful. And repeatable Pyroclasm on a land is certainly a powerful effect. But how to use it?
The more famous way is to Donate it and then keep tapping it via various means, which is hilarious but not very scalable in this format. Maybe with Tectonic Instability, Zedruu the Greathearted, and some clone effects you could make it happen, but it seems like a lot of work for relatively little payoff.
Instead of that, I want to revisit a 60-card deck I built back in 2009 or so that focused around Sorrow's Path and creatures that love getting smacked in the face. Back then it was primary stuff like Spitemare and Phytohydra, but now we've got a whole host of great options thanks to the enrage keyword. Plus we've got things like Rite of Passage and possibly Vigor (although he can screw up our other combos so I'm not 100% on him, despite being insane).
So category-wise, I'm breaking down the deck roughly into:
-Creatures what like getting punched in the face.
-Ways to punch my own creatures in the face.
-Basic utility: removal, ramp, and tutors
-Lands
As far as "ways to punch my own creatures in the face", I've got a few ideas:
Sorrow's Path itself, along with its partner in crime, Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth.
Clones for sorrow's path (Vesuva, thespians, Mythos of Illuna, mirage mirror, moritte of the frost).
Ways to protect/recover sorrow's path (Petrified Field).
Other repeatable ways to smack our boys around (Pyrohemia, Pestilence).
Damage-based board clears (Blasphemous Act, Extinction Event)).
Damage-based removal (Lightning Bolt, Justice Strike).
Those are the thoughts I have so far. Of course Golos as commander guarantees our ability to hit Path, Urborg, Vesuva at some point, as well as guaranteed gas if we start to run out of cards. Not a commander I helm lightly, but I think this is going to be a pretty "fair" application of him.
EDIT: conversation copied from other thread:
DirkGently wrote: ↑3 years agoI threw up a thread in decklists to do some brainstorming, I'd love to get more ideas (plus we could avoid hijacking this thread). I've been going through my cards this evening and pulling stuff out. Happily I did have a Sorrow's Path in my trades of all placesmaterpillar wrote: ↑3 years agoThis... actually sounds amazing. If you put Chamber of Manipulation onto Sorrow's Path, you can stack the triggers so you gain control of target creature and then it takes 2 damage right?
It'd also be hilarious to Animate Land and then Unexpected Fangs it.
Yeah this deck sounds rather funny actually. Yum, yumm Vigor. You could also probably construct some combo with Cacophodon to kill the table.
Chamber of Manipulation occurred to me, but I think there are better options. Urborg is the easiest way to activate path since it's Golos-tutorable and costs basically nothing since it's a fine land on its own. There's also a few cantripping auras that will accomplish a similar effect. As far as auras that actually do something, I think Noxious Field could finally have its day in the sun (unfortunately I don't have one, because why the hell would I?). Underworld Connections is a fine card too, and any of the 3cmc auras that give a land "T: add 2" would be good for activating Path or for ramping into Golos a turn earlier. Probably the most insane aura is Urban Burgeoning which, for us, is basically Seedborn Muse as an enchantment for 1 mana :D
the lifelink counter idea did occur to me (although I was thinking of doing it via Splendor Mare). I can't think of any other good reasons to spend cards to turn path into a creature, though, not to mention it's risky. Maybe if there was a land that could do it, so it'd be golos-tutorable and not waste a spell slot, but I don't think there are any? Actually, maybe via Nesting Grounds - it's a bit roundabout, but also saves us the risk of turning it into a creature.
Vigor is simultaneously insane and awful. Obviously it makes path bonkers, but the fact that it turns off all our enrage stuff, i.e. most of the deck, is a huge buzzkill. Rite of Passage is definitely way more synergistic, but Vigor might still make sense when going for a big overrun kill.
I was going to go back through all the enrage stuff to see if I was missing anything important - I'm so upset that I don't have a Cacophodon right now, haha. That is disgustingly strong, imagine it with rite of passage - you'd start off with a chill +3/+3 to all creatures the turn you play it, and then double that every turn - not every your turn, but EVERY turn. If you make it back to your turn again, all your dudes would be +93/+93 lol. And ofc with anything granting indestructible (and a way to stop yourself getting killed lol) it just goes infinite. Did we just break sorrow's path?