Commander Deck Tech: Goro-Goro and Satoru

Can dragons and ninjas work together? Goro-goro and Satoru show us that they can!

The deck tech for another one of the duo released in the set March of the Machine came with a slightly unusual idea to surprise your playgroup.

After all, who would have expected to see a deck of ninjas and dragons commanded by a goblin samurai and a human ninja?

In this article, we will discuss two lists with this commander: one focused on ninjutsu interaction and small creatures to create dragon tokens, and another tribal-focused on goblins.

Are you ready? Let's do this!

Who are Goro-goro and Satoru?

Since he was young, Goro-Goro heard countless stories of Ryusei, the former incarnation of the dragon Atsushi, the Blazing Sky, and grew up nurturing such admiration for the dragon that he chose to dedicate his life to it.

Known for leading Kamigawa's largest and most well-known Reckoner gang, the Hyozan Reckoners, Satoru is a human ninja and a member of the Umezawa clan. He claims to be a direct descendant of Toshiro Umezawa, a state that no one can confirm or dare to question.

The goblin samurai and the human ninja fought side by side in defense of Kamigawa during the invasion of New Phyrexia and are now ready to lead your deck on casual Commander tables.

This deck has a quite simple objective: create spirit dragon tokens.

With the available creatures in the Grixis combination , this is not a big challenge, as we have ninjas that enter attacking and help trigger the commander's ability.

In addition to that, Goro-Goro and Satoru have the activated ability to give haste to creatures you control, which helps in the mission of always having creatures that entered this turn ready to attack.

Besides the support from the ninjas we mentioned before, the deck features many other creatures and even combo possibilities – which will be detailed later in this article.

Creatures and interactions

Ninjutsu is a very welcome mechanic in this deck. Some creatures with this interesting keyword are:

If it enters the battlefield using ninjutsu, Thousand-Faced Shadow creates an attacking token that is a copy of another target attacking creature. In other words, one ninjutsu and two more spirit dragon tokens on your field.

Moon-Circuit Hacker enters with ninjutsu and, if it deals combat damage to a player, rewards you with an extra draw. The effect is quite similar to the Ninja of the Deep Hours, with the difference that the second one gives an additional draw every time it deals combat damage to a player.

Nashi, Moon Sage's Scion is a creature with the potential to annoy opponents while stealing resources from the top of their decks. After all, nobody likes to have something exiled and handed over to the opponent.

Aside from these creatures, Satoru Umezawa is included in the list to grant ninjutsu to creature cards in your hand and offer a draw whenever ninjutsu is activated.

Gingerbrute is probably one of the strongest cards in the deck, and we are not being ironic. With Goro-goro and Satoru on the field, this "food golem" can enter, become unblockable, and still rewards you with a spirit dragon token.

Phoenix Chick is another completely meme-worthy creature that makes a difference in the deck, as whether you cast it from your hand or return it from the graveyard, it meets the requirements of the commander, and if it deals damage, you create a dragon.

Finally, a creature that deserves great attention is Anger, providing that haste that is always appreciated in any red deck. If it doesn't come to your hand, you don't need to worry since the commander can grant haste, and creatures like Goro-Goro, Disciple of Ryusei, Goblin Smuggler, Brudiclad, Telchor Engineer, and the enchantment Break Through the Line also help to bypass the summoning sickness in different ways.

With creatures that provide haste, it's time to talk about how wonderful the effect of "target creature you control can't be blocked this turn" is, and to illustrate this topic, we have Thassa.

Remember: If one or more creatures you control enter the battlefield this turn and deal combat damage to a player, you create a dragon token.

For this reason, cards like the ones listed above, which create tokens with haste or can't be blocked, are very important. Some of them have a low mana cost, which gives a great advantage to the deck, as while you have the commander and a token with haste ready to attack, your opponents are likely still ramping.

Since it is an aggro-focused deck that creates many dragon tokens, Silumgar, the Drifting Death earned its place in the list. How about attacking a player with two dragons, giving -2/-2 to the creatures they control, and making room for your creatures to deal combat damage? It's a well-received effect.

Other highlights are Scourge of Valkas to give that burn which no opponent likes to receive, Goldspan Dragon and Ganax, Astral Hunter to help create treasures.

Let's talk about Myriad!

As cool as it may be, myriad is a largely forgotten ability in Magic collections. At the time this article is being written, there are fewer than 14 creatures with this ability!

Because of that, we went to the Wizards' article on"Commander 2015 Mechanics" to get the official text and introduce you to this little-known ability.

"Whenever a creature with myriad attacks, you create a token that's a copy of that creature for each opponent defending against that creature, attacking that opponent or a planeswalker that opponent controls. Attacking a planeswalker also triggers myriad, since the planeswalker's controller is the defending player.

(...)The tokens are exiled at the end of combat. They don't go to the graveyard, so no abilities triggered when the creature dies will trigger."

Another important aspect of the mechanic is that the tokens enter the battlefield attacking, which prevents the myriad ability from triggering infinitely. For this deck tech, the ability working in this way makes all the difference.

Imagine attacking an opponent with Elturel Survivors and creating two more copies of this creature that will attack the other opponents at the table (assuming a typical four-player casual game).

If at least the tokens deal combat damage, the commander can create at least two spirit dragon tokens.

That's why, besides this card the list also uses the equipment Blade of Selves, which can be attached to any creature and give it the myriad ability.

Draw

With the exception of Phyrexian Arena, the draw cards interact with combat damage - which is the deck's focus. Depending on the board state, one combat turn is enough to fill your hand, so Reliquary Tower is part of this decklist.

Mana rocks and ramp

In a deck that doesn't have green, the options for ramp are more limited - that's why Chromatic Lantern deserves a highlight for its wonderful effect of "lands you control add one mana of any color."

Decanter of Endless Water removes hand limits, while Mind stone and Commander's Sphere can be sacrificed to provide extra draw in times of need.

Depending on the turn, Excess can create many treasures for just .

Combo

We found this combo in the dedicated section of the website - if you're not familiar with it yet, click here and check it out.

You need to have Goro-goro and Satoru on the battlefield and Anger in the graveyard.

Cast Breath of Fury, enchanting a creature you control that is able to deal combat damage this turn. When damage is dealt, Goro-Goro and Satoru's ability will trigger, creating a 5/5 spirit dragon token.

Breath of Fury's effect will also trigger, and the enchanted creature will be sacrificed, allowing you to enchant the spirit dragon token that was created this turn. Thus, you will have infinite ETBs and infinite attacks with your dragons flying across the battlefield.

Protections and removals

To clear the board, we have Chain Reaction and Crux of Fate, which earn many points for providing options to destroy both dragons and non-dragons on the battlefield. Like Counterspell, Chaos Warp is a classic in its color and promises to get rid of any problematic permanent in your way.

Introduction to Annihilation has a high cost, but we're talking about an exile effect in Grixis, so it's a valid option. In addition to that, we have Feed the Swarm to get rid of creatures or enchantments, Terminate to destroy target creature, and An Offer You Can't Refuse to counter noncreature spells that are problematic for your board.

Classics in any Commander deck, these three equipments provide great support to the deck, protecting important creatures, giving haste to those that entered, or preventing your opponents from blocking the equipped creature.

With a commander who is both a human and goblin, a tribal of these beloved creatures couldn't be left out!

Being predominantly red, this list features some of the best and most beloved goblins in Magic: the Gathering.

Krenko, Mob Boss, Wort, Boggart Auntie, Legion Loyalist, and Vial Smasher the Fierce are some examples of creatures that promise to bring chaos during your turns. Black and red provide support with cards like Reflections of Littjara, Distant Melody, Deadly Dispute, and Village Rites for draw and removals such as Reality Shift.

The goal is to leverage goblins to have a large board and attack with several creatures, creating spirit dragon tokens and winning by leaving your opponents with no life points.

The main decklist combines two tribes without synergy between them, but with the support of the commander Goro-Goro and Satoru, it is possible to create a deck with a consistent strategy where the interaction of ninjas and dragons can be well-utilized.

After all, why have a deck of just ninjas or just dragons when you can have much more fun having both in one?

See you in the next article!