Pioneer: Golgari Rigging - Deck Tech & Sideboard Guide

The Pioneer Metagame seems to have created a trend around cheating on mana costs. Whether it's Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord putting Vein Ripper into play, or bringing Amalia Benavides Aguirre and her combo package with Return to the Ranks, or triggering the multiple Arclight Phoenix and even bringing Atraxa, Grand Unifier into play with Transmogrify.

Given this scenario, players have been experimenting with new proposals aiming to mix ways of cheating on mana with other combos - the main proposal around this theme has been with Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord, where his ability alongside Vein Ripper opened room for another powerful iteration in the format - Fight Rigging.

In this article, we delve into the current version of Golgari Fight Rigging and how it has transformed for the current Metagame.

Golgari Fight Rigging is an Aggro-Combo deck initially created with the launch of Fight Rigging on Streets of New Capenna and its interaction with low-cost, high-power creatures, such as Rotting Regisaur, which allow you to cast the card exiled by the enchantment's Hideaway for free.

While the first versions ran high-cost cards in the deck which couldn't be cast, the current variants that have produced results rely on the inclusion of Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord and Vein Ripper to give more consistency to both strategies, with more ways to put the vampire into play for free as early as the third turn, in addition to Sorin's interaction with the high-power creatures to slow down Aggro.

This is the standard list that has been appearing in Magic Online Leagues, in addition to the player Cristian Rda having a notable 6-1 result in the Pizza Box Open with this list, making it versatile for both Pioneer and Explorer.

While there are some slots that we can consider flexible, Golgari Rigging is a strategy that, in its current version, requires many pieces to work consistently, limiting its flex slots between four and eight.

Maindeck

All the combo pieces cost three mana. Therefore, having a set of eight mana dorks helps us speed up things and run it a turn earlier than other archetypes.

They, naturally, become bad topdecks as the game goes on, but Golgari Rigging seeks to finish the game in a few turns and/or overpower your opponent with a more powerful board soon enough.

Fight Rigging requires a creature with power 7 or greater to trigger its ability, and our three-drops fit into this category easily, requiring just one counter to cast the exiled card for free.

Rotting Regisaur was once a staple of Aggro decks in Standard and starred Golgari Stompy in Pioneer's early years, it is a dinosaur for Pugnacious Hammerskull and can end the game in three turns if unimpeded.

Pugnacious Hammerskull is the best second enabler option because in addition to triggering Fight Rigging in one turn, it also has a less punishing drawback and allows the deck to take a more aggressive stance if sequenced with Rotting Regisaur.

Vein Ripper has become the main payoff for Fight Rigging, as in addition to being difficult to deal with, it punishes chump blocks that are common against the creatures above and can be cast naturally in this list, in addition to also being a fast clock.

Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord works as a means of delaying the opponent's clock in addition to cheating on mana, and his Lightning Helix ability interacts with other of our creatures,

Fight Rigging is mainly used to cast Vein Ripper for free, but its pump every turn can be used to speed up our clock or give more relevance to our mana dorks.

Fatal Push is needed to hold back more aggressive decks and have some interaction against Abzan Amalia and other explosive creature-based strategies, while Bitter Triumph as a one-of gives us a flexible answer against Planeswalkers.

Dusk Legion Zealot is the top flex slot. In addition to replacing itself in our hand, it can also be sacrificed by Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord to deal damage to the opponent.

It's the least impressive card on the list, and you can replace it with Preacher of the Schism or even Thoughtseize if you want to have more space for answers on the Sideboard or more interaction in Game 1.

Mutavault works well alongside Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord and Fight Rigging, whether to establish pressure or to be sacrificed in exchange for reach and extra life.

Turntimber Symbiosis is another card that we can use to put creatures into play and another excellent target for Fight Rigging, but it can also be used as a land whenever necessary.

Cavern of Souls ensures that our dinosaurs come into play and pressure the opponent or trigger Fight Rigging. We can also use it to cast Vein Ripper in longer games.

The other lands are intended to come into play untapped on the first turn to provide us with access to interaction or mana dorks, in addition to maintaining their usefulness in the turns where we want to execute the combo.

Sideboard

Thoughtseize is our primary interaction and may even deserve a space in the maindeck, but it enters the Sideboard to protect our combos or improve our matchup against other combos.

Pick Your Poison has grown in relevance in Pioneer due to the rise of Rakdos Vampires and the recent growth of Waste Not lists in the Metagame, making it an ideal answer in the Sideboard.

Ashiok, Dream Render is a good graveyard hate that also locks Chord of Calling, Bring to Light or Emergent Ultimatum.

Damping Sphere is a necessary hate against Lotus Field that can, on some occasions, also enter against Izzet Phoenix.

The End is an excellent removal for dealing with Amalia Benavides Aguirre or recurring threats like Arclight Phoenix, as well as dealing with key combo pieces or troublesome planeswalkers.

Path of Peril is a one-of hate against Boros Convoke and other small Aggro decks that are low in the Metagame today, but it also works against the natural predator of most of these archetypes - Abzan Amalia.

Rakdos Vampires

IN

OUT

Izzet Phoenix

IN

OUT

Lotus Combo

IN

OUT

Abzan Amalia

IN

OUT

Boros Convoke

IN

OUT

Azorius Control

IN

OUT

Waste Not

IN

OUT

Niv to Light

IN

OUT

That's all for today.

If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to leave a comment!

Thanks for reading!