How has Goyf been doing for you? Have any of you been testing decks with him in it, or out it? Or is his price been a limiting thing for you guys?
I found that since Im not packing any sorceries main, nor things like seal of fire.
So most of the time my goyf has been 2/3 3/4 only. I suppose 3/4 is fine, but in legacy he seems to be a 4/5 easily, if not 5/6 6/7. Ive been testing out a lot of other choices (kitchen fink, stormblood, watchwolf) for a more reliable answer but I found mana costs being hard, otherwise they dont survive the bolt test.
Below you'll find an explanation of why Goyf is good in Legacy and Modern (from the primer)
Da Goyf
In this post I will be explaining why "da goyf" if a irreplaceable card, why it is so powerful, and what you can do to imperfectly replace him (Or her. Who knows)
Goyf is so powerful because he is a beater for 2 cmc. He easily gets to 4/5 with out much effort, but sees play as a 5/6 or even 6/7 at times. He is graveyard dependent, but on all Graves, which is huge. Many times you can cast a "squire goyf" turn 2. That is saying one fetch land probably hit the grave yard. Saying they put out a creature and you bolt it, and also they ponder, your looking at at turn 3 4/5 goyf. A Leatherback goyf. Pretty big.
So why does everyone want him? Low mana cost means he is a beater for all decks. He costs meaning he can be splashed for, and he doesnt have a high color requirement. He's a good topdeck because when hes big (barring hate) he probably will be just as big, if not bigger late game. He gets big on his own, meaning you can go about your business, and he probably will grow all on his own with out you dedicating much thought to it. And thats the real key to him, thus in bold.
That covers why hes so powerful. Now on to why hes irreplaceable. Although there are many cards that do some of these things, none do it as well as tarmogoyf. Others do it less efficient (They cost more, dedicate more to making it happen, or cost more.) Its as simple as that.
Now how to replace him. It isnt as simple as "Fill gap with this", what you wanna do instead is to change up your gameplan a little bit. In Zoo speicifly heres what you can do. Id suggest choosing one.
1. Speed the deck up. Forget the goyf. Fill it with onedropers. Kird ape, Goblin Guide, Loam lion, wild nactl, Steppe Lynx. Try out Strangleroot Geist.
2. Get a big body for cheap. couple options here. Leatherback Baloth- 4/5 your average goyf size. 3 green mana is tougher to pull off then youd think though Woolly Thoctar-5/4 that doesnt need the grave. Costs 3, means he comes online turn 4. that can stuck. His smaller butt means he might loose the knight/goyf war. Knight of the reliquary- in the right list, she gets bigger, and has more utility. But is 3 mana and requires 2 colors. Vinelasher Kudzu- play alot of fetchlands? thats what it takes, but is a bad top deck Scab-Clan Mauler or Stormblood Berserker Dependent on you doing damage before summoning it. Garruk's Companion- worse then above but worth putting on this "all inclusive list" Keldon Marauders- 3/3 that will disapper but will leave a bloody trail before it goes Watchwolf- used in very old zoo lists. replaced by goyf. quirion dryad- Grows to be really big with cheap spells, but a terrible topdeck.
3. Specializing your game plan to fix it.
Jötun Grunt- Makes their knights/goyfs smaller. It would make yours too (which can suck) and its harder to keep alive.
Quirion Dryad gets bigger as you cast more spells. Burn is awesome with this. Bad top deck (it starts off as a 1/1 and you got to start all over)
Kavu Predator Use with grove of the burnwillows. Combo with punishing fire. Has actually won a higher event.
4. Mana ramp instead- Use Noble Hierarch or something to ramp into bigger things
5. Burn. Use more burn. ect.
6. Play a different deck. Zoo is good. Zoo is popular, thus it has a high demand. Supply and demand will make cards more expensive. He is used in legacy and modern. If budget is an issue, you should seriously consider building a different deck. Rouge decks tend to be more fun and give edges in "Unknown"
Lastly Im going to add a key words of how big the goyf is. I hope everyone uses this for fun sake.
Goyf of Kher Keep- Kobolds of Kher Keep 0/1
Squire Goyf- squire 1/2
Knight Goyf- Knight Errant 2/3
Highland Goyf- Highland Giant 3/4
Leatherback Goyf- Leatherback Baloth 4/5
Goyf Superion- Myr Superion 5/6
Tarmorygmos-Borborygmos 6/7
His power level is over 9000!- (none exist) 7/8
Super sayian Gofy- (none exist) 8/9
I've tested with and without, using Plated Geopede in its place. I like the insect, and with a proper build it can make a passable substitute but it is not at the same level as "da Goyf". Goyf requires few things in order to be good. In my experience he is reliably 4/5 and often bigger, although you may need to hold him back until he is out of bolt range (the biggest mistake I made when starting to test him was slamming him on t2 as a 1/2 or 2/3). I don't think he is replaceable, though a tight list could probably cut one in order to run a 4th Thalia or something.
I use him. He isn't always amazing (I have creature, instant, land, enchantment in my deck, which go consistently into the graveyard) but even a 3/4 for 1G is excellent. If your opponent provides planeswalker or artifact, he is insane.
If you can get a 3/4 for 1G, I consider it value; if your deck is developed to typically do that, I think the Goyf is playable.
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Goyf is the most over rated, over powered, over priced creature. There are subs for it. Stormblood is a good one hes more aggresive, but if he gets bolted he gets bolted. flithoof boar is pretty similar also
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I found that since Im not packing any sorceries main, nor things like seal of fire.
So most of the time my goyf has been 2/3 3/4 only. I suppose 3/4 is fine, but in legacy he seems to be a 4/5 easily, if not 5/6 6/7. Ive been testing out a lot of other choices (kitchen fink, stormblood, watchwolf) for a more reliable answer but I found mana costs being hard, otherwise they dont survive the bolt test.
Below you'll find an explanation of why Goyf is good in Legacy and Modern (from the primer)
Da Goyf
In this post I will be explaining why "da goyf" if a irreplaceable card, why it is so powerful, and what you can do to imperfectly replace him (Or her. Who knows)
Goyf is so powerful because he is a beater for 2 cmc. He easily gets to 4/5 with out much effort, but sees play as a 5/6 or even 6/7 at times. He is graveyard dependent, but on all Graves, which is huge. Many times you can cast a "squire goyf" turn 2. That is saying one fetch land probably hit the grave yard. Saying they put out a creature and you bolt it, and also they ponder, your looking at at turn 3 4/5 goyf. A Leatherback goyf. Pretty big.
So why does everyone want him? Low mana cost means he is a beater for all decks. He costs meaning he can be splashed for, and he doesnt have a high color requirement. He's a good topdeck because when hes big (barring hate) he probably will be just as big, if not bigger late game. He gets big on his own, meaning you can go about your business, and he probably will grow all on his own with out you dedicating much thought to it. And thats the real key to him, thus in bold.
That covers why hes so powerful. Now on to why hes irreplaceable. Although there are many cards that do some of these things, none do it as well as tarmogoyf. Others do it less efficient (They cost more, dedicate more to making it happen, or cost more.) Its as simple as that.
Now how to replace him. It isnt as simple as "Fill gap with this", what you wanna do instead is to change up your gameplan a little bit. In Zoo speicifly heres what you can do. Id suggest choosing one.
1. Speed the deck up. Forget the goyf. Fill it with onedropers. Kird ape, Goblin Guide, Loam lion, wild nactl, Steppe Lynx. Try out Strangleroot Geist.
2. Get a big body for cheap. couple options here.
Leatherback Baloth- 4/5 your average goyf size. 3 green mana is tougher to pull off then youd think though
Woolly Thoctar-5/4 that doesnt need the grave. Costs 3, means he comes online turn 4. that can stuck. His smaller butt means he might loose the knight/goyf war.
Knight of the reliquary- in the right list, she gets bigger, and has more utility. But is 3 mana and requires 2 colors.
Vinelasher Kudzu- play alot of fetchlands? thats what it takes, but is a bad top deck
Scab-Clan Mauler or Stormblood Berserker Dependent on you doing damage before summoning it.
Garruk's Companion- worse then above but worth putting on this "all inclusive list"
Keldon Marauders- 3/3 that will disapper but will leave a bloody trail before it goes
Watchwolf- used in very old zoo lists. replaced by goyf.
quirion dryad- Grows to be really big with cheap spells, but a terrible topdeck.
3. Specializing your game plan to fix it.
Jötun Grunt- Makes their knights/goyfs smaller. It would make yours too (which can suck) and its harder to keep alive.
Quirion Dryad gets bigger as you cast more spells. Burn is awesome with this. Bad top deck (it starts off as a 1/1 and you got to start all over)
Kavu Predator Use with grove of the burnwillows. Combo with punishing fire. Has actually won a higher event.
4. Mana ramp instead- Use Noble Hierarch or something to ramp into bigger things
5. Burn. Use more burn. ect.
6. Play a different deck. Zoo is good. Zoo is popular, thus it has a high demand. Supply and demand will make cards more expensive. He is used in legacy and modern. If budget is an issue, you should seriously consider building a different deck. Rouge decks tend to be more fun and give edges in "Unknown"
Lastly Im going to add a key words of how big the goyf is. I hope everyone uses this for fun sake.
Goyf of Kher Keep- Kobolds of Kher Keep 0/1
Squire Goyf- squire 1/2
Knight Goyf- Knight Errant 2/3
Highland Goyf- Highland Giant 3/4
Leatherback Goyf- Leatherback Baloth 4/5
Goyf Superion- Myr Superion 5/6
Tarmorygmos-Borborygmos 6/7
His power level is over 9000!- (none exist) 7/8
Super sayian Gofy- (none exist) 8/9
If you can get a 3/4 for 1G, I consider it value; if your deck is developed to typically do that, I think the Goyf is playable.
Want to see me in action? Check out my stream! Currently broadcasting Boros Burn in Standard. Full archive available.
Want to play better magic? Come join us at diestoremoval.com