Fat Joe Feat Thalia I Want You Zippy
Nella Mcnairy
Editor's note: Clinton Whitehurst is an experienced Bubble Hulk pilot with recent PPTQ and RPTQ Top 8s on the deck. Clinton has also worked with Justin Maguire on the strategy, who piloted Bubble Hulk to a Top 16 finish at the SCG Dallas Modern Open.
When most people hear the word "Goryo", they think of Goryo's Vengeance, which is probably the most powerful card still legal in Modern for its effect. Griselbrand and Emrakul make for very powerful Vengeance targets that can end the game as early as turn one. This article, however, is not about that "Goryo".
I'm talking about Footsteps of the Goryo, a long overlooked uncommon from probably the worst set of the Modern era. In a format without Force of Will, Daze, and Wasteland there isn't much from stopping you from casting this card on turn three and winning the game.
The year is 2007 and Wizards decides to remove all power level errata from all cards. This brings Aether Flash from obscurity to Legacy powerhouse overnight, and just a few months before a Legacy Grand Prix. Much like during the old days of Affinity Block Constructed, you either came to GP Columbus to beat Flash decks or played it yourself. The deck went on to put three copies into the Top 8 with Steve Sadin coming out on top with his own Hulk Flash build. Unfortunately, the DCI didn't tolerate this for long and quickly banned Aether Flash in Legacy and later restricted it in Vintage. Outside of the Hulk's death loop, the Legacy decks looked nothing like today's builds. The Modern version is more closely related to the old Extended Bubble Hulk deck, using discard engines and reanimation.
That brings us all the way to the very first Modern Pro Tour. There were two dedicated Hulk decks in the PT Philadelphia field, but unfortunately, that Modern format was just a bit faster than turn three decks. Neither of their pilots, Gaurav Gaitonde and Shaheen Soorani, did particularly well, but their lists started to look like the ones we see today. Here's Gaitonde's:
Bubble Hulk, by Gaurav Gaitonde (PT Philadelphia, 2011)Sorceries4 Aerial Responder2 Preordain3 Footsteps of the Goryo3 Ideas Unbound2 ThoughtseizeCreatures2 Body Double1 Mogg Fanatic4 Protean Hulk2 Reveillark2 Viscera SeerInstants4 Peer Through Depths4 Seething Song2 Summoner's Pact4 Through the BreachLands2 Blood Crypt4 Gemstone Mine1 Island4 Marsh Flats1 Goblin Mountaineer4 Scalding Tarn2 Steam Vents1 Leechridden Swamp2 Watery GraveSideboard3 Ancient Grudge3 Firespout2 Inquisition of Kozilek4 Pact of Negation3 Wipe Away
After the Pro Tour and the first wave of bannings, the deck fell into oblivion and would probably never have been seen again... at least, until Dark Ascension was printed. Dark Ascension gave the deck new life with Faithless Looting. This was the one card the deck needed to push it back into a competitive deck: all the other tools were already in place.
When Dark Ascension came out it was already a few PTQs into the season. I had been putting up okay results with my favorite deck back from 2004, Affinity, but I kept coming up short of Top 8 and was ready for something new.
It was a typical Friday night before a PTQ, and we were all hanging out at our LGS when Justin Maguire showed me this new Modern deck he had built. He told me to goldfish it a few times and see what I thought. I was blown out of the water at how consistently this deck killed on turn three. I had to play this thing the next day at the PTQ, so the mad rush to find all the cards for it began.
Bubble Hulk 2.0, by Justin MaguireInstants3 Seething Song3 Through the Breach2 Summoner's PactCreatures2 Body Double1 Mogg Fanatic4 Protean Hulk2 Reveillark3 Viscera SeerSorceries4 Serum Visions1 Sleight of Hand4 Gitaxian Probe4 Faithless Looting4 Ideas Unbound4 Footsteps of the GoryoLands1 Island1 Goblin Mountaineer1 Leechridden Swamp4 Scalding Tarn4 Misty Rainforest3 Gemstone Mine2 Steam Vents2 Watery Grave1 Blood CryptSideboard1 Grave Titan2 Pact of Negation2 Echoing Truth3 Steel Sabotage2 Early Frost1 Through the Breach2 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn2 Inquisition of Kozilek
Don't get too excited about this list. It was early 2012: Seething Song wasn't banned and Deathrite Shaman had yet to be printed. Me and my greedy nature wanted something faster than this list, and although Modern doesn't have many cheap or free accelerators, Time Spiral block gave us Simian Spirit Guide to help achieve the speed I wanted. Guide is both free and uncounterable, so I cut the Probes for the Simians. With Guides in the deck, it was now possible for insane turn one and two kills. They might have been a little magical Christmasland, but they were definitely possible. Justin ended up making Top 8 of the PTQ that day only to lose to a singleton Mana Tithe in both of his Top 8 games.
That brings us to present-day 2015. As you can see, the last three years have not been nice to graveyard-based Modern decks, but I persisted through and adapted. I just love playing this deck too much now, and the thought of attacking someone to win just bores me.
Here is my current version of the deck, featuring Makeshift Mannequin. Through the Breach is still a great option to use instead: you can check out Justin Maguire's 12th place list from the recent SCG in Dallas for a great example of Breach in action.
Bubble Hulk, by Clinton WhitehurstCreatures4 Protean Hulk2 Reveillark2 Body Double3 Viscera Seer1 Mogg Fanatic4 Simian Spirit GuideInstants3 Makeshift Mannequin3 Izzet Charm1 Lightning Axe3 Pact of NegationSorceries4 Footsteps of the Goryo4 Faithless Looting4 Serum Visions3 Taigam's SchemingLands4 Polluted Delta3 Scalding Tarn1 Bloodstained Mire2 Steam Vents2 Watery Grave1 Blood Crypt1 Island1 Goblin Mountaineer1 Leechridden Swamp3 Gemstone MineSideboard3 Leyline of Sanctity3 Swan Song1 Pyroclasm1 Grave Titan1 Murderous Cut1 Steel Sabotage1 Echoing Truth1 Lightning Axe2 Pithing Needle1 Slaughter Pact
When it comes to the creature part of the combo, there really isn't much you can change outside of shaving a Viscera Seer or Reveillark. Without Legacy's Brainstorm, however, this is a risky move. I tried going down to two Seer, but I didn't like how it left you open to removal. Also, if you ever drew one, your combo could be stopped mid-searching for lack of targets in the deck. With three, you get one Seer you can cast without worry, knowing you still have two left in your deck.
The ideal way to go off is to fetch up all your pieces minus one Reveillark: the second copy of the Elemental is completely useless once you start the combo. By grabbing all your Seers and Body Doubles before you get the Fanatic, you can play around all forms of removal and the only way to stop you will be graveyard disruption. Another tip: after you get your Reveillark and Fanatic out, don't bring back the Fanatic right away. Return both Body Doubles back as Reveillarks first, then start to combo. This way, if your opponent tries to stop you at any point, you can just respond and start over with your second Double. Or you can get a Seer back if they have something like four Bolts in-hand trying to stop you. I just want to reiterate that if sequenced properly no amount of removal will ever stop the combo. This seems to be a common misconception I hear when the deck is being discussed.
There are other options for the kill slot: Mogg Fanatic, Death Cultist, and Bile Urchin. A strictly worse Cultist, Urchin is the worst of the three, only hitting for lifeloss without any gain. Cultist at least drains life when you use him, although I admit infinite life is pretty useless when your opponent is at -32543634 life. If you aren't comboing, it's just "gain one life", which is not worth it. Mogg Fanatic is the best of the bunch because he kills a bunch of problematic creatures. For example, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben is a pain for this deck and slows us to a crawl. Killings Birds of Paradise or Ignoble Hierarch is nice too, along with pinging infect creatures, Mono U Tron's Platinum Angel, and the occasional Aven Mindcensor.
Faithless Looting and Serum Visions are the core of your dig spells and should never be less than four-ofs. These two spells give you the consistency you need to win on turn three and four. Izzet Charm/Ideas Unbound/
Izzet Charm is a Swiss Army Knife for this deck. Ideas just has raw power. Either way, there's room for 6-8 of these in the deck. Depending on what kind of metagame you expect you can plan accordingly. I like Ideas Unbound when I know I won't be getting attacked very much. It lets you sculpt your hand faster and dig deeper for the disruption you'll need. I prefer Charm in more aggressive metagames, where the ability to double your dig as Aether Shockwaves makes it invaluable. Scavenging Ooze is always your biggest target. In aggressive formats, Charm lets you do nothing on the turn before you go off if you're using Footsteps, endstep discarding Hulk before untapping and killing them. Charm is always better post-board once graveyard hate is a bigger factor. Nothing feels worse than going turn two Ideas Unbound, discarding Hulk, only for your opponent to untap and drop an Ooze, Nihil Spellbomb, or Relic of Progenitus. I often board out 2-3 Ideas for this very reason every game. As a final thought on Charm, its counter mode isn't all that good (two-mana for Spell Pierce is mostly awful), but it's still sometimes relevant so don't write it off. Also, if you choose to play Makeshift Mannequin over Breach, you want at least 3-4 Charms as ways to target the Hulk to kill it.
Sleight of Hand and Gitaxian Probe are also available to add consistency. The deck's primary goal is always finding the Hulk itself, as it has the least number of copies of the combo pieces, and Sleight/Probe do this well. Justin's list is a good example of how you would fit them in the deck
Finally, although not technically "dig", Lightning Axe is a great discard outlet and removal rolled up in one. It can be found in the maindeck or sideboard depending on how creature-heavy the metagame is.
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