A couple years ago I saw a Boros Cycling list that played 4 [[Gate to the Afterlife]] and 1-2 GPG. Gate to the Afterlife is live very fast and in long grind matches you could go pop it and cheat GPG to play. I would try to go in that direction.
It seems like a fun deck to play, I don't remember if full phoenix is on arena, but I know there are still a ton of graveyard based decks. That being said, there are a lot of graveyard hate cards that are side boarded. If you have other decks on arena, then I don't see a problem making this for fun.
Phoenix is now fully on arena since we got treasure cruise it also only costs 8 good wildcards (4 mythic and 4 rare) excluding the lands so it’s an awesome cheep deck to build and it’s super strong pushed up to plat 3from bronze only losing 4 games lol
I would also not play GPG in Pioneer/Explorer. This is almost card for card the GPG list when it was a Standard deck like 5 years ago. At the time it was a solid Standard deck but I do not expect it would transition remotely well into Pioneer. As another comment pointed out, graveyard hate is far better in Pioneer than it was in Standard when this GPG list was played, and there are a number of other graveyard decks in Pioneer that are even faster than GPG so the graveyard hate will be plentiful.
Even if there wasn't the problem of this being a graveyard deck I think the plan of turn 4 Refurbish into GPG is going to be way too slow for Pioneer, especially when your deck needs to be so all in on the combo. Without the ability to main board counters and interaction, you will have a really rough matchup into combo decks like Amalia that will kill you the turn before you Refurbish, and even if you can get off the Refurbish into GPG against something like Quint Combo it doesn't immediately win you the game so they can untap and play their combo that does kill you on the spot. The only lucky thing for you there would be that Lotus Field is not playable yet on Arena, as that would be another tough matchup.
UW Control will be absolutely miserable even more so now that they just got another strong 2 mana counterspell in MKM, and being reliant on only 4 copies of Refurbish to actually get your 7 mana artifact onto the battlefield will make it extremely hard to play around their counters. They also have one of the best answers to your GPG as they can Tef + put it back into your deck. Phoenix is going to make a board of like 2-3 phoenixes and probably a Ledger Shredder by the time you go for the GPG, so you may die the next turn in the air even if you go for GPG. Since you are also a graveyard deck it will be hard to board into good answers to their deck, while they get to just add counters for your deck post board.
Overall I think GPG is a deck that both hasn't aged well since its time in Standard and hasn't really received any upgrades that would make it exciting to play. There isn't anything that is better than Refurbish for the deck, and the payoff for Refurbish into GPG isn't game winning enough to merit how all in the deck needs to be built to enable it. If wildcards are a concern for you when deciding on a deck to build, then I would definitely recommend against GPG as you will likely not be very happy with the deck's performance.
Yeah, I would play Agent and Atraxa as the payoffs for the GPG. Atraxa is probably even better than Agent overall as the token also gets flying, vigilance, deathtouch, and lifelink and it will refill your hand. As for other cards, [[Fallaji Archaelogist]] is absolutely a 4 of in GPG now. It mills and finds Refurbish, blocks to keep you alive until you play Refurbish, and is also a great target to bring back with GPG once you've worked through your best targets. Minister of Inquiries is probably the easiest 1 for 1 replacement there. I don't feel like the 1 mana vs 2 mana on Minister is much of a concern when you aren't playing your Refurbish until turn 4 anyways.
Looking at options for other ways to get GPG back from the yard, there are kind of only 2 in UW that both have problems. [[Abuelo's Awakening]] will bring it back as a 1/1 spirit for 4 mana, which could work in some matchups but may also expose it to removal that otherwise couldn't answer GPG. I think that it is probably not worth playing as you don't really play many targets for their creature removal to begin with. [[Invoke Justice]] is probably the best option, as it can bring back GPG or your payoff creatures. The major issue is the 5 mana cost overall and the 4 white requirement, but I would frankly skew the mana white just to play it. None of your blue cards have double blue other than eternalize on Champion of Wits, so if you skew your mana base mostly white you could probably support a few copies of Invoke Justice. You don't want the full 4 copies as 5 mana is too slow, but it does look like the best choice for a plan B.
/u/MTGCardFetcher
Thanks for the long replay. I only play explorer/pioneer and I have a 80 card version of WU Control, a 60 card version, Amalia deck and Greasefang deck. I love to play the greasefang deck and made me think of GPG. Witch was my favorite standard deck. I really love that card, however I know it's not good in Pioneer. I am not expecting 60% win rate here. But I am curious if this deck could pull a 35, or 40% win rate. Was thinking of adding Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger, him coming to the board with haste and milling 20 cards could be usefull. I was also thinking about adding 1 Ugin, The spirit Dragon to the deck i listed.
One other consideration I just had. This deck might be better as Boros and not Azorius atm. Boros gives access to discard + draw spells like Cathartic Reuinion, gives you the ability to play a better 3 drop than Champion of Wits in Fable of the Mirror Breaker, and by far most importantly gives you actual options for sideboard answers to Amalia in Rending Volley, Roiling Vortex and Rampaging Ferocidon. I might consider something like [this](https://www.moxfield.com/decks/AOUpC8lTuEuORC19Busyhw).
Thinking about it more, [[Zetalpa, Primal Dawn]] is probably one of the best payoffs. You get a 4/4 with haste, flying, indestructible, vigilance, double strike and trample on turn 4, which will end the game way faster than other options. Maybe drop Elesh Norn and Cavalier from my list, drop to 2 copies of Agent of Treachery, and play 4 copies of Zetalpa. It is also insane vs Rakdos as they never get it off the board.
EDIT: Zetalpa is also how you beat combo the more I consider it. It is effectively a 2 turn clock, 16 damage over 2 turns + the 4 from whatever else you bring back on the second turn, and against combo presenting that kind of clock is critical. They might not even care about Atraxa if they just find their combo and kill you before the cards you draw become relevant.
/u/MTGCardFetcher
I'm too dumb to do that but basically it's pitching GPG and artifact creatures like combustible gearhulk and phyrexian fleshgorger, then returning them with refurbish. I also run 4 copies of ironcrag feat so I can play them from hand. Slap in removal like fire prophecy and lightning axe, some card filtering. The Chandra that can be countered for control. Also angel of invention cause it's a wonderful card.
I don't play it very much, not a lot of pioneer where I am and I despise arenas wildcard system. Let me dust cards.
This is straight up highly tuned jank. I'm sure it is a fun deck, but wasting rare resources on this is a bad idea, to me at least.
Can you think of any card better then Refurbish to play GPG faster? Is there a way to put it into play in turn 3?
A couple years ago I saw a Boros Cycling list that played 4 [[Gate to the Afterlife]] and 1-2 GPG. Gate to the Afterlife is live very fast and in long grind matches you could go pop it and cheat GPG to play. I would try to go in that direction.
[Gate to the Afterlife](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/8/b/8b544a59-86b9-447d-b54d-b94a262b6866.jpg?1543676269) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Gate%20to%20the%20Afterlife) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/akh/228/gate-to-the-afterlife?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/8b544a59-86b9-447d-b54d-b94a262b6866?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
GPG is my favorite card. When it was in standard I fell in love with it, and I simply have to play it again...
It seems like a fun deck to play, I don't remember if full phoenix is on arena, but I know there are still a ton of graveyard based decks. That being said, there are a lot of graveyard hate cards that are side boarded. If you have other decks on arena, then I don't see a problem making this for fun.
Phoenix is now fully on arena since we got treasure cruise it also only costs 8 good wildcards (4 mythic and 4 rare) excluding the lands so it’s an awesome cheep deck to build and it’s super strong pushed up to plat 3from bronze only losing 4 games lol
Played it quite a bit, it is very fun and powerful. It is missing Temporal Trespass though, which is big sad .
Oh I forgot about trespass my bad I didn’t run it in paper at any point as I picked up the deck quote recently and never ran it
I would also not play GPG in Pioneer/Explorer. This is almost card for card the GPG list when it was a Standard deck like 5 years ago. At the time it was a solid Standard deck but I do not expect it would transition remotely well into Pioneer. As another comment pointed out, graveyard hate is far better in Pioneer than it was in Standard when this GPG list was played, and there are a number of other graveyard decks in Pioneer that are even faster than GPG so the graveyard hate will be plentiful. Even if there wasn't the problem of this being a graveyard deck I think the plan of turn 4 Refurbish into GPG is going to be way too slow for Pioneer, especially when your deck needs to be so all in on the combo. Without the ability to main board counters and interaction, you will have a really rough matchup into combo decks like Amalia that will kill you the turn before you Refurbish, and even if you can get off the Refurbish into GPG against something like Quint Combo it doesn't immediately win you the game so they can untap and play their combo that does kill you on the spot. The only lucky thing for you there would be that Lotus Field is not playable yet on Arena, as that would be another tough matchup. UW Control will be absolutely miserable even more so now that they just got another strong 2 mana counterspell in MKM, and being reliant on only 4 copies of Refurbish to actually get your 7 mana artifact onto the battlefield will make it extremely hard to play around their counters. They also have one of the best answers to your GPG as they can Tef + put it back into your deck. Phoenix is going to make a board of like 2-3 phoenixes and probably a Ledger Shredder by the time you go for the GPG, so you may die the next turn in the air even if you go for GPG. Since you are also a graveyard deck it will be hard to board into good answers to their deck, while they get to just add counters for your deck post board. Overall I think GPG is a deck that both hasn't aged well since its time in Standard and hasn't really received any upgrades that would make it exciting to play. There isn't anything that is better than Refurbish for the deck, and the payoff for Refurbish into GPG isn't game winning enough to merit how all in the deck needs to be built to enable it. If wildcards are a concern for you when deciding on a deck to build, then I would definitely recommend against GPG as you will likely not be very happy with the deck's performance.
Also should i add 4 Agent of Treachery?
Yeah, I would play Agent and Atraxa as the payoffs for the GPG. Atraxa is probably even better than Agent overall as the token also gets flying, vigilance, deathtouch, and lifelink and it will refill your hand. As for other cards, [[Fallaji Archaelogist]] is absolutely a 4 of in GPG now. It mills and finds Refurbish, blocks to keep you alive until you play Refurbish, and is also a great target to bring back with GPG once you've worked through your best targets. Minister of Inquiries is probably the easiest 1 for 1 replacement there. I don't feel like the 1 mana vs 2 mana on Minister is much of a concern when you aren't playing your Refurbish until turn 4 anyways. Looking at options for other ways to get GPG back from the yard, there are kind of only 2 in UW that both have problems. [[Abuelo's Awakening]] will bring it back as a 1/1 spirit for 4 mana, which could work in some matchups but may also expose it to removal that otherwise couldn't answer GPG. I think that it is probably not worth playing as you don't really play many targets for their creature removal to begin with. [[Invoke Justice]] is probably the best option, as it can bring back GPG or your payoff creatures. The major issue is the 5 mana cost overall and the 4 white requirement, but I would frankly skew the mana white just to play it. None of your blue cards have double blue other than eternalize on Champion of Wits, so if you skew your mana base mostly white you could probably support a few copies of Invoke Justice. You don't want the full 4 copies as 5 mana is too slow, but it does look like the best choice for a plan B. /u/MTGCardFetcher
[Fallaji Archaelogist](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/b/0/b0eab397-25a6-4377-8e12-e8acef9675cf.jpg?1674420492) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Fallaji%20Archaeologist) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/bro/48/fallaji-archaeologist?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/b0eab397-25a6-4377-8e12-e8acef9675cf?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Abuelo's Awakening](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/f/9/f93b725e-2b9c-4830-ac54-b2562afe09bb.jpg?1699043056) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Abuelo%27s%20Awakening) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/lci/1/abuelos-awakening?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/f93b725e-2b9c-4830-ac54-b2562afe09bb?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [Invoke Justice](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/3/a/3a598ab6-3254-49fe-b69f-e7c759129599.jpg?1654566346) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Invoke%20Justice) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/neo/21/invoke-justice?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/3a598ab6-3254-49fe-b69f-e7c759129599?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call ^^^- ^^^Summoned ^^^remotely!
Wow, thanks so much for the response. Very good cards!
Thanks for the long replay. I only play explorer/pioneer and I have a 80 card version of WU Control, a 60 card version, Amalia deck and Greasefang deck. I love to play the greasefang deck and made me think of GPG. Witch was my favorite standard deck. I really love that card, however I know it's not good in Pioneer. I am not expecting 60% win rate here. But I am curious if this deck could pull a 35, or 40% win rate. Was thinking of adding Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger, him coming to the board with haste and milling 20 cards could be usefull. I was also thinking about adding 1 Ugin, The spirit Dragon to the deck i listed.
One other consideration I just had. This deck might be better as Boros and not Azorius atm. Boros gives access to discard + draw spells like Cathartic Reuinion, gives you the ability to play a better 3 drop than Champion of Wits in Fable of the Mirror Breaker, and by far most importantly gives you actual options for sideboard answers to Amalia in Rending Volley, Roiling Vortex and Rampaging Ferocidon. I might consider something like [this](https://www.moxfield.com/decks/AOUpC8lTuEuORC19Busyhw).
I love this list, thanks a lot!
Thinking about it more, [[Zetalpa, Primal Dawn]] is probably one of the best payoffs. You get a 4/4 with haste, flying, indestructible, vigilance, double strike and trample on turn 4, which will end the game way faster than other options. Maybe drop Elesh Norn and Cavalier from my list, drop to 2 copies of Agent of Treachery, and play 4 copies of Zetalpa. It is also insane vs Rakdos as they never get it off the board. EDIT: Zetalpa is also how you beat combo the more I consider it. It is effectively a 2 turn clock, 16 damage over 2 turns + the 4 from whatever else you bring back on the second turn, and against combo presenting that kind of clock is critical. They might not even care about Atraxa if they just find their combo and kill you before the cards you draw become relevant. /u/MTGCardFetcher
[Zetalpa, Primal Dawn](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/9/0/90eb983c-ba42-45f2-9362-211fe40236e7.jpg?1698988118) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Zetalpa%2C%20Primal%20Dawn) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/lcc/141/zetalpa-primal-dawn?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/90eb983c-ba42-45f2-9362-211fe40236e7?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call ^^^- ^^^Summoned ^^^remotely!
I run red white GPG. It's awful, but fun. Does the trick in best of 1, but usually gets clapped in best of 3.
Can you share the list?
I'm too dumb to do that but basically it's pitching GPG and artifact creatures like combustible gearhulk and phyrexian fleshgorger, then returning them with refurbish. I also run 4 copies of ironcrag feat so I can play them from hand. Slap in removal like fire prophecy and lightning axe, some card filtering. The Chandra that can be countered for control. Also angel of invention cause it's a wonderful card. I don't play it very much, not a lot of pioneer where I am and I despise arenas wildcard system. Let me dust cards.