Gogo, Mysterious MimeGogo, Mysterious Mime | Art by Lee Woo-chul | Karlach, Fury of AvernusKarlach, Fury of Avernus | Art by Mila Pesic | Etali, Primal StormEtali, Primal Storm | Art by Raymond Swanland

Hey nerds! I’m back with another Final Fantasy deck tech featuring one of the underrated commanders from the precons, Gogo, Mysterious MimeGogo, Mysterious Mime.

While he might not be flashy or beloved like Vivi OrnitierVivi Ornitier and Y'shtola, Night's BlessedY'shtola, Night's Blessed, he provides a fun gameplay loop that will keep games moving while showing off the power of turning creatures sideways.

Gogo, Mysterious Mime

Simply put, Gogo, Mysterious MimeGogo, Mysterious Mime turns into other creatures you control until the end of the turn, gives himself and that creature haste, a small bump in power, and forces you to attack. Thankfully, he does keep his name, so you can copy legendary creatures like Etali, Primal StormEtali, Primal Storm and Ilharg, the Raze-BoarIlharg, the Raze-Boar for some insane value.

If you’re looking for a similar commander with more colors, Isshin, Two Heavens as OneIsshin, Two Heavens as One is a solid option. Both are combat-focused commanders that are a blast to play and will have some overlap in pieces. But I prefer the obscure over the “mainstream,” which is why Gogo gets my vote.

When I first started building Gogo, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. One idea was a Pirate deck, but I wanted to take advantage of some of the big red creatures. So I decided to build mono-red midrange. Let’s just take all of the most fun red creatures, slam them into a deck and turn them sideways.

Gogo also makes a great pile deck commander. A pile deck is when you have a random pile of cards that you shuffle into your deck each game. My Gogo list has 32 creature slots, so you could shuffle in 32 random red creatures you love each game.

Key Cards for Gogo, Mysterious Mime

For this article, I wanted to have an actual 99 you could look at, so I had to make some choices in the cards I added. Of the 32 creatures, there are several that should be played in most, if not all Gogo decks.

Etali, Primal StormEtali, Primal Storm has been a creature that I’ve loved but has often disappointed me when I’ve tried it outside of my Dinosaur deck. The lack of haste and the big threat it poses will make it or its controller a target. But with Gogo, Etali can attack the turn it comes down and doubles the attack trigger.

Similarly, Ilharg, the Raze-BoarIlharg, the Raze-Boar is great at cheating big creatures into play for a turn. If a creature is put into play with Ilharg’s ability, it doesn’t get its attack trigger. Which is why I made sure to add creatures with enters abilities like Inferno TitanInferno Titan and Overlord of the BoilerbilgesOverlord of the Boilerbilges as prime candidates for being snuck in.

Speaking of sneaking, Sneak AttackSneak Attack is more affordable than ever and still one of the most fun red cards ever printed. And it isn’t just a powerful way to cheat on mana in this deck.

I treat Sneak Attack as a protection spell. We want our creatures to attack, and it's not like red has a ton of vigilance creatures. So instead of leaving our key threats in play to be removed, they get put back into hand, for use later. Also, because of how Sneak Attack is worded, if you wait until the end step right before your turn, you can use your open mana to sneak creatures in before your turn.

What kind of red deck would I be without extra combats? The answer is not a fun one. I didn’t add any extra combat enchantments or spells. I decided to make this a creature-focused deck, which means I added everyone’s favorite girl, Karlach, Fury of AvernusKarlach, Fury of Avernus. She gives two extra combats if copied with Gogo, which is more than fair.

One of the newest extra combat members to Magic, Fear of Missing OutFear of Missing Out felt like a no-brainer. I might need to add more ways to get delirium online, but extra combat for two mana is powerful enough to test out.

And of course, Moraug, Fury of AkoumMoraug, Fury of Akoum found a home here. Moraug can usually be found in green decks where landfall is easy to trigger. But fret not, red has some great landfall tools to get a bunch of combats.

The new Zell DinchtZell Dincht, who deserves their deck tech, and Sword of Forge and FrontierSword of Forge and Frontier. Notably, Sword of Forge and Frontier will prevent Gogo from copying the creature equipped with it. But it's still a powerful card, so the nonbo is worth including.

How Does This Gogo, Mysterious Mime Deck Win?

Winning with the deck is easy enough: You either turn creatures sideways or abuse the burn effects red has.

Turning creatures sideways gets easier with the help of Pyreheart WolfPyreheart Wolf and Frontier WarmongerFrontier Warmonger. Turns out giving creatures menace makes them harder to block, especially if they already have flying or first strike. Trample creatures already get blocked by multiple bodies, so nothing changes there.

Option number two is burn baby burn. Traditional burn decks don’t work great in Commander given the larger life totals and being a singleton format. Casting a Lightning BoltLightning Bolt to the face doesn’t hit the same when you need to deal 40. But when you have multiple instances of three, four, or five damage to everyone, it will quickly add up.

Aside from the two burn creatures mentioned above, there's Dragonhawk, Fate's TempestDragonhawk, Fate's Tempest, which isn’t just burn, but also card advantage. Drakuseth, Maw of FlamesDrakuseth, Maw of Flames has also been a big Timmy card that pumps out so much damage. And a creature I’m surprised not to see more often is Thundering RaijuThundering Raiju. It not only grows Gogo, or other creatures in play, but also burns all opponents on attack.

I floated the idea of adding Grafted ExoskeletonGrafted Exoskeleton to the deck to make the burn creatures more effective, but that's too mean for my liking.

Gogo, Mysterious Mime Commander Deck List

Conclusion

Overall, if you’re looking for a fun and unique combat-focused deck, Gogo is exactly what you want. It was a blast picking which creatures I wanted to add. But I think Gogo’s real draw will be how open-ended he is. You can play all of your favorite red creatures in this deck and not be disappointed. Heck, you could even build an Act of TreasonAct of Treason deck and copy creatures you steal from your opponents.

Alrighty nerds, I’ll see you in the next one!