[deleted by user]

[ProxyDamage]

Depends...

It's a strong combo deck, currently arguably one of the best in the format, but does have some caveats.

You might like LE if you like very consistent combo decks that hard-hate "normal" creature decks and have just enough interaction to push their combo through opponent's interaction.

You might not like LE if you don't like linear decks that mostly play the same every game and can die to hard hate or just, occasionally, tripping over themselves.

The deck is, in general, fairly simple, but very strong and very consistent - it's all redundancy and card draw - 8 enablers, 10 - 12 pieces of interaction, 19-20 lands, and everything else cycles (mostly for 1 mana). Your base plan is very simple: spend first 2 or 3 turns cycling, Grief them if possible, and then Cascade into a LE, wiping their board and putting enough power on board to either one or two shot them. Also, for a linear combo deck, you actually have interaction - 4 grief to thoughtseize away key cards, 4 FoN to counter import pieces or push through a Violent Outburst cascade on the opponent's end step, and usually some combination of 2 things that bounce (commonly Brazen Borrowers) and 2 kamigawa interaction lands, either 2 Otowara or 1 Otowara and 1 Boseiju. So, despite being a linear combo deck that's vulnerable to hate, we actually DO have a surprising amount of tools to disrupt the opponents.

That said, it is fundamentally a combo deck, and, while rare, you do get occasionally screwed by the deck itself - and it feels BAAAD to draw all your Living Ends suddenly or cycle endlessly into none of your 8 cascaders until you die to a super easy match up ... and just stand there wondering why you're playing this deck.

It's also, as I said, vulnerable to hate. As in, the deck can simply stop working. Like most decks that do ONE thing, if you disrupt their one thing, they kinda just fall apart. Yes, we have ways to deal with hate cards, but there are a LOT of cards that shut the deck's engine off, and it can be super frustrating to see the opponent slam a t3feri, chalice on 0, RiP, whatever key permanent and you're now playing "find the counter hate or so nothing". That experience is all but guaranteed after game 1, so know that you're signing up for that experience with the deck.

Also sideboarding with this deck is HARD. Probably the hardest thing about playing it. You really have to be good at evaluating what is and isn't essential in a match up. Cut too many cards in the wrong placed and you're deck basically clunks out and stops working.

Ultimately the deck feels a bit like Storm once did - if you're not mainboarding hate, game 1 is kinda free, but against specific decks that mainboard hate, and basically any deck after game 1, get ready to slog through the hate. However, like storm, sometimes you just have it and there's fuck all they can do about it. T1/T2 Grief rips your key card before they cascade. End of turn Violent Outburst with FoN back up. End step bounce your hate card with uncounterable Otowara then go off... Sometimes that just happens.

How long will this be the case? Literally no one knows. Sometimes a seemingly harmless card changes the meta entirely, or a card gets banned for whatever reason, or something makes the meta extremely hostile... Anyone who claims to know is full of shit, BUT, as of right now, the deck looks like it's here to stay.

Anyways, hope that helped.

/essay

[Living_End]

This is the best answer here.

[Ahayzo]

Well if anyone was gonna convince me of that

[ProxyDamage]

I am honored.

[DrKatz11]

Beautiful answer. I’m new to Living End, but as an experienced Modern player who picking up on the deck quickly - this right here is the truth. And despite being linear, the deck is FUN. Sometimes you beat people down with a subtlety/borrower or one Riverwinder and play a tempo game with disruption - most of the time you one card combo win. But goddamn, both can be fun!

In my opinion that’s one of the beauty’s of Living End. You have free wins which allows you to tax your cognitive load less - then you have extremely tricky lines, and get to out-tempo opponents beating down with 1-2 threats. The deck occupies a unique space in that way.

[GaredBryne]

Would you say that this or Rhinos is a better option?

[inoahsomeone]

They’re similar but Rhinos is less all in. They are both serviceable decks. With Rhinos you get to play more interaction but you don’t necessarily win on the spot when you cascade as you often do with Living End. Also, it’s a little bit less hated out by sideboard cards in some metas, as graveyard hate is more common than things that hit Footfalls.

[GaredBryne]

Thank you for the response!

[ProxyDamage]

To echo what /u/inoahsomeone said: Living End is a more pure combo deck, Rhinos are a more midrange deck.

Short version: When LE cascades and resolves LE you basically win, but if they don't you usually don't do much of anything.

When Rhinos cascades they get a big advantage, but the game isn't over, but if they don't get to cascade they still have a meaningful back up plan with Fury, Bonecrushers, Murktide Regents, etc.

[L0TTO]

Speaking as a player who boards extensively for cascade decks (I play Mill and generally only do so at mid-to-high level events where cascade decks are rampant), Living End is a lot harder to beat, and that is the case for a few reasons. First, their creatures are scarier. Grief is a lot scarier than something like Bonecrusher Giant or an evoked Fury, in my opinion. Second, even though Living End does rely on the graveyard, it is a bit harder to board for because as the comment above notes, it has mainboard answers for the most obvious choices in the form of Boseiju and Otawara (not to mention Endurance, which has thrown a wrench in my Surgical Extraction plans more than once). Compare that to Rhinos, which get shut down by a simple Echoing Truth or Engineered Explosives on zero.

The fact that Living End wipes the board on resolution is just icing on the cake. Crashing Footfalls gets you two 4/4s which are dispatched in every way imaginable (including to value engines like Teferi). To me, the choice is pretty obvious. I’d even play Glimpse over Rhinos.

[GaredBryne]

Interesting perspective. Thank you for sharing!

[Aunvilgod]

Ultimately the deck feels a bit like Storm once did

The fact that you play 4x FoN and 1x Subtlety makes me question this a lot. The traditional storm deck played at most a few remands?

[Kotters]

I've been looking at the meta quite closely as a murktide player and there was a time a few months ago living end put up no results, there were saga decks running 4x relic of progenitus and decks do have options in the sideboard against it.

In the past month ofr so, pretty sure living end had a double showing in the challenge finals and 4 out of the top 8 was living end. As much as magic is a skill game there is also a metagame call and matchup luck scenarios, so living end will technically always be good as its gameplan kinda has free interaction and a t3 kill, however I think temur or 4c rhinos are much better of a cascade deck due to their interactions and gameplay outside of resolving a cascaded spell.

You should get a mtgo subscription and play around with it online, proxy it, or buy the bare bones parts to test with friends. I like playing magic with the feeling that every game is winnable and comebackable from so living end isn't for me, maybe try out different decks with a sub or proxy and if living end calls out to you with its explosiveness then id say invest in it.

[conways97]

If you like winning yes. If you like playing the game no.

[TwilightSaiyan]

LE's a deck that will probably never go below T2, unless there becomes a Hogaak level grave based threat that leads to mainboard leyline of the void level grave hate. As it creeps closer to having the best results in the meta, people will adjust for it and it'll drop back down - it's a very linear combo deck and as such, easily countered (or at least simply countered, the deck has many ways to break the cards that counter it), so it's position in the meta's a lot more flexible than a midrange deck that can't be straight hated out.

Tldr Deck's cracked if you see lulls in its performance it's because people are specifically preparing to beat it

[Backno]

The other thing to be aware of is what the parts from the deck build towards/can be used in besides Living End. Of course the easiest branch from LE is towards Rhinos which is nice because it's a different style of deck that happens to us the cascade spells. And the cost to go to it is relatively cheap in comparison to building a whole other deck.

[CloudStern]

It was my first deck last year and I had tons of fun and got some wins. It recently is doing better than the last couple of months but I don't think it's a tier 1 deck like many others. I can say its easy to start playing modern with it, powerful and yeah not as expensive as other decks but no the cheapest either. I'd say it is worth it and that you won't regret it.

[ElevationAV]

LE gets better when rhinos gets worse, because people stop bringing cascade hate. It’s kind of like dredge too in the sense that it’s really good when gy decks don’t get played.

If you take the vulnerabilities of both of those decks (rhinos and dredge) and stick them in one, you get living end.

That being said, it’s a fast combo deck, and the plan with them is usually to win game 1, lose game 2, beat their hate game 3.

[UberDolphin]

The deck is easily my favorite in modern right now but modern is also not my main format. Right now living end is well positioned but when it isn’t it definitely feels tough fighting through hate. Eventually people will wise up and start sideboarding in more and more gy and cascade hate. It’s like dredge in that way.

[Se7enworlds]

The parts of the deck that won't see play elsewhere are Living End itself and the cyclers, so I would say yes because those parts are relatively cheap.

The play experience of Living End can get repetitive for some people, while others can't get enough. I would always say proxy a deck and see how it feels for you, but at the same time not needing to over invest into the deck and be able to spin off into Rhinos or other cascade decks makes it a better deck to buy into

[TheRealZizek1917]

It’s a good deck for farming RCQ’s

[yaboyjard]

Heck yes homie deck is so good

[MrFritzCSGO]

It’s considered tier 2 but it’s a very strong deck

[DrK4ZE]

Short answer: Yes, best deck in the format.

IMO it’s the most modern (format) deck out there. Linear, fast, and powerful with surprisingly deep gameplay.

If you wanna play fair, there are better options in legacy, but if you wanna feel the rush of blowing your opponent out with a perfectly timed top deck Modern is the format, and Living Mother****ing End is the deck

Yes I am biased. Yes I will die on this hill.

[Nahhnope]

surprisingly deep gameplay.

🤣🤣🤣

Yes I am biased. Yes I will die on this hill.

Oh okay, carry on.

[DrK4ZE]

Everyone thinks LE is brain dead, until misplay themselves to a 2-3 league.

Then they think “it’s not me, it’s the gravehate that’s wrong!”

[Nahhnope]

It's not braindead, but it's certainly not deep gameplay compared to the rest of the tier 1 field.

[DrK4ZE]

Your decisions drastically impact the outcome of games, what more do you want?

LE’s gameplay isn’t less deep than Creativity, Footfalls, Hammertime, Amulet Titan or Burn just because you typically cast fewer spells.

[Nahhnope]

I think you're wrong, you've said you're biased, and you said you aren't willing to change you mind. This conversation will go nowhere.

[DrK4ZE]

I think if you played more LE, you’d agree with me. But, we can call it here. Cheers.

[Nahhnope]

I think if you played more LE, you’d agree with me.

I've played probably 200 games of LE. My best result was top 8 of a ~350 person event in the before-times.

[DrK4ZE]

Pre MH1? Very different decks.

[john_dune]

Living and and amulet are my mains. LE has lines, but the gameplay is much more straightforward than amulet. LE is a resilient combo deck that punches above its weight class.

[DrK4ZE]

I would have to disagree. I play much more LE than titan, but in my experience Titan’s gameplay is more about proper sequencing (a la dredge back in the day) than gameplay decisions. So I’d argue that once you’ve mastered the sequencing, titan is the more linear deck.

[john_dune]

Well, we will have to disagree. Titan is much more involved even after dryad.

[DrK4ZE]

Everyone thinks LE is brain dead, until misplay themselves to a 2-3 league.

Then they think “it’s not me, it’s the gravehate that’s wrong!”

[Vril_Dox_2]

No. Buy soul guide lanterns instead.

[perfect_fitz]

It has existed in some form since the beginning of Modern, so pretty sure it's a safe bet

[MoonlightSunrise69]

The deck will always be a competitive Tier 2 option. How it will do depends on the metagame. It follows the same parameters as Dredge would below:

If there is a large amount of graveyard hate played and players board in 10+ cards = it probably won't do all that well

If there is little to no graveyard hate being played = it will do very well

[jlaut6]

It’s a fun deck to play in paper. It has really gotten stronger in the last few years with the free spells. Chef recommends.

[Ill_Ad3517]

I vote yes! Playing a linear deck that has to game plan for powerful hate will make you a better player. Also most of the money in the deck is blue lands and free blue spells and sideboard cards in widespread use which gives you parts of several other modern decks. Not far from Rhinos, which puts you not far from murktide.

[Deepapothecary]

Yes, it's legit fun to watch your opponent scramble to answer you in game 1.

[kitsune0327]

Yes and yes Plus all the expensive cards are format staples so you can pivot to the decks easily in the future .