Matchup Analysis - Living End

Key Cards:

Pre-board: Inkmoth, Gingerbrute, Paladin

Post-board: Lavinia, Pierce, Relic, Teferi, Meddling Mage

Problem Cards:

Pre-board: Grief, Force of Negation, Colossal Skyturtle/Brazen Borrower

Post-board: Force of Vigor/Foundation Breaker/Ingot Chewer, Subtlety

Objectives:

• Game 1, your plan is try to kill them on turn 2 or 3 and pray they don’t Grief>Force of Neg>Living End you.
  • The matchup is rough, so being as aggressive as possible game 1 is key to stealing it.
• That said, there are a few key interactions to keep in mind even game 1:
  • Gingerbrute can sacrifice itself in response to a living end so that it comes back. Since it’s other ability makes it unblockable vs Living End, it is often correct to not attack with the cookie when they can Living End you.
  • This means that if you are able to keep an aid in play and sandbag a hammer, you can sometimes steal a game by throwing it on the cookie and getting in for 11 damage.
  • If you are able to empty your hand of non-creature spells, their grief will have to take your creatures. This means that if they Living End, you get the creature back as well. If this is a paladin, you have a real shot at winning from there.
  • If you are able to move Hammers post-combat from your blocked creatures, you are able to throw that creature into the graveyard due to having the marked damage. This insulates you from a Living end.
    • Prioritize throwing your Paladins in the trash if possible for the above reasons.
  • Shadowspear can make the difference game 1 if you re-deploy a board after they living end, since it allows you to race them effectively (assuming you also have a Hammer equipped).
  • The other way to steal wins vs Living End is setting up a Saga chapter 3/Aid/Inkmoth kill, since game 1 they don’t have much interaction for that, and they need a flier to beat it (which sometimes they won’t have)

SB Strategy and highlights:

• Lavinia is far and away your best card, and if you are able to keep her in play, it is nearly impossible for them to win the game. This means that you bring in as many Blacksmith’s Skills as you have, and keep all your Givers. The reality is that post-board, you should be mulliganing to hate/interaction, especially since even if you keep a turn 2 kill, they simply have so much free interaction that you will still potentially lose.
  • To add some perspective, a 4-card hand with Lavinia, Giver, and 2 colored sources is better than most of your 7s post-board.
  • Do not attack with Lavinia if you can’t protect her, as sometimes they have endurance post-board to try and ambush her (and they can just cast it for 3)
  • You’ll see this further down, but Lavinia is good against almost every point of interaction they have. She counters Living End, alternate cast Force of Vigor/Force of Negation, pitch-cast Grief/Subtlety/Endurance.
• Relic is good, but you would much rather draw it naturally in your opener than Saga for it. In order to leverage its repeated activation, they can’t already have 5+ cards in their yard.
• They have a TON of interaction game 2 and 3 between Force of Vigor, Foundation Breaker, sometimes Ingot Chewer, and Subtlety to complement their pre-board Griefs/Force of Negations/Bounce Spells.
• Spell Pierce is there to keep them from just Living End’ing you on turn and. Otherwise it is good but not isane unless you also have a powerful, fast hand.
• Kaldra isn’t the strongest card against Living End (since ya know… Living End kills the germ),  but I like it a lot in the matchup because it is an indestructible threat that makes sure Stoneforge is a threat that can slam the door quickly after slamming a lock piece.
• Teferi does stop them from interacting with your combo, but most importantly, opponents cannot cascade with T3f in the play due to his static ability. Additionally, it means that they can’t FoV or FoN at anything but sorcery speed. Keep in mind that Skyturtle can only bounce creatures, so T3f is generally safe against everything except Brazen Borrower.
• Meddling Mage is solid as well, since stopping them from casting Living End is pretty insane. It can be a nice extra Lavinia effect.
• The ONLY reasons to keep a combo hand game 2 and 3 are:
  • You can kill them on turn 2.
  • You can kill them on turn 3 with Pierce/Skill backup and you are ON THE PLAY.
  • You have Relic and/or Spell Pierce to back it up.
  • All other hands should be thrown back to try and find Lavinia/T3f.
• Worst cards in the matchup:
  • Esper Sentinel (you’re only drawing a card if they are casting living end, and even then they might pay)
  • Ornithopter: Low impact and doesn’t even do chip damage
  • Steelshaper’s Gift: Much better G1 than post-board
  • The Reality Chip: This matchup isn’t about grinding, it is about mulling to the right, impactful cards.
• One last note about sideboarding: I don’t cut any of the Drum/Mantle effects because maximizing your chance of having turn 2 UW or WW is incredibly important for lavinia, and outweighs the downside of having a low-impact draw in later turns.

TL;DR: Kill them as fast as possible game 1. Game 2 and 3, mulligan to interaction (Lavinia+Protection, Teferi, Spell Pierce, or Relic). Keep Lavinia around, and they probably can’t win.