Is my End as Glorious as I want it to be?

[CleanBelwas]

There's a bit of buzz in the forums around combos and how to stop them at the moment and this felt like a good time to open up a discussion about a card I've long been fascinated with:

Glorious End.

I love the idea of this card in principle. It's incredibly powerful in the right situation and absolute garbage outside of that. I love that kind of high risk, high reward card.

I've been playing an amount of 1v1 commander over webcam during the pandemic and it seems to me like more than half of the games end with a "if you don't win this turn, I will win next turn" kind of state. Obviously, this card was made for just such an occasion so I've been debating picking up a few copies.

So I'm curious, has anyone played with it or seen it played? If so, how have you found it?

Here are my thoughts on it so far.

Pros:
Instant speed, relatively cheap answer to almost anything. It doesn't matter if your opponent is about to combo off, kill you with damage, gain an insurmountable amount of life, infect you, mill you, whatever. Unless they can layer in response or counter this spell, their plans are scuppered. That's incredibly powerful. It's a fog, counterspell and disruption all in one.
Also, the art is cool.

Cons:
If you don't win on your next turn, you straight up lose. That's bad.
If you're not in the position to win on your next turn, it is completely dead. Having this in your opening hand feels bad.

It's got incredible meme value potential, but is it actually good? I can't decide. What do you guys think?

[Morganator 2.0]

As you mentioned already, you have to win on your next turn. This is easier to do in 1 v 1 than in multiplayer games. It would have to be used in a combo deck that is capable of winning immediately. I know that in cEDH Godo, Bandit Warlord will use cards like Final Fortune to get just one more turn, but I've never seen Glorious End used.

Another issue is that it's 3 mana. Combo decks tend to only leave 1 or 2 mana open at the end of their turn. 3 mana is literally one too many.

[CleanBelwas]

As you mentioned already, you have to win on your next turn. This is easier to do in 1 v 1 than in multiplayer games. It would have to be used in a combo deck that is capable of winning immediately. I know that in cEDH Godo, Bandit Warlord will use cards like Final Fortune to get just one more turn, but I've never seen Glorious End used.

Another issue is that it's 3 mana. Combo decks tend to only leave 1 or 2 mana open at the end of their turn. 3 mana is literally one too many.

Thanks for your perspective Morganator. I suspected that would be the case for cEDH. Card choice is so important at the top end of the format and Glorious End is just too narrow and expensive with too real a downside to shine there.

I'm still fascinated by the card and will likely pick up a copy or two, but mostly for the meme value. I've always wanted to build a deck based around sundial of the infinite and this would be pretty amazing there. It might still find a place in my Breya deck too if decide to go full combo. The jank end of the format tends to be more forgiving on these kinds of cards.

[Aetherium Slinky]

Do you mean like this?

https://deckstats.net/decks/93006/1467130-force-others-to-lose-breya-eth

Okay okay, it's built around Hive Mind but it still uses the Sundial!

On a more serious note I don't know what situations you would use this in. As a red counterspell in a monored deck with the little Sundial that could and all the Final Fortune effects?

[CleanBelwas]

Do you mean like this?

https://deckstats.net/decks/93006/1467130-force-others-to-lose-breya-eth

Okay okay, it's built around Hive Mind but it still uses the Sundial!

On a more serious note I don't know what situations you would use this in. As a red counterspell in a monored deck with the little Sundial that could and all the Final Fortune effects?

Haha yea dude, something like that. Always liked this deck of yours. Seems super sweet.

I was more just condisering it as a late game "answer anything" card. I wasn't specifically thinking of it in the context of abusing it or synergising with it. I think it's probably destined for jank though. The downside is too real. Not that that'll put me off of course.

[Aetherium Slinky]

I was more just condisering it as a late game "answer anything" card. I wasn't specifically thinking of it in the context of abusing it or synergising with it. I think it's probably destined for jank though. The downside is too real. Not that that'll put me off of course.

The downside is very real. I think you should make a Sundial tribal deck that takes advantage of the turn ending capabilities of the Sundial. If you don't do that then I will. That way you'd have at least Sundial out when you want to cast your cheap Time Stop.

[CleanBelwas]

So it finally happened a few nights back.

I decided to pick up a copy and test it out in Breya.

Down to the last two players. Other guy was on the new Radha. Had me dead on board with big gruul trampling dummies. Swang in for the death blow. I cast Glorious End, ended the turn and had to win on my turn.

Used Breya to get rid of the few chump blockers they had left. Used Emry to get back a Grafted Exoskeleton and stuck it on a Metalwork Colossus, swang in for my second ever infect win.

It was, as the name would suggest, absolutely glorious.

It took me right back what I love about EDH too. I've been going through all my decks and putting dumb shit I love back in and taking out the more "correct" and "optimised" cards. Casting Glorious End, a card that I've been fascinated by since Amonkhet, was the most enjoyable and satisfying thing I've done in Magic for a long time. EDH is absolutely the format to play what you love, not what is good.

[WizardSpartan]

It took me right back what I love about EDH too. I've been going through all my decks and putting dumb shit I love back in and taking out the more "correct" and "optimised" cards. Casting Glorious End, a card that I've been fascinated by since Amonkhet, was the most enjoyable and satisfying thing I've done in Magic for a long time. EDH is absolutely the format to play what you love, not what is good.

Love that. I guess all I'm waiting for is my Spikey self to get over itself

[stuffnsuch]

Glorious End should be in every single Obeka, Brute Chronologist deck, but that's probably the only place I'd run it.  If you're not reliably able to avoid loosing, it's too dangerous to play most of the time.  Not only does it mean you have to win your next turn, it also lets everyone else know you're planning to win next turn, which means they aren't going to be holding back on disruption.  One counter, removal spell, or even a miscalculation on your part, and you're toast.
If you can reliably end the turn and avoid loosing, it turns into a power house.  In Obeka, it also provides redundancy in case someone removes your commander while you have something nasty on the stack that your were counting on avoiding.  If your deck relies on ending the turn, throw it in, if not, I'd only throw it in a deck that plans on a go big or go home strategy anyways.