How to beat Living End in Modern
Over the last 90 days of recorded Modern matches, the decks with the best results against Living End are Goryo's Vengeance (75% over 8 matches), Mono-Green Basking Broodscale Combo (67% over 9 matches) and Devoted Combo (57% over 7 matches). Goryo's Vengeance's 75% sits in a 95% range of 41%–93%, which is the range a 8-match sample actually supports. The decks with the best records against it most often carry Vexing Bauble, Thoughtseize and Consign to Memory in the sideboard — those are their sideboards in general, not cards chosen for this matchup.
Best records against Living End
Matches played in the last 90 days, from events that publish round-by-round pairings. Ranked by the bottom of each 95% range, not by the headline percentage, so a small sample cannot outrank a large one.
| Deck | Win rate vs Living End | Record | Matches | Sample | 95% range |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goryo's Vengeance | 75.0% | 6-2 | 8 | Medium sample | 41%–93% |
| Mono-Green Basking Broodscale Combo | 66.7% | 6-3 | 9 | Medium sample | 35%–88% |
| Devoted Combo | 57.1% | 4-3 | 7 | Low sample | 25%–84% |
| Ruby Storm | 60.0% | 3-2 | 5 | Low sample | 23%–88% |
- High sample · 20+ matches
- Medium sample · 8–19 matches
- Low sample · 5–7 matches
26 further pairings (40 matches) fall below the 5-match floor and are not given a percentage. 1 pairing against archetypes that have left the Modern metagame is excluded. Full history, retired archetypes included, is on Living End's archetype page and in the Modern matchup matrix.
What the decks that beat Living End bring
Sideboard cards run by Goryo's Vengeance, Mono-Green Basking Broodscale Combo, Devoted Combo, Ruby Storm. This is not a sideboard guide for this matchup. We record who beat whom, not what either player boarded, so these are whole-sideboard frequencies across every matchup those decks play — a hint about the kind of card that punishes Living End, not a list to bring in.
| Card | Decks running it | Average copies | Which decks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vexing Bauble | 2 of 4 | 1.0 | Mono-Green Basking Broodscale Combo, Devoted Combo |
| Thoughtseize | 2 of 4 | 0.7 | Goryo's Vengeance, Devoted Combo |
| Consign to Memory | 1 of 4 | 3.0 | Goryo's Vengeance |
| Trinisphere | 1 of 4 | 2.5 | Mono-Green Basking Broodscale Combo |
| Prismatic Ending | 1 of 4 | 2.5 | Ruby Storm |
| Wrath of the Skies | 1 of 4 | 2.4 | Goryo's Vengeance |
| Mystical Dispute | 1 of 4 | 2.3 | Goryo's Vengeance |
| Orim's Chant | 1 of 4 | 2.1 | Ruby Storm |
| Wear // Tear | 1 of 4 | 2.0 | Ruby Storm |
| Abrupt Decay | 1 of 4 | 2.0 | Devoted Combo |
| Thought-Knot Seer | 1 of 4 | 1.9 | Mono-Green Basking Broodscale Combo |
| Nature's Claim | 1 of 4 | 1.9 | Mono-Green Basking Broodscale Combo |
Average copies is expected copies per deck — average copies played multiplied by the share of that archetype's lists running the card — so a 4-of in half the lists reads as 2.0.
Questions
What beats Living End in Modern?
Across the last 90 days, Goryo's Vengeance (75% over 8 matches), Mono-Green Basking Broodscale Combo (67% over 9 matches) and Devoted Combo (57% over 7 matches) hold the best recorded results against Living End. Records come from events that publish round-by-round pairings, and both decks in a match have to be identified for it to count, so these are the pairings we can see rather than every match played.
What should I bring in against Living End?
We do not have sideboard choices tied to individual matches, so this is not a sideboard guide. What the data supports is narrower: the 4 decks with the best records against Living End — Goryo's Vengeance, Mono-Green Basking Broodscale Combo, Devoted Combo and Ruby Storm — most commonly run Vexing Bauble, Thoughtseize, Consign to Memory, Trinisphere and Prismatic Ending in their sideboards. Those are whole-sideboard frequencies across every matchup those decks play.
How reliable are these Modern matchup numbers?
Not very, and the page says so per row rather than in aggregate. Every pairing shows its match count, its sample band and a 95% range; the strongest band we award is 20+ matches, which is still roughly a ±20-point range around the figure shown. Pairings under 5 matches are counted but never given a percentage — there are 26 of those for Living End right now. Rankings use the bottom of each range rather than the headline percentage, so a small sample cannot outrank a large one it has not earned.
What period does this cover?
Matches played in the last 90 days, filtered on when each match was actually played. Archetypes that have dropped out of the Modern metagame are excluded from the ranking, which removes 1 pairing here — their historical records are still on Living End's own archetype page and in the format matchup matrix.
What each number on this site measures, and where it is least reliable, is set out on the methodology page.