JoGr - Dandan (Forgetful Fish) Variant
Published 6/19/2025
Introduction to Dandan
I had heard about Dandan (Forgetful Fish) in the past, even watching the Rhystic Studies primer a couple of years ago, but didn't play it. Then having followed the Card Market video and then seeing the Shuffle Up video about the format, I figured it was time to play. Trying to play the game digitally, to just test it out, proved challenging... So, it was time to gather cards to have a physical copy of my own to play with.
Jötun Grunt
At the same time, I saw other variants of Dandan around and started thinking about that space as well. As a traditional Boros aggro player, I was drawn to the color white and folks trying to build around Jötun Grunt, another 4 power creature for 2 mana. The catch here is that he requires an upkeep based around moving cards from the graveyard to the bottom of the library. Existing variants around this card already used artifacts to help provide mill for filling the graveyard...
However, I felt a few things missing and didn't like the idea of additional permanents beyond the namesake card meant to deal damage on the battlefield, like the original Dandan. There were also some other aspects of the original Dandan like a flashback card in another color meant to provide some more dynamics. Finally, it was a bit too difficult to keep Jötun around long to keep the game's pace going.
With that in mind, I scoured the database of magic cards to come up with some new ideas to invigorate this variant...
Introducing JoGr
JoGr ("jogger") is a Dandan variant based on Jötun Grunt and focused on the Graveyard. It also uses a shared deck of 80 cards and is meant for two players.
The main cards of the deck, are of course Jötun Grunt and Lapse of Certainty (the color shifted version of Dandan's Memory Lapse) to counter a Jötun and place them back on top of the shared library. The complete decklist can be found on Moxfield here.
Rule changes
Play with standard Magic: The Gathering rules, except for the following:
Both players share a library and graveyard, placed in the center between them within reach of both players. Cards referring to the library or graveyard always refer to these shared zones. The "owner" of a card is whoever played it from their hand.
Players start with free mulligans, if their hand contains a single land or non-land, no land, or all land. The player may reveal the hand and mulligan without penalty. Otherwise, standard mulligan rules apply (if then taken, no free mulligans are allowed afterwards).
Players each start with 20 life as normal, but life will only ever be reduced in increments of 4, thus 5 counters (or a D6) are sufficient to track player life totals with each hit of a Jötun Grunt reducing the count by 1 instead.
Players should allow time for their opponent to respond to game actions and pass priority before resolving the stack, when spells resolve, and before drawing.
Immediate Action - There is a conspiracy a foot! Start with this Hidden agenda face-up naming Jötun Grunt. This allows Jötun Grunt to attack immediately with haste! Watch out!
Strategic Notes
Jötun Grunt having haste is key, be sure to look out for ways of dealing with them on your opponents turn.
Control the top of the library with spells like Lapse of Certainty and Excommunicate, Scry, and Surveil.
Flying - there is a light flying counter play that can matter in certain situations between Call a Surprise Witness, Leap of Faith, and Pitfall Trap
Graveyard and Exile - Look for not only the Flashback of Can't Stay Away but also Purify the Grave, at the same time Pull from Eternity can bring something back and maybe help you keep a Jötun Grunt alive. Think about how to manipulate the graveyard state when it is being interacted with.
Disclaimer
JoGr is a fan format shared here for free as permitted by the Wizards of the Coast Fan Content Policy. The literal and graphical information presented on this site about Magic: The Gathering, including card images and mana symbols, is copyright Wizards of the Coast, LLC. Mikeware is not produced by or endorsed by Wizards of the Coast. As per the Wizards content policy, you are not legally required to attribute me when sharing this content, but it'd be nice to provide a link here to this blog or to the decklist if you reference or share this content to others, thanks!
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