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Marco
10-27-2007, 12:45 AM
It's no secret that Goblin decks are not the Legacy powerhouse they once were, with multiple Top 8 finishes and tournament wins. Goblin decks have dropped from the Decks to Beat Forum to the Establish Decks Forum here at The Source. Other aggro and aggro-control decks (especially the Goblin deck's old nemesis, Threshold) have gotten better. Gone are the days that decks played Bandage as an answer to a turn one Goblin Lackey.

A breakdown of the Top 32 decks played at the 2007 Legacy Championship at Gen Con in August (the last major Legacy tournament that I am aware of) tells us that Goblins was the second most played deck after Threshold; however, Goblins placed 15th, 28th, 29th, and 31st.

I am a die hard Goblin player and what I propose is a Goblin deck that avoids attacking and combat with the increasing number of green monsters in the format all together. The deck is based on the casual combo of Skirk Fire Marshal and Mogg Maniac. Skirk Fire Marshal has seen some play in Legacy (back when Threshold played Worship). With one Skirk Fire Marshal, one Mogg Maniac, and three other goblins in play, your opponent takes 20 damage while you take 10. It's worth noting that:

- Skirk Fire Marshal's ability does not include the tap symbol; therefore, you can use it the turn it comes into play (and at instant speed),
- Skirk Fire Marshal can tap itself for its ability but it is not required to do so, and
- Skirk Fire Marshal survives its own ability because it has protection from red.

4 Æther Vial

4 Boggart Harbinger
4 Cabal Therapy

4 Boggart Shenanigans
4 Goblin Matron
4 Mogg Fanatic
4 Mogg Maniac
4 Mogg War Marshal
1 Siege-Gang Commander
1 Skirk Prospector
3 Skirk Fire Marshal
1 Stingscourger

4 Auntie's Hovel
4 Badlands
14 Mountain

The core of the deck is 4 Mogg Maniac and 3 or 4 Skirk Fire Marshal. 4 Goblin Matron fetches both combo pieces, but why stop at 4 when you can also add 4 Boggart Harbingers? This pushes us into a black splash which allows us to play Cabal Therapy and possibly Duress to help with the combo match up and push through our combo. The strengths of Æther Vial have been well documented so I won't repeat them here except to say that they help power out your combo pieces and make them uncounterable.

Mogg Fanatic is a solid one drop that you can sacrifice for 1 damage after you tap it for Skirk Fire Marshal's ability. Mogg War Marshal gives you two of the five creatures you need to activate Skirk Fire Marshal's ability (not counting Skirk Fire Marshal's itself) and gives you a creature after you activate Skirk Fire Marshal's ability. You only need one Skirk Fire Marshal to go off, but you want to have at least one Mogg Maniac in play when you use Skirk Fire Marshal's ability as using the ability more than once puts you in the red zone. For that reason, the deck wants to play more Mogg Maniacs (even with 8 Goblin tutors). Other cards filling the role pseudo Mogg Maniac are Mogg Fanatic and Boggart Shenanigans. This may be the best use of Boggart Shenanigans yet, between Mogg Maniac, Mogg War Marshal, Skirk Prospector, and Siege-Gang Commander, not to mention the 4 or 5 damage from the goblins that go to the graveyard from play when you activate Skirk Fire Marshal's ability.

Cards considered that didn't make the cut due to their cost include Mudbutton Torchrunner and Mogg Bombers.

I've considered creative ways to get my goblin combo into play including:

- Moggcatcher (perhaps the most promising because it searches your library and puts a 5 cc goblin into play for 3 mana, except that you have to wait a turn to use its ability, it's vulnerable, and it's not a goblin itself)
- Goblin Wizard
- Belbe's Portal
- Cryptic Gateway
- Deathrender
- Quicksilver Amulet

I've considered dealing 13 damage to my Mogg Maniac with Shivan Meteor and redirecting the damage to my opponent.

I've considered playing more mana sources (Chrome Mox, Seething Song, Rite of Flame, Lotus Petal, Brightstone Ritual, etc); however, I just couldn't find room for them.

I've even considered going the Storm route with Empty the Warrens.

The cards and especially the lands have been selected to avoid dealing damage to yourself so that you don't kill yourself or draw the game with Skirk Fire Marshal's ability. Badlands and Auntie's Hovel are obvious inclusions, but Graven Cairns and Blood Crypt (you can put them into play tapped) are possibilities. You may even be able to get away with 4 or 5 fetch lands (i.e. Bloodstained Mire) if necessary.

A card like Thoughtseize is not a fit in this deck because you don't want to take the damage (any other deck and I wouldn't care about the damage) and being able to hit creatures is not an issue when Skirk Fire Marshal deals 10 damage to each creature. Not many creatures can survive that.

I've filled out the deck with some tutor-able utility creatures:

1 Siege-Gang Commander (one Siege-Gang Commander gives you the four creatures you need to activate Skirk Fire Marshal's ability if you tap Skirk Fire Marshal itself)
1 Skirk Prospector
1 Stingscourger

Rather than the utility creatures, it may be better to play 3 Skirk Prospector or 3 Duress.

The sideboard could include Leyline of the Void or maybe Leyline of Lifeforce to further resolve your combo against counterspells, Pyroblast/Red Elemental Blast, and Sudden Shock.

I know this looks like a pile and it probably is. Sadly, I haven’t been able to play test it but I think the idea has merit. I don't claim to be a master deck builder, but maybe someone out there can make this work.

Constructive feedback only please.

Drossie
10-27-2007, 01:29 AM
What are you going to do when you are at 10 lives or less?
And what if they kill/counter your Skirk Fire Marshal?

I would also love a new Tier 1 build for Goblins (I'm also addicted), but I don't think this is a new topbuild...

Silverdragon
10-27-2007, 02:10 AM
What are you going to do when you are at 10 lives or less?
And what if they kill/counter your Skirk Fire Marshal?


Then you can still attack with a bunch of angry little green men.

Drossie
10-27-2007, 03:04 AM
Then you can still attack with a bunch of angry little green men.

Whichone?
There are too much goblins to give you the combo. Thats Ok if the combo comes trough. If not, this deck is worthless...
The critical hitters from other Goblin decks aren't included here: warchief, ringleader, piledriver...

I think this is a good try to make a new goblinbuild, but I'm afraid it doesn't work...

Tacosnape
10-27-2007, 03:19 AM
So the plan is to return Goblins to tier one by running bad goblins instead of good goblins, and to improve bad matchups by making them worse?

Good plan. Sign me up.