Like any other fair matchup you need to win through card advantage. Kill their equipment and you can win. If they hook a batterskull or Jitte on TNN you're going to lose if you can't find an answer. Their equipment is the only real CA they run. So have an answer for it and then just grind out the W.Originally Posted by Sandro95
I've been able to get 5 competitive matches against UR Delver in the last couple weeks and my thoughts on the match-up are:
-The winstigator core list is faster then they are between vial, lackey, warren, tarfire, and our card advantage, this should get it done.
-The biggest threat is Young Pyromancer. It needs to be dealt with as fast as possible. Board advantage is what will win you the game and keeping them off tokens is key.
-Aether Vial is better then Chalice of the Void in this match. I know Chalice seems to be a blowout, but our 1 drops are just as valuable to our plan (vial, tarfire). Chalice can be effective, but if they resolve Swiftspear or Young Pyromancor, they can still get the triggers they need even if the spells are countered. Note: Treasure Cruise cmc = 8. I still don't have a problem bringing in one or two Chalice, but I would board out utility slots for them.
-Pyrokinesis is good
Do we have any news about goblins in GPNJ?
Not yet. It's only like R3 though.
I ended up losing my win-and-in, going 6-3 with two byes. I had some really interesting games though, will post later.
R/B Goblins
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I finished 12-3 for 53rd place, $300, and a pro point. I'll post a full report tomorrow with my list.
One of the two Goblins decks that made day 2! Excellent result. Congratulations! This warms the cockles of my heart.
Awesome resolt!
well done mate, looking forward to the report!
gratzz dude cant wait for the report en decklist
i was at a small legacy tournament 75 players.
It went horrible:( 2-3-2)
had a shit load of fun though like always with goblins. Did some insane stuff with the 2 unblocked warreninstigators;)
How did you figure out how many made Day 2?
http://magic.wizards.com/en/events/c.../gpnj14/d2meta
I went 6-3 at GPNJ mainly vs. combo and delver decks with the following decklist:
Round 1: UR Delver (2-1)Creatures (27)
2 Gempalm Incinerator
3 Goblin Chieftain
4 Goblin Lackey
4 Goblin Matron
4 Goblin Ringleader
1 Goblin Settler
1 Goblin Sharpshooter
2 Mogg War Marshal
1 Stingscourger
1 Tuktuk Scrapper
3 Warren Instigator
1 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
Spells (10)
4 Aether Vial
2 Pyrokinesis
4 Tarfire
Lands (23)
4 Mountain
3 Bloodstained Mire
4 Cavern of Souls
2 Plateau
4 Wasteland
4 Wooded Foothills
2 Pendelhaven
Sideboard (15)
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Ethersworn Canonist
2 Magus of the Moon
1 Tuktuk Scrapper
3 Rest in Peace
1 Umezawa's Jitte
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
3 Chalice of the Void
Round 2: RUG Delver (2-1)
Round 3: Esper Deathblade (1-2)
Round 4: Omni-Tell (2-1)
Round 5: UR Delver (2-0)
Round 6: Enchantress (2-1)
Round 7: T.E.S (0-2)
Round 8: UR Delver (2-0)
Round 9: Sneak and Show (1-2)
Notes
- Lots, lots, and lots of Delver decks! But was thoroughly impressed that I took down every Delver match up I came across. It was mainly the constant pressure with gobs, removal, and Thalia that made the UR Delvers young pyros a non-issue.
- With the single match of Omni-Tell and dozens of games in testing with my buddy the night before GP, Goblins are simply faster than Omni-Tell. Goblin Settler/Thalia is devastating in this match up.
- I sided in Thalia for each match with no regrets. She is the real deal. She's such a hindrance against all my match ups and when paired up with gobs, it applies tremendous amount of pressure. It almost makes me wonder if they should be maindeck'd.
- Chalice did it's job vs. Enchantress, Sneak and Show, slowed down TES, and helped vs. UR Delver.
- For the most part, I didn't miss Piledriver except for my match vs. Sneak and Show when we were racing each other in the 3rd game after being pyroclasm'd twice.
I feel Goblins are positioned to do very well in the current meta filled with Delvers and other Blue Decks. I'm looking forward to keep testing variations of this deck.
Great job man. GPs are a grind and Legacy is a mine field. 6-3 with no byes is an impressive feat. Last year at GPDC I finished 6-3 with no byes after losing my last round. It was a weird feeling because I knew I had simultaneously performed well and also fallen just barely short of my goal. You should be proud of your record.
I like your list (although it is significantly different than mine) and I'm glad that you put a hurtin' on the Delver decks all day long. Good luck going forward!
My tournament report, as promised:
I’m an amateur player from Richmond, Virginia. This weekend I went 12-3 in Grand Prix New Jersey, which was good enough to earn myself 53rd place, $300, and my 6th lifetime Pro Point. I had a great time, piloted my favorite deck, and played what I believe to be just about the best Magic that I’m capable of. I apologize in advance for the length of this post.
I played Goblins, which I always play in Legacy, complete with a few updates based on the new Treasure Cruise-filled metagame. I could have easily sleeved up a different deck thanks to generous friends with impressive collections, but I chose to stick to my little red guns. Legacy rewards repetition more than any other constructed format, and I would much rather be the best Goblins player in the room than the 300th best Delver player. Unless you’re a pro-caliber player, having an intimate knowledge of your own deck and how to leverage it against the format’s most powerful strategies is more important than any piece of hot new technology. Suffice to say, I have gotten in MANY reps with Goblins, and I feel like I know the deck as well as anyone. Here’s the list I played:
4 Goblin Lackey
3 Goblin Piledriver
2 Mogg War Marshal
4 Goblin Warchief
4 Goblin Matron
3 Goblin Chieftan
1 Goblin Sharpshooter
4 Goblin Ringleader
1 Krenko, Mobb Boss
1 Tuktuk Scrapper
4 Aether Vial
2 Pyrokinesis
2 Tarfire
2 Gempalm Incinerator
1 Stingscourger
12 Mountains
4 Wasteland
4 Cavern of Souls
2 Rishadan Port
Sideboard:
3 Ashen Rider
2 Pithing Needle
2 Chalice of the Void
2 Tordom's Crypt
2 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Pyrokinesis
1 Tuktuk Scrapper
1 Red Elemental Blast
This list is the evolution of my GP DC list from last year, which you can find HERE. I have been running 7 Haste enablers and 2 Krenkos since DC, and I absolutely would have run that configuration again in New Jersey if it wasn't for the rise of UR Delver. It isn’t that Krenko is bad against UR, but he does die to Lightning Bolt and I had to find room for 2 Pyrokinesis and a Sharpshooter in the main deck. Sacrifices had to be made. I strongly considered moving Tuktuk Scrapper to the sideboard (in favor of Sharpshooter) because I expected more Young Pyromancers than Stoneforge Mystics. On Friday night, I decided, correctly I believe, that even if there are more YPs than SFMs, Scrapper is more important against the blade decks than sharpshooter is against Blue-Red. Then I got to the site Saturday morning and it looked like every other person was on UR Delver. It honestly felt like 50% of the room--Bolts and boat rides were everywhere. I moved the Sharpshooter to the main last minute and decided that the first Scrapper was more important than the second Krenko. I think it was the right call for the tournament, but I missed the second Krenko at least as many times as Sharpshooter was relevant in a Game 1.
The other changes were -1 Stingscourger, -1 Tarfire, +2 Pyrokinesis. I think that these were more clearly correct. Pyrokinesis was exceptional all weekend, and I went 3-0 against Show and Tell despite cutting the second Stingscourger.
Day 1
Round 1: Bye (1-0)
Round 2: Bye (2-0)
I had two byes thanks to winning a Modern GPT a few weeks ago (Thanks, Birthing Pod!). I cannot emphasize enough how much of an advantage this is. Day two seems so much more attainable when you only need 5 real wins.
I spent my bye rounds watching my friends battle. This includied my roommate for the trip, who piloted this beast to a Day Two finish: http://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/250911#online.
Round 3: Win 2-1 v. Burn. (3-0)
Well, I can’t say I didn’t expect this in the early rounds. My opponent was a friendly Standard player with two byes who was playing in his second ever Legacy event. I got a quick game 1 and he took game 2 with a triple Goblin Guide hand. My first loss of the tournament came against 3 hasty goblins. I can’t even be mad. In Game 3, I resolved a turn 2 Chalice-on-one on the play. He finished the game with 7 1-CMC cards rotting in his hand with me at 20 life (he used his suspended Rift Bolt on my Lackey).
Round 4: Win 2-0 v. Sneak and Show. (4-0)
In game 1 I’m on the play with a lackey. He cantrips on turn 1 off of fetch-> volcanic and passes. I attack for 1 and drop Warchief into play. I play Piledriver and MWM and pass. He pays 2 life for a probe, sees a stingscourger in my hand, tanks, cantrips, and passes. I play a Chieftan and attack for 18 and he dies on turn 3. I’m fairly certain that this is the nut draw.
Game two he is on the play. He has turn ponder and pass. I play a lackey and he forces it. He cantrips again on turn 2. I can’t remember if I played anything. He goes for Show and Tell (no probe this time) and his Emrakul gets exiled by Ashen Rider. It doesn’t take long to close out the game from there.
Can’t really draw that up any better. This entire match took 15 minutes.
Round 5: Win 2-0 v. UWR Stoneblade. (5-0)
So, “UWR Stoneblade” and “UWR Delver” are very close to the same thing at this point. At the very least, the pieces are interchangeable and the lines are blurry, especially from the other side of the table. For the purposes of this report, I’m distinguishing between the two based on if I saw Delvers or not. Jeskai is so malleable that these decks could really fall anywhere on the spectrum between Delver and Stoneblade.
I’m fairly certain that this is was the deck that won the open last week. He had lots of basics and no Delvers. In Game 1 on the draw I get behind after he casts swords on a lackey and I have no turn 2 follow up. He casts Stoneforge on turn 2 and passes with mana up on his turn 3. I cast a Warchief off of a Cavern on turn 3 and pass. On my EOT, he puts in the living weapon. He attacks with Batterskull and then casts Jace and bounces my Warchief. He’s left with Germ + Batterskull, SFM, and a Jace against my empty board. I’m sure that, at this point, he felt like the game was his. I untap and play a second Cavern. I re-cast Warchief and then make a Stingscourger to bounce his germ token. I attack both at Jace and he chooses not to block. Jace down. From there on out I am able to overwhelm his spot removal by chaining Ringleaders into gas. I never actually destroy the Batterskull but manage to attack through it for the win. At one point, he countered my Pyrokinesis wit a Force of Will that he found off of a Dig Through Time. Alliances meets Khans of Tarkir.
In game two he fetches a non-basic on turn 1 to ponder. I immediately Wasteland it and he gets stuck on basic plains. By the time he finds a second land, I have a port and enough pressure to finish the job.
Round 6: Win 2-0 v. UR Delver. (6-0)
This was my first match-up against the UR Delver deck since I made the last minute switch to put a Sharpshooter in the main. My opponent was completely unfamiliar with my deck. He read every goblin I played. I don’t remember much except that a timely Pyrokinesis swung things in my favor in game 1 and a hasty tutored-up Sharpshooter wiped his entire board in game 2.
I run into my friend Bob after the round and he asks how the Goblins are doing. I told him that they were currently 6-0, and he responded with “Oh yeah, fuck the haters,” which cracked me up. He was also 6-0, so I wished him luck and told him that I didn’t want to run into him in the next round.
Round 7: Loss 0-2 v. Lands. (6-1)
This round was against Kurt Speiss, who is a well known SCG Lands player. I assumed he was on the Loam plan before the match, and unfortunately I was right. This match-up is god awful, especially before board. In game 1 we got to a spot where I swung out with lethal (him at 6) and he was able to crop rotate into a Glacial Chasm to hold me off. He had to lose 2 and drop to 4, but after that he was able to sacrifice the Chasm and loam it back every turn. I had Krenko and several Haste lords in play and was able to cast Matron for Sharpshooter. I had Pyrokinesis in hand and planned to use it on 4 tokens to untap Sharpshooter 4 times when the Chasm was in the yard, but he killed it on my turn so I never had a window during his upkeep.
You can see a picture of me completely locked under the Chasm here: http://magic.wizards.com/en/events/c...pnj14/insanity
Game two was significantly shorter but still pretty interesting. All the graveyard hate and the pithing needles came in. I played Lackey on turn 1 and said go. He played a Maze of Ith (greeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat) before discarding a land to play Mox diamond. I attempt to Wasteland the Maze, but he crop rotates it into a Tabernacle and I don’t put up much of a fight from there.
Round 8: Win 2-1 v. Sneak and Show. (7-1)
This round I was ready to bounce back after taking my first loss. I VERY much wanted to make Day 2 so I was really sweating this one. I sat down to play and met maybe the nicest opponent I’ve ever played against. He was upbeat, friendly, and wanted to win as badly as I did.
I lead with Goblin Lackey on turn 1 and and he says something like “oh wow, didn’t expect to see any of those today.” He goes off on turn 2. I put matron into play getting stingscourger, but I don’t have a cavern and he counters it on the way down.
In game 2 I lead with a Lackey again. He plays a volcanic (no fetch), ponders, and shuffles. I connect with Lackey on turn 2, drop something (can’t remember), play a pithing needle on sneak attack, and wasteland his land. I follow it up with a second waste and more pressure and am able to kill him before he can do anything.
Game three is epic. We got deck checked after game 1 so the round is getting late. A few of my friends are finished and standing behind me to watch the match. He is on the play and leads with Ancient tomb -> Lotus Petal -> Show and Tell -> Griselbrand. I drop Ashen Rider and nuke his guy. He draws 7 and the Rider trigger resolves, killing Griselbrand. We were sitting beside Joe lossett, who was across the table diagonal from me. He had looked over when they guy was playing Griselbrand but had then returned his attention to his own match. When he looked back 30 second later he saw the Ashen Rider and gave me an “Oh shit” face. If I hadn’t had been so invested in the game, I would have laughed.
I played a wasteland on turn 1 (I kept waste, port, Ashen Rider, 4 red cards) and destroyed his land after swinging with Ashen Rider, putting him at 6. He draws a fetch, goes to 5, and Chain of Vapors my Ashen Rider. Ugh oh. On my turn I draw another red card, play port, pass, and port him on upkeep. We play draw-go-port until I pay a red source and start trying to beat down. At some point I play a Chalice on 0 so that I can cast lackeys or needles that i might draw and can keep port mana up. I play Lackey, attack next turn, and drop a Ringleader into play. He goes to 4. I attack again and drop in another guy. He goes to 1. He casts a pyroclasm to survive. I draw matron and tank. I have 2 colorless lands and a mountain. He has a few mana sources and 2 cards in hand. The Ashen Rider is still in my hand. I cast Matron and get MWM. He pyroclasms again. I cast MWM. He casts a THIRD pyroclasm but I get a token from the trigger, which is lethal next turn. What an awesome way to win into Day 2.
Round 9: Loss 0-2 v. UWR Delver. (7-2)
In this round I win the roll but immediately mull to 5. My opponent is playing the most expensive looking UWR deck I’ve ever seen. Black bordered duals, summer basics, Judge foil Wastelands. The works. I keep Cavern, Mountain, Vial, Lackey, Piledriver. Sure, I guess. I lead on vial. It gets Forced. He plays a Delver. I draw Tarfire. I Tarfire first to avoid Daze and then play lackey. He casts swords. My next 2 draws are lands and the game is never close. Game two saw me keep 7 and still just get destroyed. This was easily the worst beating I took all tournament. I complimented him on his deck after the match but then flashed him my foil Krenko and told him to get on my level. We had a laugh and I went to find my friends to head back to the hotel.
Richmond sent upwards of 20 people to the GP, but after some heartbreaking Round 9 losses only 3 of us (that I know of) made Day 2. UWR Delver at 8-1, Mono-Green Butt Plug at 7-2, and me at 7-2.
Day 2:
This is my second straight GP making Day 2 at 7-2. At GP Richmond I got to 9-2 before the wheels completely fell off and I lost my last four (FOUR!) rounds to finish out of the money at 9-6. Goal number one this time around was of course to top 8, but my secondary and more realistic goal was to finish better than I did in RVA. Here we go.
Round 10: Win 2-1 v. Sneak and Show. (8-2)
Oh. You again. I lose a fairly interesting Game 1. I don’t remember if I was on the play or draw, but we got to a point where he resolved Sneak Attack and passed. I attacked him down to less than 7 and played out my hand in a way as to make sure that I could survive an Emrakul hit and still have lethal. I felt good as I passed back in a position to survive either an Emrakul OR a Griselbrand and kill him on the swing back. Unfortunately, he had both and 2 red mana so I just died. Generally, I’ve found that I am favored in the Show and Tell games but am much more likely to lose the games that involve Sneak Attack. The much maligned Piledriver is very important here as he is your best clock.
In Game 2, he resolves a turn 2 Show and Tell for Emrakul and runs into ashen Rider. Whoopsies. In Game 3 I mulligan to 6 and see a hand with a decent clock and a Red Blast, but with no Show and Tell protection. I decide to keep. He probes me on turn 1, sees my hand, and then cantrips. I play a vial and pass. He probes me again. Same hand. He cantrips again and passes. On my turn I draw Ashen Rider and make a show of tanking. I play out my two drop and shrug, trying to make it look like I’m deciding on whether or not to keep up the REB. He draws, plays a land as quickly as possible, and slams Show and tell. I drop ashen Rider and get him. I win from there. Off and running.
Round 11: Loss 0-2 v. UR Delver. (8-3)
This is the only match of the tournament where I lost and feel like I could have possibly won by playing better. Game 1 is close for a while. I resolve a ringleader before he can hit Cruise, but I whiff on all 4 and he is able to chain 2 Cruises together in a single turn to draw a cool 6. He eventually establishes double Pyromancer and kills me. I don’t think I made any clear mistakes here, but I know I made the wrong decision at least once in Game 2. We came to a point in the mid-game where I could resolve a Warchief or hold up a REB and cast a lackey instead. He has 1 card in hand. I tap out for Warchief and on his turn he is able to Cruise and find a bolt for the Chief. If I played that differently, I think I could have pulled ahead. Instead, he won a drawn out game by countering my next 2 attempts at a Ringleader and putting me away with more pyromancers. At this point, I’m a little mad at myself about the Red Blast and a littel bummed to be out of real contention after only the second round of the Day.
Round 12: Win 2-1 v. UWR Stone blade. (9-3)
I win a back-and-forth Game 1 that involves me killing a SFM on turn 2 and getting some early pressure. He eventually stabilizes with Snapcaster and Swords to Plowshares, but I’m able to chain together Ringleaders with Cavern of Souls.and bury him with card advantage.
He wins a game 2 in which he casts 3 Swords to Plowshares and I am never able to turn the corner against his Batterskull. He fetched Jitte off of his turn 2 SFM but already had the Batterskull in hand. This leads to turn 3 batterskull, turn 4 play Jitte, equip, swing. Yowch.
In Game 3 He plays another turn 2 SFM but I naturally draw a Tuktuk Scrapper and am able to kill it thanks to Cavern. I then Waste his only blue source and he is stuck on just double Plains for a few turns, but I can’t find a ton of action other than a MWM. /eventually he draws Tundra and is able to use snapcaster to trade off with a couple of guys and eventually plays SFM for Jitte. Thankfully, I’m able to Matron for my second Scrapper and destroy the Jitte. I just barely kill him the turn after he finally draws a fetch to get a red source. His bolt is too little too late, but he shows me a hand with 2 more of them and a Dig Through Time. Thanks again, Wasteland.
Round 13: Win 2-0 v. Death and Taxes. (10-3)
Finally, a matchup where I confidently feel favored. If you don’t feel that way about this one, play a few games without Krenko and then play a few with him (preferably 2). He goes way over the top and really swings the match-up, especially when combined with so many haste enablers. I don’t remember much of Game 1, but I win handily after Pyrokinesis wipes his board and a Scrapper gets fetched to destroy his equipment.
Game Two is a completely different story. He gets ahead early and is able to Revoker my Sharpshooter. I’m behind the whole game and he starts beating down with a Batterskull. Eventually, he equips it with a Sword of Fire and Ice and gets a hit in. It drops me to 8. I have a bunch of guys but he is ahead. On my turn I’m able to use Maton and Vial to kill the sword, but he still has batterskull and he uses Mom to give the Germ pro-red. He attacks and I drop to 4. He goes up to 33, but his Mom is tapped and his shields are down. On my turn, I vial in Matron getting Tarfire. I shoot the revoker, which unlocks my Sharpshooter. I shoot down Mom and untap. He has Batterskull on Germ, SFM, and Mirran Crusader. He draws Jitte and equips to Crusader. He attacks with Crusader and the Germ. I block an X/1 in front of Crusader and a 2/2 in Front of the Germ. I shoot the germ, first strike damage happens, killing the X/1 and untapping my sharpshooter, I then Shoot the germ again so that it dies in Combat. He is left with a Crusader that is tapped with a Jitte on it, and a SFM. He immediately uses 1 counter to kill the sharpshooter. He is at 37, I’m at 4, and he only has 1 blocker. I still have at least 8 guys out, including a piledriver. On I use Pyrokinesis pitching something, aiming 2 at each of his creatures. He pumps to save his guy with Jitte, and his only blocker dies. I play 2 Chieftains, do some math, and attack for 37 damage with no cards left in my hand. Exactsies. My friends were watching this one, which made it even better.
Round 14: Win 2-0 v. Storm. (11-3)
I’m feeling good after the last win. I sit down and win the die roll. My opener is Waste, Cavern, Mountain, Vial, 3 dudes. I keep and play Wasteland -> Vial. My thought here is that my opponent will think that I’m Death & Taxes and I can disguise what I’m on. I have no idea if this is actually right. He is on 6. He goes Basic Swamp -> Lotus Petal -> Lotus Petal -> Lotus Petal -> LED -> Infernal tutor. He gets Ad Nauseum. While he is shuffling, all I can think is “Welp, good run Jon. You had to get stormed eventually.” I make eye contact with my friend who is watching from the aisle and give him the “I’m fucked” look. My opponent resolves Ad Nauseum and goes all the way down to 3 life before he finds Tendrils. He picks up his hand, thinks for a long time, and moves to discard. I am surprised, but I still think I’m probably dead. On my turn I draw Wasteland. I decide to play it as my land to further conceal my identity. On his turn, he plays an island, ponders, shuffles, draws, thinks for a while, and passes again. WHAT!? I vial in Lackey at EOT. My opponent seems somewhat surprised. On my turn I attack for 1. Opponent goes to 2. Trigger. I put in Matron, fetch Tarfire, play a Mountain, and kill him dead. Holy crap.
Game Two is a little different. I mull to 6 and find Cage. He plays a land and Cantrips. I don’t die on turn 1. Good so far. I play land, Cage, go. He thinks, cantrips again, and passes. I draw Chalice. Hmmm. I deide to Play a MWM and drop Chalice on 0 so that I can establish a clock. At my EOT he fetches and casts Chain of Vapor on the Chalice, Once again, I think I’m dead. He unaps, thinks, and plays 2 LEDs. He then Ponders and has to shuffle. On my turn I re-play the Chalice, this time on 1. I eventually get Chieftain + Krenko and kill him with the two lock pieces holding him down. Whew.
Round 15: Win 2-1 v. Elves. (12-3)
Last Round. I’m in a good mood because I just got away with murder against Storm. My opponent and I look at standings, and we’re in 96th and 97th. We figure out that drawing makes no sense, so we decide to play. He is on elves. In Game 1 he kills me with Cradle and Craterhoof exactly one turn before i would have been able to wipe his board with Sharpshooter. He never actually sees this because all i had in play was a vial and a Warchief (Matron in hand), so from his side of the table it surely looked like a blowout.
In game 2 the combination of Pyrokinesis + Waste + Port is able to hold him down long enough for me to find Sharpshooter and murder his board. In game 3 I look at my opening 7. I see Lackey, Lackey, Pyrokinesis, Pyrokinesis, Port, 2 Mountains. Ugh. I think for a long time. This is the last game of the tournament. I decide that I have 2 copies of my best possible card in the match-up, on the draw, and that my deck has 34 red cards in it. He casts a dude and passes. I draw Chalice. I cast Lackey and pass. He plays a bunch of guys. I untap and draw….land. I wipe his board pitching the second lackey, and cast Chalice. On his turn he plays Sylvan Library and passes. He finds eventually find Abrupt Decay and blows up may chalice. I’ve since drawn wastelands and have used that + port to keep him down and have been able to establish a few guys. One of his lands is Cradle but he has no guys. We fall into this weird dance of me having a few attackers and holding down his lands but also completely flooding out. He is only taking 1 card each turn with Library, which I immediately believe to be wrong. I decide that I need to pressure his life total so that he will psych himself out and not use his Library correctly (also, killing him would help).
At some point my hand is land, Pyrokinesis, Gempalm. I have the choice between pitching the Gempalm to Pyrokinesis or using it and hoping to find another red card to either play or have available to pitch. After much deliberation I decide to cycle gempalm to kill a Heritage Druid. I draw a land. Ugh. My opponent eventually draws into the means to reestablish his board. My board is Warchief + Lackey with 5 lands and 3 cards in hand. His is a Nettle Sentinel, a DRS, and an X/1, plus the Library. His Cradle has been kept under control by Port. I swing in with just Lackey. He thinks for a long time and decides to block. I bin the lackey, play a 6th land, and hard cast Pyrokinesis to wipe his board. I continue to port and attack for 3 a turn. Eventually I add a Ringleader to the party but it reveals 2 non-goblins, another Warchief, and a Tarfire. He attempts a Glimpse turn by playing a second Cradle but I disrupt it enough with the Tarfire that he can only get 3 guys. He is forced to chump with all 3. On his next turn he only finds 1 more blocker and concedes. I am not even doing this game justice.It was so stressfull.
So I finished the tournament at 12-3. I’ve won a PTQ, played on the Pro Tour, and won an SCG Classic. None of those tournaments were as fulfilling as this one. I didn’t actually win anything, but I validated my belief that Goblins is a playable option in Legacy and proved to myself that I’m good enough to make it work.
The other Richmond players finished 13-2 and 7-6-Drop, respectively. Almost immediately following the last round we headed out to get a jump on the traffic. I cracked a beer in the parking lot with my Car-mates and we settled in to watch the stream on our ride home.
Looking back, I think the list was right for the tournament. The MVPs were definitely Pyrokinesis, Chalice, and Ashen Rider.
If any of you are playing in SCG Richmond this weekend, I’ll see you there.
Last edited by woodjt5; 11-18-2014 at 09:27 AM.
Great! Thank you!
Thank you for this report! And of course congrats with your result! I like the fact you just sticked to your guns and even took a (pretty much) Classic list to the GP! I played a small tournament with Burn this weekend (played against Gobolord, which was pretty cool!) and missed the little Green buggers...
Hello all.
I'm new to the forum, but a long term follower, and a Goblin lover :D
I was reading the last few pages of the forum and decided to share my "small" experience of our little green men army.
(by the way congrats to all, for those who did well in the last tournaments and to all participants in the forum).
A bit of my history:
I've been playing in the last 3 years for fun with Goblins and tried almost everything (you could imagine), mono red Goblins, green splash, white splash, black splash, blue splash, versions with different amount of the core cards, tried classic, thalia, instigator (playing right now with it), even had a black version of goblins, used living death ... you name it. And the most interesting of all is ... almost every experience worked :D (at least sometimes when opponents aren't expecting), and the most times that lost was because of mana, by not drawing lands or not drawing red source.
Now i'm playing the instigator version (and loving it), and reached a few conclusions that i wanted to share and that i saw in the last forum pages.
This is my thoughts specially for the Instigator version, that i'm playing right now:
Mana base, DEFINITELY we need MOUNTAINS, the more, the better. Why? 1st we need the red mana, 2nd wastelands can do really big damage against us, and if you played against a Burn deck and them doing to you a price of progress of 10 damage (it hurts), 3rd Drawing almost "generic mana" will slow us down to defeat. So cutting off "generic mana" is a MUST! The obvious lands to cut (and that strategy stopped working most of the times) is Rishadan Port (don't get me wrong they are incredible good), but it will cripple our deck of red mana. Now the big issue, and about Wastelands???? Well, i played with 4/3/2/1 and none, and there are a lot of games (most of times) that we do not miss them, but the games that we do miss, those are games that WE WOULD WIN if we had one! Most of those games that i missed them, where against combo decks or for key cards that are put from sb against us (for ex. Engineered Plague, if we do not allow them to reach 3 mana, it's a useless card against us), gaining 1 or 2 turns in those games it's victory. So due to a lot of testing i think a very good number is 3 Wastelands mainboard. Yet, and despite i'm playing 3 Wastelands, sometimes i wished i had 6 Wastelands :( (or a way to get one, because Ringleador put them on bottom) and there goes Goblin Settler, and i'm watching that guy for years (had to buy a lot things first), and he is very good, remember that one the strongest cards that goblins have is Goblin Matron that can tutor any goblin, so Settler can be our 4 Wasteland that can be fetched at any time, and used in that crucial moment, or slowing our opponent down and putting pressure on the table on the same time.
Now the way to play wasteland is really simple... are you combo? if you are, the first good chance i have to waste a land i will, but always after i have a good position on the table having a Instigator, or a lackey because the important of our deck is not mana disruption anymore, but, gain advantage of 1 turn ou even maybe 2, but usually i almost never use it until turn 5.
Saying that, it takes me to another discusson ... Chrome Mox.
Do we need it? Well, NO, but at the same time it's a must! In a generic game we won't miss it, we don't need it, and we don't want it, because it's card disadvantage, but on the other hand, there are moments, that we need that small ramp. Knowing the opponent is what may trigger or not the chrome, imagine, that you are playing against a UR Delver, and in starting hand you have Chrome + Mountain + Instigator, and on the play you go for it on 1st turn and i would say what a waste, total card disadvantage! But now imagine against a SnT and splashing black you play Badland + Cabal Therapy + Chrome mox + Lackey, you're had a terrific start!!!! Usually if not combo, Chrome Mox goes for late game, unless in desperate situations for mana.
... And about fetchlands??? We definitly don't want them, but using a splash color or more i think the better option is lower the count of duals (since we already have a good target for wastelands, our Caverns), and having a few fetchlands, not many, because we are low on mana.
Another interesting theme, is Goblin Piledriver, should we run it? if yes how many? My belief is that YES we should run it , but at the ammount of 2. It can be a very powerfull creature that ends the game fast, but that can be stopped by a squire :( so, having enougth of them to make pressure on non-creature decks or blue creature decks is very good, but lowering the count we can increase our toolbox or even use Mogg War Marshal to act as a blocker for those grinder middle late games.
Now the splashing colors .... tricky question, but simple answer....
What do we fear? what doesn't give us any reaction? ... use it in sideboard!
White, Black, Green, Blue ... all have valid options depending on your meta. I prefer black, and constantly changing sideboard to test diferent options, and the choice is easy, with black we have access to tribal, with Warren Weirding and Earwig Squad being both very good tools to put in our toolbox, but this is a personal choice and analisys of my local meta.
I play every week at local tournament from 8 to 12 players (playing against Elfs, UR Delver, Nic Fit, Dredge, Reanimator, SnT, Miracles, All Lands, All Spells .... everything appears and everyone is always changing deck), last Week my result was 3-0, Goblins Won!
1st Game: Playing against some RG deck, 2-0 (MVP: Lackey, Perish)
Round 1: Lackey + Instigator with tarfires on my hand connected and wipped him out fast!
Round 2: Beautifull game :) (and incredible LUCK, IMPOSSIBLE)
RG T1: Fetch for Taiga + Noble Hierarch
Goblins T1: Mountain + Lackey
RG T2: Taiga + Wall of Blossoms
Goblins T2: Mountain + Lackey + Lackey (on 2nd turn i had 3 lackeys on table :) )
RG T3: Birds of paradise
Gobblins T3: do nothing (Missing one land)
RG T4: Natural order sac Birds => Progenitus
Gobblins T4 (smilling): Fetch for Badland + Perish + Attack with 3 Lackeys (all connect), Play a Matron search Ringleador, Play Ringleador reveal Ringleador/Ringleador/Ringleador/Land, Play Ringleador reveal Land/Land/Land/Tarfire
... everyone smilled and opponent scoop.
2nd Game: Playing Reanimator, 2-0 (MVP: Stingscourger)
Round 1: i'm on the play, since i know to what i'm playing against i stick with 5 Lands + 1 Ringleador + 1 Stingscourger. I put Mountain and do nothing and in his 1st turn, he plays SnT (and after i thought a lot, decide for ringleador, because i needed to put pressure, Go or Die), and he put "Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite", i draw 4 goblins, on my turn return is Elesh to hand ... Won.
Round 2: he had an excellent hand but no lands, he goes with Lotus petal, he puts Iona, i return to hand ... and win. (used here a Wasteland and he lost because of lack of mana for another SnT)
3rd Game: Playing BUG, 2-0 (MVP: Instigator, Wasteland)
Round 1: on the play, i play Lackey. he puts Deathrite Shamam, i tarfire Deathrite Shaman, put wasteland and sac his dual, attack and lower instigator!!! WIN!
Round 2:
BUG T1: Dual + Deathrite Shaman
Gobblins T1: Mountain + Lackey
BUG T2: Dual + Deathrite Shaman + Inquisition (removes Perish)
Goblins: T2: Mountain + Instigator + Pyrokinesis (Draw and removed a Matron) + Attack with Lackey Lower a Ringleador (with a buch of Goblins)
BUG T3: Tarmogoyf
Goblins T3: Stingscourger (Tarmogoyf), attack with everything and he scoops
Last week everything went well, let's see this one.
Game 1 - Sideboard
IN: 1x Perish, 2x Pyrokinesis
OUT: 1x Goblin Sharpshooter, 1x Stingscourger, 1x Goblin Warchief
Game 2 - Sideboard
IN: 3x Relic of Progenitus, 1x Stingscourger, 1x Warren Weirding
OUT: 4x Tarfire, 1x Goblin Sharpshooter
Game 3 - Sideboard
IN: 1x Perish, 2x Pyrokinesis
OUT: 1x Goblin Sharpshooter, 1x Stingscourger, 1x Goblin Warchief
This is the sideboard i am currently using:
Sideboard (15 Cards)
.3x Relic of Progenitus (it should be 1x Relic of Progenitus and 2x Grafdigger's Cage)
.2x Chalice of the Void
.3x Cabal Therapy
.1x Mindbrak Trap
.2x Pyrokinesis
.1x Earwig Squad
.1x Stingscourger
.1x Perish
.1x Warren Weirding
This is the goblin version i am running right now:
Vial Goblins-Instigator V1
Artifacts [7 Cards]
.3x Chrome Mox
.4x Aether Vial
Creatures [30 Cards]
.4x Goblin Lackey
.4x Warren Instigator
.3x Goblin Piledriver
.1x Stingscourger
.4x Goblin Chieftain
.4x Goblin Matron
.2x Gempalm Incinerator
.1x Goblin Warchief
.1x Goblin Sharpshooter
.4x Goblin Ringleader
.1x Tuktuk Scrapper
.1x Siege-Gang Commander
Instants [4 Cards]
.4x Tarfire
Lands [19 Cards]
.4x Cavern of Souls
.3x Wasteland
.2x Badlands
.3x Bloodstained Mire
.1x Wooded Foothills
.6x Mountain
I will change to this later, to try "1x Boartusk Liege" and ".1x Warren Weirding" (main) since i prefer splashing black.
Vial Goblins-Instigator V2
Artifacts [7 Cards]
.3x Chrome Mox
.4x Aether Vial
Creatures [29 Cards]
.4x Goblin Lackey
.3x Warren Instigator
.2x Goblin Piledriver
.2x Mogg War Marshal
.1x Stingscourger
.3x Goblin Chieftain
.4x Goblin Matron
.1x Gempalm Incinerator
.1x Goblin Sharpshooter
.4x Goblin Ringleader
.1x Tuktuk Scrapper
.1x Goblin Settler
.1x Boartusk Liege
.1x Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
Instants [4 Cards]
.4x Tarfire
Sorceries [1 Card]
.1x Warren Weirding
Lands [19 Cards]
.4x Cavern of Souls
.3x Wasteland
.2x Badlands
.3x Bloodstained Mire
.1x Wooded Foothills
.6x Mountain
Hi guys! I am an old goblin player and i've been following this thread for a little while now. I hope i will be able to participate here and bring some matter to the discussion. But first of all, i have some questions.
@ woodjt5: first of all, gg for your impressive performance at NJ. Then, i was wondering: what are you taking out to do +2 chalice? And since you decide to paly chalice x2, why not x4, since it helps a lot against storm.deck, which is our worse match-up? If you would paly 4 CotV, what would you board out for +4, against elves or storm for example?
Thanks in advance!
I like Chalice a lot, but I only run 2 because there simply aren't enough spots for 4. Silver bullets and removal are often the first cuts. I bring both in against the following decks:
1. Storm (take out removal and TukTuk)
2. Burn (take out Tuktuk, Sharpshooter, maybe Pyrokinesis--depends on the build)
3. Elves (take out Tuktuk and shave elsewhere, including Lackeys)
I bring 1 (sometimes 2) in against the following decks depending on Play/draw, specific cards I see, how much I have to take out, and other factors:
4. UR Delver
5. Any UWR deck with Plows, bolts, and cantrips
6. Miracles (lots of dead removal)
7. Sneak and Show (dead removal, but other Board cards are more effective so there isn't always room for Chalice)
8. High Tide
9. Anything random that I think it will be good against.
I hope this helped.
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