[Deck] Goblins

[jrw1985]

Yeah Jace kind of fatesealed you into 11 lands. I was waiting for a matron or ringleader because that would have been GG's for him.

Actually I think he only fatesealed me once or twice. Mostly he was fatesealing himself to dig deeper with Top. I flooded out on my own. I need to do a little playtesting against Miracles to find the sweet spot.

Do you know where Level Up posts their videos?

[potatodavid]

Actually I think he only fatesealed me once or twice. Mostly he was fatesealing himself to dig deeper with Top. I flooded out on my own. I need to do a little playtesting against Miracles to find the sweet spot.

Do you know where Level Up posts their videos?

It took me a solid 20 minutes to find the stream yesterday. I had to finally PM them on facebook to get it. audio was BBBAAAAAAAAD all day too.

[jrw1985]

I was going to post some videos from a tourney last weekend but it doesn't look like those are going up any time soon, so I'm going to write a quick recap from memory. i top 8'd a SCG IQ. Two of my matches on camera were pretty cool, and I'm still hoping to post the video, but here's the recap....

List

4 Vial
4 Lackey
4 Piledriver
4 Warchief
4 Matron
4 Ringleader

2 Tarfire
2 Gempalm Incinerator
2 Stingscourger

2 Skirk Prospector
1 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
1 Lightning Crafter
1 Krenko, Mob Boss
1 Goblin Sharpshooter

1 Tuktuk Scrapper
1 Goblin Settler

4 Cavern of Souls
3 Wasteland
2 Ancient Tomb
1 Chrome Mox

7 Mountain
5 Fetch

SB
2 Mindbreak Trap
2 Pithing Needle
4 Chalice of the Void
3 Relic of Progenitus
2 Pyrokinesis
2 Blood Moon

R2 MUD
G1 - On the draw I kept a 2 Vial hand. He played T1 Chalice @ 1, T2 Lodestone Golem and that sealed the deal. I never drew a third land.
G2 - Recognizing I am the beatdown I played to put on pressure. Piledriver played an important roll this game, if I recall. My opponent played a Steel Hellkite which I bounced with Stingscourger, then he replayed it and I blew it up with Tuktuk. I kept the beats coming. When he played Wurmcoil Engine I attacked with everything. He blocked Piledriver and I sacked driver to Prospector before damage to prevent lifegain. Then i Played a Hastey - Lightning Crafter for the win.
G3 - Opponent opened on Glimmerpost. I played T1 Lackey. He Played T2 Trinisphere. Too late! I played T2 Ancient Tomb > Matron (suck it, Trinisphere), cast matron > Krenko, cheated in krenko off Lackey. Not a bad T2. Krenko is a house in this match since they have no removal. Opponent played T3 Revoker naming Krenko. T3 I gempalmed the robot and that was game.

R4 - Shardless BUG
G1 - Classic Goblins Vs Shardless match. I lost and ended the game with like 2 lands, no creatures, no cards in hand against 2 Agents, Goyf and Lillie.
G2 - I had a quick start with Lackey into Warchief and Piledriver and elicited a quick scoop.
G3 - I told myself I would keep any hand with 2 lands. I looked at the first three or four cards from my opening 7 and I saw 2 lands so I kept without looking at the rest. I tried to establish the beatdown this game and got an early Vial online that dodged Abrupt Decay. My opponent played a couple Shardless Agents. I Vialed in a Warchief and cast a hastey-lightning crafter, burning one of his Agents, then Championing the Warchief away to LC. On his turn he played another Shardless into something or another (actually, i think he had Life from the Loam going and also hit an Ancestral Visions). On my turn I cast a Krenko. I had Ringleader and Matron in hand. On my opponent's turn he Thoughtsiezed me and took the Ringleader, then cast something else and a Baleful Strix. He had only a forest up for mana, so it was now or never to make my move. His board was Shardless, Shardless, Strix. At his end step I activated Crafter, targeting itself. Warchief came back into play and my now-hastey Krenko made some tokens. On my turn I had the line of Matron into hastey piledriver and Krenko activation against a board of U creatures for the W. My opponent scooped. Very cool line of play to win the game there. After the game my opponent told me that when I Championed the Warchief I turned it face-down, when it should have been left face up since it is known information. Fair enough.

[potatodavid]

R2 MUD
G1 - On the draw I kept a 2 Vial hand. He played T1 Chalice @ 1, T2 Lodestone Golem and that sealed the deal. I never drew a third land.
G2 - Recognizing I am the beatdown I played to put on pressure. Piledriver played an important roll this game, if I recall. My opponent played a Steel Hellkite which I bounced with Stingscourger, then he replayed it and I blew it up with Tuktuk. I kept the beats coming. When he played Wurmcoil Engine I attacked with everything. He blocked Piledriver and I sacked driver to Prospector before damage to prevent lifegain. Then i Played a Hastey - Lightning Crafter for the win.
G3 - Opponent opened on Glimmerpost. I played T1 Lackey. He Played T2 Trinisphere. Too late! I played T2 Ancient Tomb > Matron (suck it, Trinisphere), cast matron > Krenko, cheated in krenko off Lackey. Not a bad T2. Krenko is a house in this match since they have no removal. Opponent played T3 Revoker naming Krenko. T3 I gempalmed the robot and that was game.

was this Joe? He was complaining last night at hi-score that he lost to goblins. Made me LOL.

[jrw1985]

was this Joe? He was complaining last night at hi-score that he lost to goblins. Made me LOL.

Lol. I wish they'd post that video.

[evanmartyr]

Actually I think he only fatesealed me once or twice. Mostly he was fatesealing himself to dig deeper with Top. I flooded out on my own. I need to do a little playtesting against Miracles to find the sweet spot.

Do you know where Level Up posts their videos?

I was the guy fizzling horrendously with belcher all day, but I'm friends with the two guys doing the dry run coverage for LGS Feature Match (they're aware of the audio problems :p).

I don't remember what game it was, but against miracles you went for Krenko instead of Ringleader with your matron. I gotta ask, you think that was the right play? It's tempting to make them have it or lose, he'll, it's literally all I did, but miracles has such an easy time finding their 4-ofs I just wonder if setting up for a recovery wouldn't be better.

[jrw1985]

I took Krenko thinking he could build up my board and eat a Terminus and then I'd have Ringleader backup. Probably just should have gone for more Ringleaders. It was one of the worst games of Magic I've ever played though. Really, hot garbage from my end. I kept forgetting what i had in my hand, I made really poor lines, at one point I really thought I had a Ringleader in my hand when I didn't, and twice I tried to play two lands per turn. So I would not say my choices this game were correct by any means. In fact, I'm sure most of them were suspect.

Still looking for the videos, so if you could ask your friends who work there to post them I would sure appreciate it.

[jrw1985]

Play testing this morning reveals what I was expecting: Ringleader is a monster in the Miracles matchup. Haste + CA are the two things Miracles does not want to see, and definitely not at the same time. What makes Miracles different from our other matchups is that we don't gain much from increasing the clock. Playing Piledrivers and Lackeys just makes us more susceptible to Terminus. You probably never want more than 2 Goblins on the board at a time, and one of them had better be a Ringleader. So just keep your hand full of gas, keep hitting land drops, and don't overcommit to the board. You can win by dealing 3-4 damage per turn.

[evanmartyr]

Play testing this morning reveals what I was expecting: Ringleader is a monster in the Miracles matchup. Haste + CA are the two things Miracles does not want to see, and definitely not at the same time. What makes Miracles different from our other matchups is that we don't gain much from increasing the clock. Playing Piledrivers and Lackeys just makes us more susceptible to Terminus. You probably never want more than 2 Goblins on the board at a time, and one of them had better be a Ringleader. So just keep your hand full of gas, keep hitting land drops, and don't overcommit to the board. You can win by dealing 3-4 damage per turn.

Yeah, I was sitting in the booth and when you revealed that Krenko I must have made some sort of noise, because both the casters glared at me. I was rooting for you so hard! Next time :)

EDIT: I'll ask Alex, see if they posted them yet.

[GoblinTurkey]

Played a local legacy tournament today in preparation for the SCG Open in NJ next weekend. I went 3-1 and got first place.

Here is the list I brought today.

Goblins

Creatures
4 Goblin Lackey
4 Goblin Ringleader
4 Goblin Matron
4 Goblin Warchief
2 Goblin Piledriver
2 Skirk Prospector
1 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
1 Lightning Crafter
1 Krenko, Mob Boss
1 Siege-Gang Commander
1 Goblin Sharpshooter
1 Stingscourger
1 Tuktuk Scrapper
1 Goblin Settler
1 Subterranean Scout

Other Spells
4 Aether Vial
3 Blood Moon
1 Tarfire

Lands
4 Cavern of Souls
3 Wasteland
3 Rishadan Port
2 Ancient Tomb
4 Arid Mesa
5 Mountain
2 Plateau

Sideboard
1 Goblin Sharpshooter
1 Boartusk Liege
2 Pyrokinesis
2 Wear // Tear
2 Ethersworn Canonist
2 Rest in Peace
2 Containment Priest
3 Chalice of the Void


Round 1- Shardless Bug (2-0)
Game 1
Slam down Blood Moon turn two, opponent has no basics out. Clean sweep.
Game 2
Put in the Boartusk Liege and Wear/Tear. Slam down Blood Moon turn three with the opponent having a basic swamp in play. Lackey connects putting in Settler ending the game.

Round 2- Dredge (2-0)
Game 1
Opponent mulligans to 6 cards and keeps a sketchy hand. I hold skirk prospector and another matron. I play skirk prospector and create a large enough board presence. Opponent scoops.
Game 2
Take out Blood Moons and bring in RIP and Containment Priest. Keep a hand with Vial, Lackey, Matron and some sideboard cards. Opponent doesn't have turn one Faithless Looting. I draw the Skirk. Made all the Bridge from Below bad. Opponent loses when RIP comes in.

Round 3- America Delver (2-0)
Game 1:
Start off strong with lackey into warchief. Opponent plays enough removal. Slam down the Siege Commander. Begin clearing off the field with the sacrifice ability. Build up a large enough board and win.
Game 2:
Put in Pyrokinesis and Sharpshooter #2 for dealing with Mentor. Get the turn two Blood Moon. Opponent cannot recover. Win game 2.

Round 4- Infect (1-2)
Game 1:
Have the Tarfire in hand as removal. Opponent doesn't have an answer for blood moon and no board presence, quickly move to game 2.
Game 2:
Out come the ringleaders and in come Chalices, Canonist, and Pyrokinesis. I'm on the draw, he kills me turn two. Next game.
Game 3:
Unfortunately this match I had all the answers but did not draw a second land. My opponent didn't either. We had a 6 turn draw match and he won by playing down the second land.

Overall I'm very impressed with Blood Moon in the mainboard of goblins. It created an oppressive game 1 to almost every deck I played. It also helped make colorless land draws gas. This is definitely the list I'm going to bring to NJ this upcoming weekend. Hope to see to some fellow goblin players there.

[mistercakes]

how useful was the liege, would have changed the sb if expecting the same meta? how'd the scout work out? is it better than another stingscourger?

[GoblinTurkey]

how useful was the liege, would have changed the sb if expecting the same meta? how'd the scout work out? is it better than another stingscourger?

1) The Liege I have found to be useful against Shardless Bug. They tend to run Plague or Souls' Betrayal to kill everything. Having a non Abrupt Decayable creature that buffs everything and tramples is potent. I like it as a one of in the sideboard because we can tutor for it. I think that Goblin Chieftain is better in a world without Abrupt Decay. So in the current meta, I think the Liege does the most work.

2) I love scout. Before this I was running a list with two of them because I was trying to ensure warren instigator hits. However in this build it is not as relevant, but having it in hand is a sweet tempo play. Also having it with Kiki Jiki makes late game Lackey's more relevant instead of just a dead draw. I may consider a second stingscourger. I'll test some more. Also in the miracle matchup, 2/1 beats is terrifying for them (who wants to waste a Terminus on the scout?). But I do like the one of Scout.

[jrw1985]

Round 4- Infect (1-2)
Game 1:
Have the Tarfire in hand as removal. Opponent doesn't have an answer for blood moon and no board presence, quickly move to game 2.
Game 2:
Out come the ringleaders and in come Chalices, Canonist, and Pyrokinesis. I'm on the draw, he kills me turn two. Next game.
Game 3:
Unfortunately this match I had all the answers but did not draw a second land. My opponent didn't either. We had a 6 turn draw match and he won by playing down the second land.

I would have boarded a little differently G2. I don't think combo hate is too good on the draw here. I'd rather just have more removal against their creatures. That lets you keep your own threat count higher. Sharpshooter definitely should have come in, play or draw, since literally all of their creatures are x/1s. And Wear // Tear gives you another out against Nexus. Chalice is only good here if you can land it T1 or T2. If you're playing it later than that they've already established a board presence and you're screwed, I think. Removal is good no matter which turn you draw it.

[ScatmanX]

I would have boarded a little differently G2. I don't think combo hate is too good on the draw here. I'd rather just have more removal against their creatures. That lets you keep your own threat count higher. Sharpshooter definitely should have come in, play or draw, since literally all of their creatures are x/1s. And Wear // Tear gives you another out against Nexus. Chalice is only good here if you can land it T1 or T2. If you're playing it later than that they've already established a board presence and you're screwed, I think. Removal is good no matter which turn you draw it.

Agreed.
To be fair, I'd bring in shooter, Kinesis, Canonist, and cotv, and would think about tear. 2 mana is quite a lot for a removal like that, and you have wastes and settler already.
Cotv is really good all game against them. Pick up the deck and try to win without it. Apart from 2 pump spells, their deck is dead.
Out 3 Moons, 3 ringleaders, scrapper, krenko, 1 prospector. That's my take on it.

[GoblinTurkey]

Agreed.
To be fair, I'd bring in shooter, Kinesis, Canonist, and cotv, and would think about tear. 2 mana is quite a lot for a removal like that, and you have wastes and settler already.
Cotv is really good all game against them. Pick up the deck and try to win without it. Apart from 2 pump spells, their deck is dead.
Out 3 Moons, 3 ringleaders, scrapper, krenko, 1 prospector. That's my take on it.

I'll try it out if I go against it again. Thanks for the advice!

[GoblinTurkey]

Any goblin players going to be at the Legacy Open in NJ this weekend?

[jrw1985]

I wish. I will be eating leftover turkey in Minnesota instead.

[KenCoghlanIII]

Thinking about it. Have to see what happens with my sister-in-law giving birth and all that happy stuff. That little red devil hopefully won't stop me from slinging my little green men.

[jrw1985]

No Goblins Day 2 at the SCG Legacy Open! What gives?

I'm not going to take a trip to Philly next year because, well, I'd have to murder myself if I went 0-2 after getting a plane ticket and a hotel room. The new SCG schedule is pretty harsh. It's too bad that they felt they had to retract their opens and focus on the East Coast only. They've been doing nationwide events for so long that it seemed like they had figured out how to do it profitably. I guess it just wasn't profitable enough. But that basically means I won't be playing in any tournaments larger than 30 players from here on out since there are no longer SCG events in MN and there will never be a Legacy GP up here.

[GoboLord]

Hey there fellow Chieftains,

this is a short summary of my last two events I played this month:

* a 7-rounder in the Netherlands
* a 5-rounder in a LGS

My memories of the first event are not very good, so I can’t go into detail that much.

Eindhoven, NL

MANA (23)
4 Cavern of Souls
3 Chrome Mox
2 Pendelhaven
2 Wasteland
1 Ancient Tomb
1 Snow-Covered Mountains
10 Mountain

CORE (28)
4 Aether Vial
4 Goblin Lackey
4 Warren Instigator
4 Goblin Piledriver
4 Goblin Chieftain
4 Goblin Matron
4 Ringleader

2 Goblin Warchief
3 Tarfire
1 Gempalm Incinerator
1 Krenko, Mob Boss
1 Stingscourger
1 Tuktuk Scrapper

Sideboard (15)
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Goblin Sharpshooter
3 Pithing Needle
1 Tuktuk Scrapper
1 Boartusk Liege
2 Goblin Settler


R1: Jan with Moggcatcher Stompy (2-0)
[on the draw]
In G1 Jan goes first with Trinisphere on T1 and Magus of the Moon on turn 2. I have a Vial from turn 3, Jan doesn’t have enough threats and Krenko ultimately gets me there.

: I don’t think I boarded anything in this match, but if I did it would probably be -1 Winstigator, + 1 Tuktuk

[on the draw]
G2 is pretty much similar to G2: I remove all his creatures, while waiting for Krenko to take over.


R2: Evert with Death and Taxes (2-1)
[on the draw]
I don’t remember much from this game. I do remember though that I brought in Pithing Needle to shut down SFM, Mom or equipments. It did buy me a lot of time when he fetched his Batterskull in T2 and I just locked down SFM.


[on the draw]
R3:Pim with Death and Taxes (0-2)
G1 is a real grinder. Pim got all the equipments, SFM and Moms that his deck has to offer while I’m drawing all the Matrons, Ringleaders and my Singleton Tuktuk. Awkward situation: At some point Pim had established an impressive boardposition (with like 6+ creatures). I had a bunch of goblins in play myself, but his 2 Moms and 1 Batterskull just kept me from attacking. At that point I had 4 Cavern of Souls and 4 Mountains in play. On my turn, with Matron and Warchief in hand I played Warchief, then Matron, searched for Krenko, and then played Krenko fir 3 mana. Unfortunately I used 3 Caverns to play Warchief and another one to play Matron, because, you know, I didn’t think it would matter how you tap your mana against a mono W deck. Pim taught me a lesson by casting his 1-off Mana Tithe to counter Krenko. I’m not saying I would have won the match with with Krenko, but on the other hand he would have given me 8 tokens in the same turn he came into play, and probably 16 on the next.

-4 Winstigator, -3 Piledriver, -1 Stinger, + 4 Sharpshooter, + 3 Needle, +1 Tuktuk Scrapper

[on the play]
In G2 I took mulligan to 5 and Pim has this Mom- SFM-StoP draw.


R4: Bob with MUD (0-2)
[on the play]
I lose both games very closely, with him being on 1 and 5 life respectively. In general I feel favored in this MU, but that doesn’t always help you.


R5: Alex with BUG Delver (1-2)
[on the draw]
In G1 he drops 2 Dark Confidents when being at 12 and 7 life respectively. I make the wrong decision to let them live, in the hope that he would kill himself with the lifeloss. Instead I kill his 2 DRSs (in order to counter the lifegain), but he draws more of them as the game lasts longer.

I don’t think I boarded anything in this MU. Could have been -1 Tuktuk, +1 Pithing needle though

[on the play]
In Game 2 I just run him over with a WInstigator, who connects on turn 2.

[on the draw]
In Game 3 I mull to 5 and I got hit by Hymn to Tourarch when he had a Dark Confident in play. Didn’t recover from that.


R6: Roland with OmniTell (0-2)
[on the play]
G1: He goes off on turn 2 or 3.

: -3 Tarfire, -1 Gempalm, -1 Tuktuk Scrapper, -1 Ringleader, +4 Chalice, +2 Settler

[on the play]
G2: I bring him down to 5 life by turn 3, then he goes off.


R7: Reus with Burn(1-2)
[on the draw]
Don’t remember G1.

[on the play]
In game 2 I had 2 Chalice of the void and was able to take care of his creatures.

[on the draw]
In game 3 he brings in Vexing Shusher which simply ignores my Chalice.

Conclusions
* this was the second tournament in a row where Hymn to Tourach punished me for playing Chrome Mox instead of Mountains and Tarfires instead of Gempalm Incinerators.
* I didn’t like Ancient Tomb, because it meant too much lifeloss. At the same time it doesn’t produce red mana, which I consider a big issue. I feel like this 2 Wastelands and 2 Pendelhaven are the max amount of colorless mana that the deck can take. In fact I would rather play 2-3 colorless lands only as the RR requirement of this list are ridiculous
* in general I think the meta is heading in a direction where more creature-based strategies are played, and where real combodecks are less present.
* Chalice of the Void doesn’t do enough against non-combo decks. Sure, it can wreck burn, but they will bring in artifact removal anyways. Also, Elves can deal with that card the one way or the other in many scenarios (which is something I pointed out after my last tournament report already)
* once again, I realize how bad of a player I am and that most of my really good plays have to do with my experience rather than my skill.

Dortmund, GER

For the next event I felt like testing 3 Cabal Therapies +1 Earwig Squad in MD, which Sandro promoted.

MANA (22)
4 Cavern of Souls
2 Pendelhaven
2 Wasteland
1 Snow-Covered Mountains
5 Mountain
2 Badlands
6 R-Fetches

4 Aether Vial
4 Goblin Lackey
4 Goblin Piledriver
4 Goblin Matron
4 Ringleader

3 Goblin Chieftain
2 Goblin Warchief
3 Mogg War Marshal
3 Gempalm Incinerator
1 Stingscourger
1 Krenko, Mob Boss
1 Earwig Squad
1 Skirk Prospector
3 Cabal Therapy

Sideboard (15)
3 Pithing Needle
3 Blood Moon
4 Goblin Sharpshooter
1 Tuktuk Scrapper
1 Boartusk Liege
1 Goblin Settler
2 Earwig Squad


R1: Fabian with Combo Lands (2-0)
[on the draw]
In Game 1 Fabian seemingly locked me out with Glacial Chasm + Exploration + Life from the Loam. At some point I broke free from the lock with Wasteland + a hastey Krenko.

-3 Gempalm Incinerator, -3 Cabal Therapy, +3 Blood Moon +2 Earwig Squad, +1 Settler

[on the draw]
In G2 he had Dark Depths + Thespian Stage on board quite Early, but I had a Wasteland untapped to keep him from comboing. On turn 3, I dropped Piledriver for 2 mana, keeping my wasteland untapped. Fabian copied his Maze of Ith with Thespian Stage at Eot. He then dropped another land and passed back. On my turn he commited a horrible mistake, by not using his Maze of Ith for my attacking Piledriver. I used that opportunity to drop a fourth land and prowling Earwig Squad.

PUZZLE TIME: What would you remove from his deck and why?


R2: Niklas with Elves (2-1)
[on the draw]
G1 Niklas mulls to 3, then concedes before the game starts.

-4 Piledriver, -3 Cabal Therapy, +4 Goblin Sharpshooter, +3 Pithing Needle I’m not sure whether it is correct to board out Therapies here. Maybe someone can give me some advice.

[on the draw]
In G2 Niklas dishes his entire hand to the board on turn 2 and I’m dead on turn 4.

[on the play]
In G3 we trade Lackey vs. Heritage Druid on turn 2. Niklas follows with Scavenging Ooze. I play Sharpshooter on turn 3. Turn 4, Niklas attacks with Scavenging Ooze, I tap Aether Vial to bring in Mogg War Marshal, blocking Ooze with MWM and the token, then using Sharpshooters triggers to nuke his Ooze. One turn later I put another Sharpshooter into play and the game is decided.


R3: Raimund with Br Reanimator (2-0)
[on the draw]
I keep an opening hand with Badlands, Wasteland, Pendelhaven, Lackey, Piledriver, Stinger and Cabal Therapy. Raimund reveals 2 Chancellor of the Annex. He plays a Swamp, then Thoughtseize at his own hand to discard Griselbrand. On my turn I cast Cabal Therapy which gets countered by Chancellors triggers. On his turn he Reanimates Griselbrand. On my turn I bounce Griselbrand with Stingerscourger and pass. On my next turn I play a third land, and cast my second Cabal Therapy naming Exhume, not realizing that Exhume is irrelevant with Stingscourger in my graveyard. His hand hold Animate Dead, so I play Piledriver, sacrifice it and flashback Cabal Therapy to strip his Animate Dead from his hand. From that point onwards, I deal the remaining 10 damage with Lackey, pumped by Pendelhaven.

-2 Gempalm Incinerator, -1 Tuktuk Scrapper, +2 Earwig Squad, +1 Goblin Settler

[on the draw]
In G2, Raimund Exhumes Griselbrand on turn 2, and I am fortunate enough to have Stinger on my hand again. I also have Cabal Thearapies, which don’t do much as the rest of his hand doesn’t hold any relevant spells. On turn 4 I prowl Earwig Squad to take away all copies of Animate Dead. With Stinger in graveyard I am safe from Exhume anyway and at that point he couldn’t afford Reanimate due to his low life total.


R4: Tobias with Miracles (2-1)
[on the draw]
In game 1 my Ringleader reveals 4 Lands and Tobias has enough time to set up Entrate the Angels when he is on 5 life.

-3 Gempalm, -1 Stinger, -1 Tuktuk, +2 Earwig Squad, + 3 Pithing Needle

[on the play]
I open with Pithing Needle @Sensei’s Diving Top and cast Earwig Squad for Prowl some turn later, removing 1 Moat, and 2/2 Entreat the Angels.

-1 Krenko, + 1 Boartusk Liege (figured out Krenko rarely taps for tokens and Liege has an immediate impact on the board, while beaing the same size)

[on the draw]
I have 2 Needle, one of which gets destroyed by Wear//Tear. On turn 4 Tobias drops Leyline of Sanctity, one turn before I could cast EWS for its prowl costs. Instead I cast it for 5 mana and attack with it one turn later.


R5: Jörg with Shardless BUG (0-2)
[on the play]
I have no idea what he is playing. I keep the following 7: Badlands, Wasteland, Pendelhaven, 2 Piledriver, Matron and Cabal Therapy. I open with Cabal Therapy, naming Brainstorm. Jörg reveals his hand and I see the following: Bayou, 2 Fetches, DRS, 3 Abrupt Decay. On his turn, Jörg draws a card, and plays DRS. On my turn I play Piledriver, flashback Cabal Therapy and hit 4(!!) Abrupt Decay, which leaves him with 2 Lands on his hand. Unfortunately he draws and casts Shardless Agent on his next turn, revealing Ancestral Visions. I lose the game to Liliana + multiple Deathrite Shamans.

-3 Cabal Therapy, -1 Stingscourger, +3 Blood Moon, +1 Tuktuk Scrapper

I mull to 6 because my opening hand only holds 1 Mountain, Lackey and 5 other Goblins. My 6 were: Wooded Foothills, Goblin Lackey, Blood Moon, Goblin Piledriver, 2 Ringleader. I keep that and Scry 1, seeing Wasteland.

PUZZLE TIME: What would you do with this card and what would you do on turn 1?

Conclusions
* Cabal Therapy is a very good card for the deck, especially, in MD. It gives the deck more depth an opportunities. I don’t think that MWM is necessarily needed to abuse it. However, I think people should be playing Gempalm Incinerator right now, and MWM is absolutely necessary in order to support multiple Gempalms.
* some of you might disagree with playing more Chieftains than Warchief in this list. I find Chieftain better than Warchief in combat-oriented MUs and I think the list should play the full 4 copies
* Earwig Squad was great as well – it’s body and and it’s ability alike
* Pithing Needle is a very good choice as well. I know that some are arguing that it is a “jack of many trades” but I think it is actually very potent in at least 4 relevant matchups: Elves, Miracles, Death & Taxes and Sneak Show.

Thank you for reading my report. Questions and comments are – as always – appreciated.