[Deck] Goblins

[GoboLord]

Hi everyone! I played a legacy tournament yesterday (6 rounds of swiss, 37 players)
I was on my usual list, only I cut Chalice of the Void in favor of an additional piece of discard, and to try out some other things.

R1 Food Chain 1-2
R2 Miracles (classic entreat) 2-0
R3 Miracles (classic entreat) 2-0
R4 UB Tezzeret 2-0
R5 Sneak & Show 1-2
R6 Belcher (with Dark Ritual) 0-2

I feel very confident with Miracles now, both with my odds of winning and with how to play the MU. Tezzeret was also much easier this time (remembering to bring in your GY-hate helps).
Food Chain is a very difficult MU, and Emrakul got me both of the games I lost. G2 was won by putting sufficient pressure on my opponent's life total. At one point I had quite a few tokens, a Prospector, and Krenko in play, with Boartusk Liege in hand. I chose to sacrifice some of my tokens to cast the liege, rather than wait until next turn to protect against a discard spell. I have no idea if my opponent had a discard spell or not (since I was hellbent), but he did have a needle for my Krenko, so either way I would not have been able to sacrifice any summoning sick tokens to play the Boartusk Liege. Next turn I drew a matron into Tarfire for one of his blockers and swung for lethal.

G2 versus Belcher was also an interesting one.
I played t1 Lackey, pass.
My opponent played Belcher, 2 LED, and activated, hitting me for... 4 damage.
I untapped with Matron in hand, but there was no play that would win me the game in that spot. Had I had Tin-Street Hooligan in my deck, or a Prospector/Scrapper in hand I could have destroyed the belcher and presumably won the game. It's obviously a very specific scenario, but I admit TSH would have been better here.

None of the new SB cards I tried (Jitte, Perish, and Boartusk Liege) did much to impress (although Boartusk won me one game versus Foof Chain, chieftain would have done the job just the same if not better). The other ones I didn't get a chance to try, although I suppose that says at least a little about them.

Thanks for the report, Sandro. This weekend I evaluated Perish's role in the current meta. I found that, depending on the deck, either relic or Pyrokinesis are more attractive since they cost less mana to cast/activate.
As for Jitte, I have considered the card several times but never really tested it. It seems too Clunky for what it is supposed to do. Some say it's a showstopper against burn, but I think that is only True when you can stay a live long enough to have a creature + equipment + the mana to attach it. Losing the creature to a burn spell at this point will most likely Set you back by a whole turn.

[GoboLord]

Turn1Lackey's Goblin Stream

Turn1lackey's stream up now B)

Quoting this so it doesnt get lost as the last Post on the page

[Sandro95]

Every single competitive deck today can out grind Goblins

No, aside from Shardless BUG, they definitely can't.

Congrats on your 3-1 result! :)

[fluuu]

Where I can check for goblins stompy?

Similar to this list: http://tcdecks.net/deck.php?id=19956&iddeck=152001 Thanks

[Ace/Homebrew]

Where I can check for goblins stompy?

Here: Dragon Stompy

This is the most recent post: http://www.mtgthesource.com/forums/s...l=1#post946881

[Bichon_Blitz]

So I missed the boat, haven't been in the loop for awhile. Is Goblin Settler w/ Kiki-Jiki a thing? Is it playable or too slow/win more?

[MattPruner]

Good result today, 5-1 in Hareruya's Saturday event, which was good for second place. I was playing a list drastically different from what i usually play, so this was quite a surprise.
Today's List
4x Goblin Lackey
4x Goblin Piledriver
4x Goblin Matron
4x Goblin warchief
4x Goblin Ringleader
3x Gempalm Incinerator
3x Mogg War Marshal
2x Legion Loyalist
1x Krenko, Mob Boss
1x Tuktuk Scrapper
1x Stingscourger
1x Goblin Chieftain
1x Tarfire
4x Aether Vial
4x Cavern of Souls
4x Wasteland
4x Rishadan Port
3x Wooded Foothills
3x Bloodstained Mire
3x Mountain
2x Badlands
Sideboard
3x Cabal Therapy
3x Relic of Progenitus
2x Engineered Plague
2x Pyrokinesis
1x Kolaghan's Command
1x Warping Wail
1x Stingscourger
1x Tuktuk Scrapper
1x Earwig Squad
This is way, way different from what i usually play. The Maindeck alone has 8 cards different from the last list i played. I have been playing one list with fairly few changes for quite some time now, and wanted to shake things up a bit. this week i will be playing in a LOT (maybe 5+) events, so I figured that i could use it to just experiment with stuff. I wanted to play legion loyalist today, and i really dont think that card is good in versions i usually play, so i went with a build influenced by older lists (specifically the 4x piledrivers from my friends list that was my first introduction to goblins a few years ago). Loyalist is insane with 4x piledriver.

Round 1- UR Delver LOSS 0-2
Game 1 (on the draw, i mulligan to 6)
I keep a 1 Lander with vial and lackey, both of which are quickly killed. by the time my second land comes down, he has 2 True Name Nemeses and I quickly die.
Game 2
Similar to game 1. This time the true names are replaced with delvers. I also have a second land, but he Stifled the fetch. Great start to the event.

Round 2- Sneak and Show WIN 2-0
Game 1 (on the play, both players mulligan to 6)
Turn 1 vial and I get off to a lightning fast start (this 4 piledriver version does that more often than i am used too, which is nice). on turn 3 he show and tells in a griselbrand, but legion loyalist + 2 Piledrivers + some other junk kills him anyway. trample is good.
Game 2
Another turn 1 vial. I start a decent clock, holding onto stingscourger, Cavern lets me push everything thru. On t4 or so he show and tells in a griselbrand, i bounce it, he dies. Nothing really exciting at all this match.

Round 3- UWr Stoneblade WIN 2-1
Game 1 (On the draw)
Game is shaping up to be pretty grindy, until he leaves nothing but a batterskull to hold back my piledriver and some guys. I have legion loyalist to sneak it by for exactly lethal.
Game 2
I start off fine, and even get to connect with 2 lackeys on turn 3. first one puts in Ringleader.... 4 lands. I have a warchief to put in, but i am out of gas. We have kind of a standstill for a few turns, he gets out batterskull and eventually TNN, i play a mogg war marshal and some lands. I Eventually draw a second ringleader.... 4 lands. oh well. I die to TNN+Batterskull.
Game 3
He starts slower, i have multiple piledrivers and multiple chieftains. cavern lets me get everything thru. True Name is good, But 2 Piledrivers is better :D

Round 4- Miracles WIN 2-1
Game 1 (on the Draw, Opponent mulligans to 5)
Standard goblins vs miracles, plus he was down 2 cards. Opponent played well and drew out as much of an advantage as he could, but i won easily.
Game 2 (Both players mulligan to 6)
I have a solid start, but not much card advantage. I play a ringleader... 4 lands again. Leaving me with nothing in hand but some lands. He terminuses away the field, dumps out 3 tops and an ensnaring bridge. I draw several more lands before getting to a ringleader... 4 lands. I eventually build up a field, but cant deal with the ensnaring bridge before his jace takes over the game.
Game 3
I resolve Earwig Squad, and find that he has quite a few ways to win. I take 2 Entreat and a Mentor, Leaving him with another mentor and a jace, + quite a few creatures (Cliques, Containment Priest, etc). He also still has an ensnaring bridge in the deck, and i am unhappy to see he was playing a full playset of supreme verdict. The game grinds on, i kill Bridge, and keep on pressure, but was slowed. When we get to turns, his life is getting quite low, but he has a jace ticking up. my hand is all fetchlands, so i keep shuffling what he puts on top (between the 3 games, he left 7 cards on top and only bottomed 2). On turn 4, he finds his mentor and makes a bazillion monks with his two tops. Turn 5 i have the field, but nothing to get thru... i topdeck a matron, search up legion loyalist and kill him. whew.

Round 5- 5 Colour (yes, 5 colour) Delver WIN 2-1
This deck was the greediest thing i ever saw. 5 colours and 4 wastelands. it was basically a regular 4 colour delver deck (grixis with deathrite) but also splashing lingering souls.
Game 1 (on the draw)
T1 lackey dies, and my hand is kind of slow. I have no way to stop 2 delvers from murdering me.
Game 2 (both players mulligan to 6)
Long. Engineered plague is annoying. we grind for awhile before it comes down, leaving me with a warchief and a ringleader with no cards in hand and him at 17 life. I basically draw mono ports, and keep porting him down. he bolts warchief, and plays a delver. I attack, and he makes the questionable trade of delver for a 1/1 ringleader. I then play a 4th port, and we pass for awhile. I manage to get vials on 3 and 4, with 3x war marshal in hand. and a 0/1 piledriver on the battlefield. he manages to cast and flashback lingering souls. I finally draw Chieftain, play out all the MWM, and kill him on the spot. beating engineered plague is annoying.

Round 6- Storm WIN 2-0
Game 1 (on the play)
I Play t1 Legion loyalist and start a slow clock. real slow. He tries to go off via Ad Nauseam on turn 2 and kills himself with some of the worst Ad Nauseam flips i could imagine. Sometimes better lucky than good (tho with all the missed ringleaders today, i was due. i think 4 ringleaders missed completely, and 2 more just got 1 card)
Game 2
He starts off with 2 gitaxian probes into basic island. I think he kept a no lander. I start with Cabal Therapy, Then slow him with a relic of progenitus. He has trouble hitting the second land, and another therapy lets me eat his hand. He tries to go off thru Relic and fails, instead eating my hand after i crack the relic in response to a cabal ritual (he has not enough mana, and knows my hand from a probe. he just searched up a therapy instead and took my action). It didn't matter as i had 3 lands in play to his island and a matron in hand to his nothing. i quickly draw out of it and he draws a few lands.


Overall this went quite well. Any time i place Second in an event that i missed 4 ringleaders in i know something went right. I be eventually returning to something closer to what i usually play, but this more aggressive version def has a lot of merit. The more removal heavy version with main deck wail and kolaghan's command fits my play style better, and i felt less comfortable in grinding situations than i usually do today. I am going to be experimenting with lots of different lists this week, as i have a crap ton of legacy to play. I leave japan this week, so i get to play one more at hareruya tomorrow, one at tokyomtg, then return to the US just in time for my LGS's weekly event, then me and some friends are going to GP New York for the legacy events this weekend. I think i will try this list again tomorrow tho (with a few sb tweaks).

[MattPruner]

So I missed the boat, haven't been in the loop for awhile. Is Goblin Settler w/ Kiki-Jiki a thing? Is it playable or too slow/win more?

I've always felt that it was a bit win more. I am not really a fan of either of those cards most of the time, as settler can be quite clunky and at 4 mana there are a lot of things i would rather do. Hitting it in off a lackey is sweet tho . Kiki jiki i also am not too fond of, but even in lists that he fits well in, there are already so many great things for him to copy with great effects. no need for a clunky stone rain guy for another one.

that being said, i do not have too much experience with kiki jiki lists, so someone else here who has more experience with those lists may give you a totally different answer.

[Bichon_Blitz]

I've always felt that it was a bit win more. I am not really a fan of either of those cards most of the time, as settler can be quite clunky and at 4 mana there are a lot of things i would rather do. Hitting it in off a lackey is sweet tho . Kiki jiki i also am not too fond of, but even in lists that he fits well in, there are already so many great things for him to copy with great effects. no need for a clunky stone rain guy for another one.

that being said, i do not have too much experience with kiki jiki lists, so someone else here who has more experience with those lists may give you a totally different answer.

I remember playing him, then Krenko was printed. No surprise there, really.

[servadac]

Deck list

It says you play 5 Chieftains... I assume the 1-of is supposed to be Warchief?

[MattPruner]

It says you play 5 Chieftains... I assume the 1-of is supposed to be Warchief?

Oops. 4 warchief, 1 chieftan. Fixing the list now.

[jrw1985]

turn1lackey has been streaming some hot goblin action on twitch. I've been enjoying it and he has lots of videos archived. Check it out if you need to get a goblin fix.

https://www.twitch.tv/turn1lackey/profile

[Sandro95]

Greetings everyone!
I went 4-0 with Goblins last wednesday, so here's the report!

I played my usual R/B list with triple EWS maindeck, with a slightly different sideboard.

R1 Infect 2-1
R2 Esper Mentor 2-1
R3 False Cure 2-0
R4 Grixis Delver 2-1

R1 Infect
G1 he has an unblockable creature early on that I don't have a removal spell for. Double pump does the trick and I'm dead.
G2 I have both Needle and Blood Moon for Inkmoth. My opponent has a hierarch that I in retrospect perhaps should have gotten rid of. I have Gempalm an Pyrokinesis in hand, but prefer to save my removal spells for their infect creatures. My opponent manages to BEB my Blood Moon, but I stabilize and win anyways.
G3 I'm at 7 poison when my opponent swings with an Inkmoth Nexus and invigorates it. I have Pyrokinesis in response and he doesn't have anything else. I win.

R2 Esper Mentor
G1 he has an early Mentor and runs me over.
G2 he misplays when he casts Toxic Deluge into my Pendelhaven, letting me save my Sharpshooter.
G3 I have a CotV @1. A few turns into the game I'm considering casting a second backup copy, but elect not to. He has the decay for my chalice a turn or so later, allowing him to cast a couple of one mana spells. But I have chalice back online next turn and win from there.

R3 False Cure
G1 I lead on lackey, and he goes fetch > GSZ > Arbor. I waste his arbor and connect with lackey. On his turn he plays bob. I try to kill it with Sharpshooter, but he invigorates in response. His confidant then flips a Skyshroud Cutter. His deck durdles around for a bit while I deploy some goblins and feel in control. On his last turn I'm at 25 life, and would have died if he'd drawn a fourth land. Because of the way False Cure is worded (you lose 2 life for each 1 life gained), two copies actually equals triple damage, not double, meaning 2 False Cure + 2 Skyshroud Cutter would cause you to lose 30 life.
G2 I go Skirk Prospector > Blood Moon. My opponent had lead on Swamp, Scrubland. Had he played any of his other duals (both of which were in his hand) he could've had decayed it. But he wanted to keep up Swords to Plowshares mana, and wasn't too keen on exposing his green sources to Wasteland, so he went with the Scrubland instead, only to realize right after he played it that he now didn't have mana for decay up.

R4 Grixis Delver
G1 my opponent dazes my t1 vial, and Delver goes all the way.
I don't remember G2, but I think my opponent mulliganed a bunch, and I didn't take any damage all game.
G3 was very tight. He got a bunch of creatures into play (2 Delver, 1 DRS, and 1 Gurmag Angler). I had a lot of removal from the start but no red mana to cast it with. At one point I was at 4 life and my opponent's DRS was untapped, meaning I was dead next turn (remember, I was still facing down double delver and an angler). I played Sharpshooter and attacked with a couple of creatures. My opponent took the bait and blocked, giving me a bunch of untap triggers and letting me clean his board in the process (chumping the zombie fish wasn't much of an issue from there on). At the end of my last turn he taps out to bolt me, putting me at one. Before his draw step I pyrokinesis away three of my goblins to deal lethal damage with Sharpshooter.

Questions and feedback are, as always, appreciated!

[l33twash0r]

Greetings everyone!
I went 4-0 with Goblins last wednesday, so here's the report!

I played my usual R/B list with triple EWS maindeck, with a slightly different sideboard.

R1 Infect 2-1
R2 Esper Mentor 2-1
R3 False Cure 2-0
R4 Grixis Delver 2-1

R1 Infect
G1 he has an unblockable creature early on that I don't have a removal spell for. Double pump does the trick and I'm dead.
G2 I have both Needle and Blood Moon for Inkmoth. My opponent has a hierarch that I in retrospect perhaps should have gotten rid of. I have Gempalm an Pyrokinesis in hand, but prefer to save my removal spells for their infect creatures. My opponent manages to BEB my Blood Moon, but I stabilize and win anyways.
G3 I'm at 7 poison when my opponent swings with an Inkmoth Nexus and invigorates it. I have Pyrokinesis in response and he doesn't have anything else. I win.

R2 Esper Mentor
G1 he has an early Mentor and runs me over.
G2 he misplays when he casts Toxic Deluge into my Pendelhaven, letting me save my Sharpshooter.
G3 I have a CotV @1. A few turns into the game I'm considering casting a second backup copy, but elect not to. He has the decay for my chalice a turn or so later, allowing him to cast a couple of one mana spells. But I have chalice back online next turn and win from there.

R3 False Cure
G1 I lead on lackey, and he goes fetch > GSZ > Arbor. I waste his arbor and connect with lackey. On his turn he plays bob. I try to kill it with Sharpshooter, but he invigorates in response. His confidant then flips a Skyshroud Cutter. His deck durdles around for a bit while I deploy some goblins and feel in control. On his last turn I'm at 25 life, and would have died if he'd drawn a fourth land. Because of the way False Cure is worded (you lose 2 life for each 1 life gained), two copies actually equals triple damage, not double, meaning 2 False Cure + 2 Skyshroud Cutter would cause you to lose 30 life.
G2 I go Skirk Prospector > Blood Moon. My opponent had lead on Swamp, Scrubland. Had he played any of his other duals (both of which were in his hand) he could've had decayed it. But he wanted to keep up Swords to Plowshares mana, and wasn't too keen on exposing his green sources to Wasteland, so he went with the Scrubland instead, only to realize right after he played it that he now didn't have mana for decay up.

R4 Grixis Delver
G1 my opponent dazes my t1 vial, and Delver goes all the way.
I don't remember G2, but I think my opponent mulliganed a bunch, and I didn't take any damage all game.
G3 was very tight. He got a bunch of creatures into play (2 Delver, 1 DRS, and 1 Gurmag Angler). I had a lot of removal from the start but no red mana to cast it with. At one point I was at 4 life and my opponent's DRS was untapped, meaning I was dead next turn (remember, I was still facing down double delver and an angler). I played Sharpshooter and attacked with a couple of creatures. My opponent took the bait and blocked, giving me a bunch of untap triggers and letting me clean his board in the process (chumping the zombie fish wasn't much of an issue from there on). At the end of my last turn he taps out to bolt me, putting me at one. Before his draw step I pyrokinesis away three of my goblins to deal lethal damage with Sharpshooter.

Questions and feedback are, as always, appreciated!

How do you sideboard with your build of your deck against D&T, Eldrazi, Miracles and Dredge for example?

[Sandro95]

How do you sideboard with your build of your deck against D&T, Eldrazi, Miracles and Dredge for example?

It's a bit difficult to say as my sideboard is in a bit of flux at the moment. It also would depend on whether I'm on the draw or on the play, as well as my opponent's individual list and playstyle.

Since my sideboard is under development at the moment, I wrote the following guide with this unfinished sideboard in mind:
Sideboard (13/15)
4 Chalice of the Void
2 Relic of Progenitus
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Surgical Extraction
2 Blood Moon
1 Pyrokinesis
1 Pithing Needle
1 Tuktuk Scrapper

D&T
-2 EWS, +1 Pithing Needle, + 1 Tuktuk Scrapper, +1 Pyrokinesis.

Eldrazi
-2 Sharpshooter, -1 Tarfire, +2 Blood Moon, +1 Pyrokinesis.
+1 Tuktuk Scrapper & +1 Pithing Needle if I expect Jitte.

Entreat (schoenneger) Miracles
-1 Warren Weirding, -3 Tarfire, +1 Pithing Needle, +1 Surgical Extraction, +2 Chalice of the Void.

Mentor Miracles
-1 Warren Weirding, -2 Skirk Prospector, +1 Pithing Needle, +2 Chalice of the Void.

Losset Miracles
-1 Warren Weirding, -1 Skirk Prospector, +1 Pithing Needle, +1 Surgical Extraction.

Dredge
-1 Earwig Squad, -4 Aether Vial, +2 Relic of Progenitus, +1 Grafdigger's Cage, +1 Surgical Extraction, +1 Pyrokinesis.

[GoboLord]

Hello fellow Chieftains,

it’s only four weeks until my personal highlight of the year (that is: within the realm of MtG - in real-life I’m getting married): The Legacy Grand Prix Prague.
I can’t express how much I’m looking forward to this event. Not only is the metagame very pleasant for goblins due to (1) the enormously positive MU against the popular Eldrazi tribe and (2) the fact that Eldrazis seem to push Storm combo out of the meta; but I also feel as secure with the deck as never before. In the past six months my list has undergone a transformation from a WInstigator list in its purest form to one that is closer to the stereotype of a mono red “classic” build than I’d like to admit. Despite my strong dislike against Rishadan Port (or more generally: the idea of using my lands for something else than casting spells), the time of glory has come for this card. The reason is: Eldrazi. When I first learned about the deck and playtested the MU, I had to learn that my Winstigator list was no match for the new tribe (unless I could dish out some early Blood Moons). The rising popularity of Eldrazi early this year (and some frustrating experiences with Hymn to Tourarch) made me exchange my Chrome Moxen for Mountains and Winstigators for Mogg War Marshals. After some more disappointing results, I figured out I would need Rishadan Ports to beat the new tribe – and a beating it was. In my first testing session I won 5 out of 5 matches and 10 out of 10 games – most of them on the back of Wastelands, Rishadan Port + Mogg War Marshal.
After some more weeks and positive results even in non-Eldrazi MU I had the core of the deck sorted out and I knew that this would be my list for Prague. With the kind help of ScatmanX, Sandro95, another Goblin dude whose TS-nickname I still don’t know and a bunch of comments from my fellow goblin horde I ended up with the following list which I brought to a GPT for Prague last Sunday, which is at the same time the last event I am able to attend before the big showdown in Czech-Repulic.

MANA (23)
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Wasteland
4 Rishadan Port
1 Snow-Covered Mountains
10 Mountain

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

4 Goblin Chieftain
4 Gempalm Incinerator
3 Mogg War Marshal
1 Stingscourger
1 Krenko, Mob Boss
1 Skirk Prospector
1 Tuktuk Scrapper
2 Pyrokinesis
Sideboard (15)
3 Pithing Needle
3 Blood Moon
3 Goblin Sharpshooter
2 Relic of Progenitus
4 Chalice of the Void

Changes to the decklist since my last event:
MD: -2 Warping Wail, +1 Gempalm Incinerator, +1 Tuktuk Scrapper
SB: -1 Tuktuk Scrapper, -3 Grafdigger’s Cage, +4 Chalice


R1: Hendrick with BUG-NicFit-Walker (2-0)
[on the draw]

G1: The match is almost over before I really know what he is on. His combination of colors make me think of Food Chain, but then he drops Veteran Explorer as a blocker and after that Vraska. Just fodder for my Piledriver though.
W

-2 Pyrokinesis, +2 Blood Moon

G2: Between the games I was thinking of boarding Pithing Needles, since I could smell the scent of Pernicious Deed somehow. I ignored that smell and boarded Blood Moon instead. I forced my way through 3 Pernicious Deed before I won. MVPs were Chieftain and Ringleader.
W


R2: Arjen with GW Eldrazis (2-0)
[on the play]

G1: I open with Lackey out of Caverns, holding Krenko, Stingscourger, Gempalm Incinerator, Pyrokinesis and a Mountain in my hand. Arjen plays City of Traitors on turn 1 and passes the turn. On my turn Lackey connects into Krenko and I pass back. Arjen plays a Thoughtknot Seer on his turn only to see that I can choose from 3 different ways to kill his guy next turn. A few turns later he concedes as he can’t handle Krenko.
W

-1 Stingscourger, -2 Piledriver, +3 Blood Moon

G2: Arjen plays Brushland and passes. I open with Aether Vial and pass back. On his turn, Arjen casts Eldrazi Displacer, which I can kill 2 turns later with Gempalm Incinerator (Lackey + MWM in play). The game is decided again, when I kill his Thought Knot Seer with my Pyrokinesis in response to its EtB-trigger. No blockers left and Lackey doing Lackey-stuff.
W


R3: Felix with Eldrazi (2-0)
[on the play]

G1: I keep a 2-Land hand with Lackey, Lackey, MWM, Matron and Ringleader. I open with Lackey, which gets Dismembered on Felix’s turn 1. On my next turn I cast MWM and pass. Felix on his turn casts his first Thoughtknot Seer, exiling Ringleader. On my next turn I pay the Echo for MWM, and miss my third land drop. Felix then casts his second Thoghtknot Seer, this time exiling Stingscourger. Two turns later, he has 2 Thoughtknot Seer on board, as well as 1 Endless One with X=6 counters and another with X=7 (cast this turn). I on the other hand have 2 Goblin Token and a Matron (which searched a Skirk Prospector) + 3 lands in play and 2 Gempalm Incinerator and a Skirk Prospector in my hand. Felix attacks me for 14 damage, which I take (since I need to keep up the Goblin-count for Gempalm Incinerator). On 6 Life, I untap, draw my fourth land, cast Skirk Prospector, cycling Gempalm Incinerator for Thoughtknot Seer, and draw 2 cards. I use the remaining mana to cast Lackey and pass the turn. Felix is scared of my Lackey and attacks with only one creature (which I chumpblock). On my next turn I continue cycling Gempalm for Thoughtknot Seer, drawing 2 extra cards again – it goes downhill from there for Felix.
W

-1 Stingscourger, -2 Piledriver, +3 Blood Moon

G2: Ports + Wasteland keep him in Check, while I drop Lackey off Vial. Lackey connects into Matron (searching Skirk Prospector AGAIN!). With Caverns and Rishadan Port in play, I don’t have red mana to cast Blood Moon – but luckily Skirk Prospector helps out. Felix puts 2 tiny Endless One in my way, but it’s way too late already.
W


R4:Andreas with Elves (1-2)
[on the play]

G1: Andreas has a quite slow start and takes a hit from Chieftain + Piledriver before he goes off.
L

-1 Tuktuk Scrapper, -4 Ringleader, -1 Stingscourger, +1 Krenko, +3 Sharpshooter, +4 Chalice of the Void

G2: I have him soft-locked und a Chalice @1 and a Sharpshooter. He pushes some spells through with the help of Cavern of Souls, which I couldn’t destroy because Gaea’s Cradle lying next to a Wren’s Run Packmaster was the more urgent matter. I win the game ultimately with my softlock and some pressure.
W

G3: I mull to 5 with 4 lands and Chalice of the Void. Andreas casts his first creature on turn 1 out of Cavern of Souls and that’s all you need to know about this game.
L


R5: Sascha with RGb Combo Lands (2-1)
[on the draw]

G1: I mull to 5 and open with Lackey. Sascha has Punishing Fire + Grove on turn 2 and the combo kill two turns later.
L

-2 Pyrokinesis, -4 Gempalm Incinerator, -1 Krenko,-1 Tuktuk Scrapper, +3 Pithing Needle, +3 Blood Moon, +2 Relic of Progenitus

G2: I have 2 Wasteland + Needle (naming Thespian Stage. As if that wasn’t enough I drop Blood Moon on turn 3 which seals the deal. Sascha Gambles for Krosan Grip which gets discarded.
W

G3: Blood Moon gets me there.
W


R6: Jan with Eldrazi (ID: we play it out anyways and I win 2-0)
[on the play]

G1: I shred him with Aether Vial on T1 and Wasteland + double-Port. Could only tell that he was on Eldrazi from the lands he played.
W

-1 Stingscourger, -2 Piledriver, +3 Blood Moon

G2: As he didn’t have a T1 play, (only Eldrazi Temple), I used my Wasteland as my turn 1 play, instead of casting Lackey. In this situation, he would most likely have Thoughtknot Seer as his T2 play, so shutting off his mana seemed like a reasonable move. On his next turn he played Eye of Ugin and Endless One for X=2. I wasted his land again and passed back. I took one hit From Endless One, before I dropped Lackey and made his only creature stand still. Jan doesn’t recover.
W

Prices were given out after swiss standings. Those that wanted to fight for the BYEs could stay to determine the winner. Many people didn’t have any interest in winning BYEs, so we ended up with four players: 2 Goblins, 1 Death & Taxes, 1 Hexmage Depths Combo.
I got paired against Death & Taxes, while another Goblin dude whose TS-nickname I still don’t know (let’s call him “Toby”, for the sake of simplicity), who was on a Rb Winstigator list with Earwig Squad and Cabal Therapy, played against the combo deck.


Semifinals: Felix with Death & Taxes (2-1)
[on the play]

In G1 I have an overwhelming chain of Piledrivers and Chieftains. At the point when Felix lands Batterskull, he is already pretty far behind and I have developed to a degree where I can deal 9 net damage (13 – 4; taking Batterskulls’ lifelink into account). Two turns later I can swing for lethal thanks to Skirk Prospector sacrificing the creature blocked by the Germ.
W

-1 Stingscourger, -1 Krenko, -4 Piledriver, +3 Goblin Sharpshooter, +3 Pithing Needle

My Lackeys get converted into a lifepoint, while I shut down his Vial with Pithing Needle. I am under siege of 2 Flickerwisps when I tutor + cast a Goblin Sharpshooter, which gets turned to plowshares as well. Two turns later, Felix seals the deal with Cataclysm. Be aware of the interaction between their non-creature spells and Thalia. In the first two matches I had to remind my opponent of Thalia’s ability at least three times when he was casting his own spells (with a judge watching the whole match btw).
L

G3: I quickly run him over with 3 Chieftains + something else.
W

Meanwhile Toby lost to Hexmage Combo Depth, showing me that the deck was at the very least capable of defeating Goblins ins the hands of an experienced pilot.


Finals: Markus with Hexmage Depths (2-0)
[on the draw]

G1: I can slowly raise my horde, while keeping two Wastelands untapped the whole time to prevent him from going off. It was tempting though to use one of my Wastelands, since Markus was stuck on 1 land on turn 2, but had 2 Deathrite Shaman in play (and 0 lands in any graveyard). Instead I concluded that it would be close to impossible to go off in time against two untapped Wastelands. Turns out my decision was correct.
W

-2 Pyrokinesis, -1 Krenko, -1 Tuktuk Scrapper, -2 Gempalm Incinerator, +3 Blood Moon, +3 Pithing Needle

G2: I had Aether Vial on turn 1 and Rishadan Port on turn 2, then Wasteland on turn 3 and another Port on turn 5 – which kept him pretty busy. He had his combo assembled with Living Wish, but needed to get rid of my Wasteland first. At my EOT he announced that he would now use Crop Rotation to search for his Wasteland, then destroy my Wasteland, on which I would respond with using my Wasteland to destroy Dark Depth, which he would then respond to with copying Dark Depth with Thespian Stage – leaving him as the winner. I had different plans though and tapped Thespian Stage in response to his Crop Rotation. When Crop Rotation resolved he got himself a Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth. On his next turn he cast Vampire Hexmage and + Sylvan Library and passed. On my turn I attack for some damage and pass the turn with the following lands untapped.
2 Mountain, 2 Rishadan Port, 1 Wasteland

On his turn, Markus draws 1 extra card with Sylvan Library and play Wasteland. His boardstate:
1 Wasteland, 1 Dark Depth (20 counters), 1 Thespian Stage, 1 Urborg, 1 Vampire Hexmage, 1 Deathrite Shaman.

PUZZLE TIME: Markus uses his Wasteland to destroy my Wasteland. What would you do here, knowing that he has another Crop Rotation in his hand?
W



Conclusions
Coming home with two BYEs felt great. This was the first time I earned BYEs for an event that I will actually attend. I have high hopes that they will help me breaking free from my cursed 6-3 result that I managed to score on every Legacy GP I attended so far.
Usually I am evaluating single cards or matchup in a rather short fashion at the conclusion of my tournament reports. However, this time I want to share with you my view on the deck’s position in the current metagame as well as my SB plans, which should help you if you are planning on picking up this exact decklist for any future event.
Looking at the current DTB section (which lists Miracles, Eldrazi, Infect, Death & Taxes and Grixis Delver) we see a lot of positive MU for Goblins. Miracles is a rather easy prey, as long as you don’t overextend, or they don’t have too many Monastery Mentor. My personal record is a 90% match-winrate against Miracles across all lists I have played in the past 1.5 years. 90% is clearly not the same as 100% - so be aware of the fact that things can go wrong here as well. However, we should feel positive about being paired against this popular deck.
I would argue that Miracles is our best MU among the DTBs, if it wasn’t for my extraordinary lucky win-streak against Eldrazi. Since picking up the recent decklist (read: Mono Red, Mogg War Marshal, 8 manadenial lands, Pyrokinesis in MD) my match-winrate against this deck is at a straight 100%. Admittedly, we are looking at a rather small samplesize here (5 matches in testing, 4 matches on sanctioned tournaments), but the fact that the only GAME I lost against Eldrazi was one where I took mulligan to 5 AND didn’t have a red manasource (here is my last month’s tournament report for reference), makes me optimistic about this MU as well. According to my understanding of how Eldrazi works, the deck has troubles with three things: many small creatures, single large creatures (like 4/5 Goyfs) and manadenial (especially Moon effects). Goblins is the only deck (well technically there is Red & Taxes, but still…) that combines multiple elements that threaten Eldrazi’s gameplan.
Taking into account that Eldrazi and Miracles are probably the most popular decks for the next weeks (and most definitely on GP Prague) , we have a deck in our hands that has excellent chances of beating the two top decks of the format. That’s what I call a meta-deck. Let’s look at the other MUs.
Despite of what people will tell you: having an equipment in your deck does not mean that you have positive MU against Goblins. This counts for Eldrazi just as much as much as it does for Death and Taxes. What is REALLY scary about Death & Taxes is that they occasionally run some number of larger creatures, like Brimaz, King of of Oreo or creatures with evasion, like Serra Avanger. Apart from that, the list gives you a wide range of very powerful cards (Pyrokinesis, Sharpshooter, Needle, Tuktuk Scrapper, Gempalm Incinerator) to beat Death and Taxes on a regular basis. Again: we are not talking about a 100% match-winrate here. My record of the past 1.5 years is at 70%.
Next on my list would be Infect. I would love to tell you that this is a positive matchup, but in my experience it isn’t. From a short exchange of ideas with you guys (reference) I learned that I am probably approaching the MU incorrectly and that I’m not running enough spot removal. Still, in my view Infect is very powerful even after taking mulligans and I wouldn’t really be comfortable in a metagame infested with Infect decks.
The last DTB I want to comment on would be Grixis Delver (or Grixis Tempo).This is the right time to discuss other, similar strategies as well, since our approaches to the respective incarnations of what I would summarize as “Delver decks” don’t differ too much from each other and are mostly defined by the creature-suite that we are up against. There is Grixis Delver, BUG Delver, Team America, Canadian Threshold, 4-color Delver, bUrg Delver, UR Delver, Patriot Delver…and you don’t even need to know what’s behind all of those different decknames. What’s really important for you to know when playing against someone wielding Delver of Secrets, is exactly what creatures and removal spells this person is playing, because this will determine how you evaluate your own spells and SB cards. It might seem obvious, but the more blue creatures your opponent plays, the better you should evaluate Goblin Piledriver. Some BUG decks for example play a creature suite of 4 Delver, 4 Deathrite Shaman, 2 True Name Nemesis, maybe some Snapcaster Mage or Vendillion Clique. In this scenario Piledriver poses a huge threat for your opponent as the only thing he can do about it is casting one of his removal spells. The developmental deck built around Thing in The Ice is another good example. On the flip side, when your opponent is on a list with burnspells, more green creatures or many blockers (such as tokens from Young Pyromancer) Piledriver loses a lot of its attractiveness. Funnily enough the opposite is true for Relic of Progenitus: the “greener” your opponent’s creature-ensemble, the better Relic becomes. Also, Relic can make the anti-synergy between Deathrite Shaman and other creatures using the graveyard (Goyf, Anglerfish, Mongoose, Grim Lavamancer, Scavenging Ooze) even worse. Besides Piledriver and Relic, Krenko is another card whose value depends on the kind of Delver deck you are facing. Lightning Bolt and Dismember make Krenko a lot worse as a wincondition and will sometimes let you spend 4 mana only to watch your creature being removed for 1 mana – all of this in a MU where mana and creatures are scarce and valuable resources. On the other hand, in the absence of a reasonable density of solutions for Krenko, he can be a Oops-I-Win button; as would be the case against most BUG Delver / Team America lists (and Shardless BUG for that matter). The take-home-message of this paragraph: the list provides you with all the tools you need to beat all Delver decks, you just need to evaluate them correctly. Keep in mind though, that Delver decks are versatile and will thus be in a similar position as you: they have the tools, they just need to know how to use them. You can beat Canadian Delver with Blood Moon, but it works better with Relic of Progenitus. You can open a beer bottle with hammer, but it works better screwdriver. Learning about the different Delver decks and figuring out the right tools for each job, is time well-spent as I believe in Prague all of these decks combined will have a reasonable share of the metagame.
Of course there are some popular decks that are not in the DTB section. I considered the following decks when tuning my decklist:
Elves (which I find a awfully hard matchup)
RG(b) Combo Lands (which is perfectly covered by Wasteland, Pithing Needle and Blood Moon)
Shardless BUG (Mogg War Marshal, Krenko + Relic or Blood Moon – depending on their creature-suite)

There are some more decks that I think are popular (some of them maybe only on GPs), but the MU too bad to fix. I just accept these as lost rounds if I face them:
Tendrils Storm Combo
Belcher/Oops all Spells/Spanish Inquisition
Burn
Reanimator

So much for my view on the deck and the metagame. If you are interested in my list of SB plans for the decks mentioned in this article (and some more, actually) write me a PM.

The bottom line of all this is: if you want to hunt down some popular top-tier decks, go pick up this list and have some fun. It’s hunting season.

Thank you for reading my article. Questions and comments are – and will always be – welcome.

-GL

[owerbart]

Thank you for reading my article. Questions and comments are – and will always be – welcome.

-GL

Good stuff Gobolord. Nice to finally see you running the 4 ports. Really surprised about how well you were doing vs Eldrazi. Do you think the Europe metagame will be filled with them?

[Olaf Forkbeard]

Come Monday or Tuesday I'll write up my 3rd place finish at SCGs Legacy Classic Open; watch for that. Mostly posting this to remind myself to write it.

[Stevestamopz]

Come Monday or Tuesday I'll write up my 3rd place finish at SCGs Legacy Classic Open.; watch for that. Mostly posting this to remind myself to write it.

Congrats dude!

Just when I was about to cut warchiefs and add chieftains along you come and sow the seeds of doubt! Looking forward to it.

@Gobolord - congrats on both getting married and your fine finish. I will be copying your list 75/75 for a tournament this week, I'm starting to agree with you on Chieftain and not bothering wasting time with colour splashes/fetches.

[Chatto]

Hello fellow Chieftains,

it’s only four weeks until my personal highlight of the year (that is: within the realm of MtG - in real-life I’m getting married): The Legacy Grand Prix Prague.

MANA (23)
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Wasteland
4 Rishadan Port
1 Snow-Covered Mountains
10 Mountain

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

4 Goblin Chieftain
4 Gempalm Incinerator
3 Mogg War Marshal
1 Stingscourger
1 Krenko, Mob Boss
1 Skirk Prospector
1 Tuktuk Scrapper
2 Pyrokinesis
Sideboard (15)
3 Pithing Needle
3 Blood Moon
3 Goblin Sharpshooter
2 Relic of Progenitus
4 Chalice of the Void

Changes to the decklist since my last event:
MD: -2 Warping Wail, +1 Gempalm Incinerator, +1 Tuktuk Scrapper
SB: -1 Tuktuk Scrapper, -3 Grafdigger’s Cage, +4 Chalice

(...)

The bottom line of all this is: if you want to hunt down some popular top-tier decks, go pick up this list and have some fun. It’s hunting season.

Thank you for reading my article. Questions and comments are – and will always be – welcome.

-GL

Congrats, Gobolord! Congrats on your win and your future wedding! It's a good list, and I'm again not sure what to play this GP, I'm going to giv your list a try. Can you Pm your strategies?

Good stuff Gobolord. Nice to finally see you running the 4 ports. Really surprised about how well you were doing vs Eldrazi. Do you think the Europe metagame will be filled with them?

I think so, it's a powerfull deck and Goblins is a bit fringethese days. I would say Goblins is in a good spot, but without a lot of pilots.

Come Monday or Tuesday I'll write up my 3rd place finish at SCGs Legacy Classic Open; watch for that. Mostly posting this to remind myself to write it.

Congrats! Looking forward to your report!