Congratulations ScatmanX
I had been very happy to meet the german team at GP Lille previous year.
Do you know the final result of others goblins players?
Steamflogger 3-6
Chatto 2-4 drop (not entirely sure)
Me 5-4
I am planning to Finish my report on the weekend.
MountainCaverns, Lackey, Go.
If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchanges our apples, we each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange our ideas, we each have two ideas.
Yeah, it went terrible. A Little report I poster on FB:
R1 Punishing Jund. G1 I race him, g2 and g3 he draws everything and has PuFi-lock. 1-2 L
R2 Infect. G1 I race him, g2 and g3 he had it all, while I drew shit. 1-2 L
R3 Storm. Shit happend. 0-2 L
R4 Mentor Miracles. I race him g1. In g2, epic ending of a grindy MU: I have eight land, including Cavern on Spirit, four tokens in play, with a Pyrokinesis, and a Eidolon in hand. Opponent has Jace, three tokens, one Mentor, and a Snapcaster, a top and al the land you need to spin, draw and cast whatever he wants. He is also on two life. So I'm on a healthy lifetotal, and it's my turn. I cast Eidolon, and proceed to hardcast Pyrokinesis for the win. Sweet. 2-0 W
R5 High Tide does what High Tide does in inexperienced hands: durdeling. 2-0 W
R6 Grixis. R1 t2 Angler, 'nuff said. R2 drew shit, YP takes over. 0-2 L
So, shit run, but whatever. The list, for those who would like to know:
Creatures (31)
1 Siege-Gang Commander
1 Stingscourger
1 Tuktuk Scrapper
1 Skirk Prospector
1 Krenko, Mob Boss
3 Mogg War Marshal
3 Gempalm Incinerator
4 Goblin Lackey
4 Goblin Matron
4 Goblin Piledriver
4 Goblin Chieftain
4 Goblin Ringleader
Other (6)
2 Pyrokinesis
4 Aether Vial
Lands (23)
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Rishadan Port
4 Wasteland
11 Mountain
Sideboard (15)
2 Goblin Sharpshooter
3 Relic of Progenitus
3 Pithing Needle
3 Blood Moon
4 Eidolon of the Great Revel
I just like to say it was a good weekender. Had a blast with all of my opponents, and it was good to see Gobolord again, and meet Steamflogger, ScatmanX, and Johnathan (I'm not sure he is on this forum)
EDIT: I'm thinking about running Warchief again. It seems to be getting an everlasting struggle between Chieftian and Warchief...
I've some questions for the Goblin community. I've played legacy since 2011 however I'm just now getting around to goblins in my legacy classics list. I've been wondering some of the ins and outs of the deck.
Why is there only 1 Sharpshooter in most lists?
How important is Gempalm to the deck overall?
Ways to get the most mileage out of Gempalm?
I'm assuming Tarfire is a point of contention since Tarmogoyf is a pain, and I've overheard a shift to some number of Pyrokinesis main to deal with threats like elves, eldrazi it even delver's boardstates....
That in mind, has there been any talk of going the merfolk route with maindeck Chalice of the Void?
Why is there only 1 "finisher" slot in some of the decks I see, is it a curve based issue?
Chieftain vs warchief, personal preference or needed discussion? Stay at 4 slots or increase?
Are any sideboard cards generally the same in multiple lists or are they as varied as player and splash preference?
Is there any build where Mutavault would be worthwhile?
Is it just me or does a switch from Blood Moon to Price of Progress seem like a worthwhile sb option?
Thank you for your time, I'm still building my copy and stuck in which way to go so I figured I'd ask around.
I originally posted this on Salvation, however it looks as though non Merfolk parts of the board are rather dead....
Hi, and welcome to Goblins!
Most people play only a single Sharpshooter because it can still be found via matron when they need it, and with only one copy the chance of drawing it naturally when you don't want it is not as high. I however play two copies of Sharsphooter, along with the second Prospector, the full set of Warchiefs, and three Mogg War Marshals in order to maximize Sharpshooter's potential. This is because I have found it to be one of our best cards in the late game. Aside from the obvious perks of dealing with Elves, YP, and Mentor, Sharpshooter works wonders when your attacking with a bunch of 1/1s and 2/2s on a clogged boardstate. The combo with Prospector is not to be underestimated either, and I consistently find myself being able to finish off opponents by dealin six damage or more.
Gempalm is an additional source of card advantage, and an excellent removal spell when it comes to fighting one toughness creatures (Vendillion Clique, YP etc.) or larger ones such as Gurmag Angler, Serra Avenger and Tarmogoyf when the board has filled up with creatures. GI's biggest drawback is that it costs 2 mana to use and requires there to be goblins in play, meaning it ofthen fails to handle things like t1 DRS or t2 SFM. I recommend playing 3 Mogg War Marshals to ensure two damage GIs early on.
Most lists play a couple of Tarfires, although recently, as you said, some people have moved to Pyrokinesis. Tarfire is perhaps the most efficient removal spell we have access to, which is important since the rest of the deck is very mana hungry. Most lists will play at least one Tarfire even if they also have pyrokinesis, since it's still a Matron target. Pyrokinesis is also more common in lists that favor Chieftain over Warchief. Lists that play Warchief are more likely to have access to and utilize Sharpshooter better, which means they have less of a need for Pyrokinesis. Also, without the cost reduction from Warchief, you will be able to cast fewer spells a turn, meaning pitching a card isn't as much of a cost.
I've played Chalice of the Void maindeck in the past, and I know several other players have done so as well. I don't think now is the right time to do so though, as there is already a dominant CotV deck in the metagame. If you do play CotV main, cards to consider are Chrome Mox and Ancient Tomb, in order to get it into play on turn one.
Yes, it has to do with the curve, at least in part. Our mana curve is already quite high, and we don't want clunky openers. Even without dedicated finishers we are favored in the lategame versus most decks, as we tend to overwhelm them with card advantage from Matron and Ringleader. Many people, myself included, play a Krenko because it's a house versus BUG decks, one of the few decks that can actually grind us out. Krenko also changes what the game is about. If at any point you're having trouble answering what the opponent is doing, putting a Krenko into play will most likely change things so that now it is up to your opponent to answer Krenko instead. Unanswered, Krenko will trump almost any other late game. Siege-Gang Commander is better against spot removal, and also races better when put into play off of a Lackey, which is relevant against combo decks.
Chieftain vs Warchief has to do with personal preference, but it has more to do with what kind of list you prefer than whether you prefer either card above the other. Chieftain is better when you want to turn your creatures sideways, attacking through the 1/2s and 2/2s of the format. Warchief is better when you want to take a more controlling approach by outgrinding them with Matron and Ringleader, or a more explosive one (by dropping Sharpshooter, Krenko, or both and annihilating your opponent in one turn). Both versions are feasible and have put up results. It's not a binary though. Many warchief lists play a one-of Chieftain to tutor for, for example.
Almost all lists at the moment play some number of Relic of Progenitus, as well as some form of Blood Moon effect. Chalice of the Void has long been popular, but has disappeared slightly as of late. Many players have picked up on Pithing Needle lately, as first advocated by GoboLord. Pyrokinesis has long been an all star, and still sees play in most sideboards. Some lists don't play it in the SB because they already have it md. Others like myself are trying out a variety of different removal spells in its place to see what is useful.
You could build a list around mutavault (with 4 Piledriver and 4 GI for example), but I don't recommend it. One or two copies could be fine, but you would have to ask yourself why you're playing it over Rishadan Port, Pendelhaven, Karakas, or Tower of the Magistrate.
Both cards are better when you're ahead. However, Blood Moon still does a lot in even or unfavored situations. Either card will likely beat a lands player (one card loses to Grip, the other to Chasm). Blood Moon however is also very useful against BUG, Jund, and Canadian Threshold, where PoP wouldn't necessarily do as much.
Hope this helps! My list is in my signature if you want some inspiration. Keep trying things out and see what works for you.
Best regards,
Sandro
R/B Goblins
Follow me on Twitter @SandroRajalin
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Hello fellow Chieftains,
back from GP Prague I’m sharing with you my experiences from the weekend.
Prologue
The weekend started early on Thursday when I picked up some dudes who are living more or less nearby, including my friend Combo-Kai (who owes me his nickname for, you know, playing lots of combo decks across formats), Cosmo (who got his name from drinking a Cosmopolitan cocktail), YouTube celebrity magicshibby and, last but not least, blogger Jonathan Alexander. Before starting the trip I didn’t know Cosmo and magicshibby very well, but a 8-hours car rides gives you plenty of time to get to know people better. Granted, this crew was just as crazy as it was diverse and we had lots of fun and interesting topics to discuss (I now know the details of a tarantula’s mating ritual). Arriving in Prague we met Marcelo (ScatmanX and Tobi (Steamflogger) with whom we would share the apartment. Needless to say the three goblin players were put into the same room.
Friday we went to the event site to register and play some trials. Well, I didn’t play trials (I already had my 2 BYEs), but instead went scouting and made a breakdown of all decks played in trials (I scored 107 decks). I would learn on Sunday morning that my counts reflected the Top 100 Day 1 Breakdown of the Legacy main event pretty well with the top 4 decks being in the exact same order as my counts. I can highly recommend this practice to everyone who is willing to use that information (e.g. in order to adjust the last few “meta-slots” of your SB).
At the event site we also met Chatto and took the picture above, laying down our decks in front of us.
None of us earned any BYEs on Friday, so we went on a small sightseeing tour through Prague with the goblin guys instead and we had some time to discuss our lists. Turned out our lists were pretty similar (approximately 68/75 cards across all 3 decks). After some more games on Friday night at the apartment, we all went to bed early enough in order to get enough rest before the event (yet another practice I can highly recommend).
My Decklist
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
3 Relic of Progenitus
1 Pyrokinesis
1 Sudden Demise
1 Siege-Gang Commander
Changes to the decklist since my last event:
MD: None.
SB: -4 Chalice of the Void, +1 Relic of Progenitus, +1 Sudden Demise, +1 Siege-Gang Commander, +1 Pyrokinesis
As you can see I was even more focused on beating creature-based strategies. Tobi and Marcelo convinced me that Siege-Gang Commander was in a good spot right now (they played it in MD): it beats Moat (which almost all of the Miracle players I saw seemed to be playing), it’s an additional roadblock against Eldrazis, and it improves the grindy MUs of Shardless and Aggro Loam. Sudden Demise was there in the spot of Pyrokinesis #4 to add more diversity. Additionally Marcelo and Tobi tried to talk me into playing Tin Street Hooligan in a list with only 4 lands to support its occasionally green casting costs, but they failed.
The Main Event
R1:BYE
R2:BYE
R3: Aarne with Eldrazi (0-2)
[on the play]
G1: I mulligan a rather okay 7-cards hand (2 Mountain, Caverns, MWM, Chieftain, Piledriver, Matron), find my 6 without any lands and ultimately keep 5 cards. Without anything to play on T1. Aarne opens with 2 Eldrazi Mimic on turn 1, followed by Thoughtknot Seer on T2 and then Eldrazi Smasher on Turn 3. Ouch.
L
-4 Piledriver, -1 Chieftain, +1 Pyrokinesis, +3 Blood Moon, +1 Siege-Gang Commander
G2: We both keep our 7 (mine was: Mountain, Vial, Lackey, Lackey, Blood Moon, 2 unknown non-lands cards). I open with Aether Vial, Aarne plays Pithing Needle. On my turn I draw another Aether Vial, play Lackey and pass. Aarne has Endless One (X=3). On my third turn, I draw another land and cast Lackey. On his turn Aarne plays Ratchet Bomb and passes back. I tank a bit and decide that I am not really the position to bait Ratchet Bomb blowing up for 1 counter as this would destroy his Pithing Needle, and also 2 Lackeys aren’t much of a thread for him. Instead I cast Blood Moon, knowing that it would probably buy me only 2-3 turns. In those three turn I draw nothing meaningful (no Kinesis, Stingscourger, 2nd Blood Moon, Matron, Ringleader, Gempalm), while Aarne has more Endless Ones, Eldrazi Mimic and Umezawa’s Jitte. With 7 lands in play, he blows up Ratchet Bomb, casts Reality Smasher, equips it with Jitte and attacks, which basically ends the game.
L
R4: Tobias with 2-Land Belcher (0-2)
[on the play]
G1:I take mulligan to 6 and go first with Aether Vial. Tobias Probes me, then casts Belcher turn 1 and passes. I waste his Bayou, bring him down to 15 life at some point and die.
L
-3 Gempalm Incinerator, -1 Stingscourger, -1 Chieftain, -4 Ringleader, + 3 Pithing Needle, +3 Goblin Sharpshooter, +1 Siege-Gang Commander, +1 Pyrokinesis, +1 Sudden Demise
G2: I mull to 6 again, keep a hand with Sharpshooter + a turn 4 kill, but get Belcher-killed on turn 3 again.
L
Oh boy, what a start into the tournament. At this point I felt like a victory against Eldrazi could have taken me out of the bracket of fringe fast-combo/no-interaction decks.
R5: Marc with Burn (2-1)
[on the draw]
G1: I sit down across Marc and he reminds me of the fact that we played against each other in Eindhoven (NL) on the Dutch Masters 2014 (Round 7. Wow. Long time, but apparently my practice of letting my opponents sign a Raging Goblin after each match helps people remember me.
Anyways. Seeing his opening turn being Goblin Guide + Attack doesn’t really lift me up, but I manage to get back into the game with Pyrokinesis on Goblin Guide + Swiftspear. I am on 16 life at that point and Marc has 3 more 3-burns before he dies.
W
-1 Stingscourger, -1 Skirk Prospector, +1 Siege-Gang Commander, +1 Pyrokinesis
G2: I bring him down to 3 life before he burns me to crisp. It was closer than it actually should have been, because Marc drew 10 lands in this game. He slowed my down by burning the relevant creatures, wiped me with Volcanic Fallout. Some notable interactions: I had to keep two wastelands untapped for several turn in order to destroy my 2 non-basiclands in response to Price of Progress. In the end it happened that I took 0 damage from PoP, but lost 4 lands. Also, I used Pyrokinesis dividing 2 damage to Grim Lavamancer and 2 on one of my creatures in order to “counter” Searing Blood targeting my creature.
L
G3: This them I am on the play and I can deplete his resources by spamming Lackeys and Piledrivers. At 14 life (me) I knock him over with double Chieftain + something else.
W
R6:Andreas with Eldrazi (2-1)
[on the play]
G1: We both keep 7. There is not much to say here. I open with Aether Vial, while Andreas has Chalice of the Void n turn 1. I start working on his mana with Port and Wasteland. Andreas drops an Endless One for X=4, but doesn’t do anything else for the rest of the game. The game ends with and Andreas shows me that he has 2 more lands (and no spells) in hand and 6 lands on the board. Variance.
W
-4 Piledriver, -1 Chieftain, +1 Pyrokinesis, +3 Blood Moon, +1 Siege-Gang Commander
G2: We both keep 7 again. Andreas opens with Eldrazi Mimic, while I open with Lackey. I cast 2 Vials, but don’t have any relevant spells and keep drawing lands instead. Variance strikes back.
L
G3: for the third time in a row we keep our 7s. I drop Blood Moon on turn 3 and that is that.
W
Okay, back in the game. 4-2 is not too bad, although losing R3 against Eldrazi + my own mulligan decision still left a bad taste in my mouth. I felt like this last match restored my self-security, but at the same time I began to realize that Eldrazi wasn’t the as good as MU I wished it would be – most certainly not when my mulligan decisions are sloppy.
R7:Ihar with Shardless BUG (2-0)
[on the play]
G1: Ihar opened with DRS, while I had Aether Vial. Ihar was short on lands (in fact he only had this one fetchland + a Wasteland) and me not playing any fetchlands made his manascrew even worse. The game took approx. 20 minutes and we trade a lot of resources. At 3 life with no more Sorcery/instant Fodder for DRS I get Krenko going and I kill him in an avalanche made of goblin tokens.
W
-4 Goblin Lackey, -1 Skirk Prospector, +3 Relic, +1 Siege-Gang Commander, +1 Sudden Demise
G2: goes a lot like G1 in that it I a pure grindfest. Only this time Ihar isn’t short on lands. I make a slip when I fail to kill Goyf + SHardless Agent with Pyrokinesis (and Relic in play), but instead decide that Shardless Agemt and DRS are the more relevant creatures. In general, Relic was wonderfully effective. I played it on T1 and managed to steal 3 lands from DRS, thus keeping it from producing any mana. At 5 life I stabilize with Krenko (and only Krenko this time) wheras actually I shouldn’t have been able to stabilize. Here is the situation:
Me: Krenko on board (ready to tap), 5 life, 1 land in hand.
Ihar: Shardless Agent + Tarmogoyf (5/6) in play, both of the ready to attack.
Ihar is too tired to see that he can safely attack with both creatures to push2 damage through. He misses this opportunity for 4 turns in a row, while we trade Goyf-attacks for Krenko-activations. I draw Chieftain and Krenko runs away with the game.
W
R8: Marko with Eldrazi (0-2)
[on the draw]
G1: We keep our opening 7s and mine turns out to be way to slow. (3 lands - no manadenial, Piledriver, Chieftain, Matron, Ringleader). This keep is beyond questionable and I don’t know what I was thinking. I cast Piledriver on turn 2, while Andreas has Thoughtknot Seer (which dies to Pyrokinesis in response to its triggered ability), then Reality Smasher, followed by Jitte. I can’t keep up.
L
-4 Piledriver, -1 Chieftain, +1 Pyrokinesis, +3 Blood Moon, +1 Siege-Gang Commander
G2: I have all the tools to play a long game, but Marko finds the sweet spot between enough Warping Wails, Dismember and curving out with Endless Ones and 2 Reality Smasher. Too much for me again.
L
With 5-3 I was about to have another win-and-in round in Round 9 (just as last year in Lille). Only this time I felt a lot worse, since I had only 3 wins on my back today (compared to 6 wins last year at that point). The fact that the recent rule change + BYEs would help me accomplishing my goal to reach Day 2 on a GP did not really cheer me up.
R9: Phili with Reanimator (0-2)
[on the play]
G1: I keep my 7 with Wasteland, 2 Ports, 2 Aether Vial, Stingscourger, MWM. I go first with Wasteland + Vial, technically something you would expect from Death & Taxes. My Opponent draws, and goes into discard step, discarding Inkwell Leviathan. Yikes. Of all creatures it had to be the one with Shroud. Anyways. On his next turn he plays Exhume and passes. I on the other hand have 2 Vials going and with Piledriver, + MWM I have the potential to go for a combokill. However, this doesn’t happen, as I fail to draw any Matron, Chieftain or Ringleader.
L
-2 Pyrokinesis, -4 Gempalm Incinerator, -1 Tuktuk Scrapper, +3 Relic, + 3 Sharpshooter, +1 Siege-Gang Commander
G2: I open with Lackey on turn 1. My opponent draws a card, shakes his head and apologizes for what he was about to do: Swamp, Petal, Carefull Study (Grave Titan + Griselbrand), Reanimate: Grave Titan. Needless to say I can’t catch up.
L
Very disappointing result in a lot of ways, but what can you do. I learned some important lessons, which I want to summarize after my report of the side-event. We were glad that 2 players from our appartment advanced to D2 (Marcelo and Jonathan with 7-2 and 8-1 respectively).
The Side Event
Saturday night I performed some changes to the decklist:
MD: -1 Tuktuk Scrapper,-1 Gempalm Incinerator, +1 Tin Street Hooligan, +1 Mogg War Marshal
SB: -3 Sharpshooter, +2 Surgical Extraction, +1 Pyrokinesis
I figured that I wanted to test the luck that Marcelo and Tobi apparently had with TSH. Also, I didn’t like Sharpshooter (in fact I was about to cut it entirely even before the mainevent) and wanted to replace it with something else. Marcelo and Tobi both suggested Surgical Extraction, so I tried these as well.
R1: Sven from Sweden with FoodChain (2-1)
[on the play]
G1: Before the match starts I ask him if he knew Sandro Rajalin (since he was from Sweden). He said he didn’t. I explained him that I saw him playing on camera on some Scandinavian open with Rb Goblins – Sven remembered him and told me that he lost the finals to Food Chain. I said what an interesting deck Food Chain was and Sven remained awkwardly silent. I go first with Lackey. Sven casts Thoughtseize and passes. On turn 2 I connect into PIledriver, Waste his Usea and pass. Sven casts Ponder, Shuffles, draws and scoops.
W
I was unsure what deck he was on (Storm, BUG Delver, Shardless) and thus I boarded:
-2 Pyrokinesis, +2 Blood Moon
G2: I bring him down to 6 before I he drops FoodChain and goes off. Until turn 5 or so it looked like he was playing Shardless BUG. I had to laugh when I realized how our conversation before the game related to this MU.
L
-1 Stingscourger, -1 Tuktuk Scrapper, +1 Blood Moon, +1 Siege-Gang Commander
G3: I don’t remember anything from G3, but my notes tell me that Sven loses all of his lifepoints in 2 chunks. Smells like Piledriver.
W
R2: Alexander with Deathblade (1-1-1)
[on the play]
G1: We play a quite long G1, that involves me killing Deathrite Shaman + Stoneforge Mystic, before going nuts.
W
-1 Krenko,-1 Stingscourger,-1 MWM, -1 Piledriver, +1 Siege-Gang Commander, +3 Pithing Needle
G2: The game is a real grind, and involves 1 Zealous Persecution, 2 Snapcaster Mages, 2 Swords to Plowshares (well 4 in total). Alexander stabilizes ate 3 life, with Deathrite Shaman, drowning me for 2 life and feasting on my dead creatures. I on the other hand burnt 2 Matron, 2 Chieftain and 3 Ringleader, TSH, Skirk Prospector and all 3 Gempalm Incinerators. For 4 turns in a row I draw only lands and Alexander takes over the game.
L
G3: with 5 minutes on the clock we go into G3. However, Alex has enough spot- and massremoval to drag the game into extra turns and ultimately into a draw.
D
R3: José with Aggro Loam (2-0)
[on the draw]
G1: I don’t remember how G1 went, but my notes tell me that I don’t take any damage and the game is over when José was on 13 life.
W
-1 TSH, +1 Siege-Gang Commander
G2: José has 2 Dark Confidents, none of which help him solving his manascrew. He is stuck on 2 lands for the whole game and I take him on easily.
W
R4: Jesper with Miracles (2-0)
[on the play]
G1: I have a sweet combination of enough pressure + manadenial. I manage to keep Jesper entirely shut off from W mana for 2 whole turns which basically seals the deal.
W
-2 Pyrokinesis, -1 Stingscourger, -1 Skirk Prospector, +3 Pithing Needle, +1 Siege-Gang Commander
G2: We play the usually Goblins vs. Miracle game, he exileise 2 of my Piledriver, Terminuses my board, I refill. When Jesper is at 2 life, MWM kicks in to drown the las of his resources. The first one gets answered by Terminus, the second MWM meets Snapcaster Mage + Swords to Plowshares, the third MWM gets eaten by Terminus again, thus clearing the way for a leathal attack with Goblin Ringleader. It’s incredible how MWM sucked the life (read: resources) out of my opponent in this match.
W
R5: Mikko with Rw Painter (1-1-1)
[on the draw]
G1: Mikko is 4-0 and offers me a draw, which I can’t accept due to the way price payouts are clustered. We play G1 and I quickly make sure that he can’t go off with Painter. At 3 life with no cards in hand Mikko drops Ensnaring Bridge. I hold Matron in hand, but don’t have access to G mana to cast Tin Street Hooligan. At the time I do, Mikko already has Goblin Welder active. I don’t see the interaction, and blindly run into that. I can’t win anymore, so I concede.
L
-4 Mogg War Marshal, -3 Goblin Chieftain, +3 Pithing Needle, +2 Surgical Extraction, +1 Siege-Gang Commander, +1 Pyrokinesis
G2: Mikko takes mulligan to 5. As we don’t have much time left on the clock, I cast an early Pithing Needle naming Sensei’s Diving Top to keep him from wasting my time. I quickly overwhelm him, using my Removal aggressively against his blockers, bearing the risk to lose to Painter + Grindstone (which is admittedly very low, as he doesn’t have many cards in hand.
W
G3: The last game was weird. With only 5 minutes on the clock, we managed to completely kill each others chances of winning the game, even before extraturns were announced. Mikko cast Painters Servant on turn 1 (with Ancient Tomb). On my turn I destroy it with Pyrokinesis, then exiled it with Surgical extraction. Going through his deck I saw two more winconditions: Ajani Vengeant and Koth of the Hammer. I cast my first Pithing Needle , naming Koth and pass the turn. On his turn, Mikko play Plateau and passes. On my second turn I cast my second Pithing Needle naming Ajani Vengeant, leaving him without relevant winconditions (aside from Ape + Goblin Beatdown). Mikko in turn casts Enlightened tutor, and finds Sphere of Law, casting it on turn 3. Extra turns were announced and we looked at each other as if we just delivered a blow in the nuts. Mikko asked me if I would concede but I refrained, ending the match in a well-deserved draw.
D
[b]R6: Sebastian with Shardless BUG (0-2)
[on the play]
I happen to know Sebastian, because we stayed in the same hotel last year in Lille (totally by coincidence – Morkus, might remember the guys from Bavaria, walking with us to the tram station and ultimately to the event location). Since I am at 11 points, and Sebsatian has 10, we silently agree on a pricesplit, signing the result slip in my favor.
I lose a close G1 game 1 and a not so close game 2, because Sebsatian has the right combination of creatures and removal (that is: exclusively creatures and removal) and a well-timed Hym to Tourarch, who hits 2 Goblin Chieftain.
L, L
Conclusions
* My win-streak against Eldrazi came to an end. Twice. Which was very disappointing. I underestimated the deck lately and that was probably part of the reason I got punished.
* I didn’t feel like my mulligan decision were straight the whole day. I took very few mulligans on both events, which doesn’t seem right. At least I know that the deck can handle mulligans and I think I need to evaluate my opening hands better and more thoroughly. That’S especially important when you are playing a deck that can’t sculpt it’s hand during the game.
* I still feel like the deck lacks a lot of power compared to my beloved Winstigator list. That became painfully obvious in some very long games I played (read: couldn’t end in a timely fashion). At the same time I am absolutely sure that the meta is as good as it can be for MWM, Pyrokinesis and Ports – all of which keep me from playing Winstigators. I might compensate that with more bombs – SGC is a reasonable option, as I found myself bringing it in a lot from the SB.
* I learned from Marcelo to enjoy the game more and not go into tryhard-mode on such a beautiful event. In hindsight the mainevent didn’t feel like fun, but more like work. Very disappointing work. Next time I will try to approach this in a more relaxed way, not putting pressure on myself by setting the goal to reach D2, but instead enjoy the games and interacting with the nice people from all around the globe.
* props to the apartment crew – this weekend was very fun and the atmosphere was super relaxed.
* props to Marcelo for bringing the right tribe to D2. Also nice to having finally met you in person after…6 (?) years of collaboration on this forum
Thank you for reading my article. Questions and comments are – and will always be – welcome.
-GL
MountainCaverns, Lackey, Go.
If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchanges our apples, we each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange our ideas, we each have two ideas.
Thank you Sandro!
I will certainly keep in mind potential for double Sharpshooter And Prospector in the future, just so used to seeseeing them as singletons.
I was considering Chalcie as I thought I had read Goblins has a weakness to combo more often than not, though after trying to find space in main it is either singletons or Gempalms that get cut so I think I'll just try them in side for now and revisit later.
The good news is through playing Merfolk I realized that it is okay if you don't land chalice t1. Reason being it is not so different as your opponent going 1st in the first place. It is still effective, and unless Goblins are more reliant on Aether Vial than they are, have an almost equal number of 1 drops that are affected. We even run more Caverns than they do to help Lackey out.
As to my thoughts on Price vs Blood Moon, those are the exact matches I had in mind while considering the cards. I've primarily played Burn for years and that was the card in particular that turns those matches into a potential Cakewalk with only having to deal with trying to avoid discard rather than overloading abrupt decay//golgari charm. Having a direct damage angle could be nice if you wind up Punishing Fire locked earlier than you wished. As to your own nonbasic count....it could be all in...or no worse than casting a Flame rift.
I've got some considerations to make yet, I'm leaning towards this right now.
2 Krenko, Mob Boss
4 Goblin Ringleader
3 Goblin Chieftain
2 Goblin Warchief
4 Goblin Matron
1 Goblin Sharpshooter
3 Gempalm Incinerator
1 Stingscourger
1 Tin Street Hooligan
3 Goblin Piledriver
3 Mogg War Marshall
4 Goblin Lackey
1 Skirk Prospector
2 Pyrokinesis
4 Aether Vial
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Wasteland
4 Rishidan Port
11 Mountain
Sb
2 Relic of Progenitus
3 Chalice of the Void
2 Pyrokinesis
4 Price of Progress
1 Goblin Sharpshooter
3 xxxx
Up to and not limited to, Sulfur Elemental, Mindbreak trap, Pithing Needle, Phyrexian revoker, Ensnaring Bridge, Smash to smithereens, TukTuk Scrapper....anything really.
If I understand right, post Columbus the Meta is Led by Miracles, Eldrazi, Storm, Lands, Shardless, Death and taxes, and Grixis Delver.
However I'm not sure what my local area is up to since I haven't been in a while, but while we still could slightly proxy it was close to 5 storm players, 2 or 3 eldrazi, 1 to 3 miracles, and many other various decks. A great tourney series run by Zach Koch and often held at JC's House of Cards in Alabama.
As to any thoughts on the list I'm open. I'm going to have to proxy Ports for sometime, but I've got everything else now.
Thanks for the report GoboLord
GL> R3: Aarne with Eldrazi (0-2) [on the play]
G1: I mulligan a rather okay 7-cards hand (2 Mountain, Caverns, MWM, Chieftain, Piledriver, Matron)
It's a very strange mulligan for your first hand of the tournament. (The first one I made I'm very careful)
If you knew nothing about your opponent then cavern is an important weapon versus counter.
Your hand can kill turn 4 vs combo (not bad before side) t2 mwm, t3 chieftain (-6PV), t4 piledriver (-14)
Your hand can fill the board for waiting more stuff
GL> R5: Marc with Burn (2-1) Your SB: -1 Stingscourger, -1 Skirk Prospector, +1 Siege-Gang Commander, +1 Pyrokinesis
Keep Stingscourger or Skirk Prospector to buy more time than SGC (lackey never connect and you will be dead before using it)
GL Conclusion> ... SGC is a reasonable option, as I found myself bringing it in a lot from the SB.
I think SCG is in mainboard or nothing. (Cavern + lackey + SCG can steal improbable match)
GL [b]R6: Sebastian from BAVARI>
Sure, I remember Senastian and this beautiful weekend!
I hope see you again. Perhaps for the PREMIER ETERNAL WEEK-END EUROPÉEN, À PARIS ! 21-23 october 2012
This made me smile from ear to ear. Can we add this to the OP in a goblin highlights section?
Great games and great report, Marcello. Congratulations on the pro point.
@GoboLord
I still can't get used to seeing Ports in your list ;-)
I know what you mean about putting too much pressure on yourself though. Last year I started watching comedy and laughing helps me loosen up and not take things so seriously.
MountainCaverns, Lackey, Go.
If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchanges our apples, we each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange our ideas, we each have two ideas.
Good point. In general I'm trying to update the opening Post at least once a quarter. So in worst cases when I'm lazy, the content is 6 months old.
MountainCaverns, Lackey, Go.
If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchanges our apples, we each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange our ideas, we each have two ideas.
I've gone back to Warchief after playing extensively with Chieftain. For some reason it draws a lot less fire than Chieftain probably due opponents not considering it being a real lord without the +1/+1. The tempo gain is also priceless, 3 mana to Matron > WarMarshal and put 3/4 blockers on board is priceless against decks like Eldrazi that's light on evasive beats.
Holy Shit, this thread needs a bump!
I got off my duff and played a little Magic tonight. Went 3-1, losing in the final round. I beat UR Omnishowntell R1 2-0, beat BUG Control brew R2 2-1, beat 12Post R3 2-1 (always fun matches), and lost to DnT R4 1-2 (mulled to five G1, never had a Pyrokinesis or Tuktuk when I needed it). When I saw the field at the end of R1 I knew I could 4-0. No fast combo, just SnT decks. Bad luck on my part R4, but also kept a slow 7 G3 on the draw, so I was definitely hoping my opponent would get unlucky too. He didn't! It was a fun tournament though and a fun group of good players.
hello fellow gobo players heres a list i just started playing that won a starcity ppq NJ ( Daniel Samoles list) been pretty impressed so far question is always the side board if this person frequents this forum i have a couple questions one mostly is the shatter storm in side is it still needed ?
Player: Daniel Samoles Position: 1 Date: 2016-05-12
Mainboard
Creature (30)
1 Goblin Sharpshooter
2 Siege-Gang Commander
2 Stingscourger
3 Goblin Chieftain
3 Goblin Piledriver
3 Mogg War Marshal
4 Gempalm Incinerator
4 Goblin Lackey
4 Goblin Matron
4 Goblin Ringleader
Sorcery (3)
3 Warren Weirding
Artifact (4)
4 AEther Vial
Land (23)
2 Wooded Foothills
3 Badlands
3 Bloodstained Mire
3 Mountain
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Rishadan Port
4 Wasteland
sideboard(15)
1 Tin Street Hooligan
2 Tuktuk Scrapper
2 Blood Moon
4 Leyline of the Void
2 Cabal Therapy
2 Perish
2 shatterstorm
I just Top-2'd an SCG IQ. Split the finals of an 8-man tourney to net $95 and twelves packs. Guys, SCG IQs have a guaranteed payout from SCG, so even though it was only an eight player tourney they still payed $250 to first place. We just played three rounds, single elimination like it was a top eight! Beat Pox 2-1, Manaless Dredge 2-0, and lost to Painter in the finals 1-2. Whole thing took less than 2 hours! Play in them IQs, gents.
Went 3-1 at FNM last night. Won some matches I honestly shouldn't have just due to people being so unfamiliar with the deck.
List:
4 Lackey
4 Matron
4 Warchief
4 Ringleader
3 War Marshal
3 Piledriver
2 Gempalm
1 Sharpshooter
1 Prospector
1 Stingscourger
1 Tin Street
1 Krenko
1 Siege-Gang
3 Tarfire
4 Vial
4 Cavern
4 Wasteland
4 Port
4 Wooded Foothills
1 Taiga
6 Mountain
SB:
2 Pyrokinesis
1 Stingscourger
1 Tinstreet
3 Relic
4 Chalice
4 Thorn of Amethyst
Match 1 I got a bye.
Match 2 vs Burn:
He got me with double Fireblast and a Vortex. Game 2 I had an early start with Lackey into Siege-gang. He didnt know the match up so that carried me to game 3. I dropped a Vial, then a Chalice for 1 and a thorn on turn 3, that plus Port kept him out the game entirely.
2-1
Match 3 vs ANT:
Game one he goes first and kills me turn 1, nothing to do about it. Game 2 I get a fast clock with turn 1 Lackey, turn 2 Port to keep him down and Lackey gets me a Krenko. Turn 3 I drop a Thorn and a free Warchief off of Lackey, make some dudes with Krenko and kill him next turn with Piledriver. Game 3 he goes first, draw pass. I play a Lackey and a Chalice for 0. He casts a Probe and sees another Chalice and a Thorn. So he scoops it up. I guess he couldn't beat it.
2-1
Match 4 vs Shardless BUG
I hate these games... I'm 3-0, hes 2-1. Game one I'm on the draw and I get an early lackey hit to drop Krenko and I kill him in 4 turns. Nothing fancy. Game 2 it starts to go south. I find out later he brings in 3 Toxic Deluge, 3 Golgari Charms and a single copy of Engineered Plague. I just bring in the Pyrokinesis' and Relics. He gets a Deathrite, I shock it with Tarfire. He plays a land and hymns me. I waste him. He plays a land and suspends a Visions, I draw more lands... The game went south from there. Game 3 after several turns he has board wiped me 3 times is on 3 lands 1 card in hand and a Visions with 2 counters on it. I have 4 lands a vial with 3 and a vial with 4. He top decks Shardless into Goyf, I draw lands and Vials for 5 turns. I seriously hate that deck.
1-2
I ended up 3-1 (if you can even count the bye) and got 3 packs. At least I beat ANT and Burn though. Does anyone have some tips on beating the 5 people playing Shardless at my store? I'm willing to just main deck Blood Moon at this point.
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