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View Full Version : [Report] Middle of the pack with Vial Goblins - 2010.09.11



KingAlanI
09-12-2010, 04:06 AM
I went 2-3-1 with my Vial Goblins variant at a Legacy tournament held on the RIT campus Saturday (I got to school there anyway)
Placed 30th out of 55th.

I had been out of the format for awhile, got the tournament announcement only a little bit ahead, and Goblins was something I already had pretty much in order. Ichorid would have been my only other serious off-the-shelf option. Well, I feel welcomed back to competitive MTG. This was certainly the biggest and most serious event I recall playing in.

The precise list played:

//Main
21 Mountain
2 Goblin Chieftain
4 Goblin Matron
4 Goblin Lackey
4 Goblin Piledriver
4 Goblin Ringleader
4 Goblin Warchief
4 Gempalm Incinerator
2 Siege-Gang Commander
2 Goblin Sharpshooter
3 AEther Vial
4 Lightning Bolt
1 Pyrokinesis
1 Winter Orb

// Sideboard
2 Winter Orb
4 Tormod's Crypt
2 Pyroblast
2 Red Elemental Blast
1 Mindbreak Trap
4 Smash to Smithereens


Round results

Round 1 : won 2-0, easily overran Stiflenaught
Round 2 : lost 2-1, just couldn’t win the race with Zoo
Round 3 : draw 1-1-1, very odd match against New Horizons. First game was a quick win; second was a slow loss thanks to eventually being overcome by WoG and Terravore. Third was leaning against me when we hit the time barrier.
Round 4 : lost 0-2, to monoblack – sacrifice and discard was tough, not to mentiona certain legendary artifact from the Kamigawa block
Round 5 : won 2-1. Belcher got a god hand against me turn 1, but no such luck in games 2 and 3. Game 2 he got the combo off, only to find Stomping Ground 2 cards from the top. Game 3 was nothing at all, with a massive Piledriver strike for the win.
Round 6 : lost 2-1. The Epic Storm fizzled in game 1 (Diminishing Returns failed to find proper ammo), but worked as intended games 2 and 3. TES guy said he's known as "rsaunder" on here, I believe.

Notes
Winter Orb is definitely a dud – perhaps I overrated it due to past success. (In fact, I got hoisted by my own petard a few times.) This would be a good slot for the Mindbreak Traps I really need. [I could have used more hate, but this event showed, in part, the sometimes-swingy nature of combo.]
Goblin Chieftain often sided out.

Lightning Bolt came to mind as a post-M10 Mogg Fanatic replacement. Seemed to perform well as early removal, maybe helping to get Lackey through. However, Fanatic or some other goblin still seems plausible. (Saw it ringleadered to the bottom a little too often.

I liked using Lackey with anything that had a enters-the-battlefield trigger.

Smash To Smithereens was my quick grab for anti-artifact; it’s clear that I could do better. (Shattering Spree?)
I sometimes sided down to 20 lands, especially if my other sideboarding lowered the curve.

Vial either did a lot or did nothing. Sometimes sided out a copy or two against the non-blue/control decks.

Siege-Gang Commander served me well, especially with a Lackey or Vial ready to receive the Matron’s payload. Thinking of going to 3 copies.

Didn’t really run into matchups where Sharpshooter seemed hugely relevant; it was sided out several times.

Seems like I could have done much better with a few key card switches.

tsabo_tavoc
09-12-2010, 12:36 PM
3 Vial Goblin has never been optimal. You sometimes found it doing nothing because you ran 21 Mountains. Nearly all lists play 4 Wastelands and monoR list can easily accommodate 4 Rishadan Ports.

Smash and Spree are decent anti-artifact choices while many players chose light green splash for Krosan Grip as Enchantments are becoming more annoying, Survival of the Fittest, Moat, Humility, Propaganda, to name a few. Mogg War Marshal is the popular anti-Zoo tech.

The Vial Goblin thread has more food for thought.

LostButSeeking
09-13-2010, 12:32 AM
. Mogg War Marshal is the popular anti-Zoo tech.

Just to further plug Mogg war-marshall. If Matron is demonic tutor and Ringleader is fact or fiction, Mogg war-marshall is moment's peace, except you don't have to pay the flashback cost. The 6 or 9 life that the MWM buys you is CRUCIAL when playing zoo.

KingAlanI
09-14-2010, 12:53 AM
Yeah, the red and double red is a limitation of my cost reducers, one that Vial deals with.

Since Sharpshooter was often sided out, that's a sign that it should start out in the sideboard to begin with? Perhaps one of those slots can go to the return of Vial #4.

Tarfire in for Lightning Bolt? Tired of losing Bolts to Ringleader.

I'll shop around on at least a couple wastelands and ports, I guess. That I simply didn't have time to do right before the event.

Mogg War Marshal sounds like fun.

Yes, enchantments are annoying, but the price of Taigas is also annoying. :P Expense-wise, I'll see how I feel after the wastelands and rishadan ports.