[DTB] Vial Goblins

@ScatmanX--I have never played Gobs but happened to poke my head in and see your explanation on the usefulness of Needle. My homebrew lockdown pet deck has been hurting for some time now. I can't seem to find the balance between denying them the pleasure of playing Magic and actually winning. You may have just solved the former. I Winter Orb/Port or Tangle Wire or Sphere of Resistance or (other lock pieces tried) and never can I beat decks that run wretched vial (and sdt is a problem as well, smooths out their draws for finding more lands!). Once they drop vial no amount of mana denial on my end is any good save propaganda. I will MD needle ftw! Oh hell, it even stops EE and Deed from x-1'ing my dork army. Thanks man!

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Originally Posted by Oiolosse

@ScatmanX--I have never played Gobs but happened to poke my head in and see your explanation on the usefulness of Needle. My homebrew lockdown pet deck has been hurting for some time now. I can't seem to find the balance between denying them the pleasure of playing Magic and actually winning. You may have just solved the former. I Winter Orb/Port or Tangle Wire or Sphere of Resistance or (other lock pieces tried) and never can I beat decks that run wretched vial (and sdt is a problem as well, smooths out their draws for finding more lands!). Once they drop vial no amount of mana denial on my end is any good save propaganda. I will MD needle ftw! Oh hell, it even stops EE and Deed from x-1'ing my dork army. Thanks man!

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Yeah, Needle is a good card against us. A friend of mine has been playing 2-3 for a while now in a CB build, and it makes my life miserable, while also enable him to get whatever land he needs.
I do not run Artifact hate though...

Hey guys, i have some decklists to share and i want all of your suggestions.
I've been playing Goblins for 2 years and have had pretty good succes with it.

I have 2 different decklists, i'll start with number 1.

This Decklist have been tested in my meta (show and tell, rock, merfolk, standstill, new horizon, zoo, and more. Normal ish meta).
I've went to 3 tournaments with decklist and went, 3-1, 3-1, 3-1 on these tournaments.

4 Warren Instigator
4 Goblin Lackey
4 Goblin Warchief
4 Goblin Matron
4 Goblin Ringleader
4 Goblin Piledriver
2 Siege-Gang Commander
1 Goblin Chieftain
1 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
1 Wort, Boggart Auntie
1 Gempalm Incinerator
1 Warren Weirding
4 Lightning Bolt
3 AEther Vial

4 Wasteland
4 Bloodstained Mire
3 Scalding Tarn
3 Badlands
2 Taiga
6 Mountains

SB:
3 Krosan Grip
4 Perish
3 Relic Of Progenitus
2 Blood Moon
3 REB

The gameplan is pretty simple here, kill the opponents early creatures so you can get a beat with either Lackey or Instigator, and hopefully the opponent can't keep up with the tempo.


This decklist has yet to be tested, but i think this decklist will be much more effective in an unknown meta.

4 Aether Vial
4 Goblin Lackey
4 Goblin Warchief
4 Goblin Matron
4 Goblin Ringleader
4 Goblin Piledriver
3 Warren Instigator
3 Gempalm Incinerator
2 MWM
2 Siege-Gang Commander
1 Goblin Chieftain
1 TSH
1 Stingscouger

4 Wasteland
3 Rishadan Port
4 Bloodstained Mire
3 Scalding Tarn
2 Taiga
7 Mountain

SB:
4 Mindbreak Trap
3 Pyrokinesis
3 Krosan Grip
3 Relic of Progenitus
2 Blood Moon/REB

Well the gameplan is not as aggressive here as my other decklist, this seems to be more controlling and more effective in an unknown meta.


So guys, what are your thoughts, what Goblin list would you play in an unknown meta? Any of those 2, or maybe another?

To prepare for an unknown meta I'd put as many flexibility to your deck as possible. Preparation for metas (in Goblins) is mostly about sideboard slots.

What makes your MD flexible is removal. Therefore I'd run 8 removals slots which are splitted 2-2-2-2 or 2-3-3 or the like. I wouldn't run any removal as a 4-off, because that makes your deck less flexible.

The following cards are what I consider "flexible sideboard slots":

- Pithing Needle
- Red Elemental Blast
- Krosan Grip/ Nature's Claim
- Goblin Sharpshooter
- Perish

Your SB should run 7-8 card against combo and graveyard-based decks.
Flexible combo hate: Thorn of Amethyst, Chalice of the Void
Flexible graveyard hate: Fearie Macabre, Tormod's Crypt


I cannot tell wether the one or the other deck is better. I'd just pick the core cards (look at my list on page back) and build the other cards around them.

Right now my SB looks like this:
3 Pithing Needle
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Tormod's Crypt
2 Red Elemental Blast
2 Pyroblast
1 Tuktuk Scrapper
1 Goblin Sharpshooter
1 Goblin Tinkerer
1 Stingscourger
It's tailored to stomp on U/R Sneak Attack, as well as random blue decks. I keep both Scrapper and Tinkerer in there, just because they're suited to different roles. I've seen a Dreadnought or two stomping around, so that's what Tinkerer is for, not to mention random Affinity/Top (I know they'll just draw, but it would turn it into a tempo sink), whereas Scrapper is to handle Jitte's and the like. Sharpshooter, random tribal decks. 4th Scourger to fight Nought's and SnT'd Emrakuls. Eh, it's a work in progress, tell me what you think.

StarCityGames.com Minneapolis Open Legacy Tournament Report by Jonathan Watry, 4th Place

Maindeck:

Artifacts
4 Aether Vial

Creatures
4 Gempalm Incinerator
3 Goblin Chieftain
4 Goblin Lackey
4 Goblin Matron
4 Goblin Piledriver
4 Goblin Ringleader
4 Goblin Warchief
2 Siege-Gang Commander
1 Stingscourger
2 Warren Instigator

Tribal Sorcerys
2 Warren Weirding

Basic Lands
6 Mountain
1 Swamp

Lands
1 Arid Mesa
2 Badlands
4 Bloodstained Mire
3 Rishadan Port
1 Scalding Tarn
4 Wasteland

Sideboard:
3 Chalice of the Void
2 Thorn of Amethyst
3 Tormod's Crypt
1 Goblin Sharpshooter
1 Goblin Tinkerer
1 Vexing Shusher
1 Anarchy
1 Nature's Ruin
2 Perish

Round 1 – Stifenaught
Game 1
He’s on the play and the first few turns pass with a couple of fetches and my Lackey/Vial being Forced. He plays a Mishra’s Factory, then another and starts attacking. I keep wading through his counterspells and eventually land a Warchief, then I start attacking too. When we’re both at 14 he makes his move and Trinket Mages into a Dreadnought that he Stifles. Good times. I have the Warchief and Piledriver in play and a Gempalm and Weirding in hand. Next turn he taps out to activate both Factories and swings with everything. I initially want to block Trinket Mage with Piledriver since he’s ProBlue, but I realize that since my opponent tapped out I can Weirding his Dreadnaught next turn if I kill his Mage in combat. So, I Gempalm one Factory, sacrifice Piledriver to the other, trade the Warchief with the Trinket Mage, and eat 12 from the Naught, putting me at 2. The next turn I Weirding his Dreadnaught away and cast a blocker. I also fetch going down to 1 life, because he’s not going to kill me with just one point of damage (all his creatures thus far have been 2/2). His hand is exhausted at this point and Matrons, Ringleaders, and Seige-Gang Commanders refill my board and overwhelm him.
Game 2
I side in Tinkerer and Shusher for the Instigators.
He plays an Island. I play a fetch and crack it (despite having a basic in my hand) and it is quickly Stifled. I felt pretty dumb falling to his deck’s turn 1 namesake. Then I think he Forces a Lackey. I play a Vial, he plays Pithing Needle (a card I greatly regret not having in my sideboard). Though I can’t Vial anything into play I can keep putting counters on it, as that is a triggered ability, not activated. I do manage to get a few goblins into play eventually, and we trade pot shots back and forth. Our life totals stay pretty even all game, but when we’re down to 13 I manage to Lackey a Siege-Gang into play. This prompts him to play an Engineered Explosives for 1 and then ANOTHER for 0. This wipes a lot of damage off my board, but he can’t come up with an answer for the remainder. I wrap it up shortly thereafter. After the match he shows me the Firespouts he sided in. Lucky me they never made an appearance.
2-0
1-0

Round 2 – Merfolk (U/B)
Game 1
He has a turn 1 Vial followed by a Force for a Lackey and a turn 2 Standstill. No reason not to crack it as I have no board position, so I play a Chieftain a few turns later. I get a Piledriver into play and hit him for 6 after taking care of his Mutavault with a Wasteland. I drop a few more Goblins into play the next turn and without a Mutavault the damage will be lethal. He scoops and we head to game 2.
Game 2
I side in Shusher, Tinkerer, and Sharpshooter and take out the Weirdings and an Instigator. I don’t want Weirdings against someone playing Mutavault.
This game is less one sided. I have to crack an early Standstill when neither of us has anything else in play because eventually he’d gonna get a Mutavault and I’ll have to crack it then anyway. My hand is pretty loaded though, and I know some Ringleaders will even out the card advantage he gets from Standstill. Eventually his board is Mutavault, Engineered Plague on Goblins, and 3 Aether Vials at 1, 2, and 3, but he’s run out of cards in hand. I have a Chieftain so I’ve got plenty of 1/1 Goblins on the table. Then I make a huge mistake that almost costs me the game. I attack with everything, including my Chieftain. Dumb dumb dumb. In the heat of the moment (as they say) I forgot that Chieftain isn’t a 2/2 anymore because he doesn’t get his own bonus, so my opponent can just block with a Mutavault (also a 1/1 due to having every creature type and there being an Engineered Plague in play [I just noticed this dissynergy of the U/B merfolk build]). He activated his Mutavault to block my Chieftain, which would essentially kill half my board. Incredibly luckily though, I have a Vial at 2 and a Stingscourger in hand. I use them to bounce the Vault, saving my Chieftain. He replays the Mutavault and has only 1 card in hand, and passes the turn. I draw a Wasteland and destroy his only Underground Sea. Normally I wouldn’t this late in the game since he has plenty of mana, but I want him to have to draw 2 cards to get another Plague in play instead of just one. I win shortly thereafter, and at the end of the game I notice that his last draw was a 2nd Engineered Plague.
2-0
2-0

Round 3 - R/W Sneak Attack
Game 1
My opponent was on the play and led with an Arid Mesa and passed. I played a fetch (over a basic Mountain) and tried to crack it to play a Lackey. In response to my fetch he fetched for a Plateau, which I found very odd, but then he Orim’s Chanted me, and I was denied my Lackey for a turn. Pity too, since I was holding a Siege-Gang I would have quite liked in play on turn two. Since he didn’t Chant me in my upkeep or draw step I would have gotten the Lackey had I just led with the Mountain. I passed, he played a land and passed. I played a land and 2 Lackeys. He then played a third land into a Seething Song, cast and activated a Sneak Attack, and threw an Emrakuel at me. I was down to 4 life and no permanents. He played a Words of War and killed me with his draw step over the next two turns.
Game 2
I side in 2 Thorn of Amethyst for 2 Instigators.
I play a turn 1 Vial, turn 2 Thorn. A few turns and goblins later he Oblivion Rings a Piledriver (had he gone for the Thorn I could have killed him with damage the next turn). I Wasteland a Sandstone Needles and eventually get some goblins in play and beat down for the win. On his last turn he’s able to cast Sneak Attack, but because of Thorn doesn’t have the mana to activate it.
Game 3
I have a strong hand with no 1 drop and a fetch, so I keep it hoping to get him to waste a Chant on my turn 1 fetch like he did game 1. This is exactly what happens, and I’m pleased to get him to throw a card away. Turn 2 he plays a land, I play a Piledriver. Turn 3 he plays a Seething Song into Sneak Attack. I hold my breath. He activates and puts into play a… Darksteel Colossus? I take 11. Turn 3 I cast Warchief and swing for 5, putting him to 14 (he fetched). He doesn’t have another fatty turn 4, and dies next turn when I Matron into a second Piledriver and attack for 17. I’m pretty happy I bluffed out the turn one Chant, because I could have easily lost to a topdeck if he used the Chant to stop my turn 4 attacks instead.
2-1
3-0

Round 4 – Countertop Goyf
Game 1
This is just a good match-up for me. Counterbalance is horrible against Goblins. Too many cards are cheated into play and the curve is too high for Counterbalance to work most of the time. Game one was one of those where I took 3 damage from a Goyf somewhere along the line while my opponent’s life total dropped by one, then two, then three, then 13. He never saw a Top this game, and I at one point Ringleadered for 4 new goblins. Game.
Game 2
I side in Tinkerer (expecting to see Top) and Shusher for 2 Instigators.
Once again the game was very one-sided. I never saw a Top and he didn’t side-out the Counterbalances (which I believe would have been in his favor). I fetched 4 times this game, which was the only damage I took. Fetching is great in a goblin deck because it makes your Ringleaders that much deadlier. I had 2 Vials in play at 2 and 4 and I vialed in a Ringleader for 4 more goblins AGAIN! I’d rather be lucky than good. I don’t recall exactly what I got in play, but it was definitely a combination of Shusher, Warchief/Chieftain, Piledriver. Then I Stingscourgered his only blocker (a Goyf). He tried to Force the Stingscourger, but I Shushered it. From a fetch and the Force he was at 18, then I attacked through the open board for 17, and passed the turn. He cast Firespout, and my board was cleared. No matter though. On my turn I upped my vials to 3 and 5, vialed a Matron into play, searched for a Siege-Gang, and won.
Post-match the only thing my opponent said before leaving was, “Nice Ringleaders.” Yes, they certainly were.
2-0
4-0

Round 5 – Dredge
Game 1
I was on the play and my opponent mulled to 5. I built up my board while he did nothing. Turn 3 he discarded a Golgari Grave-Troll at the end step. I got him down to 13. Turn 4 he Dredged the Troll and got a Narcomoeba in play. Didn’t matter though, as the little blue guy can’t block my huge Piledriver.
Between games my opponent mentions that it was the first game he’d lost all day! That’s quite the feet, given the difficulty of finding keepable hands with Dredge. But I would see in the next two games that he knew his deck inside and out, and he played it quickly and efficiently and pretty-damned well.
Game 2
I side in 3 Tormod’s Crypt for 2 Instigators and a Weirding.
This time his hand is a keeper and he overwhelms me pretty quickly. I kept a solid hand but never hit a Crypt.
Game 3
I wish I could remember this one more clearly, because it was a pretty interesting game. I got off to a faster start than him with a turn 1 Lackey. He cast Careful Study to get a Bridge from Below and a Dredger in his graveyard. I eventually got a Siege-Gang in play and sacrificed a token just to get the Bridge from Belows out of his graveyard. It was just in time, too. He went off the next turn but wasn’t able to generate enough Zombies to kill me with a Flame-Kin Zealot. Had he had the extra Bridge he might have been able to get there. As it was, he was in burn range the next turn and I had plenty of Siege-Gang fodder, so the goblins pulled through again.
2-1
5-0

Round 6 – Zoo
Game 1
First turn Lackey for me, first turn Taiga and Nacatl for her. Oh Zoo, the deck that can quickly play bigger creatures than me while removing all my threats. And it was a featured match, broadcast across the web on SCG.com. I was prepared to be embarrassed. Turn 2 I attacked with my Lackey because I had a handful of Goblins and a Wasteland. It was a win-win situation for me because I could either 2-2 her or put a Goblin into play. She thought about blocking, deciding whether I was bluffing her or not. She chose to block. My Lackey died, and I played a Wasteland on her Taiga, killing her Nacatl as it became a 1/1. I think some goblins players get timid with their lackeys. They’d rather send them through a clear board and keep them around until the opportunity presents itself. The way I see it, against Zoo your Lackey is never going to get through, so if you can use it to get rid of one of their creatures then do so. You will outdraw them as the game goes on, so any 1-1 trade is good for your game. After her Nacatl died the Zoo deck lost steam. She had plenty of removal for my goblins, but every 1-1 burn put me further ahead in card advantage, and every Path to Exile thinned my deck and allowed me to cast more goblins the following turn. I managed to get a couple of Siege-Gangs into play, and (unsurprisingly) they won me the game.
Game 2
I side in 2 Perish and a Nature’s Ruin for 2 Instigators and a Gempalm.
Game 2 was very similar to Game 1. She missed her 1 drop and 2 drop and kept a hand of removal and Knight of the Reliquary. This allowed me to play my game of generating creature advantage. She played her Knight and I in turn cast a Chieftain. I had two Mountains and a Wasteland to cast the Chieftain, and I chose him over the Warchief in my hand because I was also holding a Piledriver and Lackey. I saw myself generating a nasty combat phase the next turn, and thought the +1/+1 bonus from Chieftain was clearly better than the 1 cc reduction of Warchief. Well lo and behold she was packing a more diverse land package than the standard Zoo deck, and she used her Knight to fetch a Wasteland of her own. She promptly blew up my Wasteland and when the turn came back to me I was unable to cast both Lackey and Piledriver. I felt a little put out and worried that this would swing the tempo of the game in her favor. Fortunately it did not, and by the time she was able to put a Grim Lavamancer into play supporting her Knight I was able to bounce the Knight with a Stingscourger and swing for lethal with my goblin horde. I didn’t even have to cast the Nature’s Ruin I drew into. I instead decided to hang onto it in case the game took a massive turn for the worse. Fortunately for me, it didn’t come to that.
2-0
6-0

I drew the next 2 rounds and finished the 8 rounds of Swiss 6-0-2 in second place overall, and went into the top 8. I was very happy to see that 5 of the top 8 players were from the store where I play my Thursday night Legacy tournaments. There’s a certain amount of pride in seeing your cohorts putting up impressive showings, and some validation in knowing that you’ve been hanging in there on a weekly basis with players skilled enough to fill the top 8 of a large event.

Quarterfinals – Lands
Game 1
This was going to be an interesting match. I was paired against a deck and player I’ve faced many times before at my local Thursday night events. I knew he was playing Lands, and I was not too thrilled with the matchup. He knew I was playing Goblins, and was well aware of his losing record against me. Of course, now would be the perfect time for him to even the score when the stakes were at their highest. We started game 1 and he quickly got his Life from the Loam engine going. It wasn’t long before I was bogged down by a Tabernacle and locked out by a Glacial Chasm. I couldn’t concede yet, though, because I didn’t yet know what his win condition would be. I’ve played his Lands deck three times in the past and sometimes he’s killed with Mindslaver and sometimes with Factories. I hadn’t seen either yet and he was down to about a dozen cards in his library. It became clear that his kill condition today would be Celestial Colonnade. I still had some hope that if I could draw out all my Wastlands the next few turns he might potentially misplay and deck himself through dredging Loam. Well, not enough Wastelands came to keep me in the game and I lost with about a half hour off the clock.
Game 2
I sided in 3 Tormod’s Crypt and Tinkerer for 2 Weirdings, Stingscourger and a Gempalm.
My opponent mulled to 5 this game. I don’t recall how this the rest went, but his life total fell 19, 18, 15, 8 and then it was over. I’ll just assume he failed to get a Loam going. This was one of those games were Goblins won just because it’s so consistent.
Game 3
Game 3 was broadcast on SSG and is posted at GGSlive.com
He mulled to 6 and started off with a land and Manabond but didn’t dump his hand at the end step. I started off with an Aether Vial. Turn 2 he cast Mox Diamond (ditching a Tropical Island) and cast Gamble, grabbed a Loam, and it was randomly discarded. I had kept an opening hand with Crypt though, so turn 2 I removed his graveyard. He Krosan Gripped my Vial. I cast a Tinkerer. He played a Rishadan Port. I probably just should have blown up the Mox, but I figured I needed every damage I could deal and he had a green mana source in play to cast his next Loam, so whatever, I hit him for 1. He played a Maze of Ith and started using his Port to tap down a Mountain in my Upkeep. At this point I should have used that Mountain to activate Tinkerer and destroy the Mox, because in 20-20 hindsight I realize he cast a lot of spells (i.e. Gamble) with Mox. I played a Ringleader and got a 3 more Goblins, but saw a second Crypt go to the bottom of my library. I attacked with the Ringleader and Tinkerer, and he Mazed the Ringleader. On his turn he played Chasm, sacking Port, then used the Mox to cast Gamble and got a Loam in his graveyard. Curses. I should have been more aware and realized that Mox was his only Red or Blue source, and I knew that Gamble and Intuition were key components of his deck. Anywho, he got another Loam in his graveyard and he was back in business. On my turn I drew a Wasteland, but kept it in my hand for the time being. He had a Chasm and Maze in play, and I had only 2 goblins in play. I knew at this point that I needed a horde powerful enough to bash through for lethal in one attack. It needed to be able to attack through the Maze too, as I would only be able to Wasteland the Chasm. I played a Warchief and a Vial and finally killed the Mox with Tinkerer, then passed the turn. He let the Chasm die in his upkeep, then dredged up the Loam, and Manabonded the Chasm and 2 other lands into play at the end of his turn. To satisfy the Chasm’s enter play condition he sacrificed his Maze. I don’t know if he did this because he now needed more mana lands since I offed his Mox, or if he just forgot that I run Wastelands and he felt Chasm was all the protection he needed. Anywho, since I was holding a Wasteland I now had the ability to get damage through, but not enough guys on the board yet for a clean kill. He Ported one of my Mountains in my upkeep. I had a hand full of Goblins, but still couldn’t play enough for lethal, so I cycled a Gempalm to see what card was next. It was a Matron, which I promptly cast for a Piledriver, setting up my kill next turn. A commentator mentioned that I had “shown my hand” by playing the Matron that turn, and that I should have instead played the second Warchief in my hand and cast the Matron the following turn. He was probably right. My opponent, in his Upkeep, let the Chasm die, then dredged back Loam to put a Wasteland, Urza’s Factory, and Chasm into play at his end step. I think he was trying to get an offensive going, and to do so wanted to start making tokens. We were told before game three began that if time ran out (there was about 15 minutes of play left on the clock) and if there was no winner at the end of time and extra turns, then the winner would be based on life total. Since I have more ways of dealing damage, and we were down to the final minutes, I believe my opponent may have been planning for this eventuality. As it was, he Ported 2 of my Mountains in my upkeep. I played Wasteland and took out his Chasm. He had nothing untapped and no cards in hand. I cast a Chieftain and Vialed a Piledriver into play, then I attacked for more than 20. And that was game.

Semifinals – Painter’s Grindstone (aka Bomberman)
This rather uneventful match was covered at…
http://www.starcitygames.com/php/new...cle/19979.html
Game 1
I was on the play and had an awesome opening hand. I started with Lackey. He cast a turn 1 Grindstone. I played a Mountain, attacked with Lackey, put a Chieftain into play, then cast an Instigator. ‘This’ll put the pressure on,’ I thought. On his turn 2 he cast Painter’s Servant, then Lion’s Eye Diamond, then activated his Grindstone, and I was dead on my next draw phase. Hmf.
Game 2
I sided in 3 Chalice of the Void (?) and Tinkerer for some Instigators and something.
My opening hand was no good. I think it was a no-lander. I mulled to six and that hand had no gas, but it did have a Weirding which could have disrupted his combo. I decided it wasn’t going to get me there, so I mulled again. My five was a one lander (Port) with a Vial and a Chalice. I thought with Port I could at least disrupt his mana base while Vialing creatures into play and a Chalice at 0 could keep him from going off turn 2 with Lion’s Eye. And it worked! He went off turn 3 instead…
0-2

So my final match was over in a total of 12 turns. So it goes. He expressed that Goblins was one of his best matchups. No surprise then that we didn’t split top 4 prize money. Can’t say I blame him. His deck had 2 games against me that were about as good as they could be, and sometimes that’s just the way the cookie crumbles.

-Final Thoughts-
I was very pleased with my deck’s power and consistency over the course of this event. I think the main deck was pretty well composed. The mana base was solid. The fetches were excellent for thinning the deck, playing around non-basic hate, and securing the necessary mana. 3 Ports and 1 Swamp fit in nicely, and as always 4 Wastelands were exceptional. I liked running the 3 Chieftains as they gave me a certain built-in resilience when I came up against Engineered Plague, and Haste-y Goblins are happy Goblins. The 1-of Stingscourger was always helpful. The 2-of Weirdings saved the day on several occasions. The 4 Gempalms were amazing. Uncounterable creature removal that draws you a card? Yes, please. I ran 2 maindeck Instigators because I thought they were stronger Game 1 than utility goblins, which I relegated to the sideboard.

The one big sideboard regret I have is a lack of Pithing Needles. It would have been great to have a few of those (like, 4) against Sneak Attack and Grindstone, and they could also work wonders against a Survival deck. It’s a card I seriously considered for the sideboard, and having overlooked it cost me my last match and a shot at the Finals.

On the subject of the sideboard, Tormod’s Crypt served me well. I had considered playing Black graveyard hate (Planar Void, Extirpate) but then I remembered Saito’s Merfolk list from the GP. He ran Crypt, despite having access to Black also. His reasoning was that he could play out Crypt without having to slow his board development, and I agree with his logic. If goblins can keep rolling out of the gate while dealing with their opponent’s graveyards they make the clock that much quicker.

I ran 3 Green hosers and 1 White hoser in my sideboard. This has become a bit of a tradition in Goblin decks and I think I’m going to try something untraditional for a while now. Engineered Explosives seems like a decent replacement for the Green and White hosers I ran. It would be much better against Zoo’s early game, useful against Merfolk, and able to wipe out all those nasty one or two cc non-creatures that Goblins seldom have an answer for (like Elephant Grass in Enchantress or Manabonds in Lands, etc.). Since the Goblin curve is so high anyway (only 8 1cc and 6 2cc) Explosives could actually be a viable board sweeper. I’m going to start playtesting it this week.

I sided pretty heavily for the comb matchup (with 2 Thorns and 3 Chalices) only to never see it. Instead I saw combo decks more based around the permanents in play than the spells being played. I think the 3 Chalices will stay in my sideboard, but the Thorns are going to become Needles.

Utility goblins were great out of the sideboard. Tinkerer, Shusher, Sharpshooter, all were excellent to have available. I’m always looking for more goblins to fill the side slots, but for now these three seem to be it.

And that’s that. I had a great time, performed much better than I ever expected, and left with the best finish of my Magic career. Good times.

Nice report Jonathan! Congrats to your placement!

How would you build your sb now? Considering you said you wanted needle in your sb.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jrw1985

I think the 3 Chalices will stay in my sideboard, but the Thorns are going to become Needles.
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Ah, missed that part when i scimmed through the report.

Got my question answered then.

I'm curious, when would you side in Vexing Shusher? Against Landstill-esque Control decks? Counter-Top? What has been your experience with him?

Also GJ on the finish!

First of all: congratulations!

I was wondering the same as AmonAmarth: How did Shusher work out for you? I can only find 1 passage in your report where you used him. I'd like to hear a little explanation about what drove you to run him.

Second, I'm curious about your new sideboard that includes EE. Do you have any idea yet how it should look like? Would you change something in your MD because of EE? Splash G maybe? Run less/no Ports? I've tested EE myself a while ago and I like to see how you'd integrate it now.

Red Elemental Blast probably would have helped in the sideboard. There's a lot of blue-based decks today and it helps you against Painter as well.

After a fun fieldtrip into the land of control (landstill and countertop thopters) its time to break out my goblins deck again.

// Lands
3 [R] Badlands
4 [ON] Bloodstained Mire
4 [MPR] Wasteland
2 [U] Taiga
5 [BRB] Mountain (7)
4 [MM] Rishadan Port

// Creatures
3 [LE] Gempalm Incinerator
4 [US] Goblin Lackey
4 [7E] Goblin Matron
4 [ON] Goblin Piledriver
4 [AP] Goblin Ringleader
4 [SC] Goblin Warchief
2 [M10] Siege-Gang Commander
2 [PLC] Stingscourger
1 [M10] Goblin Chieftain
1 [CHK] Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
1 [LRW] Wort, Boggart Auntie
1 [MOR] Lightning Crafter
1 [ON] Goblin Sharpshooter
1 [EVG] Skirk Prospector

// Spells
4 [DS] AEther Vial
2 [MOR] Warren Weirding

// Sideboard
SB: 3 [6E] Perish
SB: 2 [LRW] Thorn of Amethyst
SB: 3 [AL] Pyrokinesis
SB: 4 [GP] Leyline of the Void
SB: 3 [M11] Back to Nature


that is what my current build looks like, yes it is 61 cards main. Master Shake has convinced me that running 60 over 61 is really statistically irrelevent especially when theres 61 cards you really want to play. We run out of things to talk about.

My SB is a little bit in flux right now as I try and straighten it out.

3 Perish
4 Leyline's
3 Back to Nature

those are all staying.

3 Pyrokenesis
2 Thorns

are the two I'm thinking about fluxing. How do you guys feel about Anarchy to deal with things like humility/moat? and obviously a white Perish. Or is back to nature enough?

Combo hate, I'm not sure if I want to give that match up as a bad loss or keep the SB slots dedicated to it. Currently there are 3 combo decks running around our meta. Belcher, Doomsday, and TES. I'm contemplating just attempting to race them and hope they go the goblins route so I can sharpshooter ftw, but I'm not sure.


Edit - Skirk Prospector is in there incase I ever get a chance to Kiki-Jiki/Lightning Crafter combo off, but the odds of that happening are slim so I'm not really convinced on keeping him in there, but I want to do some more testing with him.

First of all: Welcome back!

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Originally Posted by Neuad

We run out of things to talk about.

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No... we are in the middle of 2 discussions that you obviously didn't follow.

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Originally Posted by Neuad

My SB is a little bit in flux right now as I try and straighten it out.

3 Perish
4 Leyline's
3 Back to Nature

those are all staying.

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If you like statistics then let me tell you the following: The chance to have Leyline on your opening hand with 4 copies in deck is 49,18% - with 3 copies it's 36,89%. I run 3 copies in SB becaue the chance to draw a second one is too high in the course of the game. There goes my first question: When do you bring Leyline in and how does it change your decisions on mulligan in g2 and 3?

An alternative to Back to Nature ist Reverent Silence. What do you think?

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Originally Posted by Neuad

3 Pyrokenesis
2 Thorns

are the two I'm thinking about fluxing. How do you guys feel about Anarchy to deal with things like humility/moat? and obviously a white Perish. Or is back to nature enough?

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I think Pyrokinesis is a great card but it needs practice to use it right. Many people come to the conclusion that "this card just sucks, cause I always have to pitch my Matron or Ringleader or what ever other wincondition!". Therefore: Use it as LATE as possible.
I wouldn't add Anarchy, maybe you can REPLACE Back to Nature, but adding Anarchy is not an option imo.

Thorn is imo only good for 2 MU's: Combo and Enchantress. Against most other decks it's either useless or there are just better cards waiting in your SB. Therfore: I wouldn't run it as a 2 of if you dont have any other combo hate.

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Originally Posted by Neuad

Combo hate, I'm not sure if I want to give that match up as a bad loss or keep the SB slots dedicated to it. Currently there are 3 combo decks running around our meta. Belcher, Doomsday, and TES. I'm contemplating just attempting to race them and hope they go the goblins route so I can sharpshooter ftw, but I'm not sure.

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Our MU against TES and ANT is 49-51 in our favor. I explained this like 2 pages ago, maybe you can read the post. It seems though that we win 2-1 most of the matches. Therefore we seem to have rather effective combo hate. Because of this I'd dedicate 3-4 slots to combo hate, it's worth it!

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Originally Posted by Neuad

Edit - Skirk Prospector is in there incase I ever get a chance to Kiki-Jiki/Lightning Crafter combo off, but the odds of that happening are slim so I'm not really convinced on keeping him in there, but I want to do some more testing with him.

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I wouldn't go for the combo but rather for a synergy between Prospetor-Sharpshooter-Mogg War Marshal


@ you maindeck: I run a 3colored build with 4 Ports and 4 Wastes and I came to the conclusion that we should keep our nonbasic-count low and fetchland count rather high - to be flexible and less vulerable to wastelands. I'd either cut some black cards MD and go for 2 Badlands or just leave them out. Especially with Kiki-Jiki (with mana costs RRR) it's not wise to run 8 colorless lands.

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No... we are in the middle of 2 discussions that you obviously didn't follow.

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That wasn't talking about this thread =p

[quote]If you like statistics then let me tell you the following: The chance to have Leyline on your opening hand with 4 copies in deck is 49,18% - with 3 copies it's 36,89%. I run 3 copies in SB becaue the chance to draw a second one is too high in the course of the game. There goes my first question: When do you bring Leyline in and how does it change your decisions on mulligan in g2 and 3?[quote]

I can see running 3 copies being perfectly fine, this SB was kind of thrown together today while I was driving around and I was a little worried about sticking one copy beginning of game and then getting stuck with 2 others in my hand.

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An alternative to Back to Nature ist Reverent Silence. What do you think?

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While Rev Silence is nice, isnt giving our opponent life the complete opposite of goblins game plan?

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I think Pyrokinesis is a great card but it needs practice to use it right. Many people come to the conclusion that "this card just sucks, cause I always have to pitch my Matron or Ringleader or what ever other wincondition!". Therefore: Use it as LATE as possible.

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I will keep that in mind and practice/test with it some more.

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I wouldn't add Anarchy, maybe you can REPLACE Back to Nature, but adding Anarchy is not an option imo.

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Thorn is imo only good for 2 MU's: Combo and Enchantress. Against most other decks it's either useless or there are just better cards waiting in your SB. Therfore: I wouldn't run it as a 2 of if you dont have any other combo hate.


Our MU against TES and ANT is 49-51 in our favor. I explained this like 2 pages ago, maybe you can read the post. It seems though that we win 2-1 most of the matches. Therefore we seem to have rather effective combo hate. Because of this I'd dedicate 3-4 slots to combo hate, it's worth it!

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Well we have alot of enchantress running around our meta, hence the back to natures to get rid of elephant grass. but I guess rev silence would be better against that matchup with Sterling Groves.

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@ you maindeck: I run a 3colored build with 4 Ports and 4 Wastes and I came to the conclusion that we should keep our nonbasic-count low and fetchland count rather high - to be flexible and less vulerable to wastelands. I'd either cut some black cards MD and go for 2 Badlands or just leave them out. Especially with Kiki-Jiki (with mana costs RRR) it's not wise to run 8 colorless lands.

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I'm not impressed with running 8 colorless sources and thinking of cutting ports for 2 reasons, I dont have access to any and 8 colorless sources is just too much.

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Originally Posted by antonbystedt

Nice report Jonathan! Congrats to your placement!

How would you build your sb now? Considering you said you wanted needle in your sb.

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Sideboard

3 Chalice of the Void
3 Tormod's Crypt
3 Pithing Needle
3 Engineered Explosives
1 Goblin Tinkerer
1 Goblin Sharpshooter
1 Vexing Shusher

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Originally Posted by Amon Amarth

I'm curious, when would you side in Vexing Shusher? Against Landstill-esque Control decks? Counter-Top? What has been your experience with him?

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He comes in against anything with counters (In my report that was Stiflenaught, Merfolk, and Countertop). Counters are huge in the format, and if you can side in 1 card to shut down 12 of your opponent's cards, that's pretty powerful. Also players tend to forget about him and then try to Force a Ringleader later on. Nothing puts a player on tilt (I hate to use poker terminology) like blowing 2 cards and 1 life on a spell that becomes uncounterable (which happened in my Countertop matchup). So, yeah, I'm pretty pleased with him.

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Originally Posted by GoboLord

Second, I'm curious about your new sideboard that includes EE. Do you have any idea yet how it should look like? Would you change something in your MD because of EE? Splash G maybe? Run less/no Ports? I've tested EE myself a while ago and I like to see how you'd integrate it now.

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I don't plan on changing the MD at all. I just thought that EE at 1 or 2 was much better against Zoo than Perish (which cannot hit Lavamance, Loam Lion, that stuff) and clearly far, far more flexible. I don't know if it's the right thing to do yet, but I'm looking forward to trying it out. Also, I like the idea of using it against control decks like Lands, Enchantress, what-have-you.

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Originally Posted by Justin

Red Elemental Blast probably would have helped in the sideboard. There's a lot of blue-based decks today and it helps you against Painter as well.

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I have problems with REB because, like Perish, it's extremely narrow in it's application. Half the time it's just going to be used on a counterspell anyway, and I'm already siding Shusher. Plus, it thins the deck of goblins and only provides a 1-1.

Aside-
I carried out a somewhat derogatory exchange a while ago about anti-combo SB options. I was initially against using Chalice but, to the credit of whoever it was I was arguing with, I ultimately went with them.

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Originally Posted by Neuad

Edit - Skirk Prospector is in there incase I ever get a chance to Kiki-Jiki/Lightning Crafter combo off, but the odds of that happening are slim so I'm not really convinced on keeping him in there, but I want to do some more testing with him.

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You know, with Crafter/Kiki/Shooter, you already got the kill. No need for Prospector.
Make a copy of Crafter. Cahmpion Kiki. Tap Shooter. Crafter-copy kills itself. Shooter untaps. Kiki returns untapped.
Repeat.

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Originally Posted by Neuad

While Rev Silence is nice, isnt giving our opponent life the complete opposite of goblins game plan?

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And using 2 Mana instead of dropping Goblins isn't?
I think the tempo sink of both are the same.
And if I where to run green, I'd prefer K.Grip. (if anyone asks...)

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Originally Posted by ScatmanX

You know, with Crafter/Kiki/Shooter, you already got the kill. No need for Prospector.
Make a copy of Crafter. Cahmpion Kiki. Tap Shooter. Crafter-copy kills itself. Shooter untaps. Kiki returns untapped.
Repeat.

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You need Prospector if you don't have Shooter.

1. C and K untapped
2. C taps for damage
3. K taps to opy C. Copies swallowing K.
4. Copies kills itself
5. K commes back untapped, C is still tapped

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Originally Posted by GoboLord

You need Prospector if you don't have Shooter.

1. C and K untapped
2. C taps for damage
3. K taps to opy C. Copies swallowing K.
4. Copies kills itself
5. K commes back untapped, C is still tapped

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Yes.
You need Prospector OR Shooter.
That's what I said...

The difference is, that you can cast Rev. SIlence any time you control a forest while the other one can be played every time you have 2 mana left. The temposink IS the same, yeah.

I'd prefer Grip or Nature's Claim too btw. What Do you think of Nature's claim, Scatchman?
I bring it in against combo too, to destroy my vials/chalice in response on the any Tendrils copy and gain 4 lives