[Deck] Vial Goblins

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Originally Posted by Sagratho

I was running the instigator list... but it always brick when get wasted and double red mana is an permanent issue. So i start read some articles and watch videos on youtube from Jim Javis (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYbnisCh7pI) and i think the classic build is better than any other, as Max Tieze and Jim Davis always play with that build.

So whats the main trouble that classic build cant deal that force us to play with a different build or an hibrid one like yours?

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I also think that the classic build is better than Gator one right now. It is always a meta call and the main difference is speed. I first created an Instigator decklist to fight in the Mental Misstep era. Since then it was also awesome when the meta was mostly Stoneforge decks and Maverick. Right now though, I'm in the classic train, but I like dusting off Instigators every now and then to see what they can do in the meta.
Oh, and if you try Instigator, play lots of R sources. 17-19 is what I'd recommend.

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Originally Posted by Dan Pyre

However, the emergence of Eldrazi in particular has made Tarfire a far less appealing choice for me:

-Chalice on 1
-Doesn't replace itself
-Doesn't scale
-Awkward interaction when trying to double up on Reality Smasher
-Can't kill Thought-Knot or a big enough Endless One

Another minor point is that it is not counterable by conventional countermagic (against Delver and Infect decks, for example) so it is easier to pull kills off with Gempalm than Tarfire.

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Tarfire is not great against Elfrazi, indeed. Even though some take out CotV after SB. removal is not how we win. Board presence and mana denial is.
And I don't agree that Gempalm is better against Delver and Infect. I mean, it is awesome, but so is Tarfire. Post sb we bring in counterable cards. If we don't draw Caverns, our Goblins are counterable. If they Daze your MWM T2, you're gonna have a hard time Gempalming Delver before stabilizing. And regarding Infect, which is a combo deck, paying 1 mana for your removal instead of 2 is HUGE.
All that said, my Classic build now will either play 4 Gempalm/ 1 Tarfire, or a 3/2 split, because the card draw from Gempalm is essential in many other MU's (oh, and 2 Kinesis MD as well because fuck your creatures)

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Originally Posted by 16km

Do you think playing Metallic Mimic with a Murderous Redcap could be an alternate win-con?

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Sounds horrible. Please try it =D
As Olaf said, brainstorming is even more important than the results

@ Olaf:
If you take a look at our DtB, BRx Reanimator is starting to grow in numbers pretty quickly and is a very tough deck. I'm just commenting because some of your SB run both Mindbreak Trap and Thalia, which I think should be wrong nowadays. Thalias + more grave hate can be very good against both Reanimator and Past in Flames deck, and against SnT you have the Thalia + Sting + Needles (Sneak Attack), which I think is both broader and more effective answers.

@ Goblin Pyromancer:
No, just no. It has been tested.

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Originally Posted by ScatmanX

And regarding Infect, which is a combo deck, paying 1 mana for your removal instead of 2 is HUGE.
All that said, my Classic build now will either play 4 Gempalm/ 1 Tarfire, or a 3/2 split, because the card draw from Gempalm is essential in many other MU's (oh, and 2 Kinesis MD as well because fuck your creatures)

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This is a great point! However, I normally bring in Chalice on 1 versus Infect (cantrips, Berserk, Glistener Elf and Noble Hierarch) and I can't cast my own Tarfire into that :(

That said, I would be willing to play some Tarfires again if I could find foil copies of it ANYWHERE! :(

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Originally Posted by ScatmanX

I also think that the classic build is better than Gator one right now. It is always a meta call and the main difference is speed. I first created an Instigator decklist to fight in the Mental Misstep era. Since then it was also awesome when the meta was mostly Stoneforge decks and Maverick. Right now though, I'm in the classic train, but I like dusting off Instigators every now and then to see what they can do in the meta.
Oh, and if you try Instigator, play lots of R sources. 17-19 is what I'd recommend.


Tarfire is not great against Elfrazi, indeed. Even though some take out CotV after SB. removal is not how we win. Board presence and mana denial is.
And I don't agree that Gempalm is better against Delver and Infect. I mean, it is awesome, but so is Tarfire. Post sb we bring in counterable cards. If we don't draw Caverns, our Goblins are counterable. If they Daze your MWM T2, you're gonna have a hard time Gempalming Delver before stabilizing. And regarding Infect, which is a combo deck, paying 1 mana for your removal instead of 2 is HUGE.
All that said, my Classic build now will either play 4 Gempalm/ 1 Tarfire, or a 3/2 split, because the card draw from Gempalm is essential in many other MU's (oh, and 2 Kinesis MD as well because fuck your creatures)


Sounds horrible. Please try it =D
As Olaf said, brainstorming is even more important than the results

@ Olaf:
If you take a look at our DtB, BRx Reanimator is starting to grow in numbers pretty quickly and is a very tough deck. I'm just commenting because some of your SB run both Mindbreak Trap and Thalia, which I think should be wrong nowadays. Thalias + more grave hate can be very good against both Reanimator and Past in Flames deck, and against SnT you have the Thalia + Sting + Needles (Sneak Attack), which I think is both broader and more effective answers.

@ Goblin Pyromancer:
No, just no. It has been tested.

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Actually someone already brought this to my attention and reminded me that Grafdigger's Cage was a card. I agree that Storm is far less likely to show, but I am planning on doing my best, and that means getting through 15-18 rounds of Legacy. Anything can happen in Legacy. I think a wider board is better for a wider field, even if a percentage or two is lost elsewhere.

Edit:
I had been considering something more like below, but as everyone knows, these are subject to change up until I've registered.

3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben - All spell based combo, Non-wasteland spell heavy decks (UR Delver, U based Stoneblade, Miracles)
2 Containment Priest - S&T, Reanimator, Elves
2 Surgical Extraction - Reanimator, Lands
2 Relic of Progenitus - Shardless, Aggro Loam,
2 Pithing Needle - D&T, Miracles, Lands
1 Tin Street Hooligan - D&T, Shardless
1 Wear // Tear - D&T, Miracles
1 Pryokinesis - Eldrazi, D&T, Grixis, Elves
1 Krenko, Mob Boss - Eldrazi, Shardless

My issues with this board are simply put, I feel actual dead against Storm, and Omnitell. And there just isn't room for Blood Moon. I'm only actually want Moon for Shardless and Grixis, despite it's text in some other matches. I don't expect Grixis is going to make huge waves. And Krenko, according to my testing, has had more text than just Blood Moon or just Krenko from board against Shardless. All that said, I still don't have Grafdigger's in here. I'm going to get some last minute testing tonight to figure out how to jam 1-2 Grafdigger's without losing much to S&T.

@Dan: alright, that's reasonable then. Still, I'd play both tarfires and CotV, reason being, if I have CotV online I'm quite likely to win anyway, and if not, tarfires are quite good. Also, they run Zenith with Veridian Corrupter to break CotV.

@Olaf: I'm not saying to don't run combo hate if you want to, but imo Mindbreak Trap is just too narrow nowadays, and most storm decks are relying a lot in Past in Flames, making grave hate not only broader, but as effective. Either way, depends on how you want to prepare yourself for the matchups.

Sent from my SM-J500M using Tapatalk

@Olaf:
I've been running build #23/30 from your signature for a few weeks and have liked it a lot. The 2/2/2 maindeck removal suite of Tarfire/Gempalm/Pyrokinesis has been excellent for me. I'm curious why you've moved away from Pyrokinesis in the main. Being able to go up to a third copy post-board was great in the creature matchups.

I played Pyroblast over Mindbreak Trap in that board because it's a broader effect, giving another weapon vs Show and Tell. Mindbreak alone won't flip the storm matchup and Pyroblast is effective against many of their hands anyway: many times they'll keep a hand based on cantrips to dig into a tutor and Pyroblast will buy you time.

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Originally Posted by Sockosensei

@Olaf:
I've been running build #23/30 from your signature for a few weeks and have liked it a lot. The 2/2/2 maindeck removal suite of Tarfire/Gempalm/Pyrokinesis has been excellent for me. I'm curious why you've moved away from Pyrokinesis in the main. Being able to go up to a third copy post-board was great in the creature matchups.

I played Pyroblast over Mindbreak Trap in that board because it's a broader effect, giving another weapon vs Show and Tell. Mindbreak alone won't flip the storm matchup and Pyroblast is effective against many of their hands anyway: many times they'll keep a hand based on cantrips to dig into a tutor and Pyroblast will buy you time.

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If you take a closer look at that post, I kind of didn't. If I can't fit them in my board they fit in my main. I'm on the 2/2/2 split as of this moment.

The actual, factual, non-fallacious, reason I like to run Mindbreak trap is Belcher. I always fear I will run into it. I never have buys, because I don't attend enough events, and still have to make the first few rounds alive.

Ha!
I can't speak to Belcher's % of the field, but I think we just have to dodge it. If early round jank decks is the fear, Pyroblast will probably be useful against more decks than Mindbreak Trap will.

I understand now what you were saying about the removal. I'm a big fan of the 2 Pyrokinesis main, with the third in the board. I'd like to have a 3rd Gempalm, but with only 2 MWM, not confident it'd be consistent.

Good luck today everyone!

Dear fellow goblins,

The MTG pro player Paul Cheon is maybe playing Goblins soon. Please, help him decide by filling his poll:
http://www.strawpoll.me/12046545/r

:wink:

Hello Warchiefs,

I was watching Paul Cheon Stream and then a wild Jim Davis apears to help Paul on the tournament. This was his last updated decklist:

Core
4 Vial
4 Lackey
4 Ringleader
4 Matron

Others
4 Warchief
3 Gempalm
3 Piledriver
3 War Marshal
3 Tarfire
1 SGC
1 TSH
1 Stingscourget
1 Prospector
1 Sharpshooter

Lands
4 Port
4 Waste
4 Cavern
6 red fetch
1 Plateau
1 Taiga
3 Mounain

I have some questions abouth the list. Jim Davis said thats Lackey is abouth 9th best card on deck, and first one is Ringleader... Our main strategy is drop land and believe on Ringleader. So If we have a deck that likes to extend the game, why run less fetchable lands than fetch lands?? Its 5 lands for 6 fetch lands, if we hav a mountain/taiga/plateau on ur hand, on lategame we will fetch nothing.

My second question is abouth Skirk/Sharpshooter vs Krenko/Chieftain. I think to run sharpshooter, I must run prospector and to run Krenko, its necessary run Chieftain. But I like too much Krenko as win con... i like too much the plays that prospector enables. I dont like sharpshooter, i think it is very slow without an haste lord, i run 1 Pyrokinesis and 2 Tarfire as an attempt to no need sharpshooter in my deck.

So why a lot of sharpshooter and no krenkos??

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Originally Posted by Sagratho

Lands
4 Port
4 Waste
4 Cavern
6 red fetch
1 Plateau
1 Taiga
3 Mounain

I have some questions abouth the list. Jim Davis said thats Lackey is abouth 9th best card on deck, and first one is Ringleader... Our main strategy is drop land and believe on Ringleader. So If we have a deck that likes to extend the game, why run less fetchable lands than fetch lands?? Its 5 lands for 6 fetch lands, if we hav a mountain/taiga/plateau on ur hand, on lategame we will fetch nothing.

My second question is abouth Skirk/Sharpshooter vs Krenko/Chieftain. I think to run sharpshooter, I must run prospector and to run Krenko, its necessary run Chieftain. But I like too much Krenko as win con... i like too much the plays that prospector enables. I dont like sharpshooter, i think it is very slow without an haste lord, i run 1 Pyrokinesis and 2 Tarfire as an attempt to no need sharpshooter in my deck.

So why a lot of sharpshooter and no krenkos??

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With two splashes the flexibility of the fetchlands can outweigh the late game value that comes from having more fetchable lands.

I agree that Sharpshooter is MUCH better in a list with Prospector. I do however strongly disagree that one would need Chieftain in a list with Krenko.
While Krenko is very good with Chieftain, Krenko is also just really good with about anything. The trick is not to make your Krenko late game more powerful, but to make it easier to reach, and more resilient.
Haste is good for this reason, and while +1/+1 is obviously great with many small creatures, it is mostly not necessary when you can produce as many tokens as Krenko can. Chieftain is great for other reasons, and more hastelords can be great in a Krenko centric list, but unless your facing E-Plague effects I'd rather have Warchief to help me cast Krenko.

I also find the list Davis gave to Cheon to be a little odd, if for nothing else the lack of Krenko or Siege-Gang. The 3 MWMs indicate that it's not an incredibly aggressive version of the deck, but it seems to lack lategame punch. That being said, I do think Piledriver is better exactly right now more so than normal because of the popularity of the Leovold decks after Reid Duke's victory. PD having pro blue seems like it might finally be relevant, especially with so many people playing slightly durdly blue 3 drops and Baleful Strix. So perhaps Jim is thinking of PD as the finisher over krenko in this case.

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Originally Posted by 1GoblinLackey

I also find the list Davis gave to Cheon to be a little odd, if for nothing else the lack of Krenko or Siege-Gang. The 3 MWMs indicate that it's not an incredibly aggressive version of the deck, but it seems to lack lategame punch. That being said, I do think Piledriver is better exactly right now more so than normal because of the popularity of the Leovold decks after Reid Duke's victory. PD having pro blue seems like it might finally be relevant, especially with so many people playing slightly durdly blue 3 drops and Baleful Strix. So perhaps Jim is thinking of PD as the finisher over krenko in this case.

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I mean, it's also his play-style, looking at other formats. He likes to play U/W control with as little finisher's as possible. Play Wait and Bait, and then clamp down on the victory. The more finisher's you are running though, the more Get Out of Jail Free cards you have when things go awry. Putting it bluntly, the more finisher's you run the less skill the deck takes to pilot to a victory, but it comes at the downside of punishing you harshly when you draw them at in-opportune times. A while back Gobolord was running a finisher-less build that he was doing just fine with. Ringleader is the true win-con of the deck more often than not.

There are exceptions. Krenko is just really, really good against Shardless, where our maindeck is slightly lacking.


I also like Piledriver as an out to Leovold. That card sure is a 3/3.

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I'll be writing my report for the GP over this week. I did terribly for anyone curious, with a miserable 4/5 record. In my defense I was battling a cold all weekend and actually had a headache the entire main event. It felt like I was playing at my skill level from 3 years ago. Lot's of little errors that matter, because Legacy, and my fair share of bad beats (I LOST A MATCH TO MIRACLES, THE SHAME!!). Anyway, I'll be writing it up and explaining what I think I did wrong and where I could have done better. Be on a look out for that.

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Originally Posted by Olaf Forkbeard

A while back Gobolord was running a finisher-less build that he was doing just fine with. Ringleader is the true win-con of the deck more often than not.

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To be fair, this list had 4 Chieftain, 4 Piledriver and 4 Warren instigator. While none of them is a real wincondition on its own, having multiple copies of any is very close to being one. I definitely wouldnt run a list without Krenko, SGC (or Kiki-Jiki to some extent), if it doesn't have 4 copies of Goblin Chieftain.

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Originally Posted by Olaf Forkbeard

I'll be writing my report for the GP over this week. I did terribly for anyone curious, with a miserable 4/5 record. In my defense I was battling a cold all weekend and actually had a headache the entire main event. It felt like I was playing at my skill level from 3 years ago. Lot's of little errors that matter, because Legacy, and my fair share of bad beats (I LOST A MATCH TO MIRACLES, THE SHAME!!). Anyway, I'll be writing it up and explaining what I think I did wrong and where I could have done better. Be on a look out for that.

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Sorry to hear that, but to be perfectly honest, I tend to learn more from negative performances than from good ones (in fact sometimes, I just skip the reports of the matches that were won, when reading a tournament report). As such, I'm looking forward to reading your report (as always).

Hi Ringleaders, here’s the list I piloted for GP Louisville:

Lands (23)
11 Mountain
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Wasteland
4 Rishadan Port

Artifacts (4)
4 Aether Vial

Instants (2)
2 Pyrokinesis

Creatures (31)
4 Goblin Lackey
4 Goblin Matron
4 Goblin Ringleader
4 Goblin Warchief
4 Mogg War Marshal
4 Gempalm Incinerator
1 Skirk Prospector
1 Goblin Piledriver
1 Stingscourger
1 Goblin Sharpshooter
1 Tuktuk Scrapper
1 Krenko, Mob Boss
1 Siege-Gang Commander

Sideboard (15)
4 Leyline of the Void
3 Blood Moon
3 Pithing Needle
3 Chalice of the Void
1 Stingscourger
1 Tuktuk Scrapper

Some notes before the games: I made the last minute snap decision to cut a Krenko and my singleton Goblin Chieftain to fit in Skirk Prospector and Goblin Sharpshooter. While I never had a tournament game where I managed to land both, having that interaction available to me made several matchups more favorable (including Elves which I played against and lost with Sharpshooter in hand… better never than not having it in the deck, I suppose :( )

I didn’t take super specific notes on any game but if anything specific happened I’ll try my best to explain what happened though the exact board state at times might not be clear.

On to the games:

Round 1: Clark on BUG Delver

I played against a lot of BUG Delver over the weekend. It feels like a decent matchup. Their Dazes can snag your Aether Vials on turn 1 but otherwise it feels like we outgrind them. Especially considering I won this match 2-0 after getting double Hymn to Tourach’d both games. Ringleader is pure gas!

My life pad never drops me below 18 life in either game but I remember blocking Tarmogoyf - the multiples of Mogg War Marshal paid off here. Additionally, Krenko made an appearance late in each game to seal the deal.

SB: 3 Blood Moon on the play and draw, removed Lackeys on the draw and put in Needles and another Stingscourger I believe.

1-0 (2-0)

Round 2: Benjamin on Elves
In game 1 Benjamin has the nuts Elves draw complete with an eventual 3x Nettle Sentinel and Hertiage Druid chaining off with Glimpse of Nature. Not much I could have done there.

In game 2, I think I cycled 3 Gempalms and ports kept him off mana while Lackey and Mogg War Marshal tokens bashed in for the grindy win.

In game 3, I have to mull to 5 - 3 lands, a Mogg and a Gempalm. It’s as good as it gets on a mull versus Elves. I happen to draw Sharpshooter but am a turn too late to deploy it before I get Nettle/Heritage’d again for the loss.

SB: 3 Chalice of the Void, 2/3 Pithing Needle. 3 Ringleaders, Stingscourger and Tuktuk out.

1-1 (3-2)

Round 3: Chris on Eldrazi

In game 1 Gempalm killing Reality Smasher and other Eldrazi for net value and Krenko manage to seal the deal before I drop below 13 life.

In game 2 Chris is unfortunately mana screwed after I Wasteland him twice and Vial in a Warchief. Krenko and friends drop in shortly after that. I think I managed to even play the Blood Moon to prompt Chris to scoop before the lethal attack.

I feel like this matchup is favorable so long as we’re able to keep up on board in the early game and then land a Krenko to pump out enough creatures to chump if we’re in a very bad position. It’s hard to justify Wastelanding in the early game especially if they have a Mimic and a Sol land - if they land a Thought-Knot and take your best card and you don’t have any mana to spare, we won’t be able to recover in time to stabilize. Save your Wastelands unless they actively miss a land drop or you have Vials!

SB: 3 Blood Moon, 1 Tuktuk. I think I took out Piledriver, Stingscourger, and Skirk + Sharpshooter. Not sure if that’s entirely correct but I think Ringleader is important to make sure that we keep up with the creature battle.

2-1 (5-2)

Round 4: Alix on Enchantress

Seriously? What are the odds! Alix is a really cool dude and even has a ‘The Source’ playmat so I imagine he’s very good. Unfortunately for me, there’s not much I can do in the matchup other than pray.

I did manage a really cool line in Game 1. Alix landed a Solitary Confinement but I didn’t scoop since on the off chance he couldn’t fuel it (2 Enchantress effects, but only 1 land as I wasted his Serra’s) I might be able to get through. At this point I’ve Matron’d up Krenko and have activated him once for around 12 Goblins or so. Then on his next turn… he has to let the Confinement blow up! His card for turn was an Elephant Grass sadly but at least I’m able to attack now.

When the unthinkable happens… I draw another Matron and Vial it into play and I realize that I can go for a 2-turn win (hopefully) - I find Skirk Prospector.

Play Prospector, play out my hand, activate Krenko and attack him from 18 to 8 in one swing - while paying 2 for every attacker by sacrificing many Goblin tokens. I left back about 15~ tokens to make sure I had enough fuel on the next attack through chump blockers.

On his turn, he manages to land 2 more (!!) Elephant grass. Unfortunately, I’m not able to attack through 6 mana per attack (and some Argothian chumps) and only get him to 4 life before I get Doomwake Giant’d the next turn. Bummer!

In game 2, there’s actually a hilarious moment where Alix plays Mirri’s Guile on the first turn. I’ve played Guile in other formats before so for WHATEVER REASON on my upkeep I look at the top three cards of my deck like I’m using the trigger. I catch myself immediately and throw the cards back on top of my deck. Alix and I agree to call a judge and I can’t stop giggling at how much of a doofus I was. Since I didn’t put any cards into my hand, I only get a warning so play continues but man I felt like such an idiot.
Unfortunately, Alix is able to fuel his Confinement this time and I get Doomwake’d in short order. Not much we can do here other than dodge this extremely rare matchup (or play Wear//Tear in the board?). Thanks for the funny match, Alix!

2-2 (5-4)

SB: 3 Blood Moon (which I found was wrong, they play many basics and it’s better for us to Port than shut off Serra’s), 3 Chalice of the Void, 2 Pithing Needle (name Sterling Grove?). Took out some Gempalms, Stingscourger, Tuktuk, some Ringleaders and Moggs. Left in a few copies of each but there wasn’t really much to do here.

Round 5: Brian on Miracles

I lead with Cavern on Goblin into Lackey (I think) and Brian exclaims ‘Not this again!’ I laugh and ask if he managed to play one of the four or five Goblins players in the room. He said he got ranched by it in the first round. Brian’s able to actually get me hellbent but we’re both pretty flooded and he’s on two life. His Jace fateseal puts a Ringleader on bottom but I draw Warchief and bash in for the kill.

In game 2 we grind back and forth and Brian lands Humility but I just bash in with 1/1’s and he fails to find a Terminus.

SB: 3 Pithing Needle, I took out Stingscourger, Tuktuk and a Pyrokinesis.

3-2 (7-4)

Round 6: Kevin on Bant splash Black Deathblade.

I don’t quite remember much of this round other than being frustrated with my mana situation. My life total on the pad goes down and then up by 1 so I imagine a Lackey that would have got me there got Plow’d at some point as his life total never changed.

Game 2 I try to hold on versus Batterskull but the double Stoneforge is too much value with Jitte.

This game is why I’m going to be trying Tin-Street Hooligan over Tuktuk going forward. I don’t really like exposing my manabase but I could have shattered the Batterskull earlier and perhaps the game would have turned out differently. Oh well!

SB: 3 Blood Moon, 3 Pithing Needle

3-3 (7-6)

Round 7: John on Miracles
John is not as familiar with the Goblins matchup as Brian was. I don’t remember specific details of this particular match - but considering the life pad goes to 15 for Brian and then goes right over to the next match, I imagine the first game was very quick. He gets to 11 on the second match before I stop taking notes. Piledriver, perhaps? The world may never know!

SB: 3 Pithing Needle

4-3 (9-6)

Round 8: Shawn on Miracles

Shawn DOES know the Goblins matchup as he manages to stall very long in Game 1 losing only chunks of 1 or 2 life at a time. My Ringleaders were on fire this game, however.

In the 2nd game I do make a mistake: I matron for Gempalm to clear the Snapcaster out of the way of my Lackey - however I have no real action in my hand to refill but assume I’ll hit another gas or threat with the extra draw from cycling. I actually don’t and eventually die to an Entreat.

Note that I never saw a Cavern (even in game 3) this entire match so that may have influenced my decision not to get a Ringleader, but I still don’t think that’s correct.

In game 3 I manage to connect with a Lackey and grind the game from there. I ask him after the match if he plays Mentor and he said that the did not. I think that the matchup is much more dangerous for us when they can pressure the board with Mentor. I never played against it all day so I couldn’t comment, but I think Gempalm is the best card against it. They likely leave up countermagic to protect it (and the Prowess trigger gets them value) but the cycling ability will prevent most interaction.

SB: 3 Pithing Needle

5-3 (11-7)

Round 9: Josh on Death and Taxes

This is the matchup that made me last minute switch to Skirk/Sharpshooter. I figured I would have played against it more during the event but I ended up only playing it during arguably the most important match. You only get Day 2 at X-3 so I had to win if I wanted to keep playing.

In game 1 we grind back and forth a bit but he manages to get 2 Flickerwisps on board while I’m at 6 life and die with him at 8 life.
In game 2 I don’t drop a single point of life according to my pad and crush him from 13 to 7 to dead in the matter of 3 turns. Warchief + Krenko must have made an appearance.

Game 3 stands out quite a bit for me: I Needle his on the play Aether Vial (I didn’t have one in hand). He Stoneforges for Jitte and I immediately draw another Needle and name that. After that, he’s stuck on two lands and at the mercy of the swarm. We make it to day 2!

SB: 3 Pithing Needle, 1 Tuktuk Scrapper

6-3 (13-8)

Day 2 - Round 10: Matt on Shardless BUG

Matt destroys me pretty handily in the first game - I don’t even manage to attack him before I go down to Deathrite + Goyf beats and Decays on valuable Goblins.

In the 2nd game, I’m on the offensive and manage to never lose a single life. At 5 life, he wipes all but two of my Ringleaders with a very well drawn Night of Soul’s Betrayal. I draw another Ringleader and attack for 3 twice to win the game.

In the 3rd game, I stabilize with Krenko at 10 life and begin massing Goblins. I hadn’t seen a Jitte at this point but I boarded in my 2nd Tuktuk as insurance and a way to clear Strixes or Agents if they got in the way. With 5 lands, Krenko on board and my opponent on a potential 5 mana, I opt to Double Wasteland to keep him off of Night of Soul’s Betrayal so I don’t have to rely on Krenko beats to win. Unfortunately, he draws Jitte and I’m stuck on 3 mana and can’t cast it. Another recommendation for Tin-Street Hooligan. He manages to kill Krenko with Jitte counters but I’ve made too many Goblins to matter and manage to attack him for exactly lethal before he can draw his outs (Golgari Charm, Toxic Deluge x2, Night of Soul’s Betrayal). Close one!

SB: 3 Blood Moon, 1 Tuktuk Scrapper

7-3 (15-9)

Round 11: Matt on BUG Delver

In game 1, I get beat down by Tarmogoyf before stabilizing with some Mogg tokens. At some point, he edicts a Liliana and pluses it to 2 loyalty with an fresh Delver of Secrets and Goyf on the battlefield. Goyf is a 5/6 and I’m at 8 life - I have two Mogg tokens and a summoning sick Krenko, but I can’t afford to get double Decay’ed into Lili edict on my Krenko. Admittedly, I only lose in the scenario that that happens and Delver flips but I decide to attack Lili with a Mogg token and he trades with Delver. He does have the Decay for a token and edicts away Krenko and Goyf takes the game.

Realistically I should have waited since Krenko would cover the Krenko against Goyf but had the Delver flipped I only would have had two turns to survive.

In game 2, I resolve Blood Moon on turn 3.

In game 3, I resolve Blood Moon after some grinding on turn 4 or 5.

Blood Moon is not a fair Magic card ;)

SB: 3 Blood Moon, ???

8-3 (17-10)

Round 12: William on BUG Delver

I lose game 1 to a triple (!!!) Hymn to Tourach.

In game 2 I manage to draw all three Blood Moons: one gets Thoughtseized and he sees two in my hand. I draw the 3rd the turn after and force them through.

In game 3 I have to mulligan to 4 cards, seeing 3 lands TOTAL in all mulligans. I get the crap beat out of me by a Tombstalker after I finally draw a red source.

SB: 3 Blood Moon

8-4 (18-12)

Round 13: Ben on Manaless Dredge

Just prior to this round, I was talking with Olaf Forkbeard at the event about how Relic is probably still a better choice than Leyline of the Void considering it’s better in Goyf and other matchups, even if it’s one turn slower for the already unfavorable Reanimator and Storm matchups. I agree and will probably replace the Leylines with Relics - however it was so sweet to IMMEDIATELY play against Manaless Dredge following this discussion. I only have to mulligan once in the 2nd and 3rd games to find a Leyline and manage to take it. Skill Magic at its finest!

SB: 4 Leyline of the Void, 3 Pithing Needle (name Phantasmagorian), 3 Chalice of the Void (on 1 for Therapy, Probe?)

9-4 (20-13)

Round 14: Mike on Sneak and Show

I lead the game on Cavern - Lackey and he starts with fetch into cantrip. I attack and drop in a Warchief and cast something else. On his turn, he plays Ancient Tomb and casts Show and Tell - unless it’s Sneak Attack, I should be fine. He drops in Emrakul and I lay a Goblin Matron. I tutor up Stingscourger and he reads it, as is tradition. I bounce the Emrakul and lay down beats before he’s able to set up a Sneak Attack kill.

In the 2nd game, I manage to get him to 8 before I get Kozilek’s returned (on my EoT Piledriver, shit!) and he Sneaks in both to kill me.

In the 3rd game, I keep a hand with Mountain, Vial, Vial, Needle, Lackey, Lackey Matron. I’m totally boned if he Forces the Needle since he’s wise to the Stingscourger shenanigans by now as my hand isn’t NECESSARILY aggressive enough to win. I can’t waste the Matron not finding Stingscourger in case he goes for Show and Tell anyway.

I play a Vial on the first turn so that I can actually play Goblins and use my mana for the Needle and other Vial later. Luckily on the 2nd turn, my Needle resolves and I name Sneak Attack. Now, I just need to end the game on 1 mana and two Vials. I actually forget to play the other Vial on the 3rd turn (don’t rush yourself kids) but it doesn’t matter. I attack for as little damage as possible with 2 Lackeys a turn and leave the Vials on 3 and 2 (3 for Matron, 2 for Stingscourger) and eventually get there.

SB: 3 Chalice of the Void, 3 Pithing Needle, 1 Stingscourger

10-4 (22-14)

Round 15: Alan on Infect

This is actually the game I want to discuss the most as, while any additional loss would have prevented me being the the Top 100, it feels like this one I’m actually responsible for as opposed to bad draws. So spoiler alert, I lose, but I really feel like I could have won had I played correctly.

In game 1, I keep a Mountain, Port, Lackey, Mogg, 2x Gempalm 2x Matron hand. My Lackey gets Force’d, the Mogg Daze’d - I start drawing non-land, non-Vials but he puts an Inkmoth into play but no other Infector. I’m certain he has Invigorate + Berserk because of this fact AND the fact that he has the opposite problem that I do - he can’t stop drawing lands! We go about 6 turns in this fashion before I draw another land for play a Vial (gets Forced). A critical turn comes where I’m finally able to deploy Mogg War Marshal and leave up Port - but he had played Glistener Elf the turn before. So long as he doesn’t have double protections for the Inkmoth, I can chump the Elf and Gempalm the Inkmoth - unfortunately, he does and I die to Berserk.

While there’s really nothing I could have done there (he confirms he had Invig/Berserk the whole time) my incessant Porting instilled a fear (?) into him that will come back to haunt me…

In game 2, I nut out and bash him to dead in just 5 turns with the help of Piledriver. I’m glad I audibled back to the one, having a reasonably cheap clock is great in games like this.

So, game 3 is the game I want to most discuss about the whole event. A better player than I would have been able to discern the correct line and I feel bad because it was right in front of me but I didn’t take it.

Alan has to mulligan to 6. Here is my keep:

Mountain, Cavern, Port, Skirk Prospector, Goblin Warchief, Krenko, Pyrokinesis. Everything needed to win the matchup, right?

On Alan’s first turn, he plays INKMOTH NEXUS and Needles RISHADAN PORT. This is significant for a few reasons that I didn’t consider at the moment. Leading with Nexus instead of a colored land indicates that it is his only infector in hand and he intends to use it the next turn.

Additionally, I’m somewhat tilted that he named Port instead of Wasteland. Yes, Port is good against Nexus but we play the same number of Wastelands and that’s a permanent solution to Nexus while Port is not. I can only imagine that the nonstop Porting in the first game and Wasteland ONLY showing up at the very end of the first game prompted him to name Port. Sadly, I have one in hand and not a Wasteland.

On my turn I draw a Mountain I believe. Now, I could have played Skirk Prospector here but I wanted to have a red card to pitch to Pyrokinesis. Looking back on it though, the absolute right play was to run out the Skirk and use Warchief to pitch to Pyrokinesis - we don’t necessarily need haste to win this matchup and ESPECIALLY when he runs out Nexus first, I should have played Skirk on the off chance that I draw Blood Moon for turn 2. Either way, I don’t play Skirk.

On his turn, he animates Inkmoth and attacks. I indicate that I have no blocks and he Invigorates - I panic and cast Pyrokinesis pitching Skirk thinking that if I let it resolve, Berserk will kill me.

However, in my rush I forgot to note that Alan’s only green mana was his second land - the one used to animate Inkmoth. He couldn’t have Berserked me.

He casts a 2nd Invigorate and gets in for 9 poison. I’m incredibly screwed unless I draw another Kinesis or Wasteland.

I draw… Blood Moon. Had I played the Skirk, I could have resolved it to lock him out of the game. Admittedly, afterwards when I discussed with him, he had the Daze but that line SHOULD have been available to me. He had no other gas in hand.

Which means - had I played it PROPERLY - I should have taken 5 infect with no threat of Berserk and then Pyrokinesis’d the NEXT turn on his 2nd Invigorate. I would have taken the match there as I couldn’t have tapped out for Warchief to kill myself on Turn 2 - and in fact I would have played the Blood Moon had I Skirked, which means he would have Dazed that and Pyrokinesis would have gone through while tapped out.

Anyway, a lot of things went wrong for that match to end the way it did. Needle on Port instead of Wasteland (still salty), panic Pyrokinesis and not playing Skirk.

10-5 (23-16)

SB: 3 Blood Moon, 3 Pithing Needle, 3 Chalice of the Void

All in all - a good run! I really can’t complain about the result considering I’m playing Goblins but I do think that the event highlights a lot of weakness in my decklist.

Not having Tarfire main means I’m not able to pick off random Stoneforge, Mother of Runes, Elves, Infect creatures etc. Pyrokinesis is very good but it’s not Matron/Ringleader-able which means there were some situations where that would have been relevant.

Not splashing green meant my Tuktuks were a liability a few times. The additional shatter effect when landing both is explosive but it’s much better to have the 2 mana effect. What we really need is the Manic Vandal with Goblin typeline to get the best possible version :/

Leyline of the Void is probably trash. I dodged Reanimator all day like a G so it felt like a waste of space, but having it versus Dredge was cool. Relic is probably more relevant in all other matchups though.

Blood Moon rocked all day. I probably should have been bringing it in versus Elves looking back but it does so much work stealing matches that we’re losing or locking them out very early. I’d recommend it, even on a non-mono red build.

Krenko is an ABSOLUTE G and if you aren’t playing at least one you are literally wrong. Move your Siege-Gang to the board if you have to (I don’t as I don’t want to lose to Miracles Game 1 Moat if they play it?? Also it’s one of our turn 3 kills with Lackey). But Krenko does so much friggin work and is much better in many matchups than Piledriver. I know that the printing of Fatal Push is going to make him much worse but until something better comes along I can’t recommend Krenko highly enough. Perhaps Kiki-Jiki is worth testing in a Fatal Push meta?

This is probably what I’ll play going forward:

Lands (24)
4 Mountain
6 Fetches
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Wasteland
3 Rishadan Port
1 Pendelhaven
1 Taiga
1 Plateau

Artifacts (4)
4 Aether Vial

Instants (3)
1 Pyrokinesis
2 Tarfire

Creatures (29)
4 Goblin Lackey
4 Goblin Matron
4 Goblin Ringleader
4 Goblin Warchief
3 Gempalm Incinerator
3 Mogg War Marshal
1 Goblin Piledriver
1 Krenko, Mob Boss
1 Siege-Gang Commander
1 Tin-Street Hooligan
1 Stingscourger
1 Skirk Prospector
1 Goblin Sharpshooter

Sideboard (15):

3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
3 Relic of Progenitus
3 Blood Moon
2 Wear//Tear
2 Pithing Needle
1 Tin-Street Hooligan
1 Pyrokinesis

Any questions, comments, discussion welcome. It was really fun meeting everyone who played Goblins there and discussing the deck and our matches. Hopefully we’ll see everyone again at a big Legacy event in the future!

Good hunting, Ringleaders :)

Good Job!

I won't comment much on your list, as we spoke in person about it, but I really like your revised list based on the way you like to play.

Day 2 - Round 10: Matt on Shardless BUG

I was watching this match with you, and I think I mentioned this in person. When he Thoughtseized you he said the phrase "These are all bad for me" when your hand was Ringleader, Tuktuk Scrapper, and some other card. This should have informed you that he was going to drop an artifact he cared about, be it Needle or Jitte. The following turn you Double Wastelanded him and gave him a chance to get back in it, as you could not, and did not, cast that Scrapper that game. Both of those are an out to an active Krenko. You made the right technical play, and it first level play with a consistent deck gives consistent results, BUT he gave a very strong hint.

Round 15: Alan on Infect

Naming Port is actually wise of him for a couple of reasons there. If you Wasteland his only threat that buys him time to find another as you are also down a land, and your deck is very mana hungry. If you begin Porting him you can still set up your own game while stopping his from working. I think he made the correct line. Wasteland's opportunity cost is higher, and he took advantage of that fact.

I think the rest of your analysis is spot on what you could have done for the match.


Glad to have finally met one of you (well actually 2) in person.

Hey Dan! Congrats for the finish! And thanks for writing a report! Love reading those.
Would be helpful to know what you side out against the matchups when you're writing it. I agree with your side ins, but in some MU's have no idea what are the few last worse cards to take out.
Really liked your thought process regarding that turn against Infect. Another good point in favour of playing out Prospector is that you could've drawn a Gempalm T2, making it useful. But the MU is quite skill intensive, and the right choice is often very hard to see.

Hi Dan, thanks for an excellent report!
Your list looks pretty great imo.
I have one question though. In the sneak and show matchup, did you consider holding needle to put into play off of show and tell? It gets around counter magic and allows you to name Griselbrand instead, should they put it in. Obviously this line is weaker to a hardcast sneak attack though.

Hey guys... let me ask something, How trash is run Tuktuk scraper 1 on main deck and 1 on SB, instead use 1 TSH main deck and 1 on SB??

I'm asking becouse without TSH we can run a couple of plateau thats give more consistency to our Whit Splash. Running THS we lose a plateau to only put ONLY 1 card on entire 75 cards.

Making my question better... with a couple plateau we run 5 fetch lands and 6 fetchable lands (4 mountains and 2 plateau). With Taiga and Plateau on deck, we need 6 fetchs having 5 fetchable lands (3 mountain and 2 dual). I'm really afraid of on lategame draw fetchs and fetch nothing. And to finish... if we gets wasteded... we never will play White SB again (I run Rest in Peace instead Relic and Run double Wear // Tear).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sagratho

Hey guys... let me ask something, How trash is run Tuktuk scraper 1 on main deck and 1 on SB, instead use 1 TSH main deck and 1 on SB??

I'm asking becouse without TSH we can run a couple of plateau thats give more consistency to our Whit Splash. Running THS we lose a plateau to only put ONLY 1 card on entire 75 cards.

Making my question better... with a couple plateau we run 5 fetch lands and 6 fetchable lands (4 mountains and 2 plateau). With Taiga and Plateau on deck, we need 6 fetchs having 5 fetchable lands (3 mountain and 2 dual). I'm really afraid of on lategame draw fetchs and fetch nothing. And to finish... if we gets wasteded... we never will play White SB again (I run Rest in Peace instead Relic and Run double Wear // Tear).

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Scrapper is fine. Being able to put it into play via Vial and destroy an artifact at instant speed is great. I don't think you need more than one though, if you're going to play two Wear//Tear as well.

Rest in Peace with only seven white sources however seems ambitious. It can be too slow vs Dredge and Reanimator, and you really want to play it on turn two vs those decks. I'd go for a split with other graveyard hate cards, and maybe play an extra white source.