[Deck] Goblins

[Avatara]

Thanks for your insights, jrw!
As said before I will test Mental Misstep in my SB next weekend and write a tournament report that focusses on MMs application.
When you keep reporting about it's usefulness for MD and I' keep testing it's worth as a SB-card, we will soon have a very thorough bit of information on this card.
I'm looking forward to that =)

Why would you want to run it in a sideboard? I think you'll be better off running sideboard cards with a bigger impact on specific match-ups. MM is a very universal card, 'thus it should be ran in the main deck. There's very few match-ups where it's totally useless, even in game one.

[GoboLord]

Why would you want to run it in a sideboard? I think you'll be better off running sideboard cards with a bigger impact on specific match-ups. MM is a very universal card, 'thus it should be ran in the main deck. There's very few match-ups where it's totally useless, even in game one.

There are very few MUs where Earwig Squad is totally useless - still it has it's place in SB. Being an universal card is not a reason for including it in MD.
Plus, right now I can't make room for MMs in MD. I'm still sticking to Winstigator+C.Mox. Apart from that I need some removal (surprise!) and MD-artifact-hate as well as Sharpshooter (which is huge against Maverick).
I doubt that MMs will truely improve the way our deck works, thus I don't want to "dilute" (not in the sense that this card is bad, but in the sense that I'd rather have more "handle-me-permanents") my maindeck with it.
True: there are very few MUs where it's useless. But more importantly: There are few MUs where it has an huge impact on the game. Examples would be: Threshold variants, Elf-Combo and Zoo.
Another reason to not run it in MD is a practical one: jrw is already testing it's MD-qualities. There's no one reporting it's inclusion in SB (and that's where I see it) so I have to test it in SB if I want to know if it's worth it.

[Scytale]

Artifacts
4 Aether Vial

Creatures
4 Gempalm Incinerator
1 Goblin Chieftain
4 Goblin Lackey
4 Goblin Matron
4 Goblin Piledriver
4 Goblin Ringleader
4 Goblin Warchief
2 Siege-Gang Commander
2 Stingscourger
1 Tin Street Hooligan

Instants
4 Mental Misstep

Basic Lands
5 Mountain

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

I really like this list and am planning to build a similar R/G list myself for an upcoming tournament, I had a few questions:

Your list doesn't run any Mogg War marshal usually I like to run him as at least a 2-3 of as there are some matches (like zoo) I've found him to be absolutely amazing, does mental misstep work well enough against zoo that MWM is no longer all that necessary, did you have other cards in the board like pyrokinesis?

Did you ever find that with 2 Stingscourgers main combined with the 4 gempalms you flooded on removal, when you needed to draw a threat? Was this a meta choice, I've usually run a 1 off stingscourger as a matron target, I'm also thinking of cutting 1 gempalm.

Were you ever wishing you had a second artifact removal card main deck, I'm expecting a lot of SFM decks and am thinking of running extra TSH's in board and something like ancient grudge as well.

Here's the list I was thinking of:

Core:
4 Aether vial
4 Goblin Lackey
4 Goblin Matron
4 Goblin Piledriver
4 Goblin Ringleader
4 Goblin Warchief
2 Siege-Gang Commander

Flex slots:
3 Gempalm Incinerator
2 Mogg War marshal
1 Goblin Chieftain
1 Stingscourger
1 Tin Street Hooligan

4 Mental Misstep

4 Wasteland
4 Rishadan Port
3 Taiga
6 Fetches
5 Mountains

Sideboard:
3 Relic of Progenitus
2 Pyrokinesis
2 Pyroblast
2 Chalice of the Void
1 Tin Street Hooligan
2 Ancient Grudge
3 Krosan Grip

I'd appreciate any comments people have on the list as last time I played this deck was pre mental mistep.

[Avatara]

There are very few MUs where Earwig Squad is totally useless - still it has it's place in SB. Being an universal card is not a reason for including it in MD.
Plus, right now I can't make room for MMs in MD. I'm still sticking to Winstigator+C.Mox. Apart from that I need some removal (surprise!) and MD-artifact-hate as well as Sharpshooter (which is huge against Maverick).
I doubt that MMs will truely improve the way our deck works, thus I don't want to "dilute" (not in the sense that this card is bad, but in the sense that I'd rather have more "handle-me-permanents") my maindeck with it.
True: there are very few MUs where it's useless. But more importantly: There are few MUs where it has an huge impact on the game. Examples would be: Threshold variants, Elf-Combo and Zoo.
Another reason to not run it in MD is a practical one: jrw is already testing it's MD-qualities. There's no one reporting it's inclusion in SB (and that's where I see it) so I have to test it in SB if I want to know if it's worth it.

You can't compare Earwig Squad with Mental Misstep. People board in Earwig Squad vs certain match-ups because it's one of the best cards in those situations. Examples are: removing Engineered Plagues, Firesprout, Life from the Loam etc. There aren't really any alternatives to do this. I dare you to give me a situation where Mental Misstep is your only option to stop something very specific from happening. In every situation I can think of I would rather have access to another side board card. Versus combo I rather have Trap, Pyroblast, Thorn or other hate. Versus Plague I rather have Boartusk Liege, Krosan Grip, Earwig Squad or whatever. Mental Misstep doesn't "hate" anything. In every situation I can think of I rather play a sideboard card that actually answers something that is essential to my success. Yes Earwig Squad is a bit more versatile than Trap or Leyline of the void, but remember that it comes in for a specific purpose and it's very good at achieving that goal. Mental Misstep doesn't do this.

Mental Misstep doesn't just have a huge impact on some match-ups. It has that impact on almost every match-up. It's not just elf combo, thresshold and zoo... it's also everything that plays top, mother of runes, thought seize, swords, swords. Isn't that just about any deck you face besides combo? Versus combo it also shines because it gives you a way to interact. The only decks I wouldn't play it against are Challice of the Void decks (Welder, staxx and xxxx Stompy decks).

[Talanos]

You can't compare Earwig Squad with Mental Misstep. People board in Earwig Squad vs certain match-ups because it's one of the best cards in those situations. Examples are: removing Engineered Plagues, Firesprout, Life from the Loam etc. There aren't really any alternatives to do this. I dare you to give me a situation where Mental Misstep is your only option to stop something very specific from happening. In every situation I can think of I would rather have access to another side board card. Versus combo I rather have Trap, Pyroblast, Thorn or other hate. Versus Plague I rather have Boartusk Liege, Krosan Grip, Earwig Squad or whatever. Mental Misstep doesn't "hate" anything. In every situation I can think of I rather play a sideboard card that actually answers something that is essential to my success. Yes Earwig Squad is a bit more versatile than Trap or Leyline of the void, but remember that it comes in for a specific purpose and it's very good at achieving that goal. Mental Misstep doesn't do this.

Mental Misstep doesn't just have a huge impact on some match-ups. It has that impact on almost every match-up. It's not just elf combo, thresshold and zoo... it's also everything that plays top, mother of runes, thought seize, swords, swords. Isn't that just about any deck you face besides combo? Versus combo it also shines because it gives you a way to interact. The only decks I wouldn't play it against are Challice of the Void decks (Welder, staxx and xxxx Stompy decks).

Although I am not currently playing MM in Main or Board, I am very interested the experiences of those testing it.

One other way to look at Gobo's position, however, is that you put it in the sideboard so that you can replace subpar cards for a given matchup with a universal "shore-up-my-turn-one-play" substitute. There is an argument that you don't always have to think of board cards cards "vs-specific-decks", especially given limited board space. You can also think of board cards as including some broad range options to replace any given subpar card for the given matchup.

So while it is true that MM does seem good against most decks, the question is not whether it is good, but whether it is better than our basic array of threats and removal. Gobo seems to be testing the theory that main deck it's still better to deploy the most number of threats possible, but after board, you may want to take out some of your less optimal threats *in that specific matchup* for ways to protect your best threats.

And it may not be Mindbreak or Chalice, but it's still a reasonable way to hate combo, especially given that it's not dead board weight in every other matchup.

[jrw1985]

I really like this list and am planning to build a similar R/G list myself for an upcoming tournament, I had a few questions:

Your list doesn't run any Mogg War marshal usually I like to run him as at least a 2-3 of as there are some matches (like zoo) I've found him to be absolutely amazing, does mental misstep work well enough against zoo that MWM is no longer all that necessary, did you have other cards in the board like pyrokinesis?

Sideboard
4 Leyline of the Void
4 Thorn of Amethyst
3 Pyrokinesis
1 Tin Street Hooligan
1 Goblin Sharpshooter
2 Shattering Spree

I've never been a huge fan of MWM. I'd always rather have a card that does something (like spot removal or draw). It's not that I think MWM isn't useful, I just think its applications are really limited to defense. My strategy has always been to push the pace of a game, using 1-drops to cheat Gobbos into play while using 2-drop removal (Sting, Gempalm, Weirding) and mana disruption to put my opponent behind on board position. MWM doesn't help accomplish those goals. He is meant to stall the game by blocking Goyfs and Batterskulls until you build up an insurmountable horde. That stategy has never been my approach to playing Goblins.

Against Zoo, Pyrokinesis is heroic. MM is very good in that it lets you stop your opponent from getting ahead by countering their removal or blockers. Then Pyro burns out whatever they manage to land so you're free to get your Lackey through. Pyro is pretty amazing. Don't leave home without it in your sideboard. As a matter of fact, you can run 2 copies main deck in lieu of 2 Mental Missteps if you have a creature heavy meta.

Did you ever find that with 2 Stingscourgers main combined with the 4 gempalms you flooded on removal, when you needed to draw a threat? Was this a meta choice, I've usually run a 1 off stingscourger as a matron target, I'm also thinking of cutting 1 gempalm.

Being flooded on removal has not been an issue for me. Why would it be? All our removal doubles as bodies when we need it to, and Gempalm cycles. If you have a warcheif in play your removal spells are now hastey 2 power attackers. I've run 4 Gempalms ever since I looked through top placing Goblin decks on SCG and saw that most of them were running full playsets of Gempalm. Don't underestimate how huge gempalm is during the game. It lets you 0-1 your opponent with an uncounterable effect. That's enormous. So I've always tried to run 4 Gempalms just because the success rate of those decks seems the highest. I also like running 2 Stingscourgers because there will be plenty of critters too big to just burn out with Gempalm, so you'll need something to take care of those guys. Sometimes you only need one to bounce Emrakul, but sometimes you are facing 2 KotR, and having removal becomes important.

Were you ever wishing you had a second artifact removal card main deck, I'm expecting a lot of SFM decks and am thinking of running extra TSH's in board and something like ancient grudge as well.

1 piece of artifact hate MD seems good. 2 gets a little redundant because there aren't that many artifacts that aren't also/attached-to creatures. Since we have so much creature removal, artifact removal becomes redundant.

Here's the list I was thinking of:

Core:
4 Aether vial
4 Goblin Lackey
4 Goblin Matron
4 Goblin Piledriver
4 Goblin Ringleader
4 Goblin Warchief
2 Siege-Gang Commander

Flex slots:
3 Gempalm Incinerator
2 Mogg War marshal
1 Goblin Chieftain
1 Stingscourger
1 Tin Street Hooligan

4 Mental Misstep

4 Wasteland
4 Rishadan Port
3 Taiga
6 Fetches
5 Mountains

Sideboard:
3 Relic of Progenitus
2 Pyrokinesis
2 Pyroblast
2 Chalice of the Void
1 Tin Street Hooligan
2 Ancient Grudge
3 Krosan Grip

I'd appreciate any comments people have on the list as last time I played this deck was pre mental mistep.

I don't like Chalice anymore for combo MUs. We used to run it because combo was too fast and ran 10-12 0cc cards, so playing Chalice at 0 T1 was a viable option to slow down combo, and it didn't interfere with our board developement. Now we have MM to stop a 1cc spell without slowing our developement. This makes Chalice much narrower in application, and much less necessary. I prefer Thorn of Amethyst now. With Thorn you can T1 cast Lackey/Vial, MM their 1-drop, T2 Thorn, T3 mana disruption and the game is yours. Thorn is also much more viable against control decks. Anything that doesn't cast creatures gets mired down by Thorn. So Thorn is useful against fast combo, slow combo, and control decks. Now that MM makes fast combo less threatening/relevant I believe a combo hate cards with wider applications ought to be played.

I've never been sold on Relic of Progenitus. I'm waiting on 4 Surgical Extractions to replace the Leyline of the Voids I currently run for GY hate. Relic seems slow and mana intensive. Leyline is dead if it's not in your opener. blahblahblah GY hate discussion. If you really like Relic, that's cool. Use it. Plenty of people have had success with it. I'm still of the persuasion that GY hate should be free though (Leyline, Crypt, Faerie Macabre, Surgical Extraction).

3 K-Grip seems like too much. There aren't many relevant Enchantments these days. We'll see if Hive Mind takes off, but K-Grip isn't even good against that unless they pass you priority after it resolves (which if you're sitting on G2 open, they shouldn't). Other than that, Ancient Grudge seems better all around. What we really want to do is kill Artifacts (Batterskull, Jitte, Sword of one thing and another, Metalworker, Grindstone, Affinity, Ensnaring Bridge, Vedalkin Shackles) so a 2-1 card makes the world that much nicer for us.

That reminds me, can anyone say how Chaos Warp is working for them?

[GoboLord]

You can't compare Earwig Squad with Mental Misstep. People board in Earwig Squad vs certain match-ups because it's one of the best cards in those situations. Examples are: removing Engineered Plagues, Firesprout, Life from the Loam etc. There aren't really any alternatives to do this. I dare you to give me a situation where Mental Misstep is your only option to stop something very specific from happening. In every situation I can think of I would rather have access to another side board card. Versus combo I rather have Trap, Pyroblast, Thorn or other hate. Versus Plague I rather have Boartusk Liege, Krosan Grip, Earwig Squad or whatever. Mental Misstep doesn't "hate" anything. In every situation I can think of I rather play a sideboard card that actually answers something that is essential to my success. Yes Earwig Squad is a bit more versatile than Trap or Leyline of the void, but remember that it comes in for a specific purpose and it's very good at achieving that goal. Mental Misstep doesn't do this.

Mental Misstep doesn't just have a huge impact on some match-ups. It has that impact on almost every match-up. It's not just elf combo, thresshold and zoo... it's also everything that plays top, mother of runes, thought seize, swords, swords. Isn't that just about any deck you face besides combo? Versus combo it also shines because it gives you a way to interact. The only decks I wouldn't play it against are Challice of the Void decks (Welder, staxx and xxxx Stompy decks).

No offense intended, but...
Among the many things I want to respond to that there's one thing most important:
Your argumentation is incorrect for someone who does not have the same SB-philosophy as you have. And that's the case for me. I have a different view on sideboarding so I can't agree with you (although I understand your point!).

[liamb]

3 K-Grip seems like too much. There aren't many relevant Enchantments these days. We'll see if Hive Mind takes off, but K-Grip isn't even good against that unless they pass you priority after it resolves (which if you're sitting on G2 open, they shouldn't). Other than that, Ancient Grudge seems better all around. What we really want to do is kill Artifacts (Batterskull, Jitte, Sword of one thing and another, Metalworker, Grindstone, Affinity, Ensnaring Bridge, Vedalkin Shackles) so a 2-1 card makes the world that much nicer for us.

Yet, if you found yourself in a meta full of standstill decks the grip should be your main, uncounterable answer for their enchantments , that is Moat (UWx), Engineered Plague and most important Pernicious Deed (BUG).

[liamb]

3 K-Grip seems like too much. There aren't many relevant Enchantments these days. We'll see if Hive Mind takes off, but K-Grip isn't even good against that unless they pass you priority after it resolves (which if you're sitting on G2 open, they shouldn't). Other than that, Ancient Grudge seems better all around. What we really want to do is kill Artifacts (Batterskull, Jitte, Sword of one thing and another, Metalworker, Grindstone, Affinity, Ensnaring Bridge, Vedalkin Shackles) so a 2-1 card makes the world that much nicer for us.

Yet, if you found yourself in a meta full of standstill decks the grip should be your main, uncounterable answer for their enchantments , that is Moat (UWx), Engineered Plague and most important Pernicious Deed (BUG).

[Scytale]

Cheers JRW for the reply:

I've always taken the slower approach to the deck trying to build an incremental lead on board which I guess is why I love MWM so much but perhaps the metas not right for him at the moment.

On the K-grips to be honest I kind of threw these in without much thought, mainly against Deed and E-plague if I had some idea of the meta I'd be able to tailor the board a bit better but I'm traveling down from out of town (there's a legacy tournament on as part of nationals).

I've got a few weeks to test so I'll try to get some games in locally and tune the list a bit.

[jrw1985]

Another tourny. Same list and similar side to before.

Artifacts
4 Aether Vial

Creatures
4 Gempalm Incinerator
1 Goblin Chieftain
4 Goblin Lackey
4 Goblin Matron
4 Goblin Piledriver
4 Goblin Ringleader
4 Goblin Warchief
2 Siege-Gang Commander
2 Stingscourger
1 Tin Street Hooligan

Instants
4 Mental Misstep

Basic Lands
5 Mountain

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

Sideboard
4 Leyline of the Void
4 Thorn of Amethyst
3 Pyrokinesis
1 Tin Street Hooligan
3 Ancient Grudge

R1 NO RUG
G1- He Goyfed me down to 6 before I could stabilize and overrun him.
G2- He MM'd my Vial. It went downhill from there but I did get him down to 10.
G3- I kept an opening hand of 2 Vial, MM, Gempalm and Lands. I managed to get into the game through my awesome topdecking skills. He Natural Ordered Progenitus in and attacked me down to 6, but I landed double Piledriver and Chieftain to attack through his ProG FTW.
1-0

R2 UW Ancestral Visions
G1- He suspends an Ancestral Visions T1, and follows it up with Stoneforge Mystic into Batterskull. I'm not able to find a solution and die horribly.
G2- I Ancient Grudge some artifacts away and win off of a Vialed in SGC for burn.
G3- I realized that Pyrokinesis isn't that great against Batterskull because, ya know, it's equipment and can be attached to a Stoneforge after you burn the Germ. And Stingscourger is absolutely dead against a deck that revolves around fetching up equipment. Warren Weirding would have been great in this MU. So many swords give protection and make Gempalm, Stingscourger, and TSH less effective. I really wished for a non-targeting removal effect.
1-1

R3- Bant
G1- He MMs my Lackey then wins.
G2- He gets me down to 2 life, then I get 2 SGCs online and stall into the win.
G3- I had 2 Vials, 3 lackeys, and plenty of gas. It was kinda ridiculous. Won it in extra turns. Damn close.
2-1

R4- TES
G1 This was an unusual build. He used those old lands that come into play tapped, can be tapped for one color or tapped and sacked for two different color mana. He plays Chromatic Star or something like that T2 which I don't MM but TSH it the next turn. I MM 2 different one drops on his 4th turn, but he Storms through them and Tendrils me to death. Poor showing on my part. I didn't have a 1 drop this game, which made thing difficult.
G2- I have no hate or 1 drops, but on a mull to 6 I had Piledriver, Warchief and 4 lands. I hit him for 5 then win the next turn.
G3- This one was painful. I mulled to 5, he mulled to 4. I kept a hand with Lackey, Wasted 2 of his comes-into-play-tapped lands, and connected with lackey 4 times without ever finding a Goblin to cheat in off of Lackey. I never drew a Thorn of Amethyst either, and when I finally land a 10 point swing to put him to 5 it's not enough. He combos out on me next turn. Had I hit a Matron, Piledriver, or Thorn (or anything earlier) I would have won that game. Ugh. Out of the money, I dropped.
2-2

More on Mental Misstep-
MM continued to be fine. It still wont win you the game if you don't have a 1-drop. It's really better for slowing your opponent's development than it is for protecting your own 1-drop. That's why you still need to mull to a 1 drop. The 1-drop wins you the game, NOT MM.

[unicoerner]

Hey guys,
i play a pretty standard mono red list with Kiki Jjki in a flex spot and 3 Warrens+ 3 Chrome.

I never know what to take out when i have to board. Vs cdecks without creatures, i have obvious 5 cards to take out.

Everytime else i am guessing. Vs non blue taking out one Pilie is sometimes good.
What about Vial?

[Davran]

What about Vial?

Vial comes out in match-ups where you need to be faster than them, i.e. combo. I generally pull mine against decks like TES, Dredge, High Tide etc. since by the time I have 2-3 counters on the vial the game is pretty much over. So the Vials become Mindbreak Traps or graveyard hate. This way my Ringleaders still give maximum value and instead of a too slow vial I draw into a potentially relevant answer.

Otherwise just use your judgement. Try and think of what cards your opponent can play that you'll care about, and which goblins in your deck do nothing against them.

[ScatmanX]

G3- I realized that Pyrokinesis isn't that great against Batterskull because, ya know, it's equipment and can be attached to a Stoneforge after you burn the Germ. And Stingscourger is absolutely dead against a deck that revolves around fetching up equipment. Warren Weirding would have been great in this MU. So many swords give protection and make Gempalm, Stingscourger, and TSH less effective. I really wished for a non-targeting removal effect.

Thanks for the report again.
Don't you think that Knesis is good enough just burning the Stoneforge, after it searched for Batterskull? That way they can't cheat it into play, and only have 4 FoW's that can counter our Knesis...

@unicoerner : list the decks you want help with, and than we can help you.

[jrw1985]

Vial comes out in match-ups where you need to be faster than them, i.e. combo. I generally pull mine against decks like TES, Dredge, High Tide etc. since by the time I have 2-3 counters on the vial the game is pretty much over. So the Vials become Mindbreak Traps or graveyard hate. This way my Ringleaders still give maximum value and instead of a too slow vial I draw into a potentially relevant answer.

Otherwise just use your judgement. Try and think of what cards your opponent can play that you'll care about, and which goblins in your deck do nothing against them.

I disagree with you about siding out Vial against Combo. T1 Vial allows you to Waste/Port their lands while still putting a clock on them. That's huge. It also allows you to play goblins while hardcasting Thorn of Amethyst or keeping mana open to activate Relic of Progenitus.

[jrw1985]

Thanks for the report again.
Don't you think that Knesis is good enough just burning the Stoneforge, after it searched for Batterskull? That way they can't cheat it into play, and only have 4 FoW's that can counter our Knesis...

Maybe... The problem is if Batterskull hits play, then Pyro isn't nearly as useful. Or maybe I just need more practice playing against cards as broken as Batterskull/Stoneforge.

Also, in my Side I was running 3 Pyros and 4 pieces of artifact hate. I should have just run 4 Pyros and 3 pieces of artifact hate, I think.

[Davran]

I disagree with you about siding out Vial against Combo. T1 Vial allows you to Waste/Port their lands while still putting a clock on them. That's huge. It also allows you to play goblins while hardcasting Thorn of Amethyst or keeping mana open to activate Relic of Progenitus.

I rarely want to see Vial against a deck that can kill me by turn 3. By that time Vial has at most two counters on it, allowing us to play only a couple of vanilla goblins. Besides, if your combo opponent is still fetching waste-able lands against you in game 2 you are getting pretty lucky. Sure, it's useful if/when you have a Port, but delaying them for 1 turn is usually not enough to get there without a pretty crazy hand and some relevant draws.

Maybe... The problem is if Batterskull hits play, then Pyro isn't nearly as useful. Or maybe I just need more practice playing against cards as broken as Batterskull/Stoneforge.

I once handled the Batterskull/Stoneforge problem by cycling a gempalm for the mystic and blinking the germ with a stinger. My opponent dropped his third land and bounced the skull to his hand, and I never saw it for the rest of the game.

Batterskull is good because of the interaction with Mystic. Remove the Mystic and they're left struggling with their 5 mana equip cost vs. actually playing enough threats to handle our swarm.

[ScatmanX]

I rarely want to see Vial against a deck that can kill me by turn 3. By that time Vial has at most two counters on it, allowing us to play only a couple of vanilla goblins. Besides, if your combo opponent is still fetching waste-able lands against you in game 2 you are getting pretty lucky. Sure, it's useful if/when you have a Port, but delaying them for 1 turn is usually not enough to get there without a pretty crazy hand and some relevant draws.

I want. My take out guys vs combo are usually Ringleader, since card-advantage don't matter anything.
Also, there are lots of combos that are hugely affected by Wastelands and Ports. Gaining a turn is very important here.

I once handled the Batterskull/Stoneforge problem by cycling a gempalm for the mystic and blinking the germ with a stinger. My opponent dropped his third land and bounced the skull to his hand, and I never saw it for the rest of the game.

Batterskull is good because of the interaction with Mystic. Remove the Mystic and they're left struggling with their 5 mana equip cost vs. actually playing enough threats to handle our swarm.

With this I agree. That's why I argue that Knesis+the rest of our deck is already good enough to handle Stoneforge/Skull.

[Annatar]

More on Mental Misstep-
MM continued to be fine. It still wont win you the game if you don't have a 1-drop. It's really better for slowing your opponent's development than it is for protecting your own 1-drop. That's why you still need to mull to a 1 drop. The 1-drop wins you the game, NOT MM.

With this in mind, is playing 4 Mental Misstep maindeck right? I'm a fan of the card, but I recon that playing more then 3 in your 75 probably isn't the right call.

[GoboLord]

I'm a fan of the card, but I recon that playing more then 3 in your 75 probably isn't the right call.

Since this is not a survey, but a discussion we would like to hear some arguments ;-)