[Deck] Goblins

[Annatar]

Sideboarding:
Against SFM’s decks, would it be good to side in the Pyrokinesis as well? Or is it too much, and only the Grudges do the work? (In this case, should I mull after a Grudge?)
The same think against Affinity: should I use Pyros and Grudges?
Would it be good to run Pyrokinesis against Merfolk too? In these situations, what to take out for the sideboarded cards?


Merfolk:
On the Merfolk match up, if by any chance I am able to place a 1st drop and them a Matron in play, what it would be better to search for?

About “Wasting their Mutavault”, if I start with/draw a Wasteland, should I save it in hand to waste as a “surprise effect”? Even if I don’t have many lands?
Or should I just play it and wait for then to play a Mutavault? (There's a risk of them wasting my Wasteland, in this case)

For me, Sharpshooter seemed bad against Merfolk, you know, because all their lords that pump their creatures really big... What would be the proper use of it, in this case?



I know that’s too much questions in a too short time, but I think there are so much for me to learn on the details of "fine-playing" Goblins, and I really want to make all the right plays on the tournament I’ll play in two days

Personally, just having Tarfire and maybe an extra Tin Street Hooligan was sufficient against Mystic/Batterskull. You also have Gempalms but think those are somewhat situational. All their equipment won't matter squat if they don't have creatures to attach them to. Luckully, most of those can be burned out or bounced if they get too big.

As far as affinity is concerned just grudge the snot out of them. Pyrokinesis isn't that necessary but it's better to have it then something that is completely useless in the matchup (Mental Misstep).

Against Merfolk I side out Tarfire by default since it's just a very bad Pyroblast in this matchup. Other thing you could live without would probably be the Hooligan and Stingscoruger, but this is dependant on your actuall sideboard.

Other Merfolk questions: normally I try not to go all in in a rush. Depending on your hand, you can search for something to make sure that the lackey will connect again (Gempalm Incinerator or maybe even Tarfire but Gempalm is better in this case since they can't do much about cycling and as you've explained you already have two goblins in play), or if you have something that can remove their blockers already just go for Ringleader but seems pretty obvious. Long story short, if you have an active Lackey search for something that helps the little dude get the damage in.
You can sit on a Wasteland if it doesn't hinder your mana development, otherwise just play it out there. If they have their wasteland nothing changes much, if they don't they might be hesitant to play the Mutavault since it's one of the few answers they have to Goblin Piledriver.
Sharpshooter's role here is, from my experience, mostly to keep the bench warm for the sideboard cards after game one. If anyone has different experiences I would be interested in hearing them.

Cheers.

[jrw1985]

Sharpshooter is really phenomenal, ESPECIALLY in the Merfolk MU due to their high creature count and limited removal.

here's the thing to remember about Sharpshooter: He untaps when YOUR CREATURES die too. So, if you're sitting with a 2/2 and Sharpshooter while your opponent has a 4/4 you can still trade on in combat. When the 2/2 dies in combat the Sharpshooter's untap trigger goes on the stack. You can ping the 4/4 in response to the untap trigger on SS. Then you untap SS when the trigger resolves. Then you activate SS again to deal the 4th damage. Then the 4/4 dies and your SS untaps. SS basically allows you to do 2+X points of damage per combat step, where X is the number of creatures that will die. Your opponent generally won't be thinking about this, and as such Sharpshooter will be able to generate a LOT of card advantage.

[Annatar]

Sharpshooter is really phenomenal, ESPECIALLY in the Merfolk MU due to their high creature count and limited removal.

here's the thing to remember about Sharpshooter: He untaps when YOUR CREATURES die too. So, if you're sitting with a 2/2 and Sharpshooter while your opponent has a 4/4 you can still trade on in combat. When the 2/2 dies in combat the Sharpshooter's untap trigger goes on the stack. You can ping the 4/4 in response to the untap trigger on SS. Then you untap SS when the trigger resolves. Then you activate SS again to deal the 4th damage. Then the 4/4 dies and your SS untaps. SS basically allows you to do 2+X points of damage per combat step, where X is the number of creatures that will die. Your opponent generally won't be thinking about this, and as such Sharpshooter will be able to generate a LOT of card advantage.

Actually, this has really given me a whole new perspective when thinking about the card. I used similar trigger stacking with Teysa in EDH but never really considered it here. Really neat trick.

[BigBopper]

Regarding the Merfolk match up, sometimes I get tempted to keep a (initial) hand without a 1st drop, but with good resources, like, for example: a Piledriver, a Warchief and a Matron.

A hand to keep without a 1-drop can actually be something like: MM, 2Mountain, Port, Warchief....but only on the play: playing Mountain and respond to anything with MM, play Port and he stay's on one mana and on turn 3 play warchief and attack with haste. You're almost in midgame and go for Matron AND Piledriver on turn 4 attacking for 8 ideally, or with a 3rd Mountain go for Sharpshooter with matron but be cautious if your Warchief sees a removal in response to Matron. That's the only time I wouldn't mull to 6 without a 1-drop.

I actually cut Chieftains at all in favor for Sharpshooter.

[qazwer]

Hello guys, a recently bought mono red goblin deck, but i still have no wasteland and no port. Do you think it's worth playing this deck without these lands? It will take me few months to buy these lands and I'm wondering if it's worth taking this deck to the tournament? Or is it better to take another deck with me?

[ScatmanX]

Viable, yes.
Optimal, no.
I've seen goblins being played without them (I myself seldom use Port, but always Wasteland) but never making a good result.
If you have a more finished deck, I'd suggest to go with it.

[sligh16]

Sharpshooter is really phenomenal, ESPECIALLY in the Merfolk MU due to their high creature count and limited removal.

here's the thing to remember about Sharpshooter: He untaps when YOUR CREATURES die too. So, if you're sitting with a 2/2 and Sharpshooter while your opponent has a 4/4 you can still trade on in combat. When the 2/2 dies in combat the Sharpshooter's untap trigger goes on the stack. You can ping the 4/4 in response to the untap trigger on SS. Then you untap SS when the trigger resolves. Then you activate SS again to deal the 4th damage. Then the 4/4 dies and your SS untaps. SS basically allows you to do 2+X points of damage per combat step, where X is the number of creatures that will die. Your opponent generally won't be thinking about this, and as such Sharpshooter will be able to generate a LOT of card advantage.

Sharpshooter is like Ravager in affinity, cause it makes combat a lot more complicated, and let's you pull tricks out of nowhere. Because of this, it's really recomended to know how he works with the stack, so the only one caught off guard is your oppponent.

Some key information, as jrw1985 pointed out, is that if, for some reason, a bunch of creatures die at the same time, the untap ability will trigger once for each one, and you can respond to each of those abilities with the "tap: ping for 1". Also, I've seen many players forget to activate Sharpshooter when a creature dies, free points of damage are always good.

Because of the many posibilities an active Sharpshooter enables, is really useful to take our time, do the correct math and calculate which is the worst outcome of the combat for you. Chances are that your opponent will do some mistake, and correct predictions can lead to a very efficient way of using Sharpshooter to control the board.

[ScatmanX]

Does anyone still have the link to the Jim Davis video, where he plays and wrecks a GW Vengevine player with goblins?

Edit: Nevermind, found it on page 282 on the last thread.
http://a.blip.tv/scripts/flash/strat...&enablejs=true
Though playing against Survival, it's a very informative video, that shows how Skirk Propector can be so broken.
Also, I'm planning on playing something like the list he used there in today's meta. For reference: http://www.mtgtop8.com/event?e=539&d=206980
What do you guys think?

[qazwer]

Viable, yes.
Optimal, no.
I've seen goblins being played without them (I myself seldom use Port, but always Wasteland) but never making a good result.
If you have a more finished deck, I'd suggest to go with it.

Thanks for answer. Unfortunately my other deck is burn which isn't strongest archetype.

But assuming that I will get Wasteland and Port, which cards are best choices to the flex slots in mono red build?
I was thinking about:
2x Goblin Chiefain
1x Goblin Sharpshooter
1x Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
1x Tuktuk Scrapper (i think its better then tinkerer due to kiki-jiki, and we don't have to wait a turn to use it)
1x Stingscourger
1x MWM
4x Gempalm Incinerator
1x Lightning Crafter (good mini combo with kiki-jiki and goblins with etb trigger)

I also thought about adding Skirk Prospector or Mogg Fanatic, but I'm not sure about them.

And what is in your opinion best sideboard (I know it's meta-based decision, but here is very strange meta, where at one tournament possible is to see any deck and week later every deck is different, also no I didn't noticed that there is any more popular deck)? I was thinking about this:
3x Tormod's Crypt/Relic of Progenitus (I have crypts, but I'm not sure if relic isn't better in goblins. It is also possible that there is better GY hate in mono red build that i don't know.)
4x Red Elemental Blast
4x Shattering Spree
3x Chalice of the Void
1x Goblin King (I think it's good against Burn and Goblins, but I may be wrong.)

At the end I would ask you guys what are your ideas what to side out (and in) in different MUs.

Oh, and how to make links of cardnames?

[Yuri8]

I played single skirk in main in times of survival too and sometimes it really felt like some kind of combo...Right now I'm playing same list as Davis with changes -3mwm -1sgc -1port +3fanatic +1chieftain +1pyromacer, but I might try mwm again...
What bothers me is ANT and other storm decks...seriously if you dont splash black for therapies your only chance is to race them...(i dont know how you, but my games with storm ended almost everytime in second turn, sadpandaface.jpg). So here's my question: is worth to buy badlands just to splash for therapies and play Rgb? Or maybe replace them with traps(but trap does nothing to both duress and chant)?

[GoboLord]

Oh, and how to make links of cardnames?

You write it this way:

[@cards]Raging Goblin[@/cards]

You just leave out the "@"s then it come our this way:

Raging Goblin

[Talanos]

Does anyone still have the link to the Jim Davis video, where he plays and wrecks a GW Vengevine player with goblins?

Edit: Nevermind, found it on page 282 on the last thread.
http://a.blip.tv/scripts/flash/strat...&enablejs=true
Though playing against Survival, it's a very informative video, that shows how Skirk Propector can be so broken.
Also, I'm planning on playing something like the list he used there in today's meta. For reference: http://www.mtgtop8.com/event?e=539&d=206980
What do you guys think?

I think that MWM is a good creature.

I would probably find a way to play WW. NO-RUG is one of the best decks right now, and just because it loses MM, I don't see people giving up on Progenitus. I also think that Reanimator gets a boost now that there is no MM to counter Entombs, and I always like having a WW or two against that deck.

I think Lightning Bolt or Tarfire needs to be main deck. Stoneblade is a top tier deck and the GW was untouched by the ban, so it should only be stronger.

[Ace/Homebrew]

Yuri, what's your board look like?
I've had some success against ANT using a mono-red build and a board with a combination of Chalice of the Void, Mindbreak Trap, and Relic of Progenitus.

I figure you board out at least your Aether Vials and Gempalm Incinerators?

[sligh16]

I think Lightning Bolt or Tarfire needs to be main deck. Stoneblade is a top tier deck and the GW was untouched by the ban, so it should only be stronger.

Yes, when I removed the 4 Mental Missteps, I added 2 Tarfires and 2 Relics of Progenitus. The drawback that Tarfire pumps Tarmogoyf and Relic not being a goblin is a fair price IMO in exchange for versatility. There have been only a couple of times when these drawbacks have backfired against me (no big deal) but killing SFM and shrinking Goyfs and Knights is very very valuable.

About MWM: I think that's a matter of personal choice, like Kiki-Jiki and Wort. These are cards that have proven their value for a fair amount of time since now, so including one over the other(s) it's just up to you.

[GoblinSettler]

Long time lurker. I've picked up the deck about a year ago and have been playing mono-red.

Thanks for answer. Unfortunately my other deck is burn which isn't strongest archetype.

But assuming that I will get Wasteland and Port, which cards are best choices to the flex slots in mono red build?
I was thinking about:
2x Goblin Chiefain
1x Goblin Sharpshooter
1x Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
1x Tuktuk Scrapper (i think its better then tinkerer due to kiki-jiki, and we don't have to wait a turn to use it)
1x Stingscourger
1x MWM
4x Gempalm Incinerator
1x Lightning Crafter (good mini combo with kiki-jiki and goblins with etb trigger)

I also thought about adding Skirk Prospector or Mogg Fanatic, but I'm not sure about them.

And what is in your opinion best sideboard (I know it's meta-based decision, but here is very strange meta, where at one tournament possible is to see any deck and week later every deck is different, also no I didn't noticed that there is any more popular deck)? I was thinking about this:
3x Tormod's Crypt/Relic of Progenitus (I have crypts, but I'm not sure if relic isn't better in goblins. It is also possible that there is better GY hate in mono red build that i don't know.)
4x Red Elemental Blast
4x Shattering Spree
3x Chalice of the Void
1x Goblin King (I think it's good against Burn and Goblins, but I may be wrong.)

At the end I would ask you guys what are your ideas what to side out (and in) in different MUs.

Oh, and how to make links of cardnames?

Even if you can't get Wastelands and Rishadan Ports, I'd still suggest playing Goblins. And this is coming from someone that absolutely loves Wasteland.

IMO mana-denial works best against fast aggro like Zoo and Affinity. If you can adjust your build to compensate, you should be fine. Mogg War Marshal and maindeck removal might pick up the slack.

With Ports, you don't need all four. I had good results with two, but found myself wanting it more often. Just picked up a third.

Flex choices:
I've was running a similar spread before adopting Mental Misstep. Not sure what I will run now.
- I like Tuktuk Scrapper as artifact hate.
- I ran another Stingscourger over a second Goblin Chieftain.
- I'd try to fit in at least one Tarfire.

Sideboard:
- I prefer Surgical Extraction as my gravehate. It is actually cast-able, unlike Leyline of the Void. It has surprise factor. Before Misstep, I tried 2x main, and always found a useful target.
- Phyrexian mana gives Goblins another interesting option in Phyrexian Metamorph. It kills Iona, Jitte, Emrakul, and Progenitus. It doubles up a key goblin. It gives you your own Batterskull.
- I tried Goblin King for a bit, but always found myself siding in something else instead. With RUG decks everywhere and UW splashing red, it might be a different story now.

[GoblinSettler]

Double post. An embarrassing way to start. :(

[qazwer]

Thanks for your response.

IMO mana-denial works best against fast aggro like Zoo and Affinity. If you can adjust your build to compensate, you should be fine. Mogg War Marshal and maindeck removal might pick up the slack.

Do you think that 4x Gempalm Incinerator and 2x Stingscourger as this maindeck removal is ok or should I add something more? And how many MWMs do you suggest?

Also what do you think about Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker and Lightning Crafter in maindeck? I'm not sure if this isn't too slow and don't know if there is any sense in playing Lightning Crafter and Goblin Sharpshooter maindeck in the same time.

Could you post how your list looks like?

[Talanos]

Do you think that 4x Gempalm Incinerator and 2x Stingscourger as this maindeck removal is ok or should I add something more? And how many MWMs do you suggest?

Also what do you think about Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker and Lightning Crafter in maindeck? I'm not sure if this isn't too slow and don't know if there is any sense in playing Lightning Crafter and Goblin Sharpshooter maindeck in the same time.

I would run 3-4 Bolts or Tarfires alongside Gempalm and Stingscourger. I would run 3 Gempalms, unless you run at least 2 MWM, in which case, 4 works.

I think Sharpshooter is quite good, if you can find room for 1 in your main deck, it's a viable choice. If not, keep 1 in your board. Crafter is nice, but suffers a bit from the "looks cooler than it plays" syndrome. I have occasionally have 1 in the board, and usually only bring it in against Merfolk.

[Talanos]

Do you think that 4x Gempalm Incinerator and 2x Stingscourger as this maindeck removal is ok or should I add something more? And how many MWMs do you suggest?

Also what do you think about Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker and Lightning Crafter in maindeck? I'm not sure if this isn't too slow and don't know if there is any sense in playing Lightning Crafter and Goblin Sharpshooter maindeck in the same time.

I would run 3-4 Bolts or Tarfires alongside Gempalm and Stingscourger. I would run 3 Gempalms, unless you run at least 2 MWM, in which case, 4 works.

I think Sharpshooter is quite good, if you can find room for 1 in your main deck, it's a viable choice. If not, keep 1 in your board. Crafter is nice, but suffers a bit from the "looks cooler than it plays" syndrome. I have occasionally have 1 in the board, and usually only bring it in against Merfolk.

[andrebonotto]

Hello goblin mates,

First, I wanted to thank everyone that helped me with my doubts on my previous posts. The replies were really helpfull since...

Last Saturday I played a 24-player tournament, finishing up at 7th on the Swiss, and going until the Top 4.
Since I’m relatively new to the competitive-level game, it was actually my best result, and I'm really glad with it.


Here’s the list I played:

LANDS (22):
4 Wasteland
4 Rishadan Port
6 Red Fetch-lands
6 Mountain
2 Taiga

CORE (25):
-1 Siege-Gang Commander

FLEX (13):
4 Mental Misstep (yeah, it was my last – and only – chance to play it)
3 Gempalm Incinerator
1 Stingscourger
3 Tarfire
1 Goblin Sharpshooter
1 Goblin Chieftain

SIDEBOARD (15):
3 Pyrokinesis
3 Ancient Grudge
4 Tormod’s Crypt
3 Thorn of Amethyst
2 Red Elemental Blast




I wrote a reporting of the games to some friends, and wanted to share it here:

REPORT - Regional Legacy Qualifier tournament, Rio Claro, SP, Brazil (2011-09-24)

1st Round: Goblin 1 x 1 Reanimate

1st Game: He starts on the play. I keep a hand of Mountain, Lackey and Mental Misstep. He plays Careful Study. I think he’s playing Dredge and that this could be his only initial dredge-engine, so I MM’ed it. I play Lackey. He plays another Careful Study, discarding Sheoldred, Whispering One and Terastodon. I freeze. With the other land he plays Reanimate on Sheoldred. I sacrifice Lackey. He puts Terastodon into play, destroying my two lands. From this on I tried to put some creatures into play to chump block but keep loosing them all.

One very bad misplay I did was: with the two 3/3 elephant tokens that his Terastodon gave me after crunching my two lands, I blocked Terastodon with one and Sheoldred with the other, instead of blocking Sheoldred with both. I was very nervous. Also, I don't know if I should have countered his first Careful Study, or if I should have waited to see what could come next.

2nd Game: (Side in: 4x Tormod’s Crypt/ Out: I think 3x Tarfire and 1x Gempalm). I keep a hand with 2x Crypts, a 1st drop and Port. I play the 1st drop and leave a Crypt into play. He throws some bomb at his GY (maybe it was Sphynx of the Steel Wind) to bait me. Since I have another Crypt at my hand, I pretend to grab his bait, and exile his GY. I keep tapping his land at upkeep, with Port, and after I draw a Wasteland I waste his Underground Sea. He throws Iona, Shield of Emeria at his GY, but did not have the mana to recover it the same turn. I played the other Crypt and exiled his GY. Keep disrupting his mana and attacking each time with more goblins.

3rd Game: I think I mull down to 5 after a GY hate, but missed it. Keep the hand with a 1st drop and a Wasteland / Port. After getting my 1st drop into play and disrupting his mana a bit, he plays Pithing Needle, naming the Crypt. I draw a Crypt soon. Time’s up, and I know I can’t beat him up, but I can hold him up until the 5-turn countdown is over.


2nd Round: Goblin 2 x 0 MUC

1st Game: He counters some of my stuff, but I had 1st drop redundancy and got one in play. I sneak some free gobs into play and taking his life, while I keep him off one mana with Port. After a almost-deadly attack, I finish him up with Tarfire. He laughs: “With this?! Nobody plays it; never saw it coming...”.

2nd Game: (Side in: 2x Red Elemental Blast / Out: maybe 2x Gempalm).
Keep a hand with a 1st drop, MM, Matron, and many lands. (I thought a mulligan could offer a riskier hand). He plays Ancestral Vision. I try to rush. Matron gets Ringleader, but at his upkeep, in response to me tapping his Island with Port, he plays a Vendilion Clique, throwing away my Ringleader. I replace it with … another Ringleader! Well, on my turn I have exactly four lands (no Warchief) and decided to risk get the Ringleader into play. He had a card in hand, that could be a Daze. But if I waited, on his turn the would get the three cards from the Vision, and it would be a lot harder to get by his counters. Ringleader resolves, get me some more gobs. On his turn he plays Vedalken Shackles and pass. I think for a while and move to the beginning of the attack step. He steals my Lackey with the Shackels. I burn the Lackey with Gempalm, and after the attack leave him with 1 life. I finish him with Tarfire, again. He will never laugh at this card again.

At some point during the match he Stifled my Piledriver’s +2 combat trigger. I asked if it was possible, because of my Piledriver’s “protection from blue”, but he insisted. I called the judge, who seemed to know less of the rules than I do. My opponent explains to me again, that “the trigger is on the stack, not on the creature”, and that “the trigger don’t have the protection”. It makes sense, so I okayed it. (Is this play correct?)

3rd Round: Goblin 2 x 1 Merfolk (this guy would get the 5th place)

1st Game: Keep a hand with a 1st drop. He mulls to 5, I think. Very fast I put pressure on the battlefield. His life goes: 20 => 19 => 11 => -1

2nd Game: (Side in: 2x Red Elemental Blast / Out: 2x Tarfire)
He plays a Chill. Ouch! I’m able to play my Lackey on the 3rd / 4th turn. He beats me up with his pumped merfolks.

3rd Game: I start with Vial, that resolves. I have another one at my hand, and MM. He tries to play his own Vial, and I MM’ed it. He FOW’ed my MM. (That’s okay, because it took him three cards to put that Vial into play). At some point, I have some gobs, a Warchief, a Piledriver, 2x Ports and I guess 3 Mountains in play. I have a Gempalm at my hand and draw another Piledriver. He gets some untapped merfolks, and an Island / Mutavault ready to block. I play the Piledriver (costed only one red), but he Daze’d it (returnig to hand a tapped island). I think for a very long time and decide to pay the extra mana - that ruined my plan of tapping the Mutavault (using Mountain + Port) and Gempalming another blocker (using the other Mountain + Port). I burn a blocker, get a lot of goblins dead, and leave him with 5 life, ending up with only a Piledriver alive. That was another bad combat decision that I made. On his turn, he rushes me with all his guys and Mutavault, leaving me also with 5. I had to draw something awesome to survive… I draw a Matron (yeah!), vial it into play and find a Warchief, that I play. I attack with everything and it’s game gain, thanks more to the topdecking than to my combat decisions…

4th Round: Goblin 0 x 2 BGW

1st Game: He starts with Land, Go. I play Lackey, that gets StP’ed. We trade some removals and creatures. When I am able to fill the battlefield, he plays Pernicious Deed and destroys everything. I refill my army. He gets back his Deed with Eternal Witness, plays it and destroys everything again. I think I did put some more gobs into play, but after a while he draws another Deed and cracks it. I can’t refill my resources and he finishes me with Goyfs, I guess.

2nd Game: (Side in: 2x Pyrokinesis / Out: 2x Tarfire) I try to guarantee with a initial 1st drop but he gets his stuff into play and I move slow. At Mid-Game, he plays a Enlightened Tutor for Engineered Plague, that takes me some goblins. I cannot recover.

I got disappointed.

5th Round: Goblin 2 x 0 Bant

1st Game: He starts with a first drop (maybe it was [card]Noble Hierarch[/card], but I MM’ed it. I play my 1st drop. Soon, he gets SFM > Batterskull on. He keeps gaining life and I keep loosing it, doing a few chump blocks, until I get to 4 and he to 39. I think it’s over. But I start to draw some removals and am able to get Matron / Ringleader, wich gets me plenty of card advantage. I take his creatures down and after a few massive attacks leaded by Piledriver, his life goes: 39 => 33 => 18 => 3 => over. It was the most impressive game turning that I ever played.

2nd Game: (Side in: 3x Pyrokinesis, 3x Ancient Grudge / Out: 4x MM, 2x Tarfire, because I thought that to disrupt his SFM>Batterskull was more urgent than to protect my initial Lackey).

I think I start with Lackey, with Knesis in hand. I clean Lackey’s way and put some more gobs into play. We trade some removals. I am at 6 life and he is at 2, with Batterskull in play. I think I’ll be dead the next turn, but I draw a Stingscourger. I Sting’ed his Batterskull’s germ and opened the way to a deadly offensive.

TOP 8: Goblin 2 x 1 GW

1st Game: I don’t remember it well. I was another SFM > Batterskull match. On my notepad, my life goes down very fast, and his goes up. I stabilize at 5, and am able to get him down from 32 => 24 => 12. Then, I don’t remember how, I lost, after my Piledriver gets StP’ed.

2nd Game: (Side in: 3x Knesis, 3x Ancient Grudge / Out: 4x MM, 2x Tarfire).
Don’t remember it well, either. Only know that I started fast, because my life stabilizes at 19 (due to a fetch land) all game, but his goes: 20 => 19 => 16 => 14 => 2, over.

3rd Game: I dont’ think he was able to get Batterskull into play this game, because at my play notes, there are no life gain for him: I keep at 18; he goes 20 => 19 => 17 => 16 => 13 => 10 => 7, end.
During this match, I remember he got a Engineered Plague into play, but I kept disrupting his mana base with Ports and Wastelands. After the game, he revealed his hand: another Plague, a Vindicate and other scary stuff. Glad I followed the more secure plan of mana disrupting, instead of going all-in.

TOP 4: Goblin 0 x 2 White Weenie

1st Game: Horrible. I’m still a little disoriented, because my last match ended on the time limit, and I had to grab all my stuff very fast and run to the next game table, where my opponent was already waiting for me.
I mull to 6 or 5: Vial, Lackey, MM, Matron, another gob (or maybe another two). No lands. Nervous and disoriented, I made the stupid decidion (maybe the stupidiest on the tournament?) of keeping this hand, cause I could counter his 1st drop, draw any land, and put my 1st drop into play. Well, “half of the plan worked”: I countered his 1st drop. But I guess I don’t need to say that I didn’t draw any lands for 2-3 turns, then, it was already over.

2nd Game: (Side in: 3x Knesis, 3x Ancient Grudge / Out: 4x MM, 2x Tarfire).
I mull and keep a hand with: Land, Mountain, 2x Lackeys, a removal. My first Lackey connects and brings in Piledriver. I play the other Lackey. On my 3rd turn I attack with everything and leave him at 12. But after, with his Vial on @ 2, he draws Squadron Hawk. Then he fills his board with blockers, until he gets Batterskull and Jitte. That was too much trouble, but I resisted for a while. However, after a sequence of dead draws (land, land, Vial, Vial, and maybe another land), he equips a Hawk with Jitte and I’m over.


And that was it.

Thinking about it after, I really liked to play with 4x Mental Misstep maindeck. Now I guess I’m a little sorry this card is banned. Well, got to start planning the replacements…