[Deck] Goblins

[akabidu]

The king for RUG Delver. The Thalia for all of our normally terrible combo match-ups. GILDED DRAKE (WHAT!?) for Reanimator and Sneak & Show. I would never in a million years think of splashing white for Thalia or blue for anything at all. Insanity.

I dont think you guys know that when goblin was a high tier 1 deck, it was splashed with all colors....white for swords, blue for brainstorm and daze. Maybe not great....but the deck was insane back in the days. This list seems...dont know, but if it were good people would be playing it. And dont say that he invented it!.

[1maarten1]

@1maarten1
I think Krenko might deserve more sideboard than maindeck space. He's good but you already have Matron to find him. He might be good as a 2'of post-board though when you start running into RUG/UR's Burn and want to find another one. As long as he hits play when you have a lord out, he'll have haste and make a bunch of dudes even if he eats a Burn spell.

Yea you are probably right, with Merfolk becoming more popular the third piledriver should get better too so that is what I will be cutting it for.

[ScatmanX]

Those list got good results inspite Thalia and Guide, not because of them.
The only info I could find about the top8list of the gp is the written coverage of the top8 match against Canadian. Conclusion: Thalia was bad. He had to name Humans with Caverns to get one down, only to have a Matron countered later.
Goblins is a synergistic deck, and he made it ledd optimal with that move.
Also, Thalia + Wasteland look way better than just Thalias.

As for Guide, if you're trying to be agressive, run some Chrome Moxes, and get the possibility for Instigator/Piledriver T1. Guide is bad. It may win you some games, like that Thalia, but that does not mean the card is good.

Krenko, on the other hand, is proving to be awesome. My count is @2 too. 1 activation from it will win you the game against fair decks.
Don't know if that is enough reason to run 2, but he is so fun. Is like adding a (another) minigame to the deck. If your opponent can't answer it, he'll lose.

[L10]

Awesome art for the Arms Dealer reprint. We didn't get a lord after all.

[Davran]

Awesome art for the Arms Dealer reprint. We didn't get a lord after all.

Here's hoping we didn't get one now because there is a sweet one waiting in RTR. This set is pretty disappointing overall...seems like they hit random on gatherer a bunch of times to decide which cards to reprint.

[BigBopper]

Actually I didn't expect Chieftain to be reprinted in M13 again, since it was already in M10, M11 and M12. But since Merfolk got a new lord and elves got his awesome combination of lord and titania reprinted there might be something upcoming in the next block.
Also wizards printed lots of goblins, which seems like they could rise in standard again, which is another reason to expect more of them in RTR and following editions. Krenko is pretty cool, too, the only thing that doesn't really fit is Torch Fiend since he's a devil.
Just print him as an updated version of Tinkerer and we would be fine.

@Gobolord: Since Merfolk is on a rise again I'm seeing more and more SoF/I. Do you think it is necessary to run artifact hate MD again? We can work around Jitte with Prospecter, Fanatic and Removal but this Sword just kills everything in our army.

[GoboLord]

@Gobolord: Since Merfolk is on a rise again I'm seeing more and more SoF/I. Do you think it is necessary to run artifact hate MD again? We can work around Jitte with Prospecter, Fanatic and Removal but this Sword just kills everything in our army.

I think you are jumping to conclusions here.
The fact that Wizards has pinted a twinbrother for Lord of Atlantis does not mean that players will actually pick up the deck again. Merfolk didn't disappear because a lack of good lordcreatures - so I don't think that Master of Pearl Trident will make fish a viable choice again. I highly doubt that "Merfolk is on a rise".
Plus, I think that people will run SoF&I only if Merfolk will be a real competitor again (which is even more unlikely). So, for now I would not worry about Swords of nastiness, since other (already existing) strategies and builds are very effective against fish, too.

[Annatar]

How many colourless mana sources do you think this deck can support? I think Rishadan Port is still good enough not to sign off just yet, but I fear that there are times (cycling of gempalms, siege-gang activations and so on) when you really need genuine red mana.

Also, it might be prudent to start talking about plans against Engineered Plague again. The deck has placed well in three consecutive large tournaments so I don't think such an obvious houser will remain ignored for long. Krosan Grip is the norm for the green splash I guess, but has anyone tried running more lords (Goblin Chieftain and/or Boartusk Liege) in the maindeck or sideboard to help combat this and how has it panned out for them?

[liamb]

Also, it might be prudent to start talking about plans against Engineered Plague again. The deck has placed well in three consecutive large tournaments so I don't think such an obvious houser will remain ignored for long. Krosan Grip is the norm for the green splash I guess, but has anyone tried running more lords (Goblin Chieftain and/or Boartusk Liege) in the maindeck or sideboard to help combat this and how has it panned out for them?

I remember one game when my goblins survived reanimated Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite (it's like instant double plague). If you go back couple pages check scaman-x winstigator list (4x Goblin Chieftain). I even have tailored it for burn-heavy meta by adding Boartusk Liege (against Volcanic Fallout), and some numbers of Chalice of the Void and Zuran Orb. You can also try a pair of Mogg Flunkies (an oldschool idea against BUG landstill).

[BigBopper]

I think you are jumping to conclusions here.
The fact that Wizards has pinted a twinbrother for Lord of Atlantis does not mean that players will actually pick up the deck again. Merfolk didn't disappear because a lack of good lordcreatures - so I don't think that Master of Pearl Trident will make fish a viable choice again. I highly doubt that "Merfolk is on a rise".
Plus, I think that people will run SoF&I only if Merfolk will be a real competitor again (which is even more unlikely). So, for now I would not worry about Swords of nastiness, since other (already existing) strategies and builds are very effective against fish, too.

Well, the thing is that 2 Merfolk list did go top 8 at the last SCG and the only maverick list did pack SoFI, so I guess it won't take a while until the blade decks pick this up again.
I also hear some people talk about putting together all kinds of different Merfolk lists starting from the usual ones with Standstill up to builds with MD Chalice and Cavern.

[GoboLord]

@ BigBlopper:
Ok, you might be right. Just keep this possibility of running Tuktuk MD in mind. Artifact in MD is never a really bad idea - I'm just not a huge fan of it.

@ Everyone:


VI. Update notes

July 3rd 2012
* added Mirror Entity and Taurean Mauler to "To-be-tested cards"

[ScatmanX]

How many colourless mana sources do you think this deck can support? I think Rishadan Port is still good enough not to sign off just yet, but I fear that there are times (cycling of gempalms, siege-gang activations and so on) when you really need genuine red mana.

The question you want to ask is "How many R sources is the minimum we can supprt", not the other way around.
Jim Davis played 4 Waste, 4 Port, 4 Caverns, but with 23 lands that proved to be enough. If you run 20-21, those numbers should be tweaked.
Also, it depends on your list, cause there are some with more R requirements than others (like 4 Instigator vs 4 Mogg Warmarchall).

[BigBopper]

The question you want to ask is "How many R sources is the minimum we can supprt", not the other way around.
Jim Davis played 4 Waste, 4 Port, 4 Caverns, but with 23 lands that proved to be enough. If you run 20-21, those numbers should be tweaked.
Also, it depends on your list, cause there are some with more R requirements than others (like 4 Instigator vs 4 Mogg Warmarchall).

I think the answer is 11-13 depending on your list, just as you said (WI/MWM and stuff). I've been running a list without WI but including MWM and took 11 red sources just as jim davis. But inspite I only ran 22 lands (3 Ports), but I saw lists performing well with 21 lands (2 Ports, 11 red sources). So Ports seem just like additional mana denial, which you could substitute by a goblin, if you play more aggressive. So you can simply change your playstile by the manabase.
I guess builds with WI and Kiki-Jiki need more red.

[jrw1985]

How many colourless mana sources do you think this deck can support? I think Rishadan Port is still good enough not to sign off just yet, but I fear that there are times (cycling of gempalms, siege-gang activations and so on) when you really need genuine red mana.

This entirely depends on your build and your curve. I've been leaning toward a build with 20 Lands, 4 Waste, 16 Red Source. But, I've been running a lower curve, more cheaters, and free spells MD to offset the low land count. And I Don't run MWM. If you run MWM, you'll need more lands. That dude gets expensive.

You can run 8 waste/port on 22-23 lands. 23 probably for a Rx buils, 22 for MonoR.

The deck that Top-8'd at Atlanta ran 0 colorless sources. Instead they maindecked Thalia as their mana-denial component. Very sneaky. I must admit, I was kinda aghast when I saw that, but it quickly sank in that Thalia performs the same role as Wasteland and Port, only it does it while providing a body on the field. I can't really take that much issue with running Thalia. That deck still had 31 Goblin cards MD. I liked it.

Also, it might be prudent to start talking about plans against Engineered Plague again. The deck has placed well in three consecutive large tournaments so I don't think such an obvious houser will remain ignored for long. Krosan Grip is the norm for the green splash I guess, but has anyone tried running more lords (Goblin Chieftain and/or Boartusk Liege) in the maindeck or sideboard to help combat this and how has it panned out for them?

I don't think Goblins is enough of a presence for Plague to become a problem now. But Chieftain and Green splash will help tremendously if it's a problem in your meta. I still enjoy casting Reverent Silence every now and then, too.

[Vacrix]

Yea you are probably right, with Merfolk becoming more popular the third piledriver should get better too so that is what I will be cutting it for.

Agreed. Also, Snapcasters and Delver's can't chump it when you're playing against Tempo.

[BigBopper]

And I Don't run MWM. If you run MWM, you'll need more lands. That dude gets expensive.

Why do you think that guy is expensive?
I mean 90% of the time you don't pay the echo cost, since you got something better to do with your mana, but still you get a second body. Most of the time you can even use his ability positively, like chump blocking, or with skirk prosecter or for sharpshooter. In case you have Warchief it cost you only R and with prospecter in addition you can turn him into a mogg ritual.
I really like him as a 1-2 of-so I guess WI for RR is more expensive...?

[raindrainxi]

Hello everyone,

After about a year off I'm finally trying to join a tournament on Sunday. The Meta here is very Combo heavy, and the inevitable Stoneblade, RUG delver and the occasional dredge player.

My current decklist is:

4 Lackey
4 Ringleader
4 Matron
3 Piledriver
3 Winstigator
3 Warchief
3 Chieftain
3 SGC
2 MWM
1 Stingscourger

4 Vials
3 Gempalms
2 Tarfire

16 Mountains
4 Wastes
2 Caverns (to be added)

My problem is my sideboard. As I've said haven't been able to play as much so its stuck at:

4 Tormods
4 Chalice of the Void / Thorn of Amethyst
3 Pyrokinesis
2 REB
1 Boartusk Liege
1 Sharpshooter

Are the tarfires enough for Stoneblade? or should I opt for Mogg Fans? Also, I think my SB is a little dated so help on this would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[liamb]

Hello everyone,

After about a year off I'm finally trying to join a tournament on Sunday. The Meta here is very Combo heavy, and the inevitable Stoneblade, RUG delver and the occasional dredge player.

My current decklist is:

4 Lackey
4 Ringleader
4 Matron
3 Piledriver
3 Winstigator
3 Warchief
3 Chieftain
3 SGC
2 MWM
1 Stingscourger

4 Vials
3 Gempalms
2 Tarfire

16 Mountains
4 Wastes
2 Caverns (to be added)

My problem is my sideboard. As I've said haven't been able to play as much so its stuck at:

4 Tormods
4 Chalice of the Void / Thorn of Amethyst
3 Pyrokinesis
2 REB
1 Boartusk Liege
1 Sharpshooter

Are the tarfires enough for Stoneblade? or should I opt for Mogg Fans? Also, I think my SB is a little dated so help on this would be appreciated.

Thanks!

If by combo you meant storm/doomsday your sideboard plan looks ok. But if you meant grisle decks I definitely would try additional Stingscourger in the sideboard.

Also against stoneforge decks you should add tuktuk or tin street if you willing to splash.

And I don’t like 4 crypts here. You should run relics because it is very good against both dredge and rug.

So maybe:

Maindeck changes: -1 SGC, +1 tuktuk

Sideboard changes for Grisle-heavy meta: - 4 Tormods, -4 Chalice of the Void / Thorn of Amethyst, - 1 Boartusk Liege; + 3 relics, +2 Grafdigger's Cage, +1 tuktuk (or tin), +1 stingscourger, +2 REB

Sideboard changes for storm heavy meta: - 4 Tormods, - 1 Boartusk Liege; +4 relics, +1tuktuk (or tin)

[jrw1985]

I think I'm getting worse at Magic.

I don't know if any of you have felt the same way, but I think that as I've grown more comfortable with tournament play I've started thinking less, paying less attention, and not taking the time to make the right plays. I need to slow the fuck down. I've been having really mediocre results lately, and I think a lot of it is attributable to me just not playing smart.

I guess the other problem is that I don't play nearly enough. I only play in one weekly tournament, and aside from that I don't have friends that play anymore, so I don't really get to test or practice. That's part of why I've enjoyed posting and reading on the Source so much. For those of us that don't get to spend as much time playing as we'd like it's an invaluable resource.

There needs to be a Magic-playing guardian angel I can hire to stand on my shoulder and whisper in my ear, "Don't be Greedy," when I feel the urge to dump my hand into a Pyroclasm. I've been making super greedy plays that are just uncalled for. Greedy plays AND greedy sideboarding choices.

On a slightly different note, I tried out the GP list with the MD Thalia last night. Thalia was OK. If you're going to run her, I think you can run Wasteland too. I missed running Wasteland more than I liked running Thalia, if that makes any sense.

[Julian23]

Name 3 cards that you hate to see out of a UW Miracle deck. I'm trying to improve my sb against those little green men, which are my currently worst matchup.

Appreciate the input, thanks!