[Deck] Vial Goblins

[ScatmanX]

...was wondering if you tested without piledrivers. also, goblin settler is pretty great...

Played without Pledrivers years ago. In todays meta I think they are quite decent. Lots of Leovolds, TNN and removal around. If I were to not play them, I'd probably run the single Krenko. But yeah, cutting drivers is feasable (just don't tell GobboLord).
I tested Settled and played wih it at GP Prague last year. It was awesome during testing, but did nothing at the event. I wouldn't know how to evaluate if I wanted to try them again or not.
And congrats on the kid, and hope to meet you one day! =]

[mistercakes]

thanks :)
i can see the value in piledriver. just didn't see too much of it in your report. with all the bug decks it settler's value might be a bit stronger here, and then upping the wasteland to 4 could work. when i have a little while i'll pull the deck out and type up my most recent list.

[ScatmanX]

i can see the value in piledriver. just didn't see too much of it in your report.

True. Apart from round one it didn't do much.
Maybe I'll try a version without him this month.

[GoboLord]

Hello fellow Chieftains,

we went to BOM Paris ’17 last weekend and I wanted to share my experiences with you.

Before the event
Arriving on Friday, I met Marcelo (ScatmanX) at the event site, who had just finished playing a trial for the Legacy main event with a solid record of 4-1. Knowing he was on a Winstigator list, we talked a bit about how his matches went. Scouting the decks played at the second trial of that day told me that BUG Delver was literally everywhere and seemed to be the most played deck. So I asked Marcelo if he wanted to playtest a bit, as I figured out my list had hard times beating that deck and I wanted to do something about it. Testing confirmed it – I got stomped every single game. The main issue was that my deck was lacking the aggressive punch needed to close the games, as its playing 0 copies of Piledriver and Chieftain. With only Krenko as wincondition which got either Fatally Pushed or ignored, Marcelo convinced me to try Winstigators instead of my controlish MWM/Port list. Some games later I was convinced that this was what I wanted, so I sleeved up the following 75 for the main event.

Decklist
4 Cavern of Souls
2 Wasteland
2 Pendelhaven
1 Karakas
2 Taiga
3 Bloodstained Mire
2 Wooded Foothills
3 Mountain
1 Snow-Covered Mountain
3 Chrome Mox

4 Aether Vial
4 Goblin Lackey
4 Warren Instigator
4 Goblin Chieftain
4 Goblin Matron
4 Goblin Ringleader
3 Goblin Piledriver
3 Tarfire
1 Gempalm Incinerator
1 Pyrokinesis
1 Stingscourger
1 Tin-Street Hooligan
1 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
1 Siege-Gang Commander
1 Sylvan Library

Sideboard
3 Blood Moon
3 Pithing Needle
3 Confusion in the Ranks
3 Carpet of Flowers
1 Pyrokinesis
1 Karakas
1 Tuktuk Scrapper

Match Report – Main Event

Round 1: Vincent with Aggro Loam (2-0)
G1: [play, both keep 7]
I open with Lackey on turn 1. Vincent play Mox Diamond and Urborg, Tomb of Y. and Chalice@1 on his turn 1. On my turn 2 I play Chrome Mox (TSH), another land and Goblin Chieftain. Attack for 4, put Ringleader into play, revealing Winstigator and Matron. Vincent play Liliana of the Veil on turn 3, letting me sacrifice Ringleader. On my turn 3 I cast Winstigator, attack for 8, using the triggers of Warren Instigator and Lackey to put Matron (Kiki-Jiki), Kiki-Jiki (copy Matron for Ringleader) and Ringleader into play.

SB:
-1 Pyrokinesis, -3 Tarfire
+ 1 Karakas, +3 Blood Moon * I somehow thought he was playing Lands or some Dark Depth combo deck, so the SB’ing was a bit off here*

G2: [draw, both keep 7]
Vincent play Thalia on turn 1, I open with Lackey. On turn 2 he Decays my Lackey and attacks. I drop Aether Vial on turn 2 and pass. Vincents attacks on turn 3 and plays Dark Confident (this is where I realize, that I have only 1 removal spell left in deck, so I need to use my own creatures differently). I play Pendelhaven and Winstigator on turn 3 and pass. Dark Confident reveals Swords to Plowshares which is used to exile my Winstigator. I use Pendelhaven to gain one more life. My notes are a bit fuzzy from turn 4 onwards, but I end the game a couple of turns later with 2 Chieftain, Matron, Ringleader and Piledriver in play, leaving one Wasteland untapped for several turns after he played Thespian Stage.

Round 2: William with Burn (2-1)
G1: [play, both keep 7]
I open with Goblin Lackey on turn 1. William play Goblin Guide and attacks – I willingly take the 2 damage and the land from the top. On my next turn I attack with Lackey, putting Chieftain into play and cast Piledriver. On the next turn or the turn after William casts Eidolon and sacrifices 2 Mountains to destroy my Chieftain with Fireblast. Eidolon eats Tarfire on my turn and I win from there, as William has no lands to keep up.

SB:
-1 Sylvan Library
+ 1 Pyrokinesis

G2: [draw, he keeps 7, I mull to 5]
I have no T1 play, while William opens with T1 Swiftspear (which I kill with Tarfire on my turn 1), T2 Goblin Guide, killing my creature on T3 with Searing Blaze. I am not able to interact at any point after turn 2.
G3: [play, he mulls to 4, I keep 7]
I am 2 cards and one turn ahead of him, so I can race him. End of the story.

Round 3: Romain with Burn (2-0)
G1: [play, both keep 7]
I play Aether Vial on turn 1, Romain has Goblin Guide on turn 1, which attacks and gives me an extra land. From there on out, his Goblin Guide gives me a land each turn, while I chump my way into midgame. I have Matron on turn 2, Ringleader on turn 3 and Siege-Gang Commander on turn 4 (which eats a Rift Bolt). I can then take the game in the next 2 turn, with 7 lands and Aether Vial @4.

SB:
-1 Sylvan Library
+ 1 Pyrokinesis

G2: [draw, he keeps 7, I mull to 6 scry to bottom]
Romain is stuck one one land for the first few turns and gets me to 5 life before I kill him. With one land he is forced to decide between killing my creatures or targeting my lifepoints, whereas actually he needs to do both.

Round 4: Callum with Dark Bant (0-2)
Callum turns out to be a player from London who happens to know Marcelo from some local events. He also ends up in TOP8 of this event. Both games we played were very intense, but his deck (which I only knew from Marcelo’s descriptions) was just too much for me. Seriously – you need to check out the decklist once it’s published. It’s a monstrosity.

G1: [draw, both keep 7]
Unfortunately I don’t remember a lot of details. I think my T1 Aether Vial got Daze’d, and my T2 Sylvan Library stuck. The turn when the game was decided he played SFM to grab a Jitte and had a TNN in play. On my next turn (being at 16 life) I had 2 lands in play and a Matron + some other red cards in my hand. My Sylvan Library showed me 2 fetchlands and Chrome Mox. I was thinking for a bit if I should take 4 damage to get Chrome Mox and a fetch so that I could play around Daze when playing Matron (who needed to fetch TSH). I decided against it, he cast Daze and I was too far behind.

SB:
-1 Stingscourger, -4 Warren Instigator
+ 1 Pyrokinesis , +1 Tuktuk Scrapper, +3 Carpet of Flowers *talking to Callum and Marcelo separately afterwards, I found out that it’s better to board Blood Moon rather than Carpets*

G2: [play, he keeps 7, I mull to 6 scry to bottom]
This game is a close race, which I ultimately lose as he can handle all of my threats.

Round 5: Jeremy with Infect (0-2)
G1: [draw, he keeps 7, I mull to 5, scry to bottom]
Jeremy opens with Tropical and Glisterner Elf. I try to Tarfire it on my turn, but he has Daze to protect his Elf. On his T2 he replays the Tropical and attacks me for 1. On my turn 2 I cast Warren Instigator and pass the turn. My hand is: Matron and 2x Ringleader. On his turn 2, Jeremy plays another Tropical Island and attacks. He has 5 cards in hand.

~PUZZLE TIME#1 ~
What would you do here and why?

SB:
-2 Piledriver, -1 Karakas, -1 TSH
+ 1 Pyrokinesis , +3 Blood Moon

G2: [play, both keep 7]
I keep a solid hand that can deal with some threats and buy some time: Aether Vial, Tarfire, Wasteland, Cavern of Souls, Mountain, Stingscourger, Matron. During the game, my Tarfire gets Spell Pierce’d, my first Vial gets destroyed by Seal of Primodium, the second Vial gets shattered by Viridian Corruptor and Matron gets Daze’d. I lose the game with an empty hand and any empty board.

Round 6: Jonathan with JO(!)nadian Delver (0-2)
G1: [draw, he keeps 7, I mull to 5, scry to top]
Jonathan handles the very few threats I actually have. Playing with -1 card and -1 turn against Delver tempo decks is not really what you want to be doing.

SB:
-1 Stingscourger, -3 Piledriver
+3 Carpet of Flowers, +1 Pyrokinesis

G2: [play, he keeps 7, I mull to 6, scry to top]
I get him down to 2 life before he stabilizes with Life from the Loam + Cabal Pit and 2 untapped Mongeese. I played a bit sloppy, putting Siege-Gang Commander into play with Vial when I should have brought in Kiki-Jiki. Also, I should have kept my Vials @3 and @3 instead of @3 and @4 when I only had 2 Ringleaders left in the deck, but needed to go for Matron + Chieftain in order to close the game.

Round 7: Julien 4-color Delver (2-1)
G1: [draw, he keeps 7, I mull to 6, scry to bottom]
He plays Delver of Secrets on turn 1, which I try to Tarfire on turn 1. Tarfire meets Daze and Delver flips on turn 2. I don’t draw any removal spells and lose the race when he is at 7 life.

SB:
-1 Stingscourger, -1 Kiki-Jiki, -1 Winstigator
+3 Blood Moon *I am not sure why I did not bring Pyrokinesis here, but that’s what my notes are telling me*

G2: [play, both keep 7]
He Lightning Bolts my T1 Lackey, I think Tarfire his T2 DRS or Delver and then resolve a Blood Moon on T3 and he scoops shortly after that.

SB:
-3 Blood Moon
+3 Carpet of Flowers

G3: [draw, both keep 7]
Having only 3 lands in play for couple of turn I resolve Carpet of Flowers which blooms for 2 and later for 3 mana each turn. This lets me cast enough spells to throw some creatures under his Gurmag Angler while building up some card advantage and taking over the game. This is the first of many games which I won ONLY because of Carpet of Flowers. Having only 3 lands and 0-1 creatures on board vs. a Gurmag Angler can be death sentence a I am otherwise stuck to casting one creature per turn which gets eaten by the Angler Fish. Only with additional mana it’s possible to get your engine going and build up cardadvantage.

Round 8: NO SHOW
I then find a substitute opponent by the name of
Johann with Grixis Delver (2-1)
G1: [draw, he keeps 7, I mull to 6, scry to bottom]
Johann goes wide with Delver of Secrets + Young Pyromancer, which I can’t handle.

SB:
-3 Piledriver, -1 Kiki-Jiki
+3 Blood Moon, +1 Kinesis

G2: [play, both keep 7]
I can cast 2 Lackeys on turn 1, both of which connect on turn 2 (Matron + Ringleader). He concedes on his turn 2.

SB:
-3 Blood Moon
+3 Carpet of Flowers

G3: [draw, he mulls to 6, I keep 7]
I get Carpet of Flowers into play early and just drown Johann in card advantage. Again, I was stuck on 3 lands and Carpet of Flowers catapulted me out of that miserable position. I would have lost the game without Carpet of Flowers as the lack of mana would have limited to casting 1 spell per turn. Against a tempo deck!

Round 9: Jonathan with Merfolk (2-1)
G1: [draw, he mulls to 6, I keep 7]
He forces my T1 Vial and we trade Warren Instigator for a Lord. I then resolve 3 Lackeys, while he builds up his board with another Lord, a Silvergill Adept and Phantasmal Image. At some point he attacks me, putting my life total down to 7, leaving 2 blockers behind and casts a Jitte. On my next turn I destroy his Phantasmal image with Tarfire, attack with 3 Lackeys having Matron and Ringleader in hand. He thinks for a bid and lets all 3 of them connect. I get Ringleader and Matron into play off the first and the second trigger. Matron finds Kiki-Jiki, which gets put into play with the third trigger. On his turn when he equips Jitte to a creature, I copy Matron, find Tarfire, destroy the equipped creature and win on my next turn.

SB:
-1 Sylvan Library, -1 Stingscourger
+1 Tuktuk Scrapper, +1 Pyrokinesis

G2: [draw, both keep 7]
I lose the game because of a massive misplay. He has 2 blockers, while I have Warren Instigator and a Vial @ 1 in play + a land, Matron, Pyrokinesis and Piledriver in hand. I cast Pyrokinesis, pitching Piledriver, which gets FoW’ed. He then proceeds to cast a Jitte on his turn and passes. On my turn, I tick Vial to 2 counters, play a third land and cast Matron which was supposed to find TSH. Matron gets FoW’ed as well and I lose the game as I can’t handle his equipment. I should (1) not have pitched Piledriver – in fact not have played Kinesis at all and (2) not have played Matron, but wait one more turn to play it save with Vial, then getting Tuktuk Scrapper , not TSH to make it all counter-proof.

G3: [play, both keep 7]
Both of us play a slow game – mine includes 2 Aether Vials however. On the relevant turn I have Chieftain + 2 Lackey in play, draw a Matron, put it into play from Vial, finding another Matron, which then finds Piledriver. I cast Piledriver and kill him with an all-in attack.

Match Report – Side Event

Round 1: Alonzo with 4c LeoNemesis (1-2)
G1: [draw, he keeps 7, I mull to 6, scry to bottom]
I lose a close race to 3 TNNs and a DRS bumping up his life totals. He is at 3 life when he strickes me for lethal damage.

SB:
-1 Library, -1 Stinger, -1 Kiki-Jiki, -1Winstigator
+1 Kinesis, +3 Blood Moon

G2: [play, both keep 7]
T3 Blood Moons wins the game.

SB:
-3 Blood Moon
+3 Carpet of Flowers

G3: [draw, both keep 7]
I keep a risky 1-lander with Caverns, Lackey, 2xWinstigator, Piledriver, Matron and Ringleader. My T1 Lackey actually connects as he doesn’t want to lose his Noble Hierarch. Not having drawn a land on T2 I put Warren Instigator into play and cast Aether Vial. On his next turn he plays a Jitte + Deathrite Shaman. I don’t draw a land on my next turn, attack with Winstigator + Lackey, connect into Matron finding TSH. On his turn he rips my TSH with Thoughtseize and plays Pithing Needle for Aether Vial. I proceed to not find a second land and lose the game.

Round 2: Younn with Grixis Delver (1-2)
G1: [draw, he keeps 7, I mull to 4, scry to bottom]
I have no turn 1 play and he plays T1 Deathrite Shaman onto T2 TNN, then Delver of Secrets which flips a Lightning Bolt. Raced him to 10 life before I lose the game.

SB:
-1 Library, -1 Stinger, -1 Kiki-Jiki, -1Winstigator
+1 Kinesis, +3 Blood Moon

G2: [play, he keeps 7, I mull to 6, scry to bottom]
My turn 1 Lackey connects on turn 2 into Warren Instigator and I cast another Lackey. I play Chieftain on T3 and he concedes.

SB:
-3 Blood Moon
+3 Carpet of Flowers

G3: [draw, both keep 7]
Carpet of Flowers helps me handling all of his threats, leaving him with only a bunch of lands and a DRS which drains me for 2 each turn. I overwhelm him eventually as I build up from 2 lands +2 mana from Carpet of Flowers to later 4 lands + 3 mana from Carpet. Without Carpet of Flowers I wouldn’t have been able to cast Ringleader or Matron, which helped me to (1) find solutions for his creatures (Pyromancer, Angler and later Delver) and (2) at the same time build up cardadvantage.

Round 3: Vincent with BUG Delver (0-2)
G1: [draw, both keep 7]
Vincent rides his T1 Delver to victory, finding almost all the removal spells in his deck to stop my from racing him. I lose the game when he is at 9 life. At this point he cast 2 Decays and 3 Fatal Push.

SB:
-1 Library, -1 Stinger, -1 Kiki-Jiki, -1Winstigator
+1 Kinesis, +3 Blood Moon

G2: [play, he keeps 7, I mull to 6, scry to top]
I draw 4 creatures in the entire game, while Vincents has 3 Fatal Push, 1 Diabolic Edict and 1 Stifle for My Ringleader’s ability. I lose the game with 2 Vials + 7 lands in play, no creatures on board and 1 Chrome Mox + another land in hand.

Round 4: Christian with BUG Delver/Midrange (2-0)
G1: [play, he keeps 7, I mull to 6, scry to top]
We play a grindy game where Christian Hooting Mandril gets stalled by my Warren Instigators + Chieftain. We take turn to draw ahead. Eventually it comes to the final turn of the game, which is quite an interesting one. Here is the boardstate:

~PUZZLE TIME #2~

OPP:
Hand: 1 unknown card (=Daze)
Board: 2 Usea (1 tapped, 1 untapped), 2 Tropical Island (untapped), 2 Deathrite Shaman (ready to tap)
Graveyard: 2 Instant/Sorcery spells
Lifetotal: 6

ME:
Hand: Matron, TSH
Board: 3 Mountain, 1 Fetchland, Chieftain, Ringleader, Vial@4
Graveyard: 1 Instant/Sorcery spell, 5 creatures
Lifetotal: 7
It’s my turn and I cast Matron off 3 Mountains. Christian plays Daze, returning the tapped Usea to his hand. Now there are two possible scenarios.

1. I crack the fetchland (putting myself into lethal range of DRS), pay for Daze, get Ringleader, put Ringleader into play with Vial and attack.

2. I don’t crack the fetch, stay out of reach of DRS for now.

How would you attack in each of the scenarios?
Which of the two routes would you take and why?

SB:
-3 Piledriver, -1 Kiki-Jiki
+3 Carpets, +1 Pyrokinesis

G2: [draw, he mulls to 6, I keep 7]
Christian plays Usea + DRS on his turn 1. My T1 is a bit more impressive, if I may say so: Pendelhaven, Chrome Mox (pitch Lackey), cast Carpet of Flowers. Second mainphase, I cast Aether Vial (which gets FoW’ed) and Lackey and pass the turn with Chieftain and Stingscourger in hand. I am stuck on 1 land / 1 Mox for a while, but Carpet keeps me in the game and secures the win.

After that match I drop out of the tournament because it’s time for us to leave.

Conclusions
* despite of my mediocre performance, the event (and the whole weekend in fact) was a real blast. Huge THANKS to Marcelo for convincing me to play Winstigators – the version is so much fun and wins feel so rewarding.
* nevertheless, my losing-streak in rounds 4 to 6 was a real bummer, as most of the games felt like I was just watching my opponents playing
* the list itself felt just right. If anything, then I would consider the following changes, depending on the metagame:
MD: -1 Pyrokinesis, +1 Tarfire
SB: -1 Karakas, +1 Pyrokinesis
* Carpet of Flowers was easily the best sideboard card. Against Delver decks, I bring in Moon when I’m on the play and Carpet when I am on the draw. Carpet fixes the major issue of the MU, which is being stuck on 2 or 3 lands and being able to cast only one spell per turn. I think Carpet is the best card that you can have to beat Delver decks with and I will suggest everyone of you to try it out. You are splashing green now anyways, because of TSH, so go for it.
*Miracles players dodged me again – yay?
* I dodged Reanimator and OmniShow – yay!
* it was very cool meeting ScatmanX and Morkus again, and meeting Fourbirr and 1GoblinLackey for the first time. Everyone say “Lackeyyyyy”




Thanks for reading my report. Comments are – as always – appreciated.

Cheers,
-GL

[kombatkiwi]

~PUZZLE TIME#1 ~ (Infect)
If you don't block you can die to Invig + Berserk/Vines/2xMutagenic/2xBlossoming or Double Invig
You can read some info into your opponents hand :There is a reasonable chance your opponent doesn't have Mutagenic if they Dazed your Tarfire, and if your opponent had Invig + Berserk they could have killed you with that combo in the previous turn.
If you do block then your opponent can kill your Instigator with any of Invig/Mutagenic/Blossoming/Vines
If you don't block and you don't die then you can untap and attack for the double trigger, probably you just Matron->SiegeGang, then you win.
If you don't block and you don't die your opponent can play a creature and block your instigator as a tempo play.
If your opponent has another creature, and a pump spell, and you don't block, they can play their creature and pump their own creature on block to kill your Instigator, but this is a highly risky move from their perspective because it gets punished heavily by Gempalm/Tarfire.

If your opponent was bluffing and has nothing you get to eat their elf for free if you block but this seems unlikely. The problem is that therefore when you do block your opponent pumps to kill your instigator and then you need to draw to find outs because you can't currently cast anything. Assuming you do hit a land off your next draw step you can cast matron but your list doesn't play Sharpshooter or Sparksmith so the best thing you can find to immediately deal with infect creatures is Gempalm (or Tarfire) which is very slow (3 mana for matron and then more for the removal) AND gets countered by pump spells. If you draw Tarfire as your next card after you block then you basically reset the board back to parity, which is generally good for goblins, but you still have a hand full of uncastable cards against an streamlined aggro/tempo deck

Therefore I would say don't block and go for the attack next turn BUT my answer might change if one of the Ringleaders in your hand was a land and/or you have a cmc 3 or less goblin in your list that trumps infect.

~PUZZLE TIME #2~ (BUG)

If you crack fetch you go to 6 and your opponent has nothing:
Have Ringleaderx2 Chieftain Matron (3 + 3 + 2 + 2 = 10 power)
- If you attack with everything and your opponent gains 4 (no blocks) then they go to 10, take 10 and die
- If your opponent drains 2 gains 2 putting you to 4 and them to 8 -> has to block something -> they can only drain you for at most 2 next turn but you are at 4 -> you win
- Your opponent can't drain you for 4 this turn because they only have 1 untapped swamp.

One bad scenario if you attack with everything is if your opponents last card is Push for your Chieftain (Daze = Revolt), blocking matron so they only take 4 going to 2 and then they gain 4 going to 6
In their turn they play sea
You attack with double ringleaders for 4, your opponent can chump 1 / double block (going to 4) or not block (going to 2) and drain you for 4, you go to 2 and your opponent untaps with DRS and kills you. (Most likely they will not block because it plays around Gempalm and being at 2 life isn't a relevant issue for them when Tarfire would kill their last threat regardless).
In this situation you need to eliminate 2 DRS. You do have a reasonable number of outs off the Ringleader you just vialed in + a drawstep (initially I thought this was much easier because I thought the opponent could only gain life once in the daze turn, but they do have 2 untapped tropicals):
1) Double Tarfire
2) Tarfire + Gempalm
2) One Tarfire will be good enough a lot of the time (You reveal Tarfire off the Ringleader, your opponent plays sea and passes, you attack for 4, opponent gains 2 doesn't block goes to 4, drains you for 2 down to 4, you Tarfire 1 DRS, opponent can drain you down to 2 but they have to chump your double-ringleader attack and if they try to gain life instead they will still lose the race to double ringleader. Another line is your opponent doesn't block and drains once (you are at 4 and the opp is at 2) and then tries to untap. If you Tarfire the untapped DRS in your endstep then you get drained for 2 in response and lose to 1 drain from the last DRS when your opponent untaps, if you Tarfire face in your endstep then your opponent gains 2 in response and then untaps and double drains to kill you, if you let your opponent untap you enter a standoff where your opponent can't double drain to kill you because they will die to Tarfire in response and you can't aim Tarfire at anything because you will get double drained and die, but you win from here because your opponent is at 2 and you have double Ringleader. Your opponent can punt by not blocking and double draining eot (you Tarfire their face for lethal) or if they do block then you just Tarfire the remaining DRS immediately and leave them with nothing.)
3) Pyrokinesis
4) Siege Gang
5) Ringleader + X (Chieftain, Tarfire, Gempalm, another Ringleader)
6) Kiki Jiki + X
7) Drawing a land opens up some possible Ringleader/Matron/Tarfire options

If you let your opponent Daze your matron and you stay on 7
You attack with Ringleader + Chieftain
Your opponent can double block Chieftain with 2 DRS and Drain + Gain, you lose 2 going to 5 and your opponent loses 3 and gains 2 for a net loss of 1, going to 5. Your opponent loses 1 DRS. Your opponent untaps and drains you to 3. You cast TSH and attack oppponent for 2, down to 3 life. Opponent untaps drains you, you go to 1. You win with Ringleader and TSH.
OR
Your opponent doesn't block, drain and gain.
Opponent takes 5 gains 2, net loss of 3, goes to 3
You take 2, going to 5
Opponent untaps.
You cast TSH and attack for 3 + 3 + 2
your opponent has to chump both 3s and drain you to 1, losing both DRS, so you win.

However in the case for you to have lost by paying for Daze your oppponent had Push
In this situation if you don't pay for Daze and your opponent does have Push you are fucked
Your opponent Pushes your Chieftain and doesn't block your 1 Ringleader, Drain+Gain (You 5 them 7)
You cast Tin Stree but can only attack for 2, your opponent can block if they want (so they are at either 7 or 5), double drain (You are at 1).
Opponent untaps and kills you.

This analysis suggests you should pay for Daze and attack with everything, BUT
If you attempt to pay for the Daze and your opponent's last card Stifles your fetchland:
You are on 6
You attack for 2 + 3 = 5
Opponent drain + gain, you on 4 they are on 3
Opponent untaps and drains twice, you die.

Summary
Pay for Daze is better if your opponent has Push
Pay for Daze is worse if your opponent has Stifle

Depending on how the game has gone up to that point can give you an indication of whether they might have one or the other (and depending on other cards you have seen, you may be able to tell whether your opponent even has Stifle in their deck or not).

If you really have no idea then paying for Daze is also better if your opponent has nothing in hand at the moment, as the Ringleader gives you more outs to their outs (e.g. if they draw a Tarmogoyf/Gurmag/Removal next turn it is very hard to win with only TSH/Ringleader/Chieftain).

There is also the secret option of pay for Daze and then find Krenko with the Matron, which has various pros/cons but I didn't mention it because your list doesn't have one.

[GoboLord]

Round 4: Callum with Dark Bant (0-2)
Callum turns out to be a player from London who happens to know Marcelo from some local events. He also ends up in TOP8 of this event. Both games we played were very intense, but his deck (which I only knew from Marcelo’s descriptions) was just too much for me. Seriously – you need to check out the decklist once it’s published. It’s a monstrosity.

Here is his decklist

@kombatkiwi:
Thanks for your detailed analysis.
I think I created some confusion about PUZLLE#2 by writing that he had an unknown card in hand. This card was the Daze that he cast to counter my Matron. I meant to make clear that it was unknown when I cast Matron.


@everyone: would love to hear more thoughts on those puzzle questions

[kombatkiwi]

Here is his decklist

@kombatkiwi:
Thanks for your detailed analysis.
I think I created some confusion about PUZLLE#2 by writing that he had an unknown card in hand. This card was the Daze that he cast to counter my Matron. I meant to make clear that it was unknown when I cast Matron.


@everyone: would love to hear more thoughts on those puzzle questions

Oh, whoops.
You win that turn guaranteed if you can Matron for Krenko then lol. If the opponent has nothing and you can only search for Ringleader then I still definitely favour paying for Daze.

[Chatto]

Puzzle #1

Ok, assuming you're not missing landdrops, I would consider the following: so you either block, he pumps his critter, and you probably die next turn, or take a walk on the wild side. I would take that walk. Since he didn't pump his critter the first time, I would hope for the best, and take a hit. I would then attack, drop Matron on the 1st hit, search for Kiki-Jiki, and drop him on the 2nd hit. After that, go bananas with Matron-copies, or Instigator-copies.

Puzzle #2

I would pay for Daze, get myself a Ringleader, and attack for lethal. Since it's 10 damage, you know he will use DRS to gain life, and since he will be on ten life exactly, he must block one or two Goblins. This buys you a turn, while also threaten him with lethal on your next turn.

[Whitefaces]

Round 5: Jeremy with Infect (0-2)
G1: [draw, he keeps 7, I mull to 5, scry to bottom]
Jeremy opens with Tropical and Glisterner Elf. I try to Tarfire it on my turn, but he has Daze to protect his Elf. On his T2 he replays the Tropical and attacks me for 1. On my turn 2 I cast Warren Instigator and pass the turn. My hand is: Matron and 2x Ringleader. On his turn 2, Jeremy plays another Tropical Island and attacks. He has 5 cards in hand.

~PUZZLE TIME#1 ~
What would you do here and why?

Hey, Callum here. A shame about the following rounds after our match but cool you got the wins after those, it was nice to meet you I'm going to be lending ScatmanX my monstrosity soon at our LGS, and giving the green men a spin myself!

In this Infect scenario I think you definitely don't block. He didn't have the combo of Invig + Berserk last turn, so I guess he topdecked what he needed? If you block you're just going to lose to any pump spell as you have no good follow up to the Instigator. VS Infect you need to take these risks sometimes.

[1GoblinLackey]

Hey everyone!

As I sit on this very long train back to Glasgow, I can finally write my BOM report! It is quite a bit after the event ended, so it's a bit difficult to remember things and my notes aren't that detailed. I'll be somewhat brief.

Some things on the event: This was my first-ever large magic event, by a huge magnitude (450 players). So going in, I was definitely a bit nervous. Playing Goblins has given me a bit of a sense of needing to prove myself (and the deck).
I had a short conversation with Andrea Menguicci around round 3, and he told me that he has a friend who always plays goblins and he thinks the deck is better that people give it credit for. So maybe one day we could look forward to some CFB content with the deck :D

I also was very fortunate to finally meet the rest of the Goblin squad! Super exciting to see the archetype so well represented, with 7 goblins players total. I also did all my testing on my own, so I didn't switch to a Winstigator version like Gobolord and Scatman did.
Here's the list I played:
16 core (lackey, vial, matron, ringleader)
3 warchief
3 gempalm
3 piledriver
2 mwm
1 Krenko
1 EWS
1 Tuktuk scrapper
1 sharpshooter
1 stingscourger
1 chieftain

2 tarfire
1 pyrokinesis

Lands 23
5 fetches
4 mountains
4 cavern
4 wasteland
3 port
2 badlands
1 karakas

Sideboard
3 chalice (thank you Gobolord!)
2 Needle
2 Blood moon
2 surgical
1 Tuktuk scrapper
1 siege gang
1 sharpshooter
1 pyrokinesis
1 pyroblast
1 relic

Round 1: Martin on Shardless BUG (on draw)
This game was fairly close, but we ended up in a situation where I punted away game 1. I had an active krenko, and in order to protect it from any potential toxic deluge I held up karakas. However, I had just passed the turn when I realized I killed myself by not holding up port instead (he had a creeping tar pit and an active deathrite, I was at 5).

Game 2 was a convincing win, with my notes showing I didn't take any damage other than a fetch. He played a lot of goyfs, but MWM chumps allowed me to survive for a long time. Lackey put in a krenko at some point and that was game

Game 3 featured my opponent getting color screwed a decent bit. He had a forest and a wasteland, and so basically just cast goyf after goyf. However, they were quite small, letting me trade a lackey + 3dmg gempalm for his goyf, which felt very good. Eventually I decided to wasteland his untapped wasteland despite letting him waste my badlands back. Cutting him down to 1 land kept him from resolving another spell.
1-0!

Round 2: My friend Henry on D&T (on the draw)
Henry and I have played together at the same LGS in Glasgow, so we knew what we were up against. I can definitively say this was my worst played match of the event.

Game 1: I forget what was leading up to this, but here was the crucial moment. I have a prospector, a live warmarshal, his token, and a matron. No untapped lands. My hand has a gempalm and a tarfire. Henry has 4 lands, a SfM, a Serra avenger, and a SoFI he is attempting to equip to the stoneforge. My error here was entirely sequencing. I sacced mwm for a red and tarfired the stone forge with the equip on the stack. However, I should have gempalmed the avenger first, then tarfired. The line I took left me without enough Goblins to equip once he moved it over. That avenger was the sole reason I lost the game, as I was up on cards and mana.

Game 2:
I t1 lackey, which he swords'd. I land a pithing needle naming the SoFI he tutored for, and I have a couple of tokens. However, I make another bad misplay. He has a SfM, a vial on 2, and the needled SoFI. I vial in my Tuktuk and think for a bit. I had just drawn 3 off ringleader, so once again up on cards. I choose to destroy his vial, not the SoFI, which ends up costing me the game since he topdecks flickerwisp, flickers my Needle, then equips. I then proceed to die to fliers.

This match tilts me pretty hard thinking back, since I saw what I did wrong basically as soon as I declared my action. This tells me I should be more deliberate in my play.
(1-1)

Round 3: Gorick on UR delver (on delver)

Game 1: I tarfire his t1 swift spear which elicits a laugh from Gorick. He explains he used to play goblins and is happy to see it again. The rest of the game is solidly in his favor. I kept a slow hand, and I die to burn spells pretty quickly.

Game 2: My notes say "extremely close" here, and it's no exaggeration. We trade creatures back and forth for awhile,
I get a nice pyro that wipes away 2 delvers. Eventually we get into a very awkward and somewhat hilarious position. We both are at 4. His board is just a TNN, whereas I have a piledriver and a sharpshooter. Because of an earlier delver flip, I know that he has price of progress in his hand, which would kill us both. Curious about what happens in the event of a game 2 draw, he calls a judge. After getting the explanation, he decides to concede to save time.

Game 3: once again, a very close one. Around turn 5 I get to vial in warchief and cast ringleader, hitting a perfect 4 gobbs including a siege gang. I'm now tapped out, at 9, facing only a storm chaser mage. I have to credit my opponent with getting creative for the win here: he untaps, casts a swiftspear and attacks, lightning bolt's me, then dazes his own spell and pays for it, giving him 2 prowess triggers and exact lethal. Argh! Do any of you think it was correct to not attack with the ringleader and leave it to block a hypothetical swiftspear? I had hit him down to 11 from 15, and almost certainly had lethal on the following turn, which encouraged me to be aggressive. But perhaps I could have hedged better since I was so far ahead card-wise.
(1-2)

More will be coming soon, my phone is dying and I don't want to lose what I have written so far. Stay tuned!

EDITS: Part 2! I have returned.

Round 4
Pascal on 4C Deathblade (mainly esper splashing green for decay) on the play

Game 1: This was the game of t1 lackey, connect and put in ringleader, draw 4. Notes show I didn't take any damage the whole game. Piledriver locked it up, with him going from 14 to 0 very quickly.

Game 2: I recall that this was a risky keep because it was a 1 lander with a vial, but the rest of the hand was strong. Once again, Piledriver won the game for me, with 2 swinging for 7 each past baleful and TNN.

2-2

Round 5
Sebastian on RB Reanimator (on draw, I mulligan)

Game 1: I was very puzzled by his opening on scrubland, go, with a chancellor of the annex tax. I hadn't seen a reanimator player splashing white before (he explained later it was for wear//tear). It so happened that I was just 1 turn to slow this game. I broke the chancellor tax with a vial and played another one on my turn 2. I matroned for stingscourger and hoped he wouldn't be able to reanimate another creature. However, he topdecks the reanimate and I die to griselbrand. Surprisingly close for a game 1.

Game 2: Both mulligan. My 6 was quite strong with both a lackey, some business to drop into play, and a surgical extraction. However, my opponent has somewhat of a nut draw of unmask targeting me, takes the surgical, land, dark ritual, entomb, exhume griselbrand. Yeesh. I dig for a karakas for a couple turns but don't find it.

2-3

Round 6, feeling a little down after the last match.
JB on Turbo Depths (on draw)

Game 1: He digs for his pieces for a little bit while I start beatdowns. t2 or 3 he gets marit lage into play, which I follow up with a matron for stingscourger. He didn't see that one coming! Ringleader finds me Earwig Squad, and he's at 7. He reads the Squad and concedes.

Game 2: This one was a quick victory for him. I kept a medium hand on the back of Karakas, and tried to sandbag it for as long as possible. Unfortunately, I was priced into playing it in order to not die to a crop rotation into dark depths activation. He untaps and needles my karakas, leaving me without an answer to an instant speed 20/20.

Game 3: Over the course of Game 2 I realized how effective chalice is against him (on 1 or 2), so I sideboard in +3 Chalice and the additional tuktuk to deal with needles and other possible hate.
This game might feature the best imaginable hand against a turbo depths deck, and I felt quite lucky to draw it. I go t1 prospector, pass. He thoughtseizes me and is alarmed to see a hand of: Blood Moon, Pithing Needle, Wasteland, Stingscourger. This puts him in the tank for quite awhile, and he eventually takes the blood moon because I can cast it next turn. I topdeck a warchief and opt to sac prospector to get him into play t2. His t2 he cast sylvan scrying for dark depths. On my t3 I play wasteland and needle naming thespians stage, and continue to get in for 2. Port eventually gets involved, and I only ever cast stingscourger when I go to swing for lethal, having just hit for 2 every turn since turn 2.

3-3

Round 7:
Oliver on UR Delver (play)

Game 1: I recall this game being a close one, and the life total tally shows it. However, piledriver in multiples lets me swing in for more than lethal (he was at 11 and I was at 6 when the game ended).

Game 2: We start by trading early threats (I tarfire his delver, he bolts my lackey), but I very quickly overload his removal. This was another quick beatdown game, where I believe piledriver got in past TNN for huge damage (he went from 13 to 3 in one turn). Ringleader also drew me 4 cards, which was quite fortunate. I didn't drop below 11 for this one.

4-3

Round 8: I don't have my notes for this round, which is unfortunate because it might be my favorite match of the weekend.
Maverick (GSZ version) on the draw
Both of these games were extremely long, due to the sheer amount of decision making possible in this kind of match.

Game 1: This game played out the way a lot of my matches against Maverick seem to go; I build up a massive board of tokens and matrons/ringleaders, while he sits there with gigantic KoTRs and waits to draw Mother of Runes to swing past me. He also had drawn an absolutely massive number of cards with the engine of 2 Knights + Tireless Tracker + Gaea's Cradle, leading to some 8+ clues being cracked over the course of the game. On my last turn I topdeck a chieftain, and he has 2 14/14 Knights, a 8/7 Tireless tracker, a Thalia, and a Mom that was just cast. I bounce Thalia with my Karakas, then jam the chief. I attack with everything but my living MWM and the chief himself, just in case he can survive and I need to block one of the knights. Unfortunately, his massive number of cards drawn gave him what he needed. Path for the chieftain, and then a Scryb Ranger. He's able to block in such a way that he goes to 1, then untaps and ranger allows him to activate Mother twice, giving both Knights pro-red. So close!

Game 2: This one was also quite close, but I was favored pretty early on. His turn 2 play is just a jitte, which seems strong but he lacks the creatures to keep it attached, due in no small part to my active sharpshooter (which gets decayed, but crucially allows me to keep my vial). On t4, I get to vial in a warchief and cast Siege-Gang, putting me in a strong position. He plays Knight, but it's somehow only a 3/3, and double siege gang activation kills it. The crucial play on the following turn was my vialing in of Chieftain in response to a zealous persecution, saving my whole board. Whew! He plays another knight, once again only a 4/4. I kill it, though I am now running out of fodder goblins to sac to siege gang. One very complicated combat step later, involving siege gang, prospector, and chieftain, I manage to hit for lethal. By now, we were well over time in the round. My opponent very graciously opts to drop for me, giving me the win on the sheet. Really nice player, and I enjoyed my games with him tremendously.

5-3

Round 9: This round was quite funny for the fact that 3 of us Goblins players all got paired at adjacent tables. What a sight, a 3 table row of Gobs! Wish someone got a picture of it, I doubt a setup like that has happened in many many years.

Paul on mono-red Sneak Attack (on the draw)

Game 1: It takes me a bit to figure out what my opponent is up to, with the only cards I really see being ancient tomb, mountain, and lock pieces like Chalice. I proceed with a moderate beatdown plan, but I am mostly convinced he's on a stompy deck until he goes Sneak Attack into Emrakul. Quite close though, since he was at 3 when the game ended.

Game 2: I mulligan to 6, he mulligans to 5. He keep a somewhat risky hand that relies heavily on a lackey, but boy does he get there. Lackey connects twice, and lords + piledriver kill him before he can set up.

Game 3: This one was a game I made a crucial mistake, borne mostly out of inexperience with my opponent's deck (I don't know if I've played against Big Red more than once or twice). He leads on an innocuous mountain, pass. I have the choice of t1 lackey, or t1 needle naming Sneak Attack. Given the fact that in the previous games, my opponent do anything of incredible significance until t4, I assumed that leading with Lackey would be safe. I was very, very wrong. He untaps, and then destroys me with "ancient tomb, seething song, sneak attack, activate, throw worldspine wurm at me for 15, then makes 3 5/5 tramplers. The punish! I confirm that the tokens have trample, then scoop it up. Definitely still kicking myself for this one. Use your hate when you have it!

Final Record: 5-4 (or 4-4-1 if you count the draw).

Despite a middling performance, I'm actually quite happy! Keeping a positive W/L ratio at my first big event was about the best I could expect, and the deck performed quite well. Had I not made my distinct misplays I noted in rounds 2 and 9, I think I could have pulled 7-2, which would have been phenomenal. I somehow managed to dodge BUG decks and Miracles entirely (except Shardless), which threw off my metagaming a decent bit.

Moving forward, I think I'm actually going to drop the black splash. Earwig is great in some matchups (though it only mattered once in this particular event), but it's just not fast enough against D&T, which was my other justification for it in the fair matchups. By the time you can prowl it, their first equipment is usually in hand or on the battlefield, leaving you scrambling to kill it ASAP. Also, there just isn't enough support for the color within the tribe. Cabal Therapy is also great, but there isn't really space for it at the moment. If any new good black Goblins get printed at some point, I'll happily move back to it.

In black's place, I think I'm going to go green with Gobolord. Both Pendelhaven and Sylvan Library are huge draws for me, as is Carpet of Flowers. I also really like the Winstigator version they played at the event, but as I don't have all the cards for it, I'll just be playing my classic version in the meantime. Definitely working on building it though, it is extremely explosive and effective right now.

I'm also contemplating why people don't play Chrome Mox in the classic version. A frequent problem with the deck is the slowness of its creatures, and a t2 matron is quite a bit stronger than a t3 one. It also lets us play hate pieces like Chalice for 1 on turn 1, which I think is hugely important in some combo matchups (Reanimator/Storm). A Chalice for 1 on t1 against Reanimator nearly locks them out of the game, a t2 Chalice for 1 might not do anything at all. Thoughts?

[1GoblinLackey]

Question for the forum;

I'm playing in a GPT tomorrow and I'm building a kind of classic/winstigator hybrid (2 instigators, 3 chrome moxen, but no ports. Still 4 Wastelands) similar to Brett's list from about a month ago. Regarding sideboarding, what do you take out against D&T? Is mox good or bad (terrible against flickerwisp, but the extra speed seems really helpful)? What cards do you side out?

EDIT: My current list that I'm brewing up.

Lands 20
4 Cavern
3 Wastelands
6 Fetches
4 Mountains
1 Taiga
2 Pendelhaven

Artifacts: 7
4 Vial
3 Chrome Mox
Creatures: 29
4 Lackey
4 Matron
4 Ringleader
3 Piledriver
3 Chieftain
2 Gempalm
2 Warren Instigator
1 Warchief (I like him as a matron target)
1 Kiki
1 Siege-Gang
1 Stingscourger
1 Sharpshooter
1 Subterranean Scout (part of my testing, seems really good for getting Piledriver, Lackey, or Winstigator in during the late game during clogged board states)
1 Tin street Hooligan

Instants: 3
3 Tarfire

Enchantments: 1
1 Sylvan Library

Sideboard
2 Blood Moon
2 Surgical
2 Pyrokinesis
2 Pithing Needle
1 Sparksmith
1 Krenko
1 Chalice
1 Relic
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Tuktuk Scrapper
1 Karkas

[menph]

I'm also contemplating why people don't play Chrome Mox in the classic version. A frequent problem with the deck is the slowness of its creatures, and a t2 matron is quite a bit stronger than a t3 one. It also lets us play hate pieces like Chalice for 1 on turn 1, which I think is hugely important in some combo matchups (Reanimator/Storm). A Chalice for 1 on t1 against Reanimator nearly locks them out of the game, a t2 Chalice for 1 might not do anything at all. Thoughts?

I'm also trying the winstigator list this week but i'm not 100% sure about it. It gave many wins and looked very strong and effective, but the lack of MWM was relevant many time (goyf and gurmag). My feel is that this list can run out of gas sooner than the classic one (probably i need more testing to clear this point)
Of course our double strikers + chieftains + piledriver are relevant, also being able to trade Winst with DRS is good, but the thing i like most is the fast mana from Crome mox. Even if is a bad topdeck in midgame i think it can really help us being faster in the first few turns.

So i agree with 1GoblinLackey, probably it could worth a try also in a straight-classic version (maybe it was already tried in the past.. any more experienced player know if in the thousands of pages from the older topics there is anything about it?)

[ScatmanX]

Playing with Mox in a Traditional list has been done quite a while ago, and I would surely suggest it for todays meta. Goin T1 Port into T2 Warchief is quite neat.

@Eli: Against DnT you can take out:
-3 Piledriver (bad), -1 Kiki (5 mana Legend), -1 Scout (bad card), -1 Sting (bad against DnT)
+2 Kinesis, +2 Needle, +1 Sparksmith, +1 Scrapper
You don't wanna take out Mox because you need the mana, even though it's not awesome. Just remove those Lackeys to it.
I think this version is quite favoured against DnT.

[Cringe]

I've been reading this post for what seems to be months now and could never decide on a proper build that I liked. Kept switching between mono red goblins and Nyxfit for my deck of choice. After a rough 4 round day with nyx I decided that I love goblins too much to not play it. I'd really love some feedback on this deck list, if anyone could give some help to smooth out my idea of R/B goblins.

LANDS
4 wasteland
3 Port
4 cavern
5 mountain
4 red fetches
2 Badlands
1 swamp

CREATURES
4 Lackey
4 Matron
4 Ringleader
3 Gempalm
3 Warchief
3 Piledriver
1 Chieftain
1 krenko
1 siege-gang
1 Stingscourger
1 tuk-tuk
1 kiki
1 settler
1 sharpshooter
1 Ews

INSTANT/SORCERY
2 Tarfire
1 Pyrokenisis

ARTIFACTS
4 Vial

SIDEBOARD
3 pithing needle
3 Chalice
2 Blood Moon
2 Surgical Extraction
1 Sharpshooter
1 Relic
1 Pyrokenisis
2 cabal therapy

I'll need help with the sideboard


The only thing I don't like about the splash is that I'm playing Earwig with the splash and then surgicals if I wanted to pay instead of losing the life. I'm not sure if they're are any other cards of good value in black that could be put into this. I like the green splash due to pendle and TSH but EWS is rough to deal with. Any and all suggestions would be amazing. I mainly play at a local shop where I'll see Elves, Miracles, Nicfit and enchantress every weekend that we play. A weird mill deck with Hedron crabs and a scepter deck that uses silence every turn to lock out. I was thinking green for enchant hate because elephant grass hurts. Other than that I think it seems solid on paper.

[Scott]

The guy who finished 21st of 718 at SCG Worcester with Goblins wrote a report on MTGS.

[Fourbirr]

Hello Warchiefs,

That’s 2 weeks from now that the last Eternal Week-end 2017 happened in Paris and like GoboLord, ScatmanX and 1GoblinLackey, I would like to share my experiences and thoughts about the tournament.

Before the event
I tested my list everyday, for 1 month, on MTGO and at some local swiss events, but I still couldn’t decide to choose between Piledrivers, Krenko and Siege-Gang finishers. Due to the last discussions we had on The Source 2 weeks prior the event, I had a doubt if a Piledriver playset would rocks the house. I feared BUG/4C decks with TNN + Fatal Push a lot, and after asking Olaf opinion, he advised me to cut Chieftain, and run between 3-4 Piledrivers, but not less. I also left Krenko at home, because I prefer SGC more, and retrospectively, I never missed him. Here is the list I packed:


Decklist
//Mana base
4 Rishadan Port
4 Wasteland
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Mountains
1 Plateau
4 Bloodstained Mire
1 Arid Mesa
1 Wooded Foothills

//Core
4 Æther Vial
4 Goblin Ringleader
4 Goblin Lackey
4 Goblin Matron

//Others / Flex-slots
4 Goblin Warchief
3 Goblin Piledriver
2 Mogg War Marshal
1 Skirk Prospector
2 Siege-Gang Commander

//Removals
4 Gempalm Incinerator
2 Tarfire
1 Stingscourger
1 Goblin Sharpshooter
1 Tuktuk Scrapper

//Sideboard
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Containment Priest
1 Grafdigger’s Cage
1 Surgical Extraction
2 Pyrokinesis
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Pyroblast
1 Stingscourger
1 Tuktuk Scrapper

Match Report – trials side-event

Round 1: Zombie Bombardment, Benjamin, France (2-1)
G1: [play]
I keep a very sexy hand with Lackey + Piledriver + Siege-Gang Commander + removals + lands. I open with a safe Cavern of souls + Lackey on turn 1. He put a Gravecrawler into play and I smile reading that he can’t block. T2, Lackey connects, putting my opponent at 19 life, drop a Gang-bang Commander into play, and cast Piledriver. His T2, he looked at the board, casted a Bloodghast and again, I smile. My T3, I attack with Lackey + Piledriver + SGC + 3 tokens for 17 and finished him with Siege-Gang ability. First game in this tournament, and 1st T3 kill of my life. My goblins are in good shape. There only a dark point, I don’t know his deck and have no idea what his kill is. So how to board? I guess he is doing tricks with his graveyard, so I board like against Dredge.

SB:
-3 Ringleaders, -1 Tuktuk Scrapper, -1 Stingscourger, -2 Piledriver, -1 Lackey
+2 Relic of Progenitus, +2 Containment Priest, +1 Surgical Extraction, +3 Pyrokinesis

G2:
My stunned opponent wakes up and bombarded me with zombies. Now I know what the combo is, and I find it cool. But I overboarded, Pyrokinesis are not needed, he can’t blocked and can sacrifice his creatures in response.

SB:
-3 Ringleaders, -1 Tuktuk Scrapper, -1 Stingscourger
+2 Relic of Progenitus, +2 Containment Priest, +1 Surgical Extraction

G3:
He went from 20 to 16, to 5 and dies in…4 rounds.

Round 2: Miracles, Julien Medici, France (2-0)
G1: [play]
I’m a bit anxious, because even if the match-up is favorable for us, Julien is a top french Miracles player from Paris and has a lot of experience with the deck. Anyway, I start the game with a « nothing to lose » mind and it helped. I win 23-0 with a few MWM tokens, matron + ringleaders, keeping my Incinerators for his Mentor. It paid off and was an easy win.

SB:
-2 Tarfire, -1 Piledriver
+2 Pithing Needle (SDT), +1 Surgical Extraction

G2:
Different story, but same outcome. It was more grindy here. I went to 3 life to finally vial a 2nd Siege-Gang which achieved his pain.
Remark: Porting his fetches from time to time seemed to annoy him a lot. It forced him to draw his prepared card with top ability and put top…on top, which at some point, slows him down a little bit and stopped him to cast a big Entreat the Angels. By the way, he never saw an Entreat and his Jace got punched by Warchief and friends.

Round 3: Death & Taxes, Quentin, France (2-0)
G1: [draw]
I remember Quentin being a beginner with the deck. He couldn’t use his Flickerwisp wisely, and I ported him actively
and killed his humans to prevent him to equip his Jitte already on the battlefield.

SB:
-2 Piledriver, -1 Ringleader
+2 Pithing needle (naming Mom ou Jitte), +1 Tuktuk

G2:
My notes showed I went to 15 then he died. His Batterskull was blasted by dirty Tuktuk and his Thalia was bounced. I remember that Pyrokinesis did some cleaning work for the leftovers and let some Piledrivers striked for alpha.
Remark: Nothing to be proud of, he needs a bit practice with his deck.

Round 4: The Epic Storm, another Quentin, France (1-2)
G1: [play]
I played against Quentin in November in Strasbourg and I knew he was on TES and reciprocally. Quentin is one of the best Storm player in France, and scored pretty good lately. I know that without Mindbreak Trap, I will have a tough time. Anyway, my goblins are crazy and I don’t give a frack! Let’s go. I remember having a very good hand with Lackey, a Vial!, Siege-Gang, Warchief and lands. I open with Lackey, go. He Gitaxian Probed me, go. Lackey connected drop Siege-Gang, go. He fetched, pondered, brainstormed, go. I swarm for 8, throw a goblin at his face, keeping to put the pressure, he is on 8. This is almost over. On his next turn, he probed me once again, and goes off. Damn, I thought I was close.

SB:
-1 Tarfire, -3 Ringleader, -3 Gempalm Incinerator, -1 MWM
+3 Thalia, +3 Relic of Progenitus, +1 Surgical Extraction, +1 Tuktuk

G2:
I keep some « okey » goblins, Thalia, one Wasteland, a Rishadan Port and a Cavern. I open with Wasteland to force him to put a basic and cut his blue sources. He played Duress and gnash seeing Thalia. Hello sweetie ;-) On my turn, I play Thalia with Cavern naming Humans. I am happy it was not a Plateau, because I know he is playing Massacre. I win from there with Thalia attacking each turn, and porting him. I’m on 20 when he dies.

G3:
That’s where it hurts. I don’t remember what the hand was, but I was applying enough pressure to have a fast win. Sadly, one turn to late. On turn 4, he had to go off or he would die next. He took the bets and started his infernal machine. Fortunately for him, it paid and he could make enough mana to tendrils me for 10 storm. AaaaAaargGhhh!
Remark: He told me that G3, he had to go off and he wasn’t sure if he would work, unlike the first game, where he had everything he needed.

Round 5: Sneak Fit, Pierre, France (2-1)
G1: [play]
T1 Skirk Prospector. He puts a Veteran Explorer. T2, I sacrifice Skirk for 1 R, cast Warchief, but don’t attack, because I have a Matron, a Tarfire and one Piledriver in my hand that I would like to put all at once, before he brings a fattie in town. He puts another land, Sensei’s Divining Top and go. On T3, I cast Matron for Piledriver and let one R open for Tarfire. On his T3, he starts to mumble, fetches a verdant catacomb and cast Pernicious Deed. Ok, I have to go now. I tarfire his Veteran at the end of his turn and open the doors to hell. T4, I top deck a MWM. Him and both Piledrivers enter the club and attack for lethal with Matron + Warchief. Happy for that, because I always lose to Nic Fit or the likes.

SB:
-1 Skirk Prospector, -1 MWM, -2 Tarfire, -1 Lackey, -1 Piledriver, -1 Tuktuk Scrapper
+1 Stingscourger, +2 Pithing Needle (Pernicious Deed), +2 Containment Priest (GSZ), +2 Relic of Progenitus (Cabal Therapy)

G2:
He T4 sneak attack me with Emrakul. Nice

G3:
Couldn’t make it. Early Veterans, some Cabal Therapy and a Pernicious Deed that wiped my board cut the grass under my little cutie tiny green goblins feet and, inevitably, they felt.
Remark: I had a surgical extraction in my starting hand and waited for the right opportunity. My mistake in this game is that I haven’t used it soon enough on the most problematic card that gives me nightmares. I fall into this trap every time, maybe because I find the artwork so beautiful. Anyway, I let him cast a Cabal Therapy and he flashbacked it for his Veteran Explorer. I should have done it after the first one. I would have been 1 card more in my hand, and some lands less for him.

That was an overall nice start, even if my sideboard isn’t Storm-proof without Mindbreak Trap. It shouldn’t be a big deal for the main event, though, because after a quick scouting between the rounds, I didn’t see a lot of Ultra-Combo decks. The event was full of BUG Midrange, Miracles, some Death & Taxes, and 4C decks. I’m very disappointed about Pyroblast. Didn’t even draw it against Miracles, would have been fun. The sideboard needed a tweak or two, and I decided to put back the 3rd Pyrokinesis and 2 Pithing Needles.


Match Report – Main event

The main deck was good, the sideboard looked like this:

//Sideboard
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Containment Priest
1 Surgical Extraction
3 Pyrokinesis
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Pithing Needle
1 Stingscourger
1 Tuktuk Scrapper

Round 1: BR Reanimator, Timothée, France (0-2)
G1: [draw]
I don’t know my opponent and really can’t tell what he was playing, never saw him the day before either. In my opening hand, I have fetch, vial, gempalm, stingscourger, tarfire and something I can’t remember. It’s really not a good hand, except if my opponent is on Sneak&Show or Reanimator and I choose to mulligan. The second hand is better with lackey, warchief, matron, other goblins and it’s a keep. Let’s go!
My opponent opened with Bloodstained Mire, fetches for badlands and cast faithless looting, draw 2 cards, discards Griselbrand and Chancellor of the annex, puts a petal, cracked it for black, Reanimate Griselbrand, looses 7 life, draw 7 cards, cleanup, discards other monstrosities, go….Should I continue? I wish I had a gun for not keeping my 1st hand, but how could I know.

SB:
-2 Tarfire, -3 Gempalm, -3 Ringleader -1 Sharpshooter, -1 Skirk Prospector, -1 MWM
+3 Thalia, +2 Relic of Progenitus, +2 Containment Priest, +2 Pithing Needle (Griselbrand), +1 Surgical Extraction, +1 Tuktuk

G2: I keep a very good hand with Thalia, Containment Priest, Relic of Progenitus, Matron, a vial and lands. I put Priest before he could reanimate anything. On his T2, he casts Collective Brutality and « brutalized » my priest with -2/-2, then targeted me with Unmask to take Thalia, he puts a Chrome Mox exiling Faithless Looting. I top deck a Stingscourger, but as there is nothing to get rid of, I finally cast a Relic of Progenitus, a Vial and let 1 mana up. Sadly, he decayed my Relic, I empty his GY in response and he Unmask me once again, taking my 4th out away. In my head, I remember that I wanted to « Jean-Claude Van Damme » my opponent with some lost secret Karaté tornado kick above the game table. Instead of that, I stared at him and asked if the game was fun enough for him so far. He smiled. Then follows faithless looting, Griselbrand and he wins from there. I never touched the 2nd Stingscourger or Matron. Tough start!

Remark: I’m really sad, because since the last year, I built a very high ratio against RB Reanimator with 11 cards in the sideboard against it. This time, my opponent was always a step ahead, and these 2 successive Unmasks left me completely naked.

0-1

Round 2: MUD, Jochen, Germany (2-1)
G1: [draw]
I had to mull to 4!! What the Frack! I’m not really happy with that, but I keep this Lackey, Cavern, Warchief, MWM hand. My opponent looked at me with compassion and even felt sorry for this game being almost a free win for him at this point. I asked why and he replied that he has a very fast deck. « I appreciate your empathy man, thanks, but my deck mulligans pretty well to 4. » Suspicious look on his face. Ready? Fight!
His start was really something. Look at this: City of Traitors -> Grim Monolith -> Trinisphere, go. O…ok…okey. And how should I win? Like this. First, let’s try to wasteland his non-basic, because I don’t want to see this Monolith to untap, ever. He draws, do nothing, go. I put a land, go. He draws, do nothing, then go. Second land comes into play, go. Third land, cast Lackey, go. He’s still locked by his own spells. My my my, that’s my turn to start to feel sorry for him now. Lackey attacks, bring Warchief, cast Matron for Tuktuk. Yeah, weird choice, but I wanted to play it safe here and don’t push my luck further. I’ll resume saying that 2 Wastelands definitely prevent him to cast anything and Tuktuk ate a monolith, because he was really hungry.

SB:
-1 Sharpshooter
+1 Tuktuk

G2:
He put an early Wurm that I couldn’t answer soon enough. He went to 44 life and drown mine meanwhile.

G3: The revenge of the angry Tuktuk, point 2. I remember that a kept 2 tarfires and some okey goblins. But that was enough to stick to my plan. Removals are crucial against MUD at the beginning. Then, we can live with Rishadan Port, Wastelands and Lackey. That’s exactly what happened. Two times Tarfire on his Metalworkers, Port and Matron for Tuktuk as soon as possible did the job.

Remark: A guy was sitting next to Jochen G3 and looking actively. He was his brother, a casual goblin player, and it happened
that my opponent knew the match-up really well. Funny match, both were nice guys and loved goblins.

1-1

Round 3: BUG Standstill, Barthélémy, Belgium (0-2)
G1/G2: [draw] This match lasted an eternity. It would be too long to go into details, but it was very very grindy. I remember that my opponent had an out for anything. Absolutely anything. Pernicious Deed, Stifle, Fatal Push, Snapcaster Mage for flashbacking his removals, Vendillion Clique, Maelstrom Pulse, Decay, and so on. It’s crazy, because late game, there was 2 Siege-Gang Commander into play, a Warchief and billions of tokens. he could wipe the board with a top decked Pernicious deed. This happened again in G2, when there were enough goblins to kick him to the moon. Sadly, I have been Sylvester Stalloned.

SB:
-2 Tarfire, -1 Goblin Sharpshooter, -1 Skirk Prospector; +2 Relic of Progenitus, +2 Pyrokinesis

I’m at 2 losses and want to drop, go out, and enjoy a walk in Paris. Hell no! Why am I so selfish. The gobos have the right to have a little bit fun, too. They are here to taste some Mentors, Delvers, Young Pyro-fresh-flesh-mancer and learn how to make TNN sushis. It’s 12:30 and they are being hungry. Let’s cook!

1-2

Round 4: Turbo Depths, Jonathan, France (1-2)
G1: [play]
This game was really quick. I couldn’t even tell on what deck my opponent was, because he couldn’t show me anything. That’s almost sad, because I don’t how to board in/out.

SB:
-2 Tarfire, -4 Gempalm Incinerator
+1 Surgical Extraction, +1 Stingscourger, +2 Relic of Progenitus, +2 Pithing needle

G2: I quickly realize that he is on Turbo Depths when he puts a T2 Marit Lage. I have 1 more turn to live, top deck a Stingscourger and hope he won’t have « Not of this world » in his hand. The Topdeck is…Aether Vial. Go to G3.

G3: See G2, but much closer. I had a bunch of angry goblins, but he could bring Marit Lage at his T4. Dying in atrocious suffering, busy, please come back later.

Remark: Bye bye top 16, now it’s all for the fun. No more pressure and it’s only about gathering experience points and improve skills.

1-3

Round 5: Nic Fit, Gérard, France (1-1)
G1: [draw]
I saw him play at the table close to mine before, so we both know what each other deck is. He wins G1 pretty easily with an early Wurmcoil Engine.

SB:
-1 Skirk Prospector, -1 MWM, -2 Tarfire, -1 Lackey, -1 Piledriver, -1 Tuktuk Scrapper
+1 Stingscourger, +2 Pithing Needle, +2 Containment Priest, +2 Relic of Progenitus

G2:
Goblins strikes back with Piledrivers, we trades, he meets Wastelands, Rishadan Port, and Ringleaders refill.

G3:
See G2, but unfortunately, my opponent was very slow and we couldn't finish the game. That’s sad, because he was totally owned and it was only a matter of one turn to achieve him. I didn’t want to put some kind of pressure, because there was no stake anymore, but still, it hurts not having won this one.

1-3-1

Round 6: Miracles, Benoît, France (2-0)
G1: [play]
Nothing to say. Our best match-up.

SB:
-2 Tarfire, -1 Piledriver
+2 Pithing Needle, +1 Surgical Extraction

G2:
Nothing to say. Our best match-up.

Remark: Benoît beat me last year, so I’m happy to have taken my revenge this time. He was pretty screwed and didn’t see a Sword to Plowshares G2.

2-3-1

Round 7: Shardless BUG, Pierre, France (2-0)
G1: [draw]
This match was a slaughter. Although I always had a hard time against Shardless, I tried to apply some kind of psychological pressure on my opponent and bluffed him in any possible manners, and it worked. With a single Lackey and Warchief, it dissuaded him to attack with his 2 Tarmogoyfs. At some point, goblins were gathering for the tea party and it was almost time to eat some cookies. We traded but I could refill quicker than him and he ran out of gas.

SB:
-2 Tarfire; +2 Relic of Progenitus

G2:
Same as G1, but easier, thanks to Relic who were very dissuasives for his Tarmo.

Remark: Nothing new here, but as long as we can block Tarmo and can save a tarfire on Liliana, we are pretty safe. We’ve got to believe in our card advantage.
Remark 2: Maybe it’s a believe, but I noted during testing as well as during the whole tournament, that fetching before bringing Ringleader improves the goblin ratio.

3-3-1

Round 8: BUG Delver, Tiago, Portugal (2-0)
G1: [play]
I open with Bloodstained mire, go. He fetches to a dual, put Shaman, go. I fetched fo a mountain, he makes a surprised face, eats a tarfire EOT. Then Wasteland his dual + drop a vial. His Delver eats another Tarfire, and I port him then, vialing goblins, GG.

SB:
-2 Tarfire, -1 Goblin Sharpshooter, -1 Skirk Prospector; +2 Relic of Progenitus, +2 Pyrokinesis

G2:
This time, I double waste landing him, because he mulliganed to 5 and had no turn 1. Then it was a free run. He was really pissed off and I understand him.

4-3-1

Round 9: Grixis, Gijs, Holland (2-0)
G1: [play]
No damages taken, a slaughter.

SB:
-2 Tarfire, -1 Skirk Prospector, -1 MWM ; +2 Pyrokinesis, +2 Relic of Progenitus

G2:
Same as G1.

5-3-1

Conclusions:
If I count the draw, it’s a 6-3, which is a decent result in comparison to my 7 losses last year with almost the same list. Only the sideboard is very different and…skills.
For any goblin player reading this post, I really encourage you to have patience if you want to enjoy some victories with this deck. Of course it needs a good meta understanding and a good sideboard, but also know some tricks with the deck and a some decent piloting experience.
I like the classic list and loved to see piledrivers and siege-gang enter on the battlefield. Except against Storm, it always scared my opponents.
I wish the were more room for another Surgical Extraction, because it was really strong all day long.
The 2nd Siege-Gang was awesome. I drew him twice more then before, I swear ;-)
As expected and proven, Relic was really good against deck with Shaman and Tarmogoyf.
I would like a quicker sideboard against Reanimator, like Grafdigger’s cage or a 2nd Surgical Extraction.
Needles slowed down a lot of decks.

The new sideboard would be:

//Sideboard
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Pyrokinesis
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Containment Priest
2 Pithing Needle
2 Surgical Extraction
1 Stingscourger
1 Tuktuk Scrapper

That was fun to meet Morkus, ScatmanX, GoboLord and 1GoblinLackey. I wish we will represent Goblins well again.

Take care of your rocks,
Fourbirr

[Chatto]

@ Fourbirr: thanks for the report! I love to see the Classic List still putting up a good fight. How about dropping a Relic for the 2nd Extraction, instead of 3rd Knesis?

[Fourbirr]

@ Fourbirr: thanks for the report! I love to see the Classic List still putting up a good fight. How about dropping a Relic for the 2nd Extraction, instead of 3rd Knesis?

Hi Chatto,

So you mean, something like my new sideboard?

//Sideboard
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Pyrokinesis
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Containment Priest
2 Pithing Needle
2 Surgical Extraction
1 Stingscourger
1 Tuktuk Scrapper

Yeah, I'll give it a try, even if I don't like to go down to 2 Relics, but maybe with 2 Surgical, it can compensate.

[Fourbirr]

The guy who finished 21st of 718 at SCG Worcester with Goblins wrote a report on MTGS.

Hi Scott, thanks you for sharing.

Oh my God, except for the REB, this guy's sideboard is insane!!!

3 Thoughtseize
3 Surgical Extraction
2 Cabal Therapy
2 Pyrokinesis
1 Warren Weirding
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Goblin Sharpshooter
1 Tuktuk Scrapper
1 Red Elemental Blast

[Harry]

It seems in your nice article materials I suppose you have forgotten a nice article from Max Tietze
http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/article.asp?ID=10732