Pack 2 pick 1:
Rescind
--> Beetleback Chief
Benalish Trapper
Obsessive Search
Spark Spray
Wild Mongrel
Tyrant's Choice
Exile
Aquamoeba
Reckless Charge
Rites of Initiation
Death Grasp
Nostalgic Dreams
Ring of Gix
Breath of Life (FOIL)
Risky since red was cut late pack 1 but there may still be enough to go RB.
Pack 2 pick 2:
Soltari Trooper
Brainstorm
--> Hulking Goblin
Elvish Aberration
Dark Ritual
Elephant Guide
Carnophage
Claws of Wirewood
Fledgling Djinn
Fires of Yavimaya
Empyrial Armor
Bad River
Crescendo of War
Circular Logic (FOIL)
Round 1 vs UG Badness (inconsistent threat-lite madness shell)
Game 1 Goldfished him with Warchief into double Chief and General with Falter to make 1 swing for lethal.
Game 2 was grindier but again I Falter for the win.
2-0
Round 2 vs WUG Madness
Game 1 I mull to 5 and mana flood like nobody's business.
Game 2 I swarm him out of nowhere and win.
Game 3 Waterfront Bouncer and Benalish Tapper stop me from developing while he smacks me with Wild Mongrel and the 2/4 flying UW guy that blinks everyone after combat. I never get quite enough gas to muster a lethal attack and just flood out.
1-2
Round 3 vs UBr control/storm?
Game 1 He landfloods hard and does pretty much nothing but cast some removal and Nightscape Familiar. I get Recurring Nightmare + Skirk Prospector + Beetleback Chief + Skirk Drill Sergeant going and start making a million tokens/free cards.
Game 2 I board into full discard and T2 Mesmeric Fiend sees a hand of lands + 2 Dark Ritual + counterspell (without the right mana open). Either he's an incredibly bad player playing Dark Ritual in a control deck or he's actually playing storm with some cheap control elements to keep him alive until he can storm out. I rip the counter and start plopping out guys to try to beat him down before he can go off. I flood a bit but get a 5/5 Grenzo, who starts digging up dudes, and then drop Recurring Nightmare and he scoops to my endless card advantage.
2-0
Incremental card advantage and 2-for-1s seem to dominate this format unless you can build a very consistent aggro deck. Suicide Goblins with Rites was fun, but I also enjoy grindy Goblins with Beetleback Chiefs and multiple engines in Grenzo, Drill Sergeant and Recurring Nightmare. Still didn't 3-0 though. In retrospect, I probably could have beaten the WUG deck if I had grabbed some of those Aftershocks. Catch-all seems good. I was a bit light on removal.
3 Falters seems like a lot to me, I'd be much happier with 2. I don't like Recurring Nightmare in this deck, way too durdly for limited impact in a deck where you just want to overwhelm the board, pound away and maybe throw down a Falter to swing for the win. That said, solid deck otherwise. 2 Generals and 2 Warchiefs is pretty sweet.
3 Falters seems like a lot to me, I'd be much happier with 2. I don't like Recurring Nightmare in this deck, way too durdly for limited impact in a deck where you just want to overwhelm the board, pound away and maybe throw down a Falter to swing for the win. That said, solid deck otherwise. 2 Generals and 2 Warchiefs is pretty sweet.
Yeah, I hesitated between Falter and Spark Spray for that slot. I boarded out 1 Falter against decks with fewer blockers. But since I had no pump spells and only 2 Generals I wanted redundancy because I might need double Falter to swing for lethal. I was rarely disappointed to see one. It was great at breaking stalemates or helping me win, but I guess it's one of those cards that is an awful topdeck if I'm behind on the board (so generally a bad Spike card). I figured Goblins can't really win from behind anyway so might as well double down on being able to close immediately. Maybe this was faulty reasoning. In my other Goblins draft I found I was losing way too many guys to attrition wars, especially tokens and Brindle Shouts and those those pesky Phantom 2/2s. Kept wanting more Falters then to just skip through blocking. If only Goblin Shortcutter was in this format!
Re: not being able to win from behind... after seeing Grenzo P3P1, Recurring Nightmare was my attempt to do just that. It's very durdly, but in the other VMA Goblins draft I posted I got crushed in the finals by a control deck playing incremental card advantage. If for whatever reason I stumble and don't goldfish fast enough, I just lose to endless 2-for-1s. I thought this could be my tech to win those games. Mesmeric Fiend was for the same reason, stripping their key spells to stop me. Maybe Recurring Nightmare should have been sideboard. But once it durdles, it really durdles! For BB you can make 2 1/1 Goblin tokens by cycling Su-Chi and Beetleback Chief (I had 3), or you can just loop Beetleback Chiefs with Prospectors.
Animate Dead is amazing in general... but how do I get a big creature in their graveyard with no hard removal? Hope opponent screws up and discards an Arrogant Wurm by accident because they are unfamiliar with Madness on MTGO? To be fair, one opponent did accidentally bin his own Basking Rootwalla... with 1G open... during my declare attackers with a 2/2 attacking. I don't think he was too happy about that. I guess Animate Dead on Goblin General or Beetleback Chief isn't bad. If I had grabbed Aftershocks or Expunges then Animate Dead looks significantly better.
Yeah, I'm sure it's good in the games you want it, but I can imagine many games where you'd draw it and proceed to never even remotely consider casting it because it just plain wouldn't help. I could definitely see siding in it, but I wouldn't mainboard it, like you said. I mean, Genzo should be reanimating anything anyway most of the time.
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The draft:
Pack 1 pick 1:
Gustcloak Harrier
Frantic Search
Spark Spray
Krosan Tusker
Chainer's Edict
Armor of Thorns
Fledgling Djinn
Mana Prism
Sudden Strength
Dauthi Mercenary
Cloud Djinn
Flowstone Hellion
Mountain Valley
Nature's Ruin
--> Lightning Rift (FOIL)
Cycling deck seems good.
Pack 1 pick 2:
Noble Templar
Rescind
--> Beetleback Chief
Benalish Trapper
Brindle Shoat
Expunge
Chain Lightning
Gilded Light
Skywing Aven
Tranquil Thicket
Blazing Specter
Breath of Life
Animate Dead
Nightscape Familiar (FOIL)
Hmm, wherever I end up, this format seems like it likes armies in a can.
Pack 1 pick 3:
Benevolent Bodyguard
Circular Logic
--> Goblin General
Basking Rootwalla
Urborg Uprising
Elephant Guide
Fallen Askari
Armor of Thorns
Fledgling Djinn
Mana Prism
Waterfront Bouncer
Fireblast
Marchesa, the Black Rose (FOIL)
Marchesa's tempting. I love Grixis control. But Goblins? Passing Fireblast is rough but cutting General is probably necessary.
Pack 1 pick 4:
Frantic Search
--> Hulking Goblin
Elvish Aberration
Dark Ritual
Owl Familiar
Falter
Barren Moor
Renewed Faith
Keeneye Aven
Dark Hatchling
Thopter Squadron
Brain Freeze
Pack 1 pick 5:
Teroh's Faithful
Killer Whale
Skirk Drill Sergeant
Jungle Wurm
Addle
Krovikan Sorcerer
Chain Lightning
Afterlife
Wall of Diffusion
--> Goblin Warchief
Shelter (FOIL)
Sadly the good Goblins seem to be in the same packs as the good burn.
Pack 1 pick 6:
Benevolent Bodyguard
Circular Logic
--> Goblin General
Paralyze
Scrivener
Kindle
Seal of Cleansing
Salt Flats
Grizzly Fate
Cruel Bargain
As I was saying. Probably means red is open then.
Pack 1 pick 7:
Skirge Familiar
Brilliant Halo
Scrivener
Tranquil Thicket
Reckless Charge
--> Gaea's Embrace
Cabal Ritual
Norwood Priestess
Sarcomancy (FOIL)
I think I just overvalue this card. Reckless Charge was mediocre for me in my other Goblins deck. Nothing else there seems strong enough to splash.
Pack 1 pick 8:
Skirk Prospector
Addle
Keeneye Aven
--> Forgotten Cave
Aftershock
Gilded Light
Chimeric Idol
Wall of Diffusion (FOIL)
Probably should have been Aftershock. I think I was hedging in case Goblins got cut and I had to go back to cycling.
Pack 1 pick 9:
--> Spark Spray
Armor of Thorns
Fledgling Djinn
Mana Prism
Cloud Djinn
Mountain Valley
Nature's Ruin
Same with this.
Pack 1 pick 10:
Rescind
Gilded Light
Tranquil Thicket
--> Blazing Specter
Breath of Life
Nightscape Familiar (FOIL)
Black splash?
Pack 1 pick 11:
Circular Logic
--> Urborg Uprising
Elephant Guide
Armor of Thorns
Fledgling Djinn
No red left...
Pack 1 pick 12:
Owl Familiar
--> Barren Moor
Renewed Faith
Thopter Squadron
Pack 1 pick 13:
Teroh's Faithful
--> Addle
Wall of Diffusion
Pack 1 pick 14:
Seal of Cleansing
--> Salt Flats
Pack 1 pick 15:
--> Skirge Familiar
------ VMA ------
Pack 2 pick 1:
Rescind
--> Beetleback Chief
Benalish Trapper
Obsessive Search
Spark Spray
Wild Mongrel
Tyrant's Choice
Exile
Aquamoeba
Reckless Charge
Rites of Initiation
Death Grasp
Nostalgic Dreams
Ring of Gix
Breath of Life (FOIL)
Risky since red was cut late pack 1 but there may still be enough to go RB.
Pack 2 pick 2:
Soltari Trooper
Brainstorm
--> Hulking Goblin
Elvish Aberration
Dark Ritual
Elephant Guide
Carnophage
Claws of Wirewood
Fledgling Djinn
Fires of Yavimaya
Empyrial Armor
Bad River
Crescendo of War
Circular Logic (FOIL)
Pack 2 pick 3:
Noble Templar
Deep Analysis
--> Skirk Prospector
Wild Mongrel
Spinal Graft
Gilded Light
Skywing Aven
Tranquil Thicket
Aftershock
Radiant's Judgment
Dreampod Druid
Stoic Champion
High Tide (FOIL)
Maybe Aftershock instead.
Pack 2 pick 4:
Benalish Trapper
Counterspell
Skirk Prospector
Giant Mantis
Paralyze
Man-o'-War
Falter
Brilliant Halo
Krovikan Sorcerer
--> Chain Lightning
Thalakos Drifters
Tangle (FOIL)
Pack 2 pick 5:
Deftblade Elite
Temporal Fissure
Jungle Wurm
Urborg Uprising
Secluded Steppe
Tribute to the Wild
Elephant Guide
--> Fallen Askari
Armadillo Cloak
Fact or Fiction
Basking Rootwalla (FOIL)
Pack 2 pick 6:
Mistmoon Griffin
Brindle Shoat
Choking Sands
Radiant's Judgment
Krovikan Sorcerer
Giant Strength
Afterlife
--> Su-Chi
Æther Mutation
Roar of the Wurm
Pack 2 pick 7:
Soltari Emissary
Deep Analysis
Brindle Shoat
Skywing Aven
Radiant's Judgment
Ophidian
Giant Strength
Prophetic Bolt
--> Scabland
This draft is just looking bad now. Morph into RW cycling?
Pack 2 pick 8:
Soltari Emissary
Repel
--> Urborg Uprising
Ophidian
Wall of Diffusion
Deathreap Ritual
Yavimaya Elder
Roar of the Wurm
Pack 2 pick 9:
Rescind
Spark Spray
--> Tyrant's Choice
Exile
Rites of Initiation
Nostalgic Dreams
Breath of Life (FOIL)
Pack 2 pick 10:
Soltari Trooper
Elephant Guide
Claws of Wirewood
--> Fledgling Djinn
Fires of Yavimaya
Bad River
Pack 2 pick 11:
Deep Analysis
Gilded Light
Tranquil Thicket
--> Radiant's Judgment
Dreampod Druid
Pack 2 pick 12:
Skirk Prospector
--> Falter
Krovikan Sorcerer
Tangle (FOIL)
Pack 2 pick 13:
Deftblade Elite
--> Jungle Wurm
Tribute to the Wild
Pack 2 pick 14:
Mistmoon Griffin
--> Brindle Shoat
Pack 2 pick 15:
--> Brindle Shoat
------ VMA ------
Pack 3 pick 1:
Soltari Trooper
Repel
Goblin Patrol
Fyndhorn Elves
Dark Ritual
Claws of Wirewood
Putrid Imp
Provoke
Mesmeric Fiend
Lonely Sandbar
Caldera Lake
Devout Witness
Brain Freeze
Spirit Cairn
--> Grenzo, Dungeon Warden (FOIL)
Saved my draft. RB Goblins it is.
Pack 3 pick 2:
Teroh's Faithful
Temporal Fissure
Orcish Lumberjack
Basking Rootwalla
Urborg Uprising
Man-o'-War
Wall of Diffusion
Barren Moor
Seal of Cleansing
Sarcomancy
Triangle of War
Goblin Settler
--> Recurring Nightmare
Falter (FOIL)
Hmm... how many Beetleback Chiefs do I have to loop?
Pack 3 pick 3:
Noble Templar
Deep Analysis
Skirk Prospector
Paralyze
Forgotten Cave
Owl Familiar
--> Solar Blast
Renewed Faith
Aquamoeba
Psychatog
Flood Plain
Keldon Necropolis
Aftershock (FOIL)
Pack 3 pick 4:
Hulking Goblin
Noble Templar
Rescind
--> Beetleback Chief
Brindle Shoat
Predatory Nightstalker
Falter
Brilliant Halo
Krovikan Sorcerer
Rites of Initiation
High Tide
Brindle Shoat (FOIL)
About that.
Pack 3 pick 5:
Soltari Trooper
Goblin Patrol
Chainer's Edict
Death's-Head Buzzard
Elephant Guide
Fallen Askari
Armor of Thorns
Fledgling Djinn
Flowstone Hellion
--> Goblin Warchief
Goblin Commando (FOIL)
Pack 3 pick 6:
Deftblade Elite
Temporal Fissure
--> Skirk Drill Sergeant
Tyrant's Choice
Fallen Askari
Armor of Thorns
Carnophage
Tangle
Breath of Life
Expunge (FOIL)
Pack 3 pick 7:
Benevolent Bodyguard
Predatory Nightstalker
Tangle
Nightscape Familiar
Nature's Lore
--> Mesmeric Fiend
Chimeric Idol
Animate Dead
Fallen Askari (FOIL)
Pack 3 pick 8:
Circular Logic
--> Predatory Nightstalker
Nightscape Familiar
Sudden Strength
Putrid Imp
Secluded Steppe
Provoke
Exile (FOIL)
Pack 3 pick 9:
Claws of Wirewood
Putrid Imp
Provoke
--> Mesmeric Fiend
Lonely Sandbar
Caldera Lake
Spirit Cairn
Pack 3 pick 10:
Teroh's Faithful
Urborg Uprising
Wall of Diffusion
Barren Moor
Sarcomancy
--> Falter (FOIL)
Pack 3 pick 11:
Noble Templar
--> Skirk Prospector
Forgotten Cave
Renewed Faith
Flood Plain
Pack 3 pick 12:
Brindle Shoat
--> Falter
Brilliant Halo
Krovikan Sorcerer
Pack 3 pick 13:
Elephant Guide
--> Fledgling Djinn
Flowstone Hellion
Pack 3 pick 14:
Temporal Fissure
--> Tyrant's Choice
Pack 3 pick 15:
--> Benevolent Bodyguard
The deck:
1 Chain Lightning
2 Hulking Goblin
1 Skirk Drill Sergeant
1 Mesmeric Fiend
1 Fledgling Djinn
1 Fallen Askari
3 Falter
2 Goblin General
2 Goblin Warchief
1 Recurring Nightmare
1 Blazing Specter
1 Solar Blast
1 Grenzo, Dungeon Warden
8 Mountain
1 Forgotten Cave
6 Swamp
1 Barren Moor
1 Addle
1 Mesmeric Fiend
1 Spark Spray
1 Su-Chi
The matches:
Round 1 vs UG Badness (inconsistent threat-lite madness shell)
Game 1 Goldfished him with Warchief into double Chief and General with Falter to make 1 swing for lethal.
Game 2 was grindier but again I Falter for the win.
2-0
Round 2 vs WUG Madness
Game 1 I mull to 5 and mana flood like nobody's business.
Game 2 I swarm him out of nowhere and win.
Game 3 Waterfront Bouncer and Benalish Tapper stop me from developing while he smacks me with Wild Mongrel and the 2/4 flying UW guy that blinks everyone after combat. I never get quite enough gas to muster a lethal attack and just flood out.
1-2
Round 3 vs UBr control/storm?
Game 1 He landfloods hard and does pretty much nothing but cast some removal and Nightscape Familiar. I get Recurring Nightmare + Skirk Prospector + Beetleback Chief + Skirk Drill Sergeant going and start making a million tokens/free cards.
Game 2 I board into full discard and T2 Mesmeric Fiend sees a hand of lands + 2 Dark Ritual + counterspell (without the right mana open). Either he's an incredibly bad player playing Dark Ritual in a control deck or he's actually playing storm with some cheap control elements to keep him alive until he can storm out. I rip the counter and start plopping out guys to try to beat him down before he can go off. I flood a bit but get a 5/5 Grenzo, who starts digging up dudes, and then drop Recurring Nightmare and he scoops to my endless card advantage.
2-0
Incremental card advantage and 2-for-1s seem to dominate this format unless you can build a very consistent aggro deck. Suicide Goblins with Rites was fun, but I also enjoy grindy Goblins with Beetleback Chiefs and multiple engines in Grenzo, Drill Sergeant and Recurring Nightmare. Still didn't 3-0 though. In retrospect, I probably could have beaten the WUG deck if I had grabbed some of those Aftershocks. Catch-all seems good. I was a bit light on removal.
That card is sick. Much better than mesmeric fiend.
Yeah, I hesitated between Falter and Spark Spray for that slot. I boarded out 1 Falter against decks with fewer blockers. But since I had no pump spells and only 2 Generals I wanted redundancy because I might need double Falter to swing for lethal. I was rarely disappointed to see one. It was great at breaking stalemates or helping me win, but I guess it's one of those cards that is an awful topdeck if I'm behind on the board (so generally a bad Spike card). I figured Goblins can't really win from behind anyway so might as well double down on being able to close immediately. Maybe this was faulty reasoning. In my other Goblins draft I found I was losing way too many guys to attrition wars, especially tokens and Brindle Shouts and those those pesky Phantom 2/2s. Kept wanting more Falters then to just skip through blocking. If only Goblin Shortcutter was in this format!
Re: not being able to win from behind... after seeing Grenzo P3P1, Recurring Nightmare was my attempt to do just that. It's very durdly, but in the other VMA Goblins draft I posted I got crushed in the finals by a control deck playing incremental card advantage. If for whatever reason I stumble and don't goldfish fast enough, I just lose to endless 2-for-1s. I thought this could be my tech to win those games. Mesmeric Fiend was for the same reason, stripping their key spells to stop me. Maybe Recurring Nightmare should have been sideboard. But once it durdles, it really durdles! For BB you can make 2 1/1 Goblin tokens by cycling Su-Chi and Beetleback Chief (I had 3), or you can just loop Beetleback Chiefs with Prospectors.
Animate Dead is amazing in general... but how do I get a big creature in their graveyard with no hard removal? Hope opponent screws up and discards an Arrogant Wurm by accident because they are unfamiliar with Madness on MTGO? To be fair, one opponent did accidentally bin his own Basking Rootwalla... with 1G open... during my declare attackers with a 2/2 attacking. I don't think he was too happy about that. I guess Animate Dead on Goblin General or Beetleback Chief isn't bad. If I had grabbed Aftershocks or Expunges then Animate Dead looks significantly better.