Here is what what I've been crafting. It does not use Chalice of the Void. And I can see it being awesome, but for now I suplimented it with the lantern package. The deck has the typical win conditions plus charbelcher and G. Aether Grind.
RED: CONTROL
60: 0, 40, 20
CREATURES: 0
SUPPORT: 40
1x Chandra, Torch of Defiance
3x Goblin Charbelcher
4x Ensnaring Bridge
4x Lantern of Insight
4x Codex Shredder
4x Ghoulcaller's Bell
1x Koth of the Hammer
3x G. Aether Grid
4x Blood Moon
4x Pyroclasm
4x Desperate Ritual
4x Simian Spirit Guide
RESOURCES: 20
4x Gemstone Cavern
16x Mountain
REINFORCEMENTS: 15
3x Pithing Needle
3x Engineered Explosives
3x Topor Orb
3x Relic of P
3x Sun Droplet
I really want to play this deck, but like all control decks it cost a good chunk of money minus the lands. lol
It's certainly a house, but we have (4) conflicting Ensnaring Bridge.
It's monstrously strong attacker, but it will be our only monstrously strong attacker which doesn't allow for synergistic construction (although Goblin Rabblemaster also hits fast and hard.)
I love the idea of non-targeted repeatable damage that can enable a bridge or enable an indestructible 5/5 brute.
I do waffle on the idea of dropping my chandra, torch of defiance count down to 3, and this could be a good substitute.
Ultimately, I'm leaning towards a yesssss, because I am giddy about the idea of running fast and hard at an Ad Nauseam / Tron / Eldrazi deck. Yeah, I think I like the idea of playing a God.
@spec.ops: I've moved away from goblin charbelcher, so without that bazooka it seems like Lantern non-hybrid may be better than mixing RED on the canvas. I'd have to see it in action.
Same here. lol I have a good MB for it and ordered all the but the most expensive cards. I also have developed a non-lantern MD. The kill cards are the typical, Chandra and Koth, plus chamber and Red Sun Zenith. So, that's 12 kill cards. Ah hell, talking about makes me want to post it. lol
CREATURES: 0
SUPPORT: 40
4x Chandra, ToD
3x Goblin Charbelcher
4x Ensnaring Bridge
4x Chalice of the Void
1x Koth of the Hammer
4x Blood Moon
4x Slagstorm
4x Pyroclasm
4x Red Sun Zenith
4x Desperate Ritual
4x Simian Spirit Guide
Saavik: On the Kobayashi Maru scenario, sir... will you tell me what you did? I would really like to know. McCoy: Lieutenant, you are looking at the only Starfleet cadet who ever beat the no-win scenario.
Saavik: How? Kirk: I reprogrammed the simulation so it was possible to rescue the ship.
Saavik: What? David Marcus: He cheated.
Kirk: I changed the conditions of the test; got a commendation for original thinking. I don't like to lose.
Saavik: Then you never faced that situation... faced death. Kirk: I don't believe in the no-win scenario.
More on that dialogue later, Mountainfolk -- I'm just setting the tone.
FNM - 20 People - 4 Rounds. It was another undefeated performance for my RED Prison / Hammer's Slammer: Between the Hammer and the Anvil. In 2017 paper tournaments, that tallies up to 28 wins and 6 losses: 82% win percentage. On to the report......
Round 1: G/x Tron - In game 1, we both flood for a while until his inevitable top deck threats annihilate. Game 2 has me casting (4) Blood Moons and his constant Karn Liberated assault wasn't enough. Game 3 was more of the same with Pia and Kiran Nalaar and Rabble/Rabble doing their work as they did in the previous game.
SIDEBOARDING
IN: 2 Shattering Spree / 4 Goblin Rabblemaster / Magus of the Moon
OUT: Walking Ballista / Crystal Ball / 3 Ensnaring Bridge / 2 Slagstorm
Round 2: Grixis Death Shadow - The Triple Power Lock Suite were key for the wins. For sideboarding, I trim down on the acceleration in lieu of creatures threats, and he just doesn't have enough answers. But, truthfully, he was land light & unable to fetch out from under a blood moon - not the best contest. I would say I won, but not that he lost; if that makes any sense.
Round 4: We'll come back to Round 3 in a minute. Jund Death Shadow - I feel like I could play this matchup all night - so fun. This deck is much easier to beat than Jund. Reason? Chalice of the Void. It just houses that whole deck (except tarmogoofy, but the graveyards are hardly as full when he can't cast his hand out ).
SIDEBOARDING: He did nothing and I did (8)
IN: 4 Goblin Rabblemaster / Roast / Pithing Needle / Magus of the Moon / Ratchet Bomb
OUT: Walking Ballista / Koth of the Hammer / Chandra, Torch of Defiance / Crystal Ball / 2 Magma Jet / 2 Slagstorm
Aaaaaaand, Round 3 - Ding Ding Ding
Round 3: Melira-Viscera-Coco
Spock: The Kobayashi Maru scenario frequently wreaks havoc on students and equipment. As I recall you took the test three times yourself. Your final solution was, shall we say, unique? Kirk: It had the virtue of never having been tried.
We seat ourselves, and Sam says, "You know, of all my friends who heard about or saw our match, I was the least bothered by how you beat me last time. You pulled off two Turn-1 Blood Moons." I cordially reply, "Oh, yeah - I remember. Abzan is my worst matchup. I got lucky." We chat about how both of our decks are of the Prison/Combo variety for the win: kinda happens or it doesn't.
Game 1: I rip a turn 1 Koth of the Hammer. He starts out a little slowly. I rip a turn 2 Blood Moon. Later, I've ultimated into Emblem and hold one card in my hand: Slagstorm. He fires off a Chord of Calling and plops a Viscera Seer beside a Melira, Sylvok Outcast and Kitchen Finks. Sam goes to infinite life. AND: He can scry his deck into a perfect draw each turn, and he can eventually bolster his creatures into unimaginably powerful titans. It didn't 'kinda happen'. It absolutely, motherhumpin' happened - His deck just won magic.
He looked at me. I knew he wanted me to offer my sword. It's the chivalrous and expected action in gentleman's warfare. I looked at my board: 3 mountains, a chalice on 1, a blood moon, and a Koth emblem. He had those three creatures and 3 land. I only had one card, a slagstorm, in hand. I paused. I thought of Captain James Tiberius Kirk.
I also don't believe in the no-win scenario. "Let's play it out." He sighed. Understandably, he's looking for the courtesy. After all, the two of us just had this very discussion. Any onlooker would think me delusional, even disrespectful, to fight on. But, I believed I could take his sword.
I untap and slagstorm. Ensnaring Bridge soon followed alongside more precious mountains. "Judge!" I ask about determining a comparative library card count (read: concession)? He looks up the process as the game meanders through a few more turns. Resolution: we lay out our decks in stacks of 10 and it's verified that I have him by exactly 1 card on a draw out. At that point, Sam shares that if he can properly execute back-to-back collected company, he can capture the win. But, the odds were - in his word - 'infinitesimal'. Incredulously, then it happened. He conceded.
Kobayashi Maru got hammered to the mat and counted out....for the 2nd time.
Hello gentlemen, I've been lurking around this thread for a while now, happy to say I just got my chalices and I'm officially a mountainfolk! Thanks for all your hard work fellas! This thread is amazing
Lets make it double hello. Decided to put this beauty together after asking myself two questions: what deck doesn't go down with fast Blood Moon? What deck doesn't go down with fast Chalice on 1? Answer was: a deck which plays both
1) Question, how come this deck doesn't run mana sinks that do damage? This way the rituals and monkeys still have value late game plus.
2) Also, when does this deck, I call it "Blood Clock" after some threw that around, close games?
3) Just thought of this, but I am wondering if we could make liberal use of Pia's Revolution. I read the entire thread and no mention of it was ever made.
Spec.ops asks about mana sinks. It's just part of the discipline of this deck - the wild ride of mana generation. Of course, we currently have Pia and Kiran and Walking Ballista as examples. The hard part is to propose a card that can make an early splash as well as late-game relevance. Personally, my pet card is Kargan Dragonlord - Has anyone else tried this out? I don't have problems in closing out games before people start to struggle out from the trap. And, it's important to note that games 2-3 generally run more pro-active win conditions.
Ooooooh yeah!!! Big Ups to our newest kin, Caligula and Amok22.
Where are you guys chucking your cardboard? LGS, Premier Events or just online? I've got a couple stores that I've hit this year, and it just feels like RED Prison is the right deck at the right time - agree with ya there, Amok. Would love to hear how the deck is being received in your area - I get a lot of spirited jabs from area players as the "National Champion of Blood Moon" - all in good fun.
I just hope that we don't lose any pieces to this deck in the upcoming ban announcement. There's been some chatter that Simian Spirit Guide could get the ax.
Pia's Revolution: Huh, I've never seen it before. "Nontoken Artifacts going to the graveyard" isn't a benchmark of our deck, though? I could see it in some sort of Affinity or Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas deck, I s'pose.
Hello raystack, I have to say I agree, if anyone is the national champion of blood moon it's you! I'll be playing at my lgs, mostly control meta. I feel confident I'll be hated. As for SSG, where do you suppose we go if the ban Hammer is dropped? I suppose we can slot in pyretic ritual but it's clearly a blow to our blooming archetype.. your thoughts?
3) Just thought of this, but I am wondering if we could make liberal use of Pia's Revolution. I read the entire thread and no mention of it was ever made.
I had actually toyed with the idea when we discussed Mind Stone. Here's a rough draft :
The plan was to run a (near) creature-less deck and nothing with a CMC of 1 (for Chalice). It kept just the bare bones of a Red Prison. Once the game is stalled, start pinging with Ghirapur Aether Grid. Pia's Revolution essentially turns every Mind Stone or extra Mox Opal into Lighting Bolt.
I eventually dropped it because the mana curve felt "clunky", and I couldn't figure out how to solve it without adding 1 CMC artifacts.
That's one of reasons I added lantern to the deck. But yeah, chalice had to go. But, chalice can win you games! So it's a interesting call. I won't be able to test till I get back (long time) but it's food for thought. All I can say is this new block suuuuks! Every card is over costed and underpowered by a large margin - very disappointing. :/
the only Eldrazi I've seen playing SSG has been a Legacy deck, but I admit I haven't played much in the past two-three months.
Ah, go check out the T1 section or MTGTop8. Colorless Eldrazi Stompy is back now and the main offender is CotV via SSG. SSG I think will avoid the ban. It is CotV that might get it. If this deck was a thing and man is it a hell of a thing I could see CotV getting the axe. But, the same can be said for Mox Opal and/or Cranial Plating. I know I just spent a bucket of money on this deck so it would really suck to come home and not be able to play it. lol
the only Eldrazi I've seen playing SSG has been a Legacy deck, but I admit I haven't played much in the past two-three months.
Ah, go check out the T1 section or MTGTop8. Colorless Eldrazi Stompy is back now and the main offender is CotV via SSG. SSG I think will avoid the ban. It is CotV that might get it. If this deck was a thing and man is it a hell of a thing I could see CotV getting the axe. But, the same can be said for Mox Opal and/or Cranial Plating. I know I just spent a bucket of money on this deck so it would really suck to come home and not be able to play it. lol
Same! I traded alot of fetchlands for the chalices and bridges.. I'm literally all-in red. If the monkey gets the axe, of course we lose our explosive turn 1 potential, however turn 2 isn't a horrible time to drop Blood Moon, or Chandra.. turn 1 2x SSG, Ritual, Chandra, Chalice on 1? I see. Post ban, the best we could hope for would be like turn 2 3x Ritual, Chandra, Bridge, Chalice on 1.(or 2.) I guess it could be worse
Sure, it misses the face and it can't knock Liliana out of her corset, but it can cycle. Is (3) a little too much? Kind of a crowded slot for us. I kind of like what I'm seeing in this new set, Spec.Ops. I don't play Standard, so my expectations for getting anything shiny under the Xmas tree are pretty low. 1 or 2 cards will suffice. And, we already got a God...A GOD.
FNM is Tonight. Cry Havoc! And, Let Slip the Dogs of War.
Are you sleeved up and ready? I'm looking right at the 2 new inglorious basterds that joined our thread this week. Any new cards in the mix as well?
I'm transitioning. That's right. I'm no longer hiding my goblin shoes in the back of the closet, only to come out under the cover of night in later rounds. We are talking Round 1 // Game 1 - Goblin Rabblemaster, all 4 of them, in the main deck. Tonight, I'm proudly identifying as a Goblin-American. This has been a long time coming, and I hope I can count on the love and support of my friends, family, and kin.
Alright, Ha-Ha time is over. But, I'm serious. I think they're best seen in the MD.
Mana-Curve Implications: Positive
With a scant 22-land manabase, I'm swapping (2) double 4-cmc cards that were often redundant for 3-cmc goblin cards that can compound - not to mention present a Turn 1 tsunami. More than once, I've knocked Tron off the table on Turn Three (all it takes is a T1 SSG / Desperate Ritual / Mutavault: it's a goblin too!).
Threat Level Implications: Positive
This is another area where we have a significant advantage over R/W Prison. Rather than hoping to have the perfect answer to a yet-to-be-seen problem, we're going for the win. This goes back to the discussion about our "Shield-Gun".
Red Restriction Implications: Positive
Honestly, I have never - not even once - been color screwed with a base of 18 mountains and 4 colorless sources. Sure, I've flooded and droughted on land draws, but never been lacking for enough red to drop the hammer. So, I'm ready to push the boundary a little more. I'm swapping Mountain 18 for Tectonic Edge 1.
Let's see how my changes suss out, and I wanna hear some reports - however brief - on other battles across the multiverse.
RED: CONTROL
60: 0, 40, 20
CREATURES: 0
SUPPORT: 40
1x Chandra, Torch of Defiance
3x Goblin Charbelcher
4x Ensnaring Bridge
4x Lantern of Insight
4x Codex Shredder
4x Ghoulcaller's Bell
1x Koth of the Hammer
3x G. Aether Grid
4x Blood Moon
4x Pyroclasm
4x Desperate Ritual
4x Simian Spirit Guide
RESOURCES: 20
4x Gemstone Cavern
16x Mountain
REINFORCEMENTS: 15
3x Pithing Needle
3x Engineered Explosives
3x Topor Orb
3x Relic of P
3x Sun Droplet
I really want to play this deck, but like all control decks it cost a good chunk of money minus the lands. lol
YOUTUBE CHANNEL: GOBOTS
@spec.ops: I've moved away from goblin charbelcher, so without that bazooka it seems like Lantern non-hybrid may be better than mixing RED on the canvas. I'd have to see it in action.
CREATURES: 0
SUPPORT: 40
4x Chandra, ToD
3x Goblin Charbelcher
4x Ensnaring Bridge
4x Chalice of the Void
1x Koth of the Hammer
4x Blood Moon
4x Slagstorm
4x Pyroclasm
4x Red Sun Zenith
4x Desperate Ritual
4x Simian Spirit Guide
RESOURCES: 20
4x Gemstone Cavern
16x Mountain
CONSIDERING: 1
1x Outpoast Siege
OR
1x Caged Sun
YOUTUBE CHANNEL: GOBOTS
Saavik: On the Kobayashi Maru scenario, sir... will you tell me what you did? I would really like to know.
McCoy: Lieutenant, you are looking at the only Starfleet cadet who ever beat the no-win scenario.
Saavik: How?
Kirk: I reprogrammed the simulation so it was possible to rescue the ship.
Saavik: What?
David Marcus: He cheated.
Kirk: I changed the conditions of the test; got a commendation for original thinking. I don't like to lose.
Saavik: Then you never faced that situation... faced death.
Kirk: I don't believe in the no-win scenario.
More on that dialogue later, Mountainfolk -- I'm just setting the tone.
FNM - 20 People - 4 Rounds. It was another undefeated performance for my RED Prison / Hammer's Slammer: Between the Hammer and the Anvil. In 2017 paper tournaments, that tallies up to 28 wins and 6 losses: 82% win percentage. On to the report......
Round 1: G/x Tron - In game 1, we both flood for a while until his inevitable top deck threats annihilate. Game 2 has me casting (4) Blood Moons and his constant Karn Liberated assault wasn't enough. Game 3 was more of the same with Pia and Kiran Nalaar and Rabble/Rabble doing their work as they did in the previous game.
SIDEBOARDING
IN: 2 Shattering Spree / 4 Goblin Rabblemaster / Magus of the Moon
OUT: Walking Ballista / Crystal Ball / 3 Ensnaring Bridge / 2 Slagstorm
Round 2: Grixis Death Shadow - The Triple Power Lock Suite were key for the wins. For sideboarding, I trim down on the acceleration in lieu of creatures threats, and he just doesn't have enough answers. But, truthfully, he was land light & unable to fetch out from under a blood moon - not the best contest. I would say I won, but not that he lost; if that makes any sense.
Round 4: We'll come back to Round 3 in a minute. Jund Death Shadow - I feel like I could play this matchup all night - so fun. This deck is much easier to beat than Jund. Reason? Chalice of the Void. It just houses that whole deck (except tarmogoofy, but the graveyards are hardly as full when he can't cast his hand out ).
SIDEBOARDING: He did nothing and I did (8)
IN: 4 Goblin Rabblemaster / Roast / Pithing Needle / Magus of the Moon / Ratchet Bomb
OUT: Walking Ballista / Koth of the Hammer / Chandra, Torch of Defiance / Crystal Ball / 2 Magma Jet / 2 Slagstorm
Aaaaaaand, Round 3 - Ding Ding Ding
Round 3: Melira-Viscera-Coco
Spock: The Kobayashi Maru scenario frequently wreaks havoc on students and equipment. As I recall you took the test three times yourself. Your final solution was, shall we say, unique?
Kirk: It had the virtue of never having been tried.
We seat ourselves, and Sam says, "You know, of all my friends who heard about or saw our match, I was the least bothered by how you beat me last time. You pulled off two Turn-1 Blood Moons." I cordially reply, "Oh, yeah - I remember. Abzan is my worst matchup. I got lucky." We chat about how both of our decks are of the Prison/Combo variety for the win: kinda happens or it doesn't.
Game 1: I rip a turn 1 Koth of the Hammer. He starts out a little slowly. I rip a turn 2 Blood Moon. Later, I've ultimated into Emblem and hold one card in my hand: Slagstorm. He fires off a Chord of Calling and plops a Viscera Seer beside a Melira, Sylvok Outcast and Kitchen Finks. Sam goes to infinite life. AND: He can scry his deck into a perfect draw each turn, and he can eventually bolster his creatures into unimaginably powerful titans. It didn't 'kinda happen'. It absolutely, motherhumpin' happened - His deck just won magic.
He looked at me. I knew he wanted me to offer my sword. It's the chivalrous and expected action in gentleman's warfare. I looked at my board: 3 mountains, a chalice on 1, a blood moon, and a Koth emblem. He had those three creatures and 3 land. I only had one card, a slagstorm, in hand. I paused. I thought of Captain James Tiberius Kirk.
I also don't believe in the no-win scenario. "Let's play it out." He sighed. Understandably, he's looking for the courtesy. After all, the two of us just had this very discussion. Any onlooker would think me delusional, even disrespectful, to fight on. But, I believed I could take his sword.
I untap and slagstorm. Ensnaring Bridge soon followed alongside more precious mountains. "Judge!" I ask about determining a comparative library card count (read: concession)? He looks up the process as the game meanders through a few more turns. Resolution: we lay out our decks in stacks of 10 and it's verified that I have him by exactly 1 card on a draw out. At that point, Sam shares that if he can properly execute back-to-back collected company, he can capture the win. But, the odds were - in his word - 'infinitesimal'. Incredulously, then it happened. He conceded.
Kobayashi Maru got hammered to the mat and counted out....for the 2nd time.
Creatures (6)
3 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
1 Magus of the Moon
1 Walking Ballista
1 Spellskite
Accelerators (9)
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Desperate Ritual
1 Tormenting Voice
Enchantments (4)
4 Blood Moon
Removal (5)
2 Magma Jet
2 Slagstorm
1 Roast
4 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
1 Koth of the Hammer
Artifacts (9)
4 Ensnaring Bridge
4 Chalice of the Void
1 Crystal Ball
Lands (22)
18 Mountains
2 Mutavault
2 Gemstone Caverns
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
2 Shattering Spree
2 Anger of the Gods
2 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Pithing Needle
1 Witchbane Orb
1 Ratchet Bomb
1 Roast
1 Magus of the Moon
2) Also, when does this deck, I call it "Blood Clock" after some threw that around, close games?
3) Just thought of this, but I am wondering if we could make liberal use of Pia's Revolution. I read the entire thread and no mention of it was ever made.
YOUTUBE CHANNEL: GOBOTS
Ooooooh yeah!!! Big Ups to our newest kin, Caligula and Amok22.
Where are you guys chucking your cardboard? LGS, Premier Events or just online? I've got a couple stores that I've hit this year, and it just feels like RED Prison is the right deck at the right time - agree with ya there, Amok. Would love to hear how the deck is being received in your area - I get a lot of spirited jabs from area players as the "National Champion of Blood Moon" - all in good fun.
I just hope that we don't lose any pieces to this deck in the upcoming ban announcement. There's been some chatter that Simian Spirit Guide could get the ax.
Pia's Revolution: Huh, I've never seen it before. "Nontoken Artifacts going to the graveyard" isn't a benchmark of our deck, though? I could see it in some sort of Affinity or Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas deck, I s'pose.
I had actually toyed with the idea when we discussed Mind Stone. Here's a rough draft :
4 Spire of Industry
8 Mountain
2 Gemstone Caverns
4 Darksteel Citadel
1 Inventors' Fair
1 Arid Mesa
CREATURES
2 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
SPELLS
4 Mox Opal
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Mind Stone
4 Magma Jet
2 Pia's Revolution
3 Ghirapur Aether Grid
2 Bottled Cloister
4 Blood Moon
4 Ensnaring Bridge
1 Slagstorm
2 Wildfire
3 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
3 Sun Droplet
2 Ancient Grudge
2 Pyroclasm
3 Phyrexian Revoker
3 Hope of Ghirapur
2 Wear//Tear
The plan was to run a (near) creature-less deck and nothing with a CMC of 1 (for Chalice). It kept just the bare bones of a Red Prison. Once the game is stalled, start pinging with Ghirapur Aether Grid. Pia's Revolution essentially turns every Mind Stone or extra Mox Opal into Lighting Bolt.
I eventually dropped it because the mana curve felt "clunky", and I couldn't figure out how to solve it without adding 1 CMC artifacts.
YOUTUBE CHANNEL: GOBOTS
I wouldn't worry about SSG ban. Decks which are playing it (mainly AN, Grishoalbrand, and us) are not even close to tier 1 so we are relatively safe.
Isn't colorless Eldrazi stompy T1 now? Last I remember they were playing SSG. :/
YOUTUBE CHANNEL: GOBOTS
the only Eldrazi I've seen playing SSG has been a Legacy deck, but I admit I haven't played much in the past two-three months.
Ah, go check out the T1 section or MTGTop8. Colorless Eldrazi Stompy is back now and the main offender is CotV via SSG. SSG I think will avoid the ban. It is CotV that might get it. If this deck was a thing and man is it a hell of a thing I could see CotV getting the axe. But, the same can be said for Mox Opal and/or Cranial Plating. I know I just spent a bucket of money on this deck so it would really suck to come home and not be able to play it. lol
YOUTUBE CHANNEL: GOBOTS
Same! I traded alot of fetchlands for the chalices and bridges.. I'm literally all-in red. If the monkey gets the axe, of course we lose our explosive turn 1 potential, however turn 2 isn't a horrible time to drop Blood Moon, or Chandra.. turn 1 2x SSG, Ritual, Chandra, Chalice on 1? I see. Post ban, the best we could hope for would be like turn 2 3x Ritual, Chandra, Bridge, Chalice on 1.(or 2.) I guess it could be worse
Anger of the Gods or Slagstorm
We may finally have the answer to a hotly contested debate that has gone on since day 1. And that answer is.... Sweltering Suns http://mythicspoiler.com/akh/cards/swelteringsuns.html
Sure, it misses the face and it can't knock Liliana out of her corset, but it can cycle. Is (3) a little too much? Kind of a crowded slot for us. I kind of like what I'm seeing in this new set, Spec.Ops. I don't play Standard, so my expectations for getting anything shiny under the Xmas tree are pretty low. 1 or 2 cards will suffice. And, we already got a God...A GOD.
Cry Havoc! And, Let Slip the Dogs of War.
Are you sleeved up and ready? I'm looking right at the 2 new inglorious basterds that joined our thread this week. Any new cards in the mix as well?
I'm transitioning. That's right. I'm no longer hiding my goblin shoes in the back of the closet, only to come out under the cover of night in later rounds. We are talking Round 1 // Game 1 - Goblin Rabblemaster, all 4 of them, in the main deck. Tonight, I'm proudly identifying as a Goblin-American. This has been a long time coming, and I hope I can count on the love and support of my friends, family, and kin.
Alright, Ha-Ha time is over. But, I'm serious. I think they're best seen in the MD.
+ 4 Goblin Rabblemaster
- Pia and Kiran Nalaar
- Chandra, Torch of Defiance
- Walking Ballista
- Crystal Ball
Mana-Curve Implications: Positive
With a scant 22-land manabase, I'm swapping (2) double 4-cmc cards that were often redundant for 3-cmc goblin cards that can compound - not to mention present a Turn 1 tsunami. More than once, I've knocked Tron off the table on Turn Three (all it takes is a T1 SSG / Desperate Ritual / Mutavault: it's a goblin too!).
Threat Level Implications: Positive
This is another area where we have a significant advantage over R/W Prison. Rather than hoping to have the perfect answer to a yet-to-be-seen problem, we're going for the win. This goes back to the discussion about our "Shield-Gun".
Red Restriction Implications: Positive
Honestly, I have never - not even once - been color screwed with a base of 18 mountains and 4 colorless sources. Sure, I've flooded and droughted on land draws, but never been lacking for enough red to drop the hammer. So, I'm ready to push the boundary a little more. I'm swapping Mountain 18 for Tectonic Edge 1.
Let's see how my changes suss out, and I wanna hear some reports - however brief - on other battles across the multiverse.