Goblins as a deck usually trades individual creature quality ...well goblin guide is just amazing even in a vacuum to be fair... for possible tribal lord synergy and access to one of the most efficient burn spells ever printed.
I managed to 3-1 a daily with gobbos and thought i'd share my list and see what we can come up with. Ill be sure to flesh out all of the cards that could go into the deck and what choices should be considered but I'd thought I would get everyones feedback first before I posted card choice options.
I think there are some very interesting card choices and the list looked pretty solid im hoping he will see this and go more indepth on why he chose the cards he did etc
and here is the list ive been running online:
Goblins
Studman (3-1) (this was my pokerstars name its not what you think!:-/)
MTGO Modern Daily (3-1 and 4-0) - Week of 3/26/12
Modern
and a single 3-1 in a daily might not be impressive but I punted a game versus twin to wind up in 9th in a premier and 2-2 the only other daily I have played in with this list...I've also managed to grind back the cost of the deck in tickets and more in the two mans.
I know this doesn't look like much right now but i'd like to get some more recommendations and evaluations of the card choices we have before trying to go more indepth on the primer aspect and coming up with a stock list. At least this way we can contain all of the goblin discussion spread out in the forum to somewhere its easier to access.
Horray somebody noticed that Goblins isn't dead! Anyway I played at the last Modern PTQ this weekend in Rockville, Maryland #2 (99 players) and had even better success than my previous attempt in Allentown, PA. Making it to top4 in a 99 person event my updated list is below as well as a brief review of each round.
From my original MB the only thing I changed was dropping two Magma Jets for 2 more Keldon Marauders. Jet was by far the most underwhelming card in the deck as with as few lands as I run I was very rarely actually shipping cards away, Marauders provides, at worst, the same damage to mana output, with the possibility for either paying 2 for 5 or preventing/killing a creature. I swapped a few more cards around in my sideboard with most noticeably dropping the Blood Moons. I determined that the match ups it was good in, I was usually already in pretty well with to begin with so I added in some more insurance for the aggro/aggro control matchups in the form of another shattering spree and a volcanic fallout (fallout was a great addition, and I might end up finding room for another, you can slow roll other aggro decks so hard after they see you playing goblins game 1 and then they hardcore play right into it when they see you holding a full hand most assume your just holding burn, and even if you need to play creatures war marshal lets you recover quite nicely). Thalia was a much better answer against storm than mindbreak trap was in testing mainly because it furthered my cause as well (not to mention it gave me another solid option against tron of all varieties) even though I didn't actually get to play against any storm decks in this event. Alright so on to the event:
Round 1:
I was the lucky player with a bye, so I scoped out the field and saw quite a bit of Tron (with no version being particularly more prevalent than another). This makes me happy, because unless they through the Breach out an Emrakul or cast a timely reinforcements, I really don't care what they do because I have more Path's than they do threats for the most part.
1-0
Round 2 GR Tron:
I take game 1 quite handily on the back of Guide and kicked bushwhackers followed by a couple grenades. I love when people can't play counters because it makes my decision process so much easier. Game 2 he boards in quite a few pyroclasms and sees at least 3 of them so no contest there. G3 was pretty much a wash with me getting super slow draws and him missing land drops after 4, despite using explore twice, I continue to slow roll him with a couple of 1/1s.
2-1 (2-0)
Round 3 Jund:
Another great matchup for me, as if they don't deal enough damage to themselves the only thing I really need to fear out of this deck is Maelstorm Pulse. He was behind in both games because if he isn't hurting himself then he isn't going to keep up in threats, and if he's keeping up in threats then my Grenades become that much better.
2-0 (3-0)
Round 4 Aggro Loam:
Another solid matchup (will find few actual bad matchups for goblins btw) because they have tons of dead cards round g1 and nothing this deck does it quick. Unless they get a turn 3 seismic assault to land then they don't really stand a chance because Flame Jab isn't going to kill enough threats quick enough and Raven's Crime doesn't do anything because I burn through my hand pretty quickly to begin with.
2-1 (4-0)
Round 5 Mono Blue Faeries:
In testing g1 was pretty close and just usually came down to who went first. This was not the case on Saturday, I got him to 1 life g1 before relying on top decks for the final point in which he had the counter for each time. Game 2 I always expect to do well with Shushers usually just stomping the match (and even more so with the addition of fallout). I saw none of them and kept a mediocre opening hand rather than mull to 6 and lost quite handily.
0-2 (4-1)
Round 6 Affinity:
Finally I get to use those shattering sprees! Game 1 he took on the back of playing 6 of his 7 cards opening hand turn 1, kind of hard to match that even with goblins. Game 2 I took because mogg fanatic is a boss and can push through damage and still spot kill everything in his deck save for etched champion. Game 3 I was actually dead in water save for 4 untapped lands and a sweet topdeck of shattering spree to wipe his board, with him having no manlands in play that was a topdeck race I was going to win literally 99% of the time.
2-1 (5-1)
Round 7 ID
(5-1-1)
Top 8 4 color good stuff? UWGB:
Game 1 I took off of the typical starting hand of Goblin Guide some other weenies and a kicked bushwhacker, wasn't really even close. Game 2 caught me completely offguard because he didn't really show much game 1. He ended up killing me with a gift for a bunch of stuff that I didn't want to see but he didn't get an unburial rites, so I either assumed he had it in hand or simply didn't play it. He ended up having it and getting his wurmcoil I tossed into the yard, and then playing Elesh Norn the following turn (insult to injury amiright?). Anyway game 3 I had my best hand all day and literally blew him out on turn 4. Kept and opening hand that had 2 lands 2 goblin Guides 1 Fanatic and 1 Bushwhacker + random. That spells bad news for anybody when I'm going first.
Top 4 GWB Persist/Undying dudes:
I finished my match quick enough to watch a few turns of his t8 game and didn't like what I saw at all because the last thing I want to see aside from timely reinforcements is creatures that trade with my creatures and come back (I can deal with Finks because of Path, the 2 life is neglible) on a regular basis. I lost g1 because he MD'd a Loxodon Warhammer which I have absolutely 0 means of dealing with mainboard. Game 2 I took quite handily with the usual explosive hand. Game 3 was probably one of the closest back and forth matchups I've ever played, because contrary to what it may look like Goblins does have a late game because War marshal always gives you dudes to strap a grenade to, anyway it came down to me at 2 life with a Guide on board and he with a confidant, finks, and goyf on board at 3 life. I need to either top deck a burn spell (he blew up my white mana sources with a tec edge, so I need either 1 of my 2 grenades or 2 bolts left) or him killing himself with confidant (he had 3 maelstorm pulses and a warhammer left in his deck). Neither or which showed up the top of our decks so the match went to him.
That's about all I can recall off the top of my head it was a long day leaving at 630am getting there at 10am and leaving at 11pm, if you've got any questions on card choices and the like feel free to throw them at me. Happy to see somebody else taking an interest in Goblins!
Congrats on the finish! Sweet there is alot of useful information in there! I came to the same conclusion on blood moon, in theory its amazing but everytime you say mountain goblin guide they dont want to bolt themselves anymore and start fetching basics :/
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Magic players have made it abundantly clear that their time is worth $0/hour in their opinion, so no sympathy there. -DR jeebus or something
Why run Motrapod or Squee over cards like Emberwilde Augur, Warren Instigator, Frenzied Goblin (he's pretty awesome in particular) or Simian Spirit Guide? SSG gives useful acceleration and lets you do a turn 1 Warren Instigator, or two Goblin Guides on turn 1.
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You like Super Smash Bros.? Melee or Brawl? Check this out! http://projectm.dantarion.com/
It's an updated version of Brawl into an epic, new game.
First of all 4 of lightning bolt and 4 of grenade are included in every goblin list ever. secondly your goblin strategy is all over the place, Nabob serves no purpose aside from being a grenade target, but so does every other goblin, 3 mana for a 1/1 (aside from maybe Tuktuk if your feeling crafty) simply isn't worth it regardless of what effects he might have. If your going to run arsonist, then Mogg Fanatic is 100% better, I simply run 2 arsonist because I ran out of adequate 1 drops. Mortarpod as a 1 of could be nice to provide some extra reach when you can't swing through with a grenade or two, although I wouldn't have more than 1. Wardriver is a decent option since your running vial, I think goblins without vial is the best option but will go with what you have atm. Since you're sticking to mono red there is no reason not to include 4 teetering peaks.
Mogg War Marshal is the best pure cmc2 drop we have and is a must 4 of (cut ram gangs), and Goblin Bushwhacker provides the biggest burst damage in the deck and is also a must 4 of (cut ram gangs and squee). You can't run seige-gang commander unless you're running Warren Instigator because a vial sitting at 5 does nothing for you. That should provide you with enough of a starting point for your main now as for your sideboard. As I discussed earlier, blood moon really isn't worth the slot because it isn't an auto win even when it hits the board and people can play around it really well. The combusts are solid and I would keep them there, the swords are way to mana intensive (5 unavoidable needed to sink into it), not to mention body and mind does nothing to further your cause milling and a non goblin 2/2 is not what were looking for. Relic of progenitus is decent enough since you can at least cantrip out of it and get around persisting creatures. Since your cutting Blood Moon, it makes Goblin King that much less desirable and I would find room for some anti storm tech, such as Mindbreak Trap (or thalia if you go with a white splash) and/or Tron/faeries tech in the form of Vexing Shusher < shuts down U/W tron and Faeries.
I actually did change the deck a bit before I made it and tested it, and it wins on turn 4
From the testing I found Instigator not needed (I could always empty my hand before turn 4 except land)
I may tone down the mountains to 18 since I dead draw into them to often
Squee is a great target for sac spells and as a chump blocker he combos with Mortarpod, but maybe only a one of
Mortarpod also a one of
Hellrider is great once dropped he ends the game
Don't really need bolts
Commander is not for vialling in more than likely he'll be hardcast, the vial is mainly for the one drops
Bushwacker is great just did not know what to cut
You're contradicting yourself within your own post. Saying your set once you hit 3 lands and then saying you plan on hardcasting a 5 drop (and a 4 drop as well) when you only run 20 lands just doesn't make any sense, if you don't believe me just look at standard RDW 21 lands is the norm and they only run two 4 drops for the most part (either koth, hellrider or hero). Boros recruit may as well be Mogg Fanatic, having spot removal on a stick is just amazing, nobody ever wants to kill him because he's going to put out damage anyway, modern goblins needs value creatures, stuff that has additional effects so even if they die instantly they can still accomplish something. Piledriver is not from a modern legal set or everybody would run 4 of it. 20 lands with 8 creatures at cmc 3+ is going to leave you with a bunch of cards you can't cast quite frequently, even with vial. Curse of stalked prey is to slow for modern because you want more creatures, not stuff that makes the one creature you played on turn 1 bigger, 4 lightning bolts 4 grenades are necessary, meta dependant forked bolt might be a good choice to clear out opposing weenies for only 1 mana.
Earwig Squad is the main reason for splashing black, its a massive 5/3 creature that you can easily run 4 of, in place of lords albeit because goblins really need to keep the curve low. It can stomp aggro/loam by hitting any of the 3 big cards in jab/crime/loam as well as destroy tron (hit 3 of their 3-5 threats) and simply get rid of pyromancers ascension and/or splinter twin as well as let you know how many they have in hand. Goblin King makes people unblockable but Chieftain gives everything haste which is much more threatening because of it provides immediate threats where as King is a turn slower. Auntie is iffy in testing because 4 is a bit slow for goblins, might possibly work in a vial version. Thoughtseize isn't necessary as inquisition hits everything relevant to us anyway, if they are banking on 4+ drops we're miles ahead already.
Is a RB build worth exploring? I used to run RB Goblins in Zendikar/Scars Standard, and it was worthwhile. The black Goblins available seem to provide a bit of reach beyond the Goblin Guide/Bushwhacker/Grenade all-in approach.
Something like this for a base (very rough, untested, and not at all tailored to the metagame):
You're contradicting yourself within your own post. Saying your set once you hit 3 lands and then saying you plan on hardcasting a 5 drop (and a 4 drop as well) when you only run 20 lands just doesn't make any sense, if you don't believe me just look at standard RDW 21 lands is the norm and they only run two 4 drops for the most part (either koth, hellrider or hero). Boros recruit may as well be Mogg Fanatic, having spot removal on a stick is just amazing, nobody ever wants to kill him because he's going to put out damage anyway, modern goblins needs value creatures, stuff that has additional effects so even if they die instantly they can still accomplish something. Piledriver is not from a modern legal set or everybody would run 4 of it. 20 lands with 8 creatures at cmc 3+ is going to leave you with a bunch of cards you can't cast quite frequently, even with vial. Curse of stalked prey is to slow for modern because you want more creatures, not stuff that makes the one creature you played on turn 1 bigger, 4 lightning bolts 4 grenades are necessary, meta dependant forked bolt might be a good choice to clear out opposing weenies for only 1 mana.
Earwig Squad is the main reason for splashing black, its a massive 5/3 creature that you can easily run 4 of, in place of lords albeit because goblins really need to keep the curve low. It can stomp aggro/loam by hitting any of the 3 big cards in jab/crime/loam as well as destroy tron (hit 3 of their 3-5 threats) and simply get rid of pyromancers ascension and/or splinter twin as well as let you know how many they have in hand. Goblin King makes people unblockable but Chieftain gives everything haste which is much more threatening because of it provides immediate threats where as King is a turn slower. Auntie is iffy in testing because 4 is a bit slow for goblins, might possibly work in a vial version. Thoughtseize isn't necessary as inquisition hits everything relevant to us anyway, if they are banking on 4+ drops we're miles ahead already.
The piledrivers are actually wardrivers I just forgot to edit, as for the land again have been testing and land is not a problem for now, the curse I swapped with a wardriver as well
Yeah the recruits can be mogg fanatics I'll change that since I would rather run the fanatics
I still need to test more before I make any major changes since so far my testing on MODO has been against control decks, which this just beats anyway
Still trying to stay mono-red and for now not running bolts
EDIT: For black splash festering goblin worth it?
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Modern:
Paper: WUR Waffle Control, RG and U Tron
MTGO: U Tron, BRG Living End, B Infect
Testing Modern on MTGO and helping to craft decks on a Budget I stream!
[QUOTE=Still trying to stay mono-red and for now not running bolts[/QUOTE]
forgive me, but what does this even mean? Are you avoiding one of the best red spells ever printed because your runnning...mono red? If your running red at all lightning bolt is a 4 of.
James1227
I'd like to start by congratulating you, nice to know our gobos got viability and I was so happy to see that someone else didn't fall for the aether vial+siege gang trap(it's just trash in modern).
This is the list I was trying just after they banned punishing fires. Just thought I'd share some of my notes.
Sense then, I've swapped the crypts for relics and 1 smash for 1 combust in the sb, and main deck I lost the mutavault for a single mogg fanatic. Surprisingly the colorless mana did nothing but screw me left and right and lost me more games than I'd like to admit, the sac land for grenade was WAY too cute.
Two problems I've always had with modern goblins: Opening hands without goblin guide and Kitchen Finks. I tried solving the opening hand issure by throwing in Tatermunge Maniac who proved alright unless the second problem occurred.
Finks is the bane of this deck. I did not try splash white maybe I will now, but within the confines of mono red, I did try magma spray, leyline of punishment, Yamabushi's Flame, and searing Blaze. I stuck with Blaze just out of versatility and at the time zoo was everywhere but finks is still beyond annoying.
Maindeck moon effects are awesome. They wrap up some games before they even start, especially with how shaky the modern manabase is. On the play, if your opponent goes turn 1 urza land, turn 2 more tron, you got gold in your hand. Same if they turn 1 fetch a shock and turn 2 drop a fetch land. They can hunt up a basic sure, but you got them out of 1-2 colors and meanwhile just beat face.
Goblins are all in. I'm advocating playing stupid, but if your opponent taps out for any reason, capitalize on that. I've won games by double grenadeing my whole field away to drop them to 3. I got nuthin except better top decks than them and to avoid countermagic, it's always worth it.
Eh... no. Lightning Bolt should not be an auto 4 of. It really depends on the deck.
I do agree that a red deck that wants to win quickly should probably be running 4 Bolt.
Indeed it does for now the deck doesn't need bolt, but I'll test with bolt later to see how it works with the rest of the deck. I've never gotten my opponent with my current build, to the point where he would be in bolt range, but not dead, and if that does happen he is at 4 life and i have a grenade in my hand
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Modern:
Paper: WUR Waffle Control, RG and U Tron
MTGO: U Tron, BRG Living End, B Infect
Testing Modern on MTGO and helping to craft decks on a Budget I stream!
Indeed it does for now the deck doesn't need bolt, but I'll test with bolt later to see how it works with the rest of the deck. I've never gotten my opponent with my current build, to the point where he would be in bolt range, but not dead, and if that does happen he is at 4 life and i have a grenade in my hand
How big do your swarms normally get? I only get 2-3 gobs on the field and go to town. Just in my testing, guys like Goblin Wardriver can barely get an extra 1-2 power and he never seems worth it.
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When does lightning bolt kill Emrakul? When your opponent's at three.
How big do your swarms normally get? I only get 2-3 gobs on the field and go to town. Just in my testing, guys like Goblin Wardriver can barely get an extra 1-2 power and he never seems worth it.
normally at least 4-5 goblins on average, enough that your hand is empty on turn 3 and can win on turn 4
With Wardriver and Chieften on the field everything is swinging for at least 3
My typical turns would go
T1: Vial or Guide
T2: War-Marshal, or 2 One Drops, or a 1 drop and a vial, or a Marshal and a one drop from vial
T3: Chieften and vial in Wardriver, swing
T4: Vial in chieften or ram-gang, empty the rest of my hand of creatures swing if down to 5 cast grenade and win
Vial helps if you plan on swarming and lets you keep one mana hands
The commanders I am seeing as dead draws after further testing, probably switch with a TukTuk as a one of (he is my favorite goblin legend), another Hellrider (dropped turn 4 these guys are just amazing), and murderous redcap
I never thought of Ember Hauler when thinking of two drops
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Modern:
Paper: WUR Waffle Control, RG and U Tron
MTGO: U Tron, BRG Living End, B Infect
Testing Modern on MTGO and helping to craft decks on a Budget I stream!
Theluke, you've got it right that finks is terrible for this deck, which is exactly why I decided to splash white over any other color. Them gaining 2 life isn't a big deal, but them gaining 4 life while soaking up either 2 removal or trading with some creatures is terrible, Path to Exile solves all of those problems. I've tested around with moon effects quite a bit , and if your curve is a bit higher (which yours is) then King+Magus/Blood Moon is fine and works decently well. I just decided it was to slow to compete with the likes of Affinity and it's ability to race combo is hindered, although it definitely improves your matchup for other games. TO everybody saying lightning bolt is not a 4 of in Goblins, you're just wrong. Period. I'm not going to argue this point any further but one of the best red spells (if not the best) ever printed goes in goblins, of any sort: all in mid range, controlling etc. And yes opponents tapping is is just a sign of not knowing how to play against goblins, and they should lose swifty, don't play around board sweepers, if you think they have them then just burn your grenades early and play to your top deck, because we will flat out win a top deck war when your drawing things like bolts, helixes, grenades and a slew of hasty creatures. I find Mogg Fanatic to be an awesome fill in for the opening hand 1 drop, because it just does so many things whenever I want it to and nobody can really do anything about it. Spikeshot and Arsonist are better late game for value, but having the initial 8 one drops (4 fanatic, 4 guides) prove to be enough to get off to the fast start you're looking for.
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individual creature quality...well goblin guide is just amazing even in a vacuum to be fair... for possible tribal lord synergy and access to one of the most efficient burn spells ever printed.I managed to 3-1 a daily with gobbos and thought i'd share my list and see what we can come up with. Ill be sure to flesh out all of the cards that could go into the deck and what choices should be considered but I'd thought I would get everyones feedback first before I posted card choice options.
So far the best (only?) real result is
http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/deck.asp?deck_id=992924
Goblins
James Million
2012 PTQ Barcelona - Allentown, PA - 3/17
Modern
2 Goblin Arsonist
4 Goblin Bushwhacker
2 Goblin Chieftain
4 Goblin Guide
2 Keldon Marauders
4 Mogg Fanatic
4 Mogg War Marshal
1 Spikeshot Elder
4 Goblin Grenade
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Lightning Helix
2 Magma Jet
4 Path to Exile
4 Mountain
1 Mutavault
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Teetering Peaks
2 Blood Moon
4 Combust
2 Disenchant
2 Mindbreak Trap
3 Shattering Spree
2 Vexing Shusher
I think there are some very interesting card choices and the list looked pretty solid im hoping he will see this and go more indepth on why he chose the cards he did etc
and here is the list ive been running online:
Goblins
Studman (3-1) (this was my pokerstars name its not what you think!:-/)
MTGO Modern Daily (3-1 and 4-0) - Week of 3/26/12
Modern
2 Goblin Arsonist
4 Goblin Bushwhacker
4 Goblin Chieftain
4 Goblin Cohort
4 Goblin Guide
2 Goblin Wardriver
4 Mogg Fanatic
4 Mogg War Marshal
4 Tattermunge Maniac
4 Lightning Bolt
17 Mountain
3 Teetering Peaks
4 Combust
4 Leyline of Punishment
3 Relic of Progenitus
2 Shattering Spree
2 Smash to Smithereens
and a single 3-1 in a daily might not be impressive but I punted a game versus twin to wind up in 9th in a premier and 2-2 the only other daily I have played in with this list...I've also managed to grind back the cost of the deck in tickets and more in the two mans.
I know this doesn't look like much right now but i'd like to get some more recommendations and evaluations of the card choices we have before trying to go more indepth on the primer aspect and coming up with a stock list. At least this way we can contain all of the goblin discussion spread out in the forum to somewhere its easier to access.
Magic players have made it abundantly clear that their time is worth $0/hour in their opinion, so no sympathy there. -DR jeebus or something
Magic players have made it abundantly clear that their time is worth $0/hour in their opinion, so no sympathy there. -DR jeebus or something
2 Goblin Arsonist
4 Goblin Bushwhacker
2 Goblin Chieftain
4 Goblin Guide
4 Keldon Marauders
4 Mogg Fanatic
4 Mogg War Marshal
1 Spikeshot Elder
4 Goblin Grenade
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Lightning Helix
4 Path to Exile
4 Arid Mesa
4 Mountain
1 Mutavault
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Teetering Peaks
SB:
4 Combust
2 Disenchant
4 Shattering Spree
2 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Vexing Shusher
1 Volcanic Fallout
From my original MB the only thing I changed was dropping two Magma Jets for 2 more Keldon Marauders. Jet was by far the most underwhelming card in the deck as with as few lands as I run I was very rarely actually shipping cards away, Marauders provides, at worst, the same damage to mana output, with the possibility for either paying 2 for 5 or preventing/killing a creature. I swapped a few more cards around in my sideboard with most noticeably dropping the Blood Moons. I determined that the match ups it was good in, I was usually already in pretty well with to begin with so I added in some more insurance for the aggro/aggro control matchups in the form of another shattering spree and a volcanic fallout (fallout was a great addition, and I might end up finding room for another, you can slow roll other aggro decks so hard after they see you playing goblins game 1 and then they hardcore play right into it when they see you holding a full hand most assume your just holding burn, and even if you need to play creatures war marshal lets you recover quite nicely). Thalia was a much better answer against storm than mindbreak trap was in testing mainly because it furthered my cause as well (not to mention it gave me another solid option against tron of all varieties) even though I didn't actually get to play against any storm decks in this event. Alright so on to the event:
Round 1:
I was the lucky player with a bye, so I scoped out the field and saw quite a bit of Tron (with no version being particularly more prevalent than another). This makes me happy, because unless they through the Breach out an Emrakul or cast a timely reinforcements, I really don't care what they do because I have more Path's than they do threats for the most part.
1-0
Round 2 GR Tron:
I take game 1 quite handily on the back of Guide and kicked bushwhackers followed by a couple grenades. I love when people can't play counters because it makes my decision process so much easier. Game 2 he boards in quite a few pyroclasms and sees at least 3 of them so no contest there. G3 was pretty much a wash with me getting super slow draws and him missing land drops after 4, despite using explore twice, I continue to slow roll him with a couple of 1/1s.
2-1 (2-0)
Round 3 Jund:
Another great matchup for me, as if they don't deal enough damage to themselves the only thing I really need to fear out of this deck is Maelstorm Pulse. He was behind in both games because if he isn't hurting himself then he isn't going to keep up in threats, and if he's keeping up in threats then my Grenades become that much better.
2-0 (3-0)
Round 4 Aggro Loam:
Another solid matchup (will find few actual bad matchups for goblins btw) because they have tons of dead cards round g1 and nothing this deck does it quick. Unless they get a turn 3 seismic assault to land then they don't really stand a chance because Flame Jab isn't going to kill enough threats quick enough and Raven's Crime doesn't do anything because I burn through my hand pretty quickly to begin with.
2-1 (4-0)
Round 5 Mono Blue Faeries:
In testing g1 was pretty close and just usually came down to who went first. This was not the case on Saturday, I got him to 1 life g1 before relying on top decks for the final point in which he had the counter for each time. Game 2 I always expect to do well with Shushers usually just stomping the match (and even more so with the addition of fallout). I saw none of them and kept a mediocre opening hand rather than mull to 6 and lost quite handily.
0-2 (4-1)
Round 6 Affinity:
Finally I get to use those shattering sprees! Game 1 he took on the back of playing 6 of his 7 cards opening hand turn 1, kind of hard to match that even with goblins. Game 2 I took because mogg fanatic is a boss and can push through damage and still spot kill everything in his deck save for etched champion. Game 3 I was actually dead in water save for 4 untapped lands and a sweet topdeck of shattering spree to wipe his board, with him having no manlands in play that was a topdeck race I was going to win literally 99% of the time.
2-1 (5-1)
Round 7 ID
(5-1-1)
Top 8 4 color good stuff? UWGB:
Game 1 I took off of the typical starting hand of Goblin Guide some other weenies and a kicked bushwhacker, wasn't really even close. Game 2 caught me completely offguard because he didn't really show much game 1. He ended up killing me with a gift for a bunch of stuff that I didn't want to see but he didn't get an unburial rites, so I either assumed he had it in hand or simply didn't play it. He ended up having it and getting his wurmcoil I tossed into the yard, and then playing Elesh Norn the following turn (insult to injury amiright?). Anyway game 3 I had my best hand all day and literally blew him out on turn 4. Kept and opening hand that had 2 lands 2 goblin Guides 1 Fanatic and 1 Bushwhacker + random. That spells bad news for anybody when I'm going first.
Top 4 GWB Persist/Undying dudes:
I finished my match quick enough to watch a few turns of his t8 game and didn't like what I saw at all because the last thing I want to see aside from timely reinforcements is creatures that trade with my creatures and come back (I can deal with Finks because of Path, the 2 life is neglible) on a regular basis. I lost g1 because he MD'd a Loxodon Warhammer which I have absolutely 0 means of dealing with mainboard. Game 2 I took quite handily with the usual explosive hand. Game 3 was probably one of the closest back and forth matchups I've ever played, because contrary to what it may look like Goblins does have a late game because War marshal always gives you dudes to strap a grenade to, anyway it came down to me at 2 life with a Guide on board and he with a confidant, finks, and goyf on board at 3 life. I need to either top deck a burn spell (he blew up my white mana sources with a tec edge, so I need either 1 of my 2 grenades or 2 bolts left) or him killing himself with confidant (he had 3 maelstorm pulses and a warhammer left in his deck). Neither or which showed up the top of our decks so the match went to him.
That's about all I can recall off the top of my head it was a long day leaving at 630am getting there at 10am and leaving at 11pm, if you've got any questions on card choices and the like feel free to throw them at me. Happy to see somebody else taking an interest in Goblins!
Magic players have made it abundantly clear that their time is worth $0/hour in their opinion, so no sympathy there. -DR jeebus or something
3 Mogg War Marshal
4 Goblin Chieften
3 Spikeshot Elder
3 Siege-Gang Commander
3 Boggart Ram Gang
2 Squee Goblin Nabob
4 Goblin Wardriver
4 Goblin Arsonist
30 Creatures
4 Other Spells
4 Aether Vial
2 Mortarpod
6 Artifacts
20 Mountain
20 Lands
4 Goblin King
3 Blood Moon
2 Relic Of Progenitus
1 Sword Of Fire And Ice
1 Sword Of Body And Mind
4 Combust
Any thoughts?
Paper: WUR Waffle Control, RG and U Tron
MTGO: U Tron, BRG Living End, B Infect
Testing Modern on MTGO and helping to craft decks on a Budget
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Hermit Druid Combo:
It's an updated version of Brawl into an epic, new game.
Mogg War Marshal is the best pure cmc2 drop we have and is a must 4 of (cut ram gangs), and Goblin Bushwhacker provides the biggest burst damage in the deck and is also a must 4 of (cut ram gangs and squee). You can't run seige-gang commander unless you're running Warren Instigator because a vial sitting at 5 does nothing for you. That should provide you with enough of a starting point for your main now as for your sideboard. As I discussed earlier, blood moon really isn't worth the slot because it isn't an auto win even when it hits the board and people can play around it really well. The combusts are solid and I would keep them there, the swords are way to mana intensive (5 unavoidable needed to sink into it), not to mention body and mind does nothing to further your cause milling and a non goblin 2/2 is not what were looking for. Relic of progenitus is decent enough since you can at least cantrip out of it and get around persisting creatures. Since your cutting Blood Moon, it makes Goblin King that much less desirable and I would find room for some anti storm tech, such as Mindbreak Trap (or thalia if you go with a white splash) and/or Tron/faeries tech in the form of Vexing Shusher < shuts down U/W tron and Faeries.
Goblin King makes all your dudes unblockable against a majority of the decks in the meta.
Mad Auntie if you are looking for another lord.
Boggart Harbinger too maybe?
FREE BLOODBRAID ELF
From the testing I found Instigator not needed (I could always empty my hand before turn 4 except land)
I may tone down the mountains to 18 since I dead draw into them to often
Squee is a great target for sac spells and as a chump blocker he combos with Mortarpod, but maybe only a one of
Mortarpod also a one of
Hellrider is great once dropped he ends the game
Don't really need bolts
Commander is not for vialling in more than likely he'll be hardcast, the vial is mainly for the one drops
Bushwacker is great just did not know what to cut
My current list is now:
4 Goblin Chieften
3 Goblin Arsonist (He is a great grenade target)
3 Boros Recruit (great vial target for pesky 1/1 trying to swing at you)
3 Mogg War-Marshal (bumping to 4)
2 Squee Goblin-Nabob (dropping)
3 Goblin Wardriver
1 Hellrider (great for swarming them)
3 Siege-Gang Commander
3 Boggart Ram-Gang
29 Creatures
1 Curse Of Stalked Prey (filler deciding what to replace this with)
4 Aether Vial
2 Mortarpod
11 Other Spells
going to cut 6 Mountain, and squee for 4 teetering peeks and 4 Goblin Bushwackers (since once you hit 3 mountains your good)
Paper: WUR Waffle Control, RG and U Tron
MTGO: U Tron, BRG Living End, B Infect
Testing Modern on MTGO and helping to craft decks on a Budget
I stream!
Hermit Druid Combo:
Earwig Squad is the main reason for splashing black, its a massive 5/3 creature that you can easily run 4 of, in place of lords albeit because goblins really need to keep the curve low. It can stomp aggro/loam by hitting any of the 3 big cards in jab/crime/loam as well as destroy tron (hit 3 of their 3-5 threats) and simply get rid of pyromancers ascension and/or splinter twin as well as let you know how many they have in hand. Goblin King makes people unblockable but Chieftain gives everything haste which is much more threatening because of it provides immediate threats where as King is a turn slower. Auntie is iffy in testing because 4 is a bit slow for goblins, might possibly work in a vial version. Thoughtseize isn't necessary as inquisition hits everything relevant to us anyway, if they are banking on 4+ drops we're miles ahead already.
Something like this for a base (very rough, untested, and not at all tailored to the metagame):
4x Goblin Guide
4x Another One Drop
4x Goblin Bushwhacker
4x Mogg War Marshal
4x Goblin Chieftain
4x Mad Auntie
4x Lightning Bolt
4x Goblin Grenade
4x Blackcleave Cliffs
4x Sulfurous Springs
8x Mountain
4x Swamp
The piledrivers are actually wardrivers I just forgot to edit, as for the land again have been testing and land is not a problem for now, the curse I swapped with a wardriver as well
Yeah the recruits can be mogg fanatics I'll change that since I would rather run the fanatics
I still need to test more before I make any major changes since so far my testing on MODO has been against control decks, which this just beats anyway
Still trying to stay mono-red and for now not running bolts
EDIT: For black splash festering goblin worth it?
Paper: WUR Waffle Control, RG and U Tron
MTGO: U Tron, BRG Living End, B Infect
Testing Modern on MTGO and helping to craft decks on a Budget
I stream!
Hermit Druid Combo:
Also, I said Mad Auntie, not Wort, Boggart Auntie. I had a list somewhere....
2x Earwig Squad
2x Boggart Harbinger
4x Squeaking Pie Sneak
1x Wort, Boggart Auntie
1x Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
2x Siege-Gang Commander
1x Goblin King
2x Murderous Redcap
3x Goblin Chieftain
2x Tuktuk the Explorer
2x Goblin Arsonist
1x Spikeshot Elder
3x Mutavault
4x Auntie's Hovel
4x Mountain
4x Swamp
4x Blood Crypt
1x Rakdos Carnarium
3x Dragonskull Summit
Sorcery (9)
1x Warren Weirding
1x Fodder Launch
4x Goblin Grenade
3x Inquisition of Kozilek
1x Nameless Inversion
4x Lightning Bolt
This is more of a control build than an aggro build. Might give you some ideas though.
FREE BLOODBRAID ELF
forgive me, but what does this even mean? Are you avoiding one of the best red spells ever printed because your runnning...mono red? If your running red at all lightning bolt is a 4 of.
I do agree that a red deck that wants to win quickly should probably be running 4 Bolt.
FREE BLOODBRAID ELF
I'd like to start by congratulating you, nice to know our gobos got viability and I was so happy to see that someone else didn't fall for the aether vial+siege gang trap(it's just trash in modern).
This is the list I was trying just after they banned punishing fires. Just thought I'd share some of my notes.
4 Tatermunge Maniac
4 Ember Hauler
4 GOblin Bushwhacker
2 Magus of the Moon
3 Mogg War Marshal
4 Goblin Chieften
3 Spikeshot Elder
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Searing Blaze
1 MutaVault
3 Teetering Peaks
10 Mountain
4 Scalding Tarn
3 Arid Mesa
3 Blood Moon
2 Tomad's Crypt
2 Surgical Extraction
4 Smash to Smithereens
1 Burst Lightning
3 Combust
Sense then, I've swapped the crypts for relics and 1 smash for 1 combust in the sb, and main deck I lost the mutavault for a single mogg fanatic. Surprisingly the colorless mana did nothing but screw me left and right and lost me more games than I'd like to admit, the sac land for grenade was WAY too cute.
Two problems I've always had with modern goblins: Opening hands without goblin guide and Kitchen Finks. I tried solving the opening hand issure by throwing in Tatermunge Maniac who proved alright unless the second problem occurred.
Finks is the bane of this deck. I did not try splash white maybe I will now, but within the confines of mono red, I did try magma spray, leyline of punishment, Yamabushi's Flame, and searing Blaze. I stuck with Blaze just out of versatility and at the time zoo was everywhere but finks is still beyond annoying.
Maindeck moon effects are awesome. They wrap up some games before they even start, especially with how shaky the modern manabase is. On the play, if your opponent goes turn 1 urza land, turn 2 more tron, you got gold in your hand. Same if they turn 1 fetch a shock and turn 2 drop a fetch land. They can hunt up a basic sure, but you got them out of 1-2 colors and meanwhile just beat face.
Goblins are all in. I'm advocating playing stupid, but if your opponent taps out for any reason, capitalize on that. I've won games by double grenadeing my whole field away to drop them to 3. I got nuthin except better top decks than them and to avoid countermagic, it's always worth it.
have fun guys.
Edit:
This is the deck for 4 bolts, no exceptions.
Indeed it does for now the deck doesn't need bolt, but I'll test with bolt later to see how it works with the rest of the deck. I've never gotten my opponent with my current build, to the point where he would be in bolt range, but not dead, and if that does happen he is at 4 life and i have a grenade in my hand
Paper: WUR Waffle Control, RG and U Tron
MTGO: U Tron, BRG Living End, B Infect
Testing Modern on MTGO and helping to craft decks on a Budget
I stream!
Hermit Druid Combo:
How big do your swarms normally get? I only get 2-3 gobs on the field and go to town. Just in my testing, guys like Goblin Wardriver can barely get an extra 1-2 power and he never seems worth it.
normally at least 4-5 goblins on average, enough that your hand is empty on turn 3 and can win on turn 4
With Wardriver and Chieften on the field everything is swinging for at least 3
My typical turns would go
T1: Vial or Guide
T2: War-Marshal, or 2 One Drops, or a 1 drop and a vial, or a Marshal and a one drop from vial
T3: Chieften and vial in Wardriver, swing
T4: Vial in chieften or ram-gang, empty the rest of my hand of creatures swing if down to 5 cast grenade and win
Vial helps if you plan on swarming and lets you keep one mana hands
The commanders I am seeing as dead draws after further testing, probably switch with a TukTuk as a one of (he is my favorite goblin legend), another Hellrider (dropped turn 4 these guys are just amazing), and murderous redcap
I never thought of Ember Hauler when thinking of two drops
Paper: WUR Waffle Control, RG and U Tron
MTGO: U Tron, BRG Living End, B Infect
Testing Modern on MTGO and helping to craft decks on a Budget
I stream!
Hermit Druid Combo: