Hello everyone, with the release of Dominaria we will have two new goblins added to the Modern pool and this will possibly make real the dream of play an old extended deck called DIRTY KITTY.
The two cards are Skirk Prospector and Goblin Warchief. We are still missing some pieces from the original deck, but maybe we can try and build something cool together.
#UPDATE 1#
Alright, boys and girls! Thanks for all the feedback so far. Two well-known players have taken the deck for a spin so I'm updating the main text with their list and link for decktech/gameplay!
Got a lot of thoughts on this deck - it's new and exciting.
(For reference, this was the original Extended deck.)
The aggro plan
Simple enough, you just play out as much of your hand as possible each turn. Ideally you start with T1 Foundry Street Denizen, T2 2-mana token maker, then T3 Hordeling Outburst or Fecundity. If FSD is uncontested, it'll hit for a ton of damage. Mogg War Marshal gives FSD a total of 3 triggers for 2 mana. Bushwhackers pump the team and let you swing in for free damage after a board wipe. Legion Loyalist pushes through token chump blockers and makes your FSD unappealing to block.
Fecundity plays into the aggro plan by giving you extra cards whenever your creatures die.
Skirk Prospector has a limited role in the aggro plan. It can fizzle lifelink, or a Lightning Helix aimed at one of your creatures. It can sac MWM for mana before the echo cost gets to him. If you have multiple FSDs on the field and token makers in hand, Prospector lets you burn through those token makers for massive burst damage.
The combo plan
You need a Skirk Prospector and Fecundity in play. With that, you can turn any goblin into R and a card. So that means:
(below assumes you sac everything. Mana given is net, i.e. amount spent - amount received from Prospector)
any 1-drop = 0 mana, +1 card
Mogg War Marshal = +1 mana, +3 cards Dragon Fodder or Krenko's Command: 0 mana, +2 cards
Hordeling Outburst: 0 mana, +3 cards Empty the Warrens: 0 mana, +4 cards with a prior storm count of 1. +2 mana, +2 cards for each storm count greater. Siege-Gang Commander: -1 mana, +4 cards
With the engine in place, most of your deck becomes free card draw. MWM leaves you up mana. Empty is your "reset spell", the thing that gives you a crapton of resources to do everything again, the equivalent of Past in Flames in Storm or Nourishing Shoal in Grishoalbrand. So you continue saccing guys, drawing cards and making mana, then finally finish off with a huge FSD/Empty the Warrens and a kicked Bushwhacker (not necessary if FSD was played on a previous turn). Even if you can't find an Empty/Bushwhacker to end the combo, you'd still have drawn a ton of cards.
Note that the combo plan dodges Nihil Spellbomb, Relic of Progenitus, Grafdigger's Cage, and Leyline of the Void to some extent (tokens still count for Fecundity under Leyline!), but not Rest in Peace. You need your creatures to die, but you don't need to return cards or cast spells from the graveyard, unlike other combo decks.
In my limited experience, the combo is not super fast by Modern standards. Attempting to combo off on T3 after playing a T1/2 Prospector will likely leave you stranded on mana. You pretty much need a god hand to T3 combo: 3 lands, Prospector, 2 mana token maker, Fecundity, MWM, MWM, Empty. So I would say the safest combo turn is T4, after playing a T3 Fecundity and untapping.
Main aggro, or main combo?
The deck I posted is built with aggro as plan A and combo as plan B. I prefer this because:
1) You don't have cantrips or tutors to dig for combo pieces. You're not blue, so you don't have Serum Visions, and your deck is not filled with colorless cards, so you can't use Ancient Stirrings. The Extended deck had Goblin Matron, which gave you some consistency in finding Skirk Prospector. I know we have Boggart Harbinger, but that's like comparing Mystic Speculation to Serum Visions. Card in hand > card on top of library.
2) The rituals from the Extended deck (Rite of Flame, Seething Song, Brightstone Ritual) are banned or not legal.
3) The combo requires two pieces in play, both of which you only have 4 copies of. There isn't enough redundancy.
It's possible to have a combo plan A instead; in this case you will want to go up to 4 Empty the Warrens, play more rituals, and aim for a quick T2/3 Empty. IMO if you want to play combo plan A you should just play Storm instead, their engine is a 2-mana creature that they have up to 8 copies of.
Changes for a combo build:
-4 Legion Loyalist
-4 Lightning Bolt
-1 Krenko's Command
-1 Dragon Fodder
+4 Desperate Ritual
+4 Pyretic Ritual
+2 Empty the Warrens
Cards I'm not playing Goblin Piledriver: FSD is cheaper. Goblin Warchief: This doesn't reduce the cost of enough cards to be worth including. Right now the only things it would reduce are 4 MWM. Warchief would be better if we had Goblin Matron or Goblin Ringleader, two cards which are reduced by Warchief AND find more cards to be reduced by it. Bushwhacker takes on the job of granting haste to your goblins. Battle Hymn: at first glance, it would seem like an obvious substitute for Brightstone Ritual. However, the extra mana actually cuts twice: you need to spend more mana to cast it, AND you need to sacrifice 1 more goblin to Skirk Prospector, so Hymn ends up generating less mana. Consider a board state of 4 goblins (1 of which is Prospector) and no mana floating. If you had Brightstone Ritual, you could sac 1 goblin, cast it, and end up with 3 mana. With Battle Hymn, you need to sac 2, and you end up with 2 mana - the same as if you had just sacced the goblins and not casted Hymn! The minimum number of goblins you need for Hymn to be good is high, a lot higher than Brightstone Ritual. Don't play it.
My SB
RG's sideboard sucks. You'll have to dip into black for discard if you don't want to lose to combo. 3 Thoughtseize gets the combo decks, Collective Brutality hits them as well as Burn and anything Company.
T2 Blood Moon is possible with T1 Prospector.
I chose Tin Street Hooligan instead of Ancient Grudge because 1) it triggers FSD and 2) against decks where the only target is Aether Vial, you'd rather have a 2/1 than an Oxidize after blowing it up. Stingscourger is something that I wanted to try out against delve creatures. Killing them is hard because of their immunity to Bolt and Fatal Push. If you bounce them, they have to work to get all those cards in the graveyard again to recast them.
Cards that might be worth looking at Commune with Nature/Commune with the Gods: these get Skirk Prospector or Fecundity. I don't use them because I have an aggro plan A, and every mana (or two) you spend on cantrips is another 1/1 that you're not throwing onto the board. Also, unlike Ancient Stirrings they can't grab lands. Infernal Plunge: if you're going for the combo plan A. Alternative way of converting tokens into mana. Blisterpod: if you're playing Infernal Plunge. Can't be sacced to Skirk Prospector, but can be sacced to Plunge. The token that pops out can sac itself for mana. Fanatical Firebrand, Mogg Fanatic: they can off themselves to trigger Fecundity without Skirk Prospector. 1 damage is not a lot, but it can kill mana dorks.
Vexing Shusher is indeed a very nice sideboard. Battle Hymn as a one-off in the mainboard sounds good, will test it. Not sure if Mimic + Redcap helps the deck much but definitely worths a try.
I am also interested in the deck and there are some suggestions I want to make from my expirience in pauper with goblin storm. Thermopod could be used as sac outlet or SP #5. Distant melody is a very good card in this deck, it costs U3 but only you can use it instead of Fecundity
could replace Fecundity or serve as copies 5-8 as anyone likes.
If you want to play [card]Battle hymn[card], only play it in a combo centric build, because you need to change your gamestyle with it.
With no mana floating and trying to sac goblins to cast it is a desperate action in my opinion. You need to set up your turn like combo decks do and then go off.
For example: t1 Skirk Prospector(SP)--> t2 Dragon fodder or Mogg war Marshall or krenko's command --> t3 battle hymn into Empty the warrens and keep on chaining.
The idea with murderous redcap and mimic is nice, if you want to do something like that cost reducer and goblin Matron are must haves in my opinion.
In pauper you win with Goblin Warstrike and bushwhacker. warstrike is not modern legal but Burn at the stake can do very bad things. It can kill out of nowhere but has a hard casting cost.
Just a few ideas.
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"Master they threatened to darken the sky with their arrows!"
"Well, then we will at least fight in the shadow"
"There is no glory to be gained in the kingdom of the dead!"
Post by Narah about unbanning Mind Twist in legacy and that this would be evil:
Yeah, but it's really more "Disney Evil" than practical. It's like being a bond villain and giving a monologue rather then just shooting them.
If you want to play on MTGO add me I'm HeskatetAS, playing Modern and Legacy
I tried out a full combo build (see my previous post). Observations:
- Your plan A is to cast Empty the Warrens on turn 2-3. Some T2 sequences:
1) T2 ritual, ritual, Empty. End with 6 tokens.
2) T1 Prospector, T2 ritual, MWM, sac 3 times, Empty. End with 6 tokens.
If you have Prospector, you can burn any 2-mana token maker for +1 storm. Manamorphose gives +1 storm and a card so it is better in this scenario, but token makers are +1 storm and 2 cards under Prospector+Fecundity.
If you have T1 FSD, it gets really big when you Empty. The nut draw is T1 FSD, T2 ritual, Prospector, MWM, Empty which leaves you with a 13/1 FSD and 8 tokens.
- When everything comes together, a fast Empty outperforms what you'd get from simply playing creatures/token makers. Empty is 3 cards for 6 tokens on turn 2. In contrast, simply playing T1 1-drop into T2 token maker is 2 cards for 3 1/1s. When you don't draw Empty though, the rituals are pretty weak.
- Don't be afraid to ritual out a T2 Hordeling Outburst if you see no other use for the ritual in your hand.
- A small Storm of ritual into Empty can be good enough, especially if you have FSD. It's 2 cards and 3 mana for 4 tokens; double token maker is 2 cards and 4 mana for 4 tokens.
- When you get Prospector + Fecundity, you fizzle less because you're playing 4 Empty. Empty is the card you want to see most while comboing.
- You're weaker to anti-Storm hate. People will play Damping Sphere, Burn has Eidolon of the Great Revel and Humans has Thalia, Guardian of Thraben (both maindeck). Cutting the Bolts means you don't have a maindeck answer for them, and they're 2-drops so they can come down before you combo off.
I think there are merits to combo plan A, but it seems awfully reliant on drawing Empty the Warrens (both the ritual and Prospector+Fecundity methods of storming off need it). Splashing blue for Serum Visions (cutting token makers) might be worth it; it gives you more turn 1 plays too, now that you're not playing Legion Loyalist.
Just remembered Engineered Explosives exists and wipes most Vial decks' 2-drops while killing only MWM out of our deck (not a big loss).
second edit: Very satisfied with this build. Serum Visions really makes the difference, drawing you out of 1-landers, finding a third piece for T2 Empty, and digging deep towards Empty when storming off with Prospector+Fecundity. Upon playing this deck more, the rituals aren't that bad when you realize that it's not all Empty for 3+ or nothing; you can spend rituals on T2 Hordeling Outburst or ritual + Empty just for 4 tokens. T2 Hordeling Outburst lets your T1 FSD swing for 4, and elegantly solves the issue of drawing both Outburst and Fecundity (usually two 3 CMC cards is a really slow draw, but a ritual lets you curve T2 Outburst into T3 Fecundity).
I'm not sure what the answer is, but I feel like you want some kind of recursion for the prospector. The combo occurs entirely at sorcery speed. While fecundity is not an easy card to interact with, prospector is. Perhaps noxious revival so if your opponent tries to do anything with fecundity trigger on the stack you can pick up the pieces and keep going off unless it's a path.
I dont think warchief is worth it without ringleader or matron. He also doesn't do anything for either Bushwacker. I'm a big fan of the lower to the ground versions that cap out at cmc 2 on the creatures.
I think some number of goblin grenades should be a given. Once you set up the engine it lets you just throw a significant amount of damage at your opponent. In case they answer one of the bushwhackers, extract a combo piece like prospector, etc. it gives you another way of closing out after chipping it in turns 1-3 while they try and keep you off the combo. Also, gives you another way of peeling large threats or meddling mage on bolt off the board.
murderous redcap while on tribe feels like a trap. Mimic doesn't do enough to warrant the inclusion of both. Most wide decks like elves/ humans can still go bigger and wider just as fast as you even with mimic. Madcap is expensive and you don't want a high land count because aside from empty you're a very low cmc deck. You have no way to tutor or recur the combo. You lack redundant copies or critical mass like the finks decks. This spot would be better served by something like a token producer imho.
A big question imo is do you build a sideboard to transition into an 8whack variant or to shore up sideboard plans against you.
I think the deck is weak to: damping sphere from dominaria hurts empty the warrens, reckless bushwacker (if you run it), the prospector combo, or just dumping out your hand.
Spot removal on the combo pieces. Storm has the luxury of an instant heavy suite so even if you point removal at a baral they can generate mana/storm/fix colors to continue going off after resolution. Sure the kill conditions are sorcery speed, but the damage is done by that point.
Sweepers if you try and go wide post sideboard.
Faster combo you can't interact with. Storm may not be that bad actually because you can just always leave bolt up for an enabler. A prospector always represents removal. But what about ad naus, affinity, etc. those could be rough if you don't hit the right sideboard stuff.
Just my initial thoughts. I think it's a great FNM for funsies deck. I'm not sure it's resilient enough for a larger tournament yet. Deck would love something like phyexian altar.
yea I haven't tested any of it. I just thought about the mimic+redcap as an alternate wincon may not be bad. I like the idea of having multiple avenues to kill the opponent.
Also, the new Squee could be an interesting inclusion, just for a threat that's impossible to get rid of.
This is my top of the head creation. Wants to produce lots of creature, or lots of mana, or lots of draw. Singleton commune with lava which gives us X card draw and instant speed use of our mana if we face board wipes or simply have mana to dump.
*** Edit. Been testing the deck casually on MTGO (fun cause its very cheap). Bushwacker likely to go to at least 2. I had issues with a finisher if I ran out of steam and couldn't storm enough. Commune with Lava I moved to two. Gives me a card draw/mana dump when I am not hitting Fecundity. Not sure if Faithless Looting would be better, but the instant speed of Commune came into play in one game. Commune is a bootleg Sphinx's Revelation in this deck.
Very nice comments from everyone, thanks for all the feedback!
I really like the idea of testing Boggart Harbinger since we don't have access to Matron, but as mentioned by benfraz maybe going to a third colour can be dangerous.
The use of Commune with the Gods is neat in a decklist that drops cards like Dragon Fodder and goes heavy in creatures, love it.
Although Frogtosser Banerett is cheaper I don't think it's better than Goblin Warchief.
Goblin Bushwhacker is a better way to turn tokens into damage.
The problem with Impact Tremors is that you have to play it first, followed by your goblins. With Bushwhacker, you play your goblins first, then BW. The sequencing is very important because the faster your tokens come down, the faster they can start attacking. E.g. T2 Tremors followed by T3 MWM is 2 damage (+1 next turn after MWM dies), but T2 MWM followed by T3 Bushwhacker is 6 damage. This is especially true with T2 Empty hands: T2 ritual > ritual > Empty followed by T3 Bushwhacker is 14 damage. T2 Tremors into T3 ritual > ritual > Empty is 6.
Also, during the combo, if you haven't drawn Empty yet, your chance of fizzling goes up if you spend 2 mana to do something other than play more goblins to sac. Bushwhacker can at least be played without kicker as a small Manamorphose.
I'm trying the izzetmage combo version and it's actually got promise. It has enough explosive starts (unlike the izzetmage aggro version) to overwhelm other decks, and it's OK at grinding midrange/control out.
One change I've made is -1 Dragon Fodder, +1 Reckless Bushwhacker. As much as Reckless Bushwhacker is indeed worse than Goblin Bushwhacker in this deck, man does the Reckless Bushwhacker help against (Eldrazi Tron's) Chalice of the Void because it's a Haste granter that's not 1 cmc.
Speaking of Chalice of the Void, this deck can combo off through that somewhat easily as long as you can stick Skirk Prospector before it lands. Thalia was significantly more annoying from my playtesting experience.
I tried out a full combo build (see my previous post). Observations:
- Your plan A is to cast Empty the Warrens on turn 2-3. Some T2 sequences:
1) T2 ritual, ritual, Empty. End with 6 tokens.
2) T1 Prospector, T2 ritual, MWM, sac 3 times, Empty. End with 6 tokens.
If you have Prospector, you can burn any 2-mana token maker for +1 storm. Manamorphose gives +1 storm and a card so it is better in this scenario, but token makers are +1 storm and 2 cards under Prospector+Fecundity.
If you have T1 FSD, it gets really big when you Empty. The nut draw is T1 FSD, T2 ritual, Prospector, MWM, Empty which leaves you with a 13/1 FSD and 8 tokens.
- When everything comes together, a fast Empty outperforms what you'd get from simply playing creatures/token makers. Empty is 3 cards for 6 tokens on turn 2. In contrast, simply playing T1 1-drop into T2 token maker is 2 cards for 3 1/1s. When you don't draw Empty though, the rituals are pretty weak.
- Don't be afraid to ritual out a T2 Hordeling Outburst if you see no other use for the ritual in your hand.
- A small Storm of ritual into Empty can be good enough, especially if you have FSD. It's 2 cards and 3 mana for 4 tokens; double token maker is 2 cards and 4 mana for 4 tokens.
- When you get Prospector + Fecundity, you fizzle less because you're playing 4 Empty. Empty is the card you want to see most while comboing.
- You're weaker to anti-Storm hate. People will play Damping Sphere, Burn has Eidolon of the Great Revel and Humans has Thalia, Guardian of Thraben (both maindeck). Cutting the Bolts means you don't have a maindeck answer for them, and they're 2-drops so they can come down before you combo off.
I think there are merits to combo plan A, but it seems awfully reliant on drawing Empty the Warrens (both the ritual and Prospector+Fecundity methods of storming off need it). Splashing blue for Serum Visions (cutting token makers) might be worth it; it gives you more turn 1 plays too, now that you're not playing Legion Loyalist.
Just remembered Engineered Explosives exists and wipes most Vial decks' 2-drops while killing only MWM out of our deck (not a big loss).
second edit: Very satisfied with this build. Serum Visions really makes the difference, drawing you out of 1-landers, finding a third piece for T2 Empty, and digging deep towards Empty when storming off with Prospector+Fecundity. Upon playing this deck more, the rituals aren't that bad when you realize that it's not all Empty for 3+ or nothing; you can spend rituals on T2 Hordeling Outburst or ritual + Empty just for 4 tokens. T2 Hordeling Outburst lets your T1 FSD swing for 4, and elegantly solves the issue of drawing both Outburst and Fecundity (usually two 3 CMC cards is a really slow draw, but a ritual lets you curve T2 Outburst into T3 Fecundity).
Here is an instant deck tech. I don't really like the build, but splashing black for zulaport cutthroat and Boggart Harbinger seems decent. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nO_qEO7JNxg
Hello everyone, apparently the deck is getting closer to be a reality!
I will be updating the main post today adding some links for recent decktech and matches played by Saffron and Jim Davies respectively.
FYI - Food chain has been bought and the price has spiked! :eek::eek:
Thanks YellowMimic for pointing me to this thread. I worked all night on my Jund build. I'm going to keep working on a few things when I can during work today, but in the meantime I wanted to suggest everyone try Claim // Fame if you're already splashing for B. And if you're not already splashing B, I'd say it's absolutely worth giving a shot. Claim has insane value when you get back your Mogg War Marshal. RRR and 3 card draws at the cost of B? Yes please. And if nothing else it'll get you your Prospector back or a Mogg Fanatic or whatever it is you need at the time.
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MODERN: BRGJUNDGRB---BRHOLLOW ONERB---BGELVESGB---BRGLIVING ENDGRB---GWBOGLESWG EDH: BRGKARRTHUS, TYRANT OF JUNDGRB
Alright, so here's my most current and successful list.
It's a lot tighter than the previous ones I've made. Not sure how it'd hold up to a super interactive deck like Jund though.
I know y'all have all been working on relatively similar lists so I won't go into explanations for card choices. I'd be happy to though if it turns out that anything isn't clear. Whadaya think?
Faithless Looting helps a lot in filtering and searching out our combo. Still, it's hard to say if there's enough redundancy there. I haven't had a problem, but even though I've played through an ungodly number of hands, I'd still say my evidence is anecdotal. Commune with the Gods was just so clunky though.
I just threw together a Traverse list with Bauble and so far it's going really well. I'm really of diggin' it actually. I'll post a list when I whittle it down a little more.
Edit: And nah, I haven't tested the decks out in actual matches. I'd feel kind of bad testing out a Storm-type deck that's as rough around the edges as the pilot against a stranger. And I test on Cockatrice which is a terrible medium for that kind of deck, since you have to do everything manually. I have some buddies at my LGS that are also enthusiastic about making "Comblins" who won't mind helping me hone it.
Also, I've been trying my hardest to come up with terrible puns for the deck name. So far I've been very successful (at them being terrible). I'll list a few, but be warned, they're seriously awful.
Humphrey Boggart/Fecasablancundity
Traverse the Ulvenwarrens
Mishra's Boggart
2nd Edit:
Alright, so I'm extremely happy with this list. I honestly think I'm closer than ever.
I'm of the opinion that you should be boarding out one or both pieces of the combo in most matchups (Fecundity vs fast decks, Prospector vs slow decks). In all honesty, the combo is not that great. It involves two cards, one of which is an easily killable 1/1, and you still have to roll the dice on not fizzling, especially if you're not playing the full set of Empty or Hordeling Outburst. Your chances of comboing off postboard go down further as they will bring in disruption. I see it as a 'gotcha' that can randomly kill them if they let their guard down, rather than something you want to be gunning for every game.
Ritualing into Empty is still a fine plan as it can sneak under hate, and spot removal is useless against it.
I think the only time you can afford to leave in the Prospector/Fecundity combo is against ramp decks or Bogles.
I've played a few leagues with this list and went 3-2 a couple times. The mainboard is the same that Jim Davis was playing the other night with a basic Forest and different side board.
I think the first thing I want to try is add some Faithless Lootings to the main deck (probably remove Street Wraith or Commune). I think the sideboard could use some work too. I'll probably replace the Flame Slashes with Lightning Bolt to start.
The two cards are Skirk Prospector and Goblin Warchief. We are still missing some pieces from the original deck, but maybe we can try and build something cool together.
If you want to check a quick article on the deck you can visit: https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/event-coverage/deck-tech-dirty-kitty-2006-12-01
My first attempt to the deck will be:
4 Goblin Piledriver
4 Goblin Warchief
4 Mogg War Marshal
2 Foundry Street Denizen
4 Goblin Bushwhacker
2 Manamorphose
4 Empty the Warrens
1 Grapeshot
4 Desperate Ritual
4 Pyretic Ritual
4 Fecundity
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Stomping Ground
7 Mountain
#UPDATE 1#
Alright, boys and girls! Thanks for all the feedback so far. Two well-known players have taken the deck for a spin so I'm updating the main text with their list and link for decktech/gameplay!
A) SaffronOlive - MTGgoldfish
Decktech: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/articles/instant-deck-tech-goblin-storm-modern
4 Skirk Prospector
4 Goblin Piledriver
4 Mogg War Marshal
4 Goblin Warchief
4 Boggart Harbinger
1 Zulaport Cutthroat
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Fecundity
4 Pyretic Ritual
4 Desperate Ritual
4 Empty the Warrens
1 Grapeshot
2 Battle Hymn
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Bloodstained Mire
1 Blood Crypt
4 Stomping Ground
4 Auntie's Hovel
1 Swamp
1 Forest
2 Krosan Grip
1 Zulaport Cutthroat
2 Guttural Response
2 Goblin Chieftain
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Shattering Spree
3 Flame Slash
1 Display of Dominance
B) Jim Davies - Starcitygames
Decktech: http://www.starcitygames.com/article/36941_Goblins-Aint-What-They-Used-To-Be-Except-When-They-Are.html
Gameplay: https://www.youtube.com/user/jimdownside
4 Bloodstained Mire
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Stomping Ground
1 Blood Crypt
3 Mountain
2 Copperline Gorge
2 Blackcleave Cliffs
4 Foundry Street Denizen
4 Skirk Prospector
4 Legion Loyalist
4 Mogg War Marshal
4 Dragon Fodder
4 Krenko's Command
4 Goblin Bushwhacker
4 Hordeling Outburst
2 Empty the Warrens
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Thoughtseize
2 Collective Brutality
2 Tin Street Hooligan
1 Destructive Revelry
2 Blood Moon
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Stingscourger
2 Goblin Rabblemaster
The aggro plan
Simple enough, you just play out as much of your hand as possible each turn. Ideally you start with T1 Foundry Street Denizen, T2 2-mana token maker, then T3 Hordeling Outburst or Fecundity. If FSD is uncontested, it'll hit for a ton of damage. Mogg War Marshal gives FSD a total of 3 triggers for 2 mana. Bushwhackers pump the team and let you swing in for free damage after a board wipe. Legion Loyalist pushes through token chump blockers and makes your FSD unappealing to block.
Fecundity plays into the aggro plan by giving you extra cards whenever your creatures die.
Skirk Prospector has a limited role in the aggro plan. It can fizzle lifelink, or a Lightning Helix aimed at one of your creatures. It can sac MWM for mana before the echo cost gets to him. If you have multiple FSDs on the field and token makers in hand, Prospector lets you burn through those token makers for massive burst damage.
The combo plan
You need a Skirk Prospector and Fecundity in play. With that, you can turn any goblin into R and a card. So that means:
(below assumes you sac everything. Mana given is net, i.e. amount spent - amount received from Prospector)
any 1-drop = 0 mana, +1 card
Mogg War Marshal = +1 mana, +3 cards
Dragon Fodder or Krenko's Command: 0 mana, +2 cards
Hordeling Outburst: 0 mana, +3 cards
Empty the Warrens: 0 mana, +4 cards with a prior storm count of 1. +2 mana, +2 cards for each storm count greater.
Siege-Gang Commander: -1 mana, +4 cards
With the engine in place, most of your deck becomes free card draw. MWM leaves you up mana. Empty is your "reset spell", the thing that gives you a crapton of resources to do everything again, the equivalent of Past in Flames in Storm or Nourishing Shoal in Grishoalbrand. So you continue saccing guys, drawing cards and making mana, then finally finish off with a huge FSD/Empty the Warrens and a kicked Bushwhacker (not necessary if FSD was played on a previous turn). Even if you can't find an Empty/Bushwhacker to end the combo, you'd still have drawn a ton of cards.
Note that the combo plan dodges Nihil Spellbomb, Relic of Progenitus, Grafdigger's Cage, and Leyline of the Void to some extent (tokens still count for Fecundity under Leyline!), but not Rest in Peace. You need your creatures to die, but you don't need to return cards or cast spells from the graveyard, unlike other combo decks.
In my limited experience, the combo is not super fast by Modern standards. Attempting to combo off on T3 after playing a T1/2 Prospector will likely leave you stranded on mana. You pretty much need a god hand to T3 combo: 3 lands, Prospector, 2 mana token maker, Fecundity, MWM, MWM, Empty. So I would say the safest combo turn is T4, after playing a T3 Fecundity and untapping.
Main aggro, or main combo?
The deck I posted is built with aggro as plan A and combo as plan B. I prefer this because:
1) You don't have cantrips or tutors to dig for combo pieces. You're not blue, so you don't have Serum Visions, and your deck is not filled with colorless cards, so you can't use Ancient Stirrings. The Extended deck had Goblin Matron, which gave you some consistency in finding Skirk Prospector. I know we have Boggart Harbinger, but that's like comparing Mystic Speculation to Serum Visions. Card in hand > card on top of library.
2) The rituals from the Extended deck (Rite of Flame, Seething Song, Brightstone Ritual) are banned or not legal.
3) The combo requires two pieces in play, both of which you only have 4 copies of. There isn't enough redundancy.
It's possible to have a combo plan A instead; in this case you will want to go up to 4 Empty the Warrens, play more rituals, and aim for a quick T2/3 Empty. IMO if you want to play combo plan A you should just play Storm instead, their engine is a 2-mana creature that they have up to 8 copies of.
Changes for a combo build:
-4 Legion Loyalist
-4 Lightning Bolt
-1 Krenko's Command
-1 Dragon Fodder
+4 Desperate Ritual
+4 Pyretic Ritual
+2 Empty the Warrens
Cards I'm not playing
Goblin Piledriver: FSD is cheaper.
Goblin Warchief: This doesn't reduce the cost of enough cards to be worth including. Right now the only things it would reduce are 4 MWM. Warchief would be better if we had Goblin Matron or Goblin Ringleader, two cards which are reduced by Warchief AND find more cards to be reduced by it. Bushwhacker takes on the job of granting haste to your goblins.
Battle Hymn: at first glance, it would seem like an obvious substitute for Brightstone Ritual. However, the extra mana actually cuts twice: you need to spend more mana to cast it, AND you need to sacrifice 1 more goblin to Skirk Prospector, so Hymn ends up generating less mana. Consider a board state of 4 goblins (1 of which is Prospector) and no mana floating. If you had Brightstone Ritual, you could sac 1 goblin, cast it, and end up with 3 mana. With Battle Hymn, you need to sac 2, and you end up with 2 mana - the same as if you had just sacced the goblins and not casted Hymn! The minimum number of goblins you need for Hymn to be good is high, a lot higher than Brightstone Ritual. Don't play it.
My SB
RG's sideboard sucks. You'll have to dip into black for discard if you don't want to lose to combo. 3 Thoughtseize gets the combo decks, Collective Brutality hits them as well as Burn and anything Company.
T2 Blood Moon is possible with T1 Prospector.
I chose Tin Street Hooligan instead of Ancient Grudge because 1) it triggers FSD and 2) against decks where the only target is Aether Vial, you'd rather have a 2/1 than an Oxidize after blowing it up.
Stingscourger is something that I wanted to try out against delve creatures. Killing them is hard because of their immunity to Bolt and Fatal Push. If you bounce them, they have to work to get all those cards in the graveyard again to recast them.
Cards that might be worth looking at
Commune with Nature/Commune with the Gods: these get Skirk Prospector or Fecundity. I don't use them because I have an aggro plan A, and every mana (or two) you spend on cantrips is another 1/1 that you're not throwing onto the board. Also, unlike Ancient Stirrings they can't grab lands.
Infernal Plunge: if you're going for the combo plan A. Alternative way of converting tokens into mana.
Blisterpod: if you're playing Infernal Plunge. Can't be sacced to Skirk Prospector, but can be sacced to Plunge. The token that pops out can sac itself for mana.
Fanatical Firebrand, Mogg Fanatic: they can off themselves to trigger Fecundity without Skirk Prospector. 1 damage is not a lot, but it can kill mana dorks.
| Ad Nauseam
| Infect
Big Johnny.
Main Board
Metallic Mimic (Infinite Combo with Murderous Redcap, and Skirk Prospector as an additional win-con)
Murderous Redcap (Infinite Combo with Metallic Mimic, and Skirk Prospector as an additional win-con)
Battle Hymn (may be worth testing)
Goblin Grenade
TukTuk the Explorer (Probably a 1 or 2 of because of the legend rule)
Vexing Shusher (Probably more of a sideboard card)
Anyway, those are my thoughts. There's a lot of sideboard cards, but I feel sideboard is fairly generic.
Thermopod could be used as sac outlet or SP #5.
Distant melody is a very good card in this deck, it costs U3 but only you can use it instead of Fecundity
could replace Fecundity or serve as copies 5-8 as anyone likes.
If you want to play [card]Battle hymn[card], only play it in a combo centric build, because you need to change your gamestyle with it.
With no mana floating and trying to sac goblins to cast it is a desperate action in my opinion. You need to set up your turn like combo decks do and then go off.
For example: t1 Skirk Prospector(SP)--> t2 Dragon fodder or Mogg war Marshall or krenko's command --> t3 battle hymn into Empty the warrens and keep on chaining.
The idea with murderous redcap and mimic is nice, if you want to do something like that cost reducer and goblin Matron are must haves in my opinion.
In pauper you win with Goblin Warstrike and bushwhacker. warstrike is not modern legal but Burn at the stake can do very bad things. It can kill out of nowhere but has a hard casting cost.
Just a few ideas.
"Well, then we will at least fight in the shadow"
"There is no glory to be gained in the kingdom of the dead!"
Post by Narah about unbanning Mind Twist in legacy and that this would be evil:
If you want to play on MTGO add me I'm HeskatetAS, playing Modern and Legacy
- Your plan A is to cast Empty the Warrens on turn 2-3. Some T2 sequences:
1) T2 ritual, ritual, Empty. End with 6 tokens.
2) T1 Prospector, T2 ritual, MWM, sac 3 times, Empty. End with 6 tokens.
If you have Prospector, you can burn any 2-mana token maker for +1 storm. Manamorphose gives +1 storm and a card so it is better in this scenario, but token makers are +1 storm and 2 cards under Prospector+Fecundity.
If you have T1 FSD, it gets really big when you Empty. The nut draw is T1 FSD, T2 ritual, Prospector, MWM, Empty which leaves you with a 13/1 FSD and 8 tokens.
- When everything comes together, a fast Empty outperforms what you'd get from simply playing creatures/token makers. Empty is 3 cards for 6 tokens on turn 2. In contrast, simply playing T1 1-drop into T2 token maker is 2 cards for 3 1/1s. When you don't draw Empty though, the rituals are pretty weak.
- Don't be afraid to ritual out a T2 Hordeling Outburst if you see no other use for the ritual in your hand.
- A small Storm of ritual into Empty can be good enough, especially if you have FSD. It's 2 cards and 3 mana for 4 tokens; double token maker is 2 cards and 4 mana for 4 tokens.
- When you get Prospector + Fecundity, you fizzle less because you're playing 4 Empty. Empty is the card you want to see most while comboing.
- You're weaker to anti-Storm hate. People will play Damping Sphere, Burn has Eidolon of the Great Revel and Humans has Thalia, Guardian of Thraben (both maindeck). Cutting the Bolts means you don't have a maindeck answer for them, and they're 2-drops so they can come down before you combo off.
I think there are merits to combo plan A, but it seems awfully reliant on drawing Empty the Warrens (both the ritual and Prospector+Fecundity methods of storming off need it). Splashing blue for Serum Visions (cutting token makers) might be worth it; it gives you more turn 1 plays too, now that you're not playing Legion Loyalist.
edit:
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Mountain
1 Steam Vents
1 Stomping Ground
1 Breeding Pool
4 Spirebluff Canal
1 Copperline Gorge
4 Foundry Street Denizen
4 Skirk Prospector
4 Mogg War Marshal
1 Dragon Fodder
1 Krenko's Command
4 Goblin Bushwhacker
4 Hordeling Outburst
4 Desperate Ritual
4 Pyretic Ritual
4 Empty the Warrens
4 Fecundity
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Echoing Truth
2 Grim Lavamancer
2 Lightning Bolt
1 Rending Volley
1 Shattering Spree
1 Tin Street Hooligan
1 Destructive Revelry
2 Dispel
1 Unified Will
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Goblin Rabblemaster
second edit: Very satisfied with this build. Serum Visions really makes the difference, drawing you out of 1-landers, finding a third piece for T2 Empty, and digging deep towards Empty when storming off with Prospector+Fecundity. Upon playing this deck more, the rituals aren't that bad when you realize that it's not all Empty for 3+ or nothing; you can spend rituals on T2 Hordeling Outburst or ritual + Empty just for 4 tokens. T2 Hordeling Outburst lets your T1 FSD swing for 4, and elegantly solves the issue of drawing both Outburst and Fecundity (usually two 3 CMC cards is a really slow draw, but a ritual lets you curve T2 Outburst into T3 Fecundity).
| Ad Nauseam
| Infect
Big Johnny.
I dont think warchief is worth it without ringleader or matron. He also doesn't do anything for either Bushwacker. I'm a big fan of the lower to the ground versions that cap out at cmc 2 on the creatures.
I think some number of goblin grenades should be a given. Once you set up the engine it lets you just throw a significant amount of damage at your opponent. In case they answer one of the bushwhackers, extract a combo piece like prospector, etc. it gives you another way of closing out after chipping it in turns 1-3 while they try and keep you off the combo. Also, gives you another way of peeling large threats or meddling mage on bolt off the board.
murderous redcap while on tribe feels like a trap. Mimic doesn't do enough to warrant the inclusion of both. Most wide decks like elves/ humans can still go bigger and wider just as fast as you even with mimic. Madcap is expensive and you don't want a high land count because aside from empty you're a very low cmc deck. You have no way to tutor or recur the combo. You lack redundant copies or critical mass like the finks decks. This spot would be better served by something like a token producer imho.
A big question imo is do you build a sideboard to transition into an 8whack variant or to shore up sideboard plans against you.
I've been messing with the following:
4 fecundity
4 lightning bolt
2 goblin grenade
4 empty the warrens
4 manamorphose
1 grapeshot
1 noxious revival
4 foundry street denizen
4 legion loyalist
4 mogg war Marshall
2 reckless bushwhacker
2 goblin Piledriver
Sideboard would be like:
2-3 blood moon
2-4 bushwackers
2 stingscourger
2-3 artifact removal
2 Red finishers like chandra, torch of defiance
0-1 sweepers
0-1 evolutionary leap
I think the deck is weak to:
damping sphere from dominaria hurts empty the warrens, reckless bushwacker (if you run it), the prospector combo, or just dumping out your hand.
Spot removal on the combo pieces. Storm has the luxury of an instant heavy suite so even if you point removal at a baral they can generate mana/storm/fix colors to continue going off after resolution. Sure the kill conditions are sorcery speed, but the damage is done by that point.
Sweepers if you try and go wide post sideboard.
Faster combo you can't interact with. Storm may not be that bad actually because you can just always leave bolt up for an enabler. A prospector always represents removal. But what about ad naus, affinity, etc. those could be rough if you don't hit the right sideboard stuff.
Just my initial thoughts. I think it's a great FNM for funsies deck. I'm not sure it's resilient enough for a larger tournament yet. Deck would love something like phyexian altar.
Also, the new Squee could be an interesting inclusion, just for a threat that's impossible to get rid of.
4 Skirk Prospector
4 Mogg War Marshal
4 Ornithopter
2 Memnite
1 Signal Pest
1 Reckless Bushwhacker
4 Kuldotha Rebirth
4 Fecundity
4 Dragon Fodder
4 Empty The Warrens
4 Manamorphose
4 Desperate Ritual
2 Infernal Plunge
1 Commune with lava
4 Darksteel Citadel
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Bloodstained Mire
1 Stomping Ground
2 Mountain
3 Copperline Gorge
*** Edit. Been testing the deck casually on MTGO (fun cause its very cheap). Bushwacker likely to go to at least 2. I had issues with a finisher if I ran out of steam and couldn't storm enough. Commune with Lava I moved to two. Gives me a card draw/mana dump when I am not hitting Fecundity. Not sure if Faithless Looting would be better, but the instant speed of Commune came into play in one game. Commune is a bootleg Sphinx's Revelation in this deck.
Current list after a handful of casual games:
3 Memnite
4 Ornithopter
4 Skirk Prospector
1 Myr Moonvessel
4 Mogg War Marshal
4 Kuldotha Rebirth
4 Fecundity
4 Empty the Warrens
3 Krenko's Command
4 Manamorphose
4 Infernal Plunge
2 Commune with Lava
1 Grapeshot
4 Wooded Foothills
2 Darksteel Citadel
2 Stomping Ground
5 Mountain
I really like the idea of testing Boggart Harbinger since we don't have access to Matron, but as mentioned by benfraz maybe going to a third colour can be dangerous.
The use of Commune with the Gods is neat in a decklist that drops cards like Dragon Fodder and goes heavy in creatures, love it.
Although Frogtosser Banerett is cheaper I don't think it's better than Goblin Warchief.
Draft and Pauper on MTGO: RonTrauma
MTGArena: Mardu Aristocrats, Mono-R, 4C Dreadhorde, Golgari Citadel
The problem with Impact Tremors is that you have to play it first, followed by your goblins. With Bushwhacker, you play your goblins first, then BW. The sequencing is very important because the faster your tokens come down, the faster they can start attacking. E.g. T2 Tremors followed by T3 MWM is 2 damage (+1 next turn after MWM dies), but T2 MWM followed by T3 Bushwhacker is 6 damage. This is especially true with T2 Empty hands: T2 ritual > ritual > Empty followed by T3 Bushwhacker is 14 damage. T2 Tremors into T3 ritual > ritual > Empty is 6.
Also, during the combo, if you haven't drawn Empty yet, your chance of fizzling goes up if you spend 2 mana to do something other than play more goblins to sac. Bushwhacker can at least be played without kicker as a small Manamorphose.
| Ad Nauseam
| Infect
Big Johnny.
4 Ornithopter
4 Skirk Prospector
4 Mogg War Marshal
4 Kuldotha Rebirth
4 Fecundity
4 Empty the Warrens
3 Krenko's Command
4 Manamorphose
4 Infernal Plunge
1 Commune with Lava
2 Memnite
1 Grapeshot
2 Magmatic Insight
2 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills
1 Darksteel Citadel
4 Mountain
2 Stomping Ground
1 Arid Mesa
For a more radical Idea, I was considering a 28+ Goblin creature deck, still using Fecundity, but also throwing in Vile Redeemer, Banefire and Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx.
One change I've made is -1 Dragon Fodder, +1 Reckless Bushwhacker. As much as Reckless Bushwhacker is indeed worse than Goblin Bushwhacker in this deck, man does the Reckless Bushwhacker help against (Eldrazi Tron's) Chalice of the Void because it's a Haste granter that's not 1 cmc.
Speaking of Chalice of the Void, this deck can combo off through that somewhat easily as long as you can stick Skirk Prospector before it lands. Thalia was significantly more annoying from my playtesting experience.
Here it is:
I will be updating the main post today adding some links for recent decktech and matches played by Saffron and Jim Davies respectively.
FYI - Food chain has been bought and the price has spiked! :eek::eek:
BRGJUNDGRB---BRHOLLOW ONERB---BGELVESGB---BRGLIVING ENDGRB---GWBOGLESWG
EDH:
BRGKARRTHUS, TYRANT OF JUNDGRB
It's a lot tighter than the previous ones I've made. Not sure how it'd hold up to a super interactive deck like Jund though.
I know y'all have all been working on relatively similar lists so I won't go into explanations for card choices. I'd be happy to though if it turns out that anything isn't clear. Whadaya think?
4 Mogg Fanatic
4 Goblin Bushwhacker
4 Mogg War Marshal
4 Skirk Prospector
4 Foundry Street Denizen
1 Zulaport Cutthroat
4 Fecundity
Instants & Sorceries (14)
1 Noxious Revival
2 Manamorphose
4 Empty the Warrens
3 Claim // Fame
4 Faithless Looting
4 Auntie's Hovel
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Wooded Foothills
2 Mountain
1 Blood Crypt
2 Stomping Ground
BRGJUNDGRB---BRHOLLOW ONERB---BGELVESGB---BRGLIVING ENDGRB---GWBOGLESWG
EDH:
BRGKARRTHUS, TYRANT OF JUNDGRB
I just threw together a Traverse list with Bauble and so far it's going really well. I'm really of diggin' it actually. I'll post a list when I whittle it down a little more.
Edit: And nah, I haven't tested the decks out in actual matches. I'd feel kind of bad testing out a Storm-type deck that's as rough around the edges as the pilot against a stranger. And I test on Cockatrice which is a terrible medium for that kind of deck, since you have to do everything manually. I have some buddies at my LGS that are also enthusiastic about making "Comblins" who won't mind helping me hone it.
Also, I've been trying my hardest to come up with terrible puns for the deck name. So far I've been very successful (at them being terrible). I'll list a few, but be warned, they're seriously awful.
Humphrey Boggart/Fecasablancundity
Traverse the Ulvenwarrens
Mishra's Boggart
2nd Edit:
Alright, so I'm extremely happy with this list. I honestly think I'm closer than ever.
4 Skirk Prospector
4 Mogg Fanatic
4 Mogg War Marshal
4 Goblin Bushwhacker
1 Zulaport Cutthroat
Instants & Sorceries (15)
1 Noxious Revival
1 Manamorphose
3 Empty the Warrens
2 Claim // Fame
4 Faithless Looting
4 Traverse the Ulvenwald
4 Mishra's Bauble
Enchantments (4)
4 Fecundity
Lands (20)
4 Auntie's Hovel
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Bloodstained Mire
2 Mountain
1 Blood Crypt
1 Stomping Ground
4 Copperline Gorge
BRGJUNDGRB---BRHOLLOW ONERB---BGELVESGB---BRGLIVING ENDGRB---GWBOGLESWG
EDH:
BRGKARRTHUS, TYRANT OF JUNDGRB
Ritualing into Empty is still a fine plan as it can sneak under hate, and spot removal is useless against it.
I think the only time you can afford to leave in the Prospector/Fecundity combo is against ramp decks or Bogles.
| Ad Nauseam
| Infect
Big Johnny.
4 Skirk Prospector
4 Mogg War Marshal
4 Street Wraith
2 Goblin Bushwhacker
1 Mogg Fanatic
1 Wild Cantor
Instant (4):
4 Manamorphose
Sorcery (15):
4 Empty the Warrens
3 Infernal Plunge
4 Traverse the Ulvenwald
2 Commune with the Gods
2 Dragon Fodder
4 Fecundity
Artifact (4):
4 Mishra's Bauble
Land (17):
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Bloodstained Mire
1 Arid Mesa
3 Stomping Ground
2 Copperline Gorge
2 Mountain
1 Forest
2 Blood Moon
3 Ancient Grudge
2 Destructive Revelry
2 Grapeshot
1 Reclamation Sage
2 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Bedlam Reveler
2 Flame Slash
I think the first thing I want to try is add some Faithless Lootings to the main deck (probably remove Street Wraith or Commune). I think the sideboard could use some work too. I'll probably replace the Flame Slashes with Lightning Bolt to start.