Just finished 3rd for October's DCM tournament with this list.
My two losses were winnable and I punted both in my opinion so I still strongly recommend this deck!
Going forward, I'll be cutting Zhalfirin Void and Mogg War Marshal for Goblin Motivator and Earwig Squad. The problem I have with both Zhalfirin Void and MWM is they often require other things to work well and aren't a threat on their own while not producing colored mana in Zhalfirin Void's case.
Meanwhile, the deck really wants more turn 1 plays and Goblin Motivator fills that role while offering a high ceiling. Earwig Squad I'm less sure of but should help the combo match-ups and a 5/3 body for 3 is decent aggression. If it doesn't work out, I will try Doomsday again due to wanting more free wins. For those curious, the top-to-bottom pile would be Metallic Mimic, Murderous Redcap, Skirk Prospector, Kiki-Jiki, and Priest of Urabrask. All of those cards besides Priest are already in the deck and the combo would require only 2 starting mana.
Here are my latest inclusions as a result of Throne of Eldraine cards:
- Replaced Mutavault with Castle Embereth; hardly found myself animating Mutavault and colorless mana really hurts
- Replaced Unearth with Fires of Invention; Fires of Invention is essentially a supercharged Aether Vial that cheats even more on mana
- Replaced Mogg Fanatic with Torbran, Thane of Red Fell; Tormund is the hardest hitting lord we have access to so far besides Goblin Pyromancer (HUGE drawback)
Lately, I've noticed that a good percentage of my losses stem from one of the following scenarios:
- Not hitting land drops (ideally hit 4 mana by turn 4)
- Tempo'ed out by aggro decks (even worse if not hitting land drops) due to lack of early interaction
- Lack of pressure on combo/control player during early game
As a result, I've made the following changes to the deck for curve considerations.
- Added Tainted Peak as 43rd land
- Added Mogg Fanatic as a tutorable 1 mana removal spell that synergizes with rest of deck
- Added Unearth as high-upside cheat on mana that still cycles around Blood Moon and graveyard hate
- Re-added 3 discard spells: Thoughtseize, Inquisition of Kozilek, and Duress
- Removed Krenko; No immediate impact that doesn't win game on its own
- Removed Goblin Chainwhirler; RRR can sometimes be hard to generate and doesn't come off Grenzo activation
- Removed Goblin Wardriver; No immediate impact that requires attacking for benefit
- Removed Adaptive Automaton; Lacks some goblin synergies and a little slow for 3 mana
- Removed Plague Engineer; No synergy with rest of deck and not always good
Sorry for the delay but here are my latest changes (includes Modern Horizons release).
- Added Munitions Expert for additional creature-based removal
- Added Pashalik Mons for additional creature-based removal
- Added Plague Engineer for additional creature-based removal with BLOWOUT potential
- Added Prismatic Vista for better mana fixing
- Added Contamination as another "free win" card
- Added Goblin Vandal as another 1-drop with high upside
- Re-added Warren Instigator due to high upside and being a "must-answer"
- Re-added Goblin Wardriver to increase aggro linearity of deck
- Removed Ash Barrens due to costing 1 mana to color fix; replaced by Prismatic Vista
- Removed Springleaf Drum because I'd rather be attacking with creatures
- Removed Mox Amber because it's a liability if Grenzo isn't on the field
- Removed Earwig Squad due to narrowness and not coming off Grenzo activation
I got some initial testing with the upcoming London Mulligan and the change is pretty big for this deck. The deck is able to recoup the card disadvantage fairly easily if Grenzo untaps. Also, I've added a few additional tutors and high impact cards to increase the consistency and power level of the deck.
- Reworked mana base in order to fit Tainted Pact
- Added Gamble as another tutor
- Added Earwig Squad as a tutor-able way to deal with problematic cards/combos
- Added Springleaf Drum and Mox Amber as efficient mana acceleration
- Added Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin from the upcoming War of the Spark expansion
- Cut Warren Instigator and Goblin Wardriver since they're bad top decks
- Cut Lightning Bolt since Barbarian Ring and Ramunap Ruins fulfill the same need
- Cut Adaptive Automaton since it's the worst of the lords (3 mana, weak to artifact destruction, and no secondary ability)
- Cut 43rd land due to addition of Springleaf Drum and Mox Amber
I just finished first in January's DCM double elimination tournament! The main changes I made heading into the tournament include:
- Cutting discard / Mesmeric Fiend effects for Warren Instigator, Goblin Wardriver, Mogg War Marshal, RR Grenzo, Lightning Bolt, and Chain Lightning
- Cutting Foreboding Ruins / Smoldering Marsh (inconsistently enters play untapped) for 9th Mountain and Barbarian Ring
The list felt solid with the exception of two cards: RR Grenzo and Mausoleum Secrets.
- RR Grenzo wants you to spend mana post-combat, which is opposite of what the deck wants to do
- Mausoleum Secret's floor of being a 3 mana Demonic Consultation happens pretty often
Going forward, I'm adding Judith, the Scourge Diva (new addition from Ravnica Allegiance) and Adapative Automaton in place of the two under-performing cards. Also, I didn't think the life loss of Barbarian Ring was worth it. I'll be adding Shizo and Shinka in place of 9th Mountain and Barbarian Ring going forward since there's very little downside to both. Without the discard / Mesmeric Fiend effects, the deck was able to play through Blood Moon much easier and had more synergy with the rest of the deck due to 3 additional relevant goblins.
Made a few small tweaks based on observations in recent games.
+ Added Fire Covenant: HUGE upside [and high floor] and can win games by itself; Adds another tutor target for Mauseoleum Secrets (below)
+ Added Stingscourger: Tutor-able [although temporary] hard-removal with Goblin synergies
+ Added Ash Barrens: Provides another shuffle effect to clear bottom of library; Another way to fetch Basic Swamp with Blood Moon in hand/play
+ Added Conjurer's Bauble: Cost-efficient library manipulation
+ Added Mauseoleum Secrets: Testing due to possible upside (i.e. Living Death); Should be a 3 mana Demonic Consultation worst case scenario
- Removed Ravenous Chupacabra: Being 2 mana more than Stingscourger makes it difficult to play same turn after tutoring; Double black isn't ideal
- Removed Beetleback Chief: Decent but cut for curve considerations
- Removed Liliana of the Veil: Decent but not as strong as Liliana, the Last Hope
- Removed 2 Mountains: Replaced by Ash Barrens while Aether Vial should really count as 43rd land
P.S. The deck's worst match-up used to be mono-red. However with Zurgo no longer legal as a commander, I think the match-up has flipped 180 degrees. As a result, I think the deck is even-to-favored against the majority of the top tier generals now.
- Added Canyon Slough (in place of Tectonic Edge) for an additional fetch-able dual land with marginal upside
- Added Ravenous Chupacabra as a tutor-able hard-removal for problematic creatures
- Added Liliana of the Veil as another high impact Planeswalker
- Removed Grenzo, Havoc Raiser (eliminates need for RR on turn 2)
- Removed Stingscourger (awkward to have in opening hand and very situational)
Recently lost in the finals of the second monthly DCM double-elimination tournament. List felt great as already mentioned in my previous post. Here are some of my considerations going forward.
- Grenzo, Havoc Raiser is probably the weakest card; Likely cut to test new/other cards
- Drawing multiple black/colorless-only lands feels really awkward; Likely replacing Tectonic Edge and/or 1 Swamp in the future
- Multiple situational "I win" cards rewards playing more tutors; Gamble and/or Tainted Pact (would require changing the mana base) may be worth testing
- Lord effect of Goblin Trashmaster has been fantastic; Adaptive Automaton may be worth testing again
If there are any cards that might work well with this deck that I'm missing, feel free to post them here! Thanks!
Latest round of updates. Deck feels incredibly smooth now.
+ Added back Mesmeric Fiend effects (testing indicated additional need for disruption against control/combo)
+ Added back 43rd land (better to have 1 too many land than 1 too few)
+ Added Goblin Trashmaster (too versatile not to include)
+ Testing Grenzo, Havor Raiser
- Removed Warren Instigator and Goblin Motivator (too situational)
- Removed Fire Covenant (covered by Pyrokinesis)
- Removed Krenko, Mob Boss and Lightning Crafter (4 mana with no immediate impact and easily answered)
- Removed Mogg War Marshal (decent but wanted to create additional space)
Edited to fix typo: Changed Goblin Instigator to Warren Instigator
+ Added another section with helpful sequencing/stack tips to remember.
+ Further broke down "Lands" section into smaller sub-sections (i.e. Dual, Fetch, Scry/Hideaway, Utility, and Basic)
Quick Overview of Recent Changes to Primer / Deck-list:
+ Added Goblin Cratermaker and Legion Warboss from Guilds of Ravnica
- Removed Mesmeric Fiend effects to make room for new cards
+ Added back Patriarch's Bidding and Nykthos, Shrine to Nix to increase overall power level of the deck
+ Added back Viscera Seer due to synergy with Grenzo and it nicely filling curve as a 1-drop
- Removed Hellraiser Goblin due to the inherent clunkiness of forcing all of your other Goblins to attack (specifically Grenzo)
+ Added Goblin Motivator to replace Hellraiser Goblin as a haste effect while nicely filling curve as a 1-drop
+ Added both Pyrokinesis and Fire Covenant to complement Living Death as pseudo Plague Wind effects
Overall, the changes have all been very impactful and have led to an increased win percentage across the board. In general, I believe this deck is one of the best-kept secrets in all of Duel Commander.
Yeah, I think maxing fetches is an easy decision. Besides resetting the bottom of your library, it fixes your mana while thinning your deck too (useful for Grenzo in addition to your draws). It's also useful if you're running Grim Lavamancer.
I'll have to try Piledriver again. It has won me games in the past when combined with a Bushwhacker effect.
You're right about Patriarch's Bidding being a haymaker. I guess I just remember the games where it sits in my hand.
I think Nihil Spellbomb is probably better than Bojuka Bog if you want graveyard hate but that's personal preference.
I think Barbarian Ring is better than Ramunap Ruins if you're looking for that type of effect. With that said, I'm not playing Ring either.
Chandra has been solid. It gives the deck another must-answer threat that isn't vulnerable to sweepers. I personally have liked her more than Liliana of the Veil since it's on color too. With that said, Liliana, the Last Hope has been the most powerful of the 3 for me.
No problem! I tried to send you a PM on Facebook btw. Not sure if you saw it.
My two losses were winnable and I punted both in my opinion so I still strongly recommend this deck!
Going forward, I'll be cutting Zhalfirin Void and Mogg War Marshal for Goblin Motivator and Earwig Squad. The problem I have with both Zhalfirin Void and MWM is they often require other things to work well and aren't a threat on their own while not producing colored mana in Zhalfirin Void's case.
Meanwhile, the deck really wants more turn 1 plays and Goblin Motivator fills that role while offering a high ceiling. Earwig Squad I'm less sure of but should help the combo match-ups and a 5/3 body for 3 is decent aggression. If it doesn't work out, I will try Doomsday again due to wanting more free wins. For those curious, the top-to-bottom pile would be Metallic Mimic, Murderous Redcap, Skirk Prospector, Kiki-Jiki, and Priest of Urabrask. All of those cards besides Priest are already in the deck and the combo would require only 2 starting mana.
- Replaced Mutavault with Castle Embereth; hardly found myself animating Mutavault and colorless mana really hurts
- Replaced Unearth with Fires of Invention; Fires of Invention is essentially a supercharged Aether Vial that cheats even more on mana
- Replaced Mogg Fanatic with Torbran, Thane of Red Fell; Tormund is the hardest hitting lord we have access to so far besides Goblin Pyromancer (HUGE drawback)
- Not hitting land drops (ideally hit 4 mana by turn 4)
- Tempo'ed out by aggro decks (even worse if not hitting land drops) due to lack of early interaction
- Lack of pressure on combo/control player during early game
As a result, I've made the following changes to the deck for curve considerations.
- Added Tainted Peak as 43rd land
- Added Mogg Fanatic as a tutorable 1 mana removal spell that synergizes with rest of deck
- Added Unearth as high-upside cheat on mana that still cycles around Blood Moon and graveyard hate
- Re-added 3 discard spells: Thoughtseize, Inquisition of Kozilek, and Duress
- Removed Krenko; No immediate impact that doesn't win game on its own
- Removed Goblin Chainwhirler; RRR can sometimes be hard to generate and doesn't come off Grenzo activation
- Removed Goblin Wardriver; No immediate impact that requires attacking for benefit
- Removed Adaptive Automaton; Lacks some goblin synergies and a little slow for 3 mana
- Removed Plague Engineer; No synergy with rest of deck and not always good
- Added Munitions Expert for additional creature-based removal
- Added Pashalik Mons for additional creature-based removal
- Added Plague Engineer for additional creature-based removal with BLOWOUT potential
- Added Prismatic Vista for better mana fixing
- Added Contamination as another "free win" card
- Added Goblin Vandal as another 1-drop with high upside
- Re-added Warren Instigator due to high upside and being a "must-answer"
- Re-added Goblin Wardriver to increase aggro linearity of deck
- Removed Ash Barrens due to costing 1 mana to color fix; replaced by Prismatic Vista
- Removed Springleaf Drum because I'd rather be attacking with creatures
- Removed Mox Amber because it's a liability if Grenzo isn't on the field
- Removed Earwig Squad due to narrowness and not coming off Grenzo activation
In other news, both Vojta and I reached the finals of the latest monthly DCM tournament!
Note: All of the deck lists were submitted prior to June so Modern Horizons cards weren't allowed/included.
- Reworked mana base in order to fit Tainted Pact
- Added Gamble as another tutor
- Added Earwig Squad as a tutor-able way to deal with problematic cards/combos
- Added Springleaf Drum and Mox Amber as efficient mana acceleration
- Added Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin from the upcoming War of the Spark expansion
- Cut Warren Instigator and Goblin Wardriver since they're bad top decks
- Cut Lightning Bolt since Barbarian Ring and Ramunap Ruins fulfill the same need
- Cut Adaptive Automaton since it's the worst of the lords (3 mana, weak to artifact destruction, and no secondary ability)
- Cut 43rd land due to addition of Springleaf Drum and Mox Amber
I just finished first in January's DCM double elimination tournament! The main changes I made heading into the tournament include:
- Cutting discard / Mesmeric Fiend effects for Warren Instigator, Goblin Wardriver, Mogg War Marshal, RR Grenzo, Lightning Bolt, and Chain Lightning
- Cutting Foreboding Ruins / Smoldering Marsh (inconsistently enters play untapped) for 9th Mountain and Barbarian Ring
The list felt solid with the exception of two cards: RR Grenzo and Mausoleum Secrets.
- RR Grenzo wants you to spend mana post-combat, which is opposite of what the deck wants to do
- Mausoleum Secret's floor of being a 3 mana Demonic Consultation happens pretty often
Going forward, I'm adding Judith, the Scourge Diva (new addition from Ravnica Allegiance) and Adapative Automaton in place of the two under-performing cards. Also, I didn't think the life loss of Barbarian Ring was worth it. I'll be adding Shizo and Shinka in place of 9th Mountain and Barbarian Ring going forward since there's very little downside to both. Without the discard / Mesmeric Fiend effects, the deck was able to play through Blood Moon much easier and had more synergy with the rest of the deck due to 3 additional relevant goblins.
+ Added Fire Covenant: HUGE upside [and high floor] and can win games by itself; Adds another tutor target for Mauseoleum Secrets (below)
+ Added Stingscourger: Tutor-able [although temporary] hard-removal with Goblin synergies
+ Added Ash Barrens: Provides another shuffle effect to clear bottom of library; Another way to fetch Basic Swamp with Blood Moon in hand/play
+ Added Conjurer's Bauble: Cost-efficient library manipulation
+ Added Mauseoleum Secrets: Testing due to possible upside (i.e. Living Death); Should be a 3 mana Demonic Consultation worst case scenario
- Removed Ravenous Chupacabra: Being 2 mana more than Stingscourger makes it difficult to play same turn after tutoring; Double black isn't ideal
- Removed Beetleback Chief: Decent but cut for curve considerations
- Removed Liliana of the Veil: Decent but not as strong as Liliana, the Last Hope
- Removed 2 Mountains: Replaced by Ash Barrens while Aether Vial should really count as 43rd land
P.S. The deck's worst match-up used to be mono-red. However with Zurgo no longer legal as a commander, I think the match-up has flipped 180 degrees. As a result, I think the deck is even-to-favored against the majority of the top tier generals now.
1. Always comes into play tapped.
2. Can be awkward with Blood Moon / Magus of the Moon.
3. Possibility of getting blown out by Wasteland.
I appreciate the suggestion though. If you've tried it and think it deserves a second look, let me know!
- Added Ravenous Chupacabra as a tutor-able hard-removal for problematic creatures
- Added Liliana of the Veil as another high impact Planeswalker
- Removed Grenzo, Havoc Raiser (eliminates need for RR on turn 2)
- Removed Stingscourger (awkward to have in opening hand and very situational)
Recently lost in the finals of the second monthly DCM double-elimination tournament.
- Grenzo, Havoc Raiser is probably the weakest card; Likely cut to test new/other cards
- Drawing multiple black/colorless-only lands feels really awkward; Likely replacing Tectonic Edge and/or 1 Swamp in the future
- Multiple situational "I win" cards rewards playing more tutors; Gamble and/or Tainted Pact (would require changing the mana base) may be worth testing
- Lord effect of Goblin Trashmaster has been fantastic; Adaptive Automaton may be worth testing again
If there are any cards that might work well with this deck that I'm missing, feel free to post them here!
+ Added back Mesmeric Fiend effects (testing indicated additional need for disruption against control/combo)
+ Added back 43rd land (better to have 1 too many land than 1 too few)
+ Added Goblin Trashmaster (too versatile not to include)
+ Testing Grenzo, Havor Raiser
- Removed Warren Instigator and Goblin Motivator (too situational)
- Removed Fire Covenant (covered by Pyrokinesis)
- Removed Krenko, Mob Boss and Lightning Crafter (4 mana with no immediate impact and easily answered)
- Removed Mogg War Marshal (decent but wanted to create additional space)
Edited to fix typo: Changed Goblin Instigator to Warren Instigator
+ Further broke down "Lands" section into smaller sub-sections (i.e. Dual, Fetch, Scry/Hideaway, Utility, and Basic)
+ Added Goblin Cratermaker and Legion Warboss from Guilds of Ravnica
- Removed Mesmeric Fiend effects to make room for new cards
+ Added back Patriarch's Bidding and Nykthos, Shrine to Nix to increase overall power level of the deck
+ Added back Viscera Seer due to synergy with Grenzo and it nicely filling curve as a 1-drop
- Removed Hellraiser Goblin due to the inherent clunkiness of forcing all of your other Goblins to attack (specifically Grenzo)
+ Added Goblin Motivator to replace Hellraiser Goblin as a haste effect while nicely filling curve as a 1-drop
+ Added both Pyrokinesis and Fire Covenant to complement Living Death as pseudo Plague Wind effects
Overall, the changes have all been very impactful and have led to an increased win percentage across the board. In general, I believe this deck is one of the best-kept secrets in all of Duel Commander.
I'll have to try Piledriver again. It has won me games in the past when combined with a Bushwhacker effect.
You're right about Patriarch's Bidding being a haymaker. I guess I just remember the games where it sits in my hand.
I think Nihil Spellbomb is probably better than Bojuka Bog if you want graveyard hate but that's personal preference.
I think Barbarian Ring is better than Ramunap Ruins if you're looking for that type of effect. With that said, I'm not playing Ring either.
Chandra has been solid. It gives the deck another must-answer threat that isn't vulnerable to sweepers. I personally have liked her more than Liliana of the Veil since it's on color too. With that said, Liliana, the Last Hope has been the most powerful of the 3 for me.
No problem! I tried to send you a PM on Facebook btw. Not sure if you saw it.