Since the early days of Legacy, I’ve often been plagued by Goblins. The little monsters were very good at wrecking my cute decks, thanks to their inevitable grind, mana denial and ability to rocket right back into the game. The deck still possesses these killer attributes, and it has demonstrated that by putting up good showings in several recent events. It’s not seen a lot of attention lately, so this article will cover why Goblins is a fun, dependable and competitive deck for the current Legacy metagame leading into the summer. Check out David Sharfman’s winning deck from the StarCityGames.com Florida Legacy Open:
Creatures (31)
- 4 Goblin Matron
- 4 Goblin Lackey
- 4 Goblin Warchief
- 4 Goblin Piledriver
- 4 Gempalm Incinerator
- 2 Siege-Gang Commander
- 4 Goblin Ringleader
- 1 Stingscourger
- 1 Earwig Squad
- 3 Goblin Chieftain
Lands (22)
Spells (7)
Sideboard
His deck is roughly standard fare for what we’ve been seeing lately. He’s splashed Black for Warren Weirdings and he’s dropped the Mogg Fanatics of years ago for more streamlined cards. Speaking of Warren Weirding, there was some discussion when the card came out about whether one should run it or Gempalm Incinerator. The consensus seems to be “run both!” They fulfill different functions in the deck and overlap nicely. It’s with these two cards that I’d like to start re-imagining Goblins; it’s been off the radar for so long that we may be thinking of it as an aggro deck, which is a little off the mark.
So if it’s not aggro, should we consider it board control? Mid-range? I’m not sure there’s a label that fits it right now. Let’s instead look at what it needs and what it does. Goblins needs a surprising amount of mana to get rolling, because it really hits its mark when it can start casting two creatures or spells per turn. In return, Goblins can leverage Goblin Matron to do basically whatever the deck needs to do. If it’s looking at grinding down an opponent, it can fetch up Siege-gang Commander or Goblin Ringleader; if it needs to remove a Tarmogoyf to attack, the Matron can go find Stingscourger or Warren Weirding. It can do this with Aether Vial, freeing up some lands along the way to oppress the opponent with Rishadan Port.
Goblins cannot go aggro the way that Zoo can, because it lacks the burn and high-power creatures to crank out fast wins. However, the deck can approach blistering speeds with cards like Goblin Piledriver. Don’t think for a moment that Zoo can outrace Goblins if they’re both playing against goldfish; however, that burn and larger creatures means that Zoo can bust past bigger blockers. However, a Goblins player has to consider whether they want to ram one of their 2/2s into a Knight of the Reliquary or just hang back. While Goblins has to slow down in that kind of situation, time is on its side; the deck can play out a lot of chump blockers and it can overwhelm Zoo with cards like Goblin Ringleader, giving a critical mass that can blow past blockers.
While Goblins is certainly slower than the marquee fast aggro deck, it benefits from the new Goblin Chieftain and the classic Goblin Warchief giving everything in sight haste. They enable that awful scenario: you’re going to crush Goblins the next turn; you have tapped out to do so. They draw a Goblin Ringleader, flip a Matron and Piledriver, then go get another Piledriver with their Matron and you’re signing your name on that slip and checking the drop box. The haste combination with all those recharge cards means that Goblins has this phenomenal comeback ability. It plays Demonic Tutors that attack, it plays Fact or Fiction that swings the turn that it comes out. It can rip these cards off of the top, fire them through an Aether Vial and go to town. Letting the Goblins player accumulate several Goblins on the board is a lethal gamble.
Goblins has some mana denial, but it lacks the recursive Crucible of Worlds or other dedicated cards to make it a full-time strategy. However, the Wastelands and Rishadan Ports let Goblins punish a player who stumbles. Did you mulligan and keep a two-lander? If they have Port, you aren’t casting a spell any time soon, and Goblin Lackey will come over to visit in the meantime. Goblins is comfortingly consistent, and can utilize that reliability over a long tournament to gain an edge over more powerful, but less consistent decks. While the red weenies are executing their plan seamlessly, you’re facing down getting your act together against a growing horde with too little mana. The times I have died to Goblins when I am a single mana short of a Moat are frustratingly frequent.
Goblins can work around a lot of late-game annoyances that trouble aggro decks. It can get around a Moat by slinging Goblins with Siege-gang Commander, and it can drop a Glacial Chasm by stocking up lethal Goblins and then popping it with a sandbagged Wasteland. In return for all of this, of course it gives up those fast starts. Without Mogg Fanatic, the deck loses a one-drop that was never amazing, but always reliable. In its place, many players are tinkering with cards like Earwig Squad or with the Basilisk Collar — Goblin Sharpshooter combination, which just machineguns in a giddy Timmy way. I don’t fancy going overboard on these cards, but Goblins usually has three or four slots to play with. These can be cards like Lightning Bolt or Umezawa’s Jitte, but the historic adage of “you cannot get a Jitte with Ringleader” holds true. Ergo, you do not want to dilute the deck with too many non-goblin cards.
Wort, Boggart Auntie has been picking up steam as a singleton in Goblins and should see more play than it currently does. An unanswered Wort means that you get to Warren Weirding every turn; your Gempalm Incinerators cycle to draw a card and unbalance combat; you get to recharge that Goblin Ringleader when you get the opportunity. Simply put, an active Wort is one of the most unfair things that Goblins can do, since it’s a tutorable Jayemdae Tome. It dismantles CounterTop decks, pulls out wins against Zoo and gets those Siege-gang Commanders back to wreck control. I start with one in my lists but frequently consider going up to two. If you take Goblins as more of a control deck, you will find how good Wort is in that regard.
Goblins, though a little slower than aggro and not as controlling as dedicated control, can bring the fight to a lot of the hot decks in the format. Here’s a rundown of how it fights:
Reanimator: Let’s start with the bad: Reanimator can shut you down with Iona, Shield of Emeria or Blazing Archon. However, with Warren Weirding, you can punch past most of their reanimated creatures. You can fight Iona with Aether Vial as well. It’s not a great matchup, because sometimes they get out Sphinx of the Steel Wind and you just can’t deal with it, but there are times when you will Rishadan Port their only black source for long enough to get into the game. That Goblins runs 3-4 “Diabolic Edict” and several ways to draw them is a great draw for Goblins, since it’s one of the only decks that’s pre-boarded to crunch Reanimator decks in the first game.
Merfolk: Thanks to Goblin Piledriver’s gift from R&D to make it immune to psychatog.dec, you can waltz past them and aside from Mutavault, they cannot stop you. Both decks pack Lords, but Goblins is more prepared for board stalls and can pick away smaller guys with its Incinerators. This is a pleasant match to play.
Zoo: You need to slow down in this match and play around burn. As I said before, Goblins can win in the lategame but can’t effectively do the alpha-strike tap-out race that they can. You want those situations where you can start picking off Zoo creatures with your Siege-Gang Commanders or just put together three Piledrivers and see if they can stop them. This is an attrition war, but one that you are prepared for if you are careful with your creatures.
Dredge: The key to fighting Dredge is to realize that you can easily kill your own Goblins to remove Bridge from Below. Sure, it was easier with Mogg Fanatic, but you can attrition out a Dredge deck by forcing them to go for only a few Zombies at a time. Again, they can shut you down with an Iona, so you must be prepared to be unable to cast your spells. It’s bad news when that happens, since Dredge has lots of frumpy little guys who would love to die for a Warren Weirding if it means saving the Angel.
CounterTop Decks: One of the neat things about Goblins is that Countertop absolutely has to be hitting with their Tops to counter your spells. The biggest groaner is an early Tarmogoyf and postboard, accurate Hydroblasts hitting your Lords. I prefer to be on the Goblins end, even as modern CounterTop shifts toward cards like Rhox War Monk. The reality is that they are unable to counter all of your card advantage spells, so you can grind them. This is where Wort really shines.
Lands: Depending on what the Lands decks packs, it can be simple or a beating. Their most powerful combination is Tabernacle At Pendrell Vale with Rishadan Port. Now, they’re not going to be Wastelanding you with frequency, but the combination of those two cards means that you are tying up a lot of your mana in keeping Goblins alive on the board. Maze of Ith is a curious card in this match; if they are already attacking your mana, then Maze slows down Goblins greatly. However, if you have three or four creatures out, you can blow past Maze of Ith and the card is near-meaningless. My best advice for this match is to hold onto a Wasteland in your hand, in case the opponent gets a Glacial Chasm out.
Unfortunately, Goblins has a hard time beating combination decks. Cards like Mindbreak Trap, Thorn of Amethyst and Chalice of the Void can give the deck a chance. Against Ad Nauseam Tendrils, your best opening is one that deals early damage in the first few turns, making Ad Nauseam itself less dangerous. It’s also possible for Goblins to race a slow Charbelcher opening that just creates Goblins from Empty the Warrens — then you’ve got an all-out Goblin war on your hands!
Goblins is a familiar, easy deck to run and it’s quite cheap for the format. You’re looking at an outlay for the Wastelands and Rishadan Ports, and Piledrivers and Lackeys are still a hit; aside from that, the rest of the tribe is affordable. I encourage you to reconsider Goblins as a solid, enjoyable deck that never really went away. It’s not glitzy like Natural Order, but it is a dependable deck that can, as we have recently seen, win big events.
Until next week…
legacysallure at gmail dot com
legacysallure on Twitter