For years, a Goblin deck has been one of the best choices in Extended for PTQ seasons, but this year things have not gone well for the former champion. To begin with, Aether Vial got banned, which limited Goblins effectiveness against control decks. Then Ravinca hit, which brought the new duals, Dredge, Lightning Helix and generally many more bad things came for the little Red men.
But hey we still had Goblin Warchief and Goblin Ringleader so that would be plenty… right? Right!?!
Pro Tour: LA and the subsequent Grand Prix proved just how far Goblins had fallen in the metagame. Part of this was people simply fleeing the deck without putting real effort into fixing the archetype, but another part was the deck simply lacking the options or sheer power of older seasons. By battling opponents’ Ravinca cards with some of our own, we have my attempt to resuscitate Goblins in Extended.
Mana
2 Tendo Ice Bridge
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Forge[/author]“]Battlefield [author name="Forge"]Forge[/author]
10 Mountain
4 Chrome Mox
// Other
4 Suppression Field
// Critters
2 Goblin Goon
3 Goblin Pyromancer
3 Siege-Gang Commander
4 Goblin Matron
4 Goblin Ringleader
4 Goblin Warchief
4 Goblin Piledriver
4 Sparksmith
4 Skirk Prospector
Sideboard
4 Disenchant
4 Pithing Needle (Could become Blood Moon)
4 Shared Triumph
3 Flaring Pain
The Rule
Let me start this section by saying that even with the Extended card pool, there are only one or two possible cards that aren’t a Goblin or mana source actually worth running in the maindeck. This is a common issue that comes up time and time again, so I’ll explain. Every Goblin in the deck works synergistically with each other Goblin. All your threats can be drawn by Ringleader, searched for by Matron, make Sparksmith better, help to pump your Piledriver, etc.
Every single Goblin you run not only increases the threat density of your deck, but also ultimately makes every other Goblin card stronger. This is extremely important to the deck’s function and in order to break the “non-Goblin rule”, the card would have to be amazingly efficient or broken to be worth running.
Notable Inclusions
Suppression Field
This is the big addition here, so I may as well get this explanation done first. Suppression Field is a cheap disruption spell that messes with many of the top decks main strategies. Originally I had Field in a WW and W/U Solution-esque deck, but I found these deck skeletons to be too slow or weak to beat Psychatog and U/G Heartbeat. It then struck me that Goblins hadn’t lost much of its speed from the rotation, but just some fight against counters.
The problem was Cabal Therapy simply wasn’t strong enough disruption to make up losing Aether Vial against control decks. Field presented a form of disruption that was not only strong, but also not as widely prepared against, unlike discard. The addition of the new duals along with painlands allowed me to run an effective mana base, despite not using detchlands in the deck.
Short list of notable cards it hurts or effectively shuts down:
Psychatog, Wild Mongrel, Cycling Lands, Fetchlands, Meloku the Clouded Mirror, Isochron Scepter, Pernicious Deed, Arcbound Ravager, Cranial Plating, Blinkmoth Nexus, Zombie Infestation, Seismic Assault and nearly all the creatures in Boros Deck Wins.
(Note: Suppression Field does not affect Morph or Dredge abilities)
This is a short list and you can really see the amount of damage this card resolving does to the top decks in the format. By contrast Goblins remains mostly unaffected by a resolved Field and keeps it’s goldfish win turn intact.
Skirk Prospector
Not so much notable as a justification. Prospectors are pretty much awful for being utterly terrible in combat and having a very worthless ability after the early game. The key reason to keep them around is to get a more consistent turn two Goblin Warchief.
Sparksmith
Not exactly common in a lot of current builds, but a needed removal option for Goblins. Why Sparky over other removal like Gempalm Incinerator or Goblin Sharpshooter?
The big reason is that Sparksmith has an easier time killing or “wounding” larger creatures like Myr Enforcer, Wild Mongrel, Psychatog, Loxodon Hierarch, etc. since you don’t have to tap mana for his ability (allowing you to use all of it to dropping extra goons). In addition, Sparksmith can be used multiple times to clear the board (Affinity) or drain resources from the card munchers (Tog and Mongrel) by forcing opponents into the position of losing the creature early or losing cards to unnecessary pumps.
The final reason is that Sparky only costs two to activate and use under Suppression Field unlike Incinerator, which would cost 4, or Sharpshooter that deals one damage per two mana paid.
Goblin Goon
Many of the top decks in the current format are control or aggro-control. These by definition run a limited amount of creatures compared to you, so the chances of Goon ceasing to function is low. Plus he’s a 6/6 which is great in the current format, allowing for a clock with just one other creature in play or pounding through a large Ravager or Wild Mongrel the hard way. He’s also not easily blocked by opposing armies, nor easily removed with Smother, Lightning Helix or gun creatures (Grim Lavamancer and Flametongue Kavu come to mind).
In summary, he’s an undercosted beatdown machine that has a butt of 6.
Goblin Pyromancer
By running two of these instead of the typical singleton you gain a more consistent turn 4 kill rate and can threaten control with only a few Goblins in play. He also gives you enough speed to have a reasonable chance against U/G Heartbeat decks by daring them to never tap out early. Post-board this guy gets even better since Pithing Needle and Flaring Pain can shut off many of the ways opponents have of stopping an alpha strike.
The Mana Base
Suppression Field tends to make fetches bad in a hurry, but eight R/W lands and the two Tendo Ice Bridges give you White a sufficient amount of the time. Four Chrome Mox have been added to allow for turn 2 Goblin Warchief, because without the turn 2 Warchief nuts draws, it’s not even worth playing the deck.
Disenchant
For 1W you get an answer to deal with Engineered Plague, Isochron Scepter, Solitary Confinement and any other nasty enchantments or artifacts. It’s amazingly versatile and much needed sideboard card the deck needs to currently succeed.
Shared Triumph
Basically I’m using this as a cheap proactive answer to Engineered Plague. If people are still running Engineered Plague in their board (and I know some sick people that still are), this is your main answer along with Disenchant to take care of it.
Notable non-includes
Gempalm Incinerator / Goblin Sharpshooter
I already explained above why I picked Sparksmith over these two, but I’ll make it even clearer here.
1. The majority of creatures in the format aren’t always at one or two toughness. Hence Sharpshooter’s value is significantly diminished.
2. Despite Incinerator being able to cantrip, he doesn’t add to your ground army and he can’t drain resources away from Wild Mongrel or Psychatog more than once. Against larger creatures like Loxodon Hierarch, Exalted Angel and Fledgling Dragon; Sparksmith can wipe them out with having slightly fewer creatures in play and at no mana cost (I.E. You can still wipe them out with Pyromancer after).
Goblin King
The pump effect is really negligible – he competes with Goblin Matron and Goblin Warchief at the three-mana slot and all Mountain playing decks nowadays pack burn or cards that wreck your plan anyway (Wrath of God and Solitary Confinement come to mind). So I say leave the King to the Burger King commercials and play other Goblins.
Goblin Legionnaire
So you run White already, so why not run the W/R 2/2 goblin of doom? Well… because there are better cards available. Goblin Goon is effectively taking up the few remaining slots for this guy and I much rather have a 6/6 body available to me, especially if you run Suppression Field.
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
No Aether Vial means you can’t drop Kiki and Ringleader/Matron/Warchief into play the same turn to copy for the win. He relies on having other men out to use in a format that’s ripe with spot removal and Wrath of God. Don’t bother.
Seething Song
It’s a good accelerant and worth using if you choose to go with a mono red build. In the R/W build I’ve presented though, there’s simply no room left for non-threats. And trust me, you don’t want to cut any of the permanent mana sources for a temporary one, no matter how broken. It’s the matter of space over anything else.
Matchups
Tog
You actually have a favorable match here! Scary I know, but one of the main reasons to actually play Goblins in the current Extended is because it beats up Tog something fierce. You may ask how rubbish such as Goblins beats Tog. It’s pretty simple actually. Over half your deck is creatures and your four non-creature cards happen to hose part of their draw engine and main defense/kill creature. In many games you’ll simply overwhelm them with the little red men.
Common things to remember:
Play around Force Spike, losing a turn 2 Warchief to a Force Spike is a wonderful way to lose the game.
Play for the mid-game. Between Force Spike, Counterspell, Smother and Pernicious Deed it’s very difficult to get a lethal mass of red men out early. Don’t over-expand your resources for turn 2 Warchief or turn 3 Ringleader (barring some silly tapping) and make sure to bait possible threats like Goblin Goon and Goblin Warchief before playing the big guns like Goblin Ringleader and Siege-Gang Commander. Warchief may be amazing, but in this match he’s sub-par compared to SGC who brings an army with him by default.
Always look for a Goblin Pyromancer opening for 6-12 points of damage even if it isn’t lethal. People get skittish with Pyromancer when it’s not an alpha strike since they’ll lose their army of crappy 1/1 goblins. If the Tog player leaves himself open and is hiding behind his life total and Psychatog it’s usually worth it to just force through 8-12 damage or so (Depending on army size). Matron, Warchief, Ringleader and SGC all have the very real possibility of finishing an opponent from 1-3 life.
Sparksmith is still an effective resource drain against a Psychatog player. People constantly forget this thinking that keeping their life total high will really help. When the Tog is coming in for an alpha strike, it’s going to be huge 90% of the time anyway. I much rather trade life and help induce them into screwing up or killing a Psychatog then hiding behind an ineffective life barrier.
Boarding:
Shared Triumph over Skirk Prospector if you expect Engineered Plague out of the board
Affinity
Thankfully you win this match too. This and your Tog match will be the main selling points if you’re thinking about playing this deck at your local PTQ. The basic plan against Affinity is to either keep hands with an early Sparksmith or Goblin Matron/Ringleader. That’s the easy way to win the match. Either continually destroy all the threats they have and beat their heads in since Arcbound Ravager and Cranial Plating tend to suck without company. Or force them into a war of attrition since you have a better draw engine and ways to fetch out more drawing/removal from the deck.
Here’s why most Goblin players lose horribly to Affinity. They try to fight the deck fairly and get tricked into thinking their good or nuts draws are still great against bigger creatures. These people are wrong, as usual. The Goblins “nuts” draw loses straight up to an average Affinity draw barring a really good Ringleader stack to save itself. When I said getting into an attrition war as an option, I meant one where you actively are going for 1 for 1 trades while not completely relying on Ringleader. If you can’t trade (say an opposing Arcbound Ravager or Myr Enforcer) then just build up an army; then try for the Pyromancer alpha strike. This is doable since you’ll usually have 5-6 guys against 2-4 on your normal clogged board.
Post-board gets dicey if they bring in actual removal and/or Engineered Plague comes into the deck to make life miserable. Thankfully you get a two-mana Vindicate and a one-mana answer to their entire deck in Pithing Needle.
Boarding:
In comes Disenchant over Suppression Field and Pithing Needle over Skirk Prospector (you can tell I really dislike this goober) Shared Triumph is a possibility over Needle if you expect the Plague, but don’t board it in without thought. The amount of Goblins you run is a huge boon for your consistency, so don’t be quick to drop that advantage.
BDW
I find this game 1 of the match is about even, despite claims to the contrary. It’s basically your threat density and ability to tutor/draw cards against slightly better creatures and burn. Field actually does a good job of shutting down fetches and their main creature threats (Grim Lavamancer and Goblin Legionnaire), meanwhile you have your army. A key to the match is to always play as if they had a burn spell in hand when attacking. The number one reason people drop game 1 is because they get into a horrible combat situation by Warchief, Piledriver or (in some builds) King dying right before or during combat.
Post-board a lot depends on what they’ve decided to run in the board. The card they can bring in against you is Fledgling Dragon. If they bring in three and change their mind-set in playing the match accordingly, your winning percentage drops dramatically. It’s just very difficult to fight through their army; when most of the creatures they play can go two-for-one and burn your dudes at will. Meanwhile your deck is simply not equipped to handle a 5/5 flyer that can pump to kill you in two turns or so. The best plan at that point is to dump as many guys on the table as possible and just Pyromancer strike.
Boarding: Nothing.
CAL
Game 1 sucks. Badly. You get run over by a working Solitary Confinement or active Seismic Assault. Thankfully you have Suppression Field, which can shut down their cycling engine and potentially steal game 1. Post-board the match is far more favorable for you, since Flaring Pain basically negates the Confinement lock entirely. Though one would imagine the Fields stay in, it’s actually worked out better in testing to board in the Disenchants over them.
It’s pretty simple stuff here. You now have an army and a way of destroying their lock. The only way the CAL player can now beat you is using Loxodon Hierarch, Seismic Assault and some life gain like Overgrown Estate to back it up. It’s actually not very difficult to build up a decent sized army and just cast Pain / D-Chant for the win. Just remember about Burning Wish and the brutality of Assault on your board and you won’t have too many problems post-board.
Boarding: -1 Goblin Goon, -2 Goblin Pyromancer, -4 Suppression Field.
In comes the Flaring Pain and Disenchant
No-Stick
You’re completely and utterly screwed. Concede game 1 and roll onto game 2. It doesn’t matter if they run Fire/Ice, Lightning Helix, Exalted Angel or whatever maindeck. Isochron Scepter completely ruins you if Field isn’t out and trying to get an army to live for more than a turn or two against Wrath of God and Wing Shards. Exalted Angel or Decree of Justice also makes life rather miserable.
Games 2 and 3 are a lot fairer. Pithing Needle, Disenchant and Field help a ton, but the match is still a beating on you. Always remember that Sparksmith is still valuable to take care of Exalted Angel. In addition keep in mind that Matron and Siege-Gang Commander are the best goblins you can resolve in the match.
Boarding: -3 Pyromancer (you’ll never get the freebie win), -4 Skirk Prospector
+4 Pithing Needle, +3 Disenchant
Final Thoughts
For the final two weeks of the PTQs, everyone will either be playing the best control decks possible, BDW, or their own homemade metagame breaking decks. At this point I think Goblins can really break through two of the three best control decks while trampling most aggro/randomness along the way. If you play in a control-infested metagame, you may want to make your stand with the little red men one last time.
It beats playing Scepter wars anyway.
Joshua Silvestri
Email me at: joshDOTsilvestriATgmailDOTcom
Proud member of Team Reflection and Killer Death Squid