If it isn’t Jimmy Chow, the R&D of multiplayer. How timely that he returns shortly after the new bannings were made.
And I guess it’s time I made a return to defend my failure of a deck called Goblink.
The first thing I want to clear up is that Goblink was never meant to be a Goblin Beatdown deck. It is, at its core, a combo deck, that could turn to attacking with goblins if worse came to worse. I will admit that this was a REALLY weak aspect of this deck, but a deck cannot simply rely on a combo to win. It’s the appearance of being a goblin beatdown deck that is problematic. Thorin worked to make this a little more concrete with fewer distractions, but also left himself with a weak creature base. He at least took creatures into consideration with Sparksmith.
To refresh our memory, here’s the decklist I presented for Goblink:
4 Mogg Fanatic
2 Goblin Matron
2 Goblin Ringleader
2 Goblin Chirurgeon
2 Squee, Goblin Nabob
4 Mogg Flunkies
4 Skirk Fire Marshal
4 Spirit Link
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Orim’s Chant
4 Swords to Plowshares
1 Sol Ring
4 Forge[/author]“]Battlefield [author name="Forge"]Forge[/author]
4 Plateau
2 Forgotten Cave
4 Plains
6 Mountain
Sideboard:
2 Red Elemental Blast
2 Flaring Pain
2 Disenchant
2 Story Circle
4 Goblin Goon
3 Goblin Trenches
Now, I’ve got to admit that Mogg Maniac is a great idea for the deck, and would probably take the place of either the Mogg Fanatics or the Flunkies, or even, in fact, take the place of Orim’s Chants. Circle of Protection: Red would be wonderful, too.
In the absence of a Skirk Fire Marshal, this deck and its ilk will simply roll over to creature based decks, and that, I think, is the defining difference between my poor little Goblink deck and Thorin’s more combo-oriented deck and Jimmy Chow’s… Travesty. I have, out of habit, considered how commonplace creatures are. The other factor I considered that my StarCity colleagues have not placed as much emphasis on is disruption. Am I the only multiplayer who has to face counterspells in multiplayer games?
I normally avoid doing this, but it’s time to tear into some decks, which is not to say that I’m going to flame anyone. First comes Thorin McGee’s deck – which, as I said, takes a slightly different approach than mine.
Goblink Apocalypse, by Thorin McGee
3 Skirk Fire Marshall
4 Goblin Recruiter
4 Mogg Maniac
3 Goblin Ringleader
4 Spirit Link
4 Rune of Protection: Red
2 Squee, Goblin Nabob
4 Goblin Chirurgeon
2 Brightstone Ritual
3 Crown of Awe
2 Cleansing Meditation
10 Plains
14 Mountains
An almost direct combo, taking into accounts Disenchants and opposing circles of protection – but lacking creature removal aspects. There is search in the form of Goblin Recruiter and Goblin Ringleader, some (incidental) protection for creatures in the form of Crown of Awe. Some self-protection in the form of Runes of Protection: Red, and a small nod to acceleration in Brightstone Ritual are also present.
All things considered, this deck is tight, with everything serving a direct purpose, and most of the time, in the most efficient manner possible. The problem is that this does not consider other players with the exception of Cleansing Meditations and Crowns of Awe, but those serve to further the combo (by once again, removing opposing Circles of Protection, and protecting the goblins from the Fire Marshal’s ability). This deck fishbowls, and hopes nothing happens to it. But it’s a solid build, with every card being useful outside the combo to some extent. I’m very fond of it, but still fear creatures and disruption from my opponents.
Next, a look at Jimmy Chow’s deck:
“Adding a Third Color For Yet Another Virtually Useless Card Will Always Work Out Just Fine”, by Jimmy Chow
4 Goblin Chirurgeon
4 Goblin Marshal
4 Moggcatcher
4 Mogg Maniac
4 Skirk Fire Marshal
1 Crown of Awe
1 Goblin Trenches
2 Moonlit Wake
4 Orim’s Thunder
4 Rune of Protection: Red
4 Vitalize
4 Forest
4 Krosan Verge
10 Mountain
6 Plains
Okay, in addition to the fishbowl aspect that Thorin’s has, this one has even less creature removal. This one has less protection against disruption, slightly more tutoring power, and an interesting Disenchant variant.
Admittedly, Orim’s Thunder is a great card that serves multiple purposes – but therein ends the highlight of this deck.
*takes deep breath*
Goblin Chirurgeon is a fun card, but there are simply too many in here. Four Chirurgeons do nothing for creature defense – and worst of all, they take the space of better goblins like the Ringleader and Recruiter, or even a Goblin Matron.
Goblin Marshal is six mana, with echo, for a marginal body and two goblins. When you have six mana, the last thing you want to do is sink them into this. When you have six mana, you want to cast Fire Marshal to cover Force Spike or even Spirit Link it! You don’t want to waste an entire turn casting what may turn out to be chump blockers, and by the time you have six mana, you’d better have the goblins ready to use the Fire Marshal’s ability. Five-mana casting costs are hard enough; don’t make things worse.
Moggcatchers: Four mana for a marginal creature, three more for the goblin of your choice. Matrons accelerate you faster, Ringleaders dig down, and Recruiters do so at a mild delay while bringing you one goblin closer to the critical mass of five. When the other quality Moggs were around (Flunkies, Fanatic, Goblin Cadets, Goblin Lackey, et cetera) or even current goblins (Goblin Piledriver), Moggcatcher didn’t see play… And that’s because Moggcatcher eats mana at a disturbing pace.
You will use this to get a Skirk Fire Marshall or Goblin Marshal. That’s it. For seven mana, you get four more copies of two cards that might be useful… Assuming, of course, 1) you don’t let it get killed before it loses summoning sickness and 2) you don’t lose first. Seven mana, even if divided into two payments, should buy you much more.
Sure, putting things into play gets around counterspells, but does nothing about removal – never mind the distinct possibility of the Moggcatcher itself being countered. Double red in the casting cost makes this even less desirable. Don’t get me wrong – in a Goblin-based deck, Moggcatcher will shine his best, but even then, the quality of Moggcatcher is in question.
As for the Moonlit Wakes, everyone repeat after me: Lifegain sucks. I admit as much when I play Goblink – and even then, that gives you large, large amounts of life! I said it before, I’ll say it again: Do not play cards that are only useful in very, very, very narrow situations. Moonlit Wake is a downright waste of two slots. Not to toot my own horn, but consider the potential gain from Spirit Link, a card that can serve as a creature”removal” spell of sorts compared to this pile of a card. One activation of the Fire Marshal with no other creatures aside from the five goblins and just two other players will gain you sixty life. The Wake will get you four. Spirit Link gets virtually exponentially better as more creatures are in play as opposed to the Moonlit Wake.
Rune of Protection: Red is a poor substitute for Circle of Protection: Red in a deck like this. Runes are better in the sense that they cycle if they become useless, for instance, if you’re playing the wrong color Rune against an opposing deck. You will use red damage prevention. There is no question about that. Will you have enough mana to use this? Six is a tight number to run. When you cast Rune, chances are good that you will exhaust a very narrow white mana source. If you’re cycling Rune of Protection: Red, you either have one in play already, and do not fear Disenchants… Or you’re losing and desperately digging for a solution. This is an almost reasonable choice felled by the slim sources of white mana.
The last few cards in the deck deserve special mention, because there are some basic lessons that are sickly violated by these choices. Allow me to make a little tirade. The restricted list for Type 1 is in place for a reason: Crown of Awe and Goblin Trenches are not on this list.
Why is there a restricted list? Because the cards on that list are all insanely powerful and could result in sick, sick, sick card advantage. To have four cards in a deck means three more chances to draw the cards, tutors aside, and that would be too good.
Are Goblin Trenches and Crown of Awe too powerful? Nope. Why are there only one Crown and only one Goblin Trenches? The answer had better be,”I only have one of each.” And I quote:
“The crown is insurance to keep your goblins around for the next Skirk Fire Marshal activation. It could possibly save goblins from some black removal as well.”
That sounds like a pretty important function to me.
“Essentially a fifth Goblin Marshal, Goblin Trenches can also provide emergency attackers or blockers if necessary.”
I’ve made my case against Goblin Marshal – but because the Trenches is in your colors and is so easy to cast, Goblin Trenches is a good card to have. If you can draw the lone Trenches in your deck without tutoring or cheating whenever you need it, you don’t need to consider deckbuilding skills – because you’ve already won the lottery and have moved to the Bahamas. These either need to be cut entirely or increased to significant numbers.
Finally, adding a third color for yet another practically useless card in the form of Vitalize, destabilizing your mana base, and risking colorscrew is never a good idea. That card you cast had better be able to turn around a losing game. Vitalize is a”Win More” card if I’ve ever seen one. Moreover, twelve slots are wasted on this card.
There are gimmicky combos, and there are wastes of space. I think we all know what I think these selections represent.
Now on to the issue of a sideboard, or lack thereof.
Casual games may be casual, but sideboards add flexibility to a deck. With Goblin Goons and Goblin Trenches sided in, one is given more offensive and defensive options. Other adaptations are for control, damage prevention, and even counterspells. Here’s a reason to play sideboards – for times when you cycle around your decks and come back to your invalidated deck by another one that someone else is playing. (Actually, as do many people, I hate sideboards in multiplayer; part of the challenge is getting it right the first time – The Ferrett)
Finally, the issue of Goldfishing. An old rule of thumb I’ve heard is to play till turn 6, and then your imaginary opponent plays a Craw Wurm. Can you deal with this Craw Wurm? If you can’t, take your deck back to the drawing board. Now certainly, that rule of thumb is outdated. Andrew Healy posted a great article on answers to questions, and even links to [author name="The Ferrett"]The Ferrett’s[/author] old article. This is an excellent reading, and should be considered when a deck is built. Remember, when you goldfish, your opponent(s) get a turn too. A god hand means nothing, and an idealized kill is just that, ideal. Expect real results. What happens, for instance, if a Moggcatcher is not found? What happens if you don’t find a Skirk Fire Marshal?
Speaking of card disadvantage… The final paragraph of Chow’s article is full of the same misconceptions I tried to address the first time around. Goblink is not about just Fire Marshal to do the lethal damage; it involves finding five goblins, a Spirit Link, and making sure that no one disrupts you. Chow ignores this, and refuses to even consider it. Hurricane and Earthquake cannot be Spirit Linked. Moggcatcher is not just a single card, no matter what it tutors for. Goblin Fire Marshal may be one card, but you still need five Goblins. Don’t forget Circle of Protection. Goblink is too complicated to be taken so lightly.
And by the way, Squee, Goblin Nabob is hardly chaff when it acts as fuel for the Chirurgeon’s ability, acts as a chump blocker, a warm body, and a Goblin. Despite the relatively”janky” feel, they serve a valid purpose.
With the time that’s passed, let’s consider a new build of Goblink.
4 Skirk Fire Marshal
2 Mogg Maniac
2 Goblin Matron
2 Goblin Ringleader
2 Squee, Goblin Nabob
2 Mogg Fanatic
2 Mogg Flunkies
2 Goblin Chirurgeon
2 Story Circle
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Orim’s Chant
4 Spirit Link
1 Sol Ring
2 Forgotten Cave
4 Forge[/author]“]Battlefield [author name="Forge"]Forge[/author]
4 Plateau
4 Plains
5 Mountain
Sideboard:
2 Orim’s Thunder
4 Red Elemental Blast
2 Circle of Protection: Red
4 Goblin Goon
3 Goblin Trenches
Slightly higher quality two drops improve a shakier one-drop base, and Mogg Maniacs provide great chump blockers. Maindecked Story Circles lead to more defense, and of course, the usual complements of anti creature and anti disruption elements are still present. Lightning Bolts serve the double duty of early creature rush protection, and dealing that last three…
I’ve been inspired by the enthusiasm that Skirk Fire Marshal has encouraged in my fellow StarCity gamers. The new version of Goblink sports more benign-looking monsters, quality spells – and this time, a fighting chance. It’s still got the problem factors that plagued the original Goblink, but this is hopefully the start of Goblink’s revival.
John Alcantara Liu
“Combo decks should be discouraged, whether they are an elaborate seven-card combo or a simple two or three card combo.”