This is a legacy goblin deck that tries to get out goblins very quickly and then use cards like Goblin Piledriver, Krenko, Mob Boss, and
Goblin War Strike
to win the game. It's still a bit of a work in progress.
Here's a rundown of each element in the deck. This deck is essentially a fast aggro deck with a bit of combo and disruption mixed in. Many decks run Wasteland and
Rishadan Port
, but those are expensive so I use Magus of the Moon in their absence. Anyway, there are 7 parts to this deck: speedsters, removal, engine/card advantage, disruption, win cons, lords, and lands.
Starting off with lands: this is very simple since the deck is mono-red and budget:
18 Mountain ...duh...
4 Cavern of Souls -- prevents your creatures from being countered
Second, the speedsters, who allow you to cheat in goblins and thus mount board position very quickly:
4
Goblin Lackey
--the classic and powerful 1-drop goblin
4 Warren Instigator --goblin lackey on steriods; remember, double strike means 2 goblins at once, and you can do some cool stuff like put out Goblin Matron or Goblin Ringleader and then put out one of the goblins you just obtained in your hand for the second instigator cheat-in. More on those 2 guys later.
2 Aether Vial --this lets you put out uncounterable creatures and thus provides tempo, although since it is a little bit slower it's only a 2-of.
Third, the removal effects, which help to clear the way for the speedsters mentioned above, or just take out any troublesome creature (Pyrokinesis and
Goblin Sharpshooter
are in the sideboard, too):
2
Gempalm Incinerator
--uncounterable creature removal that also provides card advantage, and can be played as a creature too.
2 Stingscourger --this guy may seem underwhelming as a 2-mana bounce at sorcery speed that sacs himself, but he is very handy because he ALWAYS clears the way for
Goblin Lackey
and he's very useful against Show and Tell and Reanimator.
2
Tarfire
--this is run over Lightning Bolt because you can get it with Goblin Matron and Goblin Ringleader. It specifically helps kill annoying creatures like
Deathrite Shaman
, Stoneforge Mystic, Delver of Secrets
, and occasionally even Tarmogoyf.
Fourth, the engine/card advantage providers. These are what make the deck a viable option to play, helping to outlast other decks in an attrition battle, and are universal inclusions in all goblin decks:
4 Goblin Matron --tutor for any goblin card. This is obviously extremely useful, providing the missing piece while giving you an extra body.
4 Goblin Ringleader --refills your hand with goblins. Extremely important card. Oh, he also has haste. :)
Fifth, are the disruption tactics, of which there is only room for three maindeck right now. They hurt a lot of decks pretty bad, consisting of:
2
Thorn of Amethyst
--great against non-aggro decks
1 Magus of the Moon --shuts down most non-red decks and is a 2/2 creature (duh).
Sixth are the lords, who help out you and your goblins, and also give out free haste:
3 Goblin Warchief --haste is really useful. 1 lower casting cost for almost all goblins is also great. Why not a full playlet, then? Because you're not going to be casting many of your goblins because you have
Goblin Lackey
and Warren Instigator and Aether Vial, and there are not very many cards whose cost will be decreased by having a second warchief on the field.
2
Goblin Chieftain
--Nice pump lord who gives haste and has haste himself. Pump both speeds up the kill clock and makes your opponent's removal less effective.
Seventh, and finally, are the win conditions. All of these rely on having a large number of goblins on the battlefield, and either greatly accelerate the kill or just flat-out end the game on the spot. These consist of:
2
Goblin War Strike
--this doesn't see play in a lot of goblin decks, but it really speeds up the kill, and it's only 1 CMC.
2 Krenko, Mob Boss --this guy "krenk"s out goblins like a maniac. If you have lords out, you can tap him immediately, and then attack with the horde of goblin tokens you just generated. From there, casting a
Goblin War Strike
will probably end the game, if it's not over already. 2 is a good number for him since he's a legendary.
2 Goblin Piledriver --this guy can really overrun the opponent because he gets so big so easily. Protection from blue means he is immune to bounce spells and can't be blocked by blue creatures, which often prevents him from being chump blocked.
Ok, now the sideboard.
First we have 2
Ashen Rider
. This is solely for use against show and tell, which is really popular in the current metagame. Suddenly their show and tell turns into a disaster for them--you smash whatever they put down, and are left with a 5/5 with flying!
Next up is 1
Goblin King
. This guy clearly has synergy with Magus of the Moon, and is also good against red decks and helps lackeys and instigators connect.
Now we have a singleton
Goblin Sharpshooter
. This wacky green man (and you gotta love the art) sheerly decimates armies of 1/1s; for example, Empty the Warrens. Nuff said.
Here are the other 2 Magus of the Moons. When your opponent is not running much red and is greedy with multicolor shenanigans, side this guy in and they're in for a bad time. He also really provides upside to those who can't afford Wasteland and
Rishadan Port
and go mono-red.
Moving on, we've got 2 Pithing Needle. This is a universally helpful card; for example, it shuts down Stoneforge Mystic. One especially notable usage is on Sensei's Divining Top against UW Miracles to prevent a
Terminus
from resolving.
Next in line is 2 Pyrokinesis. Extra removal in exchange for a bit of last card advantage can be very useful. A great card against other aggro decks, and like the maindeck removal, it clears the way for lackeys and instigators.
All right, here is 2 Relic of Progenitus. Reanimator and other graveyard-abuse decks are a bad matchup for this deck, as are many combo matchups, and Relic of Progenitus turns those games into easy victories games 2 and 3. And the ability to draw a card seems very appropriate in this deck, which values and boasts card advantage.
Here we have the other 2
Thorn of Amethyst
. If they're not playing aggro, side these in games 2 and 3 and you'll really bother your opponent, not to mention improving the combo matchup. All in all, this deck should perform decently against combo decks games 2 and 3...
Finally there is a
Tuktuk Scrapper
. this is useful against all bothersome artifacts, but Umezawa's Jitte is what really earns this card a spot in the deck. You could potentially switch this out for a smelt if you want instant speed artifact destruction.
One final note. If the price tag is still concerning you, feel free to remove the 4 Cavern of Souls, which are currently $20 each.
