Introduction
You go to a fancy restaurant. You sit down, order a heaping plate of chargrilled steak and seared onions. You eat it. All of it. All twenty pounds of steak and onions. And then, to the horror of everyone around you, you let out an earth-trembling, bone-rattling, nose-burning belch, that lasts for at least three minutes. And at the end of it all, as people are picking themselves up from the rubble and ruin, you stand, wink, and, with the cheesiest grin on your face, say "My compliments to the chef."
This is kind of how it feels to run a Goblin Charbelcher deck. For those of you who don't know, a charbelcher combo deck seeks to run as few lands as possible, and to belch as *soon* as possible. If you have all your lands out of your library, you activate the Belch, and then proceed to flip your library over and say "My compliments to the chef." Top kek.
The Primer
Overview
Reading this decklist
Reading this decklist
The decklist has been divided in such a way so you can quickly look at it and see how it ticks.
Combo: this one speaks for itself. It's what we use to win, most of the time.Tutor: what we use to get what we need when we need it. Usually lands, but also other things.Mana: this is w broad category that includes everything we need to be able to have enough mana to run this deck with the number of lands it has. Backup: this is for the ways we win without the combo. Land: this is where you can find our land choices. Removal: we run one main deck removal piece: look upon it. Deck colors
Deck colors
As far as I know, is one of the more uncommon color choices for this deck. However, I felt it had the most resiliency, consistency, and redundancy. First, let's look at the other colors common to the build.
: These guild colors are among the more common lists, from what I've seen. It reminds me of RG Tron a little, if only because of the colors and the Plan-B route. This rendition usually runs a Stomping grounds for Lightning Bolt and to occasionally double Goblin Charbelcher. I'm not a huge fan of bolt here, so I don't want to run red.
: This is what I started with. It runs Temple Gardens for Path to Exile, which does double duty to remove threats or to grab my last basic.
: this is perhaps the most straightforward, all-out plan. No removal, all-basic, with more basic land grabbers. Also, this is the easiest version to have elves as a secondary win con. Maybe I'll try it sometime.
Deck strengths
Deck strengths
Fast, seeking to win by turn 4-5Resiliant, able to win without the combo, or if he combo is disrupted. Out of left field, so chances are our opponent won't know what's happening game one until it is too late. They also possibly won't be able to prevent our combo efficiently unless they know how it works. Post board bullets. Wargate allows us to grab answers post board. It's a hell of a lot of fun! It makes our inner Johnney light up with delight as we navigate the slew of choices we have to make in order to land the combo on time, or else have no lands for three turns.Deck weaknesses
Deck weaknesses
Weak to countermagic. Being a combo-oriented deck, a well-timed Mana Leak can lose us the game.Relies on mana dorks, so a Lightning Bolt or Searing Blaze can prevent us from comboing off for a turn or longer. Non-interactive, which makes us weak to early aggressionRuns three lands, so we'll probably get mana-screwed every so often.Our combo revolves around targeting our opponent, so Leyline of Sanctity and Orbs of Warding are often backbreaking if we can't access our backup plans.
The Strategy
General strategy
General strategy
The general strategy can be broken down into three parts: the setup, the pre-belch, and the Belch.
The Setup involves ramping up to four mana as quickly as possible. This is achieved through casting our mana dorks (Llanowar Elves, Arbor Elf,
Wall of Roots
, and Birds of Paradise), using our free mana (Simian Spirit Guide and
Chancellor of the Tangle
), and getting all of our lands out of the library. We have a remarkable tutor suite, containing a total of 22 cards! With all of these tools, we should get to four mana by turn two or three. Turn four at the latest.
The Pre-Belch consists of finding Goblin Charbelcher. Unfortunately, there is only room for four artifact tutors. However, there is a way to stack our deck once we have all of our lands out of our deck:
Recross the Paths
. When we don't have any more lands in our deck we can cast this and basically stack our deck so our next draws are pure gas. Normally, this consists of putting all four copies of Goblin Charbelcher on top, just in case our opponent Thought Scours us or something like that. If we have access to only four mana, we cast Goblin Charbelcher and go to the next step.
The Belch step includes either resolving an activation of Goblin Charbelcher already on the board from the previous turn, or casting and resolving the belcher itself if we have seven mana and the card in hand. By now we have hopefully removed all three lands from our deck, so when we activate the belcher, we reveal each card, one at a time, tally the total damage, then belch in victory.
Early game
Early game
Our early game is all about staying alive and setting up. Aggro is a weakness of ours, so we have to make smart choices to keep ourselves from dying. This means that getting out a
Wall of Roots
as early as possible is imperative, as it can block anything early game, except for a big Tarmogoyf. Try to preserve our dorks. Let through little damage, but if We have to chump a dude, don't hesitate. It doesn't matter if we get to seven mana turn two if we are dead by then. Also, RID THE LIBRARY OF LANDS. We only have three, so getting them all out shouldn't be a big problem. Even if you only get out two, however, you still have a good chance of a lethal belch.
Mid game
Mid game
The midgame. This is where we want the game to end. By now we should have either a belcher on the board or seven mana open with a belcher in hand. Either way, we need to be going off about now. If you are playing against a deck with countermagicks, make sure you time your belcher casting right, otherwise it will get countered.
Late game
Late game
If we have lived this long, we've probably already lost and are waiting to die. If we are still around, we need to be trying our best to get a belcher online. Alternatively, we will have our backups in play and wrecking face. Either way, the lategame is a place we don't want to be.
Contingency plan
Contingency plan
Our contingency plan includes all of the following: land a fatty. We should have plenty of accessible mana, so casting a Wurmcoil Engine, Batterskull, or even
Chancellor of the Tangle
shouldn't be too hard. With Wurmcoil Engine and Batterskull we should be gaining life back, as well as draining our opponent, and the Chancellor is great for Lingering Souls or other flying foes. If our threats are all removed or countered, we cannot recover.
Mulligans
Mulligans
Arguably one of the most important skills to master in this deck is the art of the mulligan. In order to have a keepable hand, you have to have a way to get consistent mana on succeeding turns; something as simply a land or a mana dork. Additionally, you want to be able to grab lands and play dorks. An example of a keepable hand would be
Chancellor of the Tangle
,
Wall of Roots
, Simian Spirit Guide, Manamorphose,
Utopia Sprawl
, Arbor Elf, and
Caravan Vigil
. While this may look unkeepable at first, it's actually a fine hand! You reveal the chancellor, adding to your mana pool, then exile spirit guide for , then cast Manamorphose and return to your pool. Draw the card off of Manamorphose, cast
Wall of Roots
, activate
Wall of Roots
's ability for and cast
Caravan Vigil
, grabbing your only basic Forest, putting it into your hand and then into play. From there, you can cast Arbor Elf, and next turn cast
Utopia Sprawl
, untap the Forest, and have access to two mana.
Of course, not all of your draws will look like that. Take this hand, for example. It's not great, but it's not unkeepable:
Caravan Vigil
,
Caravan Vigil
, Sakura-Tribe Elder, Simian Spirit Guide, Goblin Charbelcher, Ancient Stirrings, and
Chancellor of the Tangle
. This hand will be slow, but doable. You can cast the elder and sac it before your next turn to grab a Forest, then cast Ancient Stirrings to find another land. As I said, this hand isn't great, and you could easily mulligan it away. Were the Chancellor a shockland, it would be a pretty decent hand, and were it any other nonland card, it would be trash.
As a general rule, you don't want a hand unless you can play a land, tutor a land, play a dork (if you have no lands, you want something other than Arbor Elf), or play a turn-one Wurmcoil Engine or Batterskull (achievable by having four and two of any of the free-mana cards, or just five total for Batterskull.
Matchups and sideboarding
Matchups and sideboarding
Let's take a look at the sideboard, shall we?
Choke- this is our answer to any deck running Islands: Twin, Delver, UWx control, etc. Fantastic card, and can be grabbed with Wargate.
Fracturing Gust
- because screw Affinity. Mostly Affinity. It hurts Mono-U Tron, Lantern Control, Bogles, etc. Magus of the Moon- this wants to be Blood Moon, and should be, but I'm on a bit of a budget. If you can afford it, however, Blood Moon wins here. Plus, they can both be fetched with Wargate.Nature's Claim- these are great. They do, however, have a downside: your opponent gets four life out of the deal. But that shouldn't be to important because you'll mostly be belching for 30+ easily. But this can be swapped for Naturalize here, and with more testing, I may decide to go that route as well.
Nourishing Shoal
- this comes in against aggro/burn. You almost always pitch
Chancellor of the Tangle
to it. Pithing Needle- pretty self-explanatory; comes in against decks with cards that have activated ability. Tron, Affinity, Twin, and Jund, among others.Relic of Progenitus- graveyard hate. Kills Living End, Snapcaster Mage.dec, and reanimator strategies.Combos and synergies
Card Choices Explained
Lands
Lands
As far as lands go, there are only three: Forest, Breeding Pool, and Temple Gardens. I chose the shocklands so I could have easier access to blue and white for Path to Exile and Wargate.
I suppose a better question would be, "Why did you choose only three lands?" The answer is that I didn't like the idea of seven, which is what many suggest, and five was too many to try to get out before belching. I entertained the thought of running just three, but I didn't put it to the test until I saw primalhunted's deck, deck: the-fastest-modern-belcher-turn-3. It seemed to work okay, and while I opted to have a different land base, one more akin to my original of three basic Forests, a Temple Gardens, and a Breeding Pool.
I opted not to run fetchlands for a number of reasons, chief among them is the fact that they would not efficiently remove lands from the library. Also, if they were the last lands in the library, I have no way of fetching them, save grabbing them off of Ancient Stirrings. The tutor suite I selected is more than capable of getting three lands from the library.
Creatures
Creatures
Arbor Elf- this little guy made the cut because he could untap lands enchanted by
Utopia Sprawl
. However, he is a little weak if you don't have any lands.Llanowar Elves- the classic mana dork. He does have to tap, which, considering summoning sickness, is unfortunate, but he puts in work nevertheless.Birds of Paradise- the flamboyant flyers went from a three-of to a full playset when I decided to go Bant colors. They can also be equipped with Batterskull to rain hell and terror from the skies.
Wall of Roots
- this guy is a champ. He does cost , but he can immediately produce , which allows for some lovely shenanigans regarding maximizing mana usage. He can also survive a Lightning Bolt and stand up to most early creature aggression. A true champion.
Chancellor of the Tangle
- although we rarely cast him, his usage as a turn one mana ramp is invaluable. He makes explosive plays possible, and can give us a huge advantage over our opponent. His utility as a game-ender is not to be ignored.Simian Spirit Guide- like
Chancellor of the Tangle
, Simian Spirit Guide is a free-mana card. Unlike the chancellor, we will never cast spirit guide. Ideally, Elvish Spirit Guide would be here, too, but she isn't legal. :'( Not making green mana can hurt sometimes, but he can pay for generic mana costs all day long.Sakura-Tribe Elder- the Elder functions as land tutor, but really shines when he can be used to block an attacker and be sac'd in response, allowing you to save yourself some life and grab your basic. Unlike Rampant Growth, Sakura-Tribe Elder isn't completely useless after the basic has been removed from the library.Wurmcoil Engine- the only creature that does not help our combo. He comes out as a backup plan, and is an absolute backbreaker for decks that don't run
Path to Exile.
Other cards
Other cards
Goblin Charbelcher- the reason that this is a deck. Don't forget that this can target a creature, so if you whiff and hit a land, and can only do, say, five damage, and you're about to die to a 4/5 Tarmogoyf, kill the 'goyf, and win next turn.
Safewright Quest
- this card is amazing! It's better than a fetchland in this deck. It can grab any of our three lands. Protip: don't grab the basic with it unless it's the last land in the library; you have many more ways to grab a basic than you do a nonbasic.
Caravan Vigil
- a great tutor. It can even put the land directly onto the battlefield if you've had a dork die that turn. Of course, we will only get to resolve one per game, but it's imperative that we get your lands out of the library.Ancient Stirrings- this all-star can dig for a land, a belcher, a Wurmcoil Engine, or a Batterskull. Do not forget that if you do choose to grab the belcher over the final land, place the land on the bottom of the library since you get to choose the order in which they go; if your opponent has a huge amount of life or your library has been reduced, we need every point of damage we can get.
Utopia Sprawl
- this enchantment can get out of hand quickly. Landing this turn one on a land off of a
Chancellor of the Tangle
into a
Wall of Roots
into a
Safewright Quest
is hilarious.Wargate- this odd spell is a great tutor for the cause. It can grab a land for X=0, a dork for X=1 or 2, a belcher for X=4 (if we have 10 mana we can tutor the belcher and immediately activate!), or it can grab post-board silver bullets like Blood Moon, Choke, and Pithing Needle. It really does whatever we need it to do. Utterly fantastic!Batterskull- this equipment and germ can be a win condition all by themselves. Don't be afraid to equip it to a dork (except for
Wall of Roots
, or course) to beat down.Manamorphose- this cantrip can fix our mana and replaces itself. It lets us chain together multiple cards for maximum mana utility. Path to Exile- one of the more flexible slots, this card can take care of a huge threat or hit one of our guys to grab our basic if we are desperate.
Recross the Paths
- I was skeptical of this card for a while, but I soon learned its use. Of course, it can be used to find a land, but it can also be of use when there are no more lands in the deck. Casting this while there are no lands in the deck allows us to basically set our deck. We can line up all the gas we could possibly need for the next several turns, ensuring we don't draw more land tutors.Cards that I decided not to use:
I will listen to any argument that can be made for a card on this list, if anyone disagrees.
Rampant Growth- I decided to use Sakura-Tribe Elder in its place, since the elder dodges Spell Pierce and isn't absolutely unplayable after I've gotten the Forest out of my library.
Lay of the Land
-
Caravan Vigil
is just better. Search for Tomorrow- too slow. Just too slow. By the time it resolves I'll probably have already gotten the basic land.
Other Information
Building this deck
Building this deck
I'll get around to this at some point.
Event record
Event record
No official record yet.
Change log
Change log
Will update as needed.
Feedback
Thank you for reading this primer! If you found this helpful or enjoyable, don't be afraid to drop a comment! If you have any questions or suggestions, or feel that I'm wrong about something, comment on that, too. I'm all about constructive criticism. If you decide to put this deck together, please let me know how it goes for you! I'd love to know!
The coding for this primer was developed by
Epochalyptik here.
