Ib Halfheart, Goblin Sac-tician [PRIMER]

Commander / EDH Liquidbeaver

SCORE: 726 | 420 COMMENTS | 66182 VIEWS | IN 236 FOLDERS


Ibperial Decree #41338 —May 20, 2022

OUR GLORIOUS LEADER DECREES THAT ALL SHALL BEQUEATH (srsly he said "bequeath"??) UPON HIM MANY, MANY TREASURES, AND POUR THEM INTO A PILE AT HIS FEET SO THAT HE MIGHT "DIVE INTO IT LIKE HE SAW A DUCK DO ONCE."

-- END OF DECREE--

Liquidbeaver says... #1

paytongamerI haven't gotten a lot of opportunities to play since Snoop came out, but I would say the vast majority of the time he has had a positive impact. I think it really hinges on how many Goblins someone is running. I would say 2 years ago with my ~15 Goblin deck it would have been terrible.

When it comes down to it, Snoop really should have been like 4 CMC, so at 2 it has huge potential, and even at its worst it is letting you dig sometimes, which is Red is rare in itself.

So far it's been nothing less than solid, and an easy include. I would cut Dark-Dweller Oracle before Snoop.

March 7, 2021 5:25 p.m.

sdidonato says... #2

I really like Snoop. If you get a Goblin Recruiter , I typically find Conspicuous Snoop , Goblin Warchief , Skirk Prospector , Krenko, Mob Boss , Goblin Chirurgeon

This essentially allows you to start a goblin-creation chain. 4 goblins in play w/ haste tap Snoop to create 4 gob tokens (while Krenko is revealed on top of library), sac 3 gob tokens to play Krenko. Tap it to create 8 gob tokens.

At that point, Massive Raid, Shared Animosity, Impact Tremors, Purphoros, God of the Forge, etc would be pretty deadly.

March 7, 2021 6:30 p.m.

paytongamer says... #3

Thank you Liquidbeaver & sdidonato for the feedback. I am about ready to swap 7 or 8 cards in my deck.

Liquidbeaver, have you seen what has gone on recently with the cost of Goblin Wizard . We were commenting on how expensive it was when it hit $40 to $60. With Reserve List cards being targeted it apparently showed a spike to almost $800 before settling in at $220. The price data is a little confusing. It seems to be out of stock most places.

March 7, 2021 6:54 p.m.

CommanderNeyo says... #4

Dang, this looks like a lot of fun! Considering how good Crucible of Worlds is in this deck, I really think you should find a slot of Goblin Engineer .

March 8, 2021 10:52 a.m.

ObserverWill says... #5

I don't normally play mono-red decks but I swear this just looks like the most fun deck on tappedout

April 20, 2021 1:52 p.m.

Liquidbeaver says... #6

paytongamer: I'm not sure what it happening with Wizard, but I just looked at the 6 month price history of every card in the deck, and Goblin Welder has seen the biggest increase. Most of the deck has increased in price an uncomfortable amount. Most of the cards aren't even underprinted, a lot of the ones that have drastically increased in price have been printed several times over and in mass production sets. Unfortunately it looks like the mass buyouts of Magic cards is starting to have a more severe impact on all cards. This deck was under $1000 to build just a year ago, and a good amount under $800 if you skipped the fetches. I hope the market corrects itself over time because this it is going to be hard or impossible for a lot of people to build decks that they enjoy that just so happen to have cards that were randomly targeted for buyouts.

CommanderNeyo: I've had Goblin Engineer in the deck in the past, but it ended up not working that well for that version of the deck because I had a hard time guaranteeing that I would have an artifact on the battlefield to swap the GY artifact for. I think to run it again I would want to be in the 20-25+ artifact range, more mana rocks because they play so well with saccing land, Daretti could come back in, bring in things like Trash for Treasure , etc... It's definitely a viable strategy that I will probably end up trying again at some point. One of the reasons this is my favorite deck is it is so flexible when it comes to picking what kind of playstyle you want whether it be token spam, combo, infinites, ETB triggers, combat step manipulation, artifact shenanigans, MLDestruction instead of MLDysfunction, and more, or a mix of all of them!

ObserverWill: Thanks Will! That really means a lot. If you end up trying it out let us know your thoughts or ideas!

May 15, 2021 12:29 p.m.

sdidonato says... #7

Not to downplay the enjoyment of this deck, it’s really been fun to pick up new cards for. I even purchased a Final Fortune . It matches the high risk/high reward kind of mentality that goblins have. Win or lose it’s fun.

That said, are there any other decks that are equally enjoyable? I keep trying to build a 2nd deck but quickly get tired of it. Any feedback would be great

May 15, 2021 8:50 p.m.

CommanderNeyo says... #8

That's fair. I think you have enough artifacts that you can reliably sacrifice one to get back Crucible of Worlds , but then again the other artifacts you have are generally so powerful it's probably not worth it to sacrifice them XD

May 16, 2021 10:12 p.m.

Liquidbeaver says... #9

Still reviewing MH2 for possible includes, and I think there are a lot of cool options. Let me know if you think something is a must-include!

June 5, 2021 4:01 p.m.

sdidonato says... #10

The only one that’s worth adding in my opinion from MH2 is the monkey Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer . Although with Dockside Extortionist , Jeska's Will , Commune with Lava , Phyrexian Altar and other similar effects I’m not sure it’s worth it

June 6, 2021 7:58 a.m.

Liquidbeaver says... #11

Back with a few updates:

  • Settled on Glimpse of Tomorrow as a must include. I feel like it fits the all-or-nothing and chaotic style of the deck so well, and I like the element of randomness. Taking out Dark-Dweller Oracle out for it, as all the recent draw additions make Oracle less necessary.

  • Temporarily (maybe?) taking out Dockside Extortionist for another basic. I don't own Extortionist yet and its price is...extortionate. Also I cut a land when I added Valakut Awakening  Flip and I think that may have been the wrong move. I've always been able to play with a very lean landbase, but that always meant 33 lands. I need to re-evaluate if that can go any lower after a bunch more games. If my new meta has a large number of artifacts it Extortionist will likely make it back in.

  • I think it's finally time to add Cavern of Souls . This is obviously a nice-to-have and not a must-have, but it should help with the big influx of new counterspells.

  • Considering re-adding a card that was in the deck very, very long ago with Gravity Sphere . My meta has a lot of flyers and it certainly helps, but I would have a hard time removing anything I am currently running.

  • Thoughts on Sol Talisman ? I like it, I just don't know that I need it.

Also hoping to clean up the primer over the weekend, especially to update categories with old info in them.

June 12, 2021 7:20 p.m. Edited.

sdidonato says... #12

Looks like we’ll be getting another goblin. Not sure how good he’ll be but he’s high on the flavour points

Den of the Bugbear Show

Ps. Having the hardest time adding a link of an image to this.

Liquidbeaver: I agree with adding Gravity Sphere. Flyers are the one thing I've had the hardest time with in my meta as well.

June 24, 2021 12:12 a.m.

Liquidbeaver says... #13

sdidonato: Den of the Bugbear is definitely a great fit, and I'm also excited about:

Hobgoblin Bandit Leader

Hobgoblin Bandit Leader 1

Creature - Goblin Rogue

Other Goblins you control get +1/+1.

, T: Hobgoblin Bandit Leader deals damage equal to the amount of Goblins that entered the battlefield under your control this turn to any target.

2/3

I'm sure there will be more, but this is the most promising set in a long time for Ib!

July 4, 2021 8:18 p.m. Edited.

Liquidbeaver says... #14

Also, I think it's time to embrace Treasures as a core element of the deck to make sacrificing lands easier. No idea yet how much of a role it will play, but there are already a few cards in AFR that I am going to try out...

July 4, 2021 10:12 p.m.

seenakrauser says... #15

love this deck so much hope to see more updates with the new set

July 19, 2021 6:24 a.m.

Rasaru says... #16

  1. What are you using Madblind Mountain for? Am I missing something?
  2. How much work does Impact Tremors do during a game? I don't see a lot of token creation outside of a spell and Krenko.
August 9, 2021 12:07 a.m.

sdidonato says... #17

I’m curious about the Madblind mountain too

Rasaru I’ve won quite a few games with Impact Tremors, works wonders with Ib Halfheart, Goblin Tactician himself. It seconds as a weaker, but still effective Purphorous

August 9, 2021 1:11 a.m.

Liquidbeaver says... #18

Rasaru/sdidonato: Madblind Mountain was originally for Experimental Frenzy for a little topdeck control, but now it helps with Conspicuous Snoop, or if you happen to get hit with the rare spell that puts something back on top of your library that you don't want to draw. It doesn't factor in most games but when it does it is nice to have, and it is a really easy include being a Mountain you can still sac to Ib.

For Impact Tremors it is mostly redundancy for Purphoros like Sdidonato said, but I would never dream of cutting it. I would say the least damage it's ever done in a game is probably 10, with the most being in the hundreds, not even considering the times where I've had both out it and Purph out.

There aren't a lot of traditional token generators in the deck, but don't underestimate repeated damage going out from hardcasting nontoken creatures, the few token doubling artifacts, Mogg Infestation, and Ib himself! These plus the damage doublers (and the tripler) means Impact Tremors tends to do a ton of damage over the course of the game.

The will say that I learned not to just throw it out there when I don't have some ETB follow ups soon after, just in case it gets removed before I get to use it. That's what makes it feel like it isn't pulling its weight.

August 11, 2021 7:41 p.m.

Liquidbeaver says... #19

Added

Den of the Bugbear: Just duh. This is the best manland for us ever.

Treasure Vault: We should be able to take advantage of this to limit the impact of saccing lands to Ib. Have to be careful with our Blood moon effects.

Hobgoblin Bandit Lord: Yes.

Dockside Extortionist: Back in even though it is stupidly expensive in paper. Probably no better Treasure generator for us.

Unexpected Windfall: Really solid draw and treasures? Yes please.

Removed

Goblin Sledder: Unfortunately when every card is so good you have to start cutting anything less than great.

Disrupt Decorum: While I love this card and it is very Ib, it is too narrow and too fleeting to run anymore. If you disagree goad me, bro.

Isolated Watchtower/Great Furnace: Average quality of lands went up, bottom of the threshold did too.

Pending:

Would still like to get Seize the Spoils in, as well as a good number of other token generators. I'm certain that making land-saccing less detrimental is going to really benefit the deck. If you know of better treasure generators that I missed let me know!

August 11, 2021 10:32 p.m. Edited.

Liquidbeaver says... #20

Cleaned up the primer a little bit and updated some explanations. Sets are releasing so fast that new card reviews feel perpetually behind, but I will keep testing!

October 2, 2021 12:40 p.m.

Rasaru says... #21

If anyone is interested in buying this deck, I've got a blinged out version that I'm considering selling. Just DM me!

Ib Halfheart - Goblin Kamikaze

October 19, 2021 9:53 p.m.

Liquidbeaver says... #22

Still in the middle of reviewing the Innistrad sets but have one card I think easily slots in in place of an existing card:

End the Festivities

As much as I like Mizzium Mortars I think this fits much better overall. Being one-sided is really rare in red, plus being so cheap to cast. I look at it as a way to just tamp down all the opponents and knock everyone down a peg while I build my boardstate. Also works well with Soul-Scar Mage.

Keep watching for more updates from Innistrad, and if you think something is a must-include let me know!

November 20, 2021 4:29 p.m.

Rasaru says... #23

I can't remember if this was already discussed, but what are you thoughts on Invasion Plans, Heat Stroke and Grappling Hook? In my experience with this deck (played it about 20 times now). I've only every used Ib's first ability (sac and deal 4 dmg) only once (just yesterday)! As a result, I started digging trying to find ways to utilize this ability more. I decided to remove Magus of the Moon and Blood Moon, so I've got a couple free slots open :)

December 3, 2021 10:14 a.m.

paytongamer says... #24

Rasaru, I like Invasion Plans. I ran Grappling Hook in my deck at one time. Ib's sac a goblin to damage a blocking creature hasn't come up all that often for me in the games either. Players who want to block and don't want their creatures blown up generally prioritize getting Ib off the battlefield. I can't say I gave hook a great chance to prove it's worth in the deck but I remember the 8 mana to play and equip was just too much investment when I should have been focused on developing my board state. Heat Stroke seems redundant. I would hope your Ibplosion would have done the job, especially if you have one of the many ways to increase that damage out on the battlefield. Invasion Plans definitely looks like the best option for a strategy where you want to Ibsplode lots of stuff. In the right Meta it sounds like a blast.

At this point I generally won't even run Ib out until I am getting close to being able to go off and win or I have decent protection for him. Sacrificing lands to make gobos is the ability I use to reliably win games. In a game last night I tried to alpha strike with a huge swarm of gobos to clear the board before I went for the win. One of my opponents played a fancy fog that ruined the attack so just sacked the team to Goblin Bombardment. It was a very silly game and I had Gratuitous Violence & Fiery Emancipation on the battle field so each Bombardment trigger hit for 6. Game over.

December 3, 2021 12:42 p.m.

Rasaru says... #25

paytongamer Sounds like a blast! Last night's victory came from a main phase Price of Progress + Acidic Soil. There was a Nekusar, the Mindrazer out most of the game, so I was just patient and enjoyed the extra draw until it was time to wipe all 3 players at once :)

I think I'm going to make the following changes..

Blood Moon -> Invasion Plans

Magus of the Moon -> Goblin Trashmaster (lots of artifacts in my meta)

Glimpse of Tomorrow -> Tibalt's Trickery

I might even take out Burnished Hart for a Extraplanar Lens

Since I don't really make a ton of tokens (unless Krenko is out), I've never been satisfied with Glimpse.

December 3, 2021 1:22 p.m. Edited.