How to counter goblin-based aggro?
Deck Help forum
Posted on Sept. 17, 2013, 2:11 p.m. by Vahmoud
I have a friend who dropped quite a large sum of money on a goblin deck which involved Krenko and Voracious dragon. Currently, he is able to win by turn 4-7. With his burn spells and cheap 1-drops it is pretty difficult for any of us to counter.
My friends runs a knight deck, the other a gruul deck, and myself a dimir mill. Any ideas on how we can fight back on a budget?
Also, I only know a few cards in his deck.
Using something like Witchbane Orb can protect you from the burn and Voracious Dragon .
Overloading Cyclonic Rift is always fun, and Sever the Bloodline can wreck a token deck.
Krenko poops out 1/1s, so Engineered Plague kills the tokens as soon as they enter the battlefield unless your friend uses an anthem or lord, like Goblin Chieftain or Gauntlet of Power .
Homing Lightning works to knock out tokens, as would Echoing Truth and Echoing Decay .
I assume your friend with the knight deck is running mono-white? Something like Swords to Plowshares or Path to Exile can be used to remove Krenko.
September 17, 2013 2:55 p.m.
Everyone of my friends plays casual. Except me, I only have cards from this blog and, unfortunately for my winning ability, will continue to only play standard.
September 17, 2013 2:59 p.m.
Illness in the Ranks and Echoing Truth are two of your close friends.
September 17, 2013 3:02 p.m.
Gidgetimer says... #6
Since your friend runs Voracious Dragon I am going to assume that it is casual. It sounds like any sweeper you cared to play would be worse for him than it is for you guys. There are many many counter spells that you could run and just counter the dragon or Krenko as they come out to prevent that.
Sever the Bloodline is a good bet against token based decks. Arrest on the Krenko, Mob Boss could keep it from getting out of hand. Targeted removal will keep Krenko from being a threat. There are also more specialized cards that are not necessarily just removal and so have other value (such as Odric, Master Tactician that could find a place in the knight deck) that could be used to deal with Krenko which is what from what you have given us is going to be the major problem with the deck.
September 17, 2013 3:04 p.m.
Except for "blow up the board" effects and Chaos Warp , Red cannot deal with enchantments. So the knight deck could use Nevermore and name Krenko or Voracious Dragon to lock out those cards.
September 17, 2013 3:08 p.m.
For the Knight dude he should consider Lightmine Field .
September 17, 2013 3:25 p.m.
These are all phenomenal suggestions. Thanks a lot dudes. Hopefully, we can introduce an element of actual challenge to the group.
September 17, 2013 4:02 p.m.
HarbingerJK says... #11
Consume the Meek will do it in most cases, unless you're facing a Krenko, Mob Boss or the like, in that case I'd say Supreme Verdict Day of Judgment Damnation or Wrath of God . Even a Black Sun's Zenith , Bonfire of the Damned Slagstorm or Pyroclasm will do the trick...so basically boardwipes lol
agGravity says... #2
Red have access to cards like Earthquake and the like that deal damage to all creatures. Usually goblin have a very low Toughness.
Black and blue you want to counter his key elements and try to eliminate the key problem. Fog and the likes can do wounder against fast aggro and gaining the tempo. You might want to board whipe to control the amount of creature he can puts out.
Curse of Death's Hold is also a great tool to slow down tokens aggro strategy.
Btw is it for standard or casual?
September 17, 2013 2:44 p.m.