STOP...... Goblins Time!

Hello everyone!

Making updates to an established deck is a very touchy subject, especially when the deck were updating is the historically most significant deck in legacy - Goblins. Goblins has been up and down many roads and colors. I'm not thoroughly literate in goblin history, but here's some flavors I do know:

Onslaught Block Goblins:
This is basically the legacy goblins deck without Goblin Lackey. Piledriver, Warchief, Siege-Gang, Gempalm Incinerator, the works. Easily the most dominant deck in the format, it was a simple if you can't beat them, join them. Patriarch's Bidding make the deck go from 1 to insanity.

Mono-Red:
This version of goblins has a heavy mana denial plan, and is a very straightforward deck. No bells or whistles, but a consistent mana base and a consistent game plan.

Splash Green:
In order to beat artifacts, adding 1 Taiga to the deck allows you to play Tin-Street Hooligan

Splash Black:
Warren Weirding in the maindeck with Perish and Cabal Therapy in the sideboard gives you more game against a wider range of the field.

Splash White:
This version of Goblins came and went very quickly, but the theory is that Thalia would allow you to slow down combo decks enough to kill your opponent with all your pressure. While the green and black versions have been around for a while, the white version came and went very quickly.

Now the only thing missing from this list is a blue splash. A quick search on gatherer shows that there is really no playable blue goblins. Razorfin Hunter is just worse than Goblin Sharpshooter, while Goblin Electromancer and Goblin Flectomancer are quite useless. Force of Will is pretty terrible with no other blue cards, and other non-goblin cards dilute your deck too much for Goblin Ringleader to be effective. So what reason would we want to play blue goblins?

Standstill

Standstill is an interesting card - how can we push our advantage without casting spells? There's a couple ways to do this. In Merfolk Aether Vial can keep your threats coming (when everything costs 2 mana, Aether Vial is gold), while drawing Wastelands and Mutavaults can slow down the opponent and increase your threat density. In landstill decks, usually they will go aggressive with Mishra's Factories until the opponent can't take it any more. In control decks, you may have a planeswalker in play or Deathrite Shaman and slowly gain an advantage. Basically, if you're going to play Standstill in your deck, you have to have a plan.

Sidenote
{
If you want to learn more about how to fight against a Standstill, here is a fantastic piece by AJ Sacher I recommend watching.
}
End Aside

I think Goblins is actually the deck that can best use Standstill. While not a goblin, it is high impact enough that we can mise 1 and lock out a game, but if we never draw it, our game plan is strong enough without it that we're fine. How can we gain an advantage while under a Standstill? Eh, not too many...

Wasteland
Rishaden Port
Goblin Lackey
Aether Vial
Warren Instigator
Gempalm Incinerator
Krenko, Mob Boss
Siege-Gang Commander

Also, we have a deck that beats down very hard and puts a ton of pressure on the opponent very quickly. This creates the perfect storm where Standstill can shine. If we're winning, then we just can't lose. If we're in a stable board state with an effect that can gain us an advantage, then as the turns pass we can crawl ahead. As we pressure our opponent, we force them to do something, which makes us win.

A lot of people don't know how to play through a Standstill, and it can cause a ton of misplays that give free wins. As AJ says, it's like an Ancestral Recall Spliced onto several Time Walks. Against someone who does know how to beat a Standstill, it is either an Ancestral Recall or a couple Time Walks. Man... that's SO terrible....

So how can we make use of blue while not neutering our Ringleaders?


4 Goblin Lackey
3 Warren Instigator
2 Stingscourger
2 Goblin Piledriver
4 Goblin Chieftain
4 Goblin Matron
4 Gempalm Incinerator
4 Goblin Ringleader

1 Tuktuk Scrapper

1 Krenko, Mob Boss

1 Siege-Gang Commander

4 AEther Vial

3 Standstill

3 Mountain
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Wasteland
3 Rishadan Port
3 Bloodstained Mire
2 Arid Mesa
2 Wooded Foothills
2 Volcanic Island

Sideboard
3 Red Elemental Blast
3 Relic of Progenitus
4 Daze
3 Flusterstorm
2 Goblin Sharpshooter

Yes, this is basically a stock Goblins list, but I feel it's very elegant. A straightforward aggressive deck with Standstill for value. One card that I did not include in this deck is Mutavault. Mutavault is insane in Merfolk because it's a mono-lords deck. Goblins only have Goblin Chieftan, so Mutavault is very unimpressive. It's only mediocre under a standstill. Rishaden Port gives you a lot more action and can help you drag out into the longer game where Ringleader chains do what they have always done - crush your opponent under the sheer weight of card advantage. In the sideboard I decided to include some counterspells that can help the famously dreadful combo matchup. Against combo decks, I usually board:

+4 Daze

+3 Flusterstorm

-3 Standstill

-1 Tuktuk Scrapper

-2 Stingscourger

-1 Gempalm Incinerator

Interestingly enough, removing 4 goblins from our deck hardly makes Ringleader any worse as the goblins we're removing are usually pretty terrible against combo anyways! The one card in the sideboard that I'm not too sure of is Red Elemental Blast. I feel like we're generally pretty good vs blue. The only card that can matter is Terminus, but that's white. I think we're fine vs creatures between Sharpshooter and Gempalm, so I don't think Pyrokinesis is where we want to be either. I want to find something that helps slog through fair decks better (if we were playing green I would recommend Horned Kavu to bounce Ringleader).

Obviously no deck is ever done testing, and soon I will have another update. In fact, I have a lot of minor updates on a lot of decks that I think is worth just piling together in an article together soon. Online, this goblins list has been doing very well for me, and Standstill has absolutely been pulling its weight! Turn 1 Aether Vial, turn 2 Standstill is as fantastic as it sounds! EOT drop in a Goblin Lackey, and you have the stone cold nuts.

That's all I have for today! I know I have hardly been posting recently, but that's because we're getting close to the end of the semester and there's a lot of tests and finals coming up. My time playing magic is basically all online and I have been tuning decks. I think my next piece will chronicle all these changes. Until next time, stay classy!

Ryan Lackie

Ryan.Lackie92@gmail.com

@ThingsILack