Magic the Gathering Blog
Infi-Mana in Standard Pt II - The Control Package
Here's another skeleton for the infinite-mana combo package in Standard.
Puckapunyal
[A concept deck by Neale Talbot and Barry Diwell for post-RoE Standard]
// 17 Creatures
4 Wall of Omens
4 Wall of Denial
4 Day of Judgment
4 Filigree Sages
1 Spawnsire of Ulamog
// 8 Sorceries
2 Treasure Hunt
1 Banefire
2 Wargate
2 Mind Spring
1 Marshall's Anthem
// 7 Artifacts
4 Khalni Gem
3 Everflowing Chalice
// 4 Enchantments
4 Training Ground
// 2 Planeswalkers
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Tezzeret, the Seeker
// 22 Lands
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Halimar Depths
2 Misty Rainforest
2 Scalding Tarn
1 Forest
1 Mountain
4 Island
4 Plains
// Sideboard
15 Eldrazis. Heh.
Here's another skeleton for the infinite-mana combo package in Standard.
Puckapunyal
[A concept deck by Neale Talbot and Barry Diwell for post-RoE Standard]
// 17 Creatures
4 Wall of Omens
4 Wall of Denial
4 Day of Judgment
4 Filigree Sages
1 Spawnsire of Ulamog
// 8 Sorceries
2 Treasure Hunt
1 Banefire
2 Wargate
2 Mind Spring
1 Marshall's Anthem
// 7 Artifacts
4 Khalni Gem
3 Everflowing Chalice
// 4 Enchantments
4 Training Ground
// 2 Planeswalkers
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Tezzeret, the Seeker
// 22 Lands
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Halimar Depths
2 Misty Rainforest
2 Scalding Tarn
1 Forest
1 Mountain
4 Island
4 Plains
// Sideboard
15 Eldrazis. Heh.
Labels: combo, deckbuilding, duntroon, Puckapunyal, standard
Infi-mana In Standard???
Ok, I'll admit it; I'm a sucker for a great combo deck. When I saw Training Grounds I knew it was meant to be broken. Here's a concept deck that, with a little tuning, could happily kill your opponent on Turn 4 reliably.
Basically the idea is to assemble the combo as fast as possible. The combo is having Training Grounds, Filigree Sages and Khalni Gem in play at once.
That way you can use the reduced cost on Filigree Sages to untap Khalni Gem as many times as you wish for infinite colored mana. You then finish your opponent with Banefire for a zillion.
Here's the deck, put together quickly by Team Oz. This is a rough sketch; it can certainly be improved.
Duntroon
[A concept deck by Neale Talbot & Team Oz for a post-ROE Standard]
// 8 Artifact Creatures
4 x Etherium Sculptor
4 x Filigree Sages
// 8 Artifacts
4 x Everflowing Chalice
4 x Khalni Gem
// 8 Instants
4 x Negate
4 x Deprive
// 8 Sorceries
2 x Mind Spring
2 x Banefire
4 x Fabricate
// 4 Enchantments
4 x Training Grounds
// 4 Planeswalkers
2 x Jace, The Mind Sculptor
2 x Tezzeret, The Seeker
// 20 Lands
4 x Halimar Depths
4 x Scalding Tarn
1 x Mountain
13 x Island
The god play goes something like:
T1: Island, Training Grounds
T2: Island, Everflowing Chalice for 1
T3: Island, Khalni Gem (thus having counterspell mana up), bounce 2 Islands
T4: Island, tap everything floating U, Filigree Sages, use the U to untap Kalni Heart, combo out, Banefire for a zillion
Team Oz is pondering whether a control shell would be better with a UW shell - or whether cards like Treasure Hunt or Ponder would also work. Regardless, the deck is a legitimate infinite mana kill on T4 in Standard.
Ok, I'll admit it; I'm a sucker for a great combo deck. When I saw Training Grounds I knew it was meant to be broken. Here's a concept deck that, with a little tuning, could happily kill your opponent on Turn 4 reliably.
Basically the idea is to assemble the combo as fast as possible. The combo is having Training Grounds, Filigree Sages and Khalni Gem in play at once.
That way you can use the reduced cost on Filigree Sages to untap Khalni Gem as many times as you wish for infinite colored mana. You then finish your opponent with Banefire for a zillion.
Here's the deck, put together quickly by Team Oz. This is a rough sketch; it can certainly be improved.
Duntroon
[A concept deck by Neale Talbot & Team Oz for a post-ROE Standard]
// 8 Artifact Creatures
4 x Etherium Sculptor
4 x Filigree Sages
// 8 Artifacts
4 x Everflowing Chalice
4 x Khalni Gem
// 8 Instants
4 x Negate
4 x Deprive
// 8 Sorceries
2 x Mind Spring
2 x Banefire
4 x Fabricate
// 4 Enchantments
4 x Training Grounds
// 4 Planeswalkers
2 x Jace, The Mind Sculptor
2 x Tezzeret, The Seeker
// 20 Lands
4 x Halimar Depths
4 x Scalding Tarn
1 x Mountain
13 x Island
The god play goes something like:
T1: Island, Training Grounds
T2: Island, Everflowing Chalice for 1
T3: Island, Khalni Gem (thus having counterspell mana up), bounce 2 Islands
T4: Island, tap everything floating U, Filigree Sages, use the U to untap Kalni Heart, combo out, Banefire for a zillion
Team Oz is pondering whether a control shell would be better with a UW shell - or whether cards like Treasure Hunt or Ponder would also work. Regardless, the deck is a legitimate infinite mana kill on T4 in Standard.
Labels: combo, deckbuilding, duntroon, standard
Sure, you've got better things to do with your time, but for a laugh, try frustrating the crap out of your opponent with a spicy rogue deck.
Target This!
[A Standard Deck by Neale Talbot]
UPDATE: Flores has an interesting take on this deck on his blog.
4 Deft Duelist
4 Calcite Snapper
4 Wall of Denial
3 Sphinx of Jwar Isle
3 Path to Exile
4 Treasure Hunt
2 Marshal's Anthem
3 Oblivion Ring
4 Spreading Seas
2 Ardent Plea
3 Jace, The Mindsculptor
3 Island
3 Plains
4 Arcane Sanctum
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Celestial Colonnade
2 Sejiri Refuge
2 Misty Rainforest
2 Flats
Target This!
[A Standard Deck by Neale Talbot]
UPDATE: Flores has an interesting take on this deck on his blog.
4 Deft Duelist
4 Calcite Snapper
4 Wall of Denial
3 Sphinx of Jwar Isle
3 Path to Exile
4 Treasure Hunt
2 Marshal's Anthem
3 Oblivion Ring
4 Spreading Seas
2 Ardent Plea
3 Jace, The Mindsculptor
3 Island
3 Plains
4 Arcane Sanctum
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Celestial Colonnade
2 Sejiri Refuge
2 Misty Rainforest
2 Flats
Labels: deckbuilding, jace, standard
Taronga Zoo
[A decklist by Neale Talbot]
This deck leans heavily on a shell developed by Rubin Zoo (and by extension of that, Naya Lightsaber by Mike Flores). I'd like to thank Baz & Jay for their help tuning the deck, Bjoern and his friends for playtesting it, and Marshall for his input in the sideboard.
Once Worldwake was released, I returned to the zoo list Kibler played at Pro-Tour Austin. Once I saw the dual man lands from Worldwake and the Next Big Thing, Tectonic Edge, I knew I wanted to be able to tutor for them using Knight of the Reliquary. Which is why I returned to the Rubin list for inspiration, as Flores' (quite rightly) forgoed the Knight with only Arid Mesa as it's main pump machine.
The result was Taronga Zoo.
Taronga Zoo has performed very well in testing. The results - before a new sideboard was built - were about 60:40 vs Jund, Vampires & Boros, 50:50 vs Grixis and Lightsaber, and 30:70 vs UWr. This gives us advantage over most of the field, with one particularly bad matchup.
Here's the list:
Taronga Zoo Decklist
// 24 Creatures
4 Wild Nacatl
4 Noble Heirarch
1 Dragonmaster Outcast
1 Scute Mob
3 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Ranger of Eos
3 Bloodbraid Elf
4 Baneslayer Angel
// 8 Instants
4 Path to Exile
4 Lightning Bolt
// 3 Planeswalkers
2 Ajani Vengeant
1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
// 25 Lands
4 Forest
3 Mountain
4 Plains
1 Raging Ravine
2 Stirring Wildwood
3 Tectonic Edge
4 Arid Mesa
2 Sunpetal Grove
1 Rootbound Crag
1 Oran-Reif, the Vastwood
//
3 x Slingbow Trap
3 x Great Sable Stag
4 x Kor Firewalker
3 x Luminarch Ascension
2 x Burst Lightning
Maindeck
The deck has a lot of clear synergies, but a surprising one is mana denial. Between Ajani and Tectonic Edge, with a good draw you can keep your opponent on 2 effective mana for quite a while.
Although only 24 creatures are listed, you're really running 27+ - three more from the three manlands, and an infinite number you can pump out via Elspeth.
Knight of the Reliquary is a champ, able to tutor up Oran-Rief, a man-land, or a Tectonic Edge. This deck considers Edge almost a spell, rather than a land - "1, destroy target non-basic land, give Knight of the Reliquary +1/+1". Sounds good to me.
In testing the Manlands have been great. They give you extra reach post Day of Judgment, as well as a beat-down machine. Occasionally you'll lose one to a Terminate, but if you play smart you'll generally get around Lightning Bolt. And when they do die, they're only pumping Knight of the Reliquary. Modular, right?
Ranger has a lot of good targets, but one great move late game is grabbing both a Scute Mob and the Dragonmaster Outcast. The sort of devil's choice you love to give your opponent. Or a win condition if they don'thave any removal in hand.
Sideboard
The sideboard is mainly to shore up some of your worse matchups, though UWr is always going to be a dog. We had a fair bit of discussion about Luminarch Ascension, Summoning Trap or River Boa, but Luminarch won the day. You lay it down, then apply pressure, and hopefully UWr is spending so many resources in defence they can't get rid of the Ascension. Hopefully.
Slingbow Trap is pretty spectacular. For G you can kill Abyssal Persecutor, Vampire Nocturnus, Malakir Bloodwitch, Vampire Nighthawk or Broodmate Dragon. For 3G it kills Baneslayer or a Broodmate token. Sure, it's conditional in that they have to be attacking, but when does Vampires not attack?
Great Sable Stag helps the UWr and Grixis matchups, with some splash damage for Jund. The main thing is to try to play it with the ability to pump with Oran-Rief and get it out of Lightning Bolt range.
Kor Firewalker is just nuts - NUTS - against RDW, and can also turn a match against Grixis. Grixis' only real removal options are Into the Roil or Sorin.
Burst Lightning helps against Malakir Bloodwitch, slowing down Boros, nuking a Ball Lightning, or just pushing damage across to your opponent.
Exploring Options
Other options we considered were:
* Dropping the Heirarchs for Loam Lions and turning on the aggro.
* Dropping the Bloodbraid Elfs for Explore and going for Mana Ramp.
* Playing a singleton Quicksand.
* Getting rid of M10 duals entirely and going the whole hog with manlands.
* Dropping red entirely and heading into some sort of GW Little Kid deck
I'm sure all of these will be attempted in time. But for now the deck is what it is. Hopefully this migraine will go away and I'll get to play it today at the Good Games 5k Trial. If not, I hope at the very least you get to have fun with it.
[A decklist by Neale Talbot]
This deck leans heavily on a shell developed by Rubin Zoo (and by extension of that, Naya Lightsaber by Mike Flores). I'd like to thank Baz & Jay for their help tuning the deck, Bjoern and his friends for playtesting it, and Marshall for his input in the sideboard.
Once Worldwake was released, I returned to the zoo list Kibler played at Pro-Tour Austin. Once I saw the dual man lands from Worldwake and the Next Big Thing, Tectonic Edge, I knew I wanted to be able to tutor for them using Knight of the Reliquary. Which is why I returned to the Rubin list for inspiration, as Flores' (quite rightly) forgoed the Knight with only Arid Mesa as it's main pump machine.
The result was Taronga Zoo.
Taronga Zoo has performed very well in testing. The results - before a new sideboard was built - were about 60:40 vs Jund, Vampires & Boros, 50:50 vs Grixis and Lightsaber, and 30:70 vs UWr. This gives us advantage over most of the field, with one particularly bad matchup.
Here's the list:
Taronga Zoo Decklist
// 24 Creatures
4 Wild Nacatl
4 Noble Heirarch
1 Dragonmaster Outcast
1 Scute Mob
3 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Ranger of Eos
3 Bloodbraid Elf
4 Baneslayer Angel
// 8 Instants
4 Path to Exile
4 Lightning Bolt
// 3 Planeswalkers
2 Ajani Vengeant
1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
// 25 Lands
4 Forest
3 Mountain
4 Plains
1 Raging Ravine
2 Stirring Wildwood
3 Tectonic Edge
4 Arid Mesa
2 Sunpetal Grove
1 Rootbound Crag
1 Oran-Reif, the Vastwood
//
3 x Slingbow Trap
3 x Great Sable Stag
4 x Kor Firewalker
3 x Luminarch Ascension
2 x Burst Lightning
Maindeck
The deck has a lot of clear synergies, but a surprising one is mana denial. Between Ajani and Tectonic Edge, with a good draw you can keep your opponent on 2 effective mana for quite a while.
Although only 24 creatures are listed, you're really running 27+ - three more from the three manlands, and an infinite number you can pump out via Elspeth.
Knight of the Reliquary is a champ, able to tutor up Oran-Rief, a man-land, or a Tectonic Edge. This deck considers Edge almost a spell, rather than a land - "1, destroy target non-basic land, give Knight of the Reliquary +1/+1". Sounds good to me.
In testing the Manlands have been great. They give you extra reach post Day of Judgment, as well as a beat-down machine. Occasionally you'll lose one to a Terminate, but if you play smart you'll generally get around Lightning Bolt. And when they do die, they're only pumping Knight of the Reliquary. Modular, right?
Ranger has a lot of good targets, but one great move late game is grabbing both a Scute Mob and the Dragonmaster Outcast. The sort of devil's choice you love to give your opponent. Or a win condition if they don'thave any removal in hand.
Sideboard
The sideboard is mainly to shore up some of your worse matchups, though UWr is always going to be a dog. We had a fair bit of discussion about Luminarch Ascension, Summoning Trap or River Boa, but Luminarch won the day. You lay it down, then apply pressure, and hopefully UWr is spending so many resources in defence they can't get rid of the Ascension. Hopefully.
Slingbow Trap is pretty spectacular. For G you can kill Abyssal Persecutor, Vampire Nocturnus, Malakir Bloodwitch, Vampire Nighthawk or Broodmate Dragon. For 3G it kills Baneslayer or a Broodmate token. Sure, it's conditional in that they have to be attacking, but when does Vampires not attack?
Great Sable Stag helps the UWr and Grixis matchups, with some splash damage for Jund. The main thing is to try to play it with the ability to pump with Oran-Rief and get it out of Lightning Bolt range.
Kor Firewalker is just nuts - NUTS - against RDW, and can also turn a match against Grixis. Grixis' only real removal options are Into the Roil or Sorin.
Burst Lightning helps against Malakir Bloodwitch, slowing down Boros, nuking a Ball Lightning, or just pushing damage across to your opponent.
Exploring Options
Other options we considered were:
* Dropping the Heirarchs for Loam Lions and turning on the aggro.
* Dropping the Bloodbraid Elfs for Explore and going for Mana Ramp.
* Playing a singleton Quicksand.
* Getting rid of M10 duals entirely and going the whole hog with manlands.
* Dropping red entirely and heading into some sort of GW Little Kid deck
I'm sure all of these will be attempted in time. But for now the deck is what it is. Hopefully this migraine will go away and I'll get to play it today at the Good Games 5k Trial. If not, I hope at the very least you get to have fun with it.
Labels: deckbuilding, standard, taronga zoo
Goblins, Goblins, Goblins
Today I'm going to talk a little about three goblin decks kicking around at the moment.
Here's the first, which went 4-0 in a recent MtGO daily event.
dbuchan's Goblins (4-0)
Constructed Standard Event #749420 on 12/06/2009 in Daily Events
4 Ball Lightning
4 Goblin Bushwhacker
4 Goblin Chieftain
4 Goblin Guide
4 Siege-Gang Commander
4 Warren Instigator
4 Burst Lightning
4 Elemental Appeal
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Arid Mesa
12 Mountain
3 Scalding Tarn
3 Teetering Peaks
3 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
Sideboard
4 Goblin Ruinblaster
4 Goblin Shortcutter
3 Inferno Trap
1 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
3 Volcanic Fallout
Points of interest:
* No less than 8 "elementals" in the mainboard. Although this minimised the impact of the Warren Instigator, it gives the deck some reach that other goblin decks don't have.
* Shortcutters in the sidebard. Personally, I really like Shortcutters, as a Shortcutter plus a Lightning Bolt almost guarantees a Warren Instigator hit. However, with 8 less goblin cards, Instigator is a little less important in this deck.
* 3 Valakut mainboard and one in the sideboard. I've been playing Goblins for a while with two Valakut mainboard, but have never dealt anyone damage with them - the game simply has never gone on long enough.
* 3 Volcanic Fallout sideboard. These are very punishing vs. Boros and help one of your worst matchups - but holding back your dudes is important.
* 3 Inferno Traps for those playing Turbo Fog.
I wonder if a Lavaball trap might not also get the job done against Jund. Regardless, a great deck and one to watch.
Here's a second Standard deck:
Tim's Green Goblins
4th Place - Magic Game Day (Standard) - Georgia - Carrollton
4 Goblin Bushwhacker
4 Goblin Chieftain
4 Goblin Guide
4 Goblin Razerunners
4 Siege-Gang Commander
4 Warren Instigator
2 Intimidation Bolt
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Path to Exile
2 Sarkhan Vol
2 Volcanic Fallout
4 Arid Mesa
9 Mountain
2 Plains
4 Rootbound Crag
3 Scalding Tarn
Sideboard
2 Day of Judgment
3 Goblin Ruinblaster
3 Pithing Needle
2 Qasali Pridemage
3 Vines of Vastwood
2 Volcanic Fallout
Tim takes the approach of splashing for Green and White, making it really Naya Goblins. Points of interest:
* 2 Sarkhan Vol maindeck. People hate on Sarkhan, but he really shines in this deck, able to pump tokens, remove a blocker for Instigator, or just win games long term.
* Goblin Razerunners. Very difficult to play around, but not a lot of synergy with Siege-Gang Commander
* 4 Path to Exile. This is the type of deck that doesn't care how many lands your opponent has, because they're already dead. Path seems like another good way of pushing an Instigator through.
* 3 Vines of Vastwood. Vines is an excellent "counterspell" vs. removal to protect your Siege Gang Commanders and Warren Instigators.
* 2 Qasali Pridemage. Very interesting choice, but I would of guessed difficult to play.
* 3 Pithing Needle. Needle deals with so much, but shutting down Planeswalkers would be my best guess at to it's main calling.
I think either splashing Red, White or Black are all doable with Goblins at the moment, but splashing two colours seems a little dangerous. Maybe a Boros Goblins deck is the way to go
And finally, here's a MtGO Classic goblins deck:
Chaos Goblins
MtGO Classic Deck
4 Goblin Warchief
4 Goblin Matron
1 Tin Street Hooligan
1 Goblin Chieftain
4 Gempalm Incinerator
4 Goblin Ringleader
1 Goblin Sharpshooter
4 Goblin Piledriver
4 Goblin Guide
4 Goblin Lackey
4 Æther Vial
2 Pithing Needle
4 Wasteland
5 Mountain
2 Scalding Tarn
2 Stomping Ground
1 Strip Mine
4 Wooded Foothills
1 Arid Mesa
4 Bloodstained Mire
Sideboard
1 Krosan Grip
1 Relic of Progenitus
2 Ravenous Trap
2 Tormod's Crypt
3 Seal of Primordium
4 Chalice of the Void
2 Pyrokinesis
Chaos has done a fair bit of testing with this build. He tried Instigator, but found it simply wasn't fast enough! Some notes:
* Goblin Guide is a tentative card. Mogg Fanatic may actually be better in the slot, as it can also shut down Bridge From Below maindeck.
* Pithing Needles maindeck are superstars and are a must keep.
* Tin Street Hooligan is tutorable via Matron and is a silver bullet vs. certain decks.
* The same goes for Sharpshooter vs. decks like Elves!
* The sideboard has some heavy play against Engineered Plague with 3 Seal of Primordium and a Krosan Grip.
* Chalice is a brilliant choice with Æther Vial and can shut your opponent down beautifully.
Goblins are alive and well in both Standard and Classic. Although many will always see them as a Teir 1.5 deck, the moment you forget about the Red Menace, is the moment they secretly have you by the short and curlies.
Today I'm going to talk a little about three goblin decks kicking around at the moment.
Here's the first, which went 4-0 in a recent MtGO daily event.
dbuchan's Goblins (4-0)
Constructed Standard Event #749420 on 12/06/2009 in Daily Events
4 Ball Lightning
4 Goblin Bushwhacker
4 Goblin Chieftain
4 Goblin Guide
4 Siege-Gang Commander
4 Warren Instigator
4 Burst Lightning
4 Elemental Appeal
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Arid Mesa
12 Mountain
3 Scalding Tarn
3 Teetering Peaks
3 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
Sideboard
4 Goblin Ruinblaster
4 Goblin Shortcutter
3 Inferno Trap
1 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
3 Volcanic Fallout
Points of interest:
* No less than 8 "elementals" in the mainboard. Although this minimised the impact of the Warren Instigator, it gives the deck some reach that other goblin decks don't have.
* Shortcutters in the sidebard. Personally, I really like Shortcutters, as a Shortcutter plus a Lightning Bolt almost guarantees a Warren Instigator hit. However, with 8 less goblin cards, Instigator is a little less important in this deck.
* 3 Valakut mainboard and one in the sideboard. I've been playing Goblins for a while with two Valakut mainboard, but have never dealt anyone damage with them - the game simply has never gone on long enough.
* 3 Volcanic Fallout sideboard. These are very punishing vs. Boros and help one of your worst matchups - but holding back your dudes is important.
* 3 Inferno Traps for those playing Turbo Fog.
I wonder if a Lavaball trap might not also get the job done against Jund. Regardless, a great deck and one to watch.
Here's a second Standard deck:
Tim's Green Goblins
4th Place - Magic Game Day (Standard) - Georgia - Carrollton
4 Goblin Bushwhacker
4 Goblin Chieftain
4 Goblin Guide
4 Goblin Razerunners
4 Siege-Gang Commander
4 Warren Instigator
2 Intimidation Bolt
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Path to Exile
2 Sarkhan Vol
2 Volcanic Fallout
4 Arid Mesa
9 Mountain
2 Plains
4 Rootbound Crag
3 Scalding Tarn
Sideboard
2 Day of Judgment
3 Goblin Ruinblaster
3 Pithing Needle
2 Qasali Pridemage
3 Vines of Vastwood
2 Volcanic Fallout
Tim takes the approach of splashing for Green and White, making it really Naya Goblins. Points of interest:
* 2 Sarkhan Vol maindeck. People hate on Sarkhan, but he really shines in this deck, able to pump tokens, remove a blocker for Instigator, or just win games long term.
* Goblin Razerunners. Very difficult to play around, but not a lot of synergy with Siege-Gang Commander
* 4 Path to Exile. This is the type of deck that doesn't care how many lands your opponent has, because they're already dead. Path seems like another good way of pushing an Instigator through.
* 3 Vines of Vastwood. Vines is an excellent "counterspell" vs. removal to protect your Siege Gang Commanders and Warren Instigators.
* 2 Qasali Pridemage. Very interesting choice, but I would of guessed difficult to play.
* 3 Pithing Needle. Needle deals with so much, but shutting down Planeswalkers would be my best guess at to it's main calling.
I think either splashing Red, White or Black are all doable with Goblins at the moment, but splashing two colours seems a little dangerous. Maybe a Boros Goblins deck is the way to go
And finally, here's a MtGO Classic goblins deck:
Chaos Goblins
MtGO Classic Deck
4 Goblin Warchief
4 Goblin Matron
1 Tin Street Hooligan
1 Goblin Chieftain
4 Gempalm Incinerator
4 Goblin Ringleader
1 Goblin Sharpshooter
4 Goblin Piledriver
4 Goblin Guide
4 Goblin Lackey
4 Æther Vial
2 Pithing Needle
4 Wasteland
5 Mountain
2 Scalding Tarn
2 Stomping Ground
1 Strip Mine
4 Wooded Foothills
1 Arid Mesa
4 Bloodstained Mire
Sideboard
1 Krosan Grip
1 Relic of Progenitus
2 Ravenous Trap
2 Tormod's Crypt
3 Seal of Primordium
4 Chalice of the Void
2 Pyrokinesis
Chaos has done a fair bit of testing with this build. He tried Instigator, but found it simply wasn't fast enough! Some notes:
* Goblin Guide is a tentative card. Mogg Fanatic may actually be better in the slot, as it can also shut down Bridge From Below maindeck.
* Pithing Needles maindeck are superstars and are a must keep.
* Tin Street Hooligan is tutorable via Matron and is a silver bullet vs. certain decks.
* The same goes for Sharpshooter vs. decks like Elves!
* The sideboard has some heavy play against Engineered Plague with 3 Seal of Primordium and a Krosan Grip.
* Chalice is a brilliant choice with Æther Vial and can shut your opponent down beautifully.
Goblins are alive and well in both Standard and Classic. Although many will always see them as a Teir 1.5 deck, the moment you forget about the Red Menace, is the moment they secretly have you by the short and curlies.
Labels: analysis, classic, deckbuilding, goblins, magic, mtgo, standard
Standard Goblins :: The Most Fun You Can Have In An MtGO Window With Your Pants On
At the beginning of the week I plonked down enough tickets to buy a playset of Goblin Guides and Warren Instigators - about 20 tickets in total. I'm an old-time Classic goblins lover (I have the full deck on MtGO as well) so picking up Standard Goblins at some point was inevitable.
Here's the deck I've been running all week:
Main Deck
[28 Creatures (Goblins)]
4 x Goblin Guide
4 x Goblin Bushwacker
4 x Goblin Shortcutter
4 x Warren Instigator
4 x Goblin Ruinblaster
4 x Goblin Chieftan
4 x Siege Gang Commander
[10 Instants]
4 x Lightning Bolt
4 x Burst Lightning
2 x Punishing Fire
[22 Lands]
4 x Scalding Tarn
4 x Arid Mesa
14 x Mountain
Sideboard
4 x Hellspark Elemental
4 x Hell's Thunder
4 x Ball Lightning
3 x Elemental Appeal
General Sideboarding Technique
In:
4 x Hellspark Elemental
4 x Hell's Thunder
4 x Ball Lightning
3 x Elemental Appeal
Out:
4 x Goblin Shortcutter
4 x Warren Instigator
4 x Goblin Chieftan
3 x Siege Gang Commander
This is, without a doubt, one of the most fun decks you can play at the moment. It is fast, furious and frenetic. It most often wins on Turns 4 or 5, but is resiliant enough to win turns 10-12 as well.
It is the only deck in Standard I've ever felt completely comfortable about keeping a one-land hand with. Of the last ten games I played with a one-land hand, I won eight of them. If the hand is fast enough, mulliganing a one-lander is almost always the wrong decision.
It is, without a doubt, brutally fast. Here are some sample starts I've had:
T1. Mountain, Goblin Guide, bash for 2.
T2. Mountain, kicked Bushwacker, bash for 5.
T3. Mountain, kicked Bushwacker, Lightning Bolt the blocker, bash for 7.
T4. Win.
And
T1. Mountain. EOT, bolt the opponent's 1 drop.
T2. Mountain, Warren Instigator
T3. Mountain, kicked Bushwacker, Lightning Bolt the blocker, drop double Siege Gang Commander off the Instigator.
T4. Win
The deck sounds like it should just fold to Jund and Naya, but it can capitalise on Jund's terrible manabase and Naya's large creatures by simply winning before they go into action. Dropping your hand in turns 2-3 means discard is largley irrelevant. And I've yet to lose a single game to Vampires.
The deck sports a largely transformational sideboard, where the sweepers and maelstrom pulses your opponent sided in are suddently irrelevant. The sideboard slows the deck down slightly - you can't keep those one land hands any more - but it's pretty brutal.
The beauty of the deck is the ability to have 3-6 creatures out before your opponent knows what's happening, with a clutch of removal against anything they throw at you. I've managed to pull off the ungodly Instigator into double Siege Gang Commander twice, but often the better drop is Goblin Chieftan on the first strike trigger, allowing you to pump every goblin swinging for the normal combat damage, then dropping Siege Gang Commander afterwards.
Goblin Shortcutter is a surprise hero in this deck, often allowing Warren Instigator to pass some otherwise insurmountable blocker and gain an infinite advantage over your opponent.
Here's some matchups:
Jund
Jund is, of course, a dog of a matchup. However you can capitalise on their slowness, their self harm (Putrid Leech, occassionally Sign In Blood), and their terrible manabase. Ruinblaster is a hero if you can kill a lone Mountain or Forest. Knowing when to drop your hand or to sand-bag lands against Blightning is important, as is when to attack into Putrid Leech and when not to. The basic Elemental sideboard plan applies here.
Naya Lightsaber
Naya is, surprisingly, not that hard to beat. You make sure to Bolt any Noble Heirarchs you see and then get in before they stabalise. You'll want to keep as many Lightning Bolts and Bursts back as possible so that when the inevitable Baneslayer shows up, you can remove it and keep going. Unless you know they're running Day of Judgment, I'd largely stay as the core Goblin deck when sideboarding. But the gameplan really is to kill them before Baneslayer drops.
Boros Bushwacker
The only deck that can match up for speed, this is a cat'n'mouse game of who gets the best removal fastest. Their Skyfishers are brutal against you and deserve your Bolts, but in general their ability to block is terrible. Shortcutter is a superstar in this matchup, allowing you to avoid their first strikers and get your Warren Instigator in quickly. However, this is a terrible attrition war, with Seige Gang Commander sometimes your only out. If, for some reason, they board in Baneslayer, you'll have a very hard time of it.
Crypt/Dredge
This deck is stone-cold dead to you. Definitely bring in the Elemental plan, as you then also negate the effectiveness of their Rotting Rats and incidental removal Game 2.
Vampires
The deck has a surprising amount of game against Vampires, and I've yet to lose a match. They need to acknowledge that they are playing control to your aggro, or they just flat out lose. You rarely care about Gatekeeper (though you need to watch for T3 Gatekeeper vs your T2 Instigator, if it's the only goblin you've played), and almost never about Mind Sludge. Save your Bolts for their Nighthawks and your Blasts for kicking against their Bloodwitches.
As I've said, this deck is a bundle of fun to play, and very, very fast. I'm really looking forward to seeing what goblins Worldwake brings to add to this deck.
At the beginning of the week I plonked down enough tickets to buy a playset of Goblin Guides and Warren Instigators - about 20 tickets in total. I'm an old-time Classic goblins lover (I have the full deck on MtGO as well) so picking up Standard Goblins at some point was inevitable.
Here's the deck I've been running all week:
Main Deck
[28 Creatures (Goblins)]
4 x Goblin Guide
4 x Goblin Bushwacker
4 x Goblin Shortcutter
4 x Warren Instigator
4 x Goblin Ruinblaster
4 x Goblin Chieftan
4 x Siege Gang Commander
[10 Instants]
4 x Lightning Bolt
4 x Burst Lightning
2 x Punishing Fire
[22 Lands]
4 x Scalding Tarn
4 x Arid Mesa
14 x Mountain
Sideboard
4 x Hellspark Elemental
4 x Hell's Thunder
4 x Ball Lightning
3 x Elemental Appeal
General Sideboarding Technique
In:
4 x Hellspark Elemental
4 x Hell's Thunder
4 x Ball Lightning
3 x Elemental Appeal
Out:
4 x Goblin Shortcutter
4 x Warren Instigator
4 x Goblin Chieftan
3 x Siege Gang Commander
This is, without a doubt, one of the most fun decks you can play at the moment. It is fast, furious and frenetic. It most often wins on Turns 4 or 5, but is resiliant enough to win turns 10-12 as well.
It is the only deck in Standard I've ever felt completely comfortable about keeping a one-land hand with. Of the last ten games I played with a one-land hand, I won eight of them. If the hand is fast enough, mulliganing a one-lander is almost always the wrong decision.
It is, without a doubt, brutally fast. Here are some sample starts I've had:
T1. Mountain, Goblin Guide, bash for 2.
T2. Mountain, kicked Bushwacker, bash for 5.
T3. Mountain, kicked Bushwacker, Lightning Bolt the blocker, bash for 7.
T4. Win.
And
T1. Mountain. EOT, bolt the opponent's 1 drop.
T2. Mountain, Warren Instigator
T3. Mountain, kicked Bushwacker, Lightning Bolt the blocker, drop double Siege Gang Commander off the Instigator.
T4. Win
The deck sounds like it should just fold to Jund and Naya, but it can capitalise on Jund's terrible manabase and Naya's large creatures by simply winning before they go into action. Dropping your hand in turns 2-3 means discard is largley irrelevant. And I've yet to lose a single game to Vampires.
The deck sports a largely transformational sideboard, where the sweepers and maelstrom pulses your opponent sided in are suddently irrelevant. The sideboard slows the deck down slightly - you can't keep those one land hands any more - but it's pretty brutal.
The beauty of the deck is the ability to have 3-6 creatures out before your opponent knows what's happening, with a clutch of removal against anything they throw at you. I've managed to pull off the ungodly Instigator into double Siege Gang Commander twice, but often the better drop is Goblin Chieftan on the first strike trigger, allowing you to pump every goblin swinging for the normal combat damage, then dropping Siege Gang Commander afterwards.
Goblin Shortcutter is a surprise hero in this deck, often allowing Warren Instigator to pass some otherwise insurmountable blocker and gain an infinite advantage over your opponent.
Here's some matchups:
Jund
Jund is, of course, a dog of a matchup. However you can capitalise on their slowness, their self harm (Putrid Leech, occassionally Sign In Blood), and their terrible manabase. Ruinblaster is a hero if you can kill a lone Mountain or Forest. Knowing when to drop your hand or to sand-bag lands against Blightning is important, as is when to attack into Putrid Leech and when not to. The basic Elemental sideboard plan applies here.
Naya Lightsaber
Naya is, surprisingly, not that hard to beat. You make sure to Bolt any Noble Heirarchs you see and then get in before they stabalise. You'll want to keep as many Lightning Bolts and Bursts back as possible so that when the inevitable Baneslayer shows up, you can remove it and keep going. Unless you know they're running Day of Judgment, I'd largely stay as the core Goblin deck when sideboarding. But the gameplan really is to kill them before Baneslayer drops.
Boros Bushwacker
The only deck that can match up for speed, this is a cat'n'mouse game of who gets the best removal fastest. Their Skyfishers are brutal against you and deserve your Bolts, but in general their ability to block is terrible. Shortcutter is a superstar in this matchup, allowing you to avoid their first strikers and get your Warren Instigator in quickly. However, this is a terrible attrition war, with Seige Gang Commander sometimes your only out. If, for some reason, they board in Baneslayer, you'll have a very hard time of it.
Crypt/Dredge
This deck is stone-cold dead to you. Definitely bring in the Elemental plan, as you then also negate the effectiveness of their Rotting Rats and incidental removal Game 2.
Vampires
The deck has a surprising amount of game against Vampires, and I've yet to lose a match. They need to acknowledge that they are playing control to your aggro, or they just flat out lose. You rarely care about Gatekeeper (though you need to watch for T3 Gatekeeper vs your T2 Instigator, if it's the only goblin you've played), and almost never about Mind Sludge. Save your Bolts for their Nighthawks and your Blasts for kicking against their Bloodwitches.
As I've said, this deck is a bundle of fun to play, and very, very fast. I'm really looking forward to seeing what goblins Worldwake brings to add to this deck.
Labels: deckbuilding, goblins, mtgo, standard
So by now you've seen the following card:
--
Sen Triplets 2WUB
Legendary Artifact Creature - Human Wizard
At the beginning of your upkeep, choose target opponent. This turn, that player can’t play spells or activated abilities and plays with his or her hand revealed. You can play cards from that player’s hand this turn.
3/3
--
It is, for me, the card that generates the most interest in Alara Reborn. Originally I thought of it as "part Meddling Mage, part Mindslaver", but now I think of it more as "part Silence, part Muse Vessel". Either way, three of those four cards have seen competitive play, and the other (Silence) certainly will once released in M10.
I've been rolling around in my head the idea of Five Colour Creature Control, based on manabase of Exotic Orchard, Ancient Ziggurat and Reflecting Pool. I've also been considering a bunch of cards I think may interact well with Sen Triplets.
My idea of control deck based around Sen Triplets does two things; (1) Slow the game through hand Disruption, and (2) Bounce permanents at instant speed.
So following are some ideas for cards in standard for Five Colour Creature Control.
*--------*
Sen's Five Colour Creature Control:
1 Mana
Cursecatcher: Remember how great this little guy used to be? Well, he's still aweseome.
2 Mana
Meddling Mage: He's a beat and you know it. Excellent in-colour control.
3 Mana
Plumeveil: Excellent card for protecting Sen Triplets.
Vendilion Clique: Hand disruption and allows you to determine if it's time to play Sen Triplets.
Sedraxis Alchemist: A critter plus a bounce effect is great in this deck, and you'll usually have a blue critter around to help him.
Cephalid Constable: I would like to put a Mask of Riddles on this guy sometime.
Wall of Denial: The control player's wall of choice. 0/8 with shroud? Utterly fantastic for control.
4 Mana
Surgespanner: He's a bounce card. Imagine using him to attack, bouncing your oppoent's critter, then playing that critter yourself. Sweet.
Wall of Reverence: A big, fat wall that lets you survive for a while... and recover from the burn you've taken
Sower of Temptation: Still a great creature based control card.
Glen Elendra Archmage: Perhaps the best card to play before playing Sen Triplets.
5 Mana
Mulldrifter: Card drawing will be a requirement for this deck.
Shriekmaw: Still great removal at either cost.
Maelstrom Angel: Why aren't we seeing this guy in play yet? He can drop Sen Triplets and leave mana up for protecting it.
6 Mana
Broodmate Dragon: Because sometimes you just have to bash face.
*--------*
Alternatively, Sen's Artifact Control:
1 Mana
Pithing Needle: A great control card. With so many activated abilities and planeswalkers around may be worth maindecking.
2 Mana
Tidehollow Sculler: The poor man's Meddling Mage? He generates card advantage and hand disruption.
Ethersworn Canonist: Slow your opponent down while you get Sen Triplets into play.
Time Sieve: I've dropped this in here based on the idea of also using Sharding Sphynx. If it goes off once with Sen Triplets in play, you can basically strip your opponent's hand away - into your play area.
Etherium Sculptor: To get Sen Triplets and your creatures out earlier.
Tidehollow Strix: An excellent control card, albeit fragile.
Mask of Riddles: An excellent draw engine, probably too slow for the format.
Sceptre of Fugue: Probably goes against the grain of using Sen Triplets in the first place.
3 Mana
Master of Etherium: With a artifact base he's probably not a bad bet.
4 Mana
Sanctum Gargoyle: Can recur your various control elements - but is it too slow?
5 Mana
Sphynx Summoner: Tezzeret's fetch ability but at a slower rate. But the 3/3 flyer is nothing to sneeze at.
Ethersworn Adjudicator: Perhaps as a 1 of?
Reveilark: I've included this because it has such crazy interaction with Sanctum Gargoyle.
Tezzeret the Seeker: A great control card, able to fetch various control elements.
6 Mana
Sharding Sphynx: Included for consideration with Time Sieve.
*--------*
And of course you'll need utility cards:
Unsummon: Perhaps the creature removal of choice, especially later in the game as you'll get to play the cards you bounce. Also allows you to protect Sen Triplets.
*Silence: Once it rotates into Standard, the immediate 1 mana instant of choice.
Thoughtseize: Still a great threat removal card.
Ponder: Still a great card for setting up your next few turns and finding that Sen Triplets.
Boomerang: Probably the best quality removal and pseudo land destruction. You bounce their land then play it with Sen. What kind of nutty land destruction is that?
Esper Charm: Great card drawing.
Savour The Moment: Not having an upkeep step may be handily mitigated by getting to play your opponent's lands.
Jase Beleren: You get a card, they get a card... for you to play.
Cryptic Command: You're playing blue, so you'll be need this card, right?
Maelstrom Nexus: Imagine having both Maelstrom Nexus, Maelstrom Angel and Sen Triplets in play, then cascading off your opponent's cards that you just played for free. It'll never happen but feel free to LIVE THAT DREAM!
*--------*
Ultimately I think some mix of the above cards will used in a strict control style, perhaps as follows:
4 x Tidehollow Sculler
4 x Meddling Mage
4 x Vendilion Clique
3 x Sen Triplets
2 x Jase Beleren
4 x Silence
4 x Unsummon
4 x Boomerang
4 x Esper Charm
4 x Cryptic Command
--
Sen Triplets 2WUB
Legendary Artifact Creature - Human Wizard
At the beginning of your upkeep, choose target opponent. This turn, that player can’t play spells or activated abilities and plays with his or her hand revealed. You can play cards from that player’s hand this turn.
3/3
--
It is, for me, the card that generates the most interest in Alara Reborn. Originally I thought of it as "part Meddling Mage, part Mindslaver", but now I think of it more as "part Silence, part Muse Vessel". Either way, three of those four cards have seen competitive play, and the other (Silence) certainly will once released in M10.
I've been rolling around in my head the idea of Five Colour Creature Control, based on manabase of Exotic Orchard, Ancient Ziggurat and Reflecting Pool. I've also been considering a bunch of cards I think may interact well with Sen Triplets.
My idea of control deck based around Sen Triplets does two things; (1) Slow the game through hand Disruption, and (2) Bounce permanents at instant speed.
So following are some ideas for cards in standard for Five Colour Creature Control.
*--------*
Sen's Five Colour Creature Control:
1 Mana
Cursecatcher: Remember how great this little guy used to be? Well, he's still aweseome.
2 Mana
Meddling Mage: He's a beat and you know it. Excellent in-colour control.
3 Mana
Plumeveil: Excellent card for protecting Sen Triplets.
Vendilion Clique: Hand disruption and allows you to determine if it's time to play Sen Triplets.
Sedraxis Alchemist: A critter plus a bounce effect is great in this deck, and you'll usually have a blue critter around to help him.
Cephalid Constable: I would like to put a Mask of Riddles on this guy sometime.
Wall of Denial: The control player's wall of choice. 0/8 with shroud? Utterly fantastic for control.
4 Mana
Surgespanner: He's a bounce card. Imagine using him to attack, bouncing your oppoent's critter, then playing that critter yourself. Sweet.
Wall of Reverence: A big, fat wall that lets you survive for a while... and recover from the burn you've taken
Sower of Temptation: Still a great creature based control card.
Glen Elendra Archmage: Perhaps the best card to play before playing Sen Triplets.
5 Mana
Mulldrifter: Card drawing will be a requirement for this deck.
Shriekmaw: Still great removal at either cost.
Maelstrom Angel: Why aren't we seeing this guy in play yet? He can drop Sen Triplets and leave mana up for protecting it.
6 Mana
Broodmate Dragon: Because sometimes you just have to bash face.
*--------*
Alternatively, Sen's Artifact Control:
1 Mana
Pithing Needle: A great control card. With so many activated abilities and planeswalkers around may be worth maindecking.
2 Mana
Tidehollow Sculler: The poor man's Meddling Mage? He generates card advantage and hand disruption.
Ethersworn Canonist: Slow your opponent down while you get Sen Triplets into play.
Time Sieve: I've dropped this in here based on the idea of also using Sharding Sphynx. If it goes off once with Sen Triplets in play, you can basically strip your opponent's hand away - into your play area.
Etherium Sculptor: To get Sen Triplets and your creatures out earlier.
Tidehollow Strix: An excellent control card, albeit fragile.
Mask of Riddles: An excellent draw engine, probably too slow for the format.
Sceptre of Fugue: Probably goes against the grain of using Sen Triplets in the first place.
3 Mana
Master of Etherium: With a artifact base he's probably not a bad bet.
4 Mana
Sanctum Gargoyle: Can recur your various control elements - but is it too slow?
5 Mana
Sphynx Summoner: Tezzeret's fetch ability but at a slower rate. But the 3/3 flyer is nothing to sneeze at.
Ethersworn Adjudicator: Perhaps as a 1 of?
Reveilark: I've included this because it has such crazy interaction with Sanctum Gargoyle.
Tezzeret the Seeker: A great control card, able to fetch various control elements.
6 Mana
Sharding Sphynx: Included for consideration with Time Sieve.
*--------*
And of course you'll need utility cards:
Unsummon: Perhaps the creature removal of choice, especially later in the game as you'll get to play the cards you bounce. Also allows you to protect Sen Triplets.
*Silence: Once it rotates into Standard, the immediate 1 mana instant of choice.
Thoughtseize: Still a great threat removal card.
Ponder: Still a great card for setting up your next few turns and finding that Sen Triplets.
Boomerang: Probably the best quality removal and pseudo land destruction. You bounce their land then play it with Sen. What kind of nutty land destruction is that?
Esper Charm: Great card drawing.
Savour The Moment: Not having an upkeep step may be handily mitigated by getting to play your opponent's lands.
Jase Beleren: You get a card, they get a card... for you to play.
Cryptic Command: You're playing blue, so you'll be need this card, right?
Maelstrom Nexus: Imagine having both Maelstrom Nexus, Maelstrom Angel and Sen Triplets in play, then cascading off your opponent's cards that you just played for free. It'll never happen but feel free to LIVE THAT DREAM!
*--------*
Ultimately I think some mix of the above cards will used in a strict control style, perhaps as follows:
4 x Tidehollow Sculler
4 x Meddling Mage
4 x Vendilion Clique
3 x Sen Triplets
2 x Jase Beleren
4 x Silence
4 x Unsummon
4 x Boomerang
4 x Esper Charm
4 x Cryptic Command
Labels: analysis, ideas, magic, Sen Triplets, standard
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Everything on this site Copyright Neale Talbot 2009.