The Mono-Red Goblin deck is one of the cheapest and most straight forward decks available for 100 singleton. It's easy to pick up a goblin deck and do reasonably well with it. It also has a bit of depth and will take a while to master. But what do you do after you've played the goblin deck to death. How do you spice things up a bit? Well, splashing a color always adds a new dimension to a deck. So this article is devoted to a selection of ways in which you can add a color to a 100 Singleton Goblin Deck.
Building Blocks of a 100CS Goblin Deck
Goblins in 100 singleton is one of the most straight-forward and budget friendly decks you are going to find in the format. The goblin deck is easy to learn, but it takes a long time to master. The Goblin game plan couldn't be simpler. Play a bunch of small easily disposable creatures and run them at your opponent until he dies. Use burn and land disruption to keep him off-guard enough that your main route to victory is not disturbed.
The Goblins
Goblins are the oldest and deepest magic tribes. Partly due to this fact, they have the widest variety of strong synergistic components in the game. With a turn 1 Goblin Lackey or Aether Vial, the Goblin player can get the drop on a slow player without even trying that hard. Speaking of those two cards, a goblin player can use those cards to avoid one of the fundamental rules of the game and play most of their threats for free.
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The Major Players |
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As long as you can avoid an Armageddon or similarly devastating effect, a Goblin Recruiter searching for a Goblin Ringleader and four other goblin cards is one of those one card combos that can destroy some decks. In most games, pre-arranging the top cards of your library is considered cheating. With Goblin Recruiter, that IS the game.
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The Supporting Cast |
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The collection of playable goblins is large, and you really can cater it to the decks you think you will face. Vexing Shusher and Goblin Ruinblaster are good against control decks, Murderous Redcap is good against other weenie decks. The list goes on and on, and the good news is that most of the goblins work well together.
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The Burn |
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Here are some of the best burn spells in the game. Most heavy red decks will contain most of these cards.
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More Burn Options |
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If you're looking for added burn there are plenty of directions you can go. You can go for uncounterability with Urza's Rage and Banefire, or you could go with Pyrite Spellbomb and Ghostfire if you are concerned about protection from red weenies. There are also a lot of burn spells with minor advantages and disadvantages like Lash Out, Magma Jet, (Hammer of Bogarden), Fire Ambush, etc. Basically, you can go as deep as you want to with burn, but remember that with a goblin deck, the goblins usually do the heavy hitting. Burn just removes obstacles or finishes a player off once you can get them into the red zone.
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Other Good Cards |
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Many of these cards have no equal and even though they don't add to the overall goblin theme, they have proven themselves to be game winners.
Red decks in general can often steal games with targeted land destruction or blood moon effects. These are usually best for the sideboard because they are often a dead card against another red burn deck.
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Here's a goblin deck that has done quite well in 100 singleton premiere events. In no small part due to it's owner E. Hustle who is a master at the deck.
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So, once you've played goblins for a while and want to change things up a bit where can you go. Well, there are four other colors out there and I'd like to take some time to discuss splashing another color in your goblin deck. Of course by splashing another color you are weakening your deck a bit in terms of using more susceptible nonbasic lands, exposing yourself to drawing the wrong color of mana, and losing some of the focus of the deck. Therefore I advise you to be careful when splashing another color. There is much to gain in terms of power, but there is also much to lose in terms in consistency.
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White Goblins |
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White is one of the most versatile colors in the game. It has some of the best creature removal. It has disenchant effects. It has the best weenies in the game. It has some of the best tutors in the game, and it has lifelink creatures which can often spell doom to a goblin player. If you're expecting to see a lot of mirror goblin matches I'd definitely go with a white splash.
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Better Weenies |
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AEther Vial, Goblin Lackey, and Warren Instigator are all great at putting creatures into play for free. Mirror Entity is an especially nice target to put into play for free.
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Creature Boosting |
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White has some of the best creature boosters in the game. White/Red also has a decent supply of cheap double strikers like Warren Instigator that work well with power boosters like Elspeth.
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Lifelink Madness |
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One of the ways to get a slight advantage against other goblin decks (and red burn decks in general) is to splash white for the lifelink creatures. They usually get targeted with creature removal at the first opportunity, but it usually takes two burn spells to take one of these guys out, and that's two burn spells that aren't aimed directed at your head. And sometimes your opponent won't have the resources to kill these guys immediately. In that case, the lifelinkers can often steal the game.
One word of caution when playing with the white splash. Get 1-2 basic Plains out as soon as you can because a monored opponent will try to lock out your lifelink spells before you can play them with some combination of Blood Moon, Magus of the Moon, and Wasteland. Plateau is not necessarily better than a basic Plains when using those fetchlands in this match-up.
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Disenchant Effects |
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Green may now be the primary color for destroying artifacts and enchantments, but white still has some very powerful ways of doing that. Here's another tip, Seal of Cleansing is searchable with the white tutor Enlightened Tutor while disenchant is not. Therefore I usually opt for the Seal over Disenchant.
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Equipment |
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White has access to multiple searchers for equipment and White and Red together have a lot of small quick creatures that work quite nicely with equipment.
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Creature Removal |
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Swords and Path are hands down the best removal spells in the game and they can make short work of creatures that might otherwise give you fits like Baneslayer Angel or a reanimated Sphinx of the Steel Wind. Also Crib Swap is a removal decent search target for Goblin Matron. And don't forget that Oblivion Ring.
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Taxing Seismic Assault |
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Both Land Tax and Seismic Assault are pretty good on their own. Together they form a significant game-winning threat. They are also both searchable with the same tutor. If you're really feeling aggressive, why not add a Swans to the deck as well.
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So, here's my WR goblins deck.
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Green Goblins |
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Bloodbraid Elf is one of the most broken creatures in standard. So, how does it do in 100 singleton? Pretty nicely. Especially when you can combo it with Wirewood Symbiote, Worldly Tutor, Eternal Witness, and numerous other broken green spells. Green brings a lot to the table and puts a bit of muscle on those goblins.
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More Beef for your Buck |
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Whether you're looking at cheap creatures or expensive ones, adding green to your decks adds to the power and toughness of your creatures. Black removal is common with examples such as Shriekmaw Putrefy Mortify Vindicate. It's nice to be able to Goblin Matron or Goblin Recruiter search for a beefy creature like Chameleon Colossus that can avoid those kind of removal spells. It's even nicer if you have a AEther Vial out.
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Naturalize on a Stick |
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There are enchantments that simply shut down red. Adding green cards like these means that those enchantments don't have to spell out your doom. It's nice to have answers to hate cards.
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Creature Tutoring |
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Primal Command for an Eternal Witness or Kitchen Finks is one of those plays that can rescue you against other burn decks. Against control decks you can usually find a creature that can give them headaches.
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Genesis |
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Most of the time, if I'm fighting a control deck and the game goes long, my path to victory usually shifts to taking advantage of Genesis or Arc-Slogger
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Valakut / Scapeshift Combo |
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The Valakut / Scapeshift combo is a lot like the Progenitus / Natural Order combo, except the former is much smoother than the latter. Also both pieces of the combo can be used even if the ideal situation for the combo is not available. In elves decks, Progenitus is most often a dead card if drawn. Valakut at least functions as a weak version of a Mountain.
This combo does stretch a goblin deck into more of a RG ramp deck, and it increases your susceptibility to Armageddon but it also gives you a simple "I win" way out against some difficult to win situations. Having said that, I would sideboard this combo out if you're playing against a heavy land destruction deck.
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Mana Acceleration |
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There is no acceleration like green acceleration. I can't remember the number of times I've gone turn 1 elves, turn 2 wood elves, turn 3 some broken 5cc creature, or play and equip one of the Swords of Fire/Ice (Light/Shadow)
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And here's my Green Goblin Deck
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Blue Goblins |
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Blue has always had a virtual monopoly on counterspells. Therefore, any reasonable control strategy usually focuses on Blue to provide counterspells as a universal response to any threat. Yes, but what does that have to do with Goblins. Goblins are an aggro strategy. It's just bad form to mix an aggressive strategy with a controlling strategy. Isn't it?
I'm not entirely convinced. A Goblin Deck uses cards like Goblin Lackey and AEther Vial to keep many open while playing out threats. As long as you've got the possibility of keeping mana open on your opponent's turn, why not have the ability to say to whatever they're trying to do. Also Goblin decks have board controlling cards like Sparksmith and Goblin Sharpshooter. If you look at these two aspects of the game, Goblins can be a aggressive deck while having just enough control thwart any efforts to stop them.
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Counterspells |
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The classic counterspells are still very good. Even though there are now cards like Vexing Shusher and Great Sable Stag, counterspells remain the best way to deny your opponent from carrying out his or her nefarious plans.
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Bounce |
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Goblins have a lot of creatures with beneficial "enters the battlefield" effects like Imperial Recruiter, Goblin Matron, and Murderous Redcap. This usually means that bouncing them can be a very good thing. At other times you just need to bounce a defensive shield like Baneslayer Angel or Moat in order to get an alpha strike in for the win. Either way, bounce and goblins often work well together.
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Pingers |
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Elves, Goblins, and Soldiers tokens make up just some of the juicy targets that Pingers can take out for free. With the upgrade of a Gorgon Flail pingers can dominate the board. If you're expecting a lot of weenie decks, pingers might be the way to go.
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Card Advantage |
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If you look at some of the most played cards in 100 singleton, you will see the blue card drawing spells at the top of that list. It's no secret that if you can out-draw your opponent, you can usually find a way to beat your opponent.
Goblins usually like to run out their hands quickly, so being able to restock your hand is always a good thing.
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Trinkets |
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The more shuffling effects you have, the better Sensei's Divining Top gets. Goblins has plenty of shuffling effects, including Imperial Recruiter and Goblin Matron, therefore it stands to reason that the Divining Top can be quite good in a Goblin Deck. Also a Trinket Mage can find a critical 4th land or a Engineered Explosives for these pesky protection from red creatures and Circle of Protections.
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Faeries |
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Besides the Kiki-Jiki / Pestermite combo, adding Faeries to a Goblin Deck reduces that chances that something like a Moat will stop you in your tracks.
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Opposition |
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This should be fairly obvious. Goblin decks can make a lot of guys quickly. Opposition can turn a lot of little guys in a win very quickly.
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Stealing and not Giving Back |
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This is another obvious interaction between Red and Blue. This kind of play is great if you see a lot of creature decks, but it's totally worthless against those creatureless, kill you with a combo type of decks.
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Black Goblins |
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Generally splashing black provides a couple of advantages centering around discard and reanimation. There are some nice tutors in black but most of them have been banned in 100 singleton.
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Recursive Goblins |
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Well, Lorwyn brought us a significant number of black goblins. It's kind of nice to have another goblin tutor in the Harbinger, and Wort is a nice evasive four drop that can end the game if its left alone, however the format is filled with 4 drops that win if left alone, so it's not exactly unique. Yes, the black goblins help amp up the power of goblins, but they shouldn't be the main reason you're splashing black.
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Reanimation |
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Animate Dead and Necromancy are severely undercosted for the ability to return a creature from ANY graveyard to play. Also Goblins are defined by small creatures that die easy but often have nice enter the battlefield effects ie..Siege-Gang Commander Goblin Matron, etc. Add to this a way to bring back some game ending 5 drops that you can easily cast normally and you have some definite added power.
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Discard |
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Never underestimate the power of early discard effects. A single Duress or Thoughtseize could turn a good opening hand into a game loss for your opponent. Mind Twist is another one of those spells that is so powerful that people do splash for it. An uncountered Mind Twist can simply destroy control decks.
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Unearthly Benefits |
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I always liked Goblin Bombardment, and I still like it even though it's lost a bit of power with the M2010 rules. Black/Red gives you some nice ways to use the Bombardment, including Bloodghast and unearth creatures.
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Specter Surprises |
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Let's face it, mono-red decks are a well known quantity in 100 singleton, and therefore there is a lot of anti-red sideboard cards floating around out there. What better way to protect yourself against those kind of cards than to use some black sources of damage.
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Pinpoint Destruction |
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Sometimes you can't do enough damage to kill a creature, and you just want a card that will just do that.
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Recursive Evokers |
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Volrath's Stronghold is another reason to splash black, and evoke creatures are excellent with Volrath's Stronghold. They're not that bad with reanimation spells as well.
Well, hopefully this little exercise in taking a working deck and modifying it to "improve" it or simply spice things up a bit has been interesting for you. If you're anything like me, then you're always looking for something new and different to try. That's one of the reasons I play singleton formats. It's rarely the same game twice. And if I start seeing games that are ending the same way, that means I haven't tweaked my deck enough....
Until Next Time... Thanks for reading...
- Marcus, the man who gets Karpal Tunnel Syndrome every time he has to type his Magic Online username (Shuyin Knight of Zanarkand)
11 Comments
No patriarch's bidding in br goblin list?
You can go many directions with each color and I tried to use this article to illustrate some of the ways you can go. I obviously can't hit everything with my sample decks. There are simply too many good classic cards.
Patriarch's Bidding and Living Death are very good against control matches. They are much less impressive against other aggro decks.
You certainly can change a couple of cards out and go for the mass recursion route. I simply chose a different route with my 5 casting cost cards in that deck.
Good article Markus! Goblins do indeed lend themselves to a wide variety of strategies from the simple to the mindboggling. Kikimite is one of the nastiest instant speed combos out there. Particularly if you pester when your op is tapped out and then play kiki. When I first came back to MODO I had a friend pull that on me in extended. I was not pleased. Even so it is counterable with a squall or other mass damage card (volcanic fallout for example) so it isn't beyond broken. I wonder if there is a 5c goblins singleton deck possible, or if that would dilute the power of the creatures too much?
Thank you.
I've tried 3 color goblins with some success. If you're going for 5 colors though I wouldn't go with goblins. Goblins are good because they are consistent and if you are going to 5 colors you are going to lose a lot of consistency.
gots to have the goblin grenade.... 5 damage for R is too much to pass up.
While Goblin Grenade is good, I don't think it's an auto-include card by any means.
Sacrificing a creature is a heavy cost, especially in a world filled with the greatest counterspells and wrath effects ever made.
For every game you win on turn 4-5 with a Goblin Grenade, there will be another game where Goblin Grenade will be a dead card or a 2 for 1 countered spell. Not to mention the times you'll want to use it to remove a blocker.
Don't get me wrong, it's a powerful spell, but in my mind it's not too much to pass up.
Good article. To be honest, though I was surprised. Thought I'd be seeing more "what do about the goblin menace" articles than an improvement article about them. As if they need the help :) Good left field option, always play with their minds.
Incidentally, if you're playing RW goblins Reveilark is a great option. It returns most of the obvious main players to play, wins on it's own, and can be an absurd source of card advantage - something Red and White really need.
There is a really good article on fighting Goblins in 100 singleton on www.mtgoacademy.com
Personally, I want to promote the format, and I think Goblins are a good way to do that because they are relatively cheap, they are competitive, and they fairly easy to learn how to play.
As good as they are, I really dislike unhygenic cards like Goblins. Going home to build a deck that absolutely crushes them! Good article btw.
This inspired me to create my first 100 CS deck. I loved the number of truly cheap and interesting cards found in these decks. I hobbled together a list that, after rough calculations, should cost between 7 and 15 ticks. Will it be competitive? Probably not. But it should be a lot of fun.
Congratulations! really insightful article, must have taken a lot of time and effort to put it together!