Goblins in its aggro form isn’t in the best spot in the current format. In fact, as much as it upsets me to say this, the Goblins archetype is very bad in the current meta and has been for quite some time. However, if you still like to use Goblins to win your games, there is some hope and I have a deck for you.
The list we will be looking at today 9th place in the Pauper challenge that took place on 2/25/2023 and was piloted by Magic Online grinder Hamuda. Hamuda is quite the player on mtgo and is successful in multiple formats. With all the time Hamuda has put into this particular archetype, I would probably start calling it Hamuda Goblins. Let’s Rock!
Skirk Prospector
and Putrid Goblin
– Here is are your main combo pieces. There is a third piece we will discuss a bit later and I will discuss how the combo works as well.
Goblin Matron
– Although it costs 3 mana, it is a tutor for 2 of your pieces for the combo.
Dark-Dweller Oracle
– The goal of the deck is to get infinite mana with your combo. With infinite mana and the combo online, this allows you to see your whole deck.
Masked Vandal
– There are plenty of problem artifacts and enchantments to deal with in the format. Not only can this be a Disenchant
, but it can also be a decent blocker as well.
First Day of Class
– Here is your third combo piece. The way the combo works is this. After you cast First Day of Class, you use Skirk Prospector to sacrifice Putrid Goblin. Putrid Goblin will then come back to the battlefield thanks to Persist. While normally Persist would make Putrid Goblin enter with a -1/-1 counter on it, First Day of Class counteracts this with the +1/+1 counter it gives. This will cancel out both counters and you will be able to sacrifice Putrid Goblin as many times as needed. This is as time consuming as it sounds and takes a ton of clicks.
Faithless Looting
– For as good a draw spell as this is, it is technically the weakest way to get to your combo in this particular deck. At the end of the day though, it is still a fantastic draw spell.
Makeshift Munitions
– Here is the way you will actually win the game and it does a damn good job of it. Again however, it will be time consuming and take a lot of clicking.
Duress
– This is one of the best ways at stopping your opponent from stopping your progress towards winning the game.
Unearth
- A fantastic way to return one of your creatures and it only costs 1 mana, making it very easy to combo off in the same turn.
Deadly Dispute
, Chromatic Star
and Ichor Wellspring
– I am sure no one is surprised to see these cards here as Dispute plus Wellspring or Star has shown to be a very good way of getting card advantage in a good amount of archetypes.
Shred Memory
– This is more or less Demonic Tutor
for your combo pieces.
Nihil Spellbomb
– The graveyard has become a very big part of Pauper and this is cheap answer that can also draw a card. I am not sure this will be necessary to have in the main deck every time you play this archetype, but it is a good answer to have if you expect a lot of graveyard decks.
The Manabase
Drossforge Bridge
, Great Furnace
and Vault of Whisper
– While the Bridge is a good dual land, they can all be used as fodder for Deadly Dispute.
Tramway Station
– A dual land that can also draw you a card deeper if need be.
Rakdos Carnarium
– This will help you to hopefully mulligan less.
The rest of the manabase are 9 basic lands. I think the manabase is fine here and I would be hard pressed to argue against Hamuda. However, I don’t think this manabase is necessarily set in stone as you could change the numbers a bit or play a few different lands we don’t see here. I would not suggest you add too many more come into play tapped lands however as you can’t afford to be too slow.
The Sideboard
Abrade
– A great removal spell that has multiple functions making it very flexible.
Duress
– In the case of you needing a third copy. I am a little upset to only see 3 copies max in the 75 but that is personal preference to me.
Gorilla Shaman
– Say no to our artifact overlords.
Introduction to Prophecy
– First Day of Class isn’t just a piece of the combo. Worse case scenario it also allows you to get a lesson card from your sideboard. This lesson is a decent way of getting deeper into your deck.
Krark-Clan Shaman
– Access to a board wipe is never a bad thing.
Red Elemental Blast
– The answer to blue is try again next time after I win the game.
Smash to Dust
– Another flexible spell with 3 good options for whatever you may come across.
Final Thoughts and Conclusion
I think this archetype is quite good, but like most combo decks (if not all of them) the deck can be very hit or miss. It isn’t too hard to disrupt this decks combo with graveyard hate and you could just not get there in the end by not drawing what you need, but that is the risk you take with any combo deck.
The strength of this archetype is how fast it can be and it can actually be fairly resilient with all the card draw available. It also helps that Duress and Red Elemental Blast go a long way in helping your game plan. There aren’t too many pure combo decks running around in the format either so if you like combo, this may be up your ally.
Should you play this deck? I would say yes, but your mileage will vary. Hamuda plays this deck a lot and does fairly well with it. That is due to how much time they have put in and shows how well they know this deck. Even Hamuda, as hard as he tries, can’t win every time with deck. In the end, if you like combo and would like something challenging to play, this is definitely a deck for you.
Just keep in mind, you will have to practice a lot. A combo decks strength comes from the pilots ability to understand each matchup they are facing, understand each out they have and how to sideboard properly. Sideboarding is a huge part of why I think most players that play a combo deck lose. You have to make sure you do not dilute your deck in a way where staying alive is a bit easier, but actually winning the game is much harder.
However, with all this being said, as always, do remember my words are not gospel. I will always encourage you to try a deck that I bring you despite my personal feelings. Remember that results will vary and always remember to practice!
Would you like to compete in a free Pauper tournament with some great prizes? Head on over to Gatherling.com on Tuesday nights at 8pm EDT and play in our weekly Pauper Classic Tuesday's event! Join the chat #PCT to chat with us and feel free to find most of the competitors on Discord!
Thank you so much for reading. Best of luck to you in your next tournament and I’ll catch you all next time!
