Jokesin’ with Goblins

[I apologize for not writing this article sooner, but for a few weeks my interest in Magic Online/writing for Rusty had waned due to being busy.  Hopefully things will pick up soon.]

When I first heard of a goblin deck that had won a States tournament, I was definitely intrigued to say the least.  It had been a looong time since anyone had done well with a goblin deck in standard, and I would say that even in the days of Lorwyn, the goblin deck never really won anything substantial.  A second later, it all clicked and I realized that the deck would be prime candidate for a jank deck.  I had to make sure of two things though: 1) All goblin cards basically commons and uncommons: check; 2) Goblin Chieftain still budget: check (it’s $0.50). 

After a few days of play-testing on MODO, I eventually ended up with this deck:

Goblin Jank | The Rusty Machete

18 Creatures:  
4 Goblin Bushwhacker
4 Goblin Chieftain
4 Goblin Gaveleer
1 Perilous Myr
2 Pilgrim's Eye
2 Tuktuk Scrapper
1 Tuktuk the Explorer

20 Spells:  
4 Adventuring Gear
2 Galvanic Blast
4 Kuldotha Rebirth
3 Panic Spellbomb
3 Quest for the Goblin Lord
4 Trusty Machete

22 Lands:  
3 Dread Statuary
16 Mountain
3 Smoldering Spires

12 Sideboard:  
1 Assault Strobe
2 Flame Slash
1 Manic Vandal
1 Ogre's Cleaver
2 Perilous Myr
1 Pilgrim's Eye
1 Tuktuk Scrapper
1 Tuktuk the Explorer
2 Wrap in Flames

The deck pilots sort of like a very, very slow beat-down deck (i.e. an agro deck wit a less than stellar start): most of the time I’m attacking with a few very small creatures with power 2 or less (yes, I have tried and hated Raid Bombardment).  It’s more like I’m whittling away at the opponents life total, only to get something good out mid-game to finish them off.  By something good, I usually refer to Quest for the Goblin Lord.  +2+0 to all creatures is a huge boost when you have 4 creatures out there already doing damage to the opponent.  Yes, I said all creatures, not just goblins.  This fact was made obvious to me when Magic Online was showing that my Pilgrim’s Eye (I’ll explain that card choice later) was in fact a 3/1 flyer with an active quest out.  

The obvious problem is Quest is very conditional because sometimes you don’t even DRAW 5 goblins, much less actually get them to hit the battlefield.  However, that’s where the new Scars card Kuldatha Rebirth comes in!  Kuldatha Rebirth is simply a very good card if the synergy exists for it.  Synergy in this case can be something as grand as 3^rd turn win (yes it’s possible with this deck) using Quest and Goblin Bushwhackers or something as simple as just having a Goblin Chieftain out making them hasty 2/2 guys that your opponents weren’t prepared for.  Some might still just look at the fact that you are trading down—sacrificing an artifact and a card (the Rebirth spell itself) for three 1/1 goblin dorks. All in all, this equates for a three-for-two (and the three you are getting are only 1/1 tokens), made worse by the fact you absolutely need an artifact in play to cast it, as well.  With all this taken into account, I was absolutely surprised at just how well the spell’s payoff is.  Kuldatha Rebirth helps turn a useless Adventuring Gear (useless in that maybe you haven’t been drawing the lands to trigger landfall) or can even combo with Perilous Myr into a tide-changing board position.  In fact, I was very happy sacrificing Panic Spellbomb and paying R to get the extra card.  I mean, the competitive Goblins deck played the card too, so it can’t be all that bad.

Another powerhouse in the deck is also from the new set: Goblin Gavaleer.  Gavaleer feels like it was made to be in the same deck as Rebirth.  Both cards would be happy being in deck with many equipment, and that’s why this deck packs eight.  Gavaleer can easily become a 9/x trampler and just surprise players out of nowhere.  His trample is extremely relevant in this meta full of eldrazi spawn and 1/1’s, and is the sole reason why there is a one-of Assault Strobe in the sideboard (sorcery-speed TOTALLY sucks for that card otherwise).  Even without Gavaleer and Rebirth, those equipments won’t be totally useless, as you’ll have plenty of targets to attach them to virtually in all stages of the game.

Another thing you guys might notice is the 22 land count.  The reasoning behind this is the deck really does need Dread Statuaries.  The goblin deck usually will go to the mid-game and most of the time, the extra potential 4/2 becomes relevant, added to the fact I have been too mana screwed too frequently to comfortably play fewer than 22.  Lastly, the Statutary is yet another Rebirth target, making it extra appropriate.  I even play Pilgrim’s Eye to make sure I hit enough mana to play my mid-game, to activate Statuary, and you guessed it, to be a potential Rebirth target.

I truly hope you guys give this deck a shot.  It’s not very flashy*; in fact it’s probably the tamest deck I’ve made in a long time.  But I thought it’d be something cool to try out, because it’s still a weird build at least for the typical goblin archetype. 

Keep on Jokesin’.

-HWU

*Okay, maybe just a little:

This is what a god hand can look like.  It’s a turn 4 kill, but turn 3 kills do exist.

This is the real god hand.  Yes, turn 3 kill.

I can beat a 3-for-1 Ratchet Bomb

Don’t forget that sometimes the right play is activating a Dread Statutary (tapping the Statutary to generate a colorless to help pay the activation) to make it fodder for Rebirth.