This is a goblin tribal mono red aggro deck meant for 1 vs 1 EDH with french banlist.
Someone will laugh when reading the above sentence,but I ensure that this can be competitive. I play goblins in every format and i spent more than a year building and testing this deck from time to time, also considering other lists on the net.
The primary strategy is to drop as much goblins as you can, followed by krenko (possibly with haste) that make them grow exponentially and/or something that pumps your horde. Following this line of play you can usually win in turn 5-7. Aniway, if you get to activate krenko twice you should win, but you can also win without ever casting krenko, simply spamming goblins and following with some crazy spell like shared animosity or goblin pyromancer.
Of course, the deck's primary enemies are board sweepers, but do not despair if you face a wrath of god: you only need to recast krenko and you will rebuild your army very quickly if you can support him just with a pair of other goblins.
I considered and tested other strategies, more controllish or comboish, but i ended up realizing that if you're playing krenko in edh you MUST go aggro. After all it is mono-red, and even though some other approaches are reasonable (land destruction with zo-zu the punisher, combo with kiki-jiki), i strongly believe that aggro is the better strategy for red. Otherwise you should pick up some other colors and you'll be better.
To make effective the aggro strategy the deck needs consistency. This is difficult to obtain in a 100 cards deck, so i decided to reduce at minimum non-creature and non-goblin spells. For this deck is crucial to play some goblins on the first turns in order to make krenko better. For the same reason i don't play mana artifacts: I don't want to spend my early turns ramping, I just want to cast goblins.After all, The maximum casting mana cost of the deck is 4. After that, the only thing you want is to recast krenko if he gets killed.
Unfortunately,I need also something different from aggro-creatures. For example: removal, pump spells, haste enablers, and land destruction.
There are some creatures that provide the above effects, but in the end i am forced to play also some instants/sorcery/enchantments/artifacts: aniway, be sure that everything that is non-goblin and non-creature must be VERY good to be included in this deck.
The most important effects are the land destruction ones. There are three cards in the deck that can win the game alone, and they are blood moon, magus of the moon, and ruination. Most edh decks are tri-color and there are matches when you drop one of those three and just win.
CARD CHOICES:
Adaptive Automaton : our little creatures sometimes need some boost to end the game quickly. He does the job, and is a goblin too.
Aftershock
: Very versatile card for red, since it can support land denial, destroy annoying artifacts like Umezawa's Jitte, or kill any creature that is quite uncommon for red.The 3 damages to yourself are irrelevant.
Akki Drillmaster
: granting haste to your dudes is very important to end the game faster and to ensure krenko gets activated at least once before being killed. He does the job, and is a goblin too. Arid Mesa: this deck can also play without fetches, but i included them because of the shuffle effect, since i sometimes lost against Vendilion Clique decks playing Tunnel Vision.
Ashling's Prerogative
: haste enabler , debatable since it is not a creature, but there isn't anything better. If it is set on even it grants haste to both krenko and his tokens, since the token's casting cost is zero. Barbarian Ring: you don't care very much about damagin yourself, while with treshold you can get rid of opposing creatures or burn the opponent for the last damages. Blinkmoth Nexus: A land that beats face. Gets better with battle cry wich some cards in our deck have, and is also the only flying creature we have. Blood Moon: Mana-denial that win the game alone against three colored decks and doesn't hurt you at all. One of the best cards of the deck. Bloodstained Mire: See Arid Mesa. Cavern of Souls: One of the best lands ever printed, exceptional in tribal decks because it makes all our goblins uncounterable. Often it will be the tutor target of Expedition Map. Chain Lightning: One of the few non -goblin removals i play. It can also go the face. Chaos Warp: The only card in the deck that destroys enchantments, while taking care also of anything else. Its drawback can be quite heavy, but i am lucky so .... :) Contested War Zone: Pumps all your team, sometimes it gets stolen but we don't care because we have a low curve and also play more lands than strictly necessary.
Crystal Vein
: It ramps up to krenko in the rare cases in which we don't find our 4th land, or helps recasting him faster after he is killed.
Dragon Fodder
: Vomit two goblins on turn two? I want always to do it.
Dwarven Ruins
: Better than crystal vein because it gives red mana, but worse because it enters tapped.
Ember Hauler
: A goblin that also destroy x/2 creatures like Deathrite Shaman, Stoneforge Mystic and so on. Expedition Map: It tutors any land adding flexibility to the deck. Fervor: debatable like other non creature haste enabler, but again there isn't anything better. Foundry Street Denizen: One mana goblins are the bread and butter of this deck. We won't play [Mon's Goblin Raiders]] for sure, but this guy can become very very big when krenko is spamming tokens, and also gain trample if Legion Loyalist is out. Gamble: The only red tutor, and a ONE MANA TUTOR. Sometimes it blanks, so it is better if you play it with at least 4-5 cards in hand.
Gempalm Incinerator
: fantastic removal that can kill also big creatures, cantrips and is uncounterable. Moreover you can play it as a creature if you need it. Goblin Bombardment: we really have plenty of creatures to sacrifice, and with krenko out no one of the opponent's creatures is going to survive. Also it helps you win if you run into a Moat or something like that. It goes crazy with Goblin Sharpshooter around. Goblin Bushwhacker: sometimes you will just play it turn one, other times it will pump your team for the win. Goblin Chieftain: Lord and haste enabler in one card. Amazing.
Goblin Chirurgeon
: helps krenko survive, or saves half of your team when you face a sweeper that lets you regenerate.Remember also that any sac outlet can be used yo prevent combat damage by sacrificing the blocking creature...this trick is very useful to fight umezawa's jitte or creatures with lifelink.
Goblin General
:Slightly worse lord since it works only in offense. But who cares of defence ? :)
Goblin Grappler
: remove small creatures, but also bigger ones with lords around or with
Goblin Sledder
or
Mogg Raider
. Goblin King: Lord that gains mountainwalk... so your goblins are always unblockable if you have Blood Moon in play. Goblin Lackey: In this deck sometimes it will drop only a little stupid goblin from your hand, but is aniway important for accelerating and because your opponents often will waste a removal of him remembering his power in legacy.
Goblin Lookout
: repeatable pump or sac outlet. Goblin Matron: Goblins are the only tribe which have access to Grim Tutor on legs, she's fantastic. Goblin Piledriver: Huge beater, sometimes protection from blue is relevant.
Goblin Pyromancer
: Tutorable finisher, remember that if you sacrifice him before end of turn your goblins will survive. Goblin Recruiter: There is a reason if this card is banned in legacy. Provided that you have enough lands, you will basically draw what you want for the rest of the game.
Goblin Ruinblaster
: Mana-denial on legs. Goblin Sharpshooter: The nightmare of x/1 creatures, he's fantastic with any sac outlet in play.
Goblin Sledder
: Sac outlet, pump spell and also finisher.You have 20 goblins and your opponent has 19 blocking creatures? Well, the only unblocked goblin will become a 20/20 for the win.
Goblin Soothsayer
: repeatable pump and sac outlet.
Goblin Tinkerer
: has the potential to destroy more than one artifact.
Goblin Vandal
: unlike the tinkerer, he needs to deal damage to destroy artifacts, but aniway he is a 1/1 for 1 mana. Goblin Warchief: haste enabler that will accelerate your gameplan a lot.
Goblin Wardriver
: effective pseudo-lord that pumps also non goblin creatures. Hall of the Bandit Lord: Good utility land , although paying three life every time may hurt a bit.
Hellraiser Goblin
: Haste enabler with legs that sometimes might send important creatures to suicide. Play him wisely.
Hellrider
: A finisher with tokens around, good also on its own,
Hero of Oxid Ridge
: similar to hellrider.
Krenko's Command
: Like dragon fodder, but it is ordered by krenko :) Legion Loyalist: Raging Goblin that grants also first strike and trample, which is fantastic when you have creatures like foundry street denizen or goblin piledriver. Remember the "can't be blocked by tokens" clause, because I tend to forget it. Lightning Bolt: Red main removal, there is no need to comment. Lightning Greaves: Debatable, but they both give haste and protect krenko from removal. Magma Jet: Removal for small creatures, scry is nice. Magus of the Moon: Blood Moon that can beat although a bit more fragile to removals. Maze of Ith: keeps in check any kind of creature. Mogg Fanatic: Goblin that kills x/1 creatures like mana dorks
Mogg Raider
: see goblin sledder. Mogg War Marshal: a bit better than krenko's command and dragon's fodder because it can also block and leave a token behind, or you can also pay the echo. Mutavault: land that gets affected by all your goblins sinergies. Ogre Battledriver: very good as haste enabler and also to make all tokens krenko spams
Spark Elemental
for one turn.
Pillage
: Mana denial or artifact removal.
Rishadan Port
: mana-denial, use it during upkeep so that your opponent may use the tapped land only to cast istants. Ruination: one sided Armageddon in some matches.
Sensation Gorger
: usually you put him on top of your library with goblin recruiter so that you can draw four cards every turn. Good also on its own since you can decide if to activate the effect or not. He also disrupts the opponent's hand. Shared Animosity: Very cheap Coat of Arms. Skirk Prospector: sac outlet and mana acceleration to cast an earlier krenko if needed.Can lead to crazy combo turns if skullclamp and goblin warchief are out. Skullclamp: with this on the battlefield you are going to draw more cards than any blue deck. Banned in legacy cause it makes aggro decks too powerful.
Sparksmith
: very oppressive removal that will clear every creature from the board. However, remember not to suicide with him if you have one thousand tokens out.
Spikeshot Elder
: again repeatable removal that's a bit mana intensive. Is best with lords out and can kill an opponent alone with goblin sledder or mogg raider sacrificing tokens to pump him. Stingscourger: bounces fatty creatures like emrakul and so on. Tectonic Edge: underpowered wasteland, but still effective.
Tuktuk Scrapper
: blow an artifact and ping your opponent for one damage. Warren Instigator: lackey that cheats in two goblins. Remember that you can drop a goblin matron with the first strike damage and then drop the goblin you tutored for with the normal damage.
Wasteland
: best land ever printed after strip mine that's banned in french banlist. Wooded Foothills: see arid mesa, bloodstained mire. 25Mountain: in total i have 39 lands plus 1 skirk prospector and 1 expedition map. The deck might work well with a bit less but this way it is more consistent, also considering that i play a lot of utility lands.
