Anti goblin deck

Modern Deck Help forum

Posted on March 13, 2019, 11:32 a.m. by marco-piatti

Hello everyone. I'd like to ask if anyone has any suggestions for some decks that can win against a mono red goblin deck.

captainamerica says... #2

So, you could build decks that are heavier in removal than most. If you don't want to break the bank and like midrange I have a deck called Budget Eldrazi Aggro for Cap copy that someone helped me build, and it's surprisingly good. It has a great matchup against everything except tron, at which point bolts go to the dome

March 13, 2019 11:37 a.m.

captainamerica says... #3

Other than that, I really just suggest midrange/control decks like 8-rack, jund, or UWx Control

March 13, 2019 11:37 a.m.

marco-piatti says... #4

thanks [captainamerica].. about midrange decks could you/anyone suggest me some deck list that could be good at that?

March 13, 2019 12:19 p.m.

PlatinumOne says... #5

goblins usually aren't a particularly hard matchup. you just gotta be able to remove their key goblins like Goblin Chieftain and Goblin Rabblemaster , and/or have some early blockers. instead of building an anti-goblin deck, you should post your current deck here so people can suggest upgrades to it that will help against the goblin matchup. if you build a deck specifically meant to counter one thing, its just more likely to lose against everything else.

March 13, 2019 12:27 p.m.

SynergyBuild says... #6

Nah, in modern 8whack is basically the only goblin deck, so I'd say play soul sisters, Path is very efficient against them, and Soul's Attendant / Soul Warden stomp on their day. If you ever swing with an active Serra Ascendant , they dead.

March 13, 2019 12:38 p.m.

PlatinumOne says... #7

SynergyBuild: nah what?

March 13, 2019 12:43 p.m.

SynergyBuild says... #8

PlatinumOne I mean a Martyr/Proc list would work too if you don't like Soul Sisters, want me to write up a quick list?

March 13, 2019 12:53 p.m.

SynergyBuild says... #9

Do you mean the 8whack thing? Oh, that is the current goblin deck. The variant you referred to was old.

A rabblemaster sideboard is max for 8whack, umm... I think 1-3 (2 rn) chieftans?

So you were talking the slow goblin list, 8whack is a lot more powerful, and is the only meta goblin deck (despite being weak)

Link to current Goblins: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/archetype/modern-8-whack-67181#paper

After relooking at the list, I was wrong about the chieftan/rabblemaster, sorry!

March 13, 2019 12:55 p.m. Edited.

marco-piatti says... #10

PlatinumOne i've got a mono green elves. My deck list is this: creatures:

4x Llanowar Elves 4x Priest of Titania 4x Joraga Warcaller

4x Elvish Clancaller 4x Dwynen's Elite 2x Elvish Visionary

4x Elvish Archdruid 4x Imperious Perfect 2x Ezuri, Renegade Leader

2x Dwynen, Gilt-Leaf Daen

Sorceries:

2x Lead the Stampede 2x Elvish Promenade 2x Triumph of the Hordes

Lands: 20x Forest

I know it's a budget list but i'm basically new to magic...

March 13, 2019 1:23 p.m.

PlatinumOne says... #11

Im at work now but i can give suggestions later this evening. With elves though, creating a bunch of early blockers is easy.

March 13, 2019 1:36 p.m.

SynergyBuild says... #12

March 13, 2019 1:38 p.m.

SynergyBuild says... #13

They run playsets of all of those... and a 1 off Risk Factor so they mainboard a ton of burn.

March 13, 2019 1:39 p.m.

PlatinumOne says... #14

SynergyBuild: elves can also swarm the goblin player before that happens.

March 13, 2019 1:41 p.m.

SynergyBuild says... #15

Really? Goblins is often a turn 3 kill. Also if you try to aggro you aren't holding back much.

Too bad no Wellwisher !

March 13, 2019 1:42 p.m.

PlatinumOne says... #16

SynergyBuild: t3 is possible but unlikely, especially when relying entirely on burn effects. Plus elves have Elvish Clancaller now

March 13, 2019 1:49 p.m.

SynergyBuild says... #17

Not entirely burn, the deck is called 8whack for a reason xD there are somewher around... 32 creatures?

March 13, 2019 2:01 p.m.

That's a solid budget elves deck! One thing to note is that Priest of Titania is not legal in modern. Try Elvish Mystic instead or Elvish Archdruid . Goblins and other burn variants will be tough matchups because they are faster and they have a lot of burn.

Elvish Promenade seems win-more. When you're behind it doesn't do enough to get you back in and when you're ahead it's overkill.

Dwynen should do a lot in the matchup.

March 13, 2019 2:02 p.m.

SynergyBuild says... #19

Also turn 3 most games, goldfishing. Turn 4-5 with interaction.

March 13, 2019 2:03 p.m.

marco-piatti says... #20

if you have some suggestions to improve my actual deck it would be great. However i'm also intrested in suggestions for decks that cand do well vs aggro because being new to the game i don't have many ideas. For exemple i've looked into some 8-rack deck lists.. Do you think that would be a good idea to face aggro players for non experienced player like me?

March 13, 2019 2:06 p.m.

SynergyBuild says... #21

Nah, Soul Sisters kills aggro ~100% of the time give 20%

March 13, 2019 2:08 p.m.

marco-piatti says... #22

ToolmasterOfBrainerd thanks for reminding me that, i've posted an older list but i forgot to replace Priest of Titania with Elvish Mystic . However that's exactly my problem.. Goblin decks are usally faster than mine so i don't usually get to set up my win conditions that are basically Joraga Warcaller , Ezuri, Renegade Leader , Triumph of the Hordes and Elvish Promenade . Do you think i could cut out a couple of lands to bring Triumph of the Hordes to 4x instead of 2x?

March 13, 2019 2:13 p.m.

PlatinumOne says... #23

SynergyBuild: yes i realize the deck is mostly creatures. But the effects you listed for getting around blockers were mainly burn effects

March 13, 2019 2:21 p.m.

SynergyBuild says... #24

Yes, however you were saying you'd block a ton, so I dropped them.

Then you said you were planning on swarming, AKA not blocking (unless Elvish Clancaller gave vigilance when I wasn't looking), so suddenly you die turn 3, 4, or 5.

Elves has bad removal, so they often splash white with Vizier combo, or black with Shaman and Coco, and run Path/Push too. Mono-green will lose to 8whack.

March 13, 2019 2:24 p.m.

PlatinumOne says... #25

SynergyBuild: in my experience, mono g elves are favored

March 13, 2019 2:33 p.m.

Grixis776 says... #26

Against goblins? ...cheap boardwipes usually is the best way to shut down goblins. Also save your target removal for the Goblin lords. Goblin Chieftain , Goblin King etc

March 13, 2019 2:33 p.m.

SynergyBuild says... #27

Grixis776 modern goblins doesn't run either.

Goblin Bushwhacker / Reckless Bushwhacker are the lords.

March 13, 2019 2:38 p.m.

marco-piatti I do not recommend 8-rack at all to a new player. It's not very interesting if you're new and to be honest I'm unconvinced it even has a good aggro matchup. If you build it on a budget (no Ensnaring Bridge or Liliana of the Veil ) then your aggro matchup will be terrible.

Any kind of midrange or control deck will be good against goblins but those tend to be expensive.

March 13, 2019 3:29 p.m.

hungry000 says... #29

The best decks against Goblins would be Martyr Proc or Soul Sisters.

example Martyr Proc deck: https://www.channelfireball.com/articles/deck-of-the-day-martyr-proc-modern/

example Soul Sisters deck: https://www.channelfireball.com/articles/deck-of-the-day-soul-sisters-modern/

To make sure you win the Goblins matchup, you can modify those decks by playing maindeck Burrenton Forge-Tender , Kor Firewalker , Auriok Champion , and Circle of Protection: Red . Here's an example decklist that's tuned to beat Goblins:


Anti-Goblins Martyr Proc

Modern hungry000

1 VIEW | IN 1 FOLDER


If you would like one that's more budget friendly I can make one for you. Just give me a price range.

March 13, 2019 3:40 p.m.

marco-piatti says... #30

Thank you, ToolmasterOfBrainerd for the advice, if you may suggest me some decklist not very expensive i'd surely get a look at them..

And thak you hungry000, i was thinking of a budget around 60-70$. I don't have the exact lists of the goblin decks i've faced this far but for what i've seen they also look to be around that value..

March 13, 2019 3:48 p.m.

hungry000 says... #31

Fortunately I didn't have to change the deck much, here you go: Budget Anti-Gobbo Proc It's kind of perfect, actually. I checked on TCGplayer and it seems to come out at right about $70 after pasting it in and optimizing the cart.

March 13, 2019 4:10 p.m.

marco-piatti says... #32

Thanks hungry000 for the list, i will surely take into account the idea of building a deck like that.

March 13, 2019 4:25 p.m.

APPLE01DOJ says... #33

Marrow Shards is great anti-goblin tech that can slot into any deck.

March 13, 2019 4:57 p.m.

It was mentioned before and I would like to re-iterate that you really shouldn't build a deck whose only purpose is to beat up on your friend who plays goblins. It won't be fun for your friend at all and it won't be fun for you after 3 games. And it won't be fun to play against anyone else ever.

If you're dead set on building a deck for beating goblins you're much better off saving money and building a bulk common deck with blockers, removal, and lifegain. Pack some stuff like Nyx-Fleece Ram , for example, and you'll do pretty well. Finish them off with some lifelink angels. It'll be way more fun and way cheaper then spending $70 just to beat goblins.

March 13, 2019 5:07 p.m.

marco-piatti says... #35

ToolmasterOfBrainerd what you say is 100% correct, my first idea was building a control deck because i tend to prefer that kind of style over aggro. However, since almost everyone told me that for a new player is easier to begin with an aggro deck i've builded that one. I'll look around to find some deck list that can do the trick spending less money. My intention was to get some ideas because being new to the game i don't know exactly what are the builds that can do well against aggro...

March 13, 2019 5:29 p.m.

hungry000 says... #36

For the record, ToolmasterOfBrainerd, while Martyr Proc is a very good deck to hose Goblins with, it's not like it's impossible to win against other decks with it, and neither is it a bad idea to invest in it. In fact, it's very good against lots of decks right now, though its archenemies (Tron, Combo) still win out most of the time. In addition, the deck I listed above isn't built specifically to beat Goblins outside of the fact that it plays some cards that would usually be played in the sideboard in the main. Editing it to accommodate other matchups would be an easy task.

I know you're probably only addressing building decks in general, but I wanted to defend Proc just in case. ;)

March 13, 2019 5:30 p.m.

hungry000 says... #37

marco-piatti Oh, you could also try out a Mono B Devotion list. Black has decent removal and life gain cards so it has a good matchup against Goblins/other aggro decks. Gifted Aetherborn / Vampire Nighthawk / Gatekeeper of Malakir are great against them, Gray Merchant of Asphodel is a finisher as well as a way to get out of the rut if you're close to death; against other types of decks, 1 cmc discard spells let you interact with combo, and black has decent value-generators like Phyrexian Arena and the various Liliana planeswalkers (though they're expensive) to grind out the slower matchups. Here are a couple example decks: Modern Black Devotion, Mono Black Devotion

Here's a budget list I just put together: Mono Black Devotion You can add some cards to make it more competitive or swap out some of the more expensive cards to make it more budget-friendly. It can probably be brought down to around $35 if you did that.

March 13, 2019 6:51 p.m.

hungry000 Martyr proc is a real deck. Circle of Protection: Red shouldn't be anywhere near it, but otherwise it's a real deck. It's not great in current modern, but it's definitely more than just a hate deck.

March 13, 2019 7:27 p.m.

marco-piatti says... #39

Thanks hungry000 and ToolmasterOfBrainerd for your help!

March 14, 2019 4:06 a.m.

SynergyBuild says... #40

hungry000 is right however on proc/sisters being the best budget lists that have a near 100% winrate against goblins.

March 14, 2019 8:36 a.m.

marco-piatti says... #41

I decided that by now it's best to just modify my deck by gettin cards like Fog , Druid's Deliverance , Essence Warden and Thunderstaff that can extend my lifespan in game. I also plan to add 2 more copies of Triumph of the Hordes and to consider that as my main win condition so i can also slow down my opponent by giving -1/-1 counters on his creatures.

March 14, 2019 2:18 p.m.

Twotwo4two says... #42

If your whole goal is to beat 8 Whack, a four of Essence Warden in the side board. As far as how MTG usually works, aggro beats control, mid range beats aggro, control beats mid range. There aren't a whole lot of budget mid range decks so if you want to beat 8 whack build mono red burn and main 2 Dragons Claw. Hope this helps P.S. 8 Whack for life.

April 14, 2019 8:18 a.m.

Slayer8750 says... #43

Give this a try, kinda like a goblin lifelink deck, You match the in goblins while gaining life off the charts, you can also make krenko indestructible to keep him save and kill off all of your goblins to gain even more life using the deathgreaters while tapping madauntie right as you play the other card to regen krenko and give him indestructible again, off the charts life.

3 Goblin Piledriver 3 Impassioned Orator 3 Brightstone Ritual 3 Path to Exile 4 Deathgreeter 3 Kindred Boon 3 Ajani's Pridemate 3 Mad Auntie 3 Tivadar's Crusade 3 Krenko, Mob Boss 3 Wort, Boggart Auntie 3 Ajani, Strength of the Pride 2 Mage-Ring Network 4 Temple of Silence 4 Temple of Malice 4 Temple of Triumph 2 Molten Slagheap 2 Mountain 2 Plains 2 Swamp

May 31, 2020 5:02 p.m.

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