Spikeshot Elder

Creature — Goblin Shaman

{1}{R}{R}: Spikeshot Elder deals damage equal to its power to target creature or player.

Combos

• Basilisk Collar + Spikeshot Elder

Legality

Format	Legality
1v1 Commander	Legal
Archenemy	Legal
Block Constructed	Legal
Canadian Highlander	Legal
Casual	Legal
Commander / EDH	Legal
Commander: Rule 0	Legal
Custom	Legal
Duel Commander	Legal
Freeform	Legal
Highlander	Legal
Legacy	Legal
Leviathan	Legal
Limited	Legal
Modern	Legal
Modern Beyond Horizons	Legal
Oathbreaker	Legal
Planar Constructed	Legal
Planechase	Legal
PreDH	Legal
Quest Magic	Legal
Tiny Leaders	Legal
Vanguard	Legal
Vintage	Legal

Discussion (50)

SaberTech on "I know you. Ghost of Sparta." (Need Help Badly)

2 months ago

The first thought that comes to my mind is making use of deathtouch in conjunction with Kratos's double strike to make him harder to block. Basilisk Collar, Gorgon Flail, and Gorgon's Head are some easy options. Goblin Sharpshooter can clear the board if given deathtouch and Inferno Titan can also put in some work. Both like the haste that Kratos gives them.

If you are going with a strat of pumping up creatures, Spikeshot Elder is a backup option that benefits both from higher power and deathtouch, and Gleeful Arsonist can get really annoying for opponents if its power gets high.

I generally like Umezawa's Jitte with double strike commanders because after it gets 4 counters on it that lets you pump the commander into lethal commander damage range as long as the commander's starting power is 3 or more. Unfortunately, Kratos only has a starting power of 2, which makes him one damage short of lethal. That's still 20 damage, so nothing to sneeze at, but he needs a little extra help to hit that one-shot range. Subira, Tulzidi Caravanner actually likes that Kratos's power is only 2 though, making him unblockable before you pump him up with cards like the Jitte. Torbran, Thane of Red Fell also lets you increase Kratos's damage without increasing his base power.

Still, commander damage focused voltron decks are fragile. Using Kratos mostly for his ability to give other creatures haste opens up some alternate options. You could go more artifact heavy and use cards like Goblin Welder and Feldon of the Third Path that like having the haste for their tap abilities. Mycosynth Lattice + Vandalblast is a potential win-con in that sort of deck. And if you are loading up on artifact destruction then Liquimetal Coating and Liquimetal Torque give you ways to destroy things like enchantments with your artifact destruction.

Creatures with abilities that trigger when they attack, such as Etali, Primal Storm, are other things you could look at.

jdogz32 on Gerblins!

3 years ago

I would add 4 Legion Loyalist because Goblin Piledriver and Goblin Rabblemaster don't have trample. Also if you are going to add Warren Instigator I'd add Goblin Lackey as well and add Muxus, Goblin Grandee I'm also not understanding why Spikeshot Elder is in here. Seems like alot of Mana for not much of a payout. Hope this helps

Dreeks1991 on Mairsil, The Pretender

4 years ago

Thanks for checking out my list! I hadn't updated my decks in a few months so I'm just seeing this now. So I kind of cover why I run so much additional protection in my build in the primer, but the short answer is that my playgroup is very heavy on removal and they know the best way to shut this deck down is to keep Mairsil off the board. AEtherling just doesn't cut it as the only source of protection. It's not meant to be a cEDH build and I doubt it could hang with a cEDH table lol. It's definitely on par with the power level of my playgroup though.

I prefer Spikeshot Elder over Hateflayer because it doesn't require Mairsil to be tapped to activate it, which is helpful outside of the Tree of Perdition combo because I can shoot down planeswalkers and creatures with just the three mana. I did use to run Hateflayer though! I also have a few other untap effects that are cheaper to use mana-wise and allow me to combo off with Quicksilver Elemental and Prismatic Geoscope and the cards they're on also provide a lot of other value.

In terms of the Walking Ballista combo, I use him as a wincon in my elfball deck so I'm not interested in using him again in another deck, although it is a solid wincon!

I used to do a lot of jankier stuff with Mairsil (hence the giant Maybeboard lol) but my group goes super hard on him anymore so he's gotta be a little more cutthroat and bare bones if I want to win with him, which I do!

DespairFaction on Budget Equiptment

5 years ago

Hey, here are some changes I might recommend while still staying on a budget. Fist, for a voltron deck I would probably drop the creature count a little bit as 29 is a little high. For this build I would probably eye something around 22-25. Also your land count is very low, I would bring that up to about 36 lands with several ways to search for lands, that will allow you to have plenty of mana and cast the bigger stuff in your deck.

Next, I would cut some cards that seeming underwhelming. Those are: Auriok Edgewright Auriok Bladewarden Fireblade Charger Leonin Relic-Warder , Evra, Halcyon Witness Shimmer Myr Spikeshot Elder , Wayfarer's Bauble ill talk about this one below, Leonin Bola Neglected Heirloom  ^Flip Berserkers' Onslaught . So yeah once you know what to cut, it becomes very easy to make a bunch of additions.

Im not sure if you are married to the $50 budget, most of my suggestions here will be about $1 a piece but here's what I would add. First as mentioned we want better mana production, so you'll want Gift of Estates and Armillary Sphere over wayfarers bauble. In 700 games of commander, I've found that armillary sphere is just better than bauble for many reasons I wont go into right now. Fervent Champion , Sun Titan Kazuul's Toll Collector , 4 basic or flip lands, Flamekin Village Blackblade Reforged . Berserkers Onslaught can be a straight switch for True Conviction . Fleetfeather Sandals . Because your mana production is getting better, you can go just a little bigger on the top end of your deck. I might put 1 or 2 bigger equipments at the top end like Argentum Armor or maybe even a Scytheclaw . I would add Dismantling Wave and a Tome of Legends .

Here's some other very good cards on a budget that I might consider Forging the Tyrite Sword to cheap tutor, Ignite the Future excellent card draw Showdown of the Skalds also great card draw. Theres a whole package of cards you can use with Goblin Welder Goblin Engineer and Daretti, Scrap Savant and if you add those I would add a Neheb, Dreadhorde Champion . Because you have Toralf I might consider a few more red based board wipes like Chain Reaction or Magmaquake but i wouldnt say no to a Fumigate or a Rout either.

Anyway that should give you plenty to think about for now. Enjoy!

NeonSRK on Gruulfriends: Canon Edition

5 years ago

ctenochaetus

Thanks! So far the deck has been ok, I've only played it in a couple of games so far but it worked out ok in them. If I had to make any changes I might pull out either Spikeshot Elder or Welder Automaton . They're both very effective win conditions, but I haven't once run into a situation where I needed both. Having Jaya's Immolating Inferno as a backup works just fine. I might recommend a little more targeted removal, but that might just be my meta. Good luck brewing!

TheVectornaut on Red Green Dinos

5 years ago

It's worth noting that when transitioning from standard to modern, a lot of cards that seem like powerful contributors to a tribe end up being worse than non-tribal counterparts. For instance, Thunderherd Migration is probably better than the standard alternative Beneath the Sands , but it's probably worse than Rampant Growth , Cultivate , or maybe Sylvan Scrying with the right nonbasic to fetch. Drover of the Mighty is another that seems strong as a 3/3, but if you're tapping it for mana most of the time anyway, something like Birds of Paradise , Arbor Elf , Joraga Treespeaker , Incubation Druid , Whisperer of the Wilds , or Ilysian Caryatid might be more efficient. The only other suggestion I have is to consider adding ways to recurrently trigger enrage. Forerunner of the Empire is a pretty common option, but I can also see Pyrohemia , Harbinger of the Hunt , Raging Regisaur , Spikeshot Elder , or Power of Fire being used with varying pros and cons. Some enrage lists I see also make use of damage trigger shenanigans on cards like Arcbond and Rite of Passage . A possible cut could be Shifting Ceratops since it's generally more of a sideboard card. Otherwise, I'd cut any enrage trigger that isn't either repeatable or very cheap. Reckless Rage is great, but Tilonalli's Crown could just as easily be Dual Shot or something to that effect. A final note I'd make is that you may be able to take advantage of some of the bigger enrage dinos like Snapping Sailback and Silverclad Ferocidons . I wouldn't normally recommend them, however, Etali and a lot of ramp go a long way toward making them viable.

MagicMarc on Favorite non meta creature

5 years ago

@MindAblaze; Nantuko Husk is my OG go to card to fit the role of your Bloodthrone Vampire. They are great sacrifice outlets along with a Viscera Seer.

@IKILLEVERYONE; One thing I do like about the Spikeshot Elder is that it's repeatable and only limited by available mana. It is an awkward cost with 2 mountains as the base so can be limited depending on your mana base. But it can dish some big numbers quickly depending on the rest of a deck.

IKILLEVERYONE on Favorite non meta creature

5 years ago

Spikeshot Goblin with my Illuna, Apex of Wishes would be bomb. Instead im using Spikeshot Elder need to use both