Modern Goblins by Goblin Boy
Goblins are some of the most consistent and sticky tribes in Magic's history. Between Goblin Matron and Goblin Ringleader, the deck has always had a place within older formats. With their introduction into modern alongside several welcomed additions through the Modern Horizons set, their strength in the meta spiked as they became the best tribal deck for competitive modern. Nowadays, the tribe receives constant upgrades such as Conspicuous Snoop to help it keep up with the power creep. If you want to play a versatile tribal deck with both an aggro/ combo gameplan and a grindy, control game, then this deck is for you. Below is everything you need to know to pilot Goblins.
The Purpose of Each Card
Aether Vial: Vial is the strongest turn one play in your deck. Goblins can generate a lot of card value- so much so, one land drop per turn cannot keep up with your hand size. Vial will pump out your hand while dodging counter-magic.
Ignoble Hierarch: Hierarch serves as the best one mana goblin creature available in modern at the moment. It can help you pump out your hand a little faster for games where you don't have a vial turn one.
Mogg War Marshal: A relatively simple creature, the marshal is very good at walling off large creatures and slowing aggro decks. If you are playing the marshal, consider never paying the echo cost unless you absolutely need the extra blocker versus a single large creature or you have no other plays that turn.
Goblin Cratermaker: The deck has some space for variance in the mainboard; I feel that the cratermaker is a valuable addition in the empty slot. The card serves as a answer to problematic match-ups through the removal options it offers while also being a good random card to find on top with snoop in play.
Conspicuous Snoop: Snoop is one of your two main cards for a combo finish (The combo explained below). Not only that, but snoop can generate a lot of value on an empty hand later in the game from the top of your library.
Munitions Expert: Expert is your modern equivalent of a Gempalm Incinerator, except you trade off the card cycle for often an extra point of damage on the trigger and range to hit planeswalkers. With the current modern meta-game, you are almost always happy to have an expert in hand.
Boggart Harbinger: The other half of your combo, harbinger is mostly considered a worse matron. In the case of a grindy game, harbinger can still provide decent value to find your ringleader or snoop to refill your battlefield. Harbinger can also protect cards from hand disruption when you can't play out the card you tutor for right away.
Goblin Matron: Matron is your tutor on a body. The card will find you whatever you are missing and allow you to play out that card the same turn. Without matron, the deck loses a lot of consistency and it's ability to grind.
Goblin Warchief: I slotted this card into one of the empty deck spaces for two reasons. Firstly, the discounted costs allow you to dump your hand every turn to force an overwhelming board. Secondly, the ability to give all your creatures haste enforces the back-up beatdown plan when the combo is too hard to pull off.
Goblin Ringleader: Ringleader is the definition of value. While the mana cost is steep, the payoff is massive as you can refill your hand with up to four relevant cards. With so much support to dump your hand, it isn't uncommon to chain ringleaders every turn alongside a massive army of synergy and value. Most games, you will draw on average two good goblins off the ETB trigger (often enough to nudge ahead in a game).
Sling-Gang Lieutenant: This card is your daddy-marshal. It clutters your board with three bodies on it's own and also can win games in stalled board-states. The reach it provides as well as it's purpose in the combo finisher make it a must have in the deck.
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker: Kiki is one of my favorite cards in this deck- it generates ridiculous amounts of repeatable value and is a major part in your combo. Kiki can create a marshal/ sling-gang army, snag any card you need from matron/ harbinger, repeat kill creatures with expert, or draw you a new hand with ringleader. It does it all while fulfilling an important role in your main win condition.
Fable of the Mirror-Breaker
: The last card in my empty slots, this card does everything. The goblin synergy is a huge plus, the treasures you generate add to your gameplan of dumping your hand, the card cycling finds better goblins or combo pieces, and the flip-side is a non-legendary Kiki-Jiki. The card is gas and can generally provide enough to win games on its own.
4-6x One-mana Creatures
2-4x Deck-builder's Choice
18-19x Lands
Recommended Cards:
Skirk Prospector: One-mana ramp creature if you do not want to build in green. Can create some sneaky wins (Listed in the combos section).
Mogg Fanatic: Perfect to answer Pithing Needle in the combo when sling-gang is named or to kill Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer. Fits in well to the one-mana slot.
Tarfire: Great when expert is not enough removal for your needs.
Goblin King: A sneaky way to win games through beatdown versus a red-heavy meta.
Goblin Warchief: A haste enabler that allows the player to dump their hand.
Goblin Chieftain: A haste enabler that pumps your board.
Krenko, Mob Boss: Slow without a haste enabler, but wins any game it is allowed to stick more than one turn.
Rundvelt Hordemaster: Hordemaster can be great versus board wipes in a slow meta game.
Pashalik Mons: Constant value to ping down weenie decks or go extra over the top with sling-gang.
Goblin Trashmaster: Trashmaster is better in the sideboard unless your meta consists of a lot of artifact decks.
Fable of the Mirror-Breaker
: One of the best red cards in the format with game-winning amounts of value at the cost of a good ringleader.
Goblin Piledriver: A great win-con in multiples if you can give it haste.
Frogtosser Banneret: The card is too easy to answer and often provides less than a warchief.
Putrid Goblin/ Murderous Redcap: Both of these cards are only good with the Grumgully combo...
Grumgully, the Generous: The card is too easy to answer, the combo is too expensive, and requires too many cards. You have to play a lot of bad cards in your deck to make it work.
Warren Instigator: Legacy has Goblin Lackey, so instigator has to be a good substitute? Turn two lackey, especially in this interactive meta, is too slow it turns out. Even when it lands, your payoffs are not significant enough.
MORE THAN TWO NON-GOBLINS: The less Goblins you play, the more synergy you lose at an exponential rate. Limit the non-goblins to the four vials and up to two non-goblin cards at most.
In Hand: 1x Snoop, 1x Harbinger
In Deck: 1x Kiki-Jiki, 1x Sling-Gang/ Fanatic
T2: Snoop
T3: Harbinger, putting Kiki-Jiki on top. Tap Snoop targeting itself. Use the token to tap, targeting itself again. Repeat this process until you have plenty of tokens. With the last untapped token, tap targeting Harbinger. Put a Sling-Gang or Fanatic on top. Finally, sac all your tokens to drain the opponent for lethal.
In Hand: 1x Snoop, 1x Harbinger, 1x Matron
In Deck: 1x Kiki-Jiki, 1x Prospector, 1x Pashalik Mons
OPTIONAL: 1x Warcheif
Into Leyline of Sanctity
T2: Snoop
T3: Harbinger, putting Kiki-Jiki on top. Create a several thousand token copies of Snoop. With the last untapped Snoop, tap targeting Harbinger to put Prospector on top of the deck. Sacrifice half the tokens for red mana. Play Matron from your hand, putting Mons in your hand. Play Mons, and use his token ability to make a ton of permanent 1/1 goblin tokens with the floating mana. MAKE SURE TO MAKE THE TOKENS ON THE STACK, TARGETING THE SAME CREATURE WITH ALL OF MON'S DEATH TRIGGERS TO FIZZLE THE PINGS! DEATH TRIGGER IS NOT OPTIONAL. If you have Warchief or a way to get it, play it and swing for lethal.
T4: Swing for lethal with thousands of mini goblin tokens if you could not haste them the previous turn.
Sideboard Guide
Note: Sideboards should be made with YOUR game-store's meta in mind.
VS. Creativity: +1 Earwig Squad, +1 Orvar, the All-Form, - 2 Fable of the Mirror-Breaker
VS. Cascade Rhinos: +4 Chalice of the Void, +3 Magus of the Moon, +1 Earwig Squad, -1 Goblin Cratermaker, -3 Mogg War Marshal, -1 Goblin Ringleader, -1 Boggart Harbinger, -1 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker, -1 Munitions Expert
VS. Rakdos Scam: +4 Leyline of the Void, -2 Fable of the Mirror-Breaker
, -2 Ignoble Hierarch
VS. UW Control: No Changes
VS. Hammertime: +1 Earwig Squad, +1 Goblin Trashmaster, +1 Masked Vandal, -3 Goblin Ringleader
VS. Murktide: +4 Leyline of the Void, -1 Goblin Ringleader, -1 Goblin Warchief, -1 Boggart Harbinger, -1 Sling-Gang Lieutenant
VS. Living End: +4 Chalice of the Void, +4 Leyline of the Void, -3 Goblin Ringleader, -3 Mogg War Marshal, -2 Fable of the Mirror-Breaker
VS. Tron: +3 Magus of the Moon, +1 Earwig Squad, +1 Masked Vandal, -4 Munitions Expert, -1 Sling-Gang Lieutenant
VS. Yawgmoth: +4 Leyline of the Void, -1 Goblin Warchief, -1 Goblin Ringleader, -1 Sling-Gang Lieutenant, -1 Mogg War Marshal
VS. Burn: +4 Chalice of the Void, -1 Goblin Warchief, -2 Goblin Ringleader, -1 Boggart Harbinger
VS. Hardened Scales: +1 Goblin Trashmaster, +1 Masked Vandal, -2 Fable of the Mirror-Breaker
VS. Amulet Titan: +1 Earwig Squad, +3 Magus of the Moon, -1 Goblin Ringleader, -3 Mogg War Marshal
VS. Domain Zoo: +3 Magus of the Moon, -1 Goblin Ringleader, -1 Goblin Warchief, -1 Sling-Gang Lieutenant
