UPDATED MARCH/2022
Goblins is a deck that uses cards from one of Magic's most infamous, funny, beloved and traditional tribes: the Goblins. The deck is famous for being a straight up aggressive deck, but that isn't always the case.
The card pool available in Legacy allows Goblins to play with taxation, aggro and even combo.
Overview[ | ]
Goblins is a flexible deck. Independently of the version, usually the Goblins player is able to adapt the strategy to the opponent they are facing.
The deck suffers from the weakness of all creature-based decks: board-wipes. But Goblin Ringleader and Goblin Matronenable it to bounce back from board sweeping effects that would normally gravely affect the strategy.
It, sometimes, has access to mana denial abilities from Wasteland and Rishadan Portto throw opponents off balance. This play requires the usage of some of the players lands and that is where Aether Vial fits in.
The Goblin player can then use artifact to increase their board size and keep the opponent on the ropes while the lands do their taxation. And, should the plan not be the best in a given scenario, the player can switch to a more all-out offensive strategy.
Examples of Goblins decks[ | ]
Thinking of how the deck is able to play as aggro, as taxes and as combo, this section will show a few of the decks possible for this archetype.
Mono-Red Goblins[ | ]
The first example refers to a Mono-Red Goblins deck. This strategy features Chalice of the Void to disrupt the opponent's plans and opts for a beatdown-based route. Since the list is Mono-Red, Blood Moon was easy to fit in the Side board.
Food-Chain Goblins[ | ]
This list went for an infinite mana combo using Squee, the Immortal and Food Chain. Since Squee, The Immortal can be cast from exile, the player is able to keep gaining 1 surplus mana each time they do the cycle of exiling it and casting it. Then the player may close the game with Pashalik Mons.
And even some land disruption elements are present in the form of Wasteland with Karakas as an utility land.
Black-Red Goblins[ | ]
This one chose to go with the Conspicuous Snoop + Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker + Sling-Gang Lieutenant combo. The combo is made possible with Goblin Harbinger to tutor Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker and Sling-Gang Lieutenant to the top of the library while Conspicuous Snoop is in play. There are a couple ways to enact the combo, and this is a general idea on how to do it.
Here it is possible to witness the Aeher Vial working in conjunction with Rishadan Port and Wasteland to enact mana-denial on the opponent whilst applying board pressure.
Notes on Goblins[ | ]
Goblins is one of the powerful decks that allow for a competitive version of it without the need for Reserved List cards.
In such occasions, the players can choose to go with a Zoo-style beatdown strategy or a taxation route with Rishadan Port and Wasteland as seen above. In the latter, it is not uncommon to see players add Chalice of the Void as well as the increased number of copies of Rishadan Port to make up for the lack of City of Traitors - if the player chooses to go without Reserved List cards.
Goblin Matron allows the player to have a toolbox of goblin cards in the deck to be played in each situation.
Goblins in general is a well-liked archetype in the Magic community and partly due to how funny the tribe is usually represented in the cards,