{"id":751,"date":"2018-12-15T10:40:52","date_gmt":"2018-12-15T08:40:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/premodernmagic.com\/blog\/?p=751"},"modified":"2018-12-15T10:57:35","modified_gmt":"2018-12-15T08:57:35","slug":"exploring-goblins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/premodernmagic.com\/blog\/exploring-goblins\/","title":{"rendered":"Exploring Goblins"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

Today’s guest post by Per R\u00f6nnkvist is all about ‘dem goblins. Enjoy! \/ Martin<\/em><\/p>\r\n

Introduction<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Hi everyone,<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

This is an in-depth article about one of the most powerful and robust decks of the Premodern format\u2014Goblins! I\u2019ll be covering my journey so far with this deck\u2014all the way from Joel Larsson’s kitchen table to me playing this deck at the European Championships<\/a> at Fishliver Oil Cup<\/a> in Genoa.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Before heading to the good stuff I would like to make a small introduction of myself.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Even though my first memories of Magic was receiving a 4th edition starter pack for my tenth birthday (opening a Mana Vault<\/a>!), I started playing competitively in 1999, when Urza\u2019s Legacy was first released. I\u2019ve always played with a competitive mindset combined with a love for the creative and strategic part of deckbuilding. I would say my love for deckbuilding goes further than actually playing the game itself, I love tinkering with new ideas and perfecting decklists. For as long as I\u2019ve played competitive Magic I remember having a notebook next to my bed, almost like a diary, empyting my thoughts before falling asleep. I was exploring pretty much every good and mediocre idea that came to mind. Decklist after decklist covered the pages of my notebooks.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The outcome from a tournament has more so been the result of my efforts in deckbuilding rather than my playing skills. In reality that is not true, as playing the game most likely has a higher impact than deckbuilding, but anyway, looking back that has been my mindset for a very long time. I have a strong belief that winning a constructed event is done primarily in advance. It comes down to how good you\u2019ve come to understand the format and how much work you\u2019ve put into playtesting and getting to know your deck and sideboard.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

As many of you reading this I\u2019ve had my on and off\u2019s with Magic. I stopped playing in high school in 2004. I returned in college in 2008, then quit again in 2012. After playing Magic for about ten years or so, in 2011 I finally \u201dbroke through\u201d managing to top 3 the Swedish Nationals that year. I\u2019ve had the fortune of playing Worlds in San Francisco (that’s me in the white shirt in the pic below) and Pro Tour Hawaii together with Martin Berlin and Joel Larsson\u2014two great people and also fantastic players. To say the least, managing to stay on the Pro Tour is tough and while returning to the grind in 2012 I also happened to meet my soon to be wife, which meant the end for my competitive Magic.<\/p>\r\n

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Fast forward: today I am 32 years of age, live in Stockholm with my wife Mikaela and my two wonderful (and demanding) twin boys at the age of three. And absolutely no time to play Magic.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

You all know how this is going to end do you? I didn\u2019t want to be that guy, but I am\u2026<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

After meeting with Martin Berlin in the summer of 2018, a couple of weeks later, I somehow found myself sitting on the balcony in Joel Larsson’s apartment with a bunch of old time Magic players playing this \u201dnew\u201d format called Premodern. Playing this really sweet Goblins deck!<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Settling for goblins<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

When getting introduced to Premodern this summer I even heard there was going to be a Swedish Nationals<\/a> tournament in a couple of weeks as well as a European Championships<\/a>! Not only did Premodern appeal to me just for the sake of playing some casual Magic: the Gathering (which was a long time ago!), but it also had the competitive elements to it.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Before I stopped playing in 2012 I learned a lot of things. One of them was the power of really getting to know your deck. As I love exploring new ideas in constructed I often tend to jump on to the very next thing, trying to stay one step ahead of the metagame. I rarely stayed with a deck for too long. That comes with a cost\u2014a high cost\u2014of not getting to know your deck well enough. With that in mind I decided that if I was going to play in a competitive Premodern tournament I wouldn\u2019t be jumping back and forth with the small amount of time I had available. The format has a huge card pool and is to a large extent completely unknown\u2014there are still tons of powerful decks out there that we don\u2019t even know exist yet! Take Erik Sundberg’s fantastic brew<\/a> for example – which he took to a second place finish at the Euro Champs.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

In a wide-open format where you don\u2019t know what you\u2019re up against it is a good idea to focus your energy on known factors such as your own strategy, rather than trying to find the most suitable answers to everyone\u2019s different brews. Combining that with the fact that I both have prior experience playing goblins and I love casting Goblin Ringleader<\/a>s, the choice was easy. I was going to focus all my energy in trying to make the best Goblins deck possible.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The past<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The early versions of Goblins that I stumbled upon were the decklists referred to at the deck section of this website as well as the one referred to in one of Joel\u2019s articles on Channel Fireball<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n

Goblins<\/div>
<\/i>Spoiler view<\/span><\/span><\/i>List with preview card<\/span><\/span><\/i>Show\/hide sideboard<\/span><\/span><\/i>Download photo of deck<\/span><\/span><\/i>Download text file of deck<\/span><\/span><\/div>
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MAIN DECK | 60 cards<\/h4>
Instants and sorceries: 3<\/div>
3<\/span> Lightning Bolt<\/a><\/div><\/div>
Creatures: 32<\/div>
2<\/span> Skirk Prospector<\/a><\/div>
4<\/span> Mogg Fanatic<\/a><\/div>
4<\/span> Goblin Lackey<\/a><\/div>
4<\/span> Goblin Piledriver<\/a><\/div>
2<\/span> Gempalm Incinerator<\/a><\/div>
2<\/span> Clickslither<\/a><\/div>
2<\/span> Goblin Sharpshooter<\/a><\/div>
4<\/span> Goblin Warchief<\/a><\/div>
4<\/span> Siege-Gang Commander<\/a><\/div>
4<\/span> Goblin Ringleader<\/a><\/div><\/div>
Lands: 25<\/div>
19<\/span> Mountain<\/a><\/div>
4<\/span> Rishadan Port<\/a><\/div>
2<\/span> Wasteland<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>

SIDEBOARD | 15 cards<\/h4>
4<\/span> Pyroblast<\/a><\/div>
2<\/span> Flaring Pain<\/a><\/div>
2<\/span> Shattering Pulse<\/a><\/div>
2<\/span> Price of Progress<\/a><\/div>
2<\/span> Sulfuric Vortex<\/a><\/div>
3<\/span> Pyrokinesis<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
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Deck downloaded from - http:\/\/premodernmagic.com\n------------------------------------------------\nGoblins\n------------------------------------------------\nMAIN DECK (60)\n\nInstants and sorceries: 3\n3 Lightning Bolt\n\nCreatures: 32\n2 Skirk Prospector\n4 Mogg Fanatic\n4 Goblin Lackey\n4 Goblin Piledriver\n2 Gempalm Incinerator\n2 Clickslither\n2 Goblin Sharpshooter\n4 Goblin Warchief\n4 Siege-Gang Commander\n4 Goblin Ringleader\n\nLands: 25\n19 Mountain\n4 Rishadan Port\n2 Wasteland\n\n\nSIDEBOARD (15)\n4 Pyroblast\n2 Flaring Pain\n2 Shattering Pulse\n2 Price of Progress\n2 Sulfuric Vortex\n3 Pyrokinesis\n------------------------------------------------\nDeck downloaded from - http:\/\/premodernmagic.com\n<\/div>
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SIDEBOARD<\/h4>
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http:\/\/premodernmagic.com<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/a>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Goblin Bidding, Joel Larsson<\/div>
<\/i>Spoiler view<\/span><\/span><\/i>List with preview card<\/span><\/span><\/i>Show\/hide sideboard<\/span><\/span><\/i>Download photo of deck<\/span><\/span><\/i>Download text file of deck<\/span><\/span><\/div>
<\/i><\/span><\/div><\/div>

MAIN DECK | 60 cards<\/h4>
Creatures: 33<\/div>
4<\/span> Goblin Lackey<\/a><\/div>
4<\/span> Skirk Prospector<\/a><\/div>
4<\/span> Goblin Piledriver<\/a><\/div>
4<\/span> Goblin Warchief<\/a><\/div>
4<\/span> Goblin Ringleader<\/a><\/div>
4<\/span> Siege-Gang Commander<\/a><\/div>
2<\/span> Gempalm Incinerator<\/a><\/div>
2<\/span> Goblin Matron<\/a><\/div>
2<\/span> Goblin Sharpshooter<\/a><\/div>
2<\/span> Clickslither<\/a><\/div>
1<\/span> Goblin Sledder<\/a><\/div><\/div>
Instants and Sorceries: 3<\/div>
3<\/span> Patriarch's Bidding<\/a><\/div><\/div>
Lands: 24<\/div>
2<\/span> Swamp<\/a><\/div>
8<\/span> Mountain<\/a><\/div>
4<\/span> Wasteland<\/a><\/div>
4<\/span> Bloodstained Mire<\/a><\/div>
4<\/span> Sulfurous Springs<\/a><\/div>
2<\/span> City of Brass<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>

SIDEBOARD | 15 cards<\/h4>
3<\/span> Duress<\/a><\/div>
3<\/span> Red Elemental Blast<\/a><\/div>
3<\/span> Dwarven Blastminer<\/a><\/div>
1<\/span> Sparksmith<\/a><\/div>
2<\/span> Terminate<\/a><\/div>
2<\/span> Sulfuric Vortex<\/a><\/div>
1<\/span> Pyrokinesis<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
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Deck downloaded from - http:\/\/premodernmagic.com\n------------------------------------------------\nGoblin Bidding, Joel Larsson\n------------------------------------------------\nMAIN DECK (60)\n\nCreatures: 33\n4 Goblin Lackey\n4 Skirk Prospector\n4 Goblin Piledriver\n4 Goblin Warchief\n4 Goblin Ringleader\n4 Siege-Gang Commander\n2 Gempalm Incinerator\n2 Goblin Matron\n2 Goblin Sharpshooter\n2 Clickslither\n1 Goblin Sledder\n\nInstants and Sorceries: 3\n3 Patriarch's Bidding\n\nLands: 24\n2 Swamp\n8 Mountain\n4 Wasteland\n4 Bloodstained Mire\n4 Sulfurous Springs\n2 City of Brass\n\n\nSIDEBOARD (15)\n3 Duress\n3 Red Elemental Blast\n3 Dwarven Blastminer\n1 Sparksmith\n2 Terminate\n2 Sulfuric Vortex\n1 Pyrokinesis\n------------------------------------------------\nDeck downloaded from - http:\/\/premodernmagic.com\n<\/div>
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SIDEBOARD<\/h4>
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http:\/\/premodernmagic.com<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/a>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Although the decks looked fine, I understood these were early drafts and probably a lot of possible tuning to be made. Also I initially had a different view on how to build a Goblins deck.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Containing cards like Lightning Bolt<\/a>, Mogg Fanatic<\/a>, Clickslither<\/a> and\u00a0Siege-Gang Commander<\/a>,\u00a0the deck looked a lot like a beatdown deck. I remember playing Goblins back in old extended where the deck functioned a lot more as some sort of explosive utility\/card advantage deck, which also happened to randomly win on the back of Goblin Piledriver<\/a>. Skirk Prospector<\/a>, Mogg War Marshal<\/a>, Goblin Matron<\/a>, Goblin Warchief<\/a> and Goblin Ringleader<\/a> made up for quite a powerful mana and card advantage engine. Chrome Mox<\/a> also was a fantastic card in the deck, since you could speed up your games by one turn, and also catch up the loss of card advantage via multiple Goblin Ringleader<\/a>s or Goblin Matron<\/a>s into Ringleader.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

This was my vision when I started browsing the web while at the same time getting more familiar with the Premodern cardpool. To my big disappointment neither Mogg War Marshal<\/a>, Frogtosser Banneret<\/a> nor Chrome Mox<\/a> were legal. However I stumbled upon Fecundity<\/a> and thought that I was onto something. And maybe you could do something crazy with Food Chain<\/a>? And Mox Diamond<\/a>is a good replacement for Chrome Mox<\/a>. Right?<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

I put together a list and headed down to my first local Premodern meetup. As previous writers have already established: Premodern is not Extended, Type 1, or any other format. Premodern is Premodern. My amazing new tech looked good on paper but didn\u2019t work out at all. Mox Diamond<\/a> was good roughly one out of every four opening hands, and it wasn\u2019t really the best card to draw into after turn 2 or 3, and it definitively didn\u2019t help my Goblin Ringleader<\/a>s playing 4 Mox Diamond<\/a> plus 25 lands. Fecundity<\/a> was very situational and it was hardly a combo deck I had built. I\u2019d much rather just cast a goblin and go for the throat.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The combo elements didn\u2019t work out. But the raw power of curving out with Goblins felt almost absurd. Have you ever played with Goblin Lackey<\/a>? I hadn\u2019t before playing Premodern. I almost get the feeling I need to apologize for myself when drawing and playing it on turn one. It is almost like playing a one-card combo deck with a solid backup plan in the form of a very aggressive beatdown plan. In approximately 25%(?) of the games you are playing it on turn one. If your opponent lets it slide it\u2019s very difficult for them to get back into the game. It\u2019s almost as if you are playing different formats.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

When I got home I quickly cut the subpar \u201dcombo\u201d pieces and focused more on maximizing Goblin Lackey<\/a>, Goblin Ringleader<\/a> and Goblin Piledriver<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

In a couple of weeks, with some help from both Joel and Martin, I landed in something pretty close to what both me and Joel played at the Swedish Nationals:<\/p>\r\n

Swedish Nationals: Per R\u00f6nnkvist, 3\u20134th<\/div>
<\/i>Spoiler view<\/span><\/span><\/i>List with preview card<\/span><\/span><\/i>Show\/hide sideboard<\/span><\/span><\/i>Download photo of deck<\/span><\/span><\/i>Download text file of deck<\/span><\/span><\/div>
<\/i><\/span><\/div><\/div>

MAIN DECK | 60 cards<\/h4>
Creatures: 35<\/div>
4<\/span> Skirk Prospector<\/a><\/div>
4<\/span> Goblin Lackey<\/a><\/div>
2<\/span> Goblin Sledder<\/a><\/div>
2<\/span> Mogg Fanatic<\/a><\/div>
4<\/span> Goblin Piledriver<\/a><\/div>
4<\/span> Goblin Warchief<\/a><\/div>
4<\/span> Gempalm Incinerator<\/a><\/div>
2<\/span> Goblin Matron<\/a><\/div>
1<\/span> Goblin Sharpshooter<\/a><\/div>
4<\/span> Goblin Ringleader<\/a><\/div>
4<\/span> Siege-Gang Commander<\/a><\/div><\/div>
Lands: 25<\/div>
4<\/span> Wasteland<\/a><\/div>
4<\/span> Sulfurous Springs<\/a><\/div>
4<\/span> Bloodstained Mire<\/a><\/div>
1<\/span> Ancient Tomb<\/a><\/div>
2<\/span> City of Brass<\/a><\/div>
2<\/span> Swamp<\/a><\/div>
8<\/span> Mountain<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>

SIDEBOARD | 15 cards<\/h4>
4<\/span> Duress<\/a><\/div>
2<\/span> Pyroblast<\/a><\/div>
2<\/span> Dralnu's Crusade<\/a><\/div>
2<\/span> Goblin Sharpshooter<\/a><\/div>
1<\/span> Recurring Nightmare<\/a><\/div>
1<\/span> Blood Moon<\/a><\/div>
1<\/span> Patriarch's Bidding<\/a><\/div>
2<\/span> Pyrokinesis<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
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Deck downloaded from - http:\/\/premodernmagic.com\n------------------------------------------------\nSwedish Nationals: Per R\u00f6nnkvist, 3\u20134th\n------------------------------------------------\nMAIN DECK (60)\n\nCreatures: 35\n4 Skirk Prospector\n4 Goblin Lackey\n2 Goblin Sledder\n2 Mogg Fanatic\n4 Goblin Piledriver\n4 Goblin Warchief\n4 Gempalm Incinerator\n2 Goblin Matron\n1 Goblin Sharpshooter\n4 Goblin Ringleader\n4 Siege-Gang Commander\n\nLands: 25\n4 Wasteland\n4 Sulfurous Springs\n4 Bloodstained Mire\n1 Ancient Tomb\n2 City of Brass\n2 Swamp\n8 Mountain\n\n\nSIDEBOARD (15)\n4 Duress\n2 Pyroblast\n2 Dralnu's Crusade\n2 Goblin Sharpshooter\n1 Recurring Nightmare\n1 Blood Moon\n1 Patriarch's Bidding\n2 Pyrokinesis\n------------------------------------------------\nDeck downloaded from - http:\/\/premodernmagic.com\n<\/div>
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SIDEBOARD<\/h4>
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http:\/\/premodernmagic.com<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/a>\r\n

To me, this deck is all about maximizing synergy, making your strong cards even stronger. I wanted more removal to clear the way for Goblin Lackey<\/a>, therefore adding some Mogg Fanatic<\/a>s and adding two more Gempalm Incinerator<\/a>. I wanted as many goblins as possible getting the most out of Goblin Ringleader<\/a>, ending up with 35 Goblins maindeck. I wanted more one-drops for my Goblin Piledriver<\/a> and more Ringleaders coming via Goblin Matron<\/a>. I also wanted to smooth out the curve as I only had one two-drop in the form of Goblin Piledriver<\/a>. It wasn\u2019t very impressive playing a one-drop on turn 1, then another one-drop on turn 2 just because I hadn\u2019t drawn the Piledriver. I looked towards Sparksmith<\/a> as it’s a very powerful card, however the creature-light meta didn\u2019t favor it, so instead I had to surrender to more copies of Goblin Sledder<\/a> and Mogg Fanatic<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

I had also put a lot of effort into the sideboard. As you can see the maindeck is mono-red and early on I was swinging back and forth between playing green and black in the sideboard. Green offered a catch-all in the form of Naturalize<\/a> to bring in versus all the hate I was worried about: Circle of Protection: Red<\/a>, Engineered Plague<\/a>, Humility<\/a>, Oath of Druids<\/a> and maybe some other unknown threats I didn\u2019t even know existed. A couple of Fecundity<\/a> could also help out in the grindy matchups where I would face Wrath of God<\/a>, Engineered Plague<\/a> and lots of spot removal. And maybe Caller of the Claw<\/a> had a chance of making it.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Black, on the other hand, offered Duress<\/a>\u2014a flexible catch-all which only costs one mana. Duress<\/a> can\u2019t handle anything that has already hit the board, however it has a huge upside compared to Naturalize<\/a>. It is a proactive rather than a reactive card. How awkward wouldn\u2019t it be when my opponent plays Engineered Plague<\/a>, swiped my board, then I Naturalize<\/a> it one turn later. My opponent would already have put me in a tough spot at that point. And what if he didn\u2019t draw the Engineered Plague<\/a>? It would be just as awkward sitting with the Naturalize in hand waiting for my opponent to cast a Plague (and wreck me) so that I then in return would be able to destroy it. Duress<\/a> would be able to snatch that Swords to Plowshares<\/a> for my Goblin Lackey<\/a> or that Counterspell<\/a> to be able to resolve my Goblin Ringleader<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Dralnu’s Crusade<\/a> however, was the big finding.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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I can\u2019t remember how many times this card has won me games. Dralnu’s Crusade<\/a> answers a lot of the relevant big threats for goblins after sideboard, mainly Circle of Protection: Red<\/a>, Engineered Plague<\/a> and Sphere of Law<\/a>. But it also helps out versus Humility<\/a>, Pyroclasm<\/a>, Worship<\/a> and probably something more that I don\u2019t know about. Did I mention it\u2019s also a proactive card? Worst case scenario, it is a Glorious Anthem<\/a> in my weenie deck.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

I\u2019m still waiting for someone to next level me playing Light of Day<\/a> the turn after I play my Dralnu’s Crusade<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The days before the Swedish Nationals I also did some cool findings in the form of Recurring Nightmare<\/a> versus the more controlling and grindy matchups. Imagine chaining Goblin Ringleader<\/a>, Siege-Gang Commander<\/a> and Goblin Matron<\/a>! It also can\u2019t be countered by Hydroblast<\/a> which is quite huge.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

I did fine at Swedish Nationals, losing to enchantress and Solitary Confinement<\/a> in the semi-finals. A card I hadn\u2019t given much thought other than \u201dI can always Duress<\/a> it\u201d. Mikael Magnusson enlightened me after the tournament that Anarchy<\/a> would solve that problem as well as Humility<\/a>, which was great input.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The present<\/h3>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Going in to the Swedish Nationals I thought I had come a long way with the deck. Afterwards, however, I realized there was a lot more to be done.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Martin Berlin had suggested cutting one or two Skirk Prospector<\/a> (which I thought sounded absolutely crazy, remembering what kind of a monster the card has been in the past). He was right, and in a couple of weeks I finally cut all four of them. They rarely had a big impact and lacked the synergy for it to be powerful. The best thing it could do was to ramp into Goblin Ringleader<\/a> or made it possible to sacrifice your whole team and dealing some damage via Siege-Gang Commander<\/a>, which wasn\u2019t very exciting. To be fair it\u2019s kind of nice versus Illusions of Grandeur<\/a>, but no one plays that card. Also, Mogg Fanatic<\/a> proved to be a very strong card in the mirror as well as versus Sligh. It also kills mana-birds and elves coming out of the green decks.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

When not curving out the deck could at times feel a bit clunky and Goblin Matron<\/a> didn\u2019t at all help with that. Goblin Sharpshooter<\/a> would be a key-card in the mirror, however Goblins made up for such a small part of the metagame and there was not a great deal of creatures to be seen. Ancient Tomb<\/a> was fine, but cutting Matron made it lose its appeal. Swamp<\/a> was the worst card in the deck by far, and it was not worth having two of them to be able to make it easier to cast Patriarch’s Bidding<\/a> with already having four Siege-Gang Commander<\/a>s at casting cost five.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Regarding the sideboard: Duress<\/a> overperformed, I would almost consider maindecking it as I sideboarded it in almost every game. Pyroblast<\/a> was awkward. The best it did was to counter Fact or Fiction<\/a> coming out of the control decks. It was very awkward when sitting with a Goblin Ringleader<\/a> or a Siege-Gang Commander<\/a> in hand wanting to draw one more land to be able to cast them. Then one more land to be able to have counter backup. Again with the whole idea of playing proactive cards\u2026 Recurring Nightmare<\/a> was kind of sweet and I came to experiment with it a bit going forward. And Pyrokinesis<\/a> was insane versus the red matchups and great versus some green decks as well.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

So… leading up to Euro Champs there was a lot of tuning to be done. Especially with the sideboard which wasn\u2019t all that easy.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The difficult part when it comes to sideboarding with a deck like Goblins is the fact that for every goblin you side out, you lose a percentage of synergy. Your strong cards become weaker. Siding out twelve cards versus control (where I was at one point) makes Goblin Ringleader<\/a>, your best card, a lot worse. That is the dilemma. After a lot of tweaking and some testing I decided that the right thing to do was to narrow down my sideboard cards making them fewer but stronger versus what I found problematic games 2 and 3. I was even considering removing Duress<\/a> at one point (however Joel talked some sense into me) versus the UW control decks just to sideboard in Dralnu’s Crusade<\/a> and Anarchy<\/a>. In reality however, the deck became clunky and holding an Anarchy<\/a> in hand isn\u2019t really where you want to be as a aggro player versus control. They can easily just grind you out with Pyroblast<\/a>s and Fact or Fiction<\/a>s instead of playing that one Humility<\/a> in their deck.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Here are some other cards I considered that didn\u2019t make it:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n