Goblins at GP Columbus

JimmyC27 · Joined: 14 Feb 2006 Posts: 6

Is it going to be more advantageous to run Vial Goblins with a white or green splash at Columbus? Why?

Eldariel · Joined: 15 Jun 2006 Posts: 181

Green, because green gives you MD Artifact Hate in Tin Street Hooligan (vastly superior to Goblin Tinkerer since it doesn't require an untap to kill an offending artifact. Warchief would help Tinkerer, but the offending artifacts tned to kill the Warchief first), which makes all your Stompy- and mirror-MUs along with Affinity, Stax, Crucible and the like better. Basically, unstoppable artifact kill with a power of 2=awesome. From the sideboard, you'll get Krosan Grip which is incredibly awesome against Pernicious Deed, Umezawa's Jitte, Cursed Scroll and everything like that, along with decks that want to protect their enchantments with counters. All in all, it's incredible. White just offers Disenchant, which is a fine card, and StP which is really redundant against anything but Reanimator which isn't really played at all and therefore a horrible idea to prepare against.

Other cards of relevance exist, but those are the most important ones. Armageddon/Thoughts of Ruin are decent, but you don't usually have the SB-space for then. The same applies to Tranquil Domain/Leave no Trace, of which Tranquil Domain is better against basically everything but Pariah/Silver Knight combo (so essentially everything).

That's the long answer. The short answer is 'green'.

Cause · Joined: 22 Apr 2007 Posts: 8

i expect heavy conter sliver

Equinox- · Joined: 09 Dec 2006 Posts: 49

There are only going to be like 5 Countersliver decks in the whole tournament.

Eldariel · Joined: 15 Jun 2006 Posts: 181

Cause · Joined: 22 Apr 2007 Posts: 8

why do you say only 5?
that deck is huge, im talking september 11th huge!
it should be there in multiples over five
i pesonally dont think it has enough synergy, but whatev

Eldariel · Joined: 15 Jun 2006 Posts: 181

The issue with the deck is the lack of publicity. No big articles have been written on it so it's mostly known to Sourcers as a contender in the present Legacy (yea, the old Counterslivers existed, but that's a different matter entirely). It might be relevant on Magic-League, but not long ago, many played Life.dec here too. Fact is that Magic-League has little to no bearing for any Legacy-events anywhere (especially since most lists played here are either complete netdecks (the good ones) or horribly bastardized versions of good decks (the worse ones)).

Cause · Joined: 22 Apr 2007 Posts: 8

slivers have been all over starcity as well though
43 land.dec is fun to play, but no one has tabernacles in life, so it will never be a threat

Eldariel · Joined: 15 Jun 2006 Posts: 181

Hanni · Joined: 08 Mar 2006 Posts: 17

Counterslivers won't be a big metagame concern for GP Columbus. I introduced it here at m-l and people keep playing it here. That doesn't mean it's a popular deck nationwide (or even worldwide). It will see play, by more than 5 people, but it won't be in large enough numbers to worry about. The bigger picture is blue-based aggro/control, which will make up a significant portion of the metagame (Threshold, Fish, Slivers).

However, I don't see how the topic of Slivers applies to the topic at hand.

I think both the white splash and green splash of Goblins are strong. What I think the deck needs to do, though, is figure a way to strengthen it's combo matchup a little more. While I expect Goblins to be the most popular deck, I think the archtype of combo will be well represented as well. Most decks run Chalice/Pillar. I think I'd go with a black splash and run Cabal Therapy and Goblin Tinkerer maindeck with Chalice and Duress postboard. Therapy is still good against hate like Engineered Plague and Pyroclasm and it has solid synergy with the number of Goblins... sac'ing a 1/1 is hardly going to hurt. It may not be as strong as the green splash with Tin Street maindeck vs the mirror match, but I think it adds viability overall. That's my own personal opinion though. I've tried every color splash and liked it the best (I even tried blue for Stifle).

prometheus · Joined: 27 Feb 2005 Posts: 28

There's an elephant in the room that no one's talking about in this thread. Its name is protean hulk.

How many pyroblasts are you playing main?

Eldariel · Joined: 15 Jun 2006 Posts: 181

Probably not Pyroblasts, but something needs to be maindecked. Cabal Therapy and Leyline of the Void might just be enough, with sideboard 8-Blast plan.