With Pioneer Masters and new Goblins on the way, there's a lot of hype for Explorer Goblins, which will finally see the addition of the last missing pieces.
However, we don't have to sit around doing nothing, because Foundations has already brought a lot of material, and I have a new brew for you that doesn't strictly require the new incoming creatures.
In the last episode we saw Raise the Past in action, which, yes, involved new Goblins like Searslicer Goblin, but it neglected one, perhaps the most anticipated of all, and who will be the protagonist today: Krenko, Mob Boss!
Even though I had already thought of a similar version, the list I am about to present to you is not mine but belongs to Hagimori Kaku, who made Top 16 at a 110-player Pioneer tournament: the “God of Pioneer” at Hareruya store in Japan!
As soon as I tried it, I was immediately pleasantly surprised by how effective it was, exceeding my initial expectations. The deck is very fun, with many lines of play, but above all, it’s competitive and certainly among the best Goblin versions of the format. Here for you, Cauldron Goblins!
Cauldron Goblins
I already anticipated that Krenko, Mob Boss will be one of the protagonists of this brew, and the name of the deck suggests that Agatha's Soul Cauldron will be no exception!
Krenko, Mob Boss is extremely powerful, allowing you to flood the battlefield with Goblins simply by staying in play. The problem, however, is precisely this: for 4 mana it's rather fragile, and most of the time it needs to survive at least one turn before starting to do its job, since it's not always easy to give it haste (sadly there is still no trace of Goblin Chieftain in Pioneer!).
It will then often be targeted by any cheap removal, such as Fatal Push, Fiery Impulse, or Redcap Melee, and will leave us with a tempo loss without having accomplished much!
However, Agatha's Soul Cauldron comes to its rescue, picking it up from the graveyard, giving +1/+1 to a creature, and making all creatures with a +1/+1 counter on them gain its activated ability. So suddenly even the most harmless of 1/1 Goblins becomes as fearsome as Krenko, Mob Boss, equally capable of generating other tokens, which in turn can then generate others!
The best part, in fact, is that this combo is removal-proof, since even if they eliminate the creature disguised as Krenko, it can easily be recreated, exiling another creature from the graveyard and giving +1/+1 to another of our Goblins.
However, it doesn't look like a big deal! The only way to achieve this result is to reach and spend 4 mana to cast Krenko, Mob Boss, let the opponent kill it, and suffer the tempo loss... Or maybe not!
As with every Goblin brew we've seen so far, Fable of the Mirror-Breaker is also the ideal choice here to send cards directly to the graveyard, in addition to all the other advantages it offers!
By curving out with Agatha's Soul Cauldron on turn 2 and Fable of the Mirror-Breaker on turn 3, we can discard Krenko, Mob Boss on turn 4 and directly activate its ability by putting the +1/+1 counter on the Goblin token previously created by the enchantment itself.
Things will be even easier if we include a 1-drop in the process, but, beyond that, Fable of the Mirror-Breaker is super solid, allowing us to dig for combo and key cards, fixing the mana and the hand, and making value.
However, Krenko, Mob Boss isn't the only creature with an activated ability that can be transferred via Agatha's Soul Cauldron, as the same is true for Skirk Prospector, Battle Cry Goblin, and Goro-Goro, Disciple of Ryusei!
Skirk Prospector's ability, in fact, comes in handy in a thousand ways:
- for value with Rundvelt Hordemaster or Cacophony Scamp, triggering even if targeted by an exile spell, like Torch the Tower;
- for extra damage with Battle Cry Goblin, sacrificing creatures already blocked (including Battle Cry Goblin itself);
- to fizzle spells that do more than just removal, like Virtue of Persistence, Claim the Firstborn, Lightning Helix, or Brazen Borrower;
- to pay for the extra mana of spells like Jwari Disruption, Spell Stutter, or Lofty Denial;
- to activate Revolt with Fatal Push;
- to prevent a creature with lifelink from gaining life, like Atraxa, Grand Unifier, and still be able to win by attacking;
- to ramp Fable of the Mirror-Breaker or Krenko, Mob Boss, when it's worth it.
Battle Cry Goblin and Goro-Goro, Disciple of Ryusei, on the other hand, have in common that they give haste, which, of course, finds its perfect synergy with Krenko, Mob Boss, but is also particularly good with Reflection of Kiki-Jiki and its 2/2 Goblin token!
The most interesting aspect, however, is that all these abilities can also be acquired simultaneously through a single +1/+1 counter of Agatha's Soul Cauldron that has previously exiled these creatures. It is in fact possible to cast a Goblin, give it +1/+1, activate its ability inherited from Goro-Goro, Disciple of Ryusei or Battle Cry Goblin, tap it for the ability of Krenko, Mob Boss, and finally maybe give the team haste to attack... all in a single turn!
All of these activated abilities are not only great for Agatha's Soul Cauldron, because as long as they belong to a Goblin on top of the deck, they can be acquired by Conspicuous Snoop!
If you played Goblins with Muxus, Goblin Grandee in Historic until a couple of years ago, you already know that Conspicuous Snoop is Krenko's best friend, because at any moment it could appear as the next draw and thus completely change the game! In fact, Conspicuous Snoop, without summoning sickness, in addition to being able to immediately tap a first time for Krenko's ability, can also activate a second time, before drawing it and therefore during the upkeep of our next turn (remember to put a stop on the phase with MTG Arena).
Beyond this feature, both Conspicuous Snoop and Rundvelt Hordemaster are value engines, giving us the ability to play a few extra Goblins without having to spend cards from our hand and giving us an advantage against our opponent's single removal spells.
The removal department, for a minimum of interaction with the opponent, is of course entrusted to Fatal Push but also partly to Cacophony Scamp, which, together with Skirk Prospector, completes the 1-drops. Regardless of whether it is blocked or not, Cacophony Scamp can be sent to the graveyard to take down an enemy mana dork, Blade of the Oni, and any X/1 we encounter in the format, or simply make itself unblockable to X/2, unless the opponent wants to trade it.
The best part, though, comes with Rundvelt Hordemaster and Agatha's Soul Cauldron, as the more it powers up, the more it will be able to clear out bigger pieces or hit for lethal damage. Also here its proliferate could be relevant, adding a +1/+1 counter to those who already have it and speeding up the chapters of Fable of the Mirror-Breaker.
Fatal Push, on the other hand, is a more clear-cut removal spell, suited to stopping both the small creatures of the more aggressive opponent decks, as well as the larger creatures that can win on their own, such as the Demon from Ritual Chamber or Archfiend of the Dross, which also unpleasantly hinders the gameplay of Skirk Prospector and Reflection of Kiki-Jiki.
Among the lands, I only mention Mutavault, which is there, in addition to all the possible synergies with the Goblin tribe, for the fact that it's easily animatable and activatable as soon as everything is ready for the combo between Agatha's Soul Cauldron and Krenko, Mob Boss!
Sideboard
With aggro becoming so severe and high-performing in recent times, Fatal Push alone almost certainly won't be enough, and here come a lot of removals to make this matchup easier, and not only that.
I generally prefer Redcap Melee to Chandra's Defeat for its versatility as a panic button against Greasefang, Okiba Boss, and Angels, like Bishop of Wings and Righteous Valkyrie.
However, it is super marginal, and Chandra's Defeat can also kill Jegantha, the Wellspring, in addition to the fact that here Krenko, Mob Boss helps a lot in the Angels matchup.
Torch the Tower is added to the arsenal of anti-aggro removals, and its exile effect is particularly useful against Heartfire Hero, Enduring Innocence, and Unstoppable Slasher, although, in these last two cases, any removal combined with Agatha's Soul Cauldron is equally good, as it's ready to eat the creature as soon as it hits the graveyard and in response to its trigger.
Just like another removal is Heartless Act, which was preferred to a more classic Go for the Throat for one of its peculiarities... it removes 3 oil counters from Archfiend of the Dross! This will allow us to win the game at the opponent's upkeep, but be aware that, if the Demon has at least 1 counter remaining, your opponent can kill it in response to its trigger and save themselves (still suffering a heavy 2-for-1 )!
Ghost Vacuum is a hate grave piece, mainly for Izzet Phoenix, if you add it to the already 4x Agatha's Soul Cauldron maindeck. Potentially, due to its ability to bring exiled creatures back into play, it's also useful against midrange and very slow decks, but I have personally never had the chance to take advantage of that part.
Thoughtseize is the classic discard spell that will often replace Fatal Push against Control and the various Combos, such as Transmogrify, Indomitable Creativity, Quintorius Kand Combo, Enigmatic Incarnation, and Lotus Field.
Just as Ob Nixilis, the Adversary is great against Control, being immune to the various wraths and synergizing with the death triggers of Cacophony Scamp and Rundvelt Hordemaster.
That's all for today! Cauldron Goblins is very effective and probably better than it seems at first glance, being resilient to enemy removals and overwhelming the opponent thanks to its many tribal synergies. Give it a try!