Goblins are some of the most iconic creatures in Magic: the Gathering, present in the vast majority of planes of the Multiverse and have been around since the very beginning, with the first appearances in Alpha of: Goblin Balloon Brigade, Mons's Goblin Raiders and Goblin King (the latter wasn't technically a Goblin at the time, but I guess it counts!).
I've always loved this tribe and in my many years of the game I've played it in every possible format, sometimes even just for fun when sadly the deck wasn't competitive enough for that environment.
Among the many successful versions and personal brews, I have accumulated quite a bit of material and little by little I would like to show the best of it to all the little-green-men lovers out there!
Staying on MTG Arena, I think Explorer is the format where Goblins can best express their potential and can be at least competitive even in different versions. Unlike Historic, in fact, here the power level is definitely lower, having to give up only a small portion of creatures (Muxus, Goblin Grandee and Krenko, Mob Boss above all), while the metagame is quite varied, benefitting a fair deck like this that focuses entirely on synergy between creatures of the same type.
As you may already know from the title, today I will talk about Goblin Death-Whirler (or more simply called Rakdos Goblins), the strongest and most played Goblin version in Explorer and Pioneer, which you can actually take into consideration for one of your events since it has a positive matchup against the tier 1 of the format: Rakdos Vampires!
Goblin Death-Whirler
That's why I like to call it Death-Whirler! Goblin Chainwhirler and Call of the Death-Dweller are the core of the deck and together they create a powerful combo! You need to have the Goblin in the graveyard so you can reanimate it, giving it a deathtouch counter, as well as a menace one. This way, Goblin Chainwhirler's triggered ability will deal 1 lethal damage to all enemy creatures, destroying them and acting as a one-sided board wipe.
Furthermore, since deathtouch and menace are counters (introduced for the first time right with Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths), Goblin Chainwhirler will be able to continue to exploit the other combo exists between first strike and deathtouch, eliminating any blocker or attacker in combat as Glissa Sunslayer taught us (or even before Glissa, the Traitor).
In order for Goblin Chainwhirler to be revived, you don't have to wait for it to die... Because you can discard it with Fable of the Mirror-Breaker // Reflection of Kiki-Jiki!
It's one of the best cards in Explorer providing great value with all 3 chapters of the Saga, but here it does even more because it's perfectly synergistic with the rest of the deck. Even if it's not technically a Goblin, it creates a 2/2 token that is powered up by Rundvelt Hordemaster and sped up by Battle Cry Goblin, attacking and putting a Treasure that returns half the mana invested by the latter. As well as its transformed side, Reflection of Kiki-Jiki, which can immediately activate its copy ability thanks to Battle Cry Goblin, although it will often be convenient to do it at the end of the opponent's turn by creating a copy of any Goblin, which will remain on the battlefield until our next turn, being able to attack.
Following the same rule, by controlling two Reflection of Kiki-Jiki you can create as many clones of it at the end of your foe's turn as you have mana available, then untap them and attack for a huge amount of damage!
Finally, there is the second chapter of the Saga which, in addition to sending creatures to the graveyard so you can reanimate them later, fixes your hand by discarding excess lands or simply cards that are not very useful in certain matchups, such as Fatal Push.
Besides being discarded and destroyed by your opponent, there is another way to send Goblin Chainwhirler to the graveyard and that is to sacrifice it with Skirk Prospector!
It's most likely the best 1-drop Goblin on MTG Arena, not because of its raw power since it is just a 1/1, but because it's a combo enabler and it fits into a lot of different Goblin builds.
Its ability to generate mana should be used with caution as we don't want to gift a 2-for-1 to our opponent unless absolutely necessary or we get enough value in return.
Sometimes it makes sense to sacrifice Skirk Prospector to cast Fable of the Mirror-Breaker // Reflection of Kiki-Jiki or Goblin Chainwhirler on turn 2: if you don't have a third land in your hand, if you're in a hurry to remove an opposing X/1, or if the matchup simply calls for pushing. In general, however, it's good to stay on the battlefield, threatening the opponent with its mere presence and ready to fizzle the targets: of all the spells that exile, of cards with Adventure (Bonecrusher Giant // Stomp or Brazen Borrower // Petty Theft) or of what I call Maelstrom Pulse effects (Legion's End, Declaration in Stone, Deputy of Detention, putting The End in this category).
The remaining two 1-drops look very similar, but the gameplay difference is huge! Cacophony Scamp's ability to sacrifice itself is key, being able to eliminate the mana dork or any X/1, regardless of whether the opponent chooses to block or not. As a bonus, Proliferate sometimes advances Fable of the Mirror-Breaker // Reflection of Kiki-Jiki by a chapter or adds a loyalty counter to both Ob Nixilis, the Adversary (sideboard).
Fireblade Charger, on the other hand, can only do the same with the help of Skirk Prospector, but it's still worth playing it to put pressure on the early turns and, at the same time, reach a mass of Goblins useful for: Conspicuous Snoop, Rundvelt Hordemaster and Goblin Ringleader (sideboard).
Both benefit from the buffs of Rundvelt Hordemaster and Battle Cry Goblin, growing in power and taking away the opponent's pieces when they die or are sacrificed, or just hitting face for lethal damage.
Oh sure, I haven't told you the best part yet! As well as Goblin Chainwhirler, they can be revived with Call of the Death-Dweller taking deathtouch, so as to destroy an opposing creature once they end up back in the graveyard. Even better if you have the opportunity to block and then damage to another creature, thus taking two pieces away.
No doubt these three are the best 2-drop Goblins in the format!
Battle Cry Goblin is most likely the best one here, providing the pressure needed to make the deck competitive, putting bodies and acting as a finisher in the late game.
It's often the 2-drop to reanimate together with the 1-drop, taking the menace counter, and the token it'll create will often already be 2/2 thanks to Rundvelt Hordemaster.
It is also worth highlighting its synergy with Skirk Prospector! It's quite intuitive to sacrifice some creatures, especially if blocked, to get the two mana needed to pump the team, but not everyone knows that, once the opponent blocks Battle Cry Goblin, it's possible to declare the activation of the latter's ability and then pay its mana cost with Skirk Prospector by sacrificing Battle Cry Goblin itself!
Rundvelt Hordemaster is the lord of the tribe that will also contribute to the pressure factor, but above all it generates value every time one of our creatures dies. The opponent is forced to remove it before the others or the situation could become unmanageable.
If you expect a removal spell, Rundvelt Hordemaster is the 2-drop to cast and, with a bit of luck, it might find a Goblin mate, going 2-for-1!
Similarly, another value engine of the deck is Conspicuous Snoop, which allows you to cast Goblins directly from the top of the deck, sometimes chaining some of them together (and chaining Chainwhirler is a flavor win).
Not to be forgotten is its ability to copy activated abilities with Skirk Prospector and Battle Cry Goblin on top, although this will be used very rarely since it's usually better to cast them directly (you too could have an epic victory with Pithing Needle naming Battle Cry Goblin, but with Conspicuous Snoop activating its ability!).
Fatal Push in 3 copies is the only non-creature removal but not everyone plays it, reserving it for the sideboard and preferring more 1-drop Goblins, for a more linear plan and greater synergy among creatures.
Even though the combo between Goblin Chainwhirler and Call of the Death-Dweller resets the opponent's board, I think that a minimum of interaction in the early game is necessary, especially with a deck like this one which unfortunately is not among the fastest and with Amalia Combo as one of the tier 1 of the format.
No copy for me, instead, of Toxin Analysis, the Explorer version of Touch of Moonglove, since it's not necessary. The idea is to cast it in response to Goblin Chainwhirler's triggered ability or when Cacophony Scamp / Fireblade Charger blocks, eliminating two opposing threats, which seems very strong in theory but hasn't turned out to be particularly strong in practice.
It's a very situational one and the threat of a removal spell in response is always around the corner, also taking up a slot that could have been synergistic with Conspicuous Snoop and Rundvelt Hordemaster.
Sideboard
Sideboard looks very solid, without too much variety, but with very impactful cards in specific matchups. Since the deck is very focused on creature synergy, too many changes are not always possible or even necessary and the cards that most often tend to come out are: Fatal Push, Call of the Death-Dweller and Fireblade Charger.
Thoughtseize in full set is for Control and the various Combos of the format, such as: Transmogrify, Indomitable Creativity, Quintorius Kand, Enigmatic Incarnation, Greasefang, Okiba Boss and Lotus Field.
Leyline of the Void is another 4 of that I preferred to just a couple of Unlicensed Hearse and the reason is exclusively Izzet Phoenix which unfortunately is one of our worst matchups. Their removals for our creatures seem never ending and removing only Arclight Phoenix from the graveyard will most likely not be enough, since Treasure Cruise will allow them to gain an insane advantage. Starting with Leyline of the Void, that the opponent can't easily remove, gives a whole new rhythm to the game and puts us ahead.
Knight of Dusk's Shadow is an hate-card for Amalia Combo as it is very popular, which is added to all the removals, the pingers and Goblin Chainwhirler to give us an edge.
Ob Nixilis, the Adversary is my Explorer alternative to the missing Reckless Bushwhacker. Of course it's not the same thing since it's not a Goblin, but against Control and heavy removal Midrange even the Rakdos Planeswalker can do its part. It synergizes with Fireblade Charger and Cacophony Scamp or if you like with any other Goblin as long as Rundvelt Hordemaster is on the battlefield.
Goblin Ringleader plays a very similar role to Ob Nixilis, the Adversary, equally against Control (it takes advantage of Cavern of Souls) but even more so against Midrange. Ideally it would want a high number of Goblins in the deck and therefore a version with more 1-drops and Reckless Bushwhacker would be better, but these are details and the card still does its job. Haste also makes it a little aggressive, great for restarting post-wrath and hitting the enemy Planeswalker.
That's all for today! I wrote even more than I imagined, but then again when you start talking about Goblins you never want to stop, right? Jokes aside, I hope you enjoyed it because the Goblin universe is big and full of possibilities and in the future we'll talk about them again!
