Goblins in Magic: History, Best Cards & Decks

If you've never played against a goblin deck, cast the first stone!

These endearingly strange creatures are among the favorites of Magic: the Gathering players, and for good reason: goblins are plentiful and great as a resource.

And if you doubt it, just imagine what happens when a Goblin Bombardment enters the battlefield next to a Krenko, Mob Boss. All we can say is that this is pretty chaotic in a Commander game.

This article is dedicated to goblins and will address some historical moments of these creatures in the lore, mention some of the best and/or most popular cards in the game and bring examples of decks of different formats that our little friends use.

Even outside of Magic, you've probably seen plenty of representations of goblins in pop culture - whether in movies, anime, books, manga, music, or even popular games that use role-playing elements. It is a fact that goblins are quite popular, even if they are generally known for decisions that don't place much value on their intelligence.

In the Magic universe, goblins are humanoid creatures of low stature, linked mainly, but not exclusively, to the color red, who tend to live in mountains and are quite resourceful.

Like elves, they are present on almost every plane of the Multiverse. So far, the only planes apparently without native goblins are Amonkhet, Capenna, Ikoria, Kaldheim, Innistrad, Theros, Kaladesh, and Ulgrotha.

One advantage of goblin decks is that they are often budget and the creatures interact with mechanics such as:

• Token Creation

• Dealing damage

• Sacrifice and rewards

• Haste

Goblins are also represented differently on each of the planes. In short, we have:

Alara

The goblins known to inhabit Alara are in Jund and are small barbarians who are hunted by other barbarian beings, such as humans and viashino. They worship dragons and believe that being devoured by one of these majestic creatures is an honor.

Arcavios

We don't have a lot of information about the Arcavian goblins, but we do know that they exist and that they are intelligent, since one of them is trying to get into the prestigious Strixhaven wizardry school.

Bablovia

The goblins are known as “Goblin Explosioneers” and are part of the Unstable set and experiment with many crazy ideas to create contraptions that often explode. Lucky for them, they breed fast enough to not become extinct.

Dominaria

Dominaria goblins can be found in any location with mountains or deserts suitable for living and are known for their obstinacy in battle and low intellect that results in some (many) accidental deaths.

There are records of goblins in Arona, Rundvelt, Caliman, Jamuraa, Otaria, Skirk, Razorfins, Sarpadia, Shivan, Oks, Terisiare, Flarg, and Scarwood.

A goblin from Dominaria well known to fans of the lore is Squee, who played with a piece of the Legacy Weapon and managed to get rid of the Phyrexian cell that was in his body after blowing up a mountain. If you want to better understand how this happened, leave a comment because his story deserves a separate article.

Eldraine

In Eldraine, goblins are known as redcaps and have red hair. They are agents of chaos who fight dirty without any honor and specialize in sneak attacks and ambushes.

Fiora

Fiora's goblins are often looked down upon, but we have the example of the planeswalker Daretti, Scrap Savant, who managed to attend the Academy and rise through the ranks to become a master artificer.

Ixalan

Ixalan goblins can be found in jungle colonies or perched on the rails and climbing the masts of pirate ships. They are known for their jokes and have a lot of difficulty understanding which ones are inappropriate.

Kamigawa

In Kamigawa, goblins are known as Akki, and they live in the mountains of the plane. Quite territorial, obsessed with fire and fans of mischief. They worship the kami Patron of the Akki, which resembles a worm with a rocky body.

Some goblins even joined forces with the ronin of the mountains and that's why we have creatures like Goro-Goro, Disciple of Ryusei, which is a samurai goblin.

Kylem

On Kylem, a plane that is part of the Battlebond set, goblins have gray-green skin and are passionate about martial magic.

Lorwyn-Shadowmoor

You can find a wide variety of goblins in Lorwyn-Shadowmoor. In Lorwyn we only have the boggarts, one of the plane's eight sentient humanoid tribes.

In Shadowmoor there are five different races of goblin: the boggarts, redcaps, spriggans, hobgoblins and stream hoppers.

Mercadia

Known as Kyren, they are taller, thinner, more attractive and more intelligent than other goblins, but that doesn't mean they are any wiser. Mercadian goblins are cowardly and sadistic, preferring subtle weapons like daggers and blowguns.

Mirrodin

It was common to find metal fragments in the bodies of the creatures that inhabited Mirrodin and goblins were no exception.

There are the goblins of the Krak Clan, which honors an ancient goblin who found his way into the depths of the plane and wrote a book about it.

The Squealstokes are completed goblins who serve Urasbrask and tend to stoke the furnace fires in Kuldotha. They are always running around and building gadgets that can help them fan the flames, but when they fail at something, they prefer to throw themselves into the fire to feed it and avoid severe punishment.

Rath

On the artificial plane of Rath, goblins were created for battle and are depicted with muscular bodies, sloping foreheads, sharp teeth, and claws capable of eviscerating any opponent. They are probably the least intelligent type of goblin and after the Phyrexian Invasion, few survivors found freedom.

Ravnica

Goblins are present in Ravnica's guilds, most notably the Boros Legion, Izzet League, Gruul Clan, and Rakdos Cult. Their beliefs and way of acting vary according to the guild they are associated with.

In addition, in the city of Ravnica we have the goblin warrior Krenko, Mob Boss who is not connected to any guild. However, he has a gang of goblins that fulfill several requests from rich people in the city.

Tarkir

In Tarkir we have the Mardu goblins, dangerous warriors who live and fight alongside humans and orcs of the clan. We also have the Temur goblins, who run in packs and are almost unwise, eating everything they find along the way.

Zendikar

Zendikar goblins have extraordinarily long, thin arms that help them climb. Their fur has a stony texture, the color varies from brownish red to moss green and the older they get, the grayer their fur is.

They are represented as warriors, merchants, scouts and aspiring beastmasters.

The First Goblins

Goblin cards have been present in the game since the Alpha set, in which we had three cards of creatures from that tribe.

As previously mentioned, the first goblins were associated with red mana, but over the years and the evolution of the game, very popular cards of creatures from this tribe were printed with other colors. For example:

In March of the Machine, we have some cards of legendary creatures “together” without the need for Partner.

We were recently introduced, in MOM, to two cards that seem to be a lot of fun as commanders in the Commander format: Goro-Goro and Satoru and Slimefoot and Squee. Both are part of these new “legends” on the set.

Want to build a deck with goblins? Then check out some of the best cards from this tribe!

As we have differences between the legality in each format, this list does not configure a top/rank, it just brings some interesting names to compose your deck.

Treasure Nabber

Who doesn't like to use mana rocks in their deck? With Treasure Nabber, your opponent's can be yours until the end of your next turn.

And if you use artifact sacrifice cards, why not destroy the artifact you took from the opponent?

Goblin King

The Goblin King is great for tribal decks and grants their “subjects” to use a much coveted ability: mountainwalk. This lord increases the power of goblins and helps them bypass defenses to deal direct damage to the opponent.

That's a monarch who thinks of the people!

Goblin Matron

This is one of those cards that you see for the first time and ask your opponent if they printed it at home because with that effect, it just seems like it shouldn't exist. But since it exists, you should use it in your deck.

How many times have you thought, “I wish such a creature would come”? Because the Goblin Matron will bring the desired card to your hand.

You can search for lords, some creature that helps in the combo, a goblin that helps with counters and so on. The only limit is that it is a goblin.

Wort, Boggart Auntie

Wort is the leader and guardian of the boggarts and has been alive long enough to protect her children. It's probably for this reason that she returns a goblin card from the graveyard to your hand every upkeep.

Muxus, Goblin Grandee

Muxus, Goblin Grandee has a great ability for a goblin deck and with it, you can fill the battlefield with goblins that cost 5 or less mana. Also, it's 4/4 but whenever it attacks it gets +1/+1 until the end of turn for each other goblin you control. Pretty complete, don't you think?

Krenko, Mob Boss

An advantage of goblins is the ease of having a well-populated board with these creatures and Krenko, Mob Boss is one of the best cards for that. He was even one of the highlights in our commanders that generate tokens.

Goro-Goro, Disciple of Ryusei

Goro-Goro, Disciple of Ryusei has a rather interesting effect: one red mana, creatures you control gain haste until the end of turn.

In decks that run many goblin tokens, haste can define whether you win the game that turn.

Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker

Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker may have a higher mana cost than the other goblins on this list, but its effect is excellent and compensates for the casting cost.

There are many cards that combine with Kiki-Jiki, such as Zealous Conscripts to have infinite tokens with haste.

Dockside Extortionist

Is our lovely Dockside Extortionist situational? Yes, because it creates Treasure tokens equal to the number of artifacts and enchantments controlled by opponents, however, we cannot deny that this card has the potential to do plenty of damage.

For those who like to always have one in their deck, the Dockside can enable a horde of infinite treasure tokens combos.

Honorable mentions

Goblins that are worthy mention but sometimes don't go in Goblins decks are Goblin Guide and Goblin Welder. Although Cavern of Souls, Secluded Courtyard, Unclaimed Territory and Aethervial aren't goblins, they are crucial in every Goblin deck.

Goblins can be used in many Magic formats. We separate some lists to inspire you when you assemble yours with these creatures!

Pauper

You can read more about this decklist in our article.

Commander

Legacy

We even have a complete article about this Goblin deck in Legacy format, and you can check it out by clicking here.

Pioneer

You can read more in this decklist clicking here.

As you may have noticed, the goblin tribe is very versatile and allows for a deck full of creatures with high synergy with each other. Also, many beginning players like this tribe because the cards are relatively cheap and easy to find.

We hope this article has given you the inspiration you needed to build your deck. Did you miss any goblins? Leave it in the comments.

See you in the next article!

Which tribe do you think deserves an article like this?