Some of the newer goblin cards have been making a big impact on the pauper metagame. To such a degree that the main Burn deck in the format has been completely rebuilt to include some otherwise overlooked critters.
The main enabler of this new build is Goblin Tomb Raider, which given the right opening hand is as strong as Goblin Guide without giving our opponent a free land draw. In pauper we can play a Great Furnace artifact land on turn one and drop a hasty 2/2 Tomb Raider straight away! Even if it's not our opening play there are 16 ways we can put an artifact on to the battlefield to ensure when he lands, Tomb Raider is ready to strike
Goblin Blast-Runner is the oldest of the new cards in the deck as it was printed in Brothers War in 2022. This former sleeper now synergises amazingly with many other cards in our deck which can be sacrificed to give him the +2/+0 and menace.
This one isn't a new card at all. Goblin Bushwhacker has been a solid support piece for over 10 years. It was played in Standard decks when it was first printed. It was played in Modern 8-Whack Goblins up until MH1 gave us the required cards to play more midrange cards like Matron, Sling-gang and Munitions Expert. It has now found it's home in a solid pauper deck where it really does put in some work.
It was the printing of Goblin Tomb Raider that caused the new Burn deck to to become what it has been in recent months, now more artifact focused than before. Running 4 copies each of Experimental Synthesiser and Implement of Combustion to support the Kuldotha Rebirths and Galvanic Blasts.
The deck shook up the whole format and at one point held 17% of the meta. This has since dropped as other decks have adapted to combat this.
But a brand new goblin has arrived that may just push the deck back to the top...
The newest addition, Reckless Lackey, slots right into the list and synergises amazingly with multiple other cards in the deck.
First of all: Haste and First strike on a 1/2 body for 1 mana is strong on its own, but the additional ability is what helps it push the deck that little bit further.
Sacrificing it draws a card and creates a treasure token artifact which helps Tomb Raider, Galvanic Blast and Kuldotha Rebirth AND the act of it being sacrificed sets up Blast-Runner.
The deck looks to be in a really solid position at the moment and I can only expect to see it posting good results in the weeks to come.
You can find a full deck list here
UPDATE: It's been a week since I wrote this and predicted Reckless Lackey would push Burn up the meta share. Today Burn stands at 26% up from 17%
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