The presence of Eldrazi in the Modern metagame has done a lot to polarize the format. After all, you either have to be able to race a turn two Thought-Knot Seer backed by Reality Smasher or go over the top of it. Consequently, this means decks are either trying to play a hyper aggressive plan, a disruptive aggro plan, or a sweeper-based control strategy, such as Affinity, Merfolk, and U/W Control respectively. This week, tvincent is exploring another tribal option capable of sneaking in underneath the Eldrazi menace:

Goblins ? Modern | tvincent, 5-0 Modern League

• Creatures (34)
• 2 Reckless Bushwhacker
• 4 Foundry Street Denizen
• 4 Goblin Bushwhacker
• 4 Goblin Chieftain
• 4 Goblin Guide
• 4 Goblin Piledriver
• 4 Legion Loyalist
• 4 Mogg Fanatic
• 4 Mogg War Marshal

• Spells (7)
• 4 Lightning Bolt
• 3 Goblin Grenade

• Lands (19)
• 19 Mountain

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Reckless Bushwhacker
• 1 Goblin Grenade
• 4 Forked Bolt
• 4 Smash to Smithereens
• 2 Tormod's Crypt
• 2 Traitorous Blood

Buy This Deck

Over the last couple of years, Goblins has made occasional appearances in Modern, but has stayed largely out of the limelight. This is because the combination of Lightning Bolt and Snapcaster Mage goes a long way toward keeping even the most explosive of aggressive starts under control. However, when the removal spell of choice in the format is Dismember, suddenly Goblins seems like a much more exciting option.

A huge part of the reason this deck is exciting right now is the recent reprinting of Goblin Piledriver. This is important for a number of reasons, as Goblin Piledriver is an incredible way to punish slow draws from your opponent. It’s not hard to imagine playing a turn two Piledriver and following up with a 1-drop plus a Goblin Bushwhacker or Reckless Bushwhacker. Alternatively, if your opponent deals with your aggressive start in the early turns, you can play both a Piledriver and a Bushwhacker on 4 mana to get in for six and threaten much more on the following turn. Additionally, Protection from Blue is relevant against the likes of Snapcaster Mage, Jace, Vryn's Prodigy, and Drowner of Hope.

Another interesting inclusion in this build is Legion Loyalist. This is a powerful card in a format shifting more and more toward creature combat, since it allows your Goblin tokens to trample in for the last few points of damage. More than that, it allows Goblin Piledriver to single-handedly dominate the red zone and kill opponents almost on its own. That type of aggression backed up with Goblin Grenade and Lightning Bolts to go to the face means the Eldrazi deck is going to need a pretty stellar draw to keep up.