When you think Goblins in Modern, you think Aether Vial.

And why wouldn't you? Aether Vial is perhaps one of the best tools for tribal creature decks in any format that it is legal, allowing them to deploy creatures quickly and at instant speed, and Goblins is probably the best Aether Vial deck in the history of Magic with the combination of Goblin Ringleader and Goblin Matron.

So, what if I told you that today we were playing a Goblin deck with zero copies of Aether Vial in it?

Time Stamps:

00:06:17 - Match 1

00:31:28 - Match 2

00:45:55 - Match 3

01:13:39 - Match 4

01:45:45 - Match 5

Sacrifice Goblins | Modern | Jim Davis

• Creatures (32)
• 1 Goblin Matron
• 1 Goblin Ringleader
• 3 Pashalik Mons
• 3 Skirk Prospector
• 4 Ignoble Hierarch
• 4 Knucklebone Witch
• 4 Legion Warboss
• 4 Mogg War Marshal
• 4 Munitions Expert
• 4 Sling-Gang Lieutenant

• Sorceries (3)
• 1 Unearth
• 2 Patriarch's Bidding

• Enchantments (2)
• 2 Goblin Bombardment

• Lands (23)
• 1 Swamp
• 2 Mountain
• 1 Stomping Ground
• 2 Blood Crypt
• 2 Unclaimed Territory
• 3 Wooded Foothills
• 4 Auntie's Hovel
• 4 Bloodstained Mire
• 4 Cavern of Souls

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Goblin Trashmaster
• 2 Chalice of the Void
• 4 Thoughtseize
• 2 Fatal Push
• 1 Masked Vandal
• 3 Nihil Spellbomb
• 1 Goblin Ringleader

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While we didn't play it on turn one as much as I would have liked, the advent of Ignoble Hierarch has allowed this newer style of Goblin deck to skip on the Aether Vials, leaving behind the boomer core of Goblin Matron and Goblin Ringleader for a different kind of engine.

Rather than trying to out-draw and out-mana our opponents with Goblin Ringleader and Aether Vial, this deck takes a more synergistic approach of throwing goblins around with reckless abandon. Knucklebone Witch grows to very large sizes for only 1 mana, Pashalik Mons sends damage all over the place, while Sling-Gang Lieutenant just straight up kills your opponent.

Legion Warboss, not a card usually seen in Modern Goblin decks, gets the call here as a never-ending source of fodder, while Modern Horizons 2 reprints Goblin Bombardment and Patriarch's Bidding also stand out well. Goblin Bombardment provides you redundancy on your Sling-Gang Lieutenants while allowing for board control, while Patriarch's Bidding is almost always lethal with so many ways to sacrifice for damage.

The league definitely had some issues and didn't go exactly to plan, but what we have here is a fun and unique take on a classic archetype that approaches things in an exciting new way. Besides, who doesn't love picking up your entire board of Goblins and throwing them at your opponent?