I became intrigued by the possibilities in Wort, the Raidmother earlier today. I'd never really looked at her before. After several false starts I settled on an odd mix of Combo and Aggro. The first half of the game (pre-casting of Wort) will act largely like a Goblin Token swarm - lots of low CMC Gobbos that spit out tokens or search up other Goblins. In the background of this I'll lay the groundwork for some big mana. Mana Echoes, Mana Cache, Skirk Prospector, Ashnods Altar, etc.

Once Wort is online I'll switch over to spells - Conspiring with my Goblin army to add value. Mogg Infestation is pretty funny here; with ten Gobbos out, I can pay 5 mana, conspire 5 times, and end up with 320 Goblins. Ideally I'd be in a position to follow up with a Descent of Dragons, but I'm not greedy.

Aside from Goblin flood my wincon would be using the mana from the various sac outlets, Mana Echoes, etc. to throw conspired Fireballs for lethal.

Commander
Wort, the Raidmother

Creatures (28)
Tokens/Tutors
Goblin Recruiter
Mogg War Marshal
Skirk Drill Sergeant
Goblin Matron
Goblin Rabblemaster
Goblin Warchief
Beetleback Chief
Krenko, Mob Boss
Moggcatcher
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
Siege-Gang Commander
Goblin Marshal
Chancellor of the Forge

Mana/Sac.
Goblin Chirurgeon
Goblin Sledder
Mogg Raider
Skirk Prospector

Misc.
Foundry Street Denizen
Goblin Balloon Brigade
Goblin Spy
Keeper of Kookus
Legion Loyalist
Raging Goblin
Goblin Piledriver
Mogg Maniac
Vexing Shusher
Arms Dealer
Gempalm Incinerator

Instant (3)
Mana
Brightstone Ritual
Battle Hymn
Dragonrage

Sorcery (16)
Mana
Mana Geyser

Token
Dragon Fodder
Krenko's Command
Goblin Offensive
Hordeling Outburst
Mogg Alarm
Empty the Warrens
Goblin Rally
Mogg Infestation
Descent of the Dragons

Burn
Disintegrate
Fireball
Goblin Grenade
Goblin War Strike
Kaervek's Torch
Lava Burst

Enchantment (9)
Draw
Evolutionary Leap
Fecundity
Overwhelming Instinct

Mana/Sac.
Goblin Bombardment
Mana Cache
Mana Echoes

Token
Goblin Warrens
Goblinslide
Parallel Lives

Plainswalker (1)
Xenagos, the Reveler

Artifact (3)
Ashnod's Altar
Goblin Charbelcher
Pyromancer's Goggles

Land (39)
Gruul Guildgate
Gruul Turf
Karplusan Forest
Kazandu Refuge
Kessig Wolf Run
Mossfire Valley
Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
Rootbound Crag
Rugged Highlands
Stomping Ground
Taiga
Temple of Abandon
Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
26 Mountain

To be frank, a large number of your 1 drops, particularly the ones in the "Misc" category, stink. I would honestly recommend replacing most/all of them with bigger goblins like Goblin Chieftain or Warren Instigator, but if you're set on 1-drops, Goblin Guide, Goblin Lackey, Goblin Glory Chaser, Goblin Welder, Spikeshot Elder, and Warbeak Trumpeter all do the job far better. Again, I would rather have bigger and better dudes like the ones I mentioned or Mott War Marshall since you don't seem to depend on a turn 1 play anyway.

Also, this deck needs Comet Storm, badly.

I can accept that. A few (Keeper of Kookus, Goblin Spy, Goblin Ballon Brigade) are largely present for nostalgic or comedic reasons, but could certainly be cut. Goblin Guide, Warren Instigator, and Goblin Lackey are all below my threshold of utility/price, though Lackey skirts it; it was a late cut for economics instead of effectiveness.

Adding a few Lords back in (Goblin Chieftain, Goblin King, Goblin General) certainly wouldn't hurt; they got removed as I tried to figure out how to balance the Aggro and combo sides of the deck. It probably wouldn't kill me to drop in my spare Coat of Arms while I'm at it. Door of Destiny might be overdoing it though. I'll look into this.

Comet Storm? Does it do anything a conspired Kaervek's Torch won't do cheaper?

That doesn't work. Conspire can only be done once per instance of conspire.

This disappoints me, but makes the whole thing seem less overpowering at the same time. It also makes more sense of Comet Storm. Still, from ten gobbos to forty is no joke either.

I'll think on how this changes things. In the meantime keep those suggestions rolling.

Banefire might be better than one or more of your other X spells. The "Can't be countered" bit is not irrelevant.

Goblin Charbelcher seems uninspiring here. You might be better served by something that supports your strategies - either something like Mirari to go with your spell theme, or something like Beastmaster Ascension or Shared Animosity to support the swarm.

Banefire's on my shortlist of X-spells. I ended up going with nostalgia over straight power for the time being though. I like Mirari, since I should have the mana. Strionic Resonator should probably go in too.

You're probably right about Charbelcher. Shared Aggression seems nice. What about Fires of Yavimaya?

Remember that Mirari is only once too. I made that mistake when I first saw the card, and sadly nobody I was playing with at the time knew to correct me, so I was using Overrun to give my creatures +12/+12 and trample...

I would definitely go with Goblin Chieftain over fires for my mass-haste needs in this deck, and probably Goblin Warchief as a backup mass-haste, since both of those can attack and can conspire, which fires cannot.

I knew about Mirari being once per trigger. I don't know why I didn't assume the same about conspire. I'd probably use creature mass-haste; I was just thinking about Fires as a backup, and as something that Mogg Infestation wouldn't kill. I'd hate to quadruple my number of creatures and have to wait a full round to attack.

Fair point, although it doesn't seem like you'd want to warp your deck too much around one card you can't tutor for. Maybe fires over warchief, since it doesn't pump and you won't need its cost reduction ability very much?

Clan Defiance is another interesting X-spell.

I think that's the only one I'd do that for.

So I just asked my friend about this:



He has t ventures into the specifics of his response yet, just given a broad disapproval

I think your math is off. Goblin Rally (conspired) would give you 4 triggers x 7 mana (6 tokens + Wort herself) + 4 triggers x 11 mana = 72 colorless in your pool. Then you could still conspire spells with the newly created tokens (since conspire does not care about summoning sickness), so you could do Comet Storm for closer to 70 to 3 targets, conspired to 140.

I might be doing Echoes wrong. For a single (unconspired) copy with three on the field, I was adding 4+5+6+7 mana. I thought that while the tokens come in simultaneously they would trigger consecutively?

Hang on. By the time the triggers resolve all four are in play, aren't they. Urgh. Gross.

Yeah, that.

Also I see no reason in your example that you shouldn't conspire the rally and then the comet storm.