Gobbo!

[moonxine77]

Book Name: Gobbo - Son of Goblinicious!

Creatures: 22
Borgess x 2
Goblin x 4
Horned Chameleon x 2
Redcap x 4
Sanctum Guard x 4
Trap Spider x 2
Mothman x 4

Items: 4
Counter Amulet x 2
Gaseous Form x 2

Spells: 24
Brave Song x 4
Drain Magic x 2
Find x 1
Gift x 4
Goblin's Lair x 2
Intrusion x 2
Reincarnation x 1
Replace x 2
Telekenesis x 2
Wind of Hope x 4
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is my first deck post.

I have been playing "Gobbo" as a fairly straightforward aggressive deck. Goblins (as creatures and via Goblin Lair), Sanctum Guards, Horned Chameleons, and Trap Spiders are played on any free territory on the initial laps regardless of chains in order to increase the potency of Redcap and Mothman. Borgess is played in more defensible territories to boost the other creatures. Redcap and Mothman are saved for invasions, with Mothman being the preferred option. Redcaps are saved for use with Intrusion.

The majority of spells are used to manipulate board positions to allow for invasions or to cycle the deck faster. Replace is used frequently to pull Mothman and Redcaps back into the hand for future invasions.

After liberal claiming of unchained lands on first lap, subsequent laps focus on invasion of high value enemy lands and gradual development of existing lands into chains. If an opponent invades a low level land, I often do not contest and later re-invade. Items are held only to defend highly developed lands.

It's not a money maker, but I enjoy the play style.

[Ben-Ra]

Some observations and suggestions, from a fellow Goblin book user -

You have no way to beat Counter Amulet, Gaseous Form, Necro Scarab, or elemental shields. The easiest solution is Gremlin Tooth, since +HP weapons are rare and top out at +40. Gremlin Claw works on the tools but not on armors, which is to say I use it as a backup but it's usually the first thing to discard. You can also use Crusher, etc, although that's a little less reliable since an opponent who knows what you're doing will take great pains to keep more than one item in hand. Paralyzer also works and is a great combo with Intrusion as always.

Holy Blight/Elemental Rage/Tempest plus a followup can kill every creature you've got except Mothman, who won't be worth much once everything else is dead. Crusher/Theft can work short term, but you really need Suppression or Mass Phantasm.

Enchantments such as Reflection and Fistfight can be an issue, although you do have Replace and Telekinesis which can help with those, Paralyzer is even better, and again Mass Phantasm is great since it can even remove Land Protection.

Personally I don't use any defensive items, since the only things I level up are Mothmen and Redcaps, unless I'm heading towards the castle and levelling up a Goblin or two will cause a win. The only thing that can kill Moth or Red is another stat multiplier, and if they've got enough of their fuel (X colored lands/creatures generally) to beat me I'm probably going to lose the game anyway.

My only creatures are Borgess, Goblin, Mothman and Redcap. The other creatures you have are fine, but don't really have the ability to kill a tough enemy nor defend a land that well on their own, and if you're relying on Counter/Gaseous for that, Goblins can hold a land as well as anyone else.

Not sure what Brave Song is for. Generally a Redcap or Mothman will be able to kill almost anything without the +20 ST.

Obviously our playstyles and books are different, and there's certainly no one true way to do things. Also, you may lack some of the cards I've mentioned. In any case, this is intended to be constructive criticism.

Also, if this is only for use against the AI, you can ignore pretty much everything I said.

[Thumpasaurus]

Ben-Ra, any chance you'd post your version?

[Ben-Ra]

I would love to, but about 5 minutes ago my goddamn 360 went red ring. Might be a bit before I post any more articles