SerpApi.Org
We're delighted to officially reveal The Great Goblin card from the upcoming Magic: The Gathering set, The Hobbit. The Great Goblin is a huge addition to the game for those running Goblin Commander decks, but the card also plays very nicely with Orcs and Armies.
This card is also a direct reference to The Great Goblin, ruler of a colony found underneath the Misty Mountain. He was ultimately slain by Gandalf using the sword Glamdring, after he captured Bilbo and the Dwarves who were taking refuge in the same cave, fearing they were Elven spies.
The Great Goblin Arrives In The Hobbit MTG Set
Given the attention to detail that has gone into designing this Universes Beyond set, I'm not surprised to see The Great Goblin show up on a card. When I spoke with the principal game designer Annie Sardelis at MagicCon Amsterdam, she stated that "anytime we [WotC] made up a creature, we would just kind of look through the book for, like, what is a characteristic about that creature we can evoke."
Following up on this, principal designer Gavin Verhey said: "If it's in The Hobbit, it's in the set somewhere." Based on the Hobbit cards we've seen so far, this certainly rings true.
Now, onto the card itself. The Great Goblin is a three-mana (2B/R, 1C), 3/2 legendary Goblin Noble who deals two damage to each opponent whenever you put one or more counters on a Goblin, Orc, or Army you control. Also, whenever another Goblin, Orc, or Army you control dies, you exile the top card of your library and may play it until the end of your next turn.
There is a ton of utility in this card, and I can see it being highly playable within the set for Limited, and especially in Commander, where Goblin decks aren't in short supply.
Building Around The Great Goblin
According to Scryfall, there are over 600 Goblin, Orc, and Army creature cards in Magic: The Gathering, and over 530 of these are legal for a Commander deck led by The Great Goblin, so I've picked out a few that I think will work great for when you build your next deck.
Conspicuous Snoop
This creature card lets you play with the top of your library revealed and cast Goblin spells from there so long as it is on the battlefield. If the top card in your library is a Goblin card, Conspicuous Snoop has all the activated abilities of that card.
Gristle Glutton
Putting counters on creatures doesn't always have to make them more powerful, and Gristle Glutton can be tapped to Blight 1 and discard a card, which will still trigger The Great Goblin's first ability. If the creature you Blight only has one toughness remaining, you get to trigger both abilities, provided the creature in question is a Goblin, Orc, or Army.
Giving a creature +1/+1 or -1/-1 until end of turn will not trigger The Great Goblin; the counter must be permanent.
Green Goblin, Nemesis
Green Goblin pairs nicely with Gristle Glutton because this Goblin Human Villain puts a +1/+1 counter on a target Goblin you control whenever you discard a nonland card. So, you could Blight a creature and give it +1/+1 in the same sequence to effectively leave it back at square one.
If you don't have a nonland to discard, you create a treasure token instead.
Gutsplitter Gang
This four-mana (1B, 3C) Goblin gives you the option to Blight 2 at the beginning of your first main turn, and given that it's a 6/6, you can get away with doing this a few times even if you don't have a bunch of other options on the battlefield. If you choose not to Blight, you lose three life.
Having the guaranteed option to Blight each turn is useful, but having to apply -2/-2 each time to a creature isn't ideal unless you have a way of building creatures back up or excess life points to drain.
Hatchet Bully
Another -1/-1 Goblin here, but this time it's a mana ability. You can pay three mana (1R, 2C) to put a -1/-1 counter on a creature you control to then deal 2 damage to a target creature or player.
It's useful for turns where your hand is looking a little bare, but you have mana and creatures to spare on the battlefield.
Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin
The final Goblin I'll highlight, although there are many more, is Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin. This Goblin gains a +1/+1 counter each time it attacks, then creates 1/1 Goblin creature tokens equal to its power.
This is a great engine card for letting you Blight more effectively and trigger The Great Goblin a ton of times.
