Thanks to being part of the game from the beginning, Goblins are one of the deepest typal themes offered in Magic: The Gathering. Known for their aggressive starts and swarming potential, it doesn’t take long for a good Goblin deck to completely overwhelm you.
What many players may not associate Goblins with, however, is mana ramp. Surprisingly, there are a fair few MTG Goblin cards that can easily ramp you ahead, pulling off a big turn ahead of schedule. Better yet, all of these cards are incredibly cheap, making them effortless additions to upgrade any Commander deck that can use them.
MTG Namesticker Goblin
For just three mana, ____ Goblin, also known as Namesticker Goblin, was a core part of Legacy before Stickers were banned from the format. It may not say it directly on the card, but this Goblin will always be mana positive. If you bring an optimal group of ten sticker sheets, Namesticker Goblin should always be able to make at least four red mana on entry. If you’re lucky and find ‘Delusionary’ as one of your options, you can make as much as six mana when this Goblin enters play.
Free creatures have always been an issue in Magic, and Namesticker Goblin ramps you up extra mana on top of it. Available for just $0.37, this budget common’s power level is through the roof, comparable to the best cards in Commander. The only downside to Namesticker Goblin is that you have to play Stickers, which is admittedly a big deal. That said, this could easily be the only Sticker card in your deck, so long as you don’t mind bringing them.
MTG Crime Novelist
By creating red mana whenever you sacrifice an artifact, Crime Novelist is an instant upgrade to any Commander deck that has a Treasure subtheme. Since it’s extremely easy to make tons of artifact tokens in Commander, Crime Novelist is a must-remove threat. Get this Novelist into play alongside a card like Brass’s Bounty, and you can easily set up a game-winning line.
Crime Novelist’s ability is so powerful that the card even enables its own line of infinite combos. Thanks to paying for Animation Module‘s trigger, setting up these two cards with Phyrexian Altar allows you to make infinite mana while growing the Novelist infinitely large. You can even replace the Altar with Goblin Bombardment to do infinite damage to any player.
Despite having plenty of utility outside of Goblin Typal decks, Crime Novelist is surprisingly cheap. Any decks that utilize a lot of artifacts will be able to easily get their money’s worth out of this $0.85 card.
MTG Scuzzback Scrounger
A new addition from Lorwyn Eclipsed, Scuzzback Scrounger isn’t super flashy, but it’s extremely consistent. So long as you have creatures to Blight on, this two-mana Goblin can create a constant flow of Treasure. This is already enough for a majority of Bracket 3 Commander decks, but it’s easy to push this card further.
Thanks to the new Blight Curse Precon, Scuzzback Scrounger has some nasty synergies with some of Lorwyn Eclipsed’s most popular Commanders. Auntie Ool, Cursewretch, for example, turns Scuzzback Scrounger into both ramp and card draw. Many other reprints in the precon, like Flourishing Defenses, completely negate Scuzzback Scrounger’s downside, turning it into a two-mana creature that creates Treasures for free.
Due in large part to being one of the less in-demand cards in Lorwyn Eclipsed, Scuzzback Scrounger will only set you back about $0.45 at the time of writing. That said, once this set rotates out of print, the card might become a bit more expensive.
MTG Skirk Prospector
Anyone who has played against Goblins on MTG Arena should be familiar with this innocuous menace. This card may not play well outside of Goblin decks, but it sets up some absolutely disgusting lines within the Typal strategy. Most commonly used for running out Muxus, Goblin Grandee, getting the massive Goblin out as early as turn 3 is extremely common with Skirk Prospector. Since Muxus powers out a lot of other bodies, this line often leads to the Prospector playing even more Goblins from your hand.
Outside of just powering Muxus out early, the go-wide nature of Goblins also helps make Skirk Prospector more mana efficient. Combining cards that create multiple bodies, like Siege-Gang Commander, with mana reducers like Goblin Warchief can allow the Prospector to power out a ton of creatures ahead of schedule. If you’re already planning on playing a Goblin Typal Commander deck, this is the best $0.25 you can spend.
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