MTG Goblin Storm Upgrades Break Precon's Potential

After what is perhaps the worst sale in Secret Lair history, MTG Goblin Storm is now starting to get into players’ hands. Offering a Storm-tinged twist on a classic strategy, this is the first Goblin Typal Commander precon that MTG players have had access to. Throw that, and the deck’s crazy reprint value in, and it’s no wonder that the deck was so popular.

Now that Goblin Storm is arriving at lucky players’ doorsteps, many are now looking to upgrade the precon to improve its performance. Frankly, like most decks with split themes, the best way to upgrade Goblin Storm is to pick one theme while getting rid of the other. Fortunately, whether you want to play Goblin Typal or focus on Storm, we have recommended upgrades for both choices.

Swarming with Goblins

If you want to focus more on the Goblin aspect of this precon, the first thing that needs to go is your Commander. Zada, Hedron Grinder does a good job at mixing Goblin and Storm synergies together, but there are far better Commanders out there for Goblin Typal. Krenko, Mob Boss, which is in the 99 already, is the most popular Commander for this archetype, but Muxus, Goblin Grandee is a better fit for Goblin Storm. With powerful ramp options like Seething Song, Battle Hymn and Brightstone Ritual already in the deck, powering out Muxus is rather trivial, swarming the board with Goblins.

To make Muxus’s enters trigger more consistent, you’ll need to increase the number of Goblins that it can hit. Goblin Ringleader, Moria Marauder and Warren Instigator are all great upgrades to a Goblin-heavy deck, for instance. Alongside Conspicuous Snoop, Muxus can even create infinite combo wins with Goblin Recruiter and Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker as upgrades.

Now that you’re dumping a ton of Goblins into play consistently, generic Typal payoffs will also become a lot more powerful. Vanquisher’s Banner and Chronicle of Victory are the highlights here, offering card draw while buffing your board. Molten Echoes and Panharmonicon are also extremely explosive, doubling the size of your Muxus triggers in one way or another.

In exchange for these cards, a lot of payoffs for Zada, Hedron Grinder can be taken out of the deck. Targeted buffs, like Fists of Flame, Ancestor’s Aid, and Renegade Tactics become significantly worse when they can’t be copied. Storm payoffs will also essentially do nothing in this deck, so those all need to go as well.

While we’ve provided a decklist with all of the changes above, here are the changes we would recommend to turn Goblin Storm into a Goblin Typal deck:

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Storming Off

If you’re more interested in keeping the character of the deck alive by going the Storm route, there are a fair few ways to upgrade towards this variant, too. The biggest issue here is a lack of cost reducers alongside consistent mana enablers to make your Storm turns more consistent.

Sadly, there aren’t a lot of cards in Red to help the mana reducer issue, but The Fire Crystal, Hazoret’s Monument, and Defiler of Instinct will help the mana your rituals generate go further. You can also use a few generic cost-reduction cards, like Helm of Awakening, to make your big Storm turns as effective as possible.

Instead of just relying on one-shot rituals, adding some consistent mana generators will also allow Goblin Storm to do its thing without topdecking specific cards. Mana Echoes, while expensive, is the big omission here, generating tons of colorless mana naturally with your go-wide strategy. Similarly, Birgi, God of Storytelling, Runaway Steam-Kin, and Treasonous Ogre are great at generating mana, making them worthwhile upgrades.

In exchange for these cards, and a few others, we can get rid of some of the weaker cards in Goblin Storm, while trimming down on Goblin synergies. Broadside Bombadiers, for example, doesn’t really contribute to the Storm strategy. This Storm variation is also extremely all-in, meaning that a lot of general removal is getting cut. You don’t need to remove your opponent’s threats if they’re dead, after all.

Here’s the changelog for the Storm-focused upgrade plan for Goblin Storm:

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Pick Your Path

With two extremely potent options available, all you need to do is pick a side. Thankfully, whether you choose to swarm the board with Muxus or Storm off with Zada, the decks offered here should easily compete at bracket 3 tables.

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MTG Goblin Storm Upgrades Break Precon's Potential

Riley Hicks

Swarming with Goblins

Storming Off

Pick Your Path

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