MTG Ixalan Commander Card Revolutionizes Typal Archetype!

Over the past month, we have gotten to see just how powerful The Lost Caverns of Ixalan is as a set. With Wilds of Eldraine producing absurd cards like Agatha’s Soul Cauldron Agatha’s Soul Cauldron You may spend mana as though it were mana of any color to activate abilities of creatures you control.
Creatures you control with +1/+1 counters on them have all activated abilities of all creature cards exiled with Agatha's Soul Cauldron.
{T}: Exile target card from a graveyard. When a creature card is exiled this way, put a +1/+1 counter on target creature you control. and even banworthy inclusions like Up the Beanstalk Up the Beanstalk When this enchantment enters and whenever you cast a spell with mana value 5 or greater, draw a card. , it seemed hard-pressed for The Lost Caverns of Ixalan to have a similar effect on Constructed play. As it turns out, the set was wildly impactful once again.

The Discover mechanic was so strong and easily abusable that Geological Appraiser Geological Appraiser When this creature enters, if you cast it, discover 3. (Exile cards from the top of your library until you exile a nonland card with mana value 3 or less. Cast it without paying its mana cost or put it into your hand. Put the rest on the bottom in a random order.) ended up getting banned in Pioneer. Even simple cards like Bitter Triumph Bitter Triumph As an additional cost to cast this spell, discard a card or pay 3 life.
Destroy target creature or planeswalker. were game changers for various archetypes. At this point, it’s clear that The Lost Caverns of Ixalan was quite a powerful set.

Interestingly, though, there are also powerful Constructed cards from beyond the main set. One card from The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Commander decks is powerful enough to see a decent chunk of play in Legacy. It’s not always typical for cards from the Commander decks to see Constructed play, given their legality being restricted to Eternal formats. However, one card from the Pirate-themed Commander deck is making its way into a typal Legacy shell, and it’s one of the strongest cards in the deck to boot! This archetype made top four of a recent Magic Online Legacy Challenge, showcasing its prowess.

The Role of Broadside Bombardiers

In the past, Goblin decks in Legacy relied pretty heavily on a couple specific cards to get their engines going. Goblin Lackey Goblin Lackey Whenever this creature deals damage to a player, you may put a Goblin permanent card from your hand onto the battlefield. led to the most explosive draws when it could connect in combat, allowing you to cheat massive Creatures into play. Otherwise, Aether Vial Aether Vial At the beginning of your upkeep, you may put a charge counter on this artifact.
{T}: You may put a creature card with mana value equal to the number of charge counters on this artifact from your hand onto the battlefield. provided another way to build out your battlefield in short order. Strangely enough, neither of these cards show up in the newer builds of Legacy Goblins.

The goal of the new version of the deck is to use mana acceleration to play some high-end Goblins ahead of schedule. The biggest, baddest Goblin to put into play is definitely Muxus, Goblin Grandee Muxus, Goblin Grandee When Muxus enters, reveal the top six cards of your library. Put all Goblin creature cards with mana value 5 or less from among them onto the battlefield and the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order.
Whenever Muxus attacks, it gets +1/+1 until end of turn for each other Goblin you control. . Muxus can sometimes even end the game on the spot alongside a Haste enabler, such as Goblin Warchief Goblin Warchief Goblin spells you cast cost {1} less to cast.
Goblins you control have haste. or Battle Cry Goblin Battle Cry Goblin {1}{R}: Goblins you control get +1/+0 and gain haste until end of turn.
Pack tactics — Whenever this creature attacks, if you attacked with creatures with total power 6 or greater this combat, create a 1/1 red Goblin creature token that's tapped and attacking. if you have the mana.

The thing is, not every draw is going to allow you to accelerate out Muxus in short order, so you have to be prepared to win the game in other ways. This is where Broadside Bombardiers comes into play. Broadside Bombardiers is an elite three-drop that allows you to deal a bunch of damage to any target by sacrificing an Artifact or Creature when it attacks. If your opponent can’t kill it, they may be in a lot of trouble.

Between Goblin Matron Goblin Matron When this creature enters, you may search your library for a Goblin card, reveal that card, put it into your hand, then shuffle. and Goblin Ringleader Goblin Ringleader Haste (This creature can attack and {T} as soon as it comes under your control.)
When this creature enters, reveal the top four cards of your library. Put all Goblin cards revealed this way into your hand and the rest on the bottom of your library in any order. , you will have plenty of sacrifice fodder to make use of. Thanks to Menace and Haste, Bombardiers can be very difficult to block. Once you attack, you can sacrifice Creatures with weak board presence like Goblin Matron to either kill opposing blockers or deal a ton of damage to the opponent.

Bombardiers even works great with Muxus, as if you hit Bombardiers off Muxus, you can immediately attack, then sacrifice Muxus to deal eight damage to the opponent! As long as you have a flow of Creatures on the way, Bombardiers can end the game rather quickly.

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Mana Acceleration is Key

In a deck with the majority of its Creatures costing three or more mana, it’s quite important to have ways to push those Creatures out ahead of schedule. While a card like Aether Vial would be too slow given this deck’s curve, there are a multitude of ways to get your Creatures out fast in this deck.

First and foremost, in the manabase, cards like Ancient Tomb Ancient Tomb {T}: Add {C}{C}. This land deals 2 damage to you. and City of Traitors City of Traitors When you play another land, sacrifice this land.
{T}: Add {C}{C}. can tap for multiple mana at a time, making it easy to play your three-drops early on.

From there, both Chrome Mox Chrome Mox Imprint — When this artifact enters, you may exile a nonartifact, nonland card from your hand.
{T}: Add one mana of any of the exiled card's colors. and Simian Spirit Guide Simian Spirit Guide Exile this card from your hand: Add {R}. provide mana bursts with no mana investment required. Chrome Mox is especially strong because it can be utilized over multiple turns and can even be sacrificed to Bombardiers later in the game if mana is no longer a concern.

All of these cards make it easier to get to your three-drops ahead of the curve, but perhaps the best three-drop to play early is yet another mana accelerant in the form of “Name Sticker” Goblin. This powerful Goblin from Unfinity reliably acts as a “Ritual” attached to a 2/2 body. If you’re lucky enough to get five or even six mana from the Goblin’s enters-the-battlefield ability, it’s easy to play Muxus rather quickly or simply build out your board. “Name Sticker” Goblin happens to work excellently with Bombardiers as a mana boost that can be sacrificed to deal five damage to any target.

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Strengths and Weaknesses

The way the Goblins deck has been revolutionized has definitely made it more competitive. Against slower decks, such as the various Up the Beanstalk control decks, resolving a copy of Muxus can win the game on its own right away. Thanks to Cavern of Souls Cavern of Souls As this land enters, choose a creature type.
{T}: Add {C}.
{T}: Add one mana of any color. Spend this mana only to cast a creature spell of the chosen type, and that spell can't be countered. , counter magic in the form of Force of Will Force of Will You may pay 1 life and exile a blue card from your hand rather than pay this spell's mana cost.
Counter target spell. and Daze Daze You may return an Island you control to its owner's hand rather than pay this spell's mana cost.
Counter target spell unless its controller pays {1}. may be rendered useless.

Against decks like Boros Initiative or mono-red prison, hate pieces like Chalice of the Void Chalice of the Void This artifact enters with X charge counters on it.
Whenever a player casts a spell with mana value equal to the number of charge counters on this artifact, counter that spell. and Blood Moon Blood Moon Nonbasic lands are Mountains. do very little against this strategy. Against any of the fair decks, Goblins has a reasonable shot. Delver of Secrets Delver of Secrets At the beginning of your upkeep, look at the top card of your library. You may reveal that card. If an instant or sorcery card is revealed this way, transform this creature. strategies are certainly a bit tougher given the mixture of pressure and Wasteland Wasteland {T}: Add {C}.
{T}, Sacrifice this land: Destroy target nonbasic land. in conjunction with counter magic, but are still winnable, regardless.

Where things get much harder is against opposing combo decks. Sure, Leyline of the Void Leyline of the Void If this card is in your opening hand, you may begin the game with it on the battlefield.
If a card would be put into an opponent's graveyard from anywhere, exile it instead. can be strong against Reanimator out of the sideboard, but there are plenty of other combo decks to worry about. Dark Depths Dark Depths Dark Depths enters with ten ice counters on it.
{3}: Remove an ice counter from Dark Depths.
When Dark Depths has no ice counters on it, sacrifice it. If you do, create Marit Lage, a legendary 20/20 black Avatar creature token with flying and indestructible. combo and Painter’s Servant Painter’s Servant As this creature enters, choose a color.
All cards that aren't on the battlefield, spells, and permanents are the chosen color in addition to their other colors. combo, for instance, can be tough to race.

Unfortunately, there isn’t much in the way of interaction available for the Goblins deck, especially in game one. Still, given how popular prison-style decks and Force of Will decks are in Legacy, Goblins is a perfectly reasonable choice. Not to mention, this deck is capable of killing quite quickly with a turn one “Name-Sticker” Goblin involved. If you’re a fan of typal strategies, this could be right up your alley.

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