I never thought this card would ever make it.
Yeah, we all thought it was okay in limited, as
long as you had a couple of Goblins to search
for. In constructed, I thought the Matron was
too much mana for too little effect.
As the Goblin deck has morphed from a Standard
aggro-monster into an Extended control deck
(more like an aggro-control deck) the lowly
Goblin Matron has become a much more significant
card.
I wasn't ever disappointed to see a Goblin
Matron, but I was a lot happier when she cost
either 1R or just R thanks to the presence of
Goblin Warchief. Goblin Matron saw her moment in
the sun when the Goblin Food Chain deck was
prominent in Extended for a short period of
time, allowing the deck to tutor up whichever
goblin was missing in its combo. I can't rate
this card terribly high, since it only has a
home in one type of deck, but in that deck, it
is an amazing card.
In limited, this card has little to no use. It
doesn't really belong unless you (somehow)
drafted up a goblin deck, in which case you
should be in a good position with or without
Goblin Matron.
While Matron as a creature sucks pretty hard for
a Goblin (a 1/1 for 3 mana isn't anywhere near
fast), being a creature isn't her purpose in
life. Matron exists to bring mightier Goblins
from your deck to your hand. It's Red's answer
to Goblin search. While Matron doesn't see a ton
of play, she is definitely a nice casual add to
a Goblin deck. In limited, she's obviously only
useful if you have a killer Goblin in your deck.
Heh. Not so likely in 7th ed.
