Normally, "attacks each turn if able" isn't
really a drawback. You usually ought to be doing
that anyway. But giving it to ALL your
creatures? That's a little different because now
you can't leave anything back to block if you
need it. The Rabblemaster forces all your
Goblins into attacking, and doesn't make them
any bigger or better equipped to handle combat,
so this could end badly if you play him onto the
wrong board. He does, however, drop extra Goblin
tokens onto the board for you to swing with, and
when he swings, he gets a pretty scary power
boost, so the extra aggressive power he gives
you could force a stalemate open or push a
racing scenario in your favor. Best of all, he
doesn't require himself to attack unless you've
got two, so at worst you'll get to leave up ONE
blocker...
So he's basically Goblin Assault plus Goblin
Piledriver? Sounds pretty decent to me. While
he's more fragile than the former and less "oops
I win" than the latter, he's still more than
powerful enough to take over a game on his own.
Having to attack as much as possible is hardly a
disadvantage in a Goblin-heavy deck. I do think
it's funny that Goblins get more token-making
cards as time goes on; I wouldn't necessarily
have guessed that, and I'm a little surprised
they don't think that's something for a white
tribe to do. I'm not going to complain when it
results in cards like this, though.
Magic The Gathering Card of The Day: Goblin
Rabblemaster
Welcome back readers todays card of the day is
Goblin Rabblemaster is a powerful way to spawn
goblins and can provide a big beater. Pumping
out a 1/1 haste each turn is decent if dropped
early game it can provide lots of damage,
clearing the way with burn is also an effective
plan. In standard red currently has some of the
most powerful cards and the amount of playable
goblins is bound to fluctuat come rotation
making this card an interesting yet not as
powerful choice currently. In modern I could see
this card alongside tons of the playable modern
goblins and a way to continuely add threats to
the board combined with the plethora of pump
cards like Goblin King. In legacy goblins is
seemingly on a downturn and this card doesent do
much to change that. Providing a steady stream
of 1/1’s allows it to interact with other
powerful creatures in the format so it has
potential. In vintage absolutely not. In casual
and multiplayer being forced to attack is a
drawback and I feel the power granted by this
card is not worth the insane amount of forced
attacks you will have to make. In one on one
casual its good multiplayer not as much. In
limited it can be big and it pumps out attackers
allowing you to keep pressure on, as the game
goes on however the 1/1’s may drop off in value.
A solid red aggressive creature. In summation
this card is a potential competitive format
player and a powerful casual goblin card.
Today's card of the day is Goblin Rabblemaster
which is a three mana Red
2/2 that makes other goblins you control have to
attack each turn if able, whenever it attacks it
gets +1/+0 until end of turn for each other
attacking goblin, and you get a 1/1 Red goblin
token with Haste at the beginning of your combat
step. This is an interesting and
effective, if somewhat risky, addition to a
goblin themed build. With some support, in
particular Legion Loyalist as just those two and
the produced token will trigger Battalion, this
is a serious threat on every turn. The
other goblins can be forced to attack into
unfavorable situations and the Rabblemaster
itself can be vulnerable, though with either
combat or defensive protection it is a viable
design in the current Standard.
Overall even with the risks this is a very
strong card in goblin tribal and will see play,
possibly even at competitive levels while
Loyalist is available.
In Limited this doesn't require other goblins to
be a strong first pick in Booster as by itself
it will be a 3/2 and 1/1 on the attack the turn
after it enters play. Any subsequent
attacks only add to the value and increase
dramatically if the tokens aren't being
destroyed for some reason. The single Red
allows easy management in Sealed and it is a
solid mid-game threat to include in any pool.
A lot of people have spoken highly of this
card, but I just don't see it. Goblins are
usually small creatures, and the requirement to
attack each turn can be a big drawback. You will
often find yourself forced into suicide attacks.
Also, while the Rabblemaster gets a power boost
when it attacks, it gets no toughness boost and
has no evasion, so he's not going to be
attacking advantageously unless your opponent
has an empty or almost empty board.
I've had to eat my words before, but I think
this is nothing more than a casual card for
casual Goblin decks. I would probably play it in
draft or sealed, because a constant stream of
creatures is tough to beat, but I wouldn't
necessarily pick it first.
