I hadn't seen this guy in a new set in so long,
I was beginning to wonder if Wizards of the
Coast had forgotten him! Goblin tribal will
always be a deck, in casual or FNM settings if
nothing else, and the Piledriver will always
have something to do. In fact, I can't help but
wonder if he won't be even stronger the second
time around. His random-seeming protection from
blue (originally designed to let him charge past
Cephalids and Wizards in the Onslaught era) may
be even stronger now in this era of giant Temur
monsters, Silumgar, and Master of Waves. And
Onslaught's tribal decks are the stuff of
legend, but we didn't have access to Dragon
Fodder and Krenko back then . . .
Today's card of the day is Goblin Piledriver
which is a two mana Red 1/2 with Protection from
Blue and it gets +2/+0 for each other goblin
that attacks with it. This is a reprint
from Onslaught and is an excellent goblin to
include in any tribal deck. The Protection
is a bonus that may not always be a factor, but
the +2/+0 with even a few tokens makes this an
extreme threat. Cards like Subterranean
Scout or Fling can round out the options for a
finishing move while Dragon Fodder or Hordeling
Outburst power up the effect.
In Limited this is a great value draft in
Booster that probably won't have the necessary
support to do much in the format aside from
being an annoyance against Blue. In Sealed
it is a two mana 1/2 and a Protection that is
not much to promote Red, but should be played if
already in the color or at least kept in mind as
a sidedeck option.
In any format, if you're running goblins you run
this (if it's legal). By itself, it's terrible.
with Dragon fodder or its ilk, it's 5/2. with a
total of 4 piledrivers (which will be rarely)
they're each 9/2's. That's terrifying. Thank god
we don't have Krenko in standard.
