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Goblin Assailant: Mastering Board Control With Entry Triggers
Red magic in Magic: The Gathering is famous for speed, pressure, and chaos. Goblin Assailant embodies that philosophy as a lean, efficient part of Core Set 2020’s red arsenal. It’s a 2/2 for two mana that begins life on the battlefield with a quiet confidence—until you start stacking the entry-point moments for your board. This creature may not have an intrinsic ability when it enters, but its role in a broader strategy that tethers board presence to entry triggers is a talking point every red aficionado should savor 🧙♂️🔥.
Understanding the card in context
- Name: Goblin Assailant
- Mana cost: {1}{R}
- Type: Creature — Goblin Warrior
- Power/Toughness: 2/2
- Color: Red
- Set: Core Set 2020 (M20)
- Rarity: Common
- Flavor text: “What he lacks in patience, intelligence, empathy, lucidity, hygiene, ability to follow orders, self-regard, and discernible skills, he makes up for in sheer chaotic violence.”
- Oracle text: No built-in ETB abilities; its power lies in what comes after it on the battlefield.
That last point matters. Goblin Assailant’s quiet box-score is exactly the kind of anchor red decks lean on when they want to turn a simple 2/2 into a reliable platform for bigger, board-flipping moves. The card’s lore and art—Jesper Ejsing’s lively goblin portrait—remind us that red is not just about raw damage; it’s about chaos, tempo, and the thrill of faces burning with mischief as the board shudders under pressure 🎨⚔️.
Why board state matters in red—and how entry triggers fit in
In any red deck, the tempo race is often the main event. You want to push damage faster than your opponent can stabilize, or you want to collapse their defenses with a torrent of bodies, a flurry of hasty attackers, and a cascade of effects that make the board feel “unstable” in the best possible way. Goblin Assailant itself doesn’t twist the board on entry, but it is a sturdy foothold for strategies that do—the kind of deck where every creature drop is a potential doorway to larger ETB interactions.
“Where others see a simple 2/2 at two mana, red sees a lambda for expansion—an engine waiting to be fueled by what enters the battlefield after it.”
Enter-the-battlefield (ETB) triggers are the connective tissue in a lot of red-centric plans. Cards like Purphoros, God of the Forge, or other ETB-doublers and token-generators turn a single creature into a storm of red effects. When Goblin Assailant sits on the battlefield, you’re often thinking about how to maximize the follow-up turns—how to turn a clean 2/2 into a catalyst that reshapes the entire board state 🔥💎.
Strategies to leverage entry triggers with Goblin Assailant on the table
There are several avenues to explore, depending on your preferred red archetype. Here are a few practical angles you can experiment with in the casual and competitive scenes alike:
- ETB synergy pairs: Build around effects that trigger when a creature enters the battlefield. Purphoros, God of the Forge and other red enchantments can turn your token generation or creature entry into direct damage to your opponent. Goblin Assailant acts as a dependable body that guarantees a predictable ETB cadence from your other cards 💥.
- Goblin tribal tempo: If you lean into a goblin-heavy shell, you can stack multiple small goblins to flood the board quickly. Each additional goblin entering the battlefield ramps up pressure and can set up a lethal alpha strike with haste or pump effects. The white-hot tempo of goblin synergies often capitalizes on the disruption you apply with first strikes or direct damage spells.
- Early bodies, late reactivity: Use Goblin Assailant’s solid base to survive the early turns while you deploy ETB triggers that exile, copy, or amplify—then ride the cumulative value to a commanding board state. In red, tempo and value are a dance: one creature sometimes buys you enough time to find the big payoff cards 🧙♂️🎲.
- Low-cost focus, high-impact payoff: Because Assailant costs only two mana and is a common, it slots into many flexible red builds. You’re not committed to a heavyweight pay-off; you’re creating space for cheaper ETB engines and more aggressive pressure that can close the game before your opponent stabilizes ⚔️.
Practical deck-building tips and play patterns
When you’re cooking with fire, the best recipes mix solid bodies with triggers that turn those bodies into value. Here are a few guidelines to keep in mind as you experiment:
- Keep the curve aggressive: Goblin Assailant is a natural turn-2 play in a red deck. Ensure you have another burn spell, removal, or a follow-up threat ready to capitalize on early momentum.
- Guard against overload: ETB-based payoff cards can spike quickly; make sure you have ways to throttle the opponent’s threats or win conditions so your field remains a meaningful threat as soon as it hits the board.
- Balance consistency with cascade-like effects: ETB triggers reward repeated plays. Don’t rely solely on a single engine; diversify with multiple sources of value so you don’t stall if one line gets answered.
- Sideboard with purpose: Against control, pack cheaper counters or removal to ensure Goblin Assailant stays relevant while you assemble your ETB engines. Against aggro, bring in more reach and ways to reset the board when needed.
Lore, art, and how flavor guides the playstyle
The flavor text reminds us that chaos can be a pastime for goblins, and in a game with countless moving parts, that unpredictability translates into a very real graveyard for patience. Art by Jesper Ejsing captures that punchy, kinetic energy—the goblin mid-leap that signals trouble to anyone who underestimates small red creatures 😈🎨. While the card doesn’t narrate a grand saga on entry, its presence in a red shell evokes a sense of momentum: every turn is a chance to tilt the board back toward chaos, and every ETB moment is a potential spark that starts a chain reaction 🔥.
For players who want to explore this concept hands-on, consider mixing Goblin Assailant into a broader plan that celebrates enters-the-battlefield moments. It’s about setting the stage for something bigger while making sure each turn remains dangerous for your opponent. And if you’re curating a physical collection while you craft these decks, a slim, protective case makes a great companion for long weekend tournaments—because style and function should travel together on every journey 🧙♂️💎.
As you test different ETB-oriented builds, you’ll discover that a single creature like Goblin Assailant isn’t about one big play; it’s about enabling a chain of efficient, tempo-rich turns that leave your opponent staring at a board that you’ve quietly and confidently weaponized.
Looking to grab something practical off the battlefield in real life as you level up your play? Check out this sleek companion: the Slim Phone Case—made to guard your device with lexan and PC, ultra-thin, and designed for everyday carry. It’s a small reminder that strong protective gear keeps the magic intact even when the dice are hot and the boards are hotter 🔥💼.