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The Challenge
Using only lands and Goblins, your goal is to build a Magic: the Gathering deck that can win the game as quickly as possible, against an opponent who does nothing. You may assume that your deck is stacked, so that you will always draw exactly the cards you want.

Scoring
The winning answer will be the one which can defeat the opponent in as few turns as possible. You may choose to play or draw, but winning on the play is considered faster than winning on the draw.
In the event that two solutions are equally fast, the winner will be the solution that deals more damage.
In the event that two solutions are equally fast and equally damaging, the winner will be the one that uses less cards.

Possibly Asked Questions
When you say Goblins...
Any card with the subtype Goblin. So no Goblin Game or Dragon Fodder.

What's the opponent doing?
The opponent's deck consists of sixty islands, and they begin the game by mulliganing to zero. They will take no game actions unless an effect requires them to.

Loopholes?
Your solution may not rely upon random chance such as winning coinflips, or the opponent doing something suicidal, like choosing 20 on Choice of Damnations

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  • $\begingroup$ I'm curious - was your infinite combo one of mine, or something else entirely? $\endgroup$
    – Zerris
    Commented Dec 20, 2015 at 22:55
  • $\begingroup$ I found almost exactly your pre-combat combo, only I didn't use Frogtosser so it went T1 Mountain, Prospector, T2 Ancient Tomb, War Marshal, Warleader - etc. $\endgroup$
    – Ninety-Three
    Commented Dec 21, 2015 at 1:27
  • $\begingroup$ The T1.5 kill of: Gemstone (exile any) > Tomb > Akki > Skirk > Sac Akki > Mogg > Sac Mogg > Lackey > Kicked Bushwhacker > attack, put Ringleader in play > Sac Lackey, Bushwhacker, Ringleader > Mogg > Sac Mogg > Warchief > Mogg > Sac Mogg > Ringleader > Sac Ringleader > Mogg > Sac Mogg > Krenko, tap for 3 > Sac Krenko and 2 > Krenko, tap for 4 > Sac Krenko and 5 > Ringleader > Krenko, tap for 4 > sac Krenko and 2 > Krenko, tap for 6 > Sac Krenko and 6 > Kiki-Jiki > Lightning Crafter > Victory... is exactly one card off, which makes me very sad (you'd need an opening hand of 8 cards somehow). $\endgroup$
    – Zerris
    Commented Dec 21, 2015 at 5:17
  • $\begingroup$ @Zerris I can get a little further than that but I"m still stuck spinning my wheels. Gemstone (any), Tomb, Akki, Skirk, Mogg, Mogg, Ringleader, Mons's Goblin Waiters and I'm left with RR, Prospector, 3 cards in hand. Can't go mana positive before running out of cards. It's so close, this is going to drive me crazy. $\endgroup$
    – Ninety-Three
    Commented Dec 21, 2015 at 13:07
  • $\begingroup$ Mons' isn't legal, though, unless we want to allow some truly broken things. $\endgroup$
    – Zerris
    Commented Dec 21, 2015 at 15:01

3 Answers 3

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Got it down to turn 1 on the draw if we allow Mons's Goblin Waiters!

Turn 1 - infinite damage on the draw (16 cards used)

Turn 0:

Gemstone Caverns, exiling Mons's Goblin Raiders for irony (1 card "used")


Turn 1:

City of Traitors, tap both lands for 2R (2R, 2 cards)

Play Mons's Goblin Waiters for R, sacrifice both lands for R (2R, 3 cards)

Play Skirk Prospector for R, sacrifice Mons's Goblin Waiters for R (2R, 4 cards)

Play Mogg War Marshal for 1R, sacrifice it and both tokens for RRR (1RRR, 5 cards)

Play Mogg War Marshal for 1R, sacrifice it and both tokens for RRR (RRRRR, 6 cards)

Play Goblin Ringleader for RRRR, revealing Mogg War Marshal, Goblin Lackey, Goblin Bushwhacker, and Grenzo, Dungeon Warden, then sacrifice it for R (RR, 7 cards)

Play Mogg War Marshal for RR, sacrifice it and both tokens for RRR (RRR, 8 cards)

Play Goblin Lackey for R (RR, 9 cards)

Play Goblin Bushwhacker, Kicked, for RR (10 cards)

Attack with Goblin Lackey for 2 damage, put Grenzo, Dungeon Warden into play (11 cards)

Sacrifice Goblin Lackey and Goblin Bushwhacker for RR (RR, 11 cards)

Pay RR to Grenzo, revealing Siege-Gang Commander, put it into play, sacrifice it and all three tokens for RRRR (RRRR, 12 cards)

Pay RR to Grenzo, revealing Siege-Gang Commander, put it into play, sacrifice it and all three tokens for RRRR (RRRRRR, 13 cards)

Pay RR to Grenzo, revealing Goblin Sledder, put it into play, sacrifice it to give Grenzo +1/+1 (RRRR, 14 cards)

Pay RR to Grenzo, revealing Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker, put it into play (RR, 15 cards)

Pay RR to Grenzo, revealing Lightning Crafter, put it into play, but hold the ETB trigger on the stack... (16 cards)

Tap Kiki-Jiki, targeting Lightning Crafter to create a token, champion Kiki-Jiki with the token, tap the token to deal your opponent 3 damage, then sacrifice the token for R, returning Kiki-Jiki to the battlefield untapped

Repeat the step above infinite times, dealing your opponent infinite damage! 

Without Mons's, the best is turn two:

Turn 2 (pre-combat!) - infinite damage on the play (12 cards used)

Turn 1:

Geothermal Crevice tapped (1 card used)

Turn 2:

Tap and sacrifice Geothermal Crevice, play Frogtosser Banneret for BG (2 cards)

Mountain, play Akki Rockspeaker for R, gaining R (R, 4 cards)

Play Skirk Prospector for R (5 cards)

Sacrifice Akki Rockspeaker to gain R, play Mogg War Marshal for R (6 cards)

Sacrifice Mogg War Marshal and both tokens for RRR (RRR, 6 cards)

Play Mogg War Marshal for R (RR, 7 cards)

Sacrifice Mogg War Marshal and both tokens for RRR (RRRRR, 7 cards)

Play Goblin Ringleader for RRR, revealing Mogg War Marshal x2, Kiki-Jiki Mirror Breaker, Lightning Crafter (RR, 8 cards)

Play Mogg War Marshal, Mogg War Marshal for RR (10 cards)

Sacrifice both Mogg War Marshals and all four tokens for RRRRRR (RRRRRR, 10 cards)

Sacrifice Goblin Ringleader for R (RRRRRRR, 10 cards)

Play Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker for RRRR (RRR, 11 cards)

Play Lightning Crafter for RRR, but hold the ETB trigger on the stack (12 cards)

Tap Kiki-Jiki targeting Lightning Crafter to make a token, champion Kiki-Jiki with the token. Tap the token to deal 3 damage to your opponent, then sacrifice the token to Skirk Prospector for R, returning Kiki-Jiki to the battlefield (untapped)

Repeat the above step infinite times, dealing infinite damage to your opponent!
(With the original Lightning Crafter trigger still on the stack)

As well as the most efficient kill:

Turn 2 - infinite damage on the play (6 cards used)

Turn 1:

Mountain, Goblin Lackey (2 cards used)


Turn 2:

Tap Mountain for R, play Skirk Prospector (3 cards)

Attack with Goblin Lackey for 1 damage, put Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker into play (4 cards)

Play Gaea's Cradle, Tap for GGG (GGG floating, 5 cards)

Sacrifice Goblin Lackey to Skirk Prospector for R (GGGR, 5 cards)

Play Lightning Crafter for GGGR, but hold the ETB trigger on the stack (6 cards)

Tap Kiki-Jiki targeting Lightning Crafter to make a token, champion Kiki-Jiki with the token. Tap the token to deal 3 damage to your opponent, then sacrifice the token to Skirk Prospector for R, returning Kiki-Jiki to the battlefield (untapped)

Repeat the above step infinite times, dealing infinite damage to your opponent!
(With the original Lightning Crafter trigger still on the stack)

Optimizing for card efficiency another way:

Turn 2 - infinite damage on the play (5 cards from hand)

I'm proud to have broken Goatnapper, although the consequences may be tragic - after having proven that it facilitates a practically unbeatable turn two infinite combo deck, I am sure it will shortly be banned from Legacy, and we will all be poorer for the loss.

.

Turn 1:

Mountain, Goblin Lackey (2 cards played)


Turn 2:

Attack with Goblin Lackey for 1 damage, put Grenzo, Dungeon Warden into play (3 cards)

Tap Mountain for R, play Skirk Prospector (4 cards)

Play Gaea's Cradle, Tap for GGG (GGG floating, 5 cards)

Pay GG to Grenzo, revealing Siege-Gang Commander, put it into play, get three Goblin tokens

Sacrifice Siege-Gang Commander and all three tokens to Skirk Prospector for RRRR (GRRRR, 5 cards)

Sacrifice Goblin Lackey to Skirk Prospector for R (GRRRRR, 5 cards)

Pay GR to Grenzo, revealing Amoeboid Changeling, put it into play

Pay RR to Grenzo, revealing Goatnapper, put it into play targeting Amoeboid Changeling (a Goat, as well as a Goblin), untapping it, gaining control of it, and giving it haste

Pay RR to Grenzo, revealing Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker, put it into play

Tap Amoeboid Changeling (haste from Goatnapper) to give Kiki-Jiki all creature types until end of turn

Tap Kiki-Jiki, targeting Goatnapper, creating a token with haste. Target Kiki-Jiki with the Goatnapper token trigger (Kiki-Jiki is currently a Goat as well as a Goblin), untap and gain control of Kiki-Jiki (as well as giving it more haste)

Repeat the above step infinite times for infinite Goatnapper tokens, leaving Kiki-Jiki untapped

Sacrifice your infinite Goatnapper tokens for infinite R from Skirk Prospector (Infinite R, 5 cards)

Pay RR to Grenzo, revealing Goblin Sledder, put it into play (Infinite R, 5 cards)

Sacrifice Skirk Prospector and Goblin Sledder, giving Grenzo +2/+2 until end of turn

Pay RR to Grenzo, revealing Goblin Dynamo, put it into play (Infinite R, 5 cards)

Tap Kiki-Jiki, targeting Goblin Dynamo, creating a token copy with haste

Tap and sacrifice the Goblin Dynamo token with X = infinite, dealing infinite damage to your opponent!

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  • $\begingroup$ First thing I thought when I read the challenge: should've excluded changelings. Good job ;) $\endgroup$
    – DrunkWolf
    Commented Dec 19, 2015 at 12:19
  • $\begingroup$ I left in changelings deliberately, although I didn't anticipate Goatnapper of all things. Good job to Zerris for finding a different infinite combo than the one I expected. There's room for a solution that uses less cards, so I'll wait a while to see if anyone comes up with it. $\endgroup$
    – Ninety-Three
    Commented Dec 19, 2015 at 14:46
  • $\begingroup$ A clarification: When I say less cards, I'm counting "cards used" as described in the question, not merely cards played, although Grenzo is a brilliant way to keep your cards played low. $\endgroup$
    – Ninety-Three
    Commented Dec 19, 2015 at 15:23
  • $\begingroup$ Well, there's an easy way to trade one card played for one card used, so I added that variant; I'll keep looking for a more efficient infinite combo. $\endgroup$
    – Zerris
    Commented Dec 19, 2015 at 16:53
  • $\begingroup$ Brilliant precombat solution. I found something similar when I tested the puzzle to make sure it had an interesting answer, but my answer used Goblin Warchief instead of Frogtosser, which made it less efficient. I have a few more of this type of very open-ended Magic challenge cooked up and tested, would you be interested in more of them? $\endgroup$
    – Ninety-Three
    Commented Dec 20, 2015 at 22:58
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I haven't touched a Magic card for about 6 years, but I'll take a shot at setting a base. Choose to play.

  1. Play a mountain and cast Goblin Lackey
  2. Play a mountain and cast Goblin Piledriver; attack for 1, putting Siege-Gang Commander into the battlefield (with 3 1/1 goblin tokens).
  3. Play a mountain and cast Goblin Chieftain; attack for 23, 24 total damage, 7 cards played.

P.S. Wow. Magic got scary when I stopped playing, and most of my older cards appear to have been made obsolete by strictly better alternatives.

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I'm assuming I can use any land I want, since it doesn't say I can only use Mountains or basics.

Choose to be on the play.

Turn 1: Mountain, Goblin Lackey

Turn 2: Ancient Tomb, Goblin Rabblemaster. Attack with Lackey and the Rabblemaster token for 2. Put Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker into play with the Lackey trigger.

On your opponent's end step, use Kiki-Jiki to make a copy of Goblin Rabblemaster (so it will survive to your next turn).

Turn 3: Mountain, Goblin Chieftain. Use Kiki-Jiki to copy Goblin Rabblemaster. Go to combat, make 3 more tokens from Rabblemasters, attack your opponent with 6 2/2's and 3 11/3's for 45 damage.

47 total damage, 7 cards played.

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  • $\begingroup$ Your assumption is correct, I deliberately left it open to any land you want. $\endgroup$
    – Ninety-Three
    Commented Dec 19, 2015 at 5:36
  • $\begingroup$ Would be better if your last copy was another rabble master, you'd do 6x2+3x11 = 45 $\endgroup$
    – DrunkWolf
    Commented Dec 19, 2015 at 13:23
  • $\begingroup$ @DrunkWolf: I did the math and it's 40 damage either way. With another Rabblemaster, you'd have 4 tokens, the Lackey, and 3 Rabblemasters. that's 5x2 + 3x10 = 40. $\endgroup$
    – orp
    Commented Dec 21, 2015 at 13:41
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    $\begingroup$ @orp no, you're forgetting the chieftain, you still play it and attack with it (it has haste), you just copy the rabblemaster. so 6x2 + 3x11 $\endgroup$
    – DrunkWolf
    Commented Dec 21, 2015 at 13:45
  • $\begingroup$ @DrunkWolf: Oh, true, I forgot it had haste itself. I'll update. $\endgroup$
    – orp
    Commented Dec 21, 2015 at 13:51

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