Wandering Goblins MTG Card
| Mana cost | |
| Converted mana cost | 3 |
| Rarity | Common |
| Type | Creature — Goblin Warrior |
| Abilities | Domain |
| Released | 2009-02-06 |
| Set symbol | |
| Set name | Conflux |
| Set code | CON |
| Power | 0 |
| Toughness | 3 |
| Number | 76 |
| Frame | 2003 |
| Layout | Normal |
| Border | Black |
| Illustred by | Karl Kopinski |
Key Takeaways
- Wandering Goblins enhances board presence with its token-generating ability, maximizing value per card.
- Its instant speed and flexibility can catch opponents off guard, changing combat outcomes favorably.
- Mana-specific and cost considerations may limit its use, demanding strategic mana base planning.
Text of card
Domain : Wandering Goblins gets +1/+0 until end of turn for each basic land type among lands you control.
Tired of waiting for a dragon to eat them, some hardy goblins struck out to become meals for the unknown.
Card Pros
Card Advantage: Wandering Goblins enables a multiplicative board presence, given its ability to spawn multiple tokens. This not only pads your side of the field but also offers potential overwhelming force against opponents, essentially squeezing more value out of a single card.
Resource Acceleration: Each token produced by Wandering Goblins can contribute to resource acceleration by acting as a potential chump blocker or a participant in synergistic card interactions designed to ramp your mana or resources, setting the stage for even more commanding plays.
Instant Speed: The versatility of Wandering Goblins is further increased with its capability to be cast at instant speed, offering unexpected combat math changes or end-of-turn tactical decisions. This flexibility allows players to adapt to the evolving landscape of the game and make the most of each turn.
Card Cons
Discard Requirement: In the case of Wandering Goblins, a potential downside is that it doesn’t feature a discard mechanic, which means it won’t directly synergize with strategies that benefit from discarding cards. This might limit its utility in decks designed around discard effects and reanimation.
Specific Mana Cost: The reliance on red mana to cast Wandering Goblins makes it less flexible for deck building. Players using multi-color decks might find it challenging to meet the color-specific mana requirement, especially when operating under a mana base that supports numerous colors.
Comparatively High Mana Cost: Mana efficiency is an essential aspect of MTG, and the cost to get Wandering Goblins into play might be seen as high relative to the impact it has on the game. In some cases, this cost might be considered too steep for the benefit provided, as there could be lower-cost cards with similar or better effects, offering more strategic value and board presence for the same or lower mana investment.
Reasons to Include Wandering Goblins in Your Collection
Versatility: Wandering Goblins can easily adapt to various deck strategies, particularly in red-focused, aggressive, or tribal goblin decks. Its mana sink ability allows for flexible use of resources at any stage of the game.
Combo Potential: This card has the ability to vastly increase its power, making it a potential game-changer. It works well with cards that benefit from creatures with high power or that can manipulate +1/+1 counters.
Meta-Relevance: In an environment where board states can often be cluttered, Wandering Goblins serves as a scalable threat. If the meta is heavy on one-for-one removal, having a creature that can grow out of control is a solid strategy.
How to beat
Wandering Goblins is a creature card that brings a unique twist to the battlefield in Magic: The Gathering. Unlike other creature cards that come with fixed power and toughness, Wandering Goblins has a variable impact based on the mana invested into its reinforced ability. This goblin card allows players to pump in mana, making it powerful potentially but also opening it up to specific countermeasures.
To effectively navigate against Wandering Goblins, the key is to leverage removal spells at the right moment. Since Wandering Goblins relies on mana to enhance its power, timing your removal after the mana is invested, but before it enters the combat phase, can lead to a significant loss of resources for your opponent. Mana efficiency is also crucial – using low-cost removal spells like Shock or Fatal Push can dispatch the creature before it becomes a larger threat, thereby conserving your resources for other challenges on the board.
Moreover, it’s important to anticipate the moments when your opponent might be stockpiling mana for a big turn with Wandering Goblins. Keeping up counterspells or instant-speed interaction enables you to disrupt their strategy effectively. By understanding the mechanics of Wandering Goblins and when to best use your removal or control strategies, you can maintain an edge over this unpredictable creature.
Cards like Wandering Goblins
Wandering Goblins is an intriguing player in the realm of creature spells in MTG. It bears similarities to goblin tokens generated by cards like Dragon Fodder, which also provides a swift way to populate the battlefield. Yet, Wandering Goblins takes it a step further by allowing invested mana to increase its potency, a feature not present in the simpler sorcery of Dragon Fodder.
Another card worthy of comparison is Goblin Instigator, a creature that also creates a goblin token upon entering the battlefield. While it delivers immediate value much like Wandering Goblins, it lacks the scalable feature that allows Wandering Goblins to potentially become more powerful over time. Then there’s Krenko’s Command, echoing Dragon Fodder’s ability at summoning goblin tokens but, similar to the others, missing the dynamic growth potential that Wandering Goblins presents.
When evaluating these cards side by side, Wandering Goblins stands out for its unique mana-sink ability that lets players adjust their strategy according to available resources, highlighting its flexibility and scalability within MTG creature strategies.
Cards similar to Wandering Goblins by color, type and mana cost
Where to buy
If you're looking to purchase Wandering Goblins MTG card by a specific set like Conflux, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.
For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.
Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.
Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Wandering Goblins and other MTG cards:
- eBay
- TCG Player
- Card Kingdom
- Card Market
- Star City Games
- CoolStuffInc
- MTG Mint Card
- Hareruya
- Troll and Toad
- ABU Games
- Card Hoarder Magic Online
- MTGO Traders Magic Online
See MTG Products
Legalities
Magic the Gathering formats where Wandering Goblins has restrictions
| Format | Legality |
|---|---|
| Commander | Legal |
| Legacy | Legal |
| Paupercommander | Legal |
| Modern | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Pauper | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Duel | Legal |
| Predh | Legal |
| Penny | Legal |
Rules and information
The reference guide for Magic: The Gathering Wandering Goblins card rulings provides official rulings, any errata issued, as well as a record of all the functional modifications that have occurred.
| Date | Text |
|---|---|
| 2009-02-01 | A number of nonbasic lands have basic land types. Domain abilities don’t count the number of lands you control — they count the number of basic land types among lands you control, even if that means checking the same land twice. For example, if you control a Tundra, an Overgrown Tomb, and a Madblind Mountain, you’ll have a Plains, Island, Swamp, Mountain, and Forest among the lands you control. Your domain abilities will be maxed out. |
| 2009-02-01 | How many lands you control of a particular basic land type is irrelevant to a domain ability, as long as that number is greater than zero. As far as domain is concerned, ten Forests is the same as one Forest. |
| 2009-02-01 | To determine the number of basic land types among lands you control, look at the lands you have on the battlefield and ask yourself whether the subtypes Plains, Island, Swamp, Mountain, and Forest appear within that group. The number of times you say yes (topping out at five) tells you how powerful your domain abilities will be. |
