"As e're it were at Lido Isle, as ever e're it shall be..."
... Wm. Shakepeare
OK, Shakespeare didn't really write that, but had he done so, he would have been a great prognosicator, meaning, just as at Venice, Goblins crushed Beasts game one and vice versa games 2 and 3.
Game 1: Beasts never found a green mana source, and Goblins "goldfished" in 6 turns. It was indecent.
Game 2: Keeping a one land hand (with Skirk Prospector), Goblins got in some heavy early damage, but Beasts got the Baloth down, and Thoughtbound Primoc (Zvi is wrong, Bright is right - keep the Primoc, lose the Tusker) and especially Cliffs. The boarded Incinerators worked great. Take THAT Piledriver, and I'll draw more beasts as well. Broodhatches were more of an annoyance to Gobbos, but helped keep Goons from atacking or blocking. Cliffs were only used once to kill something, and could have been used more, but keeping toe-to-toe with Gobbos on critters to nullify Goon took priority. It was sick, the way Beasts could toy with the deck post-boarding. I am convinced now that a less-than-optimal Beasts build with play errors can win PTQ's, the deck is so strong.
In Goblin's defense, after a tight opening hand, the deck drew into more lands that it wanted. Gobbos rarely get mana-screwed, but mana flood sometimes come to call on us all. Ya'll.
Game 3 - Mana-screw for Gobbos. Not a good thing. Stuck at four lands, Seige-Gang Commanders are much less effective in hand than in play. Beasts rule, with Incinerators and Shocks handling everything that came down, with Crawler and Cliffs mopping up. Four Baloths didn't hurt either. Again, having more ctitters hurts Goon. If Slide goes by the wayside, perhaps Blistering Firecat should be considered. As if Silver Knight weren't bad enough. Sheesh.
I'm repeating this message at "OnBC: Goblins."
- maybe I'll have the surprise tech going into the tourneys...