Cave Goblin Strategy

[Infection Reflection]

In the trend of KCU Master 2007, I am making a Cave Goblin strategy article. (I do not presume to own any rights of this idea, only of its contents that originate from me.;)) Today we will start with the base deck of the Cave Goblins, who will henceforth be referred to as the CGs. We will begin with the commons. The CGs have three different commons in their base deck (just like everyone else. Surprise!:D) We will start with the Slinger. The Slinger is of average usefullness. It has range, one attack and life, hits 50% because of its ability of having to roll 4 or higher to hit, and is free. If you like to build so you can get what you need, these guys are the only things you build. We shall now move on to the Fighters. These guys are one of my fave units. They have one attack and life, are melee, and free. What makes these bad boys so darn good is their ability. After you are done making your three prescibed attacks, you may attack with two Fighters. This shoots your attack total to 5. You opponent, under normal circumstances, will still have three. This is being optimistic, but you can't get around the fact that turn for turn, you will be doing more attacks. This is a huge advantage that should not be underestimated. Finally, the Berserkers. These guys are what I like to call the "beef" of the deck. Every deck has (or should have) "beef" in it. My definition of "beef" in a deck is a common that can reliably do two damage. The Berserkers are good not only for beefing, but they have two life, and hit every enemy unit adjacent to them (normally). They are melee and cost two. Two may sound like a lot, but considering that the Berserkers are the only commons who actually cost anything, and there are only four of them, you can easily swing them.

Now we move on to the champions. We begin with Mook. Mook comes with 2 attack, 7 life, and the ability to enhance all CG units attacks within three spaces of him. The enhancement increases the numbers you roll when attacking by one. A Slinger who used to need a 4 or higher now only needs a 3, etc. This is more useful than it sounds, especially when you use Slingers. All this for a mere 5 cost. Next, we have Blarf. He arrives at the party with no attack at all and five life. He costs one. However, his ability allows ANY player to stick cards from their magic pile under him, increasing his attack by one for every card, maxing out a 4. This makes Blarf the biggest hitter of the CGs, and can help with Magic Drain prevention, if that worries you, by putting more cards under him. Again, you can afford to beef him up because most of your commons are free. Finally, we have the Eater. The Eater has 3 attack, 6 life, costs four, and must destroy a common at the end of the attack phase or be destroyed. This has it ups and downs, but remember that he has almost as much attack as a fully powered Blarf. You may need to sacrifice your own commons to him though. Your strategy with him relies on the enemy and what they have out. He's not really good end game because there are fewer commons available.

Now let's discuss Sneeks. He has 7 life, 3 attack, and at the end of your turn, can swap positions with any CG unit under your control. This allows him to hang around in the back until you get someone near their summoner, then summon him and finish the enemy. This strategy works really well with all the events the CGs have. Goblin Invincibility prevents damage from any attack rolls lower than 6. This is great for getting Sneeks up to the summoner by protecting him from a lot of damage that he normally would take in that situation. Goblin Rush instantly moves three of your 0-cost CG commons two spaces each. This is good for getting some goblins in a position to hit the summoner and/or swap with Sneeks. This is also effective for setting up a group attack on an enemy champ, especially when used in conjunction with Goblin Horde Attack, which increases the attack of all CG units by one for every CG adjacent to the target. Three Berserkers surrounding someone with this on would have 4 attack each. Make it even more fearsome with Goblin Rage, which permits each of 0-cost CG commons to make a second free attack. If you attacked with three Slingers and two Fighters while this was on, you would make ten attacks...

In conclusion, the CGs need to swarm the enemy to force an opening, then rush in and massacre the summoner. Then champs they have tend to help with this, except maybe the Eater, who is a special case, but if used correctly and early, he can be devastating. His presence alone discourages your opponent from summoning any more commons, and may make them kill their own to try and force his destruction. Overall, the CGs hit hard, fast, and far, and need to win quick or not at all. With the CGs, there is no defense, only offense. If you stop pushing, you will probably die, so you need to keep your momentum. I will cover the reinforcements in the next post of mine, and after that, I will discuss the pros and cons of adding particular merc units. I hope you enjoy the thread, I hope it helps you, and if you have anything to add on what is already covered, please post it! You may have some different perspective that may work for you, and I encourage you to help with CG strategy disscussion. Thanks ahead of time!:D

[sitnam90]

Something I would like to add is that Blarf and The Eater are extremely situational champs, and are high risk/high reward. When used right, Blarf can smash through enemy units for just a handful of points. 4 attacks puts anything on the board in danger, including death stars such as Krung. But Blarf has a fundamental weakness: whoever kills him gets all the cards underneath him. That is a very risky proposition as he only has five health. Now some players think that the best way around this is to kill him yourself, and it is. But you can't count on the fact that your always gonna be able to kill him first. What if a PE has all burns in his hand? What if a VG has 3 holy judgment priests? You can never count on yourself being able to kill him 100% of the time, so be cautious with him. The Eater is a similar situation: for 4 magic you get FANTASTIC stats. But all it takes is being denied a common unit for a turn and he is gone. That is why I find myself liking the new champs better alongside Mook. Their stats aren't as impressive, but they are far less risky to run. But noone else matters but Mook. His ability, especially in combo with some of those sweet event cards, can change games.

[Ranior]

I love the enthusiasm you have for putting out strategy articles for factions.

That being said, KCU Master still has the most in depth strategy. He clearly knew what he was talking about, and put in a lot of time to it. He had tons of games to back up his points and he discussed the strategy and ideas very well.

This strategy is nice--but is hardly in depth enough to provide substansitive insight to improve a players skill.

There's a good framework to get there, but I feel there is a lot more that needs to be covered and discussed.

[iglew]

I disagree with the suggestion that the Cave Goblins should never stop pushing. I think they work best in waves. Set up for a strong attack using event cards, yes, but when that attack runs its course, don't keep throwing more commons out there to die. Instead, let it fizzle out and then regroup for another wave.

[Marroking1]

Also you did not go into what the CG are know for. Wall Clogging. But all and all a good article.

[Quintaton16]

When I play CG, I go straight for the forward Wall. Get it surrounded on at least 3 sides, and kill all enemy Units. Waves aren't necessary as long as you can bring in Units faster than the opponent can kill or counterSummon. This strategy is even more of a glass cannon than most CG, so its risky if it doesn't work, but it can be absolutely devastating.

I think Berserkers might be my least favorite Common Unit in the game. Even worse than Guardians. They are completely wrong for what I want the CG to do. Berserkers are designed to be outnumbered. They are supposed to do damage to large numbers of enemies. If the Cave Goblins are ever outnumbered, it doesn't matter how good my heavies are, they are sunk.

Wall placement is key for the kind of rush Goblins I play. Surrounding and taking out the starting Wall is vital even if the opponent just Summons another one. Blocking Summons is great, but just as importantly, taking out that Wall opens up the entire middle of the board to your rushing Horde of Goblins. I wait to place my second Wall usually after my opponent's Summoner has 'castled.' (moved away from his starting location to one of the corners. Then, I place the first Wall I get right in front of the Summoner's new location. If I did it right, that means a double- or triple-wide express lane straight to the Summoner.

For this type of strategy to pay off, you really need the Reinforcement Units. I disagree with the practice of putting in lots of Beast Riders and Climbers instead of zero-costers. I think that is a tremendous mistake. Goblin Rage means that when it counts, your Fighters and Slingers often hit harder than their more expensive teammates, and Rush often gets them into positions neither Climbers nor Beast Riders can manage. Zero-cost Commons are absolutely essential in a Goblin deck, and they're really the only reason you should play them over other factions.

What I think may be the best fast-Goblin deck out there is:

Sneeks
Krag
Mook
Blarf/Scagg

Fighter x8
Slinger x6
Beast Rider x3
Berserker x1

It's still a Horde deck, but based around getting to the Summoner quickly and never backing down. That's what Goblins can do like no other faction.

[Sera Eldwyn's boyfriend]

I think the idea of the CG being used as a wall clogging faction are good but it's a very risky move. Sure the Gobis are free but they can be slaughtered easily and if they face an aggresive player chances are slim of you taking down the walls. I think though Infection that you should use some of your own battle experiences as examples to support some of your strategy. You speak as one with authority and knowledge of the CG but you need more meat to this. A good start though, keep it up.

[killercactus]

I think Berserkers might be my least favorite Common Unit in the game. Even worse than Guardians. They are completely wrong for what I want the CG to do. Berserkers are designed to be outnumbered. They are supposed to do damage to large numbers of enemies. If the Cave Goblins are ever outnumbered, it doesn't matter how good my heavies are, they are sunk.


I'm not sure how much more I can disagree with this.

Berserkers are not necessarily designed to be outnumbered, even though they can function well that way. What they are designed for is squeezing into a clogged board or being able to weather an attack here and there.

Against the CG, I've seen lots of players feel forced to summon more commons to deal with the horde. Berserkers punish this, and it needs to be punished sometimes. Also, against factions like VG, FK and CL that have 1-attack commons, oftentimes your opponent is forced to spend 2 or more attacks to kill one of them. When an opponent spends more than 1 attack against the CG on the same unit, that's a win. A big one.

[Infection Reflection]

Well, the problems that you all put up have to do with a lack of in depth strategy with particular cards/strategies. This is because, in the case of Blarf/the Eater, I didn't use these guys at all because of the risk involved. Currently, the Eater is back, but I don't use Blarf. My info on these cards is based on other people's reports:o. If you would like to do an attached article specifically on these people, go right ahead. I don't know how to use Blarf, and I won't for a while. As for the strategies, I was planning on doing them after I covered the cards themselves. The only CG cards I haven't used are the Eater and Blarf, as mentioned above, and I used the Wall Climbers once, and didn't like them. Other than these three cards, I have used the rest extensively. If someone uses the Wall Climbers frequently, please post! I realize that I'm not as good at this game as you guys are, and I really am best with the CGs. I will cover strategies in depth, but I wanted to explain the cards and basic strategies with them first. I figured it would be easier to understand the strategies after explaining the cards. It's an installment plan.;) I plan on doing the reinforcements for the CGs soon.:D

[sitnam90]

When I play CG, I go straight for the forward Wall. Get it surrounded on at least 3 sides, and kill all enemy Units. Waves aren't necessary as long as you can bring in Units faster than the opponent can kill or counterSummon. This strategy is even more of a glass cannon than most CG, so its risky if it doesn't work, but it can be absolutely devastating.

I think Berserkers might be my least favorite Common Unit in the game. Even worse than Guardians. They are completely wrong for what I want the CG to do. Berserkers are designed to be outnumbered. They are supposed to do damage to large numbers of enemies. If the Cave Goblins are ever outnumbered, it doesn't matter how good my heavies are, they are sunk.

Wall placement is key for the kind of rush Goblins I play. Surrounding and taking out the starting Wall is vital even if the opponent just Summons another one. Blocking Summons is great, but just as importantly, taking out that Wall opens up the entire middle of the board to your rushing Horde of Goblins. I wait to place my second Wall usually after my opponent's Summoner has 'castled.' (moved away from his starting location to one of the corners. Then, I place the first Wall I get right in front of the Summoner's new location. If I did it right, that means a double- or triple-wide express lane straight to the Summoner.

For this type of strategy to pay off, you really need the Reinforcement Units. I disagree with the practice of putting in lots of Beast Riders and Climbers instead of zero-costers. I think that is a tremendous mistake. Goblin Rage means that when it counts, your Fighters and Slingers often hit harder than their more expensive teammates, and Rush often gets them into positions neither Climbers nor Beast Riders can manage. Zero-cost Commons are absolutely essential in a Goblin deck, and they're really the only reason you should play them over other factions.

What I think may be the best fast-Goblin deck out there is:

Sneeks
Krag
Mook
Blarf/Scagg

Fighter x8
Slinger x6
Beast Rider x3
Berserker x1

It's still a Horde deck, but based around getting to the Summoner quickly and never backing down. That's what Goblins can do like no other faction.
I play the same type of deck (well with Reeker/Scagg instead of Blarf). Really the base CG deck is excellent, and I rarely pull out any of the fighters or slingers. The decision basicaly comes down to who do y0ou want for those 3 free beserker slots. So many great possibilities for these slots too. I prefer BR's but climbers have their own merits (that I have yet to discover). But even mercs like vermin or maybe owl familiars fit well into the deck in general. You basically have your core army and then your specialist troops, and how your army plays can be very affected by the specialists.

[Infection Reflection]

Personally, if I was going for the clog strategy, I'd rather have the Wall Climbers than the BRs. The WCs get boosted defense for the same cost, and for mobility, just Rush some 0-coster right in there. That may be what the WCs were designed for, since I haven't seen a good use for them other than that. Yay, they have purpose for me now!:D I'll more in depth with this later.

[iglew]

Like Quintaton, I too almost never use the Berserkers. They tend to be automatic builds for me. But that's mostly because of my opponent's typical playing style. Like the Eater, the Berserkers are there as a response to an opponent who brings out lots of commons. My opponent usually doesn't do that, but it's a possibility I have to be ready for.

I think Summoner Wars is all about threats and counter-threats. One of the inherent disadvantages of articles about "how to play" a certain faction is that the best way to play it depends a great deal on what faction you're playing against and how your opponent is playing that deck. The same goes for Goblins attacking the wall. In many cases that works excellently (and indeed, it's generally my plan A any time I play the Goblins) but if my opponent puts out a lot of commons, or she plays a second wall on the first turn, then I'm likely to switch to a plan B.

[PePe QuiCoSE]

I used them against the Vanguards until Protector gained ridiculous interpretation.

[sitnam90]

They still work vs GK's IMO, just takes a little bit more luck to make sure it works right. VG's are one of the best factions for bezerkers IMO

[thenightsshadow]

So is it too late to post my CG Thread?

[prometheuslkr]

If you want to write up a strategy article yourself feel free--more opinions are always welcome. Also, nightsshadow, while you're on, check your PM box. The Curse of Ret-Talus V began earlier today.

[thenightsshadow]

Thank you for your notice, I completely forgot.
And I'm about halfway through build #1 in terms of word length.

[prometheuslkr]

Yeah, if I see someone online and I haven't gotten a read receipt I'm going to peg them.

[sitnam90]

Hey infection, I was wondering if I could post my guide I was working on in this thread? I really don't see any point in seperate threads when we can all share ideas in one thread

[bmwrider]

in the case of Blarf/the Eater, I didn't use these guys at all because of the risk involved. Currently, the Eater is back, but I don't use Blarf. My info on these cards is based on other people's reports:o. If you would like to do an attached article specifically on these people, go right ahead. I don't know how to use Blarf, and I won't for a while. As for the

If I may, I love using my gobs and Blarf in my opinion is useful in two way, 1) he costs 1 magic and has 5 life, you can summon him and let him sit there then use him to block, thats a cheap shield than some players don't want to move next to for fear of you turning him into a 4 attack monster, this I do by sitting on magic and using him to force my opponent to run down the other side of the board to get to my summoner, now if they do that summon a number of 0 gobs to that side and smack em down with a hoard attack.
2) if they come at him use the magic to pump him up for the big 4 attack along with a hoard attack from the others, then when Blarf is close to dying kill him yourself and keep the magic to use for your next champ.

Or set him up on one side and send him down in the opponents side just to get their attention when they move to get him rush down the other empty side and get that summoner. just a few things I have come up with while using the Gobs, I hope this is helpful.

[Infection Reflection]

2) if they come at him use the magic to pump him up for the big 4 attack along with a hoard attack from the others, then when Blarf is close to dying kill him yourself and keep the magic to use for your next champ.

I tried to do that, but I can never kill him. I always miss when it matters.:( However, the whole post sums up the absolute best way to use Blarf. I just never can pull it off myself.:o

[Infection Reflection]

It's about time I added to my own strategy article. The wait is over! Finally getting around to doing this.:o

Back on track, I will go in depth into the reinforcement commons and the best way to use them. First, my personal fave, the Beast Riders. The BRs can move 7 in a straight line, which, to me, is awe-inspiring. I usually hold one or two in my hand with a GHA or GRush, but sometimes you just need a bit more damage to scare the opponent where you need them. That works too!;) Another thing I do is drop GI, zip one to their summoner, then Sly in Sneeks. This usually can kill Elien the chump if you're lucky. Otherwise? We're talking a potential 4 damage for pretty much no risk. After Sneeks is done, Sly him right back. Worst case scenarios only occur with the PEs and GDs, so the rest of the factions fear this, particularly Ret after FS...:cool: Finally, BRs are good at shooting them up to cover a wall space more than three spaces away from your wall. These guys work well in any good CG deck.

Next, the underestimated Wall Climbers. These guys are only good at two things, but they are REALLY good at what they do. The first is wall blocking. This strategy is increasing in popularity, so why more decks do not have these in them is weird to me. Drop the Berserkers and put these in, people! Another thing you can do with them is surprise the opponent with these guys. They can move over walls, so instead of using any other unit to move all the way around the wall to get to the back space, just slap a WC at the bottom, then go over the wall to the other side next turn. Block a space while setting up for the next one!:cool: The WCs should really only be in a wall blocking strategy.

That's it! Please leave your opinions and personal strategies, because I like to hear them!:D