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Magic at Bel Air Games is rocking and rolling! Our last 2 FNMs have both broken records for our largest FNM yet, and this Friday is looking to keep up the trend! Be sure to pre-register for our events on Facebook – it’s our August practice for us to raffle off prizes to people who do so!

That said, it’s time for the big bunch of words you all expect from me on Mondays – Cardwatch! Our card this week is one that I personally thought was way too good for the price it was hyped at, and time as shown that I was correct – Goblin Rabblemaster was a card that I personally took a chance on, and ended up winning it out!

Goblin Rabblemaster was a bulk card for quite a while after M15’s release. It was typically going for around a dollar, but I thought that the card was too good. His first ability is a definite downside – forcing goblins you control to attack hurts a lot, since just running into a 2/2 will kill them every turn. His second ability, though, is super strong – it’s a hasty attacker every turn! While you lose the element of surprise that haste gives you – they know that Rabblemaster is on the field to give you the token – you still get an attacker every turn, which is nothing to scoff at. In addition, if your opponent doesn’t stop it, that sum builds up very quickly.

Finally, Goblin Rabblemaster’s third ability. This ability is reminiscent of a card that is both very old and very powerful – Goblin Piledriver. Goblin Piledriver gets +2/+0 when it attacks for each other attacking goblin – an ability strong enough to have it be a staple card in legacy goblins, one of the fastest decks period. Rabblemaster might only get half of the bonus, but it also helps build up the bonus for itself, something Piledriver can’t claim.

Rabblemaster has seen a lot of play recently as part of a standard deck called “Rabble Red”. As the name might indicate, the deck makes good use of Goblin Rabblemaster to keep up a strong aggressive playstyle. The deck actually uses the card Stoke the Flames, also from M15, to save the goblins from having to attack by tapping them, letting you save your goblins for a big all-out swing and removing blockers or burning the face at the same time.

Like I said, Rabblemaster was a card that I myself decided to take a chance on, and sure enough, that chance paid off. Almost overnight, Goblin Rabblemaster jumped from a dollar to $4 each, and I think it will only go up as Return to Ravnica rotates, taking with it cards like Sphinx’s Revelation and Supreme Verdict. This is certainly a card I want to grab as many of as I can!

I hope to see you all at Sealed League tonight! With M15 in the mix, our decks are starting to get scarier and even more solidly tuned. What will happen as we get more cards? Will we entirely remake our decks, or just make our current ones terrifying. Only time – and showing up to play some matches – will tell. For now, though, this is your friendly neighborhood judge, Conner Morrison, signing off!

Note on CardWatch:

CardWatch is a weekly column wherein our local Magic judge, Conner Morrison, talks about which cards to keep your eye on. This week: Goblin Rabblemaster! Cardwatch and all content are TM & Copyright Bel Air Games and Conner Morrison.