Today I'm going to explore a Commander that has the title of Goblins' Bane, but also wants me to run one of the most notable non-Legendary Goblins ever printed. Today's subject is one of eleven cards devoted to this character in six different color combinations. I'm going to be building in Mono-Red , and this card even has an Adventure mode just to make things more interesting.

Gandalf, Goblins' Bane is an Avatar Wizard with both an Adventure mode and a sweet party trick. He costs , but I can cast the Sorcery Flameshape for with his Adventure mode and then cast him from exile. The Adventure mode spell will have me look at the top two cards of my library and exile them face down.

For as long as they remain exiled, I may play them if I control a Wizard. Casting Gandalf for his Adventure mode can help a little with Commander Tax, but I'll have to pay that extra two mana for each time the physical card leaves the Command Zone.

When Gandalf, Goblins' Bane is in play I can take advantage of his static ability. Whenever I cast a noncreature spell, he'll get +1/+1 until end of turn and will deal one damage to each opponent. That means I'm going to want to cast lots of spells and push out lots of damage. I'll still probably have a challenge beating certain archetypes, but I might be able to hit a player for 21 Commander Damage if the situation requires it.

Gandalf's Red Storm

I've loaded up on more ritual spells than I usually run to help make sure I can keep up with my mana costs. Between Seething Song, Pyretic Ritual, and Desperate Ritual, I should have a chance to cast some big spells out of nowhere. Those first two will turn into , and Seething Song can turn into [mana]{R}{R}{R}{R}{R}. The question is what will I do with all that mana?

To start with I'd like to not just rely on Gandalf to push damage out at my opponents. Kessig Flamebreather, Lambholt Raconteur, Coruscation Mage, and Firebrand Archer can all do that when I cast noncreature spells. Electrostatic Field, Guttersnipe, and Erebor Flamesmith can push out damage when I cast an Instant or Sorcery spell.

I'm running a pair of Auras in Crown of Flames and Ghitu Firebreathing, which can be returned to my hand for one Red mana. If I'm ever sitting on a pile of mana with nothing else to do, I can cast one of these Enchantments, bounce it to my hand, and recast it until I run out of mana. It's not the best way to kill a table, but in a pinch it might be what I need to get a few extra cast triggers.

Pushing out extra damage can be done in a lot of ways. I'm running a damage doubler in Gratuitous Violence and two damage triplers in City on Fire and Fiery Emancipation. I'm also running Possibility Storm, which will exile every spell cast from my hand and have me cast a spell with the same type from my library. That will essentially double my damage output and might end up saving me a little mana along the way if I cast a cheap spell and Possibility Storm has me cast a much more expensive spell for free.

Winning The Game

I might be able to push out enough damage to win the game with just my pingers and an assortment of noncreature spells, but I'm also running a few ways to shortcut that race to the finish line.

Casting Mana Geyser will give me a bunch of mana, assuming it resolves. I'll get Red mana equal to the number of tapped Lands my opponents control. If I have the mana available, I can hold priority, cast Reiterate to copy Mana Geyser and pay the buyback cost to put Reiterate back in my hand, I can then let Mana Geyser resolve and use some of that mana to recast Reiterate and buy it back again. Each time I cast Reiterate, as it's a noncreature spell, I'll be pinging my opponents for one damage.

That kind of combo isn't something I can stop and then start up again, though I am running Past in Flames as a way to be able to give the Instants and Sorceries in my graveyard Flashback. One could also run Underworld Breach or any number of other ways to get another crack at putting Mana Geyser on the stack.

Even if all of my pingers were removed while trying to combo off, if I've got Aetherflux Reservoir in play I can still win the game. Aetherflux Reservoir doesn't push out damage when I cast spells, it gains me life, and I can pay 50 life to hit a Creature or player for 50 damage. I'm unlikely to get Gandalf, Aetherflux Reservoir, Mana Geyser, and Reiterate all at the same time, but if I do I should be able to get the win.

I did a little digging for a way to bounce Artifacts to my hand, but I didn't find an easy way to combo off with something like Lotus Petal, Sol Ring, or Mana Vault. Both Ancestral Statue and Cloudstone Curio caught my eye, but I couldn't find a way to pull off infinite cast triggers in just Red.

Tuning Our Gandalf, Goblins' Bane Deck

You should always look at any deck you find online as a starting point. You have your own pet cards and preferred playstyle and you should feel comfortable modifying this and any other list to best fit your approach to the format. You should also look at other versions of this deck and at similar decks, as you'll find different cards and maybe even different approaches to building this Gandalf. There's no one way to do anything in casual Commander and sometimes building a weaker or a stronger version of a deck is exactly the right thing for your playgroup.

Gandalf, Goblins' Bane | Commander | Stephen Johnson

• Commander (1)
• 1 Gandalf, Goblins' Bane

• Creatures (14)
• 1 Birgi, God of Storytelling
• 1 Coruscation Mage
• 1 Dragonhawk, Fate's Tempest
• 1 Electrostatic Field
• 1 Erebor Flamesmith
• 1 Firebrand Archer
• 1 Guttersnipe
• 1 Kessig Flamebreather
• 1 Lambholt Raconteur
• 1 Runaway Steam-Kin
• 1 Solemn Simulacrum
• 1 Storm-Kiln Artist
• 1 Urabrask, Heretic Praetor
• 1 Young Pyromancer

• Instants (8)
• 1 Chaos Warp
• 1 Desperate Ritual
• 1 Invoke Calamity
• 1 Lightning Bolt
• 1 Pyretic Ritual
• 1 Reiterate
• 1 Seething Song
• 1 Wild Magic Surge

• Sorceries (16)
• 1 Blasphemous Act
• 1 Burn from Within
• 1 Chandra's Ignition
• 1 Coronation of Chaos
• 1 Dawn Warriors' Legacy
• 1 Fiery Confluence
• 1 Hazardous Blast
• 1 Jeska's Will
• 1 Mana Geyser
• 1 Mizzium Mortars
• 1 Past in Flames
• 1 Reckless Impulse
• 1 Reforge the Soul
• 1 Vandalblast
• 1 Volcanic Torrent
• 1 Wheel of Fate

• Enchantments (6)
• 1 City on Fire
• 1 Crown of Flames
• 1 Fiery Emancipation
• 1 Ghitu Firebreathing
• 1 Gratuitous Violence
• 1 Possibility Storm

• Artifacts (18)
• 1 Aetherflux Reservoir
• 1 Arcane Signet
• 1 Coveted Jewel
• 1 Cursed Mirror
• 1 Fellwar Stone
• 1 Gilded Lotus
• 1 Lightning Greaves
• 1 Lotus Petal
• 1 Mask of Avacyn
• 1 Mind Stone
• 1 Mirage Mirror
• 1 Mithril Coat
• 1 Mystic Forge
• 1 Ruby Medallion
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Swiftfoot Boots
• 1 The Fire Crystal
• 1 The One Ring

• Lands (37)
• 33 Mountain
• 1 Myriad Landscape
• 1 Rogue's Passage
• 1 Spinerock Knoll
• 1 Volcano of Roku's Island

Buy This Deck Export text

Lowering the Power Level

The obvious first step for dropping this list down in power is to remove the Game Changers. Jeska's Will and The One Ring put this list squarely in Bracket 3, but if it's too much for your meta or you just want to play this against Bracket 2 decks, they might have to go. You could also drop out the damage multipliers, as those could get out of hand with the right board state.

Replacing damage amplifiers with card draw cantrips like Accelerate, and more cards that give you impulse draw could definitely change up the list and make it a little more consistent and a little less dangerous.

Increasing the Power Level

To increase the power level of this list I think you'd start by adding Gamble, Underworld Breach, and a few more wheels. Wheel of Fortune and Wheel of Misfortune could both fit in nicely here. You might also focus more on card draw, but I don't think Gandalf, Goblins' Bane is going to be pushing up into Bracket 4 play. He just doesn't bring enough to the table unless there are easy combo wins that wasn't aware of.

For a deck that wants to storm off by casting noncreature spells, I think as you move up in power you'll just end up playing Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain. She'll give you card draw and open up another color. My experience with actual cEDH is limited enough that I'll readily admit there are probably even better options for an Izzet storm Commander. Moving into Blue gives you better options for stack interaction, which is essential if you're going to be up against the best decks in the format, or even the tier of decks just below them.

Final Thoughts

I thought a lot about building this list as an Artifacts deck but there were too many other interesting cards I wanted to run for it to work well. My inclusion of permanents that trigger on casting Instants and Sorceries is something that might be worth looking at. I've got 24 Instants and Sorceries in today's list and it might be worth looking at Zada, Hedron Grinder lists for inspiration, as those decks run a lot of cantrips that could fit in here nicely.

I think Gandalf, Goblins' Bane will find its way into the 99 of a lot of other decks, but it's a pity we didn't get a stronger card as another one of our "paperback book" variants. It would have been nice if all of those gorgeous cards were real bangers, but only a few of them are really strong cards. Everyone has their own favorites and while I would have loved to see Beorn, The Fierce as a paperback book, other players might have wanted The Great Goblin or even The Chief Wargwith that art treatment.

That's all I've got for today. Thanks for reading and I'll see you next week!