[FRF] Goblin Boom Keg

[BC]

4
Goblin Boom Keg
Artifact
At the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice Goblin Boom Keg
When Goblin Boom Keg is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, it deals 3 damage to target creature or player.



Uhhhhmmmmmm......... that's pretty good. Not fantastic by any stretch of the imagination, but pretty damn solid. I think it fills a unique role for Workshop decks. Direct damage has always been pretty difficult to come by for Shops, and I think this might be the best we've seen. This is easily the most exciting artifact for Vintage since Grafdigger's Cage.

Here's what I like about it:
1. The cost. is right in Workshop's wheelhouse. One of the obvious comparisons for this card is Triskelion. This is clearly better than Trike EDIT: I meant Trike is clearly better than this, but this costs 2 less.
2. The abilities are separate. It has its own sacrifice event, but if it goes to the graveyard another way it still works. So enemy artifact removal will still make it happen. Welder and Forgemaster make it happen too. Seems good.
3. 3 damage is the right number. Can kill a Trygon Predator, an enemy Lodestone, etc.

[Prospero]

Very cool card.  I like that an opposing Trygon can't just swing, kill it, and keep on its merry path of wanton destruction.

[MTGFan]

3 damage for 4 mana is kind of inefficient though.

It really depends on how badly you need to do 3 damage to something. I feel as if Shops has access to better creature removal if you just want it for that role - Triskelion, Serrated Arrows and the like seem to do a better job of just removing problematic creatures in this format.

[enderfall]

Is this clearly better than Trike? I hardly think so. Trike can clear out up to 3 creatures (all having 1 toughness, of course), can be activated at instant speed, and can also just win the game by attacking for 4 (or less) each turn. For 2 mana in a Workshop deck, it seems like a minor trade-off if I'm looking at creature removal from an artifact. This card does absolutely nothing for an entire turn without a sacrifice outlet, which current Workshop build do not currently have.

I'm not even sure if this is better than Serrated Arrows....

[dangerlinto]

I was gonna say - Serrated Arrows much?

However, the advantages are on welder activation and, of course, that this works through null rod.  And you could kill a Jace with it.

All in all the advantages are light vs either Serrated Arrows or Razormane Masticore.

[Prospero]

I was gonna say - Serrated Arrows much?

However, the advantages are on welder activation and, of course, that this works through null rod.  And you could kill a Jace with it.

All in all the advantages are light vs either Serrated Arrows or Razormane Masticore.

Different problems deserve different solutions.  We broke out Serrated Arrows as a response to Strix/Welder/Confidant Control, which was big at the time.  Serrated Arrows is a bad answer to Trygon Predator.

[fsecco]

This can take out planeswalkers as well. Is also nice with Goblin Welder. Dismember is probably just better though.

[enderfall]

Sorry, I misread the card initially and thought Welder-ing this in and out of play wouldn't work. That said, the current metagame doesn't really want this card since Null Rod is probably played at an all-time low and in spite of that Trike and/or Serrated Arrows is simply better.

[BC]

Is this clearly better than Trike? I hardly think so...

Sorry, I misspoke. Edited OP.

As for the comparison with other cards mentioned, here are my thoughts:

vs. Serrated Arrows: The main advantage of Serrated Arrows is that you can use it immediately, and you can spread the -1/-1 counters around. Boom Keg, on the other hand, does 3 damage at once, which is particularly useful when you are facing, for example, a Trygon Predator.  Boom Keg can also be used as a finisher once you have the opponent locked up, which Arrows can't. I might even start running Ensnaring Bridge again. One of my favorites.

vs. Razormane Masticore: Masticore has a similar effect, but comes on a 5/5 body for 1 more mana. The main drawback is the card disadvantage, which is a very real drawback in most MUD decks that have no draw engine to speak of.

vs. Dismember: I don't know, I've never really been a fan of Dismember. Lodestone makes it cost more, and paying 4 life is not always trivial. Again, it's a comparison between -X/-X and doing direct damage.

vs. Trike: Already covered a little. Trike is strictly better, but costs more. Null Rod is a thing.

I'm definitely going to try out this card in a Welder-based deck. I'm always looking for an excuse to bring that back.

[dangerlinto]

As a welder piece, it's not bad.  But you know Lightning Bolt is pretty good.

My guess is you will want to weld in more useful and game-defining cards than to get an extra lightning bolt every turn... not only that, but to have to essentially weld it every turn or it will drain your source of artifacts on the field. 

[GrandpaBelcher]

I'm definitely going to try out this card in a Welder-based deck. I'm always looking for an excuse to bring that back.

I'm definitely excited about this. I'd like to see Welder back in Workshops too, and Boom Keg seems like a good pairing.

[BC]

Another important interaction in a Welder deck. If you have an active Smokestack, you can stack it so you sac this to Smokestack before its sacrifice trigger happens. The effect still happens, and you get credit with the Smokestack gentlemen.

[serracollector]

I like the fact it works with forgemaster so you dont even necessarily need welder with it.

[gkraigher]

i wish this card didn't sac on its own and cost less mana.  it's clunky at 4 mana and the only decks it is good in are welder and forgemaster decks.  The fact that it sacs on it's own is actually a huge hiderance to what this card could have been.  

I think metorite is better than this card.




And I think Triskelion is miles and miles ahead of both cards.  

I don't see goblin boom keg being good enough to make the cut.  If it had cost 1-2 mana and didn't sac itself, it would be interesting.  

[ben_berry]

I like the fact it works with forgemaster so you dont even necessarily need welder with it.

You're just telegraphing you're intent to use the forgemaster.

[xouman]

Having to wait until upkeep (unless some trick involved) makes it faaaaaaaaaar worse. For 4, 3 damage is not so bad to some standards (fireball anyone?). In a meta filled with trygons could be a great option, and is ok vs delver. But I'll be really surprised to see this card played after initial hype. Welder decks are not at their peak and I don't expect this card to bring them to the top again.

[MaximumCDawg]

Yeah, I don't see this card doing much in Vintage.  For newer formats, 4 colorless for a Rift Bolt is... new?  It's interesting anyway.   But here, it seems like Trike does more what you're looking to do with this.

[Bill Copes]

I would play this over Boom Keg, as it's much easier to achieve and usable right away:



Although you do lose the going to the graveyard damage clause and it gets boned by null rod.

[Samoht]

I would play this over Boom Keg, as it's much easier to achieve and usable right away:



Although you do lose the going to the graveyard damage clause and it gets boned by null rod.

And killing the Trygon thing.

[xouman]

I think it's more or less clear that Goblin Boom Keg and the rest of these alternatives are bad by themselves. The interesting thing of Boom keg is that allows more tricks than other alternatives, specially with welder. The fact that artifact destruction cannot avoid the 3 damage is really sweet.