The Hobbit Gifts Goblin Decks a Brand New Combo Win Condition

Last updated on July 23, 2026

Munitions Expert | Background Illustration by Jesper Ejsing

The Hobbit refuses to stop releasing killer typal commanders as spoiler season picks up steam; we’ve looked at a great elf commander in Thranduil, and yesterday’s previews delivered an excellent goblin commander:

The Great Goblin works with The Hobbit’s take on goblins and has cross-compatibility with amass from previous sets. Goblins in HOB use amass goblin, which empowers The Great Goblin’s its first ability. It was wise of Wizards to let it trigger off orcs and armies so it works with amass cards from previous sets.

The death trigger provides fantastic card advantage from the command zone, often the first step towards a fantastic commander. Reliable access to card draw every game makes it more likely that you play Magic, and more of it than your opponents. It also works well in a Rakdos () goblin deck specifically as the colors encourage aristocrat themes. The draw even helps rebuild after a sweeper since your other goblins die and draw a bunch of cards!

The Great Goblin’s Best Friend

Putrid Goblin | Illustration by Winona Nelson

The first card that came to mind when I saw The Great Goblin was Putrid Goblin. Putrid Goblin plays well with the implied sacrifice theme and serves as a powerful combo card. Since its combos involve sacrificing it and putting counters on it ad nauseam, TGG’s first ability incinerates your opponents.

A Putrid Goblin combo needs a way to remove the -1/-1 counter so you can persist it back to play repeatedly plus a free sacrifice outlet. The best way to deal with -1/-1 counters in Rakdos are +1/+1 counters. First Day of Class commonly works with Putrid Goblin, and the haste enabler is relevant with cards like Krenko, Mob Boss and Empty the Warrens. Thran Vigil also cancels out the counter, though I find it less ideal since it has fewer applications outside of the combo.

As for sacrifice outlets, anything without a cost works. Goblin Bombardment is top-tier since it wins without your commander, but Skirk Prospector is a great choice due to its low mana cost and typing, so you can find it with cards like Goblin Matron. Colorless Altars are great too, with Altar of Dementia getting a shout-out as an alternative win condition if damage is off the table.

The Great Goblin Storm

The Great Goblin also functions as a storm commander, with the second ability provide card advantage while leaning on rituals for mana. Rituals like Infernal Plunge and Culling the Weak that sacrifice goblins to produce their mana are ideal because they’ll draw a card. The same goes for cards like Ashnod's Altar or Phyrexian Altar.

I like the storm outlet being tokens that can be fed through a sacrifice outlet to win the game; if you’re storming off in a shell that relies on sacrificing goblins while you control a Zulaport Cutthroat or Boggart Cursecrafter then you win by making enough tokens to feed to a sacrifice outlet.

Since the cards you’d draw from The Great Goblin (along with red draw spells like Reckless Impulse and Jeska's Will) are impulse draws, you could also lean on cast from exile synergies.

How Does The Great Goblin Win Without Combos?

Siege-Gang Commander | Illustration by Aaron Miller

Combos are cool and all, but not everybody wants to win with them. What’s a fair player to do? Sacrifice things, of course!

Start with cards that amass regularly, ideally at least once a turn cycle. Cards like Dreadhorde Invasion, Moria Sacvenger, and Warg Rider provide a stream of sacrifice fodder that burn your opponents and draw cards when they die. Instant-speed sacrifice outlets are important to remove your army between amass triggers.

While the amass cards are good, lean into goblins as your primary source of sacrifice fodder since they’re just better supported. There are plenty of options to make goblin tokens, either turn after turn or in big bursts.

You don’t need to get fancy with the win conditions. Since you’re sacrificing goblins, run cards that reward you for it like Boggart Cursecrafter, Boggart Mischief, and Zulaport Cutthroat. You can also get away with goblin lords like Goblin Chieftain for a more traditional, aggressive plan. This strategy leans more into the death trigger on The Great Goblin given red-black’s relative lack of counter synergies; those work best with combo shells.