Faction Breakdown: Sand Goblins Part 3

Welcome back readers!

In this post we will be finishing up our breakdown of Sand Goblins by looking through the champions.

Lets start with a huge favorite of mine, Biter. With three attack and six life for only four magic, Biter is extremely, EXTREMELY cheap. Because of his negative ability he can be a little tricky sometimes, but it also makes strategy with him somewhat simplified. Just throw him next to whatever you want dead, and keep whacking til something breaks. Seriously though there aren't that many other champs in the game that I'd rather have to just summon and sent directly into the brawl. He works well in one on one fights against most other champions, and as long as he does some damage, he is normally cost effective even if he doesn't get the kill. Remember that because placement isn't the same as moving, you can swap him away with Silt's ability. I always find it extremely hard to remove Biter from any of my decks. He is just too good for the cost and has always done very well for me.

Silts might hold my spot for "favorite champion in the entire game." People tend to undervalue the ability cunning at first glance but lets really look at some things you can do with it. You can pull Biter and Kreep out of melee contact with enemy units thereby deactivating their negative abilities. You can also use cunning mid-move and then continue moving to swap your way past enemy blockers and slip past enemy lines to the more valuable units in the back including the summoner. You can move up and swap a unit out of a defensive position, leaving it out in the open where you can attack it with multiple enemy units. If you have been taking damage as Silts you can swap with common to try and save yourself from being killed next turn. There is just a ton of stuff that you can do with this ability, and I find it very easy to make a play with cunning each and every turn.

Fun Fact: When I first got the game I was too dyslexic to read the card properly, and was calling him slits (which actually still makes sense because of the dagger) for weeks before someone corrected me.

I find it hard to take Silts out of a deck if I am using Biter.

    

I think Kreep is my least favorite champion on the Sand Goblins, and that is a bit harsh because he is still very viable. He has the exact same stat line as Biter making him very high value. But where as I normally send Biter against enemy champions or higher life targets, you want to send Kreep against targets that he can kill in one turn. Cowardly has a 33% chance of removing Kreep and wasting 4 magic if you leave him in a place that will trigger a roll, which is why Kreep pairs very well with Silts. Most players find the risk is too great and play to avoid making a cowardly roll entirely. I am not a very big fan of Kreep and he is normally the first champion I remove when building a deck.

That covers the three champions that come with the base deck, now lets look at a few of the champions you can use if you have the re-enforcement pack for Sand Goblins.

I love Sand Wyrm and it isn't for what most people think. It isn't because of burrow, in fact I don't think I have ever moved the full three spaces with Sand Wyrm. While it is a powerful ability, I am more interested in finding ways to keep him from moving much and instead using his high attack value. Taunt is a great card to use when Sand Wyrm is out, as you can suck commons right in front of him and then smash away with four attacking dice. Silts also gives you a way to move without actually moving therefore saving you from reducing your attack. I frequently will summon Sand Wyrm in a position next to my opponents walls and then attack the walls with four dice each turn, hoping to force him to move out to attack in an way that is unfavorable to him. Also even though I don't use it very much Burrow is still a very good and very viable option to have on the table. Even the threat of moving him three spaces through enemy lines and blockers can be enough to disrupt your opponents movements and play to your advantage.

I try very hard to run Sand Wyrm in my decks.

In one on one champion situations or when the board is relatively free of units, Tark is king. Conceal is a really great ability that can totally screw up your opponents plans for multiple turns at a time. If used correctly, it should force your opponent into spending magic or cards to respond against Tark in some way. Tark works better in match-ups that are less unit heavy, I don't see him working super great against common heavy factions, or swarm factions like Cave Goblins. Against champion heavy play he should do very well. Because he only has four life you do have to be very careful with his positioning. As I said your opponent will likely summon some sort of response to Tark and try to kill him quickly. Try not to leave him in a position to get blown up by a freshly summoned unit on your opponent's next turn.

I don't currently use Tark a ton right now, but I really want to work him in more often.

The last Sand Goblin champion is Stink. Check out his Spotlight post, here