I hope they make new spellshapers soon. It would be useful in a goblin deck, and with some good discard outlet it could actually make itself useful as a card sometime after turn one and before 7.
krauser-gogetthegirl
★★★☆☆ (3.5/5.0)(3 votes)
i think the best thing about this guy is getting him out on turn four with geosurge as mentioned by minus_prime. hopefully youd have out a couple creatures by then.
raadface
★☆☆☆☆ (1.6/5.0)(4 votes)
Man red's always getting burned on cards like these :/ compare to any other chancellor in the cycle
MasterOfEtherium
★★☆☆☆ (2.5/5.0)(3 votes)
Absoloutley Amazing. That Art is so Savage. plus you have a chump blocker out of nowhere on their turn or just swing on your 1st. And when he comes in he could tear stuff Apart if your field was reasonable. VERY IMPRESSIVE 5/5
NocteMundi
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(3 votes)
When you're playing aggro with battle-cry thrown in, bring this guy out, and you'll surely have your opponent crying for the battle to be over.
HairlessThoctar
★★☆☆☆ (2.5/5.0)(3 votes)
Pretty cool, but he himself not having haste seems really weird.
Combolulz
★★☆☆☆ (2.1/5.0)(4 votes)
In my mind , the first ability says "Put a 1/1 memnite with haste unto the battlefield" Becuz of the token's power , toughness , and free cost+ability.
supagama
★☆☆☆☆ (1.8/5.0)(2 votes)
An awesome card with geosurge, can you use his effect and then mulligan? Its nice to see a heavy hitter for goblins regardless
Japicx
★★★☆☆ (3.7/5.0)(3 votes)
My favourite of the Chancellors.
Amnatto
★★☆☆☆ (2.5/5.0)(2 votes)
Nice in a token deck, but kinda useless in standard.
A3Kitsune
★★★☆☆ (3.8/5.0)(2 votes)
@supagama: No. Or at least, not a normal mulligan, anyway. You can't use the opening hand abilities of him or any other card in your hand until you are done taking mulligans. However, there is one card that gives you a mulligan as an opening hand ability. If you get that card in your opening hand, you can use it's ability to take a mulligan after having used the opening hand abilities of CotF and whatever else is in your hand. This only works because it's a mulligan as a result of an ability and not a normal mulligan.
themlsna
★☆☆☆☆ (1.8/5.0)(2 votes)
Definitely should have had haste himself. Other than that, it has a home in two of my EDH decks, but I wouldn't rely on it.
collision562
★★★★☆ (4.1/5.0)(7 votes)
I'm all for standard but how's this for a 4 card 1st turn combo...
Open with Chancellor of the Forge, Blazing Shoal, Assault Strobe and Mutagenic Growth... and one mountain.
Show the Chancellor to get the 1/1 goblin with haste... give him double strike with the Strobe... cast the Shoal by discarding the Chancellor and make the goblin a 8/1... sac 2 life and play the Growth to make him a 10/3 (with double strike) and attack before your opponent plays his first land. And then ask... 'Would you like to Mulligan?'
kiseki
★★★★☆ (4.0/5.0)(2 votes)
Double your creatures, and they all have haste is an ability that should cost , but could maybe slide at . You get the 5/5 body PLUS the extra hasty goblin that counts this chancellor's body for . There are more exciting things, especially various dragons, at his cost until you have at about 4 or more creatures in play. Therefore I think it is ridiculous to waste a geosurge on this thing. This guy wants to come out mid to late game, not as early as possible. If you are going to pay a slot in your deck and give up card advantage to get a cool creature quickly with geosurge, this one is not an exciting choice.
If you have a sacrifice engine, you can play this and sac Furystoke Giant to give all the hasty goblins the double tim ability. One of the most limiting things about the Furystroke Giant is that you can't use the creatures with summoning sickness.
Gameplan: Reveal all 3 chancellors, get a 1/1 haste goblin and 2 {G} your first turn.
Drop Swamp, and than play both groundswells with your mana from Chancellor of the tangle (making goblin a 9/9) swing with goblin, tap swamp and cast Tainted strike, you now have a 10/9 infect haste.
probably not gonna get this as your opening hand and it can be stopped but the fact its possible is still scary. stuff like this is why they made gut shot and mental misstep .
Ninjazilla
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Love the art and love the effect. A little pricey to pull out, but I think that I'm okay with that
Mavlis
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
This is easily the worst of the chancellors. It has the nicest flavor - but he, by himself, is very weak. Every other chancellor either has flying or vigilance, and a much more reliable effect.
And, what's worse, he could at LEAST be a goblin, given that he gives you goblins.
Bursama
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.8/5.0)(2 votes)
... Makes lots of Goblins with haste, but doesn't have haste himself?
Khultar
★★★☆☆ (3.0/5.0)(1 vote)
great for any goblin deck :D
Cheza
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.6/5.0)(7 votes)
I wish the red and green Chancellors would switch colors.
The red one should produce extra mana like Seething Song, etc. Instead of reach & vigilance, it should have haste & first strike. This supports the red strategy of a fast hit, passion, fury and the "inner fire".
The green one should produce tokens instead. This is the creature-centric color and an additional attacker doesn't hurt. Usually, green should have more creatures than red in general, since red tends to burn anything up.
But - as usual - the people @ R&D don't design cards based on color philosophy, but on player concerns. Some semi-useless goblin-supporter is more viable than any card that would allow the goblin player to cast an additional goblin during turn 1.
Sorry R&D, but this makes me a sad panda.
Gabriel422
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Mass Polymorph. Three of these wins you the game, plus he gives you a token.
Mindbend
★☆☆☆☆ (1.2/5.0)(2 votes)
Um no one seems to have mentioned the fact he is just not that good. in a proper game if your alive by the time you cast this how many creatures are you going have 2.....if your lucky(if you got more you probably going win anyway) ...and he doesn't even have haste himself ,if he did he'd be average at best as it is he's trash .
Razbot
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(5 votes)
Huh. I'm surprised no one has mentioned Rite of Replication. Kicked on this guy for 31*n hasty goblins, where n is the number of Creatures you control as triggers start resolving? Seems pretty alright to me. (especially since you'd have at least 5 guys, for a bare minimum 155 goblins)
DeathDark
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Do I even need to mention its use in token spam decks? Oh, it seems I already have.
Cartercr
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Eldrazi Spawn anyone? I've seen decks throw out dozens of spawn per turn. Make these things into 1/1's and you'll easily overpower someone. Do something like R/G with things for trample (Overwhelming Stampede comes to mind quickly.) The spawn would also speed up the mana curve exponentially.
Paleopaladin
★★★★☆ (4.5/5.0)(3 votes)
+ Splinter Twin for stupidly huge hordes of goblins.
mahora31
★★★★☆ (4.8/5.0)(6 votes)
the flavor for this picture is great. theres the chancellor bellowing with the little goblin he brings out next to him. then theres the goblin in the back waiting to have the hasty horde behind the hill all attack at once. 5/5
connorvore93
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
i have a WUBRG deck using the chancellors as part of the strategy. in 3 turnes i had 68 creatures on the battlefield using 2 of these. do not under estimate ANY of the chancellors. if used correctly, they can each turn the tides of the game.
God_of_Chaos
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Turn 1 Balefire Dragon, Furyborn Hellkite, Inferno Titan, Chancellor of the Forge etc....
1. Mountain, reveal 2 Chancellor of the Forge, cast Infernal Plunge, Infernal Plunge, Geosurge, cast Balefire Dragon, Inferno Titan etc.... or if you revealed only 1 Chancellor, cast Goblin Arsonist, sac it for Infernal Plunge, give 1 damage to opponent, hard cast Furyborn Hellkite (12/12).. Turn 2, Assault Strobe.. GG.. Fun times.. =)))
Further, lots of other discard engines could potentially benefit from him still being an extra card in your hand, such as Sparkspitter.
Even better? the Art is amazing.
4/5 from me.
Collision's comment on shoal, and shoal's amazing synergy with kiln fiend convinced me to add these bits to such a fast kill double-strike deck.
Arachibutyrophobia
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Turn 1 - This guy to pop out a token. Mountain. Ornithopter. Kudoltha Rebirth. Swing for 1. Turn 2 - Mountain. Skirk Prospecter. Brightstone Ritual for 5 mana. Sac 2 goblins to skirk prospecter and cast Chancellor of the Forge, bringing in 4 goblins. Swing for 12.
lorendorky
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I'm calling it now: Faithless Looting is going to break this cards playability wide open.
@A3Kitsune, you'd be thinking of Serum Powder, I'm pretty sure.
Unfortunately, that lets you take a pseudo mulligan when you could take a normal mulligan. Your "opening hand", however, is the cards you end up with AFTER you have mulliganed/not. So you cannot use this and Serum Powder together like you have said. Similarly with Leylines, sadly.
Trygon_Predator
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
My favorite of the chancellors. In Commander he can lead to some absurd board states in swarm decks. Try living the dream of having Doubling Season, Parallel Lives, and Garruk, Primal Hunter in play. Play Saproling Symbiosis before your turn, get Garruk to make a whole lot of wurms, and then drop the Chancellor. The hasted goblins alone should be enough to take out your opponent (or opponents).
Usually somewhere along the line i get a parallel lives out, and have amassed a decent horde of creatures, then this guy hits, and shifts the board firmly in my favor.
If I have the chance, it's really fun to add insult to injury by poding him to Craterhoof Behemoth.
Also, I know Elesh-Norn is a better sevenspot for this deck... Just can't get one.
LunchPossum227
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
Personally, i find this chancellor the best. you could make an argument towards any of them, sure, but in a super fast aggro red deck, having the ability to just get in that 1 extra point of damage essentially for free is a good thing. then, if youre lagging behind and your poor krenko needs to get a foothold on the board to start masssing goblins, throw down this fella to make stuff happen. plus he looks freiking awesome. and dont even get me started on wild guess and faithless looting :P
@Lifegainwithbite: Because red has no sort of mana acceleration like Geosurge or Battle Hymn.
Lifegainwithbite
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.5/5.0)(1 vote)
7 mana for a goblin deck? Why? Goblin decks are supposed to be fast aggro. It will just never fit. The only reason to ever use this is the starting ability and it's not worth running just for that.
2/5.
Earthdawn
☆☆☆☆☆ (0.0/5.0)
I used to have this in a "RDW" goblin deck back when he was Standard-legal. Good times. Goblin Guide and a hasty token on turn 1 is rather sweet. Follow that up with Shrine of Burning Rage or a battlecry goblin on T2 and the Goblin Lord T3. T4 I was casting Geosurge ino this guy :)
Keiya
★★★★★ (5.0/5.0)(1 vote)
Purphoros, God of the Forge's best friend. In a token EDH deck, these two together usually kill all of your opponents.
Comments (49)
compare to any other chancellor in the cycle
Open with Chancellor of the Forge, Blazing Shoal, Assault Strobe and Mutagenic Growth... and one mountain.
Show the Chancellor to get the 1/1 goblin with haste... give him double strike with the Strobe... cast the Shoal by discarding the Chancellor and make the goblin a 8/1... sac 2 life and play the Growth to make him a 10/3 (with double strike) and attack before your opponent plays his first land. And then ask... 'Would you like to Mulligan?'
There are more exciting things, especially various dragons, at his cost until you have at about 4 or more creatures in play. Therefore I think it is ridiculous to waste a geosurge on this thing. This guy wants to come out mid to late game, not as early as possible. If you are going to pay a slot in your deck and give up card advantage to get a cool creature quickly with geosurge, this one is not an exciting choice.
If you have a sacrifice engine, you can play this and sac Furystoke Giant to give all the hasty goblins the double tim ability. One of the most limiting things about the Furystroke Giant is that you can't use the creatures with summoning sickness.
opening hand: 2 Chancellor of the Tangle , 1 Chancellor of the Forge , 1 Tainted Strike , 1 Swamp and 2 Groundswell.
Gameplan: Reveal all 3 chancellors, get a 1/1 haste goblin and 2 {G} your first turn.
Drop Swamp, and than play both groundswells with your mana from Chancellor of the tangle (making goblin a 9/9) swing with goblin, tap swamp and cast Tainted strike, you now have a 10/9 infect haste.
probably not gonna get this as your opening hand and it can be stopped but the fact its possible is still scary. stuff like this is why they made gut shot and mental misstep .
And, what's worse, he could at LEAST be a goblin, given that he gives you goblins.
The red one should produce extra mana like Seething Song, etc. Instead of reach & vigilance, it should have haste & first strike. This supports the red strategy of a fast hit, passion, fury and the "inner fire".
The green one should produce tokens instead. This is the creature-centric color and an additional attacker doesn't hurt. Usually, green should have more creatures than red in general, since red tends to burn anything up.
But - as usual - the people @ R&D don't design cards based on color philosophy, but on player concerns. Some semi-useless goblin-supporter is more viable than any card that would allow the goblin player to cast an additional goblin during turn 1.
Sorry R&D, but this makes me a sad panda.
1. Mountain, reveal 2 Chancellor of the Forge, cast Infernal Plunge, Infernal Plunge, Geosurge, cast Balefire Dragon, Inferno Titan etc....
or if you revealed only 1 Chancellor, cast Goblin Arsonist, sac it for Infernal Plunge, give 1 damage to opponent, hard cast Furyborn Hellkite (12/12).. Turn 2, Assault Strobe.. GG.. Fun times.. =)))
Further, lots of other discard engines could potentially benefit from him still being an extra card in your hand, such as Sparkspitter.
Even better? the Art is amazing.
4/5 from me.
Collision's comment on shoal, and shoal's amazing synergy with kiln fiend convinced me to add these bits to such a fast kill double-strike deck.
Turn 2 - Mountain. Skirk Prospecter. Brightstone Ritual for 5 mana. Sac 2 goblins to skirk prospecter and cast Chancellor of the Forge, bringing in 4 goblins. Swing for 12.
Unfortunately, that lets you take a pseudo mulligan when you could take a normal mulligan. Your "opening hand", however, is the cards you end up with AFTER you have mulliganed/not. So you cannot use this and Serum Powder together like you have said. Similarly with Leylines, sadly.
swamp Tainted Strike
4 Mutagenic Growths
turn one infect
The main chain goes something like this... Doomed Traveler -> Viridian Emissary -> Roc Egg -> Mausoleum Guard -> Geist-honored monk -> Wurmcoil -> This guy
Usually somewhere along the line i get a parallel lives out, and have amassed a decent horde of creatures, then this guy hits, and shifts the board firmly in my favor.
If I have the chance, it's really fun to add insult to injury by poding him to Craterhoof Behemoth.
Also, I know Elesh-Norn is a better sevenspot for this deck... Just can't get one.
2/5.