RedLegendary Creature — Goblin AdvisorIb Halfheart, Goblin Tactician
Mana value4Rank#12,163
The Commander
Whenever another Goblin you control becomes blocked, sacrifice it. If you do, it deals 4 damage to each creature blocking it.
Sacrifice two Mountains: Create two 1/1 red Goblin creature tokens.
Guide
Gameplan
Flood the board with Goblins, then swing in en masse—when blockers commit, Ib turns each blocked Goblin into a 4-damage bomb that wipes the defending creature, clearing the way for the rest. Alternatively, ignore combat entirely and use the Mountain-sacrifice ability to fuel token-based combos and aristocrats payoffs. You ramp Goblins early, build a wide army, and force unfavorable blocks to grind down the table.
Strengths
- Cheap, explosive Goblin tribal synergies that go wide fast
- Built-in board-clearing combat tricks that punish blockers and trade up
- Excellent free sacrifice fodder for aristocrats and combo lines
- Mono-red consistency with deep Goblin support and recursion
Weaknesses
- Mono-red lacks card draw and struggles to refill after board wipes
- No evasion natively—chump blockers and ground stalls can stall the attack
- Sacrificing Mountains for tokens permanently strains your mana base
- Vulnerable to flyers and lifegain; raw damage can be outpaced in multiplayer
Key Cards
- Krenko, Mob Boss — Doubles your Goblin count every turn, fueling both wide attacks and Ib's sacrifice triggers.
- Goblin Sharpshooter — Untaps on every creature death, turning Ib's sacrifice triggers and token deaths into a repeatable damage engine.
- Skirk Prospector — Sacrifices Goblins for mana, converting your wide board into explosive plays and combo fuel.
- Purphoros, God of the Forge — Each Goblin token entering deals 2 to every opponent, turning your token generation into a direct win condition.
- Goblin Bombardment — Free sacrifice outlet that pings creatures or faces, letting you cash in tokens for guaranteed damage.
- Throne of the God-Pharaoh — With a massive tapped Goblin army, this drains the table for huge chunks each end step.
Upgrade Path
Add fast mana (Sol Ring, Jeska's Will, Mana Echoes) and Goblin tutors like Goblin Recruiter and Goblin Matron to assemble engines reliably. Lean into combo finishers—Goblin Bombardment plus Skirk Prospector and Krenko or Conspicuous Snoop loops—to close games before grind-out becomes a problem. Round out with rituals and Underworld Breach for explosive, deterministic kills rather than relying on slow combat math.
Core Cards
The most-played cards for this commander, built from aggregated deck data (the Mythic Graph). Build public decks to seed it.
Win Conditions
- ▸Alpha strike with a wide Goblin army backed by Ib's combat damage clears
- ▸Purphoros or impact-style triggers off mass token generation
- ▸Goblin Bombardment / Goblin Sharpshooter recursive damage loops
- ▸Coat of Arms or overrun effects pumping the swarm for lethal
Archetypes
- Goblin Tribal Aggro — Ib leads a horde of cheap Goblins and makes attacking through blockers brutal.
- Aristocrats — Ib's sacrifice trigger and Mountain-to-token ability generate endless fodder for death payoffs.
- Tokens/Go-Wide — The token ability plus Goblin generators flood the board for swarm strategies.
- Combo — Skirk Prospector and free sacrifice outlets enable Goblin engine loops for big damage bursts.
Combos
No combos found for this commander on Commander Spellbook.
Related Commanders
Same color identity (R), by popularity.
