An Unruly Auction 

During a tournament- "So... what's with the bag of rice?"

I once played a Goblin Game at a Commander FNM. I insisted all of my opponents read the card carefully, and did my best to explain it. They all proceeded to hide WAY more dice than any of their life totals and all lost on resolution

So back in the day I made a janky mono red deck with this card in it. I played with some sort of copy effect as well (I can't remember but whatever was cheap in 2008). One game, I cast goblin game the table groans. I proceed to copy it, twice. Cold dead stares, from an otherwise jovial playgroup. They unanimously voted to kick me out of the game in response, and that I should take apart that deck. I laughed for like 15 minutes straight.

You playing magic and your opponent has Transcendence, Nefarious Lich and Niv-Mizzet in the play. You see him play Goblin Game and reach for a ten-pound sack of dried peas. WDYD?

There is a fundamental mistake in the statement, "Your goal is to lose the least amount of life..." This is a red card. Your goal against anyone not playing red is to ensure that your opponent loses enough life so that you can beat them (without yourself going to 0). Example 1) Your opponent is at 11. You are at 8. In your hand, you have a card that deals 5 damage to target player (Lava Axe). You play Goblin Game and you bid 6. If they bid 1 (their lowest possible bid), they go from 11 to 10 then to 5 (best case). If they bid 7, then they end up at 4 and you end up at 1 (worst case). And if they bid 6, then they end up at 2 and you end up at 1 (medium case). Either way, you can give them the Axe. Example 2) Your opponent is at 5. You are at 20. In your hand, you have a card that deals 2 damage to target player (Shock). You play Goblin Game and you bid 3. If they bid 1 (their lowest possible bid), they go from 5 to 4, then to 2 (you go to 17). If they bid 3, then you drop to 17 and then 8, but they end at 2. And if they bid 4 then they end up at 1 life and you drop to 8. Either way, they will be Shocked by what happens next. In the first scenario, you were behind in life totals and in the second scenario, you are way ahead, yet you got what you wanted in both cases because you are red.

Jokes on you, you hid 8 squees so you lose 8 life

I love how this card halts the match and all of a sudden you're doing an auction

Squee is located at 0:05 behind the other goblins, 1:28 on the Bridge, 1:53 on the page of the book, 2:42 inside the green gem, 4:58 he is very hard to see, but he is on the bomb in the far right, he blends into the steel color, Sorry but that's all I could find.

The odds are stacked against you since 2 outcomes are "lose" and one is "win" Please! It's not the number of outcomes on a *list* that matters. It's the chance of those outcomes occuring!

Can you just keep a bag of rice with you?

Easy, if you lay on the ground a majority of Earth's objects are behind you.

My playgroup is going to hate me when I play this in EDH. I can't wait.

Is this the best magic video on RU-vid? Is squee the savior of us all? I think yes.

I play this card in a vial smasher chaos deck and once killed the table with it and new Neheb. "Okay main phase 2? Net 85 red mana, and... earthquake? The game was a ruse sorry guys!" Great vid as always Sam

I was playing in a casual (no bans/restrictions) tournament once, and I watched my friend played a Goblin Game against a dude who was playing Time Vault combo. He didn't understand the card, so he ended up killing himself by hiding too many objects. It's always amazing to see money not matter in Magic.

I remember the first time i played this on EDH... it got fun quite fast. Also, here is a dumb but fun card interaction i once saw on a MTG comic: First Bludgeon Brawl, every non-creature, non-equipment artifact is an equipment. Second Mycosynth Lattice, you make everything artifact. Third, Nicol Bolas creature. Finally Nicol Bolas Planeswalker. You equip Nicol Bolas with Nicol Bolas so you can beat a Mofo with another Mofo. I works with other walkers that have creature versions and with the change in Planeswalker rules on Ixalan, you can equip him with himself and himself and himself...

At 5:30 they can't bid 0 because each player must hide at least one item?

I have a wort the raid mother deck in edh the entire goal of the deck is to be able to put a infinite amount of goblin games on the stack, i have never pulled it off in a real game of edh but once i got 16 copys onto the stack and it was amazing, goblin game is one of my fav cards in magic and i really love this video you did on it, quality as always sam

I built an izzet mass chaos deck for fun. It was not very competitive but the look on your opponents faces when you cast goblin game with hive mind on the battlefield is worth it.

Rhystic Studies is the Vsauce of MTG

Love the not so subtle fade out when your judge friend starts his introduction

Basically, never play a game with goblins. Also, Squee is secretly planning to murder us all.

"How do we hide 16,000 objects?" Pocket sand! Shi shi sha

Watched this again and thought I'd give finding the Squees a try. Here's what I saw: #1 - 0:05 - Within the "Goblin Bowling Team" art #2 - 1:08 - Within the mic #3 - 1:27 - Within the "Mosswart Bridge" art #4 - 1:53 - Within the pages of the Thran Tome #5 - 2:49 - Within the Mox Emerald gem #6 - 4:58 - Within the rightmost bomb inside the backpack of the Goblin Kaboomist #7 - 7:24 - At the very back as it fades to black #8 - 7:43 - Combed through the video 3 times at half speed, so this must be it? @Rhystic Studies, did I win the Goblin Game?

I had this card when I was around 11-12 years old. I've never understood the meaning of it, neither my friends. Thank you for this video!

I don't even know how to play magic but these videos are too good!

0:05 goglin bowling team; 1:04 (in the microphone); 1:25 Mosswort Bridge; 1:53 in the book; 2:41 in the emerald; ... and 7:40 ....xD i miss the others )=

Rustic studies, the drop everything to watch this vid guy. With the best affiliate link tie-in and a little minigame throughout the video. Mad props

I had built a Gallia chaos EDH deck, and ran Goblin Game in it, simply for the hell of it (plus the general chaos theme of the deck). The deck had no win cons. No infinite combos. Just destroy stuff, play Satyrs, play as many red chaos cards in print I could find. Actually winning with the deck just made the deck that much more glorious.

5:34 they don't have an option of 0 because the card says everyone hides at least one item

Fantastic as always! You inspire me, keep up the great work

Great video , brother I luv ur content , every video “feels fresh” , showing your love for the game , community and the production of the content itself

I want to thank you for making this video. Since I've watched it ~3 years ago I've been running it in my Neheb burn deck, and it's gotten me so much mana.

Your videos are so clean and the goblin game is hilarious. Thanks for bringing us closer to the game we love!

Your content is some of the most well thought out I've ever seen. Wish you could do videos more often, especially the artist profiles. So glad to have found you from the Professors video.

Keep up the good work! love all your videos, simply amazing

Just got this card added to the r/MTG Party Box. Can't wait to see some other silly features.

As soon a s I knew this card existed I had to get a playset!

Definitely my favorite MTG related channel. Such artsy, well done content

So looking forward to the next video!!

This was the card that sold me on Magic; my girlfriend plays and wanted to get me into it, but having bought 2 packs in 2019 and not understanding what I pulled I was like "ehhh maybe." Then I saw this hellish card and knew it was the game for me. Every time I find some new, absurd card, I get it and try to find a use - Illicit Auction, Mage's Contest, Wheel of Misfortune, etc. My favorite is, by far, Illicit Auction - it doesn't matter when it's played, it immediately ruins the entire boardstate in the worst way possible.

I literally just put together a deck with Goblin Game as one of my favorite cards in it. I didn't have any new packs or money for packs but my brother got me really into commander. So I went through our old rare folders and picked out all the weirdest shit.i could.find, anything strange, awkward, fun or unusual, all the extra turns, coin flipping, hell, I even had that ogre card he mentioned but had to take it out to make room for enough "good" cards to make the deck function. It's so much fun. Can't wait to finally get to use it.

This, along with "Magic's Best Worst Card", are the two best Magic-related YT videos ever. I love when these mindgame cards are released (although I haven't seen one in a while)...

goblin game i never heard of but i would find a way to play it. it seems super fun as a card if you can do something about it. showing a card that like that has blown my mind. i 100% also love the rube goldberg seems cool and i would love to see something like it happen (probably on a a smaller scale but still). especially with the EDH equations as well i wouldn't think so much people would make equations for it so that is a plus as well. thank you for showing this amazing card

I think the game you played with scree was absolutely brilliant thank you

Always amped to see new videos from MMS! :D

Hey really enjoy your videos, especially your videos that explain the history of various artists. I really would love to see an Artist History about "Chippy", he's one of my favorite Magic artists!

I used to play a RW deck built around the card Transcendence, and I actually played Goblin Game in it. You bid "99 quadrillion", Transcendence triggers to make you gain life, then you respond by destroying Transcendence and now you have an arbitrarily large amount of life!

I remembered this video from back in the day when I was building my jodah archmage eternal deck and got a copy of the card for it. I now consider any game I get to cooy this spell with something like dual caster mage or swarm intelligence a personal satisfaction greater than most of magic

I don't even play magic or plan on starting, just love your vids. Keep up the good work.

Well-written, Sam! :D I really enjoyed this one!

Super well made as always!

Still my favourite video. All of the are good but this one is amazing

Goblin Game + Wound Reflection seems like a winning combo in the situations you mentioned, although your Rube Goldberg machine was pretty fun, as well.

Amazing RU-vid channel! Loving your content!

I just bought a Mystery Booster box for a draft session. I decided to open a pack just for fun... and pulled a Goblin Game. Wish I had left it for the draft. I would have been mind blown just because I had no idea it had been reprinted in the set.

I am a very casual magic player, yet I find your videos so amusing... please keep em coming :D

"Many take the lobster for granite" may be the greatest flavor text of all time.

thanks for the great content ive seen all of your videos and i check your channel everyday for new vids :)

I get so engaged in your videos that I sometimes forget to click the like button. :) Keep up the good work.

I'm thinking of intervention pact and goblin game If that works that would be fun.

i love this card and have used it in may decks. currently it is doing excelent work in my neheb the eternal deck. nothing spells end of the game like a goblin game in the first main phase and a fireball in the second main.

I said it once and I'll say it again: Your videos are very interesting and really well edited. As someone who doesn't even play Magic, I find myself compelled to view your videos just because the history and the intricacies of the game are explained by you in such an interesting way. Some of my favorite videos by you are the ones in the "Magic Art" series. Keep up the fantastic work.

You don't need to hide 16000 objects to win the Goblin Game scenario. Transcendance gives you 2 life for each life lost, so 8000 life lost is enough to deal 16000 damage. However, we can still do better! Your opponent will lose life as a result of the Goblin Game. After a bit of maths, it turns out that 5333 objects is enough to guarantee a win. If your opponent bids less, they'll lose half their life and your 5333 life lost turned into 10666 life gained turned into 10666 cards turned into 10666 damage is enough to finish them off. If they bid just enough to beat your bid, they'll lose at least 5334 life putting them at 10666. You'll lose the Goblin Game (and half your life total: 0, per various rulings), but 10666 life is exactly how much damage Niv-Mizzet will deal after your life loss has been transformed into card draw.

Really enjoyed this one! Keep it up

Well I’m totally getting this card for edh! First I have to make a goblin tribal deck sooo fun!

I love these videos. Typo detected in the subtitles: 5:59 Press Talwalkar (should be Presh, since it's already written)

Probably my fav magic card! So much fun!!!

Great video as always.

I love that you talked about my favorite card

Awesome video can't wait for the next one

I've never played magic and I can't stop watching these vids

When i sold all my cards I got rid of everything except my 4 vintage decks and my collection of 240ish goblin games it's easily my favorite card. From a design standpoint and flavor it feels great and the art is awesome

I am SO Hyped for the Black Lotus video I sadly can't pledge money because of some card issues (err credit card) but regardless, I am a huge fan and I hope you hit that milestone! You're honestly one of the best content creators on this site in my opinion.

I love you man please never stop

Wonderful video. I've never played Magic nor do I plan to, but this was highly interesting and entertaining nonetheless.

Great video Sam!

When I got mine. I immediately put it in my Grenzo deck. Now I am even more excited to play the card

You should cover Mage's contest too! That card is basically my favorite, it's the best burn spell ever made!

I run Goblin Game in Neheb. You make everyone lose tons of life then earthquake everyone to 0

This is my all time favorite card. Goblin Game with hive mind on the table = goblin game show. That was my favorite win in edh

Yes! Thank you Sam!

My EDH playgroup know this card very well over time. One time, in a 6 player game, while playing mono-red, I protected 3 copies of Goblin Game (Fury of the Horde pre-Goblin Game) against 3 counterspells. People had no idea how to play against three copies and people lost more than 70% of their life when the smoke settled. You want to know why I love that spell? The commander of that deck is Ashling The Pilgrim. People being low is to my advantage.

Great video sam!

This, Goblin Game, along with Illicit Auction, should of been in Battlebond. Along with Coil Flipping, choice cards are always fun, Charms, Browbeat, Gift Ungiven, Breaking Point, Book Burning, Fatespinner, Fatal Lore, Guided Passage, Braids, Chainer's Edict, Truth or Tale.. the raw 50/50 nature of these cards are amazing.

It's the best thing in Greven, Predator Captain. When I first introduced this card in my playgroup, people freaked out. One guy bet 20. One guy bet 18. The other bet 25. I bet one. This made me lose half of my life, rounded up. And thus, Greven smote for 25 commander damage, utterly obliterating the other player. The rest remained on such low life totals that eating them next turn was assured. The other time I cast Goblin Game, everybody bet 2... Except me, who bet 3. This card is easily one of the best pieces from old sets. Mind-game possibilities are nigh on endless.

A friend of mine was playing krenko down to 1 v 1 with a board wipe just cast. He had jaya in play and his opponent was at around 5 life. He pinned him with Jays hitting him to 3. Then cast goblin game. His opponent had to hide one thing so he went to 1. Then because my friend hid 2 they died to the half your life part. Goblin game has not been removed from the deck since.

I went to make this comment when I first watched this, and by the time I scrolled down, the video had been deleted lol. Anyways, once again Sam never fails to completely change my perspective on magic with one of the single most intriguing videos on this channel yet. With a little bit of math and a lot of logic, you gave a new definition to a card that always feels chaotic and clunky. Once I finished this video, I had to sit back and take in everything and ponder it for a minute or two, and that says a lot about the information rich society that we live in. Keep up the outstanding work for this amazing game! Also you can say you are hiding exactly 16000 electrons, just by putting your phone or something similar under the table

great vid as always

0:05 as a member of the Goblin Bowling Team, 1:10 on the microphone, 1:25 on the Mosswort Bridge, 1:53 on the book, 2:43 a stretched Squee can be seen on the Mox Emerald, 4:59 on one of the Goblin Kaboomist's bombs. All I got so far.

One (squee)in the background of goblin bowling team. One on the bridge of mosswort bridge. One on he book that flys past the goblin in the middle of the screen at 1:53. One in the emerald of mox emerald. One in the bottom left of one of the videos of Sam talking(the one where he is holding a guttersnipe). One in the backpack of the goblin with the bombs. That's all I've got

I have a Daretti "joke" edh deck with a lot of in cards. This card is in it and it has won me games

This channel + unstable is my favorite

Great video sir. Just started watching this year. You had me with the One with nothing video.

A Nash Equilibrium isn't about bringing everyone else down with you. Quite the opposite - it is the best possible outcome for yourself given options. If everyone is following their own Nash Equilibrium - this is the best outcome possible for everyone involved without hurting anyone else in the game. A strong nash equilibrium is pareto efficient, which means that everyone is doing their best and no one can be made better off without hurting someone in the game. Whoever told you this about Nash Equilibrium needs to rethink what economics is attempting to teach them.

Sam, listen to me! Your channel is by far the best MTG content available... You are simply setting a higher standard in terms of reach and entertainment with videos that are interesting for veterans and new players (myself). Keep up. Cheers

Hot damn this channels editing is SUBLIME. I'd love to see behind the scenes on how it's done.

Now I need this for my krenko commander deck.

My brother pulled this card when we were young. It did not make the cut for his Goblin Deck though :P I will show this video to him in order to try and reignite his spark. Can you please make an art video about the "newcomer" Magali Villeneuve? With her version of Huntmaster of the Fells being the "front card" in the newly released FtV Transform i think it is perfect time to talk about her way depicting high fantasy. With Leovold, Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh, Dulcet Sirens, Sylvan Safekeeper her pieces seem to immediately catch my attention. Your work is appreciated! Have a nice day

When searching for Goblin Game there are few strange things. First the image google suggests is Grip of Chaos. Second, in Gatherer Goblin Game is named "Goblin-Roulette". Really a crazy card.