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Goblin Chainwhirler’s presence has a kind of cascade effect simply due to all of these specific interactions. As a card, it cuts off strategies of deckbuilding. Watching the past two days, the story of Pro Tour Dominaria was not about interesting decks and excellent players. Instead, it was all about how the world of pro players were attempting to adapt to a tournament where entire strategies were cut off.

This isn’t wholly out of the ordinary. Formats of Magic play are often dominated by particular strategies afforded by specific cards. Ramunap Ruins produced a similar effect during 2017, and in 2016 we saw an “Eldrazi Winter” in the Modern format due to both Eldrazi Temple and Eye of Ugin. Cards are printed, strategies evolve, and the game keeps on ticking.

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I have no doubt that either the metagame will shift or Wizards of the Coast will ban a card (they’ve proven themselves more than willing to adjust a metagame this way). Whatever happens, Goblin Chainwhirler has served a game design lesson about what the real costs of building around a triple-red card are (there don’t seem to be many) and how much giving a good card a big, splashy effect impacts the game (a massive amount).

I have to admit that I’m proud of this little goblin for being so big and special. After all, she’s rendered over 1,500 cards null and void.