Goblin King
Creature — Goblin
Other Goblins get +1/+1 and have mountainwalk.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- R
- Rarity
- rare
- Set
- Fourth Edition Foreign Black Border
- Price
- $34.99
- EDHREC rank
- #3348
Goblin King hands every Goblin on your board mountainwalk and a +1/+1 pump for three mana — in a red deck against red players, that's a game-ending evasion package stapled to a lord. It slots cleanly into Muxus, Goblin Grandee lists as one of the best hits off a Muxus trigger, turning a token flood into an unblockable alpha strike.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Muxus, Goblin Grandee
Muxus, Goblin Grandee prizes Goblin King because flipping it off a Muxus activation immediately grants mountainwalk to every Goblin already in play, converting the token avalanche into lethal damage through any red opponent's defenses.
Wort, Boggart Auntie
Wort, Boggart Auntie lists run Goblin King as a reliable lord that also punishes the red-heavy metas where Wort thrives, and Wort's recursion means losing Goblin King to removal is a minor setback rather than a tempo crater.
Krenko, Mob Boss
Krenko, Mob Boss generates a critical mass of tokens fast enough that Goblin King's mountainwalk turns an overwhelming board into an unblockable one — any red opponent simply can't block the swarm.
General Kreat, the Boltbringer
General Kreat, the Boltbringer leans on Goblins connecting with opponents, and Goblin King's mountainwalk makes that a near-certainty against the red decks that dominate the format.
Grub, Storied Matriarch
Grub, Storied Matriarch wants cheap Goblins to chain through the graveyard, and Goblin King at three mana provides enough power on entry that it earns its spot alongside more aggressively costed lords.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Commander is where Goblin King does its best work — the format's multiplayerenvironment guarantees at least one red opponent in most pods, and mountainwalk against a single player is often enough to push through lethal. In Legacy, Goblin King is legal but too slow and too dependent on opponents playing Mountains to compete with the format's faster Goblin synergies. Vintage and Legacy both have access to it, but neither wants a three-mana lord with conditional evasion when faster threats exist. Pioneer, Standard, and Pauper don't have access to Goblin King at all.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Budget Alternatives
Cheaper options that do most of the same work
Goblin Trashmaster and Goblin Chieftain both cost under $1 and give your Goblins a meaningful stat bump without the mountainwalk rider — Chieftain's haste is often more immediately impactful than evasion that only works against red opponents. If the mountainwalk specifically is the draw, know that it's dead text against non-red decks, so Goblin King's value drops sharply in metas without heavy red presence.
Price Context
Current price
$34.99 premium tier
At $34.99, Goblin King sits in premium territory — expensive for a lord whose core evasion ability is conditional on opponents playing Mountains. The price reflects its vintage pedigree and casual demand rather than raw power, so it's a hard sell unless you're chasing the original card specifically.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
- Muxus, Goblin Grandee
- Wort, Boggart Auntie
- Krenko, Mob Boss
- General Kreat, the Boltbringer
- Grub, Storied Matriarch
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.