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Goblin Sharpshooter

Creature — Goblin

This creature doesn't untap during your untap step.
Whenever a creature dies, untap this creature.
{T}: This creature deals 1 damage to any target.

CMC
3
Mana cost
{2}{R}
Color identity
R
Rarity
rare
Set
World Championship Decks 2003
Price
$20.08
EDHREC rank
#3765
Buy on TCGplayer
Goblin Sharpshooter card art
Goblin Sharpshooter is a board-control engine that untaps every time any creature dies, turning a single token sweep into a full table wipe if you have enough targets. Pair it with Basilisk Collar and it kills anything regardless of toughness; in Wort, Boggart Auntie builds it pulls double duty as both a removal machine and a Goblin tribal piece worth recurring.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

01
Wort, Boggart Auntie

Wort, Boggart Auntie

40.4% of decks · synergy 0.39

Wort, Boggart Auntie wants Goblin Sharpshooter because it dies on purpose — sacrifice it to feed Wort's recursion engine, then get it back and do it again, all while picking off X/1s on the way out.

02
Taii Wakeen, Perfect Shot

Taii Wakeen, Perfect Shot

37.9% of decks · synergy 0.37

Taii Wakeen, Perfect Shot turns every Goblin Sharpshooter activation that deals exactly 1 damage into a triggered bonus, making the Sharpshooter's chain-untap loops exponentially more threatening as the death triggers stack up.

03
Muxus, Goblin Grandee

Muxus, Goblin Grandee

37.2% of decks · synergy 0.33

Muxus, Goblin Grandee floods the board with Goblins on resolution, and Goblin Sharpshooter converts that token mass into a immediate removal battery — every Goblin that enters and dies to blockers just reloads the gun.

05
Kelsien, the Plague

Kelsien, the Plague

30.5% of decks · synergy 0.30

Kelsien, the Plague and Goblin Sharpshooter share the same job description — kill creatures to grow an experience counter — so running both means twice the vectors for accruing counters and locking down creature-heavy boards.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

FormatVerdict
commander legal
legacy legal
modern not legal
pioneer not legal
standard not legal
vintage legal
pauper not legal
oathbreaker legal

Commander is where Goblin Sharpshooter does its best work: three opponents means three boards full of potential untap triggers, and the format's token-heavy meta gives it near-constant reload opportunities. Legacy and Vintage allow it, but a three-mana creature that needs other creatures to die before it generates value is too slow and too parasitic for those formats' game plans. Modern, Pioneer, Standard, and Pauper are all off the table. Oathbreaker is technically legal, and a 60-card singleton format with frequent token generation could support it, but the real home is always the 100-card multiplayer table.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

4,927 decks
Goblin SharpshooterGorgon's Head

Goblin SharpshooterGorgon's Head

Destroy all creatures opponents control; From now on, destroy any creatures opponents control at instant speed; Lock

View on Commander Spellbook ↗
2,166 decks
Goblin SharpshooterGorgon Flail

Goblin SharpshooterGorgon Flail

Destroy all creatures opponents control; From now on, destroy any creatures opponents control at instant speed; Lock

View on Commander Spellbook ↗

Budget Alternatives

Cheaper options that do most of the same work

There's no direct budget replacement for Goblin Sharpshooter — the untap-on-death trigger is unique — but Grim Initiate and similar pingers let you trade in a creature for guaranteed death triggers at a fraction of the cost, feeding sacrifice synergies even if they can't loop. If the goal is repeatable 1-damage pings, Vithian Stinger and similar tap-for-damage creatures approximate the removal function without the chain-untap ceiling, at well under a dollar each.

Price Context

Current price

$20.08 premium tier

At $20.08, Goblin Sharpshooter sits in premium territory for a combo piece — justified by its uniqueness, since nothing else untaps on every death trigger across the table. It's been stable at this price tier because the effect is genuinely irreplaceable in Goblin builds and deathtouch-pinger shells, so there's no real ceiling risk of a cheaper reprint making it obsolete.

Explore

Sources

Mentioned

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Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.