Mainboard (60)
Creatures (17)
Instants (8)
Sorceries (9)
Artifacts (2)
Lands (24)
Gruul Goblins is a fast tribal aggro deck that can overwhelm you with Goblin Lackey on turn one and close quickly with Goblin Piledriver and Siege-Gang Commander. Engineered Plague naming Goblin shuts down their entire board presence, neutralizing Piledriver, Warchief, and Ringleader simultaneously — it is the most impactful card in the matchup. Spinning Darkness provides additional cheap removal for early threats like Lackey, conveniently exiling rather than putting cards into the graveyard. Cursed Scroll is too slow and mana-intensive against their explosive starts, and Smother loses some value since Goblin Warchief and Siege-Gang Commander are out of range, while Plaguebearer is redundant with Engineered Plague. Priority use Cabal Therapy and Duress to strip Goblin Lackey or Goblin Matron before they resolve, and Withered Wretch disrupts any Goblin Ringleader chain by exiling the graveyard at instant speed.
Mono-Blue Stiflenought aims to land a Phyrexian Dreadnought by using Stifle to counter the sacrifice trigger, creating a 12/12 trample for just one mana. Your discard suite of Duress and Cabal Therapy is excellent here — strip Stifle and counterspells before committing threats to the board. Knight of Stromgald loses most of its value since there is no White to protect against, so bring in Spinning Darkness as a free instant-speed answer to the Dreadnought if one resolves. Hypnotic Specter is your best threat since it dodges Smother and pressures their hand; protect it through their counterspells by clearing the way with discard first. Wasteland can attack their Island-heavy manabase and disrupt their ability to hold up Counterspell and Foil simultaneously.
The mirror match is decided by discard advantage and board presence — whoever lands Hypnotic Specter first and protects it typically wins. Both players have identical discard suites, so Cabal Therapy becomes a guessing game; name Hypnotic Specter or Nantuko Shade on the blind flip if you can, and use Duress to clear the path before committing a threat. The second Plaguebearer gives you a clean answer to a resolved Specter or Shade without trading a real card. Cursed Scroll is cut because the mirror often stabilizes into a board stall where mana is better spent on threats and the Scroll's activation cost bleeds you dry. Knight of Stromgald is your best threat here since protection from black prevents Smother and Diabolic Edict, so prioritize keeping it alive.