Challenge #8: Critique

Axxle submitted the following combat-based mechanic for critique:

Brawling Goblin
R
Creature - Goblin
When ~ attacks, you may have it fight target creature.
1/1

This is a simple and elegant trigger.  The flavor implications are quite clear and resonant.  But there's a huge risk in printing a card like this, one which is not entirely obvious without some historical context.  (This overview will be familiar to many Goblin Artisans readers, but I think it'll be interesting to some.)

Over the past several years, R&D has severely cut down on repeatable removal at common.  Let's look at a rough list of cards from Mirrodin that can do repeatable damage to creatures:

Spikeshot Goblin
Viridian Longbow
Granite Shard
Arc-Slogger
Bosh, Iron Golem
Goblin Charbelcher
Triskelion

That's two commons, one uncommon and four rares.  But what happens if we run the same search on its distant descendant, Scars of Mirrodin?

Barrage Ogre
Bloodshot Trainee
Embersmith
Furnace Celebration
Heavy Arbalest
Livewire Lash
Spikeshot Elder
Tower of Calamities
Koth of the Hammer
Molten-Tail Masticore

Five uncommons, three rares, and two mythic rares.  Not much has changed on the high end, since mythic rares didn't exist in the days of the original Mirrodin Block.  But look at the low end: absolutely no repeatable removal at common!  What happened?

Two things happened: first, the New World Order cut down on complexity at common.  Repeatable damage creates complex board states, which slows down gameplay due to analysis paralysis, which Mark Rosewater likes to call "chessiness".

Second, repeatable removal is extremely effective in limited formats.  Common pingers have always been first-pickable.  If the correct move is to always snag Sparksmith or Spikeshot Goblin, drafting becomes algorithmic and repetitive.  (This article may be of interest.  Money quote from Zvi: 'If you think another color is that much better than red, then by all means go ahead and get yourself an "I pass Spikeshot Goblin" T-Shirt.')  That kind of predictability makes draft formats less fun.  Also, notice that the uncommon repeatable damage sources in Scars of Mirrodin are not just "cram this into any deck and win" cards; they require some work to set up.

Brawling Goblin is a potential source of repeatable damage.  In particular, its interactions with auras, equipment, and pump spells are quite powerful.  Slap a Volcanic Strength on this guy on turn two, and your opponent is in a world of hurt.

I have no doubt that Axxle thought about this problem, though, because Brawling Goblin + Volcanic Strength is nowhere near as unbeatable as, say, Spikeshot Goblin + Bonesplitter was.  The Fight trigger will deal damage to Brawling Goblin as well.  Also, it has to attack to function, so a sufficiently large blocker can stop it.  What's more, the fact that Fight triggers on attacking gets rid of most of the analysis paralysis.  There's a lot to admire about this new design.

Still, although Brawling Goblin is not a return to powerful common pingers, it does have the potential to dominate games from a very early turn.  For this reason, I think it is too risky to print at common.