This week challenge is about the Goblin Mech. And it comes with an interesting question : is that a card for novice ?
Well to my opinion most common cards are weaker than the one specific to one element. You can usually find better card for lower mana cost. For example alternative to the Goblin Mech :

in Water element the Sea Monter as the same attack strength but the valuable healing ability, and it cost 2 mana less
in the Earth element the Nectar Queen I covered last week comes with same attack strength for lower cost
in Death element the Undead Minotaur has more attack strength for a lower cost.

So the Goblin Mech is a good investment for novice as it provides a good tank for any element, but once you start having good element specific alternatives it is time to shift.

When Goblin Mech worth considering

However even with a collection of element specific tanks, there are still few setting where the Goblin Mech deserves to be considered.
Life elements for example doesn’t have tank with high attack strength. Therefore I often use the Goblin Mech when playing life splinter.
In game with high mana cap it is often a good move to deploy to tanks.
In game with Super-sneaky or Melee Mayhem, the Goblin Mech’s 4 attack strength can come handy. This is an example of game leveraging this idea.
Game with Armored up setting gave the piercing ability of the Goblin some extra power. This is ever more true if combine with lost or week magic. This is the kind of setup I will take as example

Example of usage

setting

Mana cap: 42
Armored up
Lost magic

My line up

the melee monsters

Goblin Mack Lvl 3
Molten Ogre Lvl 3
This is my standard combo for hight mana cap game with the fire element. Puting the Ogre in second line allows to distrube the enemy attach as long as possible, and still have a decent tanks once the Goblin fall.

Long range & support

Creeping Ooze Lvl 3
Fire spitter Lvl 2
Pyromencer Lvl 1
Ettin Spearman Lvl 3

This provide a nice 7 attack strength. Also the Ettin Spearman has the piercing ability which is always nice to have in game with armored up setup

How it played out

Interestingly enough my opponent also had a Goblin mech on the front line:

Initially my opponent had more attack strength but it was divided between sneak & snipe attack, which means my tank could survive longer time and deal higher damages.

I won while losing only the Creeping Ooze and Goblin Mech