“I was born into a nation of despair and I alone am the remedy.”
Art:Kenrith, the Returned King
by Kieran Yanner
Table of Contents
Today’s Featured Commander Is:
Kenrith is coming at you fast as anything. This is an adaptive combo-focused deck typically focusing on Hermit Druid combos, but we do also feature classic CEDH combos like Cephalid Breakfast, Underworld Breach, and Thoracle lines. Kenrith is one of my favorite commanders in casual EDH and a card I knew was popular in CEDH but isn’t very popular or played anymore. I have been having a blast testing this with my playgroup, and it is still an extremely strong deck; while we aren’t great against Stax, graveyard hate, or long grindy strategies, we are well positioned against a number of decks in the format. I am very excited to showcase this one today; without further adieu, let’s get it!
The Deck:
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Kenrith, the Returned King Druid Combo!
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Why Kenrith, The Returned King?
Outside of grindy games, we almost never cast Kenrith; they are primarily here for the five-color identity, but in the event, a game does go long, the various abilities can be strong and still allow us to pressure and threaten our opponents. Kenrith doesn’t have a huge role in the
Deck Overview:
This section contains information about cards in the deck and how they function within the deck! I also highlighted some of my favorite cards in the deck! The infinite combos and loops in the deck are listed below in the “Main Win Conditions” Section.
Creatures:
We have a ton of strong one-mana ramp like Noble Hierarch
, Ignoble Hierarch
, and Elves of Deep Shadow
which are all great creatures that can be “pod”-ed up to get combo creatures and provide some strong early game colored mana. Dauthi Voidwalker
is an amazing way to shutdown other graveyard based-strategies.
Battles:
Sadly Invasion of Ikoria // Zilortha, Apex of Ikoria
cannot fetch Hermit Druid
but is a great way to grab many of our other combo pieces like Nomads en-Kor
or Cephalid Illusionist
and get them straight to the battlefield because it cant grab druid many decks don’t run this but I found it to be still quite strong and a great additional tutor for the deck.
Instants:
If graveyard hate comes down Memory's Journey
is a great way to protect combo pieces or key cards that we have already milled. Because of the low cost of the deck, we get a ton of value out of Ad Nauseam
and can easily go through a large majority of the deck without too much of a life penalty. Veil of Summer
, Autumn's Veil
, and Silence
are great ways to protect our combos when we go off. We also have some cheap counterspells like Force of Will
, Pact of Negation
and Mental Misstep
, which allow us to combo off with ease.
Sorceries:
Our sorcery package has a ton of strong tutors that help us get to the ultimate goal of comboing off and getting the win. Green Sun's Zenith
, Finale of Devastation
and Imperial Seal
are great ways to grab our combo pieces. We also have some strong creature-based tutors like Neoform
and Eldritch Evolution
, which are all strong ways to “pod” our creatures up and find one of our combos. I love Postmortem Lunge
in the deck because if we have a key creature die to removal and just need their effect for a turn or if we need to recur a combo creature.
Artifacts:
Oop’s all mana rocks in our artifact package; all of these help with comboing off and allow us to get access to a ton of mana very early in the game. This allows us to go off on the second or third turn. We are lighter on artifacts than most decks, and that is so we have more protection and tutors for the combos.
Enchantments:
We aren’t running Rhystic Study
because it is generally too slow for the deck and we still get a ton of card draw value out of Mystic Remora
. Sylvan Library
is another amazing enchantment that gives us card selection and up to three draws a turn, a great way to cycle through the deck for combo pieces or tutors.
Land Base:
There isn’t a ton to say about our land base. We are running a ton of the original dual lands and a ton of fetches, as well as some strong utility lands like Mana Confluence
and City of Brass
. Gemstone Caverns
is a great land that can help combo off very early. We are, of course, running no basics, which does make us weaker to cards like Assassin's Trophy
, but we have to run no basics because of the Hermit Druid combo. I found this landbase to be strong and efficient for the deck.
Strengths of the Deck:
- We are extremely fast, and because of the large amount of combos in the deck, we can easily go off in the first few turns.
- We have quite a bit of cheap and free protection for our combos.
- Our combos are extremely consistent and easy to learn/master; after just a few games, you can master the lines and how and when to go for them.
Weaknesses of the Deck:
- We are quite to graveyard hate like Grafdigger's Cage
or Rest in Peace since all of our combos revolve around the graveyard. - We are not great against grindy decks that attempt to make the game long.
- Because the deck is focused on going off fast and early we need to mulligan extremely aggressively.
Deck Stats:
Sample Hands:
Main Win Conditions:
We have a ton of strong combos in the deck and the combos are our main win condition. Below are the combos in the deck explained.
Demonic Consultation
/ Tainted Pact
and Thassa's Oracle
.
- Cast Thassa’s Oracle
- Hold Priority on the ETB and cast Demonic Consultation/Tainted Pact exiling your entire library
- The ETB resolves and you have more blue devotion compared to the cards in your deck so you win the game
Cephalid Illusionist + Nomads en-Kor
Requires:
Cephalid Illusionist must be on the battlefield. Nomads en-Kor must be on the battlefield.
Steps:
- Pay 0 to Nomads en-Kor targeting Cephalid Illusionist.
- Mill 3.
- Repeat.
Results:
Infinite self-mill.
Hermit Druid combo
- Cast Hermit Druid
- Use Hermit Druid’s ability putting your entire deck into your graveyard because there are no basics in the deck
- Narcomoeba triggers and goes onto the battlefield
- Flashback Dread Return targeting Thassa's Oracle
- Thassa's Oracle ETB’s The ETB resolves and you have more blue devotion compared to the cards in your deck so you win the game.
Underworld Breach
+ Lion's Eye Diamond
+ Wheel of Fortune
Requires:
Underworld Breach must be on the battlefield. Lion’s Eye Diamond must be on the battlefield. Wheel of Fortune must be in the graveyard. You have at least six other cards in hand and/or graveyard.
Steps:
- Activate Lion’s Eye Diamond by discarding your hand and sacrificing it, adding RRR.
- Cast Wheel of Fortune from your graveyard for its escape cost by paying 2R and exiling 3 cards from your graveyard.
- Resolve Wheel of Fortune, causing each player to discard their hand and draw seven cards.
- Cast Lion’s Eye Diamond from your graveyard for its escape cost by exiling 3 cards from your graveyard.
- Repeat.
Results:
Infinite draw triggers. Infinite looting. Infinite looting for opponents. Near-infinite storm count.
Underworld Breach + Lion's Eye Diamond + Brain Freeze
Requires:
Underworld Breach must be on the battlefield. Lion’s Eye Diamond must be on the battlefield. Brain Freeze must be in the graveyard. You have at least six other cards in hand and/or graveyard.
Steps:
- Activate Lion’s Eye Diamond by discarding your hand and sacrificing it, adding UUU.
- Cast Lion’s Eye Diamond from your graveyard for its escape cost by exiling three cards besides Brain Freeze from your graveyard.
- Cast Brain Freeze from your graveyard for its escape cost by paying 1U and exiling three cards from your graveyard.
- Brain Freeze’s storm ability triggers, creating at least one copy of Brain Freeze targeting yourself, and any remaining copies targeting an opponent.
- Resolve each Brain Freeze, causing yourself to mill six cards and, if applicable, an opponent to mill three cards for each Brain Freeze remaining.
- Repeat.
Results:
Infinite self-mill. Near-infinite colored mana. Near-infinite magecraft triggers. Near-infinite mill. Near-infinite storm count.
Conclusion:
Kenrith is a very sweet commander and one of my favorites for casual EDH; I think Kenrith isn’t talked about much anymore in CEDH, but they can be built in various ways and strategies and can still be quite strong. I have been having a blast with this deck, and it can combo off super early in the game and go off with additional protection. Kenrith is such a cool commander, and who doesn’t love five-color?! Thanks for reading to the end and for all of your support!