Speed Over Brains!
Art:Krenko, Mob Boss
by Karl Kopinski
Table of Contents
Todays Featured Commander Is:
Krenko is a classic EDH commander and has been the fear of many casual tables for a long time, since Krenko came out he has been the quintessential goblin commander, and as time has gone on and more and more support cards have been printed Krenko has only gotten better. The 2023 version of Krenko is a fast and efficeint creature deck that can end opponents games in a blink of an eye doing an absolutely crazy amount of damage from not that much resources!
The Deck:
Krenko Goblins!
Why Krenko, Mob Boss?
Krenko is one of the best Goblin / Mono-Red commander in EDH, Krenkos aggressive ability to produce an absolutely crazy amount of tokens combined with ways to untap + payoffs Krenko can be a key piece in helping us to win the game. Krenko is the biggest and best value engine in our deck and is also a key piece of our many infinite combos. Krenko can come down early and have a huge impact on the game, he is the clear best choice for goblin commanders in EDH!
Deck Overview:
Since we are a goblin deck we have a bunch of super cheap creatures that can come down really early, even though most of our creatures are small a bunch of them have helpful abilities as well as ways to buff other goblins! One of our small goblins that hits hard is Goblin Lackey
which can come down early and give us a free goblin, whether this is a larger goblin like Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
or something smaller like a Skirk Prospector
goblin lackey can be a great value engine that will allow us to free cast permanents which is never a bad thing! Ardoz, Cobbler of War
is a great card at really any stage of the game, while this card becomes busted when you activate Krenko this card can be great when you have ways to untap krenko and can do it in the face of blocks and this card is also awesome when you are on the attack! Witty Roastmaster
may not be a goblin but he can do an absolute ton of damage with Krenko on the field being able to tap Krenko and deal that much damage to each opponent can help us end games without ever having to go to combat! Since we are in Mono-Red card draw and cycling through the deck is not the easiest thing to do, Goblin Ringleader
is a great card that allows us to get all of the goblins from the top 4 of our library in testing this hit typically 3-4 goblins and was always a great card to play whether on curve or late-game. Goblin Recruiter
is the ultimate piece of fixing for our deck we can search our library for any number of goblin cards and put them on top in the order we choose, this card is often not best played on turn 2 but later when we have enough mana and can fix our draws for the rest of the game. Pashalik Mons
is a great card since when a goblin dies we can do 1 to any target whether the goblins die by blocking or attacking this can be a great way to kill pesky flying or creatures or even just hurt our opponents more!
Our spell package is where a bunch of our interaction and direct damage comes from, one of the classic goblin cards is Goblin Grenade
which at the cost of goblin can hit any target for 5, in testing I typically used this to deal with annoying creatures / commanders. We don’t have a ton of ways to draw cards outside of our turns draw but Faithless Looting
and Cathartic Reunion
are great ways for us to draw a lot of cards early, the cost of discard doesn’t really matter that much since there are a lot of great targets like Squee. Goblin War Strike
and Mob Justice
are both great ways to deal direct damage to our opponents, this can be great especially after a couple taps of krenko. Burn at the Stake
is the best direct damage spell in our deck and if we have even a small amount of creatures can do an absolute ton of damage, this card is really a finisher and can end games very quickly!
Our artifact package is a little atypical for most EDH decks since there is an absence of staples like Sol Ring
since we have a low average mana cost we don’t need many rocks and can focus on value for krenko untaps. Our best ways to untap krenko are Sting, the Glinting Dagger
since we can untap krenko every combat, this makes going all in on an attack on our turn a very viable option. Illusionist's Bracers
is a great card since it allows us to have two krenko abilities per tap, if this lands and can stick for one or two full turns the game is pretty much over! Altar of the Brood
can be a great way for us to mass mill our opponents especially with a lot of krenko untaps, we very rarely ever mill anyone out but it can be great to take away opponents resources! Since we are a mono-red deck and drawing cards are not our strong suit Skullclamp
is our best card draw engine and two cards for the cost of 1 and a goblin token is a great tradeoff! For our combat wins we have Obelisk of Urd
and Coat of Arms
both of which can buff our creatures like crazy and create a really easy combat win!
Our enchantment package is the real deal, it features our biggest hate card and a bunch of great damage outlets! For our biggest hate card we have Blood Moon
which can be an absolute bomb against really any multicolor deck or any deck that packs a bunch of nonbasic lands, Blood moon can really shut down any lands strategy and work effectively against any deck since most have nonbasics. Impact Tremors
, Goblin Bombardment
and Raid Bombardment
are great damage dealers for us and allow us to win very quickly, with ways to untap krenko this can get out of hand in just 1 or 2 turns! Shared Animosity
is a great combat card and can get out of hand really quickly, while our goblins don’t naturally have trample or any other evasive abilities we can deal a ton of damage through sheer overwhelming force! While we don’t have a ton of evasion our best and really only piece of evasion is Goblin War Drums
which gives all of our goblins menace when combined with any of our buffs it can be a very quick game-ender.
Our land base is quite simple with a whole 30 mountains, we only have 3 nonbasics so lets discuss them all! Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
is a great way for us to generate a ton of mana which can be a great outlet if we have our draw engine going. Castle Embereth
is a great land since it buffs our creatures, this is not often activated in testing but more stats can never hurt! Hall of the Bandit Lord
for the most part this is almost exclusively used for Krenko so we can get a hasty cast and start tapping Krenko!
Strengths of the Deck:
- Various ways to combo
- Easy to make a crazy amount of creatures
- Many ways to do non-combat damage
Weaknesses of the Deck:
- Weak to creature hate
- Being in Mono-Red not a ton of ways to draw cards
- Being in Mono-Red limited on interaction we have
Deck Stats:
Sample Hands:
Main Win Conditions:
Our main win condition is through combat and using buffs like Shared Animosity or Coat of Arms. Additionally we have many noncombat ways to win like Krenko + Impact Tremors or Goblin Bombardment or Purphoros, God of the Forge
. In addition to all of these ways to win we also have some infinite combos!
Krenko, Mob Boss + Sword of the Paruns
+ Mana Echoes
Result: Infinite colorless mana. Infinite creature tokens. Infinite ETB. Infinite tap triggers.
Requires: All permanents on the battlefield. Sword of the Paruns attached to Krenko. You control at least one additional Goblin. Krenko does not have summoning sickness.
Steps: Activate Krenko by tapping it, creating at least two 1/1 Goblin tokens. The Goblins enter the battlefield, triggering Mana Echoes at least two times, adding at least CCCC. Activate Sword of the Paruns by paying 3, untapping Krenko. Repeat.
Krenko, Mob Boss + Skirk Prospector + Goblin Warchief
Result: Infinite creature tokens with haste. Infinite red mana. Infinite ETB. Infinite LTB. Infinite death triggers. Infinite sacrifice triggers. Infinite storm count. Infinite commander casts.
Requires: All permanents on the battlefield. Krenko is your commander. You control a number of Goblins that is equal to or greater than six plus Krenko’s commander tax.
Steps: Activate Krenko by tapping it, creating a number of 1/1 Goblin creature tokens equal to the number of Goblins you control. Activate Skirk Prospector by sacrificing Krenko, adding R. Choose to return Krenko to the command zone from your graveyard. Activate Skirk Prospector by sacrificing a Goblin, adding R. Repeat step 4 until you have enough mana to cast Krenko. Cast Krenko from the command zone by paying 2RR plus commander tax. Repeat.
Krenko, Mob Boss + Skirk Prospector + Goblin Chieftain
Result: Infinite creature tokens with haste. Infinite red mana. Infinite ETB. Infinite LTB. Infinite death triggers. Infinite sacrifice triggers. Infinite storm count. Infinite commander casts.
Requires: All permanents on the battlefield. Krenko is your commander. You control a number of Goblins that is equal to or greater than six plus Krenko’s commander tax.
Steps: Activate Krenko by tapping it, creating a number of 1/1 Goblin creature tokens equal to the number of Goblins you control. Activate Skirk Prospector by sacrificing Krenko, adding R. Choose to return Krenko to the command zone from your graveyard. Activate Skirk Prospector by sacrificing a Goblin, adding R. Repeat step 4 until you have enough mana to cast Krenko. Cast Krenko from the command zone by paying 2RR plus commander tax. Repeat.
Skirk Prospector + Pashalik Mons + Mana Echoes
Result: Infinite ETB. Infinite LTB. Infinite death triggers. Infinite damage. Infinite tokens.
Requires: All permanents on the battlefield with an extra goblin and 3R available
Steps: Activate Pashalik, creating 2 tokens and pinging for 1. Echoes trigger, floating at least Cx8 (this amount will increase with each activation). Sacrifice one token to Skirk, floating R + Cx8. Repeat
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker + Zealous Conscripts
Result: Infinite creature tokens with haste. Infinite ETB. Infinite LTB. Infinite sacrifice triggers. Infinite death triggers.
Requires: All permanents on the battlefield.
Steps: Activate Kiki-Jiki by tapping it, creating a token copy of Zealous Conscripts. The Zealous Conscripts token enters the battlefield, untapping Kiki-Jiki. Repeat.
Conclusion:
In Conclusion I think that Krenko is one of the best options for both mono-red and goblins in EDH, Krenko allows for fast explosive games as well as easily rebuilding since Krenko is really a one man army! Krenkos ability combined with damaging red spells can end games super early and allows us to play almost as a burn deck.
Thanks for reading to the end!