You're a player brand new to the format, looking to break in and play mono red. You quickly find that the best mono-red generals are either boring (Godo) or extremely expensive to put together (Kiki-jiki). Lame. Besides, you're new: your only mono-red legendary creature is that foil Krenko, Mob Boss from your M13 intro pack. Well, fear not my friends! While he might not be able to go infinite like his old friend Kiki-jiki, Mirror Breaker, Krenko can unleash a huge deadly swarm of bloodthirsty goblins with ease, with a deck that costs less to put together than a single copy of Kiki himself. And, if we delve deeper, we can see that not only can Krenko play a Sligh game unique to himself, but he can go infinite too (like a Boss).
First, let's take a look at the anatomy of our chosen commander. He's a 3/3 for :2mana::symr::symr:, already putting him ahead of his mono-red competitors in terms of body size for a svelt cost. The big deal, however, is his tap ability. He taps to make X 1/1 goblin dork, where X is the number of goblins you already control. He always makes 1 dork (he counts himself), and with a good curve can easily be throwing down huge legions of little green men. From that ability, two things immediately leap out to us:
1) Krenko really, really wants haste. Ideally we want to give all our creatures haste, so that Krenko can immediately make dorks the turn he comes down, and those dorks can immediately attack.
2) Krenko can make a lot of creatures very quickly, making him an ideal leader for any engine that requires sacrificing. Krenko alone is a very nice token maker, but with support we can convert his ability into ":symtap:: Pyretic Ritual", ":symtap:: Tidings", ":symtap:: Giant Growth", or any number of other awesome tricks. Let's see the Breaker do that!
I guess that's enough talking for now. Let's see a list!
Stats: Deckstats.net places the deck at a mere $18, with an average CMC of 2.83. Starcity Games places the price at a more believable $49.50.
The Strategy:
At its heart the deck plays like a swarm-out deck. You'll use Krenko, Mob Boss and various token-generating creatures and sorceries to flood the table with angry goblins, then use a variety of stuff to make the 1/1 army a little more dangerous. Creatures with battle cry give a +1/+0 on attack (one of them is even a goblin!). Goblin Chieftain and Goblin King grant +1/+1 and other bonuses, which is great. Shared Animosity is the best card, potentially turning the team into a whirlwind of murder-death. You can give the team haste with the aforementioned Chieftain alongside Fervor, In the Web of War (which grants a power boost to boot!) and Hellraiser Goblin. You can at least give Krenko and maybe one other token haste with the haste boots. You just keep flooding the board, making more men, holding back Krenko and a few utility goblins to keep up the pressure. You can turn the battlefield into a real bloodbath with Warstorm Surge (the mob deals damage as it enters play...) and Boggart Shenanigans (...and hits them again on the way out).
Late game, after you've picked off a foe or two, the deck's finishers can help seal the deal. Tears of Rage can make any creature (especially Krenko) huge for a one-shot attack. Burn at the Stake can easily be popping people for 20+ damage. X-spells can mop up the table. You also have Clickslither and a few big dragons to do the job. Nice, solid, simple, great in a duel, effective in multiplayer.
But then there's plan B.
Krenko can also go infinite. The linchpin of the main combo is Thornbite Staff. Once equipped with it, Krenko untaps whenever any creature dies. This has some horrific applications...
1) Skirk Prospector and Ashnod's Altar sacrifice guys to make mana, generating infinite mana to sink into your X spells or other activated abilities while you generate infinite tokens.
2) Mogg Raider or Goblin Sledder spread out +Infinity/+Infinity to the team. Clickslither gives itself +infinity/+infinity, and it has trample.
3) Goblin Chirugeon puts up regeneration shields...not as exciting. But he helps make the infinite tokens!
That's not the deck's only infinite combo, either. Umbral Mantle or Sword of the Paruns on Krenko with a sacrifice for mana card can also do infinite things. For the Altar, you need 1 other goblin for infinite mana (and +infinity/+infinity for Krenko, is using Mantle), and 2 other goblins for infinite mana and infinite men. Prospector is more dicey, requiring Prospector + Krenko + 1 goblin to get +Inf/+Inf with Mantle, 2 other goblins for infinite mana or infinite tokens, and 3 other goblins to "have it all".
Note that all of the Thornbite Staff combos generate infinite goblins, and that all of these combos can kill someone without attacking or worrying about Aether Flash or Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite if you have Boggart Shenanigans or Warstorm Surge on the battlefield.
Budget Fluctuations: Tweaking the Deck Cheaper Alternatives:
- The first rule of cheaper alternatives: when in doubt, add a goblin. Don't let the goblin + token making count in the deck fall too low. The current list has 32 (including Krenko) and I would be reluctant to go much lower than that. There's plenty of cheap goblins out there, so feel free too slot them in!
- Other budget cards to consider if something in this list is too rich for your blood:
Upgrading the Deck:
First and foremost, the deck wants to get Krenko out fast and thus it is worth strongly considering Ancient Tomb, City of Traitors, and Sol Ring. If you're just getting into the format, Sol Rings should be your first purchase or trade target as they are good in almost every commander deck you can build.
There's also a few more really funny sacrifice engines out there that, while not hugely expensive, were omitted here. Goblin Bombardment is thematically appropriate and very powerful, as is Goblin Warrens.
Goblin Recruiter and Goblin Welder are both uniquely powerful creatures and are widely considered the best goblins ever. They'd both ask you to tweak your deck around a bit to get good mileage out of them (Recruiter wants Goblin Charbelcer, Welder wants more powerful artifacts), but could be worth it. For all the crap I've been giving him, Kiki-jiki is just as good here as he is in any mono-red deck.
Finally, as with most red decks, this deck is lacking card drawing and can vomit its hand onto the field very quickly. Chandra Ablaze, Sensation Gorger, Reforge the Soul, and the epic (and epicly expensive) Wheel of Fortune can help filter your hand and punish more controlling foes, while Gamble can provide another tutor option. Godo, Bandit Warlord isn't too pricey yet and all of your major combo pieces are equipment, so I'd consider him as well.
First, let's take a look at the anatomy of our chosen commander. He's a 3/3 for :2mana::symr::symr:, already putting him ahead of his mono-red competitors in terms of body size for a svelt cost. The big deal, however, is his tap ability. He taps to make X 1/1 goblin dork, where X is the number of goblins you already control. He always makes 1 dork (he counts himself), and with a good curve can easily be throwing down huge legions of little green men. From that ability, two things immediately leap out to us:
1) Krenko really, really wants haste. Ideally we want to give all our creatures haste, so that Krenko can immediately make dorks the turn he comes down, and those dorks can immediately attack.
2) Krenko can make a lot of creatures very quickly, making him an ideal leader for any engine that requires sacrificing. Krenko alone is a very nice token maker, but with support we can convert his ability into ":symtap:: Pyretic Ritual", ":symtap:: Tidings", ":symtap:: Giant Growth", or any number of other awesome tricks. Let's see the Breaker do that!
I guess that's enough talking for now. Let's see a list!
1 Krenko, Mob Boss
Krenko's Turf: 35
1 Sandstone Needle
1 Dwarven Ruins
1 Forgotten Cave
1 Smoldering Crater
1 Goblin Burrows
1 Teetering Peaks
29 Mountain
Krenko's Lieutenants - Swarm Pump Effects: 12
1 Signal Pest
1 Goblin Wardriver
1 Goblin Chieftain
1 Goblin King
1 Caterwauling Boggart
1 Hero of Oxid Ridge
1 Kuldotha Ringleader
1 Quest for the Goblin Lord
1 Boggart Shenanigans
1 Shared Animosity
1 In the Web of War
1 Warstorm Surge
Time is Money - Other Haste-granters: 4
1 Hellraiser Goblin
1 Fervor
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Swiftfoot Boots
1 Goblin Bushwacker
1 Goblin Chiurgeon
1 Goblin Sledder
1 Goblin Taskmaster
1 Mogg Raider
1 Skirk Prospector
1 Arms Dealer
1 Bloodmark Mentor
1 Dragon Fodder
1 Goblin Lookout
1 Krenko's Command
1 Mogg War Marshal
1 Skirk Drill Sergeant
1 Stingscourger
1 Sparksmith
1 Goblin Matron
1 Goblin Ruinblaster
1 Mogg Alarm
1 Spikeshot Goblin
1 Clickslither
1 Horde of Boggarts
1 Ib Halfheart, Goblin Tactician
1 Tuktuk Scrapper
1 Goblin Rally
1 Siege-Gang Commander
1 Voracious Dragon
1 Predator Dragon
1 Goblin Marshal
1 Goblin Offensive
1 Skullclamp
1 Ashnod's Altar
1 Sword of the Paruns
1 Umbral Mantle
1 Thornbite Staff
The Big Goodbye - Finisher Cards: 7
1 Goblin War Strike
1 Tears of Rage
1 Burn at the Stake
1 World at War
1 Fireball
1 Rolling Thunder
1 Comet Storm
Other Utility: 6
1 Brightstone Ritual
1 Aftershock
1 Wayfarer's Bauble
1 Coldsteel Heart
1 Fire Diamond
1 Prismatic Lens
Stats:
Deckstats.net places the deck at a mere $18, with an average CMC of 2.83. Starcity Games places the price at a more believable $49.50.
The Strategy:
Late game, after you've picked off a foe or two, the deck's finishers can help seal the deal. Tears of Rage can make any creature (especially Krenko) huge for a one-shot attack. Burn at the Stake can easily be popping people for 20+ damage. X-spells can mop up the table. You also have Clickslither and a few big dragons to do the job. Nice, solid, simple, great in a duel, effective in multiplayer.
But then there's plan B.
Krenko can also go infinite. The linchpin of the main combo is Thornbite Staff. Once equipped with it, Krenko untaps whenever any creature dies. This has some horrific applications...
It's not infinite, but you can also draw a ton of cards per turn with Skullclamp and Carnage Altar, or blow up the world with Siege-gang Commander or Arms Dealer while still getting ahead on board presence.
That's not the deck's only infinite combo, either. Umbral Mantle or Sword of the Paruns on Krenko with a sacrifice for mana card can also do infinite things. For the Altar, you need 1 other goblin for infinite mana (and +infinity/+infinity for Krenko, is using Mantle), and 2 other goblins for infinite mana and infinite men. Prospector is more dicey, requiring Prospector + Krenko + 1 goblin to get +Inf/+Inf with Mantle, 2 other goblins for infinite mana or infinite tokens, and 3 other goblins to "have it all".
Note that all of the Thornbite Staff combos generate infinite goblins, and that all of these combos can kill someone without attacking or worrying about Aether Flash or Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite if you have Boggart Shenanigans or Warstorm Surge on the battlefield.
Budget Fluctuations: Tweaking the Deck
Cheaper Alternatives:
- The first rule of cheaper alternatives: when in doubt, add a goblin. Don't let the goblin + token making count in the deck fall too low. The current list has 32 (including Krenko) and I would be reluctant to go much lower than that. There's plenty of cheap goblins out there, so feel free too slot them in!
- Other budget cards to consider if something in this list is too rich for your blood:
Upgrading the Deck:
First and foremost, the deck wants to get Krenko out fast and thus it is worth strongly considering Ancient Tomb, City of Traitors, and Sol Ring. If you're just getting into the format, Sol Rings should be your first purchase or trade target as they are good in almost every commander deck you can build.
There's some expensive goblins this deck would love, namely Warren Instigator, Goblin Lackey, Goblin Piledriver, Goblin Warchief, Goblin Sharpshooter, Legion Loyalist, Squee, Goblin Nabob, and Gempalm Incinerator. These are all staples in Legacy goblins and could really supercharge the deck. My first target would be the Warchief as he both grants haste and lets you flood the board faster.
There's also a few more really funny sacrifice engines out there that, while not hugely expensive, were omitted here. Goblin Bombardment is thematically appropriate and very powerful, as is Goblin Warrens.
Goblin Recruiter and Goblin Welder are both uniquely powerful creatures and are widely considered the best goblins ever. They'd both ask you to tweak your deck around a bit to get good mileage out of them (Recruiter wants Goblin Charbelcer, Welder wants more powerful artifacts), but could be worth it. For all the crap I've been giving him, Kiki-jiki is just as good here as he is in any mono-red deck.
You are mono-red, so one role taking on at the table is that of "hater". Stranglehold, Grafdigger's Cage, Null Rod, Blood Moon, Price of Progress, and Magus of the Moon can really put the breaks on a lot of opponents without hurting you at all.
Finally, as with most red decks, this deck is lacking card drawing and can vomit its hand onto the field very quickly. Chandra Ablaze, Sensation Gorger, Reforge the Soul, and the epic (and epicly expensive) Wheel of Fortune can help filter your hand and punish more controlling foes, while Gamble can provide another tutor option. Godo, Bandit Warlord isn't too pricey yet and all of your major combo pieces are equipment, so I'd consider him as well.
RCRDaretti: Superfriends Forever RCR
WGBDoran: Ent-mootWBG
GGGMultani: Group Bear HugGGG
GB(B/G)The Gitrog Monster: Dredgefall DurdleGB(B/G)
RGWGahiji, the Honored Group Hug MonsterRGW
UB(U/B)Yuriko, Ninja Trinket AggroUB(U/B)
WUBRGAtogatog: Assembling a OHKOWUBRG
For doubling Krenko activations, how about Magewright's Stone, Puppet Strings, Illusionist's Bracers, and Jandor's Saddlebags? All of them are dirt cheap and very effective.
I run all of those in my optimized list.
One thing I like to do with Krenko is to destroy a bunch of lands after I play him to give me time to kill the table. Some affordable ways to do this are Ruination, Wake of Destruction, Tectonic Break, Thoughts of Ruin, and Boom // Bust. All of them are cheap.
Mono Red's Strengths and Mono White's Strengths