This Kresh token deck has been a lot of fun to play but I'd love advice as to how I can keep making it better. While my meta has plenty of powerful cards floating around, no one is playing any kind of crazy combo deck so there isn't anything I'm specifically trying to watch out for. I'll list the deck as it is now and then some of the changes I'm thinking about.
From here, it might be easiest to make a few comments about some changes I'm considering and cards could be in my deck but aren't.
Strionic Resonator is just a cool edh card, would double Kresh's counters and would do a variety of other things in my deck (including doubling some of my token production). Thinking it might replace Awakening. Awakening is a cool card, and my deck has many benefits from it, but I'm not sure that my benefits are so much better than everyone else's. If I want the affect, it might be better to just keep Seedborn Muse and call it a day.
Darksteel Plate to replace either Asceticism, or Swiftfoot Boots. Is indestructible better than hexproof? What about the regeneration or the haste? I'm not sure.
Birthing Pod to replace Lurking Predators. I love Predators but I only run 30 creatures. Not sure that that is enough to make it worth it. Plus, Pod functions as a sac outlet and a quasi creature tutor. Thoughts?
Hellkite Overlord for Craterhoof Behemoth. Maybe I'm getting too cute here. I just keep finding Behemoth a bit underwhelming. Maybe it's just always been unfortunate timing.
Bojuka Bog, and Yavimaya Hollow are both strong but I really try and limit land that enters tapped and I already have kind of a lot of colorless mana sources. Could my mana base handle these two cards (and afford to lose another Swamp/Forest)?
Basically, Gate to Phyrexia, Butcher of Malakir, Terminate, Putrefy, and Decree of Pain were all vying for the same two spots. I went with Gate and Butcher because of the synergy, the sac outlet, my tendency for sacrifice/mass removal rather than spot removal, and because I had been feeling light on artifact removal (sword of such and such has murdered me a few times).
Rune-Scarred Demon, and Scavenging Ooze are just two cards that I'd like to include but don't seem to have a ton of room for. That ooze is kind of bonkers. Exiles any card (not just creatures), doesn't cost much mana at all, gets bigger, gains you life, and can be recurred all manner of ways. Plus, I'm light on graveyard hate.
This seems like as good a time as any to ask, "Why isn't Taurean Mauler in your deck? That guy is a beast!" I don't really have an answer other than he didn't fit the theme.
I know Fling is popular with Kresh but I found that my loses most often came through simply taking 40 damage (rather than commander damage) so I have tried to insert some additional life gain into my deck. That's how Fling became Exsanguinate, Mage Slayer (a way fun card with Kresh) became Batterskull, and Rancor became Loxodon Warhammer. Not sure if I still need more life gain or not.
That's all. I'd love some thoughts on my deck, what cards are weakest and would be fine to cut, my proposed changes, or what other cards I should add. Thanks!
Whether to play darksteel plate or something with hexproof I would lean toward it being determined by your meta. If there are lots of wraths I would go with plate. If there is lots of spot removal I would get something with hexproof.
Pod > lurking predators all day. Pod is a sac outlet and you pick the creature as long as it fits the mana.
I would keep Behemoth because of the tokens theme you got going. He has a greater impact obviously with more tokens on the field. He is another win con if you cant get kresh on the field and to stick.
I would only put bojuka bog in if you need the gy removal.
If there isnt a whole lot of black in your meta, I would consider attrition over grave pact.
Fecundity is amazing draw in tokens decks.
Harvester of souls doesnt seem to fit because its non token.
Citanul Hierophants is crazy ramp in token decks. Would trade out solemn for it.
I forgot about Attrition. I'll think about that; my meta used to have more black in it but a few people have changed generals and there isn't as much these days.
I see what you're saying about Harvester of Souls but so many creatures die in EDH he's always a great value. Maybe trading him for Rune-Scarred Demon could be the ticket and Birthing Pod for Lurking Predators. That would leave me with 5 tutors and 3 draw spells (plus Garruk, Primal Hunter's -3). Thinking about that makes me want to find a way to include Decree of Pain as well just to have another way to fill up my hand with goodness, but maybe I'm being overly cautious, it would probably be fine.
I think decree of pain for plague wind might be a good switch.
Personally, I like boots because it comes out cheaper for 2 mana and equips for 1. Plus it gives haste.
Ive played asceticism before in my voltron build and I found it only delayed the player for a few turns until they killed it. And wraths get around it as well. You might be better served with something like overwhelming stampede that just runs over people.
I like the fact that Asceticism protects the rest of my creatures as well but it costs more so it should do. Plus, the regeneration saves me from some mass removal. I'll have to consider.
Anyone have a chance to play with Strionic Resonator? Is it as cool as it seems like it is?
Also, I just remembered that Gate to Phyrexia can only be used during upkeep. Is there a better artifact destroying machine out there? Maybe I should just use Shattering Pulse?
I'm almost finished with my primer (re-applied), and I have a section 'other ways to build Kresh' (Token Version), if you're interested it might give you some ideas.
1x Kresh the BloodBraided
Creatures (30):
1x Acidic Slime
1x Ant Queen
1x Arashi, the Sky Asunder
1x Avatar of Woe
1x Avenger of Zendikar
1x Bloodgift Demon
1x Bloodline Keeper Flip
1x Butcher of Malakir
1x Craterhoof Behemoth
1x Creakwood Liege
1x Dragon Broodmother
1x Eternal Witness
1x Fauna Shaman
1x Fleshbag Marauder
1x Grave Titan
1x Harvester of Souls
1x Imperious Perfect
1x Jade Mage
1x Kazandu Tuskcaller
1x Kokusho, the Evening Star
1x Kresh the Bloodbraided
1x Rakka Mar
1x Sakura-Tribe Elder
1x Seedborn Muse
1x Sepulchral Primordial
1x Silklash Spider
1x Solemn Simulacrum
1x Sylvan Primordial
1x Verdant Force
1x Yavimaya Elder
1x Asceticism
1x Awakening
1x Beastmaster Ascension
1x Doubling Season
1x Gate to Phyrexia
1x Grave Pact
1x Lurking Predators
1x Oversold Cemetery
1x Parallel Lives
1x Phyrexian Arena
Artifacts (10):
1x Batterskull
1x Chromatic Lantern
1x Darksteel Ingot
1x Eldrazi Monument
1x Lightning Greaves
1x Loxodon Warhammer
1x Mimic Vat
1x Skullclamp
1x Sol Ring
1x Swiftfoot Boots
Sorcery (10):
1x Damnation
1x Demonic Tutor
1x Explosive Vegetation
1x Exsanguinate
1x Lavalanche
1x Plague Wind
1x Profane Command
1x Regrowth
1x Skyshroud Claim
1x Syphon Flesh
1x Beast Within
1x Chaos Warp
1x Vampiric Tutor
Planeswalker (1):
1x Garruk, Primal Hunter
Land (36)
1x Blood Crypt
1x Command Tower
1x Dragonskull Summit
1x Exotic Orchard
8x Forest
1x Grixis Panorama
1x High Market
1x Homeward Path
1x Jund Panorama
1x Karplusan Forest
1x Kessig Wolf Run
1x Llanowar Wastes
2x Mountain
1x Naya Panorama
1x Overgrown Tomb
1x Phyrexian Tower
1x Raging Ravine
1x Reflecting Pool
1x Rootbound Crag
1x Shizo, Death's Storehouse
1x Skarrg, the Rage Pits
1x Stomping Ground
1x Sulfurous Springs
3x Swamp
1x Volrath's Stronghold
1x Woodland Cemetery
Here is everything listed by category rather than card type.
1x Kresh the Bloodbraided
Tutoring and Card Draw (8):
1x Fauna Shaman
1x Demonic Tutor
1x Vampiric Tutor
1x Bloodgift Demon
1x Harvester of Souls
1x Skullclamp
1x Lurking Predators
1x Phyrexian Arena
Mana Fixing/Acceleration (8):
1x Sakura-Tribe Elder
1x Yavimaya Elder
1x Solemn Simulacrum
1x Explosive Vegetation
1x Skyshroud Claim
1x Sol Ring
1x Darksteel Ingot
1x Chromatic Lantern
Spot/Sacrifice/Mass Removal (11):
1x Beast Within
1x Chaos Warp
1x Avatar of Woe
1x Fleshbag Marauder
1x Syphon Flesh
1x Grave Pact
1x Butcher of Malakir
1x Damnation
1x Plague Wind
1x Lavalanche
Non-creature removal (3):
1x Acidic Slime
1x Sylvan Primordial
1x Gate to Phyrexia
1x Profane Command
1x Batterskull
1x Loxodon Warhammer
1x Exsanguinate
1x Garruk, Primal Hunter
1x Beastmaster Ascension
1x Mimic Vat
1x Awakening
1x Seedborn Muse
1x Silklash Spider
1x Arashi, the Sky Asunder
Token Production (13):
1x Dragon Broodmother
1x Kazandu Tuskcaller
1x Grave Titan
1x Creakwood Liege
1x Avenger of Zendikar
1x Verdant Force
1x Jade Mage
1x Ant Queen
1x Bloodline Keeper
1x Rakka Mar
1x Imperious Perfect
1x Doubling Season
1x Parallel Lives
Protection (4):
1x Asceticism
1x Lightning Greaves
1x Swiftfoot Boots
1x Eldrazi Monument
Recursion (3):
1x Oversold Cemetery
1x Regrowth
1x Eternal Witness
1x Craterhoof Behemoth
1x Kokusho, the Evening Star
1x Sepulchral Primordial
Interesting Land (8):
1x Skarrg, the Rage Pits
1x Kessig Wolf Run
1x Volrath's Stronghold
1x Homeward Path
1x Phyrexian Tower
1x High Market
1x Raging Ravine
1x Shizo, Death's Storehouse
Non-interesting Land (28):
1x Blood Crypt
1x Command Tower
1x Dragonskull Summit
1x Exotic Orchard
8x Forest
1x Grixis Panorama
1x Jund Panorama
1x Karplusan Forest
1x Llanowar Wastes
2x Mountain
1x Naya Panorama
1x Overgrown Tomb
1x Reflecting Pool
1x Rootbound Crag
1x Stomping Ground
1x Sulfurous Springs
3x Swamp
1x Woodland Cemetery
From here, it might be easiest to make a few comments about some changes I'm considering and cards could be in my deck but aren't.
Strionic Resonator is just a cool edh card, would double Kresh's counters and would do a variety of other things in my deck (including doubling some of my token production). Thinking it might replace Awakening. Awakening is a cool card, and my deck has many benefits from it, but I'm not sure that my benefits are so much better than everyone else's. If I want the affect, it might be better to just keep Seedborn Muse and call it a day.
Darksteel Plate to replace either Asceticism, or Swiftfoot Boots. Is indestructible better than hexproof? What about the regeneration or the haste? I'm not sure.
Birthing Pod to replace Lurking Predators. I love Predators but I only run 30 creatures. Not sure that that is enough to make it worth it. Plus, Pod functions as a sac outlet and a quasi creature tutor. Thoughts?
Hellkite Overlord for Craterhoof Behemoth. Maybe I'm getting too cute here. I just keep finding Behemoth a bit underwhelming. Maybe it's just always been unfortunate timing.
Bojuka Bog, and Yavimaya Hollow are both strong but I really try and limit land that enters tapped and I already have kind of a lot of colorless mana sources. Could my mana base handle these two cards (and afford to lose another Swamp/Forest)?
Basically, Gate to Phyrexia, Butcher of Malakir, Terminate, Putrefy, and Decree of Pain were all vying for the same two spots. I went with Gate and Butcher because of the synergy, the sac outlet, my tendency for sacrifice/mass removal rather than spot removal, and because I had been feeling light on artifact removal (sword of such and such has murdered me a few times).
Rune-Scarred Demon, and Scavenging Ooze are just two cards that I'd like to include but don't seem to have a ton of room for. That ooze is kind of bonkers. Exiles any card (not just creatures), doesn't cost much mana at all, gets bigger, gains you life, and can be recurred all manner of ways. Plus, I'm light on graveyard hate.
This seems like as good a time as any to ask, "Why isn't Taurean Mauler in your deck? That guy is a beast!" I don't really have an answer other than he didn't fit the theme.
I know Fling is popular with Kresh but I found that my loses most often came through simply taking 40 damage (rather than commander damage) so I have tried to insert some additional life gain into my deck. That's how Fling became Exsanguinate, Mage Slayer (a way fun card with Kresh) became Batterskull, and Rancor became Loxodon Warhammer. Not sure if I still need more life gain or not.
That's all. I'd love some thoughts on my deck, what cards are weakest and would be fine to cut, my proposed changes, or what other cards I should add. Thanks!
My 540 card Free-for-All Multiplayer Cube
Pod > lurking predators all day. Pod is a sac outlet and you pick the creature as long as it fits the mana.
I would keep Behemoth because of the tokens theme you got going. He has a greater impact obviously with more tokens on the field. He is another win con if you cant get kresh on the field and to stick.
I would only put bojuka bog in if you need the gy removal.
If there isnt a whole lot of black in your meta, I would consider attrition over grave pact.
Fecundity is amazing draw in tokens decks.
Harvester of souls doesnt seem to fit because its non token.
Citanul Hierophants is crazy ramp in token decks. Would trade out solemn for it.
I see what you're saying about Harvester of Souls but so many creatures die in EDH he's always a great value. Maybe trading him for Rune-Scarred Demon could be the ticket and Birthing Pod for Lurking Predators. That would leave me with 5 tutors and 3 draw spells (plus Garruk, Primal Hunter's -3). Thinking about that makes me want to find a way to include Decree of Pain as well just to have another way to fill up my hand with goodness, but maybe I'm being overly cautious, it would probably be fine.
I feel like Asceticism is better than Swiftfoot Boots. Thoughts?
My 540 card Free-for-All Multiplayer Cube
Personally, I like boots because it comes out cheaper for 2 mana and equips for 1. Plus it gives haste.
Ive played asceticism before in my voltron build and I found it only delayed the player for a few turns until they killed it. And wraths get around it as well. You might be better served with something like overwhelming stampede that just runs over people.
Anyone have a chance to play with Strionic Resonator? Is it as cool as it seems like it is?
Also, I just remembered that Gate to Phyrexia can only be used during upkeep. Is there a better artifact destroying machine out there? Maybe I should just use Shattering Pulse?
My 540 card Free-for-All Multiplayer Cube
I'm almost finished with my primer (re-applied), and I have a section 'other ways to build Kresh' (Token Version), if you're interested it might give you some ideas.
Neheb
Marath
Yidris
Sharuum
Yidris
No need to pay the upkeep. All the tokens coming in and out of play will buff Kresh plenty.
BR Sleeper Ascension - Casual