"The third time the Oracle glanced suspiciously at him, Starke decided she had glanced twice too often.."
Bio
Starke of Rath was an outcast of the Vec tribe and a duplicitous member of the Skyship Weatherlight crew that served as their guide on their journey to Rath. He was secretly married to an en-Dal woman and was the father of Takara en-Dal, who was held hostage to force Starke to serve the Stronghold. In order to keep Takara safe, he helped bring Volrath to power and then helped abduct Captain Sisay, but he then switched sides and aided in her rescue as it offered him his best chance of rescuing his daughter. He successfully guided the Weatherlight crew through the Stronghold, but was permanently blinded by a mind-controlled Takara before she could be brought to her senses. After Takara and Sisay were freed, Starke and the others then fled back to Weatherlight and escaped through the portal that took them to Mercadia.
Starke was killed in Mercadia when it was revealed that "Takara" was in fact a shapeshifted Volrath, who proceeded to attack and murder Starke in retribution for his betrayal. He died without knowing his daughter's true fate.
Why Would anyone play this guy?!
One: He's one of my favorite characters from the Weatherlight Saga.
Second: This guy is also an obnoxiously fun Commander from my experience. Clever use of Starke let's him wreak havoc in any multiplayer game and even gives your opponents the opportunity to do so (provided you don't just kill Starke on sight for his betrayal)
Starke has the ability to deal with almost all problem artifacts and creatures on the field. Combined with several untap effects it's quite easy to have Starke Machine-gunning several creatures at once clearing the way for a strong finisher like Krenko.
Finally he kind of looks like Nic Cage in his card right?!
Strategy
Starke is a commander that seems best suited for a control deck, like his prettier counterpart Diaochan, Artful Beauty, Starke gives your opponents the option to destroy just like you, so your best bet is slow rolling the good stuff in your hand until Starke performs cleanup or you get something to untap or kill Starke if he's decided to betray you.
One trick I like to use with Starke after getting an untapper like Thousand-Year Elixir or Puppet Strings is targeting one of my own creatures or artifacts that's fit to die (a goblin token, Ichor wellspring, etc. and after the ability is on the stack untapping Starke and killing something else, effectively you've just made your opponent's choice for them.
After you clear out any threats you should focus on dropping your bombs Kiki+Conscripts, Krenko+enough time for a goblin army, Steel Hellkite whatever you prefer that exists in Mono-Red.
Right now I'm looking for advice on ways to clean up my current list. I feel like the deck could also use a couple extra ways to win, so if anyone has any suggestions for a mono red deck, they'd be much appreciated. So without further ado, here's my list.
I have been playing Starke a bit on Magic Online and have had great success by upping the count of both temporary steal effects and sac outlets, since they go so well together. Right now I have 8 and 10, respectively, including Helm of Possession which can play either role. They go well with Bazaar Trader and Conjurer's Closet, which can give you permanent control of a creature you steal with Zealous Conscripts and similar effects. Another card that can do the same thing for stolen dudes is Synod Sanctum which can also exile Starke in response to using his ability and bring him back later.
The deck definitely wants Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker and probably could stand to expand the Goblin suite with Moggcatcher. If you want more good creatures to target with Starke with an untapped out, there's Tuktuk the Explorer (which can be fetched with Goblin tutors) and Rukh Egg.
On individual card choices, I would think Vandalblast would be much better than Kill Switch, especially in combination with either one of your artifact-makers (Lattice and Coating). And I see little that makes Braid of Fire better than just a land.
From my testing with him Goblin Assassin is actually a hilarious boardwipe combo when paired with Krenko. If you get multiple activations it just wipes everyone's fields. I think he's probably got a spot in here.
I have a Starke deck as well. I basically play red control, based around starke with some dragons and a random artifact subtheme (salvaging station and spellbombs and some other crap for big end game value). What I personally find missing from your list is indestructible stuff. Darksteel citadel and darksteel ingot are basically free includes. Stuffy doll can do things as well (blasphemous act, general blocking). Basically you use starke on them, untap stark, and use him on someone else's thing. By the thing you've popped something irritating and retained control of starkyboy.
Twist of allegiance is an expensive reins of power, but it does cute things with starke. You can kill something, giving starke away (check for sac outlets), swap creatures, kill another. You keep Starke, kill two things (or all of theirs if you have a sac outlet). Further shenanigans depend on the creatures swapped. Then again, Insurrection might sort've battle for the same slot (though with starke you normally kinda try to prevent the flood in the first place).
I don't know how many untap target creature cards you want to play, but the very versatile Staff of Domination is great! Some others that can be expensive but imma mention anyway, Sword of the Paruns and Umbral Mantle.
"The third time the Oracle glanced suspiciously at him, Starke decided she had glanced twice too often.."
Bio
Starke was killed in Mercadia when it was revealed that "Takara" was in fact a shapeshifted Volrath, who proceeded to attack and murder Starke in retribution for his betrayal. He died without knowing his daughter's true fate.
Why Would anyone play this guy?!
Second: This guy is also an obnoxiously fun Commander from my experience. Clever use of Starke let's him wreak havoc in any multiplayer game and even gives your opponents the opportunity to do so (provided you don't just kill Starke on sight for his betrayal)
Starke has the ability to deal with almost all problem artifacts and creatures on the field. Combined with several untap effects it's quite easy to have Starke Machine-gunning several creatures at once clearing the way for a strong finisher like Krenko.
Finally he kind of looks like Nic Cage in his card right?!
Strategy
One trick I like to use with Starke after getting an untapper like Thousand-Year Elixir or Puppet Strings is targeting one of my own creatures or artifacts that's fit to die (a goblin token, Ichor wellspring, etc. and after the ability is on the stack untapping Starke and killing something else, effectively you've just made your opponent's choice for them.
After you clear out any threats you should focus on dropping your bombs Kiki+Conscripts, Krenko+enough time for a goblin army, Steel Hellkite whatever you prefer that exists in Mono-Red.
Right now I'm looking for advice on ways to clean up my current list. I feel like the deck could also use a couple extra ways to win, so if anyone has any suggestions for a mono red deck, they'd be much appreciated. So without further ado, here's my list.
Ramp
1x Thawing Glaciers
1x Terrain Generator
1x Solemn Simulacrum
1x Caged Sun
1x Extraplanar Lens
1x Gauntlet of Power
1x Thran Dynamo
1x Wayfarer's Bauble
1x Sol Ring
1x Mycosynth Wellspring
1x Basalt Monolith
1x Expedition Map
Goblin Toolbox
1x Goblin Assassin
1x Goblin Chieftain
1x Goblin Matron
1x Goblin Recruiter
1x Goblin Sharpshooter
1x Goblin Tinkerer
1x Goblin Welder
1x Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
1x Krenko, Mob Boss
1x Mogg Assassin
1x Moggcatcher
1x Siege-Gang Commander
1x Skirk Prospector
1x Anger
1x Starke of Rath
1x Steel Hellkite
1x Wurmcoil Engine
1x Zealous Conscripts
1x Magus of the Moon
1x Godo, Bandit Warlord
1x Batterskull
Artifacts For Abilities
1x Liquimetal Coating
1x Magewright's Stone
1x Thornbite Staff
1x Thousand-Year Elixir
1x Puppet Strings
1x Illusionist's Bracers
1x Rings of Brighthearth
How the heck do we get cards in Red?
1x Wheel of Fate
1x Wheel of Fortune
1x Gamble
1x Reforge the Soul
1x Sensei's Divining Top
1x Skullclamp
1x Mind's Eye
1x Ichor Wellspring
1x Codex Shredder
1x Chandra Ablaze
Something for those nasty creatures
1x Crawlspace
1x Caverns of Despair
1x All Is Dust
1x Blasphemous Act
1x Oblivion Stone
1x Pyrohemia
1x Lightning Greaves
1x Mimic Vat
1x Mycosynth Lattice
Artifacts? Hate them.
1x Vandalblast
1x Shattering Pulse
Some more enchantments
1x Blood Moon
1x Fervor
1x Goblin Bombardment
Hey I can be tricky too!
1x Chaos Warp
1x Mages' Contest
1x Reiterate
1x Reverberate
1x Word of Seizing
I’ve been everywhere Ma’am…
1x Hall of the Bandit Lord
1x High Market
1x Homeward Path
1x Kher Keep
1x Miren, the Moaning Well
23x Snow-Covered Mountain
1x Strip Mine
1x Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
1x Wasteland
Ichor Wellspring: 2 cards for two mana
Su-Chi: mana ramp
Thanks, I had Wellspring in at one time, but I took it out for some reason. I can't remember why, so I might put it back in.
Thanks! I'm glad you like it.
The deck definitely wants Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker and probably could stand to expand the Goblin suite with Moggcatcher. If you want more good creatures to target with Starke with an untapped out, there's Tuktuk the Explorer (which can be fetched with Goblin tutors) and Rukh Egg.
On individual card choices, I would think Vandalblast would be much better than Kill Switch, especially in combination with either one of your artifact-makers (Lattice and Coating). And I see little that makes Braid of Fire better than just a land.
As far as board wipes, I really like Chain Reaction. It almost always gets the job done for 4 mana.
If your running goblins, try the other Goblin Assassin. It's one of my favorite cards ever in my mono red Norin deck.
On a completely different note, do you play in Seattle? This decks looks like a lot of fun to play against.
R Norin the Wary: I've Got a Bad Feeling About This
UG Thrasios & Kydele: Knowledge is Power
RG Borborygmos Enraged: The Breaking of the World
BG The Gitrog Monster: All Glory to the Hypnotoad
WUR Zedruu the Greathearted: Endless Possibilities, One Outcome
WBG Karador, Ghost Chieftain: What's Dead May Never Die
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Twist of allegiance is an expensive reins of power, but it does cute things with starke. You can kill something, giving starke away (check for sac outlets), swap creatures, kill another. You keep Starke, kill two things (or all of theirs if you have a sac outlet). Further shenanigans depend on the creatures swapped. Then again, Insurrection might sort've battle for the same slot (though with starke you normally kinda try to prevent the flood in the first place).