Itadakimasu means "I humbly Receive" its the Japanese equivalent of "thank you for the food", I always felt that this was the perfect name for my Kresh, the Bloodbraided EDH.For kresh the saying means, I will eat you, and all your guys then use you now dead creatures to power up Kresh to completely destroy you. This deck is a heavily tuned ToolBox deck that loves one thing and one thing only, eat up the other guys, both generals(but not always) and all the creatures on the board not my own (and sometimes my own). Kresh doesn't always win the game, but his presence is always felt. Even better I've had games you never play him and win anyway through some aggro situation created or some psuedo-Control situation.Nothing survives with out his say so unless he is dealt with always.I have been playing this deck for nearly three years, and hope that those who see this thread learn much about what kresh could do, even when not being played right.
Having said that, the second best thing he loves is good old fashion Blunt-Force Trauma.
Why Play this General?
The major reason I play Kresh is that I do not want another general on the field. In my City Wide Metagame (yes I have a city metagame) a general on a field equals not a good time. So the deck is designed to get rid of generals as much as possible. In other words Kresh the Bloodbraided is amazing for the core concept. You kill a general and if they plan of recurring him from the grave kresh gets bigger, if they don't oh well at least the general is going to cost more, and after they have to play it for the sixth or seventh time maybe they'll just give up. If you have a Doubling Season then you absorb two times the general and every board wipe and every kill spell is even better than they would be normally. As long as kresh stays alive, he just gets bigger and bigger all day long.Now I know that their generals only give me the bonus if they hit the graveyard( a bad judge ruling had said otherwise, but oh well) however the concept is still the same for any of their other creatures even tokens(YES, to those that don't believe it tokens do in fact hit the graveyard and then disappear afterwards, so you will get the +1/+1 counters from the).
converted mana cost five, just small enough to be played early, but just enough to be annoying when it dies.
The Effect:
“Whenever another creature dies, you may put X +1/+1 counters on Kresh the Bloodbraided, where X is that creature's power.” In other words chump blockers, sacrifice effects, and kill spells make him OP, especially when he’s got trample and indestructibility.
JUND:
Like I said, kill spells and chump blockers make him amazing and guess what one triad of colors does this best? Well not Grixis, close though they have Thraximundar to OP over (but that’s another deck), its JUND! Jund’s own mechanic, devour means that sacrificing is good, and Alara block had amazingly fun ways to lose your creatures and make everyone else lose even more.
The Pros of Kresh:
+ Massive Synergy with Jund’s main goal, Survival of the Fittest and biggest. I do not mean getting rid of my creatures for bigger and better ones, they already are. What I mean is getting rid of everyone else's creatures because they aren't as good/hearty as mine.
+ Cheap general, both in price and in converted mana cost, though it is a five cost, it is still low compared to other Jund generals like Darigaaz, the Igniter, Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund, or the original Elder dragon for the colors Vaevictis Asmadi.
The Cons of Kresh:
-Brings on a lot of hate from other Voltron decks.
-Does not come with Trample, so anyone can chump block all day against him.
- Must be played smartly, by smartly I mean don't attack if you don't really need to, else if you go full jund aggro you will be the number one target by anyone you play with ever again.
The alternative Generals: Darigaaz, the Igniter: He’s just too expensive as a general after one kill you better have mana production or else he’s just too much to cast. Yes, in a format where you know what colors another player’s deck is and thus can use his ability nicely, and Yes, he has flying (a big plus) you might play his effect once or twice a game. If you have mana. For Darigaaz to work well you will have to have a Mana Reflection and/or a Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger (unless your group hugging for some reason then cards like Heartbeat of spring will help you out but why would you be doing that in an aggro color combination. Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund: Karrthus automatically means you are tribal; I actually came up with a design for him once. For him to work, you need a lot of mana fixers and tribal fixers.His Mana cost is also way to much he’s automatically a converted mana cost seven for crying out loud, you would need Urza's Incubator, and all the other cards that make him smaller. Vaevictis Asmadi: …Lets just get the obvious out of the way, Converted Mana Cost EIGHT… So not a chance to play him without a ton of Mana fixing, Mana Reflection, and Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger. Then the next problem is his upkeep cost of :symb::symr::symg:, that’s just annoying. If someone static orb's you, or Winter Orb's you, then you’re boned like everyone else. Except he dies at upkeep, and everyone else has to deal with their own problems. The only pros to him are his effects, Flying, and [CARD]
Firebreathing[/CARD]. Making him deal a ton of damage fast is good, but at his CMC its not enough to try him out as a general. Sek'Kuar, Deathkeeper: Just not as cool as Kresh. He has the same Converted Mana Cost, but not as good of an effect. All in all, has potential but not as much fun. Adun Oakenshield: Though I like the Hobbit reference, he is not aggro. He's defensive recursion after you board wipe. I might in the unforeseeable future try him out on a trial basis, but I highly doubt it.
I have been playing magic since Fifth Dawn. Normally I play only Esper, Simic, or BUG. However, fall 2011 I entered College and started playing EDH more often than I once did, and was introduced into the city wide metagame. First I tried playing Momir Vig, Simic Visionary then I tried a Sen Triplets Artifice deck to no avail, due to an amazing Attrition like a Grand Arbiter deck, and an Jenera Enchantment deck. Eventually I tried Kresh the Bloodbraided. Back when I first built Kresh I was really poor (I still am lol) and could not afford titans or lieges let alone a Doubling Season. This incarnation honestly really sucked, though I hardly ever won with it I could help crush anyone and be second place all the time. I was however really good in teams.
Eventually I put him down for Thraximundar and Tariel, Reckoner of Souls all the while I was designing and redesigning Kresh, and Lucille. I eventually renamed Kresh Itadakimatsu! gave up on Lucille, and started to work on the Joker (my trolling Voltron deck). I've made many references to my metagame, here are just a few decks in it:
* Jenara, asura of war- enchantment deck, 95%+ win rate, costs more than most decks on the multiplayer subforum.
* Memnarch- artifact/mill deck - I'd give it a 75-80% win rate, costs maybe $300
* Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter- hard to really call is a voltron deck, not quite a stax deck, same or slightly better win rate than Memnarch, costs about as much
* Grand Arbiter Augustin IV- standard issue GAA4, the guy actually keeps track of the number of people that scoop to him, - costs maybe $300+.
* Ghave, Guru of Spores (1)- we have a couple on and off, this one is proxies mostly, still ok.
* Ghave, Guru of Spores (2)- slightly better version of version one.
* Ghave, Guru of Spores (3)- Budget ghave
* Niv-Mizzet, the firemind- got to the point that ever black deck ran Underworld Dreams, now retired for the next deck.
* Heartless Hidetsugu- luckly the guy that pilots this doesn't come around many places anymore,(rage quitter), still an annoying deck to any one with out a Leyline of sanctity.
* Zedruu the greathearted- most annoying deck ever built and thats all i am going to say.
*Thraximundar/Sol'kanar the Swamp King- anti draw deck.
*Godo, Bandit Warlord- equipment burn deck.
The deck was originally built to Tranquility, Hush,etc another player's Jenara Enchantment Deck, because it was the biggest threat and had the highest win rate in the College and still is a huge threat. At one time I actually completely board wiped the field of everything because that player had two of his three pieces of his favorite combo using a Tranquility the combo being Mirari's wake,Opalescence, and Enchanted Evening.
After I redesigned Kresh into Itadakimatsu! I dropped as many combos and infinite combos, cut the tranquility effects and added even more kill spell, but best of all I got the titans I needed... then cut them after PrimeTime's very bad banning.After that I just kept modifying and modifying as different sets came out...Even though I know that my games against heavy artifact/enchantment decks, the aggro and killspells that I've used to compensate should more than do the trick. Some of the newest additions to the deck are a random sub-theme I keep trying to have in here where I have a Legendary Creature for every color and color combination, unfortunately the G/B legendarily just aren't as good as I would like, the mono-red legendary hasn't been bought (most likely Purphoros, god of the forge) I still hope to get that sub-theme running eventually. Another Addition from the older lists are all the devotion, I can easily get my black devotion up to five for Erebos, God of the Dead but hard to get the devotion to Red or Green ( Nylea almost never get to creature status).
The main strategy is, play Kresh (as soon as possible) then play kill spells out the wazoo and make him BIG. The main targets for kill spells are other generals, if you kill them all game eventually they will become just too big to play. I have seen a Jenara cost 32 extra mana, and I have seen it get recast for the 17th time. So always keep a way to kill ‘em in hand and always have the mana open for one even if you don’t have one.
What to do with Kresh-
Kresh has two weaknesses:
i. Shroud and hexproof won’t save him from Boardwipes though so go with indestructibility first.
Now please attack smartly. If it looks like there are blocker and/or open mana and he is not properly shrouded/indestructible then let something else attack, or don’t attack at all (Sun Tzu for the win!).
The Secondary Strategy is, to use all the kill spells and wipes to keep everyone else from having creatures or other win conditions. Then create as many tokens as possible or get fatties out and aggro to the win. This usually can happen while still having Kresh out, and being an aggro-Voltron deck you can do either/or, since as I said this is Voltron normally you will just kill a player a turn, (unless I can make room for Aggravated Assault and Sword of Feast and Famine at which point you can easily kill everyone in the same turn, (Again assuming you have a trampler on the field). NOTE: when you kill off generals, unless the player chooses to put them into the graveyard, you will not get the counters on Kresh, but you do get rid of the general. which is more important.
Even after that sometimes you just have to kill everyone else's guys and aggro out with the few creatures in the deck, the best way to do that is Deathbringer Thoctar, he alone with just one creature dying after he enters play can annihilate all 1/1 creatures, put Corpsejack Menace in the mix and now all 2/2 creatures die.
If Kresh gets tucked don't worry, he's the main win con, but not the only win con. If you don't want to tutor him back up, don't.Though hopefully you will have Darksteel plated and/or Lightning Greaves him. You have several other bombs that can take his place for example Phyrexian Obliterator, put Darksteel Plate on him and you have a more dangerous creature than most. you can Lightning Greaves Him or Kresh and now the only way to destroy Obliterator is to boardwipe or Force a Sacrifice.
How does toolbox work? Kresh the bloodbraided is a toolbox deck. In other words there is no one way to win and most definitely no true beginning of the game, middle of the game, or end of the game. Yes, I know there are few tutors, in this particular tool box. Why? Simply put, you don't need them. I consistently get what i need naturally, and the opening hand tells you what will probably occur. if its a fist full of black land and multiple black creatures and killspells your usually getting more black cards and can win with an Abhorrent overlord or a Phyrexian Obliterator. If you get a fist full of not black, your getting Stormbreath Dragon for a bomb or other not necessarily black cards. this deck has a mind of its own and gives you what you need to win.
With this build you have extreme versatility, you can proficiently take down enchantment decks, aggro decks, survive control decks and hold out against nearly any combo deck with very little tweaking.
Why is there not that many Creatures?
As some people have said I should have a lot more creatures, and the best way for that to occur that I should cut all my mana rocks. Why have I ignored this? Simply because this works beautifully for me! Now in your metagames you might try not having as many rocks as I do, to which I say fine by me man. However, My metagame is one of the most competitive in the country, somethings that work out side my region are the best of the best, but that's outside the region. Sometimes (Alright 99.9999999999999999999% of the time) they won't be as good here. I've seen the best of the best get completely Annihilated in under five turns by a deck that sucks massively in this region. Now that I have cut the rocks I replaced them with the Rav Lands. Some might think that 40 land is to much for aggro, that more of a control deck amount of lands. Those people are more or less correct. However, I like consistency, and the 40 land keeps it consistent.
Beginning of the game
Your opening hand should hold at least two land and a sol ring or 3+ land (I keep 5-6 land hands depending on the other cards) the rest of the hand should have at least one killspell and a creature.Use the killspell on a general, this helps throw off other players strategies and makes there general cost more. Keep killing generals when ever possible, this will keep disrupting their game and gives you the advantage in this early part of the game. You do not necessarily need the sol ring, but it helps. depending on the generals your playing against you may want more cheap killspells and or ramp to get into a bomb.
Middle of the game
Here you want cards like no mercy and/or Phyrexian Obliterator . If you want to utilize cards like Nykthos, shrine to nyx and Erebos, God of the Dead high black mana symbol cards are the only real way, yes I have a lot of Green symbols but not nearly as much as Black.building up your board is key here. You've already disrupted there plays with killspells now it's time for making them not want to retaliate. Here is the entertaining part, this is were we could have a draw game depending on other plays. Recently I played against a Zedruu deck, a Jevera deck, and a Pheldagrif deck, with very little board presence, only a few killspells and a slum reaper got the group hug player next to me to have a hive mind,Otherworld Atlas with three charge counters on it and then played enter the infinite. After we all drew our decks (minus one) he hit us all with otherworld atlas for the draw. Now what exactly are you building? Well you can go token aggro with Mycoloth, you can go cruel control stealing everyone else's creatures and hitting them with their own stuff using Olivia Voldaren . you can even try Genesis wave for a ton and then Eternal Witness (normally you should have gotten a Vorinclex, Voice of hunger and a lot of land of the first Genesis Wave), if you do Gen-wave remember, REMEMBER!!! Everything that comes out of a Gen-wave comes in at the same time and will NOT see everything else that came in with the Gen-wave, so targets, sacrifices, etc that have to occur thanks to ETBs, you can only use what you already have! All the permanents get put in at the same time so then other players can get priority after they come in. the Bright side is that you choose how to show what comes in. I like just getting all instants/sorceries out of the stack of cards your getting first, then land/mana rocks and then ETBs that require the stuff you already have on the field. Then, I put other permanents on the field and finally the last of the creatures. If you can make room on your field to show what was there before the Gen-wave and what your getting out of Gen-wave the better (depending on how many judges, rules advisers and pricks there are in the game this can be very important).
End of the game
You've build up your field with really what ever you draw (it always depends on the draw) now your normally just aggro-ing out for the win, there are no infinite combos. Kresh is always a fun way to win but not necessarily the win con.
What Does All This Mean?
I was asked to explain what this all means with Kresh at the center of all of this. Well first off there is something that most players don't understand with the deck. Most deck strategies are based on what they can do to themselves (insert "Playing with your self Jokes here). Well my deck is completely different. The deck is dependent on everyone else playing their decks. So what Kresh does is gain value from destroying everyone elses' creatures and disrupt my opponents strategies. The few times that I would be in self contained mode is with cards like Olivia Volderan , Mycoloth , and Corpsejack Menace are three different strategies you can use. Olivia for a control strategy, Mycoloth for Tokens, and CorpseJack for augmenting Kresh's tokens. Whats really great about Kresh is, no two games you play with this deck are ever really the same. You could beat a table using No Mercy, Phyrexian Obliterator, Erebos, god of the Dead, and an Olivia Volderan (yes, this has happened) and you get all the +1/+1 counters for kresh. Aggro Token strategy can be used with cards like Dragon Broodmother , Xenagos, the Reveler , and Mycoloth. Then there's the Augmentation sub-strategy with Corpsejack Menace. Finally there is the super fun " You should have destroyed my lands earlier" strategy of Vorinclex. Voice of Hunger , Mana Reflection , Genesis wave , and Eternal Witness with just one hit you should be able to hit five lands ( my smallest GenWave was a 8 hitter and did that just for answers one game... I won, mostly thought I have GenWaved for 15-45), then you can GenWave a second time with Eternal Witness. Don't forget I have the Urborg Package for augmenting just how big that GenWave can be.
Mulligans
In all honesty the irony of putting a mulligan section here is that it all depends on who your playing against. For playing against heavy aggro or Control 4 lands and three killspells should to fine for an opening hand. For anything else its your call. I prefer having 4-5 lands 2-3 killspells and a creature. Getting a ton of land early is always good for the beginning.
Control:
Against control pretty much you just want to keep them off balance. Never let them get a stable footing on the board. keep their general in the general zone and never let then touch you. If you do your going to to have a very bad time, ie you may never get to play the things you want. Aggro:
Aggro...Well I suppose to combat aggro you just want to ramp into a faster aggro than them while killing there general so you don't get general damage and you disrupt there strategy. Combo:
Against aggro combo just board wipe them into oblivion and swing with your guys first. If your against some Pheldagriff silly combo your going to need Insidious Dreams and Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre to survive some of them. Really for Combo it all depends on what they are trying to do.
January 12,2014- Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
This card should under NO circumstances be played, NOT because this makes you a target but because now if you play it you now have no way around to discard it for mill effects, shenanigans (like a draw game), etc. So do not for the love of what ever higher being you believe in DON'T play it!!!!
Barren Moor : This is just a cycle land to filter through my deck, once it’s in my grave it then can be fodder for cards like deathrite shaman or even better, worm harvest. Cabal Coffers : I love having access to a ton of mana whenever I need it even if it’s just black, a ton of mana is always great for a genesis wave, or you need to card be creatures. After you get mana reflection out though, it gets ridiculous because you can create even more mana for giggles. Command Tower : An EDH staple that works wonders, always able to hit any color you can ever need is always great. Darigaaz's Caldera:Another Tri-land to help even things out, bounce a cycle land after you tap it for the mana and you can cycle it to draw a card is always good. Deserted Temple : This is for cabal coffers combo, used primarily for untapping cabal coffers if needed it can untap what ever you need to get the color mana you want. Dragonskull Summit : M10 check lands are all good for all decks, Kresh is no different, no matter how it comes in it has value.Real there is nothing else that needs to be said. Evolving Wilds : Tutors for the basic land I need for whatever situation, especially since Land destruction or non-basics or blood moon effects are a problem for everyone, the ability to get basic lands is important. Forest : A basic land, not much you can say about it. Golgari Rot Farm : Bounce lands are always good, especially if you have like a cycle land or a utility land out and want to play it again or cycle it, you just tap it for the mana( for cycle lands) bounce it for the bounce lands and cycle in the same phase. Graven Cairns : Filter lands are usually a good idea as well, you may just have cairns out and a swamp but need to cast a terminate, well filter that black into black/red and terminate something. Gruul Turf : Bounce lands are always good, especially if you have like a cycle land or a utility land out and want to play it again or cycle it, you just tap it for the mana( for cycle lands) bounce it for the bounce lands and cycle in the same phase. Jund Panorama : Tutors for the basic land I need for whatever situation, especially since Land destruction or non-basics or blood moon effects are a problem for everyone, the ability to get basic lands is important. Lavaclaw Reaches : an amazing man-land that goes for a red or black mana creator to a 2/2 black and red Elemental creature with "x: This creature gets +X/+0 until end of turn." It has a better version of Dragon’s breath!!! What else could you want? Miren, the Moaning Well : this card has seen so much shinanigans including one of my favorite occurances, sacrificing a kozilek gaining ten life and shuffling my deck for three mana. Use it on any creature you have I don’t care, makes kresh bigger all the time. Mountain : A basic land, not much you can say about it. Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx : trying this card out. In limited it was a broken card for devotion/ heroic decks, and now I can tap for boat loads of whatever mana I need. Overgrown Tomb: Finished out the Rav Lands Raging Ravine : Yet another man-land this one that turns into a 3/3 red and green Elemental creature with "Whenever this creature attacks, put a +1/+1 counter on it." How cool is that it gets bigger or you can use ooze flux and create a chump off the counter. Rakdos Carnarium : Bounce lands are always good, especially if you have like a cycle land or a utility land out and want to play it again or cycle it, you just tap it for the mana( for cycle lands) bounce it for the bounce lands and cycle in the same phase. Rootbound Crag : M10 check lands are all good for all decks, Kresh is no different, no matter how it comes in it has value. Real there is nothing else that needs to be said. Savage Lands :An EDH staple for jund decks that works wonders, always able to hit any color you can ever need is always great. Skarrg, the Rage Pits : Had to move Kessig Wolf Run to my living end modern deck, but still hasn’t stopped my land from making tramplers out of creatures thanks to skarrg. Stomping Ground: the first one I acquired for swapping out the keyrunes. Swamp : A basic land, not much you can say about it. Temple of the False God : any deck should have this card, so much mana for one land, coupled with mana reflection and you got it going one! Terramorphic Expanse : Tutors for the basic land I need for whatever situation, especially since Land destruction or non-basics or blood moon effects are a problem for everyone, the ability to get basic lands is important. Tranquil Thicket : This is just a cycle land to filter through my deck, once it’s in my grave it then can be fodder for cards like deathrite shaman or even better, worm harvest. Thespian's Stage : This is for cabal coffers combo, used primarily to create a second cabal coffers effect … because why not? Treetop Village : The last man-land this one turning into a 3/3 trampling ape, this is so much fun chumping with a land just to mess with people. Twilight Mire : Filter lands are usually a good idea as well, you may just have mire out and two swamps but need to cast a putrefy, well filter that black into black/green and putrefy something. Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth : the main card needed for this long chained combo, really funny when I have swampwalkers like sheoldred out. Woodland Cemetery : an innistrad check land? Yes please! Check lands are all good for all decks, Kresh is no different, and no matter how it comes in it has value. Real there is nothing else that needs to be said.
Cultivate : An amazing card that nets me two basic lands, great for early card advantage or land game need for an extra land in my hand for stuff like worm harvest. Dreadbore: A killspell that hits Planeswalkers, the only downside is the sorcery speed. Decree of Pain: My newest boardwipe, I have been wanting this for ever, and now I get to enjoy the wipe. Genesis Wave : hehehehahahahha!!! How much fun I’ve had with this thing I have literally gen waved my deck for grins and no one could live, a classic night. Hull Breach : Amazing again decks heavy in enchantments and/ or artifacts. Any problem card can go by-by Killing Wave : Coupled with exquisite blood and the fact that you get to sacrifice last means that anyone that wants to keep a create and lose tones more gives me value. Kodama's Reach : An amazing card that nets me two basic lands, great for early card advantage or land game need for an extra land in my hand for stuff like worm harvest. Plague Wind : An one-sided board wipe that makes me laugh, another card you don’t want in your opening seven but mid to late game fantastic. Syphon Flesh: this card is hilarious, it nets you usually three tokens and gets kreshs power up depending on the power of the creatures sacrificed.
Asceticism : Giving all my creatures hexproof is great, having the ability to regenerate, even better. Mana Reflection : how this stakes with Mirari's Wake effects (like Vorinclex, voice of hunger), double what the land can produce first, THEN add the mirari’s mana. So a bounce land taps for four (and with vorinclex out then taps for five) No Mercy : as long as the creature isn’t hexproofed or shrouded, kills them for doing the stupid thing or attacking me. People have to waste a removal spell or cast generals for uptinth times.
Astral Cornucopia: A new mana producer that can be made huge late game. though at that point it would just be a bonus. Mostly I see this card as a spare Darksteel Ingot. Darksteel Ingot : Indestructability is always good, especially on a mana rock that taps for anything, this card is a must for all non-mono-green EDH decks. Darksteel Plate : Like I said, indestructability good! Give this to kresh to never die for targeting or kill spells, almost as good as shrouding/hexproofing him. T. Expedition Map : this nets you a combo piece land or whatever you need at the time, I have been known to get a forest before. Gilded Lotus : this card gets ridiculous in all my decks (especially blue ones), here in kresh is no different, with mana reflection out, lotus taps for six, count’em SIX mana of any one color. It gets silly after a why being able to cast fleshbag marauder with just the lotus (which is one of my favorite things) Helm of Kaldra : An interesting combo piece, either create Kaldra and equip worlslayer or make kresh into a better Kaldra and win, either way can’t lose. But in all seriousness Helm is funny, it gives haste, trample, and first strike, what’s not to love? Lightning Greaves : a staple of EDH, truly amazing, shroud and Haste. Not much more can be said. Obelisk of Jund : A destructible version of Ingot, but designed just for jund. I find that most jund decks need it, and those that don’t, will soon. Sculpting Steel : sculpt this into plate, sculpt it into lotus, anything really. Amazing utility artifact. Shield of Kaldra : Another agro combo piece, shield is… well its plate but better, because it makes helm, and sword indestructible. Sol Ring : You can always tell what kind of player someone is by wither or not they want to ban this card, but I won’t go into that. Sol ring is a mush have in all decks except mono-green, a turn one sol ring is amazing because you start the game off good at three mana at least turn two, and kresh can be played around turn three or four. Sword of Kaldra : +5/+5 and exiles the chump that block the equipped creature, also the second to last agro combo piece, not much else to say. Witchbane Orb : Mono-red rage quits at effects like theses luckily for them this is an artifact and red had arty-removal like no other, still I can’t be a target, YAY!
Abhorrent Overlord : Just got this as the prerelease foil and a regular card, hoping it will be pretty good. Acidic Slime : In a world where artifacts and enchantments can be my skull in , it’s nice to take them out then have a deathtouch out. Corpsejack Menace : an enabler of Shenanigans, makes all counters double, so kresh its bigger and my hidden gem gets broken. Deathbringer Thoctar : here it is the gem, the crown jewel of my non-legendary creatures, if even one creature dies I kill all 1/1s ever made, which in turn makes kresh bigger, with corspejack out, I can take out all 2/2s as well. This baby is an amazing addition to any red/black/X deck, fits all of them. Dragon Broodmother : the broodmother makes kresh happy. In a four man game I can sacrifice the dragons to each other on other players upkeeps and just make kresh huge by the time it gets back to me. Erebos, God of the Dead: testing him out, and loving it! opponents can't gain life so your just draining away and who has enchantment exiles? Eternal Witness : straight recursion gets me what I need from the yard. Flame-Wreathed Phoenix:The Tribute will be the most fun for Multiplayer, since everyone has to agree to not pay it. Fleshbag Marauder : I know I said That deathbringer was the crown jewel, well this is the second one. I fleshbag generals away like no other, it’s usually the only way I can. The Jenara deck I go up against usually has hexproof, so I can’t touch her with my kill spells, well fleshbag can, and does. Indrik Stomphowler : So it doesn’t have deathtouch, who cares it’s still just as good as acidic slime and seeing as its singleton anyway, a second slime effect is always good. Mogis, god of Slaughter:This will hopefully be as good as it look (ie force more people to sacrifice or pay life) Mycoloth : good god! This card gets fun fast, it creates tokens out the wazoo and usually is huge in of its self. Nylea, god of the hunt: Trying her out, and loving it. the trample is the one big hole in Kresh's attack strategy,now its plugged up. Olivia Voldaren : I have a thing about my decks, where I have a legendary of every color combo legal in the deck, Olivia is the red/black one. Pinging creatures with the off chance of stealing them is amazing no matter what it is I’m pining. Phyrexian Obliterator : The obliterator, this card is something no one wants to block and always have to target killspell it, else they lose a lot of permanents. Polis Crusher: With an enchantment deck in the meta this card can be vital, also its a big dumb beater, who doesn't love that? Reaper of the Wilds: Perfect. this card is amazing here, all everyone else has dies and I scry all day everyday. Sheoldred, Whispering One: This recurs FLESHBAG!!! …also make players sacrifice creatures during their upkeeps, what snot to love about that? Also fits the mono-black slot for the legendary thing Slum Reaper : FLESHBAG HAS A BROTHER!! Same effect but +1/+0 bigger, what’s not to love from an upgrade. Stormbreath Dragon: pulled this in my second sealed prerelease, and have kept it here ever since. Ulamog, the Inifinte Gyre: This creature does NOT get played. He stays in your hand at all times. Helps against so many problems surrounding milling and milling effects. Ulasht, the Hate Seed : The Green/Red combo, I’ve been taking him out, and putting him back in because he always has potential value, and with all the mana I can make, he can come in huge and kill everyone at once. Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger : the mono-green legendary, that breaks faces. I always forget his winter orb effect for everyone that’s not me, but oh well. I just love the extra mana. Vampire Nighthawk: If black utility creatures had a posterchild it would be the nighthawk, he's a three-drop flying lifelinker that nets you two life an attack.
Let’s get the obvious out of the way, my instants are nearly all killspells. I have eight only because I haven’t acquired more. Killing problem creatures and pumping kresh is amazing, killing generals even though I wont get the boost, is even better. I never want generals on the field, I want kresh out and that’s is.
Chill to the bone : Chill kills non-snow creatures because god forbid theirs a heidar deck out there and I only have this card against him… oh well kills everything else. Eyeblight's Ending : Because there are a tone of elf decks around the world, but only a couple in town. I figure I always get value out of this one. Go for the Throat : I have only had the problem of having this card out and needing to kill an artifact creature once, so it’s usually great value all around. Insidious Dreams: Work the top of the deck how ever you like, but this is mostly to save me from a hive mind + Enter the Infinite + a forced draw, this also can be used for milling. Putrefy : By-by creature or artifact. Not much else you can say. Rend Flesh : I have yet to see a spirit deck ever! So this is a great kill spell/ Terminate : “you’ve been terminated!” honestly what else can I say about this one eah? Tribute to Hunger : this is the bane of Jenara. They swing with their general, and don’t have a chump. I cast this while there general is huge, and laugh as I gain boat loads of life. Wrecking Ball : God damn it Miley! You just had to ruin wrecking ball for me didn’t you? Other than that it also can destroy a land if I need it to.
Dec. 19,2012 Cut: Vault of Whispers: felt no love for it. Add: Treetop Village: Must more utility than vault had, turns into a chump with trample so i like it.
Feb. 9,2013 Cut: Golgari Signet:decided to cut the signets entirely soon. Cultivate: read kodama's reach reason. Add: Birds of Paradise: trying it out. Kodama's Reach: In my area this card is an unofficial requirement or a rite of passage.
Mar.2,2013 Cut: Gruul Signet: switching from filter to mana man rock Add: Gruul Keyrune: trampling land
Mar. 13,2013 Cut: Mimic Vat: wasn't seeing enough action Spawnwrithe: also was not seeing enough play Add: Cultivate" more thinning out of my deck Ooze FLux: wanted to try this out
September 16, 2013 Cut: Kessig wolf run: I moved this to my Living End modern deck Polluted Mire: i cut this months ago, and just never realized it wasn't changed here
1x Swamp: not sure what I cut this for, I keep coming up three cards short Gatekeeper of Malakir: Decided this was not as good as it used to be, I might bring it back soon. Kozilek, Butcher of Truth: moved this to my turbogriff deck Sadistic Sacrament: I dont use it as often as I'd like so i cut it. Stitch together: moved to Teysa for now Geth's Verdict: Not as fun as it used to be, moved it to a mono-black EDH i'm working on. Add: Thespian's Stage: another Cabal Coffers that could be more Wickerbough Elder: another Idrik effect Expedition Map: tutors for urborg or something Gaze of granite: place holder until theros Chill to the bone: another kill spell, because i can never have enough Skarrg, the Rage Pits: replacement for kessig
like i said i'm two cards short still looking for them
October 4, 2013 Cut: Gruul Keyrune: decided to cut out the keyrunes for extra land, since I have cards like Worm Harvest,more land will probably be a good idea Add: Stomping Ground: Starting to acquire the Rav lands.
October 16,2013- THEROS update II Cut: Exquisite Blood: With Erebos added, I don't need this anymore Skullbriar, the walking Grave:Finally had a reason to cut him, though not for a green/black legendary... Forest:needed to rework mana Khalni Garden: Turn one tapped finally became a problem so I cut it Loxodon Warhammer: I only used it for the trample and nylea is in so I don't need it Nim Deathmantle: I hate this card so very very much... Worldslayer: the target is to damn big now Add: Erebos, God of the Dead:Upgrade exquisite blood with a upgraded phyrexian arena, I'm happy Nylea, God of the Hunt: upgraded Warhammer Polis Crusher: against enchement decks and gods Reaper of the Wilds: What isn't amazing about this card, I can Scry, give it hexproof and deathtouch! Stormbreath Dragon: against white and turbofog decks Destructive Revelry: a shock and a Natrualize for the win.
December 31, 2013 Cut: Worm Harvest: I regret having to cut this card, but I needed room for a very powerful boardwipe. Add: Decree of Pain: My newest Boardwipe!!! I have been wanting this evil bastard ever since I started building the deck.
January 12, 2014 Cut: Bojuka Bog: there just was not enough reason recently to have this land in the deck. Temple of Abandon: needed room for a new (to me) tri-land. Night Soil: not enough creatures in the yard randomly to use this.
February 17,2014-Born of the Gods Update I Cut: Ooze Flux:Hasn't really been used, so I'm cutting it for updates Defense of the Heart:This was a hard cut, in all honesty probably didn't need to be cut but there are somethings I'd like to have. Deathrite Shaman: Another hard cut, but might try to put it back in.
You're running a whopping 8 mana rocks in a green deck. I would much rather play things like Wood Elves, Yavimaya Dryad, Sakura-Tribe Elder, Farhaven Elf, Yavimaya Elder, Seedguide Ash, or any creature that can make mana or get you lands. Your general gets bigger when creatures die and all of these creatures can be sacrificed for value or equipped with Skullclamp to draw more cards. You're also running some equipment which would benefit from more creatures.
Disciple of Bolas is a great card in a Kresh deck. It goes pretty awesome with Seedguide Ash. There is also Birthing Pod and Lord of Extinction. Fling can be a fun card with Kresh and Lord of Extinction. Bone Shredder is great with Kresh. Its a removal spell AND a creature. I'm a big fan of Shriekmaw as well. Its a sorcery speed Terror that gives your general 3 counters. Jarad's Orders is a pretty sweet creature tutor that can get Genesis into your graveyard and an awesome creature into your hand. Rune-Scarred Demon is pretty sick as well, although I'll admit he is a tad boring.
You're running a whopping 8 mana rocks in a green deck. I would much rather play things like Wood Elves, Yavimaya Dryad, Sakura-Tribe Elder, Farhaven Elf, Yavimaya Elder, Seedguide Ash, or any creature that can make mana or get you lands. Your general gets bigger when creatures die and all of these creatures can be sacrificed for value or equipped with Skullclamp to draw more cards. You're also running some equipment which would benefit from more creatures.
Disciple of Bolas is a great card in a Kresh deck. It goes pretty awesome with Seedguide Ash. There is also Birthing Pod and Lord of Extinction. Fling can be a fun card with Kresh and Lord of Extinction. Bone Shredder is great with Kresh. Its a removal spell AND a creature. I'm a big fan of Shriekmaw as well. Its a sorcery speed Terror that gives your general 3 counters. Jarad's Orders is a pretty sweet creature tutor that can get Genesis into your graveyard and an awesome creature into your hand. Rune-Scarred Demon is pretty sick as well, although I'll admit he is a tad boring.
Problem is they only get me forests, I need other land access as well so I like the mana rocks , besides if I lay a creature down odds are good it won't die to easily, even I'd it's meant to.
Well some of them get basic lands. I still think you're missing out on a lot more power by running so few creatures. Also, you've got two forest dual lands in there to grab with Wood Elves.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but generals going to the general zone do not trigger Kresh. So you can only "eat generals" if they actually go to the graveyard.
If they go to the command zone, they still die. So Kresh will be triggered ;).
no, they do not. the definition of die is (and what's printed on older cards, including kresh):
whenever a creature is put into a graveyard from the battlefield
if they're sent to the command zone, that is a replacement effect and they never go to the graveyard (it's not like tokens where they hit the grave but then instantly leave, or like zodiac dragon where a triggered ability removes him from the grave after he's hit it. generals never visit the grave if they go to the command zone).
Believe me, my glissa deck wishes it wasn't true too.
incidentally, this is a good reason why the "dies" templating shouldn't have been used in the first place, because it's a lot less clear in situations such as this.
EDIT: to further prove my point, here's a direct quote from the official commander rules site:
If it's a change, I think it was in 2007. If it's a surprise to you, it's probably that you just didn't read carefully enough. I've screwed it up before too (with glissa).
it is definitely a bummer for some generals in some games, but at least in my experience kresh grows plenty quickly even without that benefit. My suggestion would be to include more sackable creatures on your side of the field, so that if someone's playing a deck with few creatures your general won't be so badly hosed.
EDIT: the command zone was adopted in sept. 2009, and there's a post from Sheldon that specifically mentions that generals moving to the general zone doesn't trigger "dies" triggers from september 2009.
I think that even before then, when it was just the exile zone, it still didn't trigger, but I was only playing for a few months before the change so I don't remember.
dies has only been around for a year, before then it did trigger.
"dies" only changed the wording, the conditions required for kresh to trigger (or anything else with the word "dies") has never changed.
My complaint with "dies" is that it obscures what the condition is. A general does "die" in colloquial language when you terminate it...however it doesn't get sent to the graveyard, in the more specific original language of the card.
in my Area, Most higher level players just have one creature or two out on the field, and that one creature is always the general... so sacrificing is always good (because they usually have shroud or something just as mildly annoying)
i was going through gatherer and found this card (in addition to the one i posted in thraximundar) and wanted everyones opinions on it, the card is Nightsoil i know its in my maybe log, but i've been really wanting to try it out. anyone have any ideas as to what i could cut, or any ideas over the value of the card being in the deck?
It's a decent card, I enjoy it, though I prefer things like Relic of Progenitus for grave hate, I can see how the tokens could be useful here. I'd cut Elbrus for it in a heartbeat, I just don't see Elbrus being incredibly useful.
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Yah, you maybe right about Elbrus, i just love how i can ping once and then make pretty much an eldrazi for an eight mana investment. Now, i need to find where i put my copy of night soil lol.
Just Updated my Maybe Log, and put in a sideboard. what does everyone think. any suggestions? especially for the sideboard, this will be an new experiment once i get all the cards for it.
Having said that, the second best thing he loves is good old fashion Blunt-Force Trauma.
The General
Why Play this General?
The major reason I play Kresh is that I do not want another general on the field. In my City Wide Metagame (yes I have a city metagame) a general on a field equals not a good time. So the deck is designed to get rid of generals as much as possible. In other words Kresh the Bloodbraided is amazing for the core concept. You kill a general and if they plan of recurring him from the grave kresh gets bigger, if they don't oh well at least the general is going to cost more, and after they have to play it for the sixth or seventh time maybe they'll just give up. If you have a Doubling Season then you absorb two times the general and every board wipe and every kill spell is even better than they would be normally. As long as kresh stays alive, he just gets bigger and bigger all day long.Now I know that their generals only give me the bonus if they hit the graveyard( a bad judge ruling had said otherwise, but oh well) however the concept is still the same for any of their other creatures even tokens(YES, to those that don't believe it tokens do in fact hit the graveyard and then disappear afterwards, so you will get the +1/+1 counters from the).
converted mana cost five, just small enough to be played early, but just enough to be annoying when it dies.
“Whenever another creature dies, you may put X +1/+1 counters on Kresh the Bloodbraided, where X is that creature's power.” In other words chump blockers, sacrifice effects, and kill spells make him OP, especially when he’s got trample and indestructibility.
Like I said, kill spells and chump blockers make him amazing and guess what one triad of colors does this best? Well not Grixis, close though they have Thraximundar to OP over (but that’s another deck), its JUND! Jund’s own mechanic, devour means that sacrificing is good, and Alara block had amazingly fun ways to lose your creatures and make everyone else lose even more.
The Pros of Kresh:
The Cons of Kresh:
The alternative Generals:
Darigaaz, the Igniter: He’s just too expensive as a general after one kill you better have mana production or else he’s just too much to cast. Yes, in a format where you know what colors another player’s deck is and thus can use his ability nicely, and Yes, he has flying (a big plus) you might play his effect once or twice a game. If you have mana. For Darigaaz to work well you will have to have a Mana Reflection and/or a Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger (unless your group hugging for some reason then cards like Heartbeat of spring will help you out but why would you be doing that in an aggro color combination.
Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund: Karrthus automatically means you are tribal; I actually came up with a design for him once. For him to work, you need a lot of mana fixers and tribal fixers.His Mana cost is also way to much he’s automatically a converted mana cost seven for crying out loud, you would need Urza's Incubator, and all the other cards that make him smaller.
Vaevictis Asmadi: …Lets just get the obvious out of the way, Converted Mana Cost EIGHT… So not a chance to play him without a ton of Mana fixing, Mana Reflection, and Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger. Then the next problem is his upkeep cost of :symb::symr::symg:, that’s just annoying. If someone static orb's you, or Winter Orb's you, then you’re boned like everyone else. Except he dies at upkeep, and everyone else has to deal with their own problems. The only pros to him are his effects, Flying, and [CARD]
Firebreathing[/CARD]. Making him deal a ton of damage fast is good, but at his CMC its not enough to try him out as a general.
Sek'Kuar, Deathkeeper: Just not as cool as Kresh. He has the same Converted Mana Cost, but not as good of an effect. All in all, has potential but not as much fun.
Adun Oakenshield: Though I like the Hobbit reference, he is not aggro. He's defensive recursion after you board wipe. I might in the unforeseeable future try him out on a trial basis, but I highly doubt it.
I have been playing magic since Fifth Dawn. Normally I play only Esper, Simic, or BUG. However, fall 2011 I entered College and started playing EDH more often than I once did, and was introduced into the city wide metagame. First I tried playing Momir Vig, Simic Visionary then I tried a Sen Triplets Artifice deck to no avail, due to an amazing Attrition like a Grand Arbiter deck, and an Jenera Enchantment deck. Eventually I tried Kresh the Bloodbraided. Back when I first built Kresh I was really poor (I still am lol) and could not afford titans or lieges let alone a Doubling Season. This incarnation honestly really sucked, though I hardly ever won with it I could help crush anyone and be second place all the time. I was however really good in teams.
Eventually I put him down for Thraximundar and Tariel, Reckoner of Souls all the while I was designing and redesigning Kresh, and Lucille. I eventually renamed Kresh Itadakimatsu! gave up on Lucille, and started to work on the Joker (my trolling Voltron deck). I've made many references to my metagame, here are just a few decks in it:
* Jenara, asura of war- enchantment deck, 95%+ win rate, costs more than most decks on the multiplayer subforum.
* Memnarch- artifact/mill deck - I'd give it a 75-80% win rate, costs maybe $300
* Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter- hard to really call is a voltron deck, not quite a stax deck, same or slightly better win rate than Memnarch, costs about as much
* Grand Arbiter Augustin IV- standard issue GAA4, the guy actually keeps track of the number of people that scoop to him, - costs maybe $300+.
* Ghave, Guru of Spores (1)- we have a couple on and off, this one is proxies mostly, still ok.
* Ghave, Guru of Spores (2)- slightly better version of version one.
* Ghave, Guru of Spores (3)- Budget ghave
* Niv-Mizzet, the firemind- got to the point that ever black deck ran Underworld Dreams, now retired for the next deck.
* Heartless Hidetsugu- luckly the guy that pilots this doesn't come around many places anymore,(rage quitter), still an annoying deck to any one with out a Leyline of sanctity.
* Zedruu the greathearted- most annoying deck ever built and thats all i am going to say.
*Thraximundar/Sol'kanar the Swamp King- anti draw deck.
*Godo, Bandit Warlord- equipment burn deck.
The deck was originally built to Tranquility, Hush,etc another player's Jenara Enchantment Deck, because it was the biggest threat and had the highest win rate in the College and still is a huge threat. At one time I actually completely board wiped the field of everything because that player had two of his three pieces of his favorite combo using a Tranquility the combo being Mirari's wake,Opalescence, and Enchanted Evening.
After I redesigned Kresh into Itadakimatsu! I dropped as many combos and infinite combos, cut the tranquility effects and added even more kill spell, but best of all I got the titans I needed... then cut them after PrimeTime's very bad banning.After that I just kept modifying and modifying as different sets came out...Even though I know that my games against heavy artifact/enchantment decks, the aggro and killspells that I've used to compensate should more than do the trick. Some of the newest additions to the deck are a random sub-theme I keep trying to have in here where I have a Legendary Creature for every color and color combination, unfortunately the G/B legendarily just aren't as good as I would like, the mono-red legendary hasn't been bought (most likely Purphoros, god of the forge) I still hope to get that sub-theme running eventually. Another Addition from the older lists are all the devotion, I can easily get my black devotion up to five for Erebos, God of the Dead but hard to get the devotion to Red or Green ( Nylea almost never get to creature status).
(*) = foil
(**) = full-art
(***) = Promo foil
1x Blood Crypt
1x Cabal Coffers (***)
1x Command Tower
1x Darigaaz's Caldera
1x Deserted Temple
1x Dragonskull Summit
1x Evolving Wilds (***)
2x Forest (**)
1x Golgari Rot Farm
1x Graven Cairns
1x Gruul Turf
1x Jund Panorama
1x Kessig Wolf Run
1x Miren, the Moaning Well
3x Mountain (**)
1x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1x Overgrown Tomb
1x Raging Ravine
1x Rakdos Carnarium
1x Rootbound Crag (*)
1x Savage Lands (***)
1x Spawning Pool
3x Swamp (**)
1x Temple of the False God
1x Terramorphic Expanse
1x Thespian's Stage
1x Tranquil Thicket
1x Treetop Village
1x Twilight Mire
1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth (*)
1x Woodland Cemetery
1x Decree of Pain
1x Diabolic Revelation
1x Dreadbore
1x Killing Wave
1x Kodama's Reach
1x Plague Wind
1x Skyshroud Claim
1x Syphon Flesh
1x Violent Ultimatum
1x Abhorrent Overlord (***)
1x Acidic Slime
1x Corpsejack Menace (***)
1x Deathbringer Thoctar (*)
1x Dragon Broodmother (***)
1x Erebos, God of the Dead
1x Eternal Witness
1x Fleshbag Marauder
1x Indrik Stomphowler
1x Kresh the Bloodbraided
1x Maralen of the Mornsong
1x Mogis, God of Slaughter
1x Nylea, God of the Hunt
1x Olivia Voldaren
1x Phyrexian Obliterator
1x Polis Crusher
1x Purphoros, God of the Forge
1x Reaper of the Wilds
1x Sheoldred, Whispering One (***)
1x Slum Reaper (*)
1x Stormbreath Dragon
1x Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre (*)
1x Ulasht, the Hate Seed
1x Vampire Nighthawk (***)
1x Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger
1x Darksteel Plate
1x Expedition Map
1x Gilded Lotus
1x Helm of Kaldra
1x Lightning Greaves
1x Sculpting Steel
1x Shield of Kaldra
1x Sol Ring
1x Sword of Feast and Famine
1x Sword of Kaldra
1x Witchbane Orb
1x Aggravated Assault
1x Burgeoning
1x Doubling Season
1x Mana Reflection
1x No Mercy
1x War's Toll
1x Chill to the Bone
1x Eyeblight's Ending
1x Go for the Throat
1x Hero's Downfall
1x Insidious Dreams
1x Putrefy
1x Rend Flesh
1x Terminate (**)
1x Tribute to Hunger
1x Wrecking Ball
Statistics
Mana Distribution(mana costs):
Red:15.52%
Black:48.28%
Green:37.21%
Mana Distribution(land):
Red:22.5%
Black:42.5%
Green:30%
Average CMC:3.57
Estimated Cost(according to Tappedout): $281.05
The main strategy is, play Kresh (as soon as possible) then play kill spells out the wazoo and make him BIG. The main targets for kill spells are other generals, if you kill them all game eventually they will become just too big to play. I have seen a Jenara cost 32 extra mana, and I have seen it get recast for the 17th time. So always keep a way to kill ‘em in hand and always have the mana open for one even if you don’t have one.
What to do with Kresh-
Kresh has two weaknesses:
The Secondary Strategy is, to use all the kill spells and wipes to keep everyone else from having creatures or other win conditions. Then create as many tokens as possible or get fatties out and aggro to the win. This usually can happen while still having Kresh out, and being an aggro-Voltron deck you can do either/or, since as I said this is Voltron normally you will just kill a player a turn, (unless I can make room for Aggravated Assault and Sword of Feast and Famine at which point you can easily kill everyone in the same turn, (Again assuming you have a trampler on the field).
NOTE: when you kill off generals, unless the player chooses to put them into the graveyard, you will not get the counters on Kresh, but you do get rid of the general. which is more important.
Even after that sometimes you just have to kill everyone else's guys and aggro out with the few creatures in the deck, the best way to do that is Deathbringer Thoctar, he alone with just one creature dying after he enters play can annihilate all 1/1 creatures, put Corpsejack Menace in the mix and now all 2/2 creatures die.
If Kresh gets tucked don't worry, he's the main win con, but not the only win con. If you don't want to tutor him back up, don't.Though hopefully you will have Darksteel plated and/or Lightning Greaves him. You have several other bombs that can take his place for example Phyrexian Obliterator, put Darksteel Plate on him and you have a more dangerous creature than most. you can Lightning Greaves Him or Kresh and now the only way to destroy Obliterator is to boardwipe or Force a Sacrifice.
How does toolbox work?
Kresh the bloodbraided is a toolbox deck. In other words there is no one way to win and most definitely no true beginning of the game, middle of the game, or end of the game. Yes, I know there are few tutors, in this particular tool box. Why? Simply put, you don't need them. I consistently get what i need naturally, and the opening hand tells you what will probably occur. if its a fist full of black land and multiple black creatures and killspells your usually getting more black cards and can win with an Abhorrent overlord or a Phyrexian Obliterator. If you get a fist full of not black, your getting Stormbreath Dragon for a bomb or other not necessarily black cards. this deck has a mind of its own and gives you what you need to win.
With this build you have extreme versatility, you can proficiently take down enchantment decks, aggro decks, survive control decks and hold out against nearly any combo deck with very little tweaking.
Why is there not that many Creatures?
As some people have said I should have a lot more creatures, and the best way for that to occur that I should cut all my mana rocks. Why have I ignored this? Simply because this works beautifully for me! Now in your metagames you might try not having as many rocks as I do, to which I say fine by me man. However, My metagame is one of the most competitive in the country, somethings that work out side my region are the best of the best, but that's outside the region. Sometimes (Alright 99.9999999999999999999% of the time) they won't be as good here. I've seen the best of the best get completely Annihilated in under five turns by a deck that sucks massively in this region. Now that I have cut the rocks I replaced them with the Rav Lands. Some might think that 40 land is to much for aggro, that more of a control deck amount of lands. Those people are more or less correct. However, I like consistency, and the 40 land keeps it consistent.
Beginning of the game
Your opening hand should hold at least two land and a sol ring or 3+ land (I keep 5-6 land hands depending on the other cards) the rest of the hand should have at least one killspell and a creature.Use the killspell on a general, this helps throw off other players strategies and makes there general cost more. Keep killing generals when ever possible, this will keep disrupting their game and gives you the advantage in this early part of the game. You do not necessarily need the sol ring, but it helps. depending on the generals your playing against you may want more cheap killspells and or ramp to get into a bomb.
Middle of the game
Here you want cards like no mercy and/or Phyrexian Obliterator . If you want to utilize cards like Nykthos, shrine to nyx and Erebos, God of the Dead high black mana symbol cards are the only real way, yes I have a lot of Green symbols but not nearly as much as Black.building up your board is key here. You've already disrupted there plays with killspells now it's time for making them not want to retaliate. Here is the entertaining part, this is were we could have a draw game depending on other plays. Recently I played against a Zedruu deck, a Jevera deck, and a Pheldagrif deck, with very little board presence, only a few killspells and a slum reaper got the group hug player next to me to have a hive mind,Otherworld Atlas with three charge counters on it and then played enter the infinite. After we all drew our decks (minus one) he hit us all with otherworld atlas for the draw. Now what exactly are you building? Well you can go token aggro with Mycoloth, you can go cruel control stealing everyone else's creatures and hitting them with their own stuff using Olivia Voldaren . you can even try Genesis wave for a ton and then Eternal Witness (normally you should have gotten a Vorinclex, Voice of hunger and a lot of land of the first Genesis Wave), if you do Gen-wave remember, REMEMBER!!! Everything that comes out of a Gen-wave comes in at the same time and will NOT see everything else that came in with the Gen-wave, so targets, sacrifices, etc that have to occur thanks to ETBs, you can only use what you already have! All the permanents get put in at the same time so then other players can get priority after they come in. the Bright side is that you choose how to show what comes in. I like just getting all instants/sorceries out of the stack of cards your getting first, then land/mana rocks and then ETBs that require the stuff you already have on the field. Then, I put other permanents on the field and finally the last of the creatures. If you can make room on your field to show what was there before the Gen-wave and what your getting out of Gen-wave the better (depending on how many judges, rules advisers and pricks there are in the game this can be very important).
End of the game
You've build up your field with really what ever you draw (it always depends on the draw) now your normally just aggro-ing out for the win, there are no infinite combos. Kresh is always a fun way to win but not necessarily the win con.
What Does All This Mean?
I was asked to explain what this all means with Kresh at the center of all of this. Well first off there is something that most players don't understand with the deck. Most deck strategies are based on what they can do to themselves (insert "Playing with your self Jokes here). Well my deck is completely different. The deck is dependent on everyone else playing their decks. So what Kresh does is gain value from destroying everyone elses' creatures and disrupt my opponents strategies. The few times that I would be in self contained mode is with cards like Olivia Volderan , Mycoloth , and Corpsejack Menace are three different strategies you can use. Olivia for a control strategy, Mycoloth for Tokens, and CorpseJack for augmenting Kresh's tokens. Whats really great about Kresh is, no two games you play with this deck are ever really the same. You could beat a table using No Mercy, Phyrexian Obliterator, Erebos, god of the Dead, and an Olivia Volderan (yes, this has happened) and you get all the +1/+1 counters for kresh. Aggro Token strategy can be used with cards like Dragon Broodmother , Xenagos, the Reveler , and Mycoloth. Then there's the Augmentation sub-strategy with Corpsejack Menace. Finally there is the super fun " You should have destroyed my lands earlier" strategy of Vorinclex. Voice of Hunger , Mana Reflection , Genesis wave , and Eternal Witness with just one hit you should be able to hit five lands ( my smallest GenWave was a 8 hitter and did that just for answers one game... I won, mostly thought I have GenWaved for 15-45), then you can GenWave a second time with Eternal Witness. Don't forget I have the Urborg Package for augmenting just how big that GenWave can be.
Mulligans
In all honesty the irony of putting a mulligan section here is that it all depends on who your playing against. For playing against heavy aggro or Control 4 lands and three killspells should to fine for an opening hand. For anything else its your call. I prefer having 4-5 lands 2-3 killspells and a creature. Getting a ton of land early is always good for the beginning.
Against the Archtypes
Notes for the Deck
January 12,2014- Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre
This card should under NO circumstances be played, NOT because this makes you a target but because now if you play it you now have no way around to discard it for mill effects, shenanigans (like a draw game), etc. So do not for the love of what ever higher being you believe in DON'T play it!!!!
The land:
the Sorceries:
the Enchantments:
the Artifacts:
the Planeswalkers:
the Creatures:
the Instants:
Cut:
Choice of Damnations: to clunking for this deck
Goblin Offensive: Yes this was an amazing and hilarious card, but also to clunky.
Sanguine Bond: as opposed to its combo partner Exquisite Blood, Bond is a Unitasker, and I'm trying to rid my self of Unitaskers.
Kessig Cagebreakers: I try not to let to many of my guys staying in the grave, so became worthless.
Sakura-Tribe Elder: Needed Something else to cut.
Vicious Shadows: Needed Something else to cut.
Add:
Rakdos Signet: Mana Rock
Rakdos KeyRune: Mana Rock/ Creature
Corpsejack Menace: Great With Kresh.
Thromok the Insatiable: Troll
Golgari Keyrune: Mana Rock/ Creature
Deathrite Shaman: Fun card I'm trying out
Oct.30,2012
Cut:
Butcher of Malakir: to clunky for the effect.
Grave Pact: Same Reason
Army of the Damned: to much hate.
Living Death: some times a liability.
Add:
Slum Reaper: bigger version of the best EDH card for Black Fleshbag Maurader
Mana Reflection: It doubles your Mana... how amazing is that?!
Eternal Witness: a great wrong has been righted.
Worm Harvest: a fun card I've been wanting to try out.
Nov. 17,2012
Cut:
Rakdos Signet: i've been proxie-ing this card so i thought i'd replace it for an actual card.
Thromok the insatiable : also has been proxied.
Add:
Olivia Voldaren: wanted to try this out.
Defense of the heart: gets me vorinclex VERY early game.
Dec. 19,2012
Cut:
Vault of Whispers: felt no love for it.
Add:
Treetop Village: Must more utility than vault had, turns into a chump with trample so i like it.
Feb. 9,2013
Cut:
Golgari Signet:decided to cut the signets entirely soon.
Cultivate: read kodama's reach reason.
Add:
Birds of Paradise: trying it out.
Kodama's Reach: In my area this card is an unofficial requirement or a rite of passage.
Mar.2,2013
Cut:
Gruul Signet: switching from filter to mana man rock
Add:
Gruul Keyrune: trampling land
Mar. 13,2013
Cut:
Mimic Vat: wasn't seeing enough action
Spawnwrithe: also was not seeing enough play
Add:
Cultivate" more thinning out of my deck
Ooze FLux: wanted to try this out
April 18,2013
Cut:
stitch together: moving it to my Mimeoplasm deck
Add:
Phyrexian Obliterator: an upgrade for lulz
July 30, 2013
Cut:
Vulturous Zombie : haven't really gotten much use out of this so trying something out
Add:
Kokusho, the Evening Star: tryng out in my deck for lulz
September 16, 2013
Cut:
Kessig wolf run: I moved this to my Living End modern deck
Polluted Mire: i cut this months ago, and just never realized it wasn't changed here
1x Swamp: not sure what I cut this for, I keep coming up three cards short
Gatekeeper of Malakir: Decided this was not as good as it used to be, I might bring it back soon.
Kozilek, Butcher of Truth: moved this to my turbogriff deck
Sadistic Sacrament: I dont use it as often as I'd like so i cut it.
Stitch together: moved to Teysa for now
Geth's Verdict: Not as fun as it used to be, moved it to a mono-black EDH i'm working on.
Add:
Thespian's Stage: another Cabal Coffers that could be more
Wickerbough Elder: another Idrik effect
Expedition Map: tutors for urborg or something
Gaze of granite: place holder until theros
Chill to the bone: another kill spell, because i can never have enough
Skarrg, the Rage Pits: replacement for kessig
like i said i'm two cards short still looking for them
September 23,2013- Theros updates
cut:
Birds of paradise: not as good as what I'm adding
Svogthos, the Restless Tomb: never have enough creatures in the yard for this.
Gaze of Granite: this was always filler until I got something to replace it.
Add:
Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx: gaea's cradle, just broken in all formats it seems
Abhorrent Overlord: trying this one out for now.
Mountain: wanted extra mana.
October 4, 2013
Cut:
Gruul Keyrune: decided to cut out the keyrunes for extra land, since I have cards like Worm Harvest,more land will probably be a good idea
Add:
Stomping Ground: Starting to acquire the Rav lands.
October 16,2013- THEROS update II
Cut:
Exquisite Blood: With Erebos added, I don't need this anymore
Skullbriar, the walking Grave:Finally had a reason to cut him, though not for a green/black legendary...
Forest:needed to rework mana
Khalni Garden: Turn one tapped finally became a problem so I cut it
Loxodon Warhammer: I only used it for the trample and nylea is in so I don't need it
Nim Deathmantle: I hate this card so very very much...
Worldslayer: the target is to damn big now
Add:
Erebos, God of the Dead:Upgrade exquisite blood with a upgraded phyrexian arena, I'm happy
Nylea, God of the Hunt: upgraded Warhammer
Polis Crusher: against enchement decks and gods
Reaper of the Wilds: What isn't amazing about this card, I can Scry, give it hexproof and deathtouch!
Stormbreath Dragon: against white and turbofog decks
Destructive Revelry: a shock and a Natrualize for the win.
November 17,2013
Cut:
Golgari Keyrune: cut it for overgrown tomb
Wickerbough Elder: needed room for liliana vess
Destructive revelry: cut for Xenagos
Kokusho, the evening star:needed room for a three drop
Din of the Fireherd: has annoyed me just to damn much
Add:
Overgrown Tomb: finally got the last Rav Land
Vampire Nighthawk: I missed having this three drop, so i put it back in.
Liliana Vess: One of the best tutors out there as long as you have protection for her
Xenagos, the Reveler: this guy an either net me a creature or a ton of mana, I love both options
December 31, 2013
Cut:
Worm Harvest: I regret having to cut this card, but I needed room for a very powerful boardwipe.
Add:
Decree of Pain: My newest Boardwipe!!! I have been wanting this evil bastard ever since I started building the deck.
January 12, 2014
Cut:
Bojuka Bog: there just was not enough reason recently to have this land in the deck.
Temple of Abandon: needed room for a new (to me) tri-land.
Night Soil: not enough creatures in the yard randomly to use this.
Add:
Darigaaz's Caldera: A try land with a ounce effect to use on cycle land or anything i need bounced.
Insidious Dreams: the Hive Mind , Enter the Infinite + extra draws annoyed me so much that I search for a card like this just for situations like that.
Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre: Another card to counter act the problems of shenanigans.
February 17,2014-Born of the Gods Update I
Cut:
Ooze Flux:Hasn't really been used, so I'm cutting it for updates
Defense of the Heart:This was a hard cut, in all honesty probably didn't need to be cut but there are somethings I'd like to have.
Deathrite Shaman: Another hard cut, but might try to put it back in.
Add:
Mogis, God of Slaughter: I love this card, and can't wait to play him.
Astral Cornucopia: people complain that i should run Chromatic Lantern, So I'm testing out this for now.
FLame-Wreathed Pheonix: I think this will be an amazing card, hopefully it will be amazing.
May 26, 2014-Journey to Nyx Update
Cut:
lavaclaw reaches: had to move this to my modern deck.
Skarrg, the Rage Pits: finally re-updated to kessig
genesis wave: not sure why this was cut.
hull breach: needed room. not as many people running stuff lately.
asceticism: not as good as i expected.
Mycoloth: did not want to cut but hope to pt back in soon.
flame-wreathed phoenix: failed as a good card.
astra cornucopia:not as good as i hoped.
obelisk of jund:needed room
xenagos, the reveler: moved to standard deck
liliana vess: upgraded to something better.
Add:
hero’s downfall: always want more killspells
kessig wolf run: upgraded again from skarrg
spawning pit: trying it out
diabolic revelation: fun... first thing i get with maralen is this to re-up my hand
dreadbore: more killspells
skyshroud claim: a staple i have been wanted to put in
violent ultimatum: wanted to try this out
burgeoning: intersting for my opening hand
War’s toll: i love this card, but it does make you a target after awhile
doubling season: I'm killing things and getting counters so 2x counters is better.
aggravated assault: par
maralen of the mornsong:t of a infinite aggro combo
purphoros, god of the forge:I want all the gods in here (even the bad one pharika)
Overwhelming Forces : Plague Winds + Draw… amazing
Creakwood Liege : it used to be that I always wanted this card for the deck, now not so sure.
Grave Betrayal : A specialized Mikaeus the Unhallowed, I’m trying it out in Thrax for now.
Vraska the Unseen: I might try it, might not.
Dauthi Embrace : Just need Room.
Coalition Relic : Mew, might go for it..
Comments and ideas welcome, please go to my Tappedout page for this deck:
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/itadakimasu-1/
Finished the Change Log and most of Reasoning.
Disciple of Bolas is a great card in a Kresh deck. It goes pretty awesome with Seedguide Ash. There is also Birthing Pod and Lord of Extinction. Fling can be a fun card with Kresh and Lord of Extinction. Bone Shredder is great with Kresh. Its a removal spell AND a creature. I'm a big fan of Shriekmaw as well. Its a sorcery speed Terror that gives your general 3 counters. Jarad's Orders is a pretty sweet creature tutor that can get Genesis into your graveyard and an awesome creature into your hand. Rune-Scarred Demon is pretty sick as well, although I'll admit he is a tad boring.
GWUBAtraxa, Praetor's Voice PrimerGWUB
GWURoon Bant Blink WhateverGWU
BRGLord Windgrace LandsBRG
Problem is they only get me forests, I need other land access as well so I like the mana rocks , besides if I lay a creature down odds are good it won't die to easily, even I'd it's meant to.
GWUBAtraxa, Praetor's Voice PrimerGWUB
GWURoon Bant Blink WhateverGWU
BRGLord Windgrace LandsBRG
Sakura tribe elder, yavimaya elder, farhaven elf, ... don't get you forest
they can get your forests OR swamps OR mountains!
Perhaps even Sylvan Ranger -> All great Skull Clamp targets.
Neheb
Marath
Yidris
Sharuum
Yidris
Neheb
Marath
Yidris
Sharuum
Yidris
EDH Primers
Phelddagrif - Zirilan
EDH
Thrasios+Bruse - Pang - Sasaya - Wydwen - Feather - Rona - Toshiro - Sylvia+Khorvath - Geth - QMarchesa - Firesong - Athreos - Arixmethes - Isperia - Etali - Silas+Sidar - Saskia - Virtus+Gorm - Kynaios - Naban - Aryel - Mizzix - Kazuul - Tymna+Kraum - Sidar+Tymna - Ayli - Gwendlyn - Phelddagrif 4 - Liliana - Kaervek - Phelddagrif 3 - Mairsil - Scarab - Child - Phenax - Shirei - Thada - Depala - Circu - Kytheon - GrenzoHR - Phelddagrif - Reyhan+Kraum - Toshiro - Varolz - Nin - Ojutai - Tasigur - Zedruu - Uril - Edric - Wort - Zurgo - Nahiri - Grenzo - Kozilek - Yisan - Ink-Treader - Yisan - Brago - Sidisi - Toshiro - Alexi - Sygg - Brimaz - Sek'Kuar - Marchesa - Vish Kal - Iroas - Phelddagrif - Ephara - Derevi - Glissa - Wanderer - Saffi - Melek - Xiahou Dun - Lazav - Lin Sivvi - Zirilan - Glissa
PDH - Drake - Graverobber - Izzet GM - Tallowisp - Symbiote Brawl - Feather - Ugin - Jace - Scarab - Angrath - Vraska - Kumena Oathbreaker - Wrenn&6
Neheb
Marath
Yidris
Sharuum
Yidris
no, they do not. the definition of die is (and what's printed on older cards, including kresh):
whenever a creature is put into a graveyard from the battlefield
if they're sent to the command zone, that is a replacement effect and they never go to the graveyard (it's not like tokens where they hit the grave but then instantly leave, or like zodiac dragon where a triggered ability removes him from the grave after he's hit it. generals never visit the grave if they go to the command zone).
Believe me, my glissa deck wishes it wasn't true too.
incidentally, this is a good reason why the "dies" templating shouldn't have been used in the first place, because it's a lot less clear in situations such as this.
EDIT: to further prove my point, here's a direct quote from the official commander rules site:
EDH Primers
Phelddagrif - Zirilan
EDH
Thrasios+Bruse - Pang - Sasaya - Wydwen - Feather - Rona - Toshiro - Sylvia+Khorvath - Geth - QMarchesa - Firesong - Athreos - Arixmethes - Isperia - Etali - Silas+Sidar - Saskia - Virtus+Gorm - Kynaios - Naban - Aryel - Mizzix - Kazuul - Tymna+Kraum - Sidar+Tymna - Ayli - Gwendlyn - Phelddagrif 4 - Liliana - Kaervek - Phelddagrif 3 - Mairsil - Scarab - Child - Phenax - Shirei - Thada - Depala - Circu - Kytheon - GrenzoHR - Phelddagrif - Reyhan+Kraum - Toshiro - Varolz - Nin - Ojutai - Tasigur - Zedruu - Uril - Edric - Wort - Zurgo - Nahiri - Grenzo - Kozilek - Yisan - Ink-Treader - Yisan - Brago - Sidisi - Toshiro - Alexi - Sygg - Brimaz - Sek'Kuar - Marchesa - Vish Kal - Iroas - Phelddagrif - Ephara - Derevi - Glissa - Wanderer - Saffi - Melek - Xiahou Dun - Lazav - Lin Sivvi - Zirilan - Glissa
PDH - Drake - Graverobber - Izzet GM - Tallowisp - Symbiote Brawl - Feather - Ugin - Jace - Scarab - Angrath - Vraska - Kumena Oathbreaker - Wrenn&6
If it's a change, I think it was in 2007. If it's a surprise to you, it's probably that you just didn't read carefully enough. I've screwed it up before too (with glissa).
it is definitely a bummer for some generals in some games, but at least in my experience kresh grows plenty quickly even without that benefit. My suggestion would be to include more sackable creatures on your side of the field, so that if someone's playing a deck with few creatures your general won't be so badly hosed.
EDIT: the command zone was adopted in sept. 2009, and there's a post from Sheldon that specifically mentions that generals moving to the general zone doesn't trigger "dies" triggers from september 2009.
http://mtgcommander.net/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2768
I think that even before then, when it was just the exile zone, it still didn't trigger, but I was only playing for a few months before the change so I don't remember.
EDH Primers
Phelddagrif - Zirilan
EDH
Thrasios+Bruse - Pang - Sasaya - Wydwen - Feather - Rona - Toshiro - Sylvia+Khorvath - Geth - QMarchesa - Firesong - Athreos - Arixmethes - Isperia - Etali - Silas+Sidar - Saskia - Virtus+Gorm - Kynaios - Naban - Aryel - Mizzix - Kazuul - Tymna+Kraum - Sidar+Tymna - Ayli - Gwendlyn - Phelddagrif 4 - Liliana - Kaervek - Phelddagrif 3 - Mairsil - Scarab - Child - Phenax - Shirei - Thada - Depala - Circu - Kytheon - GrenzoHR - Phelddagrif - Reyhan+Kraum - Toshiro - Varolz - Nin - Ojutai - Tasigur - Zedruu - Uril - Edric - Wort - Zurgo - Nahiri - Grenzo - Kozilek - Yisan - Ink-Treader - Yisan - Brago - Sidisi - Toshiro - Alexi - Sygg - Brimaz - Sek'Kuar - Marchesa - Vish Kal - Iroas - Phelddagrif - Ephara - Derevi - Glissa - Wanderer - Saffi - Melek - Xiahou Dun - Lazav - Lin Sivvi - Zirilan - Glissa
PDH - Drake - Graverobber - Izzet GM - Tallowisp - Symbiote Brawl - Feather - Ugin - Jace - Scarab - Angrath - Vraska - Kumena Oathbreaker - Wrenn&6
"dies" only changed the wording, the conditions required for kresh to trigger (or anything else with the word "dies") has never changed.
My complaint with "dies" is that it obscures what the condition is. A general does "die" in colloquial language when you terminate it...however it doesn't get sent to the graveyard, in the more specific original language of the card.
EDH Primers
Phelddagrif - Zirilan
EDH
Thrasios+Bruse - Pang - Sasaya - Wydwen - Feather - Rona - Toshiro - Sylvia+Khorvath - Geth - QMarchesa - Firesong - Athreos - Arixmethes - Isperia - Etali - Silas+Sidar - Saskia - Virtus+Gorm - Kynaios - Naban - Aryel - Mizzix - Kazuul - Tymna+Kraum - Sidar+Tymna - Ayli - Gwendlyn - Phelddagrif 4 - Liliana - Kaervek - Phelddagrif 3 - Mairsil - Scarab - Child - Phenax - Shirei - Thada - Depala - Circu - Kytheon - GrenzoHR - Phelddagrif - Reyhan+Kraum - Toshiro - Varolz - Nin - Ojutai - Tasigur - Zedruu - Uril - Edric - Wort - Zurgo - Nahiri - Grenzo - Kozilek - Yisan - Ink-Treader - Yisan - Brago - Sidisi - Toshiro - Alexi - Sygg - Brimaz - Sek'Kuar - Marchesa - Vish Kal - Iroas - Phelddagrif - Ephara - Derevi - Glissa - Wanderer - Saffi - Melek - Xiahou Dun - Lazav - Lin Sivvi - Zirilan - Glissa
PDH - Drake - Graverobber - Izzet GM - Tallowisp - Symbiote Brawl - Feather - Ugin - Jace - Scarab - Angrath - Vraska - Kumena Oathbreaker - Wrenn&6
They are only good if you run small value creatures that you can sacrifice.
GWUBAtraxa, Praetor's Voice PrimerGWUB
GWURoon Bant Blink WhateverGWU
BRGLord Windgrace LandsBRG
GWUBAtraxa, Praetor's Voice PrimerGWUB
GWURoon Bant Blink WhateverGWU
BRGLord Windgrace LandsBRG
Done by Rivenor of Miraculous Recovery signatures!