Fuel for Kresh's Cause [PRIMER]

Commander / EDH Battlecruiser BRG (Jund) Counters Primer Tokens

noggynogworld

Land (35)

• 1x Blood Crypt
• 1x Bloodstained Mire
• 1x Bojuka Bog
• 1x Cabal Coffers
• 1x Cinder Glade
• 1x City of Brass
• 1x Command Tower
• 4x Forest
• 1x Kessig Wolf Run
• 1x Llanowar Wastes
• 1x Mana Confluence
• 2x Mountain
• 1x Overgrown Tomb
• 1x Phyrexian Tower
• 1x Reflecting Pool
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Rogue's Passage
• 1x Rootbound Crag
• 1x Savage Lands
• 1x Skarrg, the Rage Pits
• 1x Stomping Ground
• 2x Swamp
• 1x Tectonic Edge
• 1x Temple of Malady
• 1x Temple of the False God
• 1x Twilight Mire
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
• 1x Wooded Foothills
• 1x Woodland Cemetery
• 1x Yavimaya Hollow

Instant (6)

• 1x Artifact Mutation
• 1x Beast Within
• 1x Crop Rotation
• 1x Heroic Intervention
• 1x Krosan Grip
• 1x Putrefy

Creature (26)

• 1x Avenger of Zendikar
• 1x Birds of Paradise
• 1x Champion of Lambholt
• 1x Craterhoof Behemoth
• 1x Creakwood Liege
• 1x Dragon Broodmother
• 1x Dragonlair Spider
• 1x Eternal Witness
• 1x Grismold, the Dreadsower
• 1x Hooded Hydra
• 1x Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord
• 1x Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest
• 1x Mitotic Slime
• 1x Mycoloth
• 1x Pitiless Plunderer
• 1x Reyhan, Last of the Abzan
• 1x Sakura-Tribe Elder
• 1x Shaman of Forgotten Ways
• 1x Sheoldred, Whispering One
• 1x Sprouting Thrinax
• 1x Tendershoot Dryad
• 1x Thromok the Insatiable
• 1x Ulasht, the Hate Seed
• 1x Vigor
• 1x Viscera Seer
• 1x Yawgmoth, Thran Physician

Artifact (7)

• 1x Ashnod's Altar
• 1x Chromatic Lantern
• 1x Mana Crypt
• 1x Phyrexian Altar
• 1x Skullclamp
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots

Planeswalker (3)

• 1x Garruk, Apex Predator
• 1x Liliana, Dreadhorde General
• 1x Xenagos, the Reveler

Commander (1)

Enchantment (13)

• 1x Asceticism
• 1x Attrition
• 1x Cryptolith Rite
• 1x Dictate of Erebos
• 1x Doubling Season
• 1x Gift of Doom
• 1x Goblin Bombardment
• 1x Grave Pact
• 1x Growing Rites of Itlimoc  ^Flip
• 1x Parallel Lives
• 1x Primal Vigor
• 1x Rhythm of the Wild
• 1x Rite of the Raging Storm

Sorcery (9)

• 1x Blasphemous Act
• 1x Chandra's Ignition
• 1x Cultivate
• 1x Diabolic Intent
• 1x Farseek
• 1x In Garruk's Wake
• 1x Kodama's Reach
• 1x Skyshroud Claim
• 1x Tooth and Nail

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Maybeboard

Enchantment (2)

• 1x Awakening Zone
• 1x Bitterblossom

Creature (2)

• 1x Grumgully, the Generous
• 1x Korvold, Fae-Cursed King

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THEIR LIVES FOR THE GREATER GOOD

Kresh build I made myself, I thought it would be fun. This deck is centered around creating tokens and sacrificing those tokens for value. There aren't many up-to-date Kresh decks around, let alone token centric ones, so I wanted to try my hand at it as this is the first deck I made from scratch. This is also my first primer, so let me know what changes I could make to make this better!

Despite what the competitive meter says, I would not consider this a "competitive" deck. This is a deck made for fun and value. If you want play a more competitive deck, look at Prossh, Skyraider of Kher decks.

This deck isn't about speed, it takes a bit for it to get going. The goal of this deck is for Kresh the Bloodbraided to eat all your creatures and get BIG AND STRONG. Oh, and if other creatures offer themselves up to him, who is he to deny their generous offering? While this deck is centered around killing tokens for value and making Kresh huge for swinging face, you don't need to bring him out right away. You want to build a decent board first, then bring out Kresh.

An ideal hand would have 2-3 lands, ramp, token generator, a way to increase token output, and a sac outlet.

There are a ton of ways to create tokens in this deck and ways to double them. There are also a ton of ways to sacrifice them to draw cards, generate mana, destroy other creatures, or straight up deal damage to your opponents.

The board wipes in this deck ensure that Kresh can survive and reap all the benefits of everything dying around him.

The Strat Show

The strategy is quite simple. Make tokens, kill them for stuff that will help you and Kresh. Easy enough, right? However there is a little more complexity to this, as I have come to learn. It's still easy, you just have to think a bit while you work your way to a win.

Early Game (Turns 1-5)

The objective in the early game is to lay low and police the board. It will seem like you're not doing much for the first few turns. Ramp up, play a removal spell here and there, get your token generators and sac outlets out there, take it easy. Slow them down just enough to keep them at your pace. Pay attention to what everyone else is doing and and try to divert any attention from yourself to others. Rite of the Raging Storm is great way to get your opponents to squabble among each other while you slowly but surely build your board. You are just playing a simple token value deck, right?

Midgame(Turns 6-8)

WRONG! By this time, probably around turns 6-8, you should have a kind of value engine going. Protecting your board, drawing a lot of cards, removing your opponent's creatures and any other permanents, and generating tokens on a consistent basis. Maybe not all at once, but you get it. Start building up options and setting up to kill someone at the table.

"But wait, where's Kresh?" Don't worry he's coming... or is he?

Late/Endgame(Turn 9+), Kresh Finish

"Why isn't Kresh out here yet? I thought he was supposed to get big!" Oh he is, but he needed to wait for the right moment to jump in. Kresh is almost too dangerous to play as a value engine alongside the rest of your board. People will notice Kresh getting too big and try to focus as much removal as possible to remove him for fear of dying to him at some point. You want to make sure he has protection (via Swiftfoot Boots and/or Asceticism ), and have something to give him haste (via Boots and/or Rhythm of the Wild which also makes him uncounterable). Best thing to do is focus down whoever you consider the most meddlesome or problematic, usually blue/white players as they can exile or bounce your permanents, or worse, counterspell your stuff. Then it's time to go digging. Find the nearest Chandra's Ignition or Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord and nuke the rest of the table for the one shot finish. Can also be done with Thromok the Insatiable . If that fails, just beat up the table as fast as possible.

Late/Endgame(Turn 9+), Alternate Finish

Now what if Kresh isn't the most optimal to play? Maybe he was played too early and got removed a couple of times or something. Don't worry, you have other options! Hopefully by this point, you have a good board, and a pretty decent amount of tokens and token/counter doublers and a ton of mana generation. You can do 3 other things to help win the game ASAP:

1. Craterhoof Behemoth and Avenger of Zendikar
2. Biorhythm with Shaman of Forgotten Ways
3. Infinite out with Ulasht, the Hate Seed and Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest

Their effects are explained in the wincon section. And if all else fails and it becomes a battle of Attrition , just do it the old fashioned way. When in doubt, SWING 'EM OUT!

Strengths and Weaknesses Show

Strengths

• Great at controlling the board.

• Generates a ton of value throughout the game.

• Has multiple routes to win.

• Kresh is considered a "weaker" commander, so he won't draw nearly as much attention as, say, Prossh, Skyraider of Kher which can allow you to play mostly undisturbed.

Weaknesses

• Board wipes are the bane of this deck's, or any token deck's, existence. If you're consistently getting BTFO'd, it is extremely hard to make a come back. The worst ones are definitely Merciless Eviction or Cyclonic Rift

• Leyline of the Void or Rest in Peace can hose this deck pretty bad. A creature can't go the graveyard if it is exiled instead, therefore not giving Kresh any counters.

• This deck is a bit slow to get going, so sometimes you will have games where you do nothing while everyone else pulls far ahead of you and you play "catch-up" the entire game.

Interactions and Synergies Show

There are a lot of fun things you can do when the cards interact well with each other, here's some things you should be looking for when putting cards down:

Cryptolith Rite + Token Generator

Ideally with Tendershoot Dryad for easy extra mana. Who doesn't like that?

Sac Outlet + Liliana, Dreadhorde General + Tokens/Creatures

Pair with Viscera Seer or Yawgmoth, Thran Physician for a ton of card draw and value. Add in a Skullclamp for even more cards!

Sheoldred, Whispering One + ETB/Death Trigger Creatures

Use creatures like Eternal Witness or Sprouting Thrinax or Sakura-Tribe Elder for value when they die. She also kills your opponents creatures, making Kresh even bigger!

Sac Outlet + Grave Pact and/or Dictate of Erebos

Kill your creatures to make your opponents kill their creatures and Kresh eats em up! Helps clear the way to swing out!

Champion of Lambholt + Tana the Bloodsower

Make Tana unblockable to make more saprolings. The more creatures that enter the battlefield under your control, the bigger the Champion gets, making it really easy for your creatures to swing out!

Vigor + Blasphemous Act

Make your creatures get THIRTEEN +1/+1 counters on them while killing everything else. Add a Primal Vigor and/or Doubling Season to the mix, and watch your creatures get ridiculously huge.

Doubling Season + Plainswalkers

Luckily, both Liliana, Dreadhorde General and Xenagos, the Reveler can ultimate as soon as they come in when Doubling Season is out, and get extreme value from them. Xenagos is definitely more situational, as the extra mana from his +1 can be more valuable than 7 possible permanents. Whereas Liliana can ultimate and it will be for the best as it can possibly stop your opponents entirely.

Rite of the Raging Storm + Kresh the Bloodbraided

get your opponents to beat each other up while Kresh quickly gets bigger. The Lightning Rager tokens can't attack you and sacrifice themselves at the beginning of each endstep, giving Kresh a massive 15 +1/+1 counters before it comes back to your turn. Add Doubling Season and/or Primal Vigor in there and Kresh will exponentially get bigger by the time your turn comes around again.

Win Conditions Show

The Chad

Chandra's Ignition or Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord + Kresh the Bloodbraided or Thromok the Insatiable when he's huge. Blow up your opponents with Kresh's sheer power.

The Classic

Craterhoof Behemoth + Avenger of Zendikar + Tooth and Nail The classic green wincon of simply running over the table with big plants. Assuming you probably have a bunch of other creature tokens, this can usually guarantee a win.

The Biorhythm

Shaman of Forgotten Ways + Creatures/Tokens + Itlimoc, Cradle of the Sun to reduce your opponents health to nothing and leave you healthy. If anyone is still alive, you can easily run them over or ping them to death. Whatever makes you happy!

Infinite MEME Combo

Ulasht, the Hate Seed + Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest + Ashnod's Altar for infinite colorless mana and +1/+1 counters on all your creatures. Add a token/counter doubler to the mix like Doubling Season and/or Primal Vigor and/or Parallel Lives , and enjoy running the entire table over with a gigantic mushroom army or pinging everyone to death by Ulasht or Goblin Bombardment . It's very convoluted, but I'm not a big fan of infinite combos so I like to make it somewhat difficult to pull off. Can also be fetched with Tooth and Nail .

Budget Options Show

You can take out a decent chunk of the pricier cards and the deck should still perform just fine. I will list anything that can be easily replaced. Anything else you can make a decision for if you're looking to make cuts to the price. Just remember to keep focused on what this deck is setting out to do, which is create a bunch of tokens and get value from them while making Kresh HUGE. Luckily most of the cards are fairly cheap. This should cut the price by half or so.

Possible Budget Options

• Colored Nonbasic Lands for basic lands, guild gates and gain lands. Pay attention to the color wheel, very important!

• Wooded Foothills and Bloodstained Mire for Terramorphic Expanse and Evolving Wilds

• Phyrexian Tower and Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth for basic lands, preferably Swamps.

• Cabal Coffers for a basic swamp if you don't keep Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth OR a Magus of the Coffers if you do keep it. A cheaper alternative for big black mana, but much slower to activate since it's a creature.

• Doubling Season and Primal Vigor for Corpsejack Menace and Hardened Scales - Unfortunately your token output will be reduced a decent amount, so I would recommend at least keeping Primal Vigor. If it is too much, you can focus more on giving Kresh more counters with the cards mentioned above.

• Craterhoof Behemoth for Overwhelming Stampede - A great and cheap replacement for a similar effect. If Kresh or any other creature is decently sized, then this should do the job. Problem is that it removes one of the pieces for Tooth and Nail but that's alright.

• Liliana, Dreadhorde General for Fecundity Downside is that you give card draw advantage for your opponents, although you will usually be the one benefiting from it the most.

• Yawgmoth, Thran Physician for Priest of Forgotten Gods - Has an interesting effect, it's sort of similar to Yawgmoth, but only happens once per turn. Pretty decent trade off for the price.

Top Ranked	Achieved #4 position in Commander / EDH Primer 4 years ago
Date added	5 years
Last updated	4 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	16 - 0 Mythic Rares 48 - 0 Rares 20 - 0 Uncommons 7 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.89
Tokens	Beast 3/3 B, Beast 3/3 G, City's Blessing, Dragon 1/1 RG, Emblem Garruk, Apex Predator, Insect 1/1 G, Lightning Rager, Morph 2/2 C, Ooze 1/1 G, Ooze 2/2 G for Mitotic Ooze, Plant 0/1 G, Plant 1/1 G, Saproling 1/1 G, Satyr 2/2 GR, Snake 1/1 G, Treasure, Worm 1/1 BG, Zombie 2/2 B
Folders	Because The Chad, Just Plain Cool, 121196