Checkmate

Commander / EDH Combo Five Color

tarkington

Creature (28)

• 1x Auriok Salvagers
• 1x Avacyn's Pilgrim
• 1x Barrin, Master Wizard
• 1x Biomancer's Familiar
• 1x Birds of Paradise
• 1x Bloom Tender
• 1x Dark Confidant
• 1x Deadeye Navigator
• 1x Deathrite Shaman
• 1x Dockside Extortionist
• 1x Elves of Deep Shadow
• 1x Elvish Mystic
• 1x Gilded Drake
• 1x Grand Architect
• 1x Incubation Druid
• 1x Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
• 1x Llanowar Elves
• 1x Noble Hierarch
• 1x Pili-Pala
• 1x Priest of Titania
• 1x Protean Hulk
• 1x Seedborn Muse
• 1x Selvala, Heart of the Wilds
• 1x Spellseeker
• 1x Thassa's Oracle
• 1x Torch Courier
• 1x Vigean Graftmage
• 1x Village Bell-Ringer

Artifact (7)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Fellwar Stone
• 1x Isochron Scepter
• 1x Lion's Eye Diamond
• 1x Mana Crypt
• 1x Mox Diamond
• 1x Sol Ring

Land (30)

• 1x Arid Mesa
• 1x Badlands
• 1x Bayou
• 1x Bloodstained Mire
• 1x Breeding Pool
• 1x City of Brass
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Exotic Orchard
• 1x Flooded Strand
• 1x Forbidden Orchard
• 4x Forest
• 2x Island
• 1x Marsh Flats
• 1x Misty Rainforest
• 1x Polluted Delta
• 1x Savannah
• 1x Scalding Tarn
• 1x Taiga
• 1x Tropical Island
• 1x Tundra
• 1x Underground Sea
• 1x Verdant Catacombs
• 1x Volcanic Island
• 1x Windswept Heath
• 1x Wooded Foothills
• 1x Yavimaya Coast

Sorcery (9)

• 1x Demonic Tutor
• 1x Eldritch Evolution
• 1x Faithless Looting
• 1x Imperial Seal
• 1x Ponder
• 1x Preordain
• 1x Wheel of Fortune
• 1x Windfall
• 1x Yawgmoth's Will

Commander (1)

Instant (20)

• 1x Abrupt Decay
• 1x Beast Within
• 1x Brainstorm
• 1x Delay
• 1x Dispel
• 1x Dovin's Veto
• 1x Dramatic Reversal
• 1x Flash
• 1x Force of Will
• 1x Lim-Dul's Vault
• 1x Mental Misstep
• 1x Mystical Tutor
• 1x Nature's Claim
• 1x Noxious Revival
• 1x Red Elemental Blast
• 1x Silence
• 1x Spell Pierce
• 1x Swan Song
• 1x Vampiric Tutor
• 1x Veil of Summer

Enchantment (5)

• 1x Carpet of Flowers
• 1x Mystic Remora
• 1x Rhystic Study
• 1x Smothering Tithe
• 1x Survival of the Fittest

---

Kenrith is a board state manipulator unlike any general before him. With five activated abilities able to target any player, creature, or graveyard at the table, there are strong lines you can take to be political, garnering good will from your opponents, and achieve a favorable position for yourself. With the Returned King packing five-color combo in the 99, this list reads a little bit like an "oops, all win-cons" scenario. However through testing, this list has proven to homogenize surprisingly well. Yes, there can be clunky draws with two halves of two different combos, but who doesn't like having a back up plan? The spoilers below will walk through some nuances of the deck. Please continue reading and bear in mind this description is a work in progress, so don't forget to drop the link into a folder and check back later to see what updates have been made.

What's a Kingdom without constituents?

Creatures are the name of the game in Kenrith because they are so easily recurred, so most of the combos involve ETBs, activations, and static abilities of creatures. We opted for protection in the form of Grand Abolisher and even tested Vexing Shusher. Mana dorks are our preferred form of ramp. There are even some stax and removal pieces on bodies (ie Lavinia, Azorius Renegade, Shriekmaw, Plaguecrafter, and possibly Collector Ouphe). EDIT - RIP 'maw and PC.

Counterspell and target removal

To keep light on our mana requirements, counter spells that require were avoided, leaving mostly non-creature counters at our disposal. Because Kenrith is beefy to begin with and is also able to put +1/+1s on creatures, there aren't too many enemy creatures to be afraid of in the first place. Gilded Drake is an extreme exception. It's not impossible to win without our general, but things get much more limited. Cards like Pithing Needle, Sorcerous Spyglass, Linvala, Keeper of Silence and Cursed Totem are all hate pieces that must be countered or answered as well.

I hope you have a big dock because I'm putting my yacht in it

Sure thing boss. We just need you to check in with our friendly Dockside Extortionist before leaving any artifacts on the table. With six enemy artifacts and a sac outlet, we're able to "loop" our little goblin from the graveyard and net one treasure each time. With a Biomancer's Familiar on board, the required artifacts are reduced to four. While the familiar is online, we can achieve "Big Mana" with a Peregrine Drake in a similar fashion as well. For more discussion on how to break the extortionist, check out this forum page, which has some excellent points. dockside loops

"Free the Graftmage!" and Vote for Pedro

Freed from the Real on a Bloom Tender or Faeburrow Elder is a powerful thing. In the words of Charlie Sheen, "WINNING!" You use the to untap, and net all the other colors. You can also do this with a Vigean Graftmage. Even though graft is a great mechanic, we can also place counters on something with our King. If drawing your opponents out is more your style, you need to find an Incubation Druid to start netting blue mana.

Panel Title 5

more to come

This deck design belongs to Alejandro Cortes, with revisions by me. The inspiration for eldrich evolution came from Higer, piloting Altun's Kenrith Evolution. Future adjustments will likely align with their primer. Thank you

Date added	4 years
Last updated	4 years
Legality	This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	8 - 0 Mythic Rares 53 - 0 Rares 14 - 0 Uncommons 19 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	2.06
Tokens	Beast 3/3 G, Bird 2/2 U, Copy Clone, Spirit 1/1 C, Treasure
Folders	EDH