Krenko, Mob Boss
Commander / EDH
SCORE: 71 | 16 COMMENTS | 67384 VIEWS | IN 52 FOLDERS
Commander Night 2 —Aug. 24, 2012
Once again, Krenko went 3-1 thanks to a 1-hit kill from a Rafiq deck. The top end of this deck really needs to come down but my latest addition (and last piece for this list), Goblin Lookout, actually won a game for me. The other card that ended the game was Furystoke Giant. He might just be better as a Burn at the Stake since the persist on the giant was a non-factor and, if someone wipes the board, his secondary trigger is next to worthless. One thing that I noticed during the games is that Ib-Halfheart is cute and terrible. I have never once wanted to use him to make tokens, but I did lose a game with Thornbite Staff on the table due to not having a sacrifice outlet.
Game details
Krenko vs Rafiq: Game one Rafiq came down on time followed by a Gigantiform but, by that time Krenko had done is thing and I was able to survive after getting hit and win on the backswing. Game 2 he did his best to kill my mana rocks and Rafiq ended up being too slow before I comboed out with Krenko and another Thornbite Staff. Gamble proved to be just that as I tutored for Sol Ring on turn 1 and my opponent ended up taking the Sol Ring on the random discard.
Krenko vs Rafiq & Ghave: Both players had major problems with my turn 3 Blood Moon; Rafiq only had 1 basic land and Ghave had all basic Mountains after the Moon. Krenko came down making goblins and by that time my board was 3 random goblins that I had played to ramp Krenko faster, Fervor, Lightning Greaves, and Eldrazi Monument. Even though this game lasted a while and my monument was eventually dealt with, it allowed me to reach 40+ goblins and kill with Furystoke Giant the turn before I would have suffered a lethal attack from an unblockable Rafiq.
Krenko vs Rafiq & Niv Mizzet: Obviously having Niv Mizzet makes you a target from the beginning, so I spent most of my early turns attacking Niv for 2 while Rafiq was colored-screwed. Krenko eventually came down and did his thing, but all my artifacts were dealt with via Stony Silence. If not for the Silence, Krenko could have made a lot of little men with Thornbite Staff (my turn 2 play). From this point both players eventually caught up to me but Niv didn't find a combo piece before I knocked him to 20. Figuring he had enough answers to Niv, Rafiq decided to hit me for 36 off a Soltari Visionary with Jitte, Gigantiform, and Batterskull - exacties. Of course, 15 turns later, the board was stalled and Niv found the combo piece. The irony of this game is that Rafiq forgot to play his Qasali Pridemage to deal with the Ophidian Eye. Oops.
These games ranged from very interactive to people not being able to kill Krenko. Every turn Krenko lives things just get worse exponentially (literally, it's exponential!). The deck runs several haste effects and they really make the deck tick. Sacrifice outlets are a must as the deck really can't afford to have Krenko tucked. You can still poke people with goblins for the win, or maybe grab Kiki-Jiki and combo off with him, but your chances decline a lot if Krenko is unavailable.
Cards out- Ib Halfheart, Goblin Tactician, Furystoke Giant, Goblin Archaeologist
Cards in- Goblin Sledder, Burn at the Stake, Goblin Wardriver
MVPs: Faithless Looting, Goblin Bushwhacker, Mogg Raider (for saving my guys from an active Jitte)
PS: Also should mention that owning 50+ goblin tokens is practically a must to be able to accurately keep track of how many goblins are on the field. I own about 20 assorted Goblin Tokens and in every game (even the ones I lost) it was not enough.
PPS: Mana Echoes is insane. With 7 goblins on the battlefield using Krenko generates 98 mana... food for thought.