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Kronk the forgemaster

Commander / EDH* Bracket 5 Equip Metalcraft RW (Boros) Sacrifice Storm

Charchar9000

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Land (27)

Sorcery (9)

Enchantment (6)

Creature (21)

Instant (15)

Commander (1)

Commander: Koll, the Forgemaster

Artifact (21)

Maybeboard

Creature (1)

Koll is a card I fell in love with as soon as I opened it from a pack back when Kaldheim released. Originally just a casual deck I assembled with what I had, I slowly converted it into a high power deck that won more than its fair share at the LGS. Eventually, I rebuilt it from scratch and ended up with the current version, built from the ground up to be as close to CEDH level as possible. Previously this was a glass cannon deck that aimed to combo before others finished setting up, however in CEDH more interaction is required, so it plays a little bit slower.

Koll had a stint as a fringe CEDH commander, but sadly isn't good enough to ever be a mainstay like his big Boros sister, Winota. If you're looking for something that is a bit quirky and unusual that can sometimes pull out a win, this is a great deck. If you want the best CEDH deck ever then go back to Kinnan & Co, but that isn't why you are here is it?

The deck revolves around a combo that can be assembled a million different ways. Using a net 0 creature, sac outlet, a 0 equip equipment and Koll you can infinitely loop the creature, getting payoffs at all stages of the combo.

Net 0 is a key concept for Koll decks, as the looping combo needs to be performable a functionally infinite amount of times.

Pros

  • This is a very fast deck, capable of threatening turn 2-3 wins fairly consistently
  • Has plenty of removal for interaction heavy games
  • It's a rare deck to see, so often flies under the radar for the first few games

Cons

  • This deck has no access to blue, limiting the interaction on the stack available
  • Removal heavy and Stax decks can be pretty punishing to play against
  • The deck requires the commander to function, turning Koll into a lightning rod

Likes and Dislikes You will like this deck if you:

  • Enjoy planning ahead. This deck requires an intimate knowledge of the deck, using several tutors for similar-yet-different spells that you need to choose between depending on your situation.
  • Like fast combo decks. This is a very fast combo deck, benefiting from going all in at the start of the game when it looks viable.
  • Like Boros. Often called the worst CEDH colour pair, sometimes the worst of any colour combinations, it's a good deck to break that stereotype.
  • Like cheap decks. While this version of the deck is unlimited budget, the core of this deck is mostly draft chaff, like Rabbit Battery and a high power deck with less tutors and cheaper lands is very affordable, although probably not CEDH.

You probably won't like this deck if:

  • You play in a Stax heavy meta. While we can push through some stax like {{winter orb}} with ease, taxing effects and similar can slow us to a halt that can be hard to recover from.
  • You like longer, grindy games. Koll is a fast deck, gunning for a quick win, that struggles to win if a game drags on too long.
  • Play a lot of different CEDH decks at the same time. I have a fairly small selection of decks, preferring to master one at a time, and this one can get pretty complex.

Koll is a unique commander, especially on the CEDH scene. As a fast Boros combo deck there is really nothing like him that I've seen played.

(https://gatherer.wizards.com/Handlers/Image.ashx?multiverseid=503836&type=card "Koll The Forgemaster")

This is the bad boy we use to lead our deck. We'll usually drop him out early game and let him sit around while we assemble our combo. As I mentioned earlier he is a very vulnerable part of the combo, but with small stats and non-threatening abilities I find it pretty safe to let him sit around, even if he eats some removal and you have to recast him later.

Making all your creatures functionally immortal if they are equipped, Koll fuels our main gameplan of "cast creature, kill creature, profit." At such a cheap cost, it isn't unusual to cast him on the first turn. The specific colours can hurt us a little, as this deck leans towards red a little more than white, and Koll is picky about his mana.

"Whenever another nontoken creature you control dies, if it was enchanted or equipped, return it to its owner's hand." - This is our bread and butter, allowing the entire deck to function the way it does. Limiting with equipment and enchantments makes it seem hard to achieve, but this deck equips creatures with ease.

"Creature tokens you control that are enchanted or equipped get +1/+1." - Unlike the first ability, this actively harms our plans. 1/1 tokens become 3/1s when equipped with skullclamp, stopping use exploiting them for endless value and creating a second way to build Koll. Sadly they had to nerf him with this, but there are not many tokens in the deck for it to effect.

2/2 A real bear, koll isn't threatening, nor is he particularly tough, dying to Abrade in particular.

Dwarf Warrior - Koll's subtypes can be pretty helpful at times, usually in lower powered decks, but there are a few cards that care about warriors and equipments. Most of them are too weak for CEDH sadly.

Koll's master plan revolves around four key parts. Himself, a net 0 creature, a net 0 equipment and a sacrifice outlet. You also need a payoff, but this will often be a part of these 4 cards.

The Man Himself Koll, the Forgemaster It's Koll's world, and you're all just playing in it. He has to be on the table to pull off the combo. If you have extra mana and tutors, then throwing Lightning Greaves on him when you can is often worth it.

Net 0 Creatures Crimson Kobolds, Krookshank kobolds, Memnite, Rograkh, Son of Rohgahh, Impulsive Pilferer, Skirk Prospector & Reckless Barbarian These creatures are all mana neutral on their own, allowing you to combo with no additional effort on their part. Some, like the Kobolds, are very simple 0 mana creatures while others are a little more complex. Goblin miner is worth a quick mention, as it can sacrifice itself as a response to dying from skullclamp, gaining you mana and cards.

Net 0 Equipment Sai of the Shinobi, Shuko & Lightning Greaves Auriok Steelshaper, Bureau Headmaster, 1x Puresteel Paladin, Fighter Class Rather than the casting cost, like above, this refers to the cost to equip something onto a creature. With only three cards that equip for 0 mana, this section usually uses equip reducers (also listed) to make Skullclamp equip for 0 mana. Skullclamp is arguably the only reason this deck can perform as well as it does, turning kobolds into extreme card advantage at very low cost. As such, it's usually best to tutor it early in the game, unless you can combo with your hand. The best cards reduce the equip cost by two, as this unlocks our Mask of Immolation combo as another way to win the game.

This is the description I used to use before I started trying to get it to CEDH levels

Kronk EDH

Wincons are grapeshot with a large enough storm count, mask of immolation/mortarpod with free equips and a free creature.

Metalcraft is easily reached, usually by turn 2 or 3, so dispatch and galvanic blast are useful 1 mana removal. Artifact lands are in to reach this even faster.

Free creatures are the backbone of this deck, giving us the mana to recast them with no net loss. Birgi and runaway steam kin turn all of our 1 mana creatures into free creatures or net positive mana.

The equipments are mostly ones that can be attached for free when a creature enters the battlefield. lightning greaves can also be used as a combo piece or to keep Koll alive. Skull clamp lets us draw most of our library in a single turn if we can get a free creature, usually the best piece to tutor. Sunforger tutors and casts most of the instants for less than their normal price with the equip reduction.

-9/24 RIP Dockside, you were one of the best cards in the deck

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Casual

98% Competitive