Monkey Deadpool - Kari Zev Aggro EDH

Commander / EDH Aggro Mono-Red Pirate Sacrifice Tokens

limitsoflogic

Creature (21)

• 1x Goblin Cratermaker
• 1x Grenzo, Havoc Raiser
• 1x Bonecrusher Giant
• 1x Breeches, Eager Pillager
• 1x Feldon of the Third Path
• 1x Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin
• 1x Phoenix of Ash
• 1x Pilgrim's Eye
• 1x Defiler of Instinct
• 1x Emberwilde Captain
• 1x Solemn Simulacrum
• 1x Torbran, Thane of Red Fell
• 1x Wildfire Devils
• 1x Embermaw Hellion
• 1x Ox of Agonas
• 1x Urabrask the Hidden
• 1x Warchief Giant
• 1x Combustible Gearhulk
• 1x Inferno Titan
• 1x Molten Primordial
• 1x Magmatic Force

Instant (8)

• 1x Spikefield Hazard  ^Flip
• 1x Abrade
• 1x Warping Wail
• 1x Chaos Warp
• 1x Guff Rewrites History
• 1x Kazuul's Fury  ^Flip
• 1x Smash
• 1x Audacious Swap

Planeswalker (3)

• 1x Chandra, Fire Artisan
• 1x Koth, Fire of Resistance
• 1x Jaya, Venerated Firemage

Artifact (17)

• 1x Basilisk Collar
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Soul-Guide Lantern
• 1x Culling Dais
• 1x Hero's Blade
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Liquimetal Torque
• 1x Mind Stone
• 1x Ruby Medallion
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots
• 1x Tome of Legends
• 1x Cursed Mirror
• 1x Glittering Stockpile
• 1x Heraldic Banner
• 1x Ronin Warclub
• 1x Worn Powerstone
• 1x Boompile

Enchantment (12)

• 1x Curse of Opulence
• 1x Goblin Bombardment
• 1x Impact Tremors
• 1x Roiling Vortex
• 1x Ferocity of the Wilds
• 1x Mechanized Warfare
• 1x Rising of the Day
• 1x Brazen Cannonade
• 1x Outpost Siege
• 1x In the Web of War
• 1x Fiery Emancipation
• 1x Warstorm Surge

Commander (1)

Land (30)

• 1x Balduvian Trading Post
• 1x Barbarian Ring
• 1x Buried Ruin
• 1x Castle Embereth
• 1x Dwarven Mine
• 1x Forgotten Cave
• 1x Ghost Quarter
• 1x High Market
• 1x Mirrorpool
• 17x Mountain
• 1x Sea Gate Wreckage
• 1x Tectonic Edge
• 1x Temple of the False God
• 1x War Room

Sorcery (8)

• 1x Sudden Demise
• 1x Vandalblast
• 1x Chain Reaction
• 1x Tentative Connection
• 1x Mana Geyser
• 1x Song-Mad Treachery  ^Flip
• 1x Insult / Injury
• 1x Blasphemous Act

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Kari Zev, Skyship Raider. When she attacks you get a 2/1 legendary monkey, who is exiled at the end of combat.

Are we exited yet? Well, neither was I. Not exactly Krenko, Mob Boss is it?

The deck was strictly for (monkey) shits and giggles. But then I realized that this deck was capable of winning, even moreso than many of my more powerful decks. And that includes some pretty broken green-blue ones which were no fun for anyone.

The reason this deck does so well is precisely because Kari Zev is so underwhelming. There is always a bigger threat on the board to target with removal, so Kari is a constant source of value. The contrast with power-houses like Krenko is, at first sight, not impressive. Sure, Krenko may get killed a lot. But if he is in play for like 2-3 turns (sometimes less) you win the game.

But this is deceptive for three reasons. First, not using removal on you means your opponents are free to use it on each-other, so their strategies are slowed down. Second, not re-casting your commander liberates you to play more spells out of the deck. And third, the all-or-nothing quality of really powerful commanders means that when you lose, you also have no fun, and when you win nobody else has fun.

This deck is always fun. It always interacts. And when it wins (which, like I say, is surprisingly often) nobody hates you!

Let's begin with the subtle advantages of the monkey dynamic. First, the fact that the monkey exiles itself makes opponents supremely unwilling to trade, or even to block it with a toughness 4 or 5 creature when you have mana open and cards in hand. Second, the fact that he comes in tapped and attacking makes him immune to Propaganda effects. In a multi-player format, in a colour with almost no enchantment removal, this is actually no small thing. But most of all Ragovan is the ultimate expendable monkey: throw him out of a window, shoot him out of a cannon, sacrifice him to some dark god, doesn't matter; you can even turn Rago into Ragu, and he'll be back next combat good as new! He's the monkey Deadpool, if you will.

Let's frame the issue in a different way for a second. The unique advantage that Kari provides is that she effectively gets double bonuses from any power or damage boosting effects. Attacking creatures get +1/+0? Well that's 2 extra damage. Now it may not be commander damage, but that kind of doubling is no joke. And the fact that it is not commander damage is actually a big political advantage, because it makes your opponents more vulnerable to each-other. Many is the time when Kari & Ragovan have softened someone up before another opponent, spotting the opportunity, has swooped in to finish them off.

So what tools do you use to get maximum value out of Kari and that cheeky monkey?

Well, the trick is to turn the monkey into a really angry primate with a range of power-pumping effects that turn it into something more like a good old-fashioned Ball Lightning. Because he is always entering the battlefield, effects like In the Web of War are always on. Hero's Blade and Ronin Warclub auto-equip (and make for a great mental image!). And late in the game, Warstorm Surge and Fiery Emancipation turn up the monkey dial to 11.

The other half of the equation is tempo and just a little control. The deck has a bunch of effects to push through the deck with little card draw and impulse draw effects. When the game runs long Outpost Siege can be a star player, and late in the game Ox of Agonas or Combustible Gearhulk can push you over the line just when it looked like you were about to run out of gas. In general it is incredibly rare that a turn comes around in which you cannot throw some fuel on the fire. Meanwhile there is enough removal and combat-trickery to keep your opponents off balance and ensure that they never quite achieve that god-board that makes attacking them impossible (Warping Wail ftw against those late-game haymakers like Exsanguinate). Remember, because of Kari's menace and Ragovan coming in hot each combat, an opponent kinda needs three decent-sized creatures to completely cover up. But you gotta get at those Green and G/U players early because they are the worst for life gain and huge creatures.

This is a kind of frog-in-saucepan game. In the early turns the clock on your opponents' life totals looks ridiculously long, but as the turns go on the temperature goes up and the clock shortens at an exponential rate. First your monkey starts hitting harder due to damage boosting effects like Impact Tremors and Heraldic Banner, then bigger creatures like Warchief Giant (which also benefit from your damage boosters) turn up the heat further. Then you drop a bigboy like the Molten Primordial or Inferno Titan onto the board and shit gets real. But even after that, if they are still alive, your opponents are usually more worried about each-other. I mean, let's face it, looking down the barrel of an infinite combo or a possible death from simple combat damage, most people will (rightly) roll the dice on the combat damage every time. Finally a cheeky Mana Geyser or Insult / Injury puts on the afterburners to finish your opponents off a turn or three early.

Importantly, while there is much synergy between the cards in the deck, almost every card works OK on its own. A lot of decks have a 'Death-Star' feel, meaning that they are very powerful but if you remove one or two key elements - Ashnod's Altar, Aluren, Aetherflux Reservoir, or indeed, the commander itself - the strategy collapses. In this deck there is no real slam-dunk for the dreaded Dissipate, Jester's Cap, Bojuka Bog etc that can put you to bed at a stroke, so you cannot be easily undone by a clever control player.

I have to shout out Roiling Vortex, which is one of those innocuous cards that just really does bizness in the EDH format. These days there are a crapload of ways to cast free spells like they're going out of fashion. Over time, we've gone from Omniscience to Narset, Enlightened Master, to Maelstrom Wanderer and the ever-expanding cascade mechanic (not to mention suspend, rebound and discover), to such houses as Etali, Primal Storm and Bolas's Citadel. These are the kind of busted value moves that normally leave an honest mono-red in the dust, but Roiling Vortex just balances them out nicely. And the life-gain lock for 1 red is the real secret sauce of the card. Looks on the surface like a clear downgrade from a static ability, but this is totally wrong for two reasons - (1) The turn your opponent draws into some lifegain, they cannot shut down the ability by just destroying the vortex, because it lasts until end of turn, and (2) It is superb politics. Want to gain some life this turn? Well, go mess with that other punk and I'll be happy to oblige!

Overall it is an old-skool red strategy. Attack, burn and try to wear your opponents down to a low life total then finish them off with a little unexpected flourish. No infinites, no exponential tokens, no alpha-strikes. It's... primitive. So primitive that you are objectively the lowest priority in threat assessment most of the time, whether in terms of whose commander to kill or who to alpha-strike with the unblockable 20/20. And then bam! You finish them off with a little unexpected flourish!

Date added	5 years
Last updated	5 months
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	7 - 0 Mythic Rares 39 - 0 Rares 31 - 0 Uncommons 6 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.41
Tokens	Copy Clone, Dwarf 1/1 R, Eldrazi Scion 1/1 C, Emblem Koth, Fire of Resistance, Goblin 1/1 R, Gold, Ragavan, Monarch Emblem, Treasure
Folders	Classic Decks, 1-Colour Decks, EDH Models