MTG Salvation

Hey! We just did an episode of our podcast The Vorthos Cast on obscure planes like Torwynn. As the lore consultant for WotC... I'm still leaning toward it's only semi-official, (and it's super unlikely to ever be used because of Lorwyn), but it's cool to hear from you!

I'd search the various MTG reddit subforums, I believe Glamdring has posted them elsewhere.

Theros: Beyond Death Update

Out: Idol of Oblivion, Kindred Charge

In: Arms Dealer, Underworld Breach

I'm not sure how Arms Dealer ever got cut, probably to test something out and then never put back in. Regardless, Idol of Oblivion was not the card advantage I thought it would be in this deck unless I'm already in a strong place on the board. So Arms Dealer is back and the Idol is out.

I'm incredibly exited for Underworld Breach, which is some awesome recursion for this deck. Combo pieces, once destroyed, are no longer gone forever! Kindred Charge was the most expensive card in my deck, and if it's useful, like the Idol, I'm already in a really strong board state and could probably stand to bring some things back more. Given the low average CMC of cards in this deck, recurring up to four cards will usually be the much better play.

Quote from 00Flour »

Does not look like anything new in latest set other than maybe Tectonic Giant.

I'm looking at Underworld Breach taking the place of Kindred Charge. I rarely get much value out of Kindred Charge, and Underworld Breach is incredibly valuable mono-red recursion. Given how inexpensive most cards in this deck are, I can definitely get value out of it by bringing back a critical piece.

Quote from Timba »

Hello
I want to make a Krenko deck
Looking at lists I was puzzled why people play Blasphemous Act
Why would anyone play Wrath in a deck which wants to overwhelm opponents with creatures, half of the deck being creatures?

It's a red board wipe for when one of your opponents pulls ahead or after your own goblins have been decimated.

Quote from 00Flour »

The summary talks about Arms Dealer. I don't see it in the change log or current deck list.

I've updated the change log. After a few years, occasionally I tweak something and forget to update it. Apparently I swapped it out some time last year, but I might bring it back again. The deck is due for another overhaul soon (I.E. To pull it apart and see what is working and what isn't, rather than just swapping in new cards).

Throne of Eldraine Update

Out: Mountain - It's just a Mountain.

In: Castle Embereth - A fantastic utility land that's better than a Basic Mountain at pretty much any time in Mono-Red.

Quote from 00Flour »

Will Torbran, Thane of Red Fell be coming into the deck? Seems like a great way to boost Pashalik Mons

Probably not.

Right now, only Castle Embereth is under serious consideration.

Commander 2019 Update

Out: Sol Ring - It's just such a boring card, and is really only here for an occasional Turn 2 Krenko.

In: Dockside Extortionist - This card is tutorable in this deck and way more fun. Better ramp for the late game come back, which this deck needs more than an occasional early start.

Quote from The Troy Spiral Show »

This is really neat. I'm in shock there are so few replies. I thought maybe Jayx dissapered but I see you are still active.

This seems like a 'core resource' that would have been kept updates. Is there something up to date similar to this somewhere?

Just to throw it out there I do want to get into the pre-mending very detailed storyline more. It makes all the fractures that come later feel very viseral.

I'm actually a consultant for Wizards of the Coast, now. This did make me realized that I haven't added the War of the Spark novel, but the Story Site has become a useful resources again so anything new that isn't included here will be there.

Quote from 00Flour »

Eldrazi Monument combined with Battle Squadron makes a great flyer. Mana Echos thrown in give this all the juice to win with a nice direct attack. The math on Mana Echos can set people off when you have a lot of Goblins out. People tried to get into the stack and interrupt it as well. Fun times

I had Eldrazi Monument in early builds of the deck, but it turned me into a more apparent threat than I wanted people to realize at the time. If it works for your Meta, go for it.

Quote from 00Flour »

Every Friday I get together with an EDH group and one of the people plays Animar with a turn 5 wincon of some sort. Krenko has beaten him once or twice. I have Chaos Warp. Anything else to slow him down? I'm typically one turn away from winning.

Aether Flash - would kill all the goblins- no go
stranglehold - seems useable
manabarbs - bad for krenko - or is it if you are using goblins for mana?

Manabarbs is fine in Krenko, it only affects a player tapping for mana, and you'll probably have fewer lands and be tapping them less than other players.

If you want to slow down an Animar player:

• Damping Sphere increases the cost of comboing off.
• Isolation Cell makes infinite combos more difficult by requiring life or a payment that Animar doesn't reduce.
• Spellshock also hurts infinite combos and puts a clock on the game.
• Torpor Orb pretty effectively shuts down Animar, and while it hurts Purphoros strategies you can always go aggro or combo.

Quote from Agitated Planeswalker »

Hi Jay13x. With the new commander card, Dockside extortionist being a red ramp on its own (which red rarely gets, especially for krenko (since we can tutor for it using Goblin Matron or Goblin Recruiter), would you add it? What cards would you remove to slot it if ever?

Thanks!

It might replace my Sol Ring but I'd need to do some playtesting.

July 8 Update: Commander Banlist

IN: Blood Moon

OUT: Paradox Engine

It's time to say goodbye. I'm swapping Blood Moon back in for Paradox Engine until something more interesting comes along.

June 23 Update: Modern Horizons

IN: Pashalik Mons, Tectonic Reformation

OUT: Blood Moon, Cheering Fanatic

You can see discussion for Pashalik Mons above this post. A second Boggart Shenanigans is very handy, and his second ability, while not incredibly useful in this deck, is a handy mana sink and goblin token source for those dead turns.

Speaking of dead turns, Tectonic Reformation is an incredibly powerful card in a deck like this. After the fifth or six mountain, there's a significant amount of diminishing returns on future land drops. Having a way to cycle every land you don't need is very useful, and with the mana curve in this deck, at six lands you should be able to cast whatever you cycle for.

Cheering Fanatic is out because, frankly, it's just not as useful as I thought it would be. Blood Moon makes me an early game target, and is frequently a budget cut from this deck anyway.

Quote from Hyrkh »

Quote from 00Flour »

What about putting in Eldrazi Monument to add the flying. While not as powerful as Coat of Arms, it does offer Flying and indestructable.

From playing a Krenko deck myself, I've found that I'm not attacking that much and more combo-ing out or winning with Burn at the Stake. Whilst monument is a great card and indestructible is nothing to sneeze at, it's more suited in decks that favor going wide and attacking (with cards like Triumph of the Hordes). But by all means put in a Krenko deck and smack people with it, it's still a great card!

Essentially this, if you're looking to go more aggro, it's an A+ card.

Quote from Hyrkh »

What are your thoughts on this card in 99 for Krenko?

He's 100% going to have a place in the deck, I just don't know where yet. A second Boggart Shenanigans that can hit creatures is too good to pass up. The second ability is just icing, a nice mana sink if needed.

I'm not sure what he'll be replacing yet, though, but I will by the time the set comes out. Cheering Fanatic is a potential cut. It's less useful than it first appeared. I've been eyeing Blood Moon to be cut for a while, too. It doesn't do much but piss off the table even more and once in a blue moon make Mountainwalk more useful. Pashalik Mons is another potential win-con in the deck, which takes priority.

May 7 Update: War of the Spark Update

I skipped over Ravnica Allegiance because there were no cards of note for this deck. WAR, however, brings up Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin! Krenko 2.0 doesn't disappoint, but he's not so exciting to replace the original as the leader of this deck.

IN: Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin

OUT: Hordeling Outburst

Finding a place to slot Krenko 2.0 in was a challenge, I'll admit. There are so few good 2 drops that I didn't want to replace one of them, and almost every card of 4cmc or higher wasn't something I could easily cut, which left replacing another 3 drop. In the end I picked Hordeling Outburst for a number of reasons. The sorcery is handy, but it's still only a sorcery, and an actual tutorable goblin was preferable to me. Add to that Krenko 2.0 creating three goblins in the worst case (and frequently MANY more), it was a pretty easy swap.