deckstats.net
You need to be logged in to do this.
The buttons above will open in a new window. Please return to this window after you have logged in. When you have logged in, click the Refresh Session button and then try again.

Author Topic: Krenko, Mob Boss PRIMER  (Read 3654 times)

Morganator 2.0

  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2626
  • Karma: 2485
  • Decks
Krenko, Mob Boss PRIMER
« on: March 29, 2020, 07:37:31 pm »
This primer is weeks in the making, which is fitting for a deck that is years in the making. I really want this deck to be known as the best Krenko deck you can make. Anything you can suggest to improve the primer (sections to add, other cards to be in the "notable exclusions" sections, spelling mistakes) would help a lot.

Making Babies!
A primer on Krenko, Mob Boss



https://deckstats.net/decks/82803/752805-competitive-krenko#show_description
« Last Edit: April 11, 2020, 06:40:14 pm by Morganator 2.0 »

MonteTribal

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 546
  • Karma: 360
  • Decks
Re: Krenko, Mob Boss PRIMER
« Reply #1 on: March 29, 2020, 09:19:34 pm »
Another talking card is Mogg Maniac. Keeps some attackers at bay, but also can win the game when targetted by your own Gempalm Incinerator, Outnumber, or some other large burn spell that normally can only hit creatures.

Slyvester12

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 844
  • Karma: 540
  • Decks
Re: Krenko, Mob Boss PRIMER
« Reply #2 on: March 30, 2020, 05:16:54 am »
Wow, Morganator, you actually hit the character limit.

Also, I've been really looking forward to this. I plan on making a slightly less tuned version for my girlfriend to pilot, and I've been waiting to finalize it until you finished this. Thanks for the great primer.
Elves and infect are the best things in Magic.

Xaarvaxus

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 220
  • Karma: 77
  • Decks
Re: Krenko, Mob Boss PRIMER
« Reply #3 on: April 04, 2020, 03:22:06 am »
Ok, reading this finally convinced me I needed to move to cheaper sources of haste so in went Ashling's Prerogative and Goblin Motivator to go along with the Hall of the Bandit Lord that I recently bought.  I'll probably pick up Mass Hysteria if I can ever find one [or remember that I'm looking for one the next time I can ever get to a LGS].  Thanks for the primer.

WWolfe

  • Patron
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3686
  • Karma: 1366
  • Banging and (spell) slanging!
  • Decks
Re: Krenko, Mob Boss PRIMER
« Reply #4 on: April 18, 2020, 03:43:35 pm »
This space for rent.

Morganator 2.0

  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2626
  • Karma: 2485
  • Decks
Re: Krenko, Mob Boss PRIMER
« Reply #5 on: April 18, 2020, 08:30:24 pm »
Goblin Trashmaster: This card is in the deck. It is very good artifact removal.

Rummaging Goblin: So this guy is a goblin, which is useful, but it suffers from similar downsides to Hazoret's Monument; it's 3 mana, it doesn't do anything to increase the number of cards in your hand, and because it's discard then draw there is a chance you get something worse. I'll add it to the primer discussion.

Tormenting Voice: Thrill of Possibility is strictly better, but whatever. It has the same problem of not increasing the number of cards in my hand, because I loose Tormenting Voice and one other card to get two cards. Faithless Looting is like this too, but it's 1 mana so it makes a good turn 1 play, and it's reusable. On that note, Faithless Looting is the first draw spell I would cut from this deck. I'll update the primer accordingly.

Caged Sun + Gauntlet of Power: If you happen to have a couple hundred dollars lying around, the card to use would be Gauntlet of Might. Even before that would be Extraplanar Lens, which is mentioned in the primer. The issue with Caged Sun and the Gauntlets is their mana cost. This deck can consistently win between turns 4 and 6, which makes CMC 4+ mana ramp just get in the way. Mana ramp for a deck like this needs to be 2 mana or less. The exceptions are Chandra, Torch of Defiance, because she triples as removal and card advantage, and Mana Echoes because it enables combos.

I'll update the primer and also add sections for Chancellor of the Forge, Furystoke Giant, Goblin Burrows, Koth of the Hammer, Spinerock Knoll, and Wily Goblin.

WWolfe

  • Patron
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 3686
  • Karma: 1366
  • Banging and (spell) slanging!
  • Decks
Re: Krenko, Mob Boss PRIMER
« Reply #6 on: April 21, 2020, 04:43:31 pm »
Very thorough and in-depth work by Morganator. This primer has been moved to the official primer section!
This space for rent.

CleanBelwas

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 923
  • Karma: 899
  • Decks
Re: Krenko, Mob Boss PRIMER
« Reply #7 on: January 28, 2022, 11:15:08 am »
I've been brewing a version of Krenko myself (albeit, a slower, more casual brew) and thought I'd raise a discussion point around a couple of cards and get peoples opinions on them.

The first is Anger.

A commonly used haste enabler, but I can't see it covered in the single card discussion (apologies if it is and I missed it). Particularly good if a lot of your draw is based around drawing and discarding (as red often is) as it's essentially a "free" (minus the cost of, you know, including it in your deck in the first place) haste enabler when you discard it.

The obvious downsides are that you need to be able to reliably put it in the bin and graveyard hate will remove your haste enabler. Are these downsides your reasons for not including it? Given how frequently it is used (29k decks on EDHRec), it seems potentially worth a line in the card discussion.

I've personally found it to be very useful, but my deck utilises more draw/discard than yours and graveyard hate in my meta isn't a massive issue.


The other card is Den of the Bugbear.

Not sure if you've worked much on this primer since this card came out, but it's another outlet for infinite mana that just wins you the game. Given the speed of this deck compared to a more casual Krenko deck, the chance of it entering tapped might not be worth the cost of inclusion, but I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on it.

Just to confirm, the rulings on Den of the Bugbear taken from Gatherer as I wasn't sure if it would work this way when I first read it:

"If Den of the Bugbear's last ability is activated multiple times in one turn, it will have multiple instances of the triggered ability that it grants. For example, if you activate it twice and attack, you will create two 1/1 red Goblin creature tokens that are tapped and attacking."

Morganator 2.0

  • Global Moderator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2626
  • Karma: 2485
  • Decks
Re: Krenko, Mob Boss PRIMER
« Reply #8 on: January 28, 2022, 03:09:30 pm »
Anger

First, a little context. All of the haste enablers in this deck are 3 mana or less. This is to ensure that they will come out the turn before Krenko does. Krenko typically comes out on turn 3, sometimes 4. So for Anger to be any good, I have to discard it before then. Kinda hard to do when the only discard effects in this deck are wheels. In order for Anger to be good, I would need to include other sub-optimal discard effects. Not worth it. I'll add this to the primer.

Den of the Bugbear

You make a good point; this is an outlet for infinite mana. For this Krenko deck though, all of the infinite mana combos already have an outlet. Thornbite Staff has leathal damage and Staff of Domination lets me draw into an outlet.

As a value card this land isn't great either. It's ability costs too much mana for it to be good, and a mountain will always enter untapped. I'll still add it to the primer.

robort

  • Patron
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1725
  • Karma: 437
  • Decks
Re: Krenko, Mob Boss PRIMER
« Reply #9 on: January 28, 2022, 05:07:38 pm »
Then den of the bug bear will constantly stay a 3/2 while the 1/1’s it produces can be infinite based upon how many times it is activated. The command zone brought this up in an episode about weird interactions.
« Last Edit: January 28, 2022, 05:11:29 pm by robort »
A legend in my own mind or so what the voices keep telling me