Dies to Removal

When Krenko came out, I was just getting into EDH and I knew that I wanted to build something around him. I've seen some lists here and there which are basically Krenko/Kiki combo decks and I wanted to go in a different direction. Here are the deck's themes:

- Haste
- Shit-ton of tokens
- Big Mana
- Damage multipliers / P/T boosters
- Wheel effects
- DRAGONS. Specifically, Dragons with the Devour mechanic

The devour dragons may not be "good" but they're my flavor edition and won't be cut. The deck powers out some insanely fast and large damage. I can beat the crap out of 1v1 decks that aren't comboing off on T4, and it's actually fairly resilient in multiplayer. My play group hates it when I break out Krenko, much preferring me to play Stonebrow or even Teysa instead.

[deck]
General (1)
01 Krenko, Mob Boss

Creatures (26)
02 Balefire Dragon
03 Beetleback Chief
04 Bloodmark Mentor
05 Dragon Mage
06 Dragonmaster Outcast
07 Gempalm Incinerator
08 Goblin Chieftain
09 Goblin Chirurgeon
10 Goblin King
11 Goblin Matron
12 Goblin Rabblemaster
13 Goblin Recruiter
14 Goblin Sledder
15 Goblin Warchief
16 Hellkite Charger
17 Moggcatcher
18 Predator Dragon
19 Preyseizer Dragon
20 Purphoros, God of the Forge
21 Siege-Gang Commander
22 Skirk Prospector
23 Spikeshot Elder
24 Squee, Goblin Nabob
25 Urabrask the Hidden
26 Utvara Hellkite
27 Voracious Dragon

Sorcery (12)
28 Banefire
29 Dragon Fodder
30 Empty the Warrens
31 Faithless Looting
32 Hordeling Outburst
33 Krenko's Command
34 Red Sun's Zenith
35 Reforge the Soul
36 Tormenting Voice
37 Vandalblast
38 Wheel of Fortune
39 Wild Guess
40 World at War

Artifact (9)
41 Caged Sun
42 Coat of Arms
43 Hammer of Purphoros
44 Ruby Medallion
45 Shrine of Burning Rage
46 Skullclamp
47 Sol Ring
48 Sword of the Paruns
49 Umbral Mantle

Instant (8)
50 Battle Hymn
51 Brightstone Ritual
52 Comet Storm
53 Pyroblast
54 Red Elemental Blast
55 Reverberate
56 Savage Beating
57 Wild Ricochet

Enchantment (6)
58 Aggravated Assault
59 Blood Moon
60 Fervor
61 Mana Echoes
62 Shared Animosity
63 Warstorm Surge

Planeswalker (1)
64 Koth of the Hammer

Land (36)
65 Cavern of Souls
66 Forgotten Cave
67 Goblin Burrows
68 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
69 - 100 Mountain
[/deck]

I don't own a Gamble but I'd include it if I did. It's on my Christmas list.

The deck can go infinite. Krenko, Mob Boss with an Umbral Mantle with Mana Echoes out makes infinite tokens and infinite colorless mana and an infinitely large Krenko. Sword of the Paruns instead of Mantle does all that except for Krenko's size. Skirk Prospector, Battle Hymn, and Brightstone Ritual can turn that into red mana. Comet Storm and Banefire can use the mana well, but there's always the attack step, and if you happen to have out either Warstorm Surge or Purphoros, God of the Forge at the time it's all gravy.

My buddy has a Krenko deck, but never plays it because it just gets hosed by board wipes.... How do you help prevent that? (as I am not too familiar with either list)

I'd suggest more things to give Krenko Haste - specifically, I like Greaves, Boots, and 1000-year elixir.

My buddy has a Krenko deck, but never plays it because it just gets hosed by board wipes.... How do you help prevent that? (as I am not too familiar with either list)

Yeah more hasty stuff certainly helps, as does sandbagging and just not walking into it. I'm usually the board wiper in my EDH group though, so if I'm not playing Teysa then Krenko is often safe to coast on through. In a battlecruiser meta without fast combo you can rebuild fairly safely after a wipe also.

Looks like this deck is getting some new toys this set.

Ooh yeah I haven't even been thinking about all of these cards for Krenko. How Hordeling Outburst been? I still haven't picked one up yet.

I haven't played much lately, but this deck likes that kind of effect fo sho. It has Dragon Fodder, Krenko's Command, and Hordeling Outburst was a very welcome addition. Empty the Warrens will likely be the first cut to accommodate one of the cards from the new set. The deck doesn't get much of a storm count, even though it can get some massive mana and wheel effects.

Yeah empty the warrens isn't good

But it sure is fun