Maybe picking a favorite deck is like picking a favorite child, as some players say. Each deck has its own unique attributes, and all of them have merit in their own ways; otherwise, they’d have been scrapped by now. Maybe you’re not supposed to choose, and you’re supposed to enjoy all of your decks equally—maybe. And maybe it’s okay to have a favorite, which is great because I totally have a favorite, and it’s making me worry that I’d be a bad father. If I only have one kid, I’m totally allowed to have a favorite, so that may be the play.

That’s really the issue. I came to realize that my favorite Commander deck isn’t even 75% anymore because I wanted to make one of my decks 100%, and it seemed obvious to upgrade my favorite deck. While that’s fine, it’s also a bit inconsistent. 75% Commander is my favorite way to play, and Maelstrom Wanderer is my favorite, deck but it’s not 75%. You can see my conundrum. I want to capture the wacky anything-could-happen! scenarios that Maelstrom Wanderer gives me with its wacky cascade antics—but in a 75% deck. If “skewing toward power as long as you skew a bit away from consistency” is a real 75% cornerstone, let’s prove it and build a powerful, but inconsistent 75% deck that is as much fun for me to play as Maelstrom Wanderer is but that is a deck I can play all the time. Is it doable? I think so! What color better embodies powerful-but-crazy-inconsistent better than mono-red? Which commander would you pick for a deck like that? Probably not the one I’m thinking of! Let’s get into some trouble with a chaotic, mono-red deck based on Krenko, Mob Boss.

Why Krenko? He seems anything but inconsistent! He scales with your army, so the better off you are, the better he is. He buries your opponents in a pile of gobbo tokens and does so for 0 mana beyond his mana cost. Even Rhys the Redeemed is jealous! Still, as much fun as it is to kill someone with gobbo tokens, it’s even more fun to turn a pile of Goblins into a game-breaking advantage with my favorite Commander chaos card: Warp World! If that’s not enough justification, we can play other thematic chaos cards such as Goblin Game and Gamble, a card that depicts a goblin making what may or may not turn out to be a good decision. Tutors are powerful in Commander, but cards that are only tutors sometimes are very, very 75%! What the hell, let’s jam a Goblin Bomb for the lolz. We may even end up Warp World’ing into it. This is going to be fun!

Krenko, Mob Boss ? Commander | Jason Alt

• Commander (0)

• Creatures (43)
• 1 Beetleback Chief
• 1 Chancellor of the Forge
• 1 Ember Hauler
• 1 Frenzied Goblin
• 1 Gempalm Incinerator
• 1 Goblin Arsonist
• 1 Goblin Assassin
• 1 Goblin Bangchuckers
• 1 Goblin Brawler
• 1 Goblin Bushwhacker
• 1 Goblin Chieftain
• 1 Goblin Fireslinger
• 1 Goblin General
• 1 Goblin Guide
• 1 Goblin King
• 1 Goblin Lackey
• 1 Goblin Lookout
• 1 Goblin Matron
• 1 Goblin Medics
• 1 Goblin Piledriver
• 1 Goblin Pyromancer
• 1 Goblin Recruiter
• 1 Goblin Ringleader
• 1 Goblin Ruinblaster
• 1 Goblin Sharpshooter
• 1 Goblin Warchief
• 1 Goblin Wardriver
• 1 Goblin Wizard
• 1 Mogg Fanatic
• 1 Mogg Raider
• 1 Mogg War Marshal
• 1 Moggcatcher
• 1 Sensation Gorger
• 1 Siege-Gang Commander
• 1 Skirk Fire Marshal
• 1 Skirk Prospector
• 1 Sparksmith
• 1 Spikeshot Elder
• 1 Stingscourger
• 1 Warren Instigator
• 1 Ib Halfheart, Goblin Tactician
• 1 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
• 1 Tuktuk the Explorer

• Spells (21)
• 1 Brightstone Ritual
• 1 Chaos Warp
• 1 Tears of Rage
• 1 Burn at the Stake
• 1 Dragon Fodder
• 1 Gamble
• 1 Goblin Game
• 1 Goblin Lore
• 1 Warp World
• 1 Breath of Fury
• 1 Goblin Assault
• 1 Goblin Bomb
• 1 Goblin Bombardment
• 1 In the Web of War
• 1 Mass Hysteria
• 1 Quest for the Goblin Lord
• 1 Shared Animosity
• 1 Coat of Arms
• 1 Skullclamp
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Umbral Mantle

• Lands (35)
• 30 Mountain
• 1 Cavern of Souls
• 1 Flamekin Village
• 1 Mutavault
• 1 Myriad Landscape
• 1 Hall of the Bandit Lord

Buy This Deck

On top of being wacky and fun to play, this gets business done. If opponent’s aren’t wiping you down a ton, you should be able to amass a decent army and go over the top with spells like Breath of Fury. Don’t like the wackiness? Take it out of the 75% range, and add solid stuff like Marton Stromgald that I didn’t include because of their non-goblininess. Want more wackiness? There are a few cards you can add, such as Booby Trap to join Goblin Bomb as a fun way to deal massive amounts of damage in exchange for being a huge luck-sack. Tune the deck the way you want, but either way, the core of many utility Goblins and Krenko to make sure we always have enough tokens going should be kept intact.

That’s all for me this week! Join me next week, when I have no idea what I will be discussing because you haven’t sent me your decklist! E-mail me at altjason7 at gmail dot com with your list—otherwise, we’re getting into some of the sweet-looking cards from Dragons of Tarkir and brewing with those. Thanks for reading, and join me next week!