Kurkesh, Onakke Ancient - Forgemaster Combo

Commander / EDH* Artifact Budget Combo Infinite Combo Mono-Red Multiplayer

Robobro72

Artifact (25)

• 1x Basalt Monolith
• 1x Brittle Effigy
• 1x Codex Shredder
• 1x Conjurer's Bauble
• 1x Dreamstone Hedron
• 1x Druidic Satchel
• 1x Expedition Map
• 1x Fire Diamond
• 1x Gilded Lotus
• 1x Goblin Charbelcher
• 1x Grinning Totem
• 1x Hedron Archive
• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Mind Stone
• 1x Nevinyrral's Disk
• 1x Pyrite Spellbomb
• 1x Rings of Brighthearth
• 1x Sensei's Divining Top
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Spine of Ish Sah
• 1x Tamiyo's Journal
• 1x Thought Vessel
• 1x Trading Post
• 1x Urza's Bauble
• 1x Voltaic Key

Sorcery (6)

• 1x Blasphemous Act
• 1x Cathartic Reunion
• 1x Gamble
• 1x Subterranean Tremors
• 1x Sudden Demise
• 1x Vandalblast

Creature (24)

• 1x Burnished Hart
• 1x Combustible Gearhulk
• 1x Deal Broker
• 1x Dragonmaster Outcast
• 1x Emrakul, the Promised End
• 1x Endbringer
• 1x Goblin Welder
• 1x Hangarback Walker
• 1x Hoarding Dragon
• 1x Inferno Titan
• 1x Iron Myr
• 1x Junk Diver
• 1x Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs
• 1x Kuldotha Forgemaster
• 1x Myr Retriever
• 1x Pia and Kiran Nalaar
• 1x Quicksmith Genius
• 1x Scrap Trawler
• 1x Silent Arbiter
• 1x Slobad, Goblin Tinkerer
• 1x Solemn Simulacrum
• 1x Squee, Goblin Nabob
• 1x Steel Hellkite
• 1x Thopter Assembly

Planeswalker (4)

• 1x Chandra, Flamecaller
• 1x Daretti, Scrap Savant
• 1x Karn Liberated
• 1x Ugin, the Spirit Dragon

Instant (2)

• 1x Chaos Warp
• 1x Volcanic Offering

Commander (1)

Land (38)

• 1x Blinkmoth Nexus
• 1x Buried Ruin
• 1x Darksteel Citadel
• 1x Forgotten Cave
• 1x Ghost Quarter
• 1x Great Furnace
• 1x Inkmoth Nexus
• 1x Inventors' Fair
• 1x Kher Keep
• 1x Mishra's Factory
• 22x Mountain
• 1x Quicksand
• 1x Sanctum of Ugin
• 1x Sea Gate Wreckage
• 1x Sequestered Stash
• 1x Smoldering Crater
• 1x Temple of the False God

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Maybeboard

Creature (2)

• 1x Dross Scorpion
• 1x Magus of the Wheel

Artifact (2)

• 1x Staff of Nin
• 1x Unwinding Clock

Sorcery (1)

• 1x Winds of Change

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Preface Show

Preface

I will preface this guide by saying that it is certainly still a work in progress, both in terms of the guide and the list itself since I am busy with school. However, this is certainly my favorite EDH deck and can be quite powerful. Although certainly not "competitive" by any means, this deck certainly has potential with more plentiful and stronger mana rocks, as well as other key cards which will be added over time hopefully. Additionally, feel free to make suggestions, and try this list for yourself. Other artifact commanders can certainly be used with this list as long as the fringe, obviously niche cards are swapped out. Without further ado, here we go!

Important Budget Consideration Show

Budget

Right now the price of this deck is just approaching 300 USD , but almost a fourth of that price is just two cards that are not necessary to the deck's fuction: Karn Liberated and Inkmoth Nexus. The Inkmoth Nexus is the first to remove since it only really acts as an artifact to be sacrificed to Kuldotha Forgemaster, Daretti, Scrap Savant, Slobad, Goblin Tinkerer, and Goblin Welder. On the other hand, it is an alternate win condition, since the Blinkmoth Nexus's final activated ability can be copied while it is a creature to allow us to win with 2 or 3 swings of infect damage. Karn Liberated is a card I run almost entirely since I own it and I have no other deck to run it in. While protected, Karn acts as a repeatable Spine of Ish Sah, and as potential hand disruption. When in a meta filled with fast, and/or flying creatures, he is actually much worse than Spine of Ish Sah, since the spine can be sacrificed and recurred an extreme number of times.

Unfortunatly, Ugin, the Spirit Dragon is a much more important card, as it can control the board or force face damage turn after turn. Most games that resolve Ugin after activating Nevnyrral's Disk or wiping creatures is a win for us.

Kurkesh, Onakke Ancient is one of the strongest mono- commander in the format, especially when playing on a budget. A great deal of his power, similarly to many commanders (such as Daretti, Scrap Savant and Zada, Hedron Grinder) is in his immediate impact on the board, almost acting as a strong sorcery with a strong field of artifacts out. Another facet of his power comes from his low threat level. Most other players would prioritize removing or neutralizing the commanders that have more innate power or enter combat, such as Zurgo Helmsmasher or the obvious Atraxa, Praetors' Voice. This deck does usual mono - artifact shenanigans and generally wins by achieving infinite mana combos.

Reasons you would want to play Kaptain Kurk

- You love artifacts, but goblins give you the creeps.
- You like a deck that can win out of completely nowhere.
- You want a deck that generally stays out of the red zone.
- You want the least deck around with a mono - color identity
- You wish Trading Post could be your commander.
- You like the graveyard, but don't want to rely on it.
- You want sick flavor text, but no real lore behind it.
- You want the original best ogre, before this Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder nerd showed up.

Reasons you wouldn't want to play Kaptain Kurk

- You want a deck that doesn't rely on your commander (remedied in part by Rings of Brighthearth).
- You want to win through combat all the time, as fast as possible.
- You love enchantments.
- You want a consistent combo every single game, we are generally both a combo and midrange deck that can win through robot beat-down as a backup.
- You want to win every game. A generally insurmountable downfall of mono - is to have completely dead hands/draws. However, this deck isn't too bad, almost rivaling the consitency of Zada, Hedron Grinder, or Daretti, Scrap Savant

Combo

Our central combo involves copying Kuldotha Forgemaster's activation using our commander to ultimately result in Gilded Lotus, Voltaic Key, and any artifact that only requires mana and to activate a relavent ability , such as Codex Shredder, Goblin Charbelcher, or the all-important Trading Post. Since Gilded Lotus's activation creates , but cannot be copied, we can copy Voltaic Key's activation for to both itself and the lotus, creating infinite and artifact s. Unlike many other jank combo decks, each piece of our combo is an incredibly powerful piece of the deck whether or not it is used in the combo, such as Gilded Lotus or Trading Post.

Outlets

• Steel Hellkite
• Codex Shredder = Infinite mill. If you cant mill out an opponent with OG eldrazi titans in their deck, it also provides infinite recursion. Copying the second activation allows the shredder to return itself and one other card to our hand.
• Druidic Satchel = maybe some lands, and either infinite life or saprolings
• Trading Post + [an artifact in hand to start the sequence] = Infinite life, goats, artifact recursion, AND draw.

Our Commander

In addition to providing his dashing good looks, and assembling our combo, Kurkesh helps this deck tremendously by overcoming several fundamental setbacks of red through:
Ramp -
- Burnished Hart
- Expedition Map
- Druidic Satchel
- Basalt Monolith (copying the untap activation can net us per spent)
Card Advantage -
- Mind Stone
- Tamiyo's Journal
- Hedron Archive
- Pyrite Spellbomb
- Trading Post (literally broken)
- Codex Shredder
- Sensei's Divining Top
- Conjurer's Bauble
Removal -
- Brittle Effigy
- Goblin Charbelcher
- Boompile (75% chance of a clear that is 1 turn faster than Nevinyrral's Disk and can hit Walkers)

Notable Interactions (WIP)

Strionic Resonator

Strionic Resonator has an activated ability that can copy our commander's triggered ability, and can be in turn copied by it. This relationship results in the following:
1. Activate another artifact's ability, Pyrite Spellbomb for example.
2. Copy it for with Kurkesh.
3. Copy that trigger with Strionic Resonator, targeting the Pyrite Spellbomb's ability.
4. Use our commander's trigger again on the Strionic Resonator's activation, which copies Kurkesh's trigger once again, targeting the Pyrite Spellbomb's ability.
5. This results in the following shorthand: (and tap the Strionic Resonator): Copy an artifact's activated ability three times. In this example, this results in : Draw four cards (assuming the Pyrite Spellbomb was already in play). A Tidings in a mono red deck is pretty good, no?

Why the Resonator is/isn't viable Show

Note that this combo is incredibly awkward for us because of the general mana issues this color identity has without the fastest rocks. Also, the Resonator is in general a win more card since many of our triggered abilities other than Kurkesh's have awkward timing or are on cards that are generally played on curve. That is why it is actually being considered to be cut. However, if going infinite is prohibited by your playgroup, this can be a fun way to abuse our commander, as this combo can be extended greatly with a ability and either Voltaic Key, or Clock of Omens.

Sensei's Divining Top

Sensei's Divining Top is an all-star in the deck for two reasons:
1. It offers us unparalleled card filtering for mono-
2. Copying its second ability allows us to draw a card repeatedly for , which is yet another anomally for mono-

Date added	7 years
Last updated	6 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	10 - 0 Mythic Rares 37 - 0 Rares 20 - 0 Uncommons 11 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.48
Tokens	Clue, Dragon 5/5 R, Elemental 3/1 R, Emblem Daretti, Scrap Savant, Goat 0/1 W, Kobold 0/1 R, Lizard 8/8 R, Ogre 3/3 R, Saproling 1/1 G, Thopter 1/1 C
Folders	100 Budget EDH, Cool Decks, Decks I Will Build