Did you want a 3 card turn six win condition? Want to overrun the field with a bunch of useless 1/1's? Do you like having the kind of deck that makes your friends focus you into the ground? Then this one is for you, fellow Goblin lover! A functioning, legal, and fun version of the Krenko decks of the past, this deck needs only one of two combinations of three cards to run over your one to three opponents. Though it definitely works best in one on one games.
This is not a deck for people that want to have free mana on their opponents turn.
This deck is pretty simple. Lots of one to three cost creature cards and token generation (the main function of the deck). Krenko's Command and Dragon Fodder are a given in this deck, and you can easily get Goblin Assault out on turn 2 thanks to Pyretic Ritual. That'll draw a bit of hate at the start, and this deck doesn't have much to do about that other than hate right back. For that, we have things like Stone Rain, Molten Rain, and Goblin Ruinblaster. Taking til turns three and four to get some of their lands out of the way isn't too bad, and along with the aforementioned Pyretic Ritual there's other cards to help you get some mana going earlier, though not terribly efficient.
You can also take a different route and just say "No" altogether with Zo-Zu the Punisher and Mindsparker to discourage going crazy with lands and counters. The land punishment won't affect you too much as your main set up can be played with only four lands out, which you'll probably have by the time you're playing that creepy little impaler. If you find yourself losing creature control of the field, well we have a solution for that too! A very, very simple solution; Hit Them With Spells. You've got your basic Red essentials, y'know Lightning Bolt, Shock, Reverberate, threw in a Magma Spray because sometimes sending a creature to the graveyard isn't enough, and a Flame Javelin because it's a three cost four damage instant you can get out pretty easy to remove blockers. Additionally if you can't get a Reckless Abandon, Fling is also an option, but because you're mainly going to be sacrificing 1/1's it's much worse. Also some tribal spells you can use [Goblin Matron] to fish for if you already have Skirk Prospector in hand. Unfortunately Goblin Grenade is NOT A GOBLIN SPELL, it's just in the name. Boggart Shenanigans is a good one for this deck, even if you can't get the infinite combo off right away with Goblin Bombardment you can still make good use of it by pairing the effects with these two. The idea there is that you're sacrificing a 1/1 and dealing 2 damage to your opponent. Good generation with Krenko will make that a viable win condition late game, but you really don't want your matches to last too long with a deck like this. Burst, burst, burst, this thing has no sustain.
Now, the problem with Krenko? He doesn't have haste, which is good because otherwise he'd be broken and probably banned, which means he's gonna cost at least one extra mana to get going the moment you get him out. If it's late game and his cost is already up there by the time you get it going you just sac Command Beacon, you should have enough Mountains out by the point that's required so you don't really need the extra colourless, especially if you have Hazoret's Monument and/or Goblin Warchief on the field. Put Krenko into play and you have a few one cost ways to get him going. The equipment, Ring of Valkas and Swiftfoot Boots works best if you played it last turn or have the mana to get it out on the same turn as Krenko, if you can get both out at the same time your opponent is generally only going to destroy one and it'll probably be Swiftfoot boots. Anyone that knows what's going on knows you don't care that Krenko is getting buff, what he does with his gym time wearing the ring is irrelevant as long as he does it before your opponent can stop him. If those two are unavailable or an earlier play makes them non-viable, you have two backup enchantments and a five creatures who're only in the deck to give Krenko Haste. Messenger's Speed and Racecourse Fury. A lot of people I've talked to aren't a fan of Aura Enchantments, they're basically one use items and unless you're playing Blue or White you can't really move them around once they're on the field, but these two should be safe. Your opponent probably won't stop you from using Racecourse Fury right away, it just means one less land you're tapping for mana, so feel free to play it turn one (though that's honestly not your best option), Messenger's Speed will likely just sit in your hand until you have Krenko out, so if you get it turn one take that into account when deciding to mulligan. Your creatures that give haste are pretty good, though as creatures they're a lot more vulnerable to being shut down so try not to rely too heavily on them. Goblin Warchief, Goblin Chieftain, and Hellraiser Goblin are gonna get your opponents attention, so if you're planning on getting Krenko out turn four or five have at least one of those out first and be ready.
Now for the important part
This deck has TWO three card paths to infinite goblins, both of them use Krenko, both benefit from Skirk Prospector (though it's only necessary for one of them). They are as follows, and I'll walk through how they work in case it's not obvious.
Goblin Bombardment + Krenko, Mob Boss + Thornbite Staff
and Krenko, Mob Boss + Skirk Prospector + Umbral Mantle
Easiest and cheapest first. Krenko with Umbral Mantle. Umbral Mantle itself wouldn't really be viable in this deck if there weren't ways to turn creatures into Red Mana, which is why you have Skirk Prospector and Battle Hymn. No, those two cards are NOT interchangeable in this instance. You can use Battle Hymn to get started if you already have quite a few goblins out, but with the three cost untap ability you'll run out of that mana before you can go infinite. Though with cards like Coat of Arms you might not even need to go infinite to get enough damage out to knock out at least one opponent. Eldrazi Monument would be great for this. Oh you have Blockers? All my Creatures are 40/40 and don't care, leggo. We may not have that in this deck, but we do have Magmatic Chasm so when you get ready for that killing blow don't worry about non-flying blockers. Things to think about. So, you play Skirk Prospector, tap your lands for Umbral Mantle, then sac any goblin that's not Krenko until you can play him. Then you're done. You should have however much land you need to supplement until your goblins are increasing by four or more each tap. You have a few cards to last another turn or two and keep those three on the board.
The next is more costly, and without Skirk Prospector or Battle Hymn you'll probably have to wait a turn after getting all the cards out on the field. You can play Goblin Bombardment in the earlier game, or really any card that you can maintain that says "Sacrifice a Creature" or some variant of that, follow it with Thornbite Staff next turn, then Krenko. This is where the extra mana comes in handy you can either wait a turn for your win, give your opponent one more chance to contemplate their gameplay choices this match, or you can be lucky and have a mana generating card to equip Thornbite Staff to Krenko immediately.
When it comes to Thornbite Staff you really don't need to care about the first ability it grants, what matter is its "Whenever a creature is put into a graveyard from play, untap this creature" effect. This is what we're pairing with Goblin Bombardment or any other "Sacrifice a creature" card. Goblin Bombardment is the most efficient in this situation because you don't need to enter combat or ever leave the main phase. Meaning you don't need to care if your opponent has any "destroy all attacking creatures" cards, or effects that take place after a phase change. You're dealing one damage every sac, so you tap Krenko, sac, untap, tap, sac, repeat. All this happens at instant speed, so by the time your first Goblin Bombardment is taking effect you've won the game.
That's that folks. Aside from a bunch of 1/1's and low cost mobs to get you started and keep you around if you don't start with what you need, those are the only cards that matter. Keep Krenko out as long as you can, get one of those two synergies out, and you win. This deck is really fun to play and I had a lot of fun getting it "just right," (though I'm sure I'll continue to improve it where I can, I'll try and keep the page updated), and like I said if you can get something like Akroma's Memorial or Eldrazi Monument that gives your creatures flying or trample, I'd love to know how that works out for you.
