This is my personal Krenko Commander deck, and my pride and joy. Its goal is to hit an infinite goblin combo as soon as possible. There are several infinite goblin combos, and several ways to pull them off. I wish I could call this deck cEDH, but I cannot. Though it may compete at a cEDH table, this specific Krenko strat is not the fastest in terms of winning, and that fact combined with that Krenko is not in the cEDH meta kinda disqualifies it from the title. Regardless, it is still very powerful and infinitely fun to run. Without further ado, here is an in-depth guide to running it.
Besides Krenko, 2 other combo pieces are required: a way to turn goblins into mana, and way to use that mana to repeatedly untap Krenko. For redundancy, I've included 5 ways to turn goblins into mana: Skirk Prospector, Thermopod, Phyrexian Altar, Ashnod's Altar, and Mana Echoes, and 6 ways to repeatedly untap Krenko: Thornbite Staff, Umbral Mantle, Staff of Domination, Sword of the Paruns, Aggravated Assault, and Cloudstone Curio.
Each of these combo pieces have their own little quirks, so it's good to pay close attention to their wording. For Instance, Thornbite Staff is the easiest way to get infinite goblins, because it doesn't even require mana to untap Krenko. It only requires a creature to die. So, simply having a sacrifice outlet for your goblins will untap Krenko infinitely. It is also good to not that Thornbite Staff will untap the equipped creature when any creature is put into a graveyard, so even if you are not infinite, it will untap Krenko whenever an opponent's creature dies, giving you the opportunity to still make a lot of goblins. Another thing to keep in mind is that Mana Echoes does not have you sacrifice goblins; it only gives you mana when they enter. For that reason, it would not go infinite with Thornbite Staff. And for the reason that Mana Echoes and Ashnod's Altar only give you colorless mana, neither of them will go infinite with Aggravated Assault or Cloudstone Curio, since they require red mana to continue the combo. But distinctions like this haven't come up often in my experience, because the deck is so consistent with it's tutors. I've included the extras like Mana Echoes, Aggravated Assault and Cloudstone Curio for redundancy, but simply put, I'd prefer the simplicity of Skirk Prospector and Thornbite Staff, and the tutors in the deck make it pretty simple to get them into the game. The one combo that really requires some explanation though is when utilizing Cloudstone Curio. When you tap Krenko and the goblins enter the battlefield, choose to send Krenko back to your hand via Cloudstone Curio. Then, sacrifice 4 of those goblins to either Skirk Prospector, Thermopod or Phyrexian Altar for red mana. Then use that mana to cast Krenko again. You will need a haste enabler on the battlefield. That way, you can tap Krenko again, restarting the combo. The haste enablers for the purpose of this combo include: Goblin Warchief, Howlsquad Heavy, Goro-Goro, Disciple of Ryusei, Mass Hysteria, Lightning Greaves, Swiftfoot Boots, Sting, the Glinting Dagger, and Thousand-Year Elixir.
To dig further into the tutors, there are many in the deck. Goblin Engineer may be your most valuable tutor for his ability to search for an artifact when he enters. You can search for artifacts on either side of the combo, such as Phyrexian Altar or Thornbite Staff. They will go to the graveyard, but his ability to bring them back by sacrificing another artifact will work in your favor. (I almost went as far as having an artifact subtheme to work for his ability as well as Goblin Welder's ability. Not that if you have Great Furnace, you can sacrifice that as well.) Goblin Matron will tutor a goblin creature into your hand. The target should be either Skirk Prospector if you need the mana side of the combo, or Goblin Engineer to fish out the other side of the combo. Goblin Recruiter will tutor multiple goblins to the top of your library. I usually only get one or two, Skirk Prospector or Goblin Engineer being prime targets. Always be careful not to use library shuffling effects if you are stacking the top of your library. Imperial Recruiter will tutor for literally any creature in the deck beside Thermopod and Treasure Nabber, but obviously, the prime targets will be the same. Gamble and Reckless Handling should obviously be played if you have a bigger hand (meaning you are less likely to discard the tutored card) or if you have a way to get artifacts out of your graveyard, like Goblin Engineer, Goblin Welder or Buried Ruin. Moonsilver Key is included because it can technically tutor for Phyrexian Altar or Ashnod's Altar. (Or a mana rock like Sol Ring if you really need it.) I also include Inventors' Fair. I have only every used it's ability to tutor for an artifact once, but I include it for redundancy of course.
When I get infinite goblins, there is a 99% chance I will win that turn, no matter the number of opponents. I would hate to have infinite goblins with summoning sickness and pass the turn. So I have many many ways to win from that point. If you have Impact Tremors, Agate Instigator or General Kreat, the Boltbringer on your board, you win just by those goblins entering. I also included Altar of the Brood for an alternate win-con just in case. If you have Goblin Warchief, Howlsquad Heavy, Goro-Goro, Disciple of Ryusei or Mass Hysteria, then your infinite goblins will be able to swing out for the win. You can ping your opponents to death with Goblin Bombardment, or you can ping your opponents to death with Goblin Sharpshooter if you have a sacrifice outlet to keep untapping him, or you can ping your opponents to death with Thornbite Staff's first ability if you have a mana generator like Skirk Prospector to feed it. If you have Staff of Domination or Skullclamp, you can just keep drawing cards until you find one of the above. And if all else fails, you can play Final Fortune, Last Chance or Warrior's Oath for an extra turn, and then swing out. (I also love using them if I am one turn away from a game-ending combo to finish it off quicker.)
This deck is incredibly consistent at ending the game no later than turn 5. Filled with ramp and tutors, it is deadly quick at what it does, which includes losing you friends if you play it at the wrong table. Enjoy!
