Krenko, Mob Boss

Krenko, Mob Boss taps to create X 1/1 Goblin tokens, where X is the number of Goblins you control. Read that again. He doubles your Goblin count every time he taps. Turn one Goblin into two, two into four, four into eight. Left alone for two activations, you're attacking with a small army.

The deck is simple by design. Make Goblins. Make them bigger. Turn them sideways.

The strategy

Krenko is a combo-aggro commander disguised as a tribal deck. The exponential growth means you don't need to worry about card advantage in the traditional sense — your board _is_ your card advantage. Your job is:

1. Land Krenko as fast as possible (turn 3 ideally)
2. Protect him long enough to activate once or twice
3. Give the tokens haste or a damage multiplier and end the game

Mono-red means your mana base is trivially easy. Almost all Mountains, a few utility lands, and you're done. The savings on mana fixing go straight into speed.

Key card categories

Ramp (~10 cards). Fast mana is everything. Sol Ring, Ruby Medallion, Fire Diamond, and the cheap mana rocks that let you cast Krenko on turn 3. Battle Hymn and Brightstone Ritual can generate absurd amounts of mana once you have tokens.

Card draw (~8 cards). Red's card draw is conditional but works perfectly here. Skullclamp on a 1/1 Goblin draws two cards for {1}. Goblin Matron tutors for any Goblin. Sensation Gorger with a full board is a wheel effect. Jeska's Will is the best red draw spell in Commander.

Removal (~8 cards). Chaos Warp handles anything. Blasphemous Act costs {R} when you have enough creatures. Goblin Bombardment turns each Goblin into a Shock. It's also a sacrifice outlet that protects your board state from exile effects.

Haste enablers. Swiftfoot Boots and Lightning Greaves protect Krenko and let him tap the turn he lands. Hammer of Purphoros gives everything haste. Goblin Chieftain is haste plus a lord effect.

Token doublers and finishers. Impact Tremors and Purphoros, God of the Forge deal damage every time a creature enters. With Krenko doubling Goblins, these deal lethal in one or two activations. Goblin War Strike deals damage equal to your Goblin count. Coat of Arms makes each Goblin enormous.

What the skeleton covers

The pre-built list gives you the core Goblin engine: Krenko, key Goblin lords, haste enablers, and damage multipliers. The mana base is simple and consistent. You'll have the pieces to threaten a kill by turn 5-6 in most games.

Where to customize

• Combo: Add Thornbite Staff — it auto-untaps Krenko whenever a creature dies, going infinite with any sacrifice outlet. Skirk Prospector plus Krenko plus Thornbite Staff is infinite mana and infinite Goblins.
• Resilience: Add Eldrazi Monument for indestructible flying Goblins, or Shared Animosity for massive combat damage. Muxus, Goblin Grandee can dump half your deck onto the battlefield.
• Budget: This deck functions well on a budget. The most expensive pieces are optional upgrades. The core Goblin package is cheap.

Krenko rewards aggression. Don't wait for the perfect board state. If you can attack, attack.