Copy/Paste Personal EDH Philosophy Bit
In building my decks, my end goal is "strong but fair". In other words, I want to win, yes, but not at the expense of fun. For me, that means:
- No infinite combos
- No MLD
- Very few discard/countermagic/tutors
- Try to limit format staples only to decks they fit mechanically or thematically
Kurkesh is a commander I only rarely see discussed, never mind actually being played. It's a shame, because he's all kinds of fun. Copying artifact activations for just as a triggered ability is nuts. Yes, he can go infinite, but as the box says, that's not my style. No, I'm using him with a bunch of artifacts that do little things to make them do big things. Cogs and gears that generate value as the copying goes on. Besides that, Kurkesh's physique is worth mentioning as well. He's a 4/3 for , so unlike many commanders whose main role is support, he can be useful in combat while doing it. Let's see the list:
Cogs and Gears
Approximate Total Cost:
At first sight, this may seem like a semi-random collection of junk. Spoiler: it is. Kurkesh is one of those generals whose deck you can fill with whatever you haplen to have lying around and he'll still make it work.
Kurkesh is deceiving. At the start of the game, I'm just playing some artifacts, some of which people know, some they don't, but it's all non-threatening, so I'm not the center of attention in any way.
And then the general hits the table. Suddenly, you need to keep two mana open for that Erratic Portal instead of one. My Mimic Vat makes two tokens. My Sensei's Divining Top suddenly reads ": Draw a card." and my Basalt Monolith says ": Add ." Elixir of Immortality with Kurkesh and Strionic Resonator on the table can shoot me up some 30 life. Heartseeker (equipped on an artifact creature) can kill two creatures at once. Trading Post gets very profitable. And so on.
In short, Kurkesh takes a bunch of random cards that are just lying there, doing innocent stuff to keep me alive, and makes them into little supercharged value machines that can actually win the game. Let's take a closer look at some notable cards:
- Manifold Key — An example of my philosophy in action, I very inentionally replaced Voltaic Key with this one, since the former can go infinite with Gilded Lotus. And I want to keep the Lotus, since I need a lot of red mana for my shenanigans.
- Power Matrix — This card is so much fun. Remeber how I mentioned Kurkesh has a rather effective body? A 4/3 without evasion is not that big of a deal. A 6/5 with flying, first strike, and trample is a different story. Good for blocking, too. Plus it can also mess up combats you're not remotely involved in, which is always great fun at a Commander table.
- Mindslaver — O mighty Purphoros, please forgive this humble mortal, for I have sinned. I gave in to the temptation of copying activated abilities of artifacts and put Mindslaver in this deck. Please know that although I also play Goblin Welder I can't even remember if I had ever used them together. It just feels really good to control two other players in the same turn cycle. May your hammer deems me worthy of wielding such power.
- Surestrike Trident — Another card which I think could use more exposure. Could make for a decent kill option in some budget decks. In Kurkesh, of course, we double the damage. Just remeber that this gives the ability to the equipped creature, so that creature has to be an artifact in order for Kurkesh to be able to copy it. But wait, there's more! See, this card actually has two activated abilities. The second one is equip itself. That can also be copied. Normally, copying an equip activation is pretty much useless, but not in the case of an Equipment that can unattach itself in response. Shenanigans ahoy! If you have two untapped artifact creatures, Trident, and our general, you can deal two times the combined power of those creatures for . With two 3/3s, that's twelve damage. Not too shabby.
- Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle — I love having this card in the deck so much. The reason is that its presence here is a double subversion. I start the game by playing random artifacts. Then I play Kurkesh and make the opponents think "Ok, he's starting to look dangerous, we should kill some of these artifacts." And then I kill them with Valakut. You've seen Vesuva and Thespian's Stage back in the list, right? One copied use of Expedition Map can find Valakut and Vesuva at once. And then, later in the game, Scrap Mastery hits, brings back Burnished Hart and Rings of Brighthearth, and all of a sudden, you're looking at 36 damage to the face. Good times =)
- Grinning Totem — This one's here for pure nostalgia and oldschool player street cred. Yes, it's only really useful to grab red and colorless cards. No, still haven't managed to cast an Eldrazi with it. One day, though. One day...
- Strionic Resonator — Man, I'm still having problems memorizing this interaction for some reason. Ok, so I activate something, let's say Myr Turbine. Kurkesh triggers, then I activate the Resonator, copying Kurkesh's trigger. This makes Kurkesh trigger again and copy the ability that copied Kurkesh's first trigger. So for , I get to make four more Myr tokens. Simple, right? Ouch, my brain...
- Avarice Totem — This one's captured many an opponent very much unprepared. Permanently stealing things normally isn't what you expect from a mono-red deck. And all it takes is to know your stack. Here's what you do: first, activate the Totem, targeting your own permanent. This is the one you want to give away. Kurkesh triggers, you pay and copy the ability. You change the targrt of the copy to the thing you want to steal. The copy went on the stack last, which means it'll resolve first, trading the Totem for the thing you wanted. Then, the original ability resolves, trading the Totem for the sacrificial permanent you targeted the first time. Net effect is, you've traded a permanent of yours for an opponent's and the Totem is still on your side of the table. Enjoy your Myr token, I'm now gonna kill you with your commander! Unless they have five mana ready, they can't really stop you. Also, this actually doesn't need Kurkesh to work, you can just activate a second time in response. Kurkesh just makes it a lot cheaper.
- Heartseeker — See Surestrike Trident. Two untapped artifact creatures + = destroy four target creatures. That's two mana per creature killed. Not too shabby.
- Khalni Gem — In most decks, this would not make the cut and rightfully so. However in this one, I believe it deserves a slot. First, yes, colorless mana rocks are more effective, but Kurkesh is a hungry monster when it comes to red mana specifically, so rocks that make colored mana are more valuable here. Unwinding Clock loves it. And the fact that it returns two lands to my hand when it enters the battlefield can help me as well, resetting Vesuva or just bringing back two Mountains to fuel Valakut. Yes, I've won games by doing that. The looks on their faces...
Comments and suggestions are, as always, welcome.
Antis, out.
