Kenny, He is the Land

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Tevesh
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Post by Tevesh » 4 years ago

I studied King Arthur while in University and one of the phrases that stuck with me, for whatever reason, is "He is the Land". Essentially, if King Arthur is doing well, then Great Britain does well and if the land is doing poorly then he's in poor health. There's tons of tales that have spun off from curing this Chicken-and-Egg problem. When I saw a King Arthur Legend, and the recently added Flip Lands from Ixalan, I knew I had something I could use.

I originally dissolved the deck because it was a touch too powerful; it required the table to collapse on me or I'd eventually out value them and win. After a few months, the power level of my opponents has increased and so just like King Arthur, Kenrith has returned when we needed him most.
He is the Land

Commander - 1

Basic Lands - 10

Approximate Total Cost:

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Last edited by Tevesh 2 years ago, edited 37 times in total.

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Tevesh
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Post by Tevesh » 4 years ago

First update:
Changes 10/29/19
Approximate Total Cost:

Added more low to the ground draw engines. Between Resurrecting Patron and Kenrith's ability to slap on +1/+1 Counters, it sure draws me a lot more cards doing something relevant than just spending 4 to draw. Plus I could always put those +1/+1s on Xantcha who is another draw engine. I can keep resurrecting her to threaten others and Shock down her newfound owner.

Chandra and Sphinx were much higher costed draw so they felt like the right choice.
Last edited by Tevesh 4 years ago, edited 1 time in total.

Theoric
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Post by Theoric » 4 years ago

The King Arthur deck I made should be right up your alley. It spits out a queen and his knights of the round table wicked fast. Tons of flavor, tons of fun, and it's competitive as well.
viewtopic.php?f=35&t=15892

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Tevesh
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Post by Tevesh » 4 years ago

I'm not going for a Knight theme, plus I like my theme of making lands more, it seems synergistic that a guy who has tons of activated abilities wants to make more and more lands.

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Post by Tevesh » 4 years ago

Curve cutting:
Changes 11/02/19
Approximate Total Cost:

Gyre Sage was Magical Christmasland if he worked, putting more and more Counters on himself so he'd generate me tons of mana. It never seemed to work out that way. Regrowth costs the same and will fetch me a Noncreature from the Graveyard. I've learned to curb the greedy idiot inside me by eliminating cards that have unlimited Ceilings and instead concentrating on cards that raise my Floors and Regrowth sure is some stilts.

I could never engineer Arguel's Blood Fast or would want to be in that situation. With heavy heart, I cut it for a much better flipland: Search for Azcanta. With all of the Noncreature stuff in the deck, I'd want to be able to dig into my deck for answers.

Mulldrifter was easy but lacklustre, especially since my previous addition of Xantcha and Generous Patron. Those two have been doing serious work for me. What I was missing was ways to Sacrifice my Creatures, Discard Cards and to Draw as well. Well, Greater Good does all of that. I'm certain it will be absurd.

Apex just costed too much. Fun if I could land him in the 'yard but otherwise he was a whole lotta Dino for nothing in my hand. Seasons Past will recur all of the stuff Kenrith can't.

I've gotta say, I built the deck as a meme but I'm enjoying it a lot more than I thought I would. Being able to screw with my opponents by helping them has been a pleasure. So many trades due to pump or nonlethal swings from my life gain have been very good and amusing to boot.
Last edited by Tevesh 4 years ago, edited 1 time in total.

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Post by Tevesh » 4 years ago

Next batch of refinement:
Changes 11/08/19
Approximate Total Cost:

I added Ramp because being choked on mana means being choked on draw. Rhystic got cut because I don't want to continually ask 'Pay 1?'; the deck wants to lay low as I create more and more fliplands. Blackblade felt unnecessary when I can just put +1/+1 Counters on Kenrith.

Rune-Scarred simply was too expensive. He looks lacklustre next to the cheaper curve of Sidisi, Undead Vizier's Exploit or the repeated Sacrifice outlet of Razaketh, the Foulblooded. In his place comes Hanna, who should be able to retrieve all of these Artifacts and Enchantments that people like to blow up before I'm allowed to flip them.

K&T ramped my opponents and were hit-and-miss with me. In their place is Volrath's Stronghold; Kenrith has quite the target on his forehead. I don't have many ways to keep recasting him, so this should give me a cheap way to keep recurring him. Once Kenrith sticks, I seem to win and so this will help me far more than the gamble Ramp of K&T.

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Post by Tevesh » 4 years ago

A bunch better Ramp piece:
Changes 11/11/19
Approximate Total Cost:

Kenrith can keep putting him back into play, which seems like a good way to ensure I hit all of my colored mana or utility lands, such as going for the longshot Maze's End win. Also, I can Activate Golos for kicks.

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Post by Tevesh » 4 years ago

Curve shaving and making the deck meaner:
Nissa will grab me a land to play and considering how many Flip Lands this deck runs, I'm sure it'll be easy to make her flip out. Her Plus is better Draw and Ramp for me than Selvala who drew cards for my opponents and considering I can pay three to make 5 life, I'm not too attached to Selvala's lifegain either.

One of the lessons I learned from Teneb, the Harvester being at the helm of my Abzan deck is that repeated Wraths are hard for my opponents to deal with. I'm carrying that lesson over here by spending five mana with Kenrith. The best part is that I can easily pick another Artifact, placing the Gearhulk back into my 'yard for more shenanigans later in the turn. Angel of Despair costed 7 and while she hit anything I wanted, I think she's less abusive than a repeated Gearhulk plus the Gearhulk can be cast earlier to stomp on any tempo deck.

Maze's End wincon is fun in theory, but it makes me greedy and stupid so it gets the axe. I cut the Gateway Plaza because fools pay to play Lands. I think the Izzet, Boros and Azorius Guildgates are the least represented and they all got replaced by better Trilands. I kept some Guildgates so my Circuitous Route could feel like it was doing something special.

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Post by Tevesh » 4 years ago

Let's get meaner:
Changes 11/16/19
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With all of the removal in the deck, such as recurring Gearhulks, I figure I should focus on stopping Instants and Sorceries that would ruin my day. Ertai lets me do that, he also Sacrifices Creatures so that Kenny Loggins here can bring them back into the Danger Zone. I can't wait until I catch someone out when I get Ertai Haste to Counter something when they thought they were safe.

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Post by Tevesh » 4 years ago

Course corrections:
Changes 11/20/19
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I don't have enough Creatures to reliably hit off of Rites' Impulse, I almost never have four Creatures to flip the Rites and if I did, well, it's only four or so Creatures. Not worth the while to jump through the hoops for a bad Gaea's Cradle. Yeah, yeah - I know I'm cutting a theme piece but it's just dead weight and I don't want to recreate the deck to make it good. In Rites' place is the Dockside Extortionist, who is just patently absurd, so he should be able to help my deck as it is super mana greedy.

Heartstone takes too much front loaded setup and I do not have time for that, Kenrith is under assault fairly quickly. As it is mana hungry, I've put another absurdity in the form of Smothering Tithe. Yeah... I am thinking of adding Revel in Riches but I'm holding off on my Bad Player Impulses, for now.

While the Rakdos Guildgate has less mana relevancy to the deck than the Dimir, I kept it because I value the Red Mana for Kenrith's Haste. I've put in the Sanitarium so that I can dump a Creature into my 'yard and Kenrith can Res them. It's effectively a very good Mikokoro, Center of the Sea for Kenrith. Plus, this sort of card can get absurd with Smothering Tithe.

I also thought of cutting Razaketh the Foulblooded because I very rarely have enough fodder for him to work with, but he's also absurd, so I'm keeping him in, for now. Especially with the addition of the Extortionist.

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Post by Tevesh » 4 years ago

I took Kenrith to his natural conclusion and I didn't like where I found myself, so I am tearing the deck apart.

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Post by Tevesh » 3 years ago

I didn't like where the deck was heading because it would either require a significant down tune or power up to be able to stave off the hate. Well, the power has shifted upwards and so Kenny Arthur here is back to save me from the Danger Zone:
I don't know exactly what I cut from my lands, but I rejiggered the mana base a bit.

As for the non-land changes, the cards are either in different decks or were cut because I didn't think they fit anymore. A lot of the new additions should be good in theory, only one way to find out.

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Post by Tevesh » 3 years ago

Well, that's an obvious upgrade:
Changes 05/17/20
Approximate Total Cost:

With the Oracle getting axed from the Ikra-Tymna deck, I knew I could find a new home for her. Bear Umbra leaves because it isn't a body that Kenrith can Resurrect and it makes for one helluva lightning rod. I put it on a Creature and it gives my opponents an excuse to 86 that for a 2-for-1. There have been times I drew the Umbra but had nobody to Enchant it with. While Bear Umbra has some fantastic interactions with the amount of utility lands I'm running, I rather go with the tried-and-true fire-and-forget Oracle compared to the Umbra's slight hoop jumping and innate Aura vulnerabilities.

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Post by Tevesh » 3 years ago

Removing Win Mores:
Biomancer Familiar and Gonti felt like winmores, which is why they get cut in this update. Thrasios feels dirty outside of cEDH circles so gets the axe as well. I did not like the variance Coiling Oracle brought. I thought I had a Mana Confluence in the deck but that wasn't the case, so Dimir Guildgate gets axed as the worst land. Which leaves Cataclysmic Gearhulk, which Wraths the board repeatedly, it's a problem. It would be one thing if I couldn't choose to kill it but I can, so I suddenly have a Wrath on Demand and that's too much.

I wanted to put in Fauna Shaman in the deck, adding more Toolbox Creatures, but I couldn't find my copy. Maybe at a later date. She does fill up my 'yard for Kenrith and finds me a new Critter to either Cast or pitch. I was thinking of cutting Prime Speaker Vannifar, as I've introduced Search for Azcanta and Birthing Pod can do that job. In the end, I think I'll just earmark Vannifar for a future cut. She's a lot clunkier than I thought.

The toolbox Creatures I've added are Farhaven Elf, Bane of Progress and Angel of Finality. Extra Ramp is always nice; Bane kills troublesome Artifacts and Enchantments, including my own; and Angel of Finality will nuke Graveyard-based decks. I think I'll be introducing some of the Triomes and perhaps Murmuring Bosk in the future so the Farhaven Elf will eventually become a Wood Elves.

I got another copy of Search for Azcanta which will help with the theme and is overall a great card. With such an emphasis on Lands, I figured Field of the Dead would be a great fit. It'll protect me as I'm trying to build my base up.

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Post by Tevesh » 3 years ago

First stages of Ikoira:
Changes 05/27/20
Approximate Total Cost:

Sometimes, simpler is better and so Sage comes in for Primus. The lower cost also means I might be able to curve him into action with Prime Speaker Vannifar.

I was going to cut Circuitous Route but then I realized that Route is better than Exploding Vegetables because I do have some Guild Gates. Once I start adding the Triomes to the deck, maybe that's when Route will get the axe in favour for Skyshroud Claim.


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Post by Tevesh » 3 years ago

Spoils of survival:
Changes 07/25/20
Approximate Total Cost:

With Ikra-Tymna's dissolution, I decided I could move some Nonbasics into Kenrith which then necessitated a search suite upgrade. I decided to just hit my Basics for the improvements.

With the increased access to White, I felt more confident about Ruinous Ultimatum and replaced Duneblast.

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Post by Rumpy5897 » 3 years ago

A few months late here, but Biomancer's Familiar does not seem winmore. There was recently a gameplay video with Mitch of Commander's Quarters on Kenrith, and Familiar was a house of an engine piece in that game. Maybe you rely less on Kenrith activations, but still, reconsider it maybe?

Golden Guardian feels overcosted for what it offers. You don't seem to run any super crutch lands for Realm Seekers purposes. Is the Noxious Gearhulk life gain worth overpaying relative to a Ravenous Chupacabra or something else cheaper?
 
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Post by Tevesh » 3 years ago

Rumpy5897 wrote:
3 years ago
A few months late here, but Biomancer's Familiar does not seem winmore. There was recently a gameplay video with Mitch of Commander's Quarters on Kenrith, and Familiar was a house of an engine piece in that game. Maybe you rely less on Kenrith activations, but still, reconsider it maybe?

Golden Guardian feels overcosted for what it offers. You don't seem to run any super crutch lands for Realm Seekers purposes. Is the Noxious Gearhulk life gain worth overpaying relative to a Ravenous Chupacabra or something else cheaper?
I'll have to take a look at that video for a new, hot take on Biomancer's Familiar.

Golden Guardian is in for theme; I'm trying to run all of the relevant fliplands and Guardian does kill itself on Kenrith.

You're probably right about Noxious Gearhulk, I had finally managed to track down a copy and decided to slot it in this deck. I'm trying to think of nasty recursive loops with Kenrith's Raise Dead; maybe I should go cheaper into Chup or up into Meteor Golem.

Some updates:
Changes 09/29/20
Approximate Total Cost:

Azusa comes in to help Kenrith have even more explosive plays, coming down a turn earlier and allowing for an extra land drop. Mina and Denn exit as the least impressive Ramp; the Wood Elves really help me grab Triomes and Murmuring Bosk.

I think the speed of Ancient Tomb is worth the colour loss of Azorius Guildgate.

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Post by Tevesh » 3 years ago

Experimentation!:
Changes 11/22/20
Approximate Total Cost:

I'm going to try out the Biomancer's Familiar on Rumpy's advice because I do see some silly potential. I'm cutting The Great Henge moreso for a new deck I've slapped together than it being "bad" - it's not bad, it's ridiculous and I don't think this deck needs that much more help.

Kenny dies a lot and while I've got a lot of pieces to protect him, it's somehow harder to get rid of him if he's a Frog, Elk, Moon or whatever. I'm going to try out Mistmeadow Witch as a way to Slide my Creatures for their ETBs in case I don't have a way to Sac and Reanimate, but she also gets Kenrith out from under Kasmina's Transmutation, Kenrith's Transformation, Darksteel Mutation, Imprisoned in the Moon and all of their many, many variants.


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Post by Tevesh » 3 years ago

Some changes:
Changes 12/20/20
Approximate Total Cost:

After seeing a Willbreaker in action, I decided to swap out Xantcha. She hasn't been the same ever since she was errata'd. Previously, I would get her back after she drained her controller; I would sac her and then give her to someone new. It was a way to drain the table and get card draw. Unfortunately, this doesn't play well into Xantcha being a Commander so they errata'd her Gatherer Text so that she would get Exiled when her owner died. That doesn't make her a repeatable source of draw and so I've been looking for a way to get some extra draw. Willbreaker stealing anything seems like a likely candidate.

Noxious Gearhulk is fine, if a little costly since I do have life gain in the Command Zone. I decided to cut it for a Meteor Golem. It hits more permanents and Prime Speaker Vannifar can Pod into him. There's a lot more 'Turn Kenny into Elk' and the like running around, so this is a way to get Kenny back into the ring without killing him and then re-casting his expensive ass.

Victory Chimes haven't been very exciting. They're nice but I don't really use them. I wait until my preceding opponent's end step to do things, not try to eek out value every turn. With the inclusion of Meteor Golem and Willbreaker, I thought I have more ways to abuse a Pod so in it goes, especially with Kenny gaining me life so I can keep paying Phyrexian Mana for it. I did think of using Bear Umbra as a way to swap like-for-like with Ramp for Ramp but the last few times I've played Kenny he got turned into a Frog. Pod is just another way to stop that from happening.

Marisi needs the Savanah more than Kenrith, so out it goes. I have been looking for a way to include Ondu Inversion and this seems like an acceptable swap.

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Post by Tevesh » 3 years ago

Mana power upgrade:
Changes 01/13/21
Approximate Total Cost:

I wanted to run Mana Reflection because it is busted as all hell. I was trying to figure out a way to do so. It would be my most expensive Ramp piece. I looked at all of my pieces of Ramp and liked what I saw. So, I had to get creative and that's when I noticed my low Basic count. If lowered furthermore, I would have an excuse to not run as much Basic Ramp and that's when Migration Path stood out like a sore thumb. I've added three of the ABUR Duals; they all have Green because that's the most common colour and it is something a Wood Elves can fetch.

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Post by Tevesh » 2 years ago

Mana upgrade?:
Changes 06/06/21
Approximate Total Cost:

The World Tree has the potential to solve any and all mana problems; Savage Lands seems to be the weakest Green Mana Land and so it goes.

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Post by Tevesh » 2 years ago

Increasing utility:
Changes 09/08/21
Approximate Total Cost:

Druid comes out faster than Meteor and while Meteor might be used to kill Creatures, that usually isn't the problem unless it is Commander Damage. My hope here is this four drop can be fed into my Birthing Pod chains faster to do silly %$#% quick.

Regrowth is solid, no-nonsense card but considering how thirsty this deck is for mana, I'm willing to lose out on efficiency for Recovery's ability to be a land drop.

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