There’s something intensely satisfying about revisiting an archetype you’ve tried before but couldn’t gel with, but through a brand-new lens. Sometimes that’s a specific tribe, sometimes it’s a card type, and sometimes it’s a whole strategy.
Sacrificing permanents is one of those things that enables a surprising number of strategies and ways to win, but one, in particular, really fits with Korvold, Fae-Cursed King, and it’s not even something you have to suffer for.
Tell us your secrets
Right, so, let’s do a little story time first of all. This whole thing started because I had a couple of friends over for the first time in nearly two years, because we all wanted to play some Magic. It’s a familiar tale in these strange times, but it led to me finally sorting through my MTG collection. It also led to me getting a strong urge to build a new Commander deck, and I’ve been trying to satiate that urge by building Brawl decks in MTG Arena instead.
My new favorite because of this method is Kalain, Reclusive Painter, because I not only happen to be a huge fan of Adventures in the Forgotten Realms, because who could you not, but I also love Treasure tokens. I’ve been messing about with them in Brawl for a little while now, and aside from Xorn, and a handful of other Rares and Mythic Rares I happen to own in the colors, you can build an absurdly powerful deck with Kalain at the helm.
I’ve been having so much fun, in fact, that the urge to build a Commander deck with them has been building steadily, and it all basically bubbled over when I pulled a Kalain while we were doing a little four-person draft of AFR. The thing is though, I already have a Rakdos deck thanks to Anje Falkenrath, and I loathe having more than one per color combination, which means I had to figure out how to branch out and add a color but still stick with Treasure as a theme.
Read More: Why You Should Build Hama Pashar, Ruin Seeker In Brawl
Yarrr or no yarrr?
My first thought was that I should go Grixis, because Admiral Becket Brass is a great card, and Treasure and Pirates just make sense. There’s a lot of cool stuff in Grixis too, because, well, it’s Grixis. The trouble though, is that a lot of the good PIrate cards are also absurdly expensive, and frankly, while I like the idea, it wasn’t quite enough to sell me on it. Also, I’m not in love with a lot of the Blue cards that make Treasure tokens, and I still wanted that to be the theme.
While thinking on this, we were still playing our drafts, and we’d actually moved onto Modern Horizons 2. It was at this point that one of my friends played two cards that would change the course of history. Well, my history, specifically regarding what colors I wanted this damn deck to be in.
The two cards were Glimmer Bairn, a one-mana Green Creature that lets you sacrifice a token to give it +2/+2 until end of turn, and Fae Offering, a Green Enchantment that lets you create a Clue, Food, and Treasure token if you played a Creature and a noncreature spell in a turn. It was at this point that I knew I had to be in Jund colors.
Read More: Abzan CoCo-Crats Might Be the New Busted Combo Deck in Historic Horizons MTG Arena
Jund them out
I’ve done Jund decks before, with one of my old favorites being a permanents-only Vaevictis Asmadi, the Dire with Primal Surge being one of the main win-cons. It was a funny deck, but it was also one that basically only had one trick, so I got bored pretty quickly. However, with sacrificing being at the core of the deck, there were other ways to go, with the one I landed on being Korvold, Fae-Cursed King. Sorry for taking so long to mention the card in the title again, but I felt like the backstory was relevant for how deck-building ideas sometimes work.
The reason I landed on Korvold, Fae-Cursed King is simple enough, they’re a five mana 4/4 Dragon, and I love Dragons, but they also care about sacrificing things. When they enter the battlefield or attack, you have to sacrifice another permanent. Plus, whenever you sacrifice a permanent, you get to put a +1/+1 counter on them and draw a card.
As a brief reminder, Treasure tokens read, ” tap, sacrifice this artifact: Add one mana of any color.” You literally have to sacrifice these things to use them. All of a sudden, Treasure doesn’t just buff my Creatures because of Kalain now, but because they care about things being sacrificed. Plus, Glimmer Bairn and Fae Offering means I’ve always got an excess of different things to sacrifice too.
Read More: Brawl Is The Best Way Into MTG Arena
We have to go deeper
So, with those as my starting pieces, I got to designing a deck. The first thing I did was go to Scryfall and just search up cards with the word “Treasure” on them in Jund colors, then basically buy all of those. I’ve not bought much MTG stuff in the last couple of years, so I figured I could justify splashing out a bit, specifically on an Old Gnawbone, who is definitely going to go down in price, but good gravy do I love the effect.
I also invested in an Academy Manufactor, a card you already know I love, and a Xorn, amongst several other little bits and bobs. Other key cards include Marionette Master and Revel in Riches, both of which are absurdly powerful win conditions in this kind of deck. Ideally, I’d grab a Parallel Lives too, but while I like treating myself, I can’t justify that amount of money in any capacity.
I’m still tinkering with the deck, and I probably will be for a fairly long time, but Treasure and Korvold are a match made in heaven, and if you’re looking to make yourself a new deck, I’m hoping this whole article has helped you try and figure out what you’re after. Also, feel free to share how you come up with new decks to build, because we simply love to hear it.
Read More: The Best Grixis Commanders In MTG
