Kheru GoldkeeperKheru Goldkeeper | Art by Randy Vargas

Today I'm tackling a commander that I've wanted to do for a while, ever since Tarkir: Dragonstorm came out. When I was reviewing this set I immediately singled out Kheru GoldkeeperKheru Goldkeeper as a unique Pauper commander that does a few things I've never seen before.

What Does Kheru Goldkeeper Do?

First, it mixes graveyard and artifact strategies. Technically, Kheru GoldkeeperKheru Goldkeeper doesn't say anything about artifacts, but it makes Treasure tokens, and that really incentives us to lean into some cards that trigger off of artifacts being created or sacrificed. Second, it asks us to remove cards from our graveyard. That's pretty unusual, as most cards you see care about cards entering your graveyard, or dying in some way. Thanks to these oddities, building around this commander is going to be quite the interesting challenge. So let's see what's up.

Let's get our priorities in order. We need cards in our graveyard. Then we need cards that remove either themselves or other cards from the graveyard. After that, we want some stuff that takes advantage of the artifacts we're making. We could just use the Treasures for more mana, but that'd be boring, and I'm certain there's some advantage to be gained from treating this like an artifact deck, so I'm gonna insist on it. Finally, we need a way to win with all this stuff. That's the part I'm most concerned about, but we'll figure it out when we get there.

Self Mill

Milling ourselves is pretty simple. I'm fond of cards that sit around and do their thing, like:

• Scion of HalasterScion of Halaster
• Crawling InfestationCrawling Infestation
• Chronic FloodingChronic Flooding
• Curse of the Bloody TomeCurse of the Bloody Tome

Yes, there's the risk of that Curse just killing us, but I'm sure it's a risk we can take. Yeah, I totally won't regret casting that on myself. But anyways, we've also got Deranged AssistantDeranged Assistant and Ghoulcaller's BellGhoulcaller's Bell for a bit more, and if we really need some cards in the graveyard ASAP, we can cast Tome ScourTome Scour or Dream TwistDream Twist.

Triggering Kheru Goldkeeper

Next up, cards leaving the graveyard. Ok, I can think of several ways to do that. The first is exiling cards from graveyards. Basically, we're just gonna play a bunch of graveyard hate cards, and then use them on our own graveyard.

But because Kheru GoldkeeperKheru Goldkeeper says "One or more cards," Tormod's CryptTormod's Crypt is no good here. We don't want to sacrifice our entire graveyard for just one Treasure token, now do we? Instead, we'll happily take Relic of ProgenitusRelic of Progenitus, which we can tap every turn to produce a Treasure. Does that mean it's basically just a one-mana Arcane SignetArcane Signet that's fueled by our graveyard? Yes, but when we get some cards that trigger off of artifacts entering, it'll prove to be quite strong. We'll also run Merrow BonegnawerMerrow Bonegnawer for the same purpose.

We can also trigger our commander by returning cards from our graveyard to our hand, and that's certainly more efficient than exiling cards. So I quickly started adding cards that would return targets. But what I noticed was that there were a lot of instants and sorceries that returned creatures, and a lot of creatures that returned instants and sorceries. Huh. Well, the solution here is pretty obvious. We can't run either group exclusively, so we'll just run both sets of cards, and then they can return each other. It means the cards are less likely to have targets than if we were able to run creatures that returned creatures, but we can't do that, so this'll work just fine.

We'll even throw in some sacrifice outlets so that we can get ArchaeomancerArchaeomancer style cards into the graveyards. Mnemonic WallMnemonic Wall can return Revive the ShireRevive the Shire, which can return Shipwreck DowserShipwreck Dowser, which can return Pulse of MurasaPulse of Murasa, which can return Salvager of SecretsSalvager of Secrets, which can return Soul ManipulationSoul Manipulation, which can return Mnemonic WallMnemonic Wall. Perfect!

Finally, the best way to trigger our commander is with flashback and unearth. Both of these are great mechanics that can actually have more of an effect than just making a treasure. Dream TwistDream Twist and Otherworldly GazeOtherworldly Gaze can mill us a bit, and Eviscerator's InsightEviscerator's Insight, Think TwiceThink Twice, and Deep AnalysisDeep Analysis can draw us some cards. One of my personal favorites is Moment's PeaceMoment's Peace, a card that will catch our opponents unaware one time, then ward them away for a long while afterwards.

How to Win With Kheru Goldkeeper

Now that we've got a solid engine triggering our commander over and over again, let's try and take advantage of those artifacts, and maybe turn all that cycling into a win.

Now what can we do with Treasures? We can sacrifice them to cards like Deadly DisputeDeadly Dispute and Reckoner's BargainReckoner's Bargain. Card advantage is always fantastic, and this is a pretty good way to do it. But usually artifact decks will use cards like Reckless FireweaverReckless Fireweaver to turn Treasures into raw damage. We can do something similar with Disciple of the VaultDisciple of the Vault; it's a bit slower, but it still gets the job done.

And because Treasures are tokens, we can also use Mirkwood BatsMirkwood Bats and Nadier's NightbladeNadier's Nightblade to thrash our opponents life totals.

And with all of that ready, we can just toss in some ramp and removal, and call it good!

Is This Kheru Goldkeeper pEDH Deck Good?

Ok, so as you were reading this article, I'm sure you noticed a bit of a flaw with this deck. The whole thing is built around spending two mana to cast something like Raise the DraugrRaise the Draugr and return a creature to hand, making a Treasure that sacrifices itself for one mana. Do you see the problem? Yeah, half the time, we're spending upwards of three mana to make one. The term "spinning your wheels" applies to this deck. I've crafted a library around triggering our commander purely to trigger our commander. A few good cards like Relic of ProgenitusRelic of Progenitus will make us free mana, but most of the cards in this deck do nothing but make mana disappear.

That being said, I don't think this deck is a complete wreck. While it does a lot of nothing, eventually, that nothing can be converted into card advantage and damage. And that's what wins games. I'm not certain that there's enough density of damage dealing cards in here to really be consistent, but Mirkwood BatsMirkwood Bats absolutely can take us to victory. And because we're running so much recursion, our few important pieces are really difficult for our opponents to deal with.

In a long game, this deck really has a good shot.