Korvold, Fae-Cursed KingKorvold, Fae-Cursed King | Wisnu Tan

Hello and welcome to The Refresh, a brand new series where I'll talk about how some of EDH's most popular decks have changed over time. There's a lot of Magic cards out there, and the format's most popular decks have changed a lot with some recent printings. We'll be taking a look at what new cards work well in each of these decks, and why players may want to open up slots in their lists for those cards.

Our first commander has been a staple of the format since it was printed in Throne of Eldraine back in 2019. As the 44th most popular commander on EDHREC, Korvold, Fae-Cursed KingKorvold, Fae-Cursed King leads 16,548 decks at the time of writing.

Let’s see what Korvold does, what decks centered around him do, and then talk about some new cards!

What Does Korvold, Fae-Cursed King Do?

For , we get a 4/4 with flying. And whenever Korvold enters the battlefield or attacks we sacrifice a permanent. This seems like a downside, but Korvold also gets a +1/+1 counter and lets us draw a card whenever we sacrifice something.

Although Korvold himself can be a once-per-turn sacrifice outlet with his titanic trigger, we’ll fill our 99 with lots of other ways to sacrifice permanents. And, while Korvold himself is a nice payoff for sacrificing permanents, we’ll be sure to include a nice suite of sacrifice payoffs in our 99 too.

There’s no shortage of sac outlets in Jund (), including Modern Horizons 3’s Warren SoultraderWarren Soultrader. This is one of the best cards in any given Korvold deck, as it both provides a way to sacrifice our creatures and creates TreasureTreasures for future sacrifice. The cost of one life is negligible, especially when considering the huge amount of advantage this creature provides to its pilots.

There’s a ton of sacrifice payoffs in this color combination, too. From the ever-popular Mayhem DevilMayhem Devil to Blood ArtistBlood Artist and its variants, there’s a lot to love here. My personal favorite is Marionette ApprenticeMarionette Apprentice, which can even provide some sac fodder when it enters the battlefield.

Now that we’ve got a baseline understanding of what typically goes into a Korvold deck, and its general gameplay, let’s take a look at some of the best Korvold cards that have released over the last year. A full 1,187 cards that are legal in decks have been released, so even the most astute deck builders may have missed a few.

What’s New for This Brew?

I’ll start with two cards from my favorite set in recent memory: Bloomburrow! Although this set was largely focused on typal synergies, it had some cards that slot really nicely into this deck too.

First up is FountainportFountainport, a utility land that does a little bit of everything this deck wants. It can sacrifice tokens to provide us with extra card advantage, sacrifice fodder, and even Treasure tokens that sacrifice themselves. Sure, it’s a colorless land in a three-color deck, but each of its activated abilities provide something that the deck wants. I’d love to see this land played more often!

Next up is a board wipe that’s only found its way into 12% of Korvold decks: Blasphemous EdictBlasphemous Edict. This sweeper frequently costs just , and provides us with a ton of card advantage if we sacrifice our creatures to it too.

Plus, if we’ve got a Mayhem DevilMayhem Devil or Blood ArtistBlood Artist on the battlefield alongside our commander, we’ll be pushed even further ahead as we wipe the battlefield clean.

Although its younger brother The Meathook MassacreThe Meathook Massacre has risen to EDH stardom, Meathook Massacre IIMeathook Massacre II has slipped under the radar for many players. This is another sweeper that would slot well into many Korvold decks, and its restrictive casting cost of can usually be handled in Treasure-centric Jund decks.

This enchantment provides us with advantage on ETB, and keeps providing advantage as it sticks around on the board.

As a game goes on, Korvold tends to get pretty large. Because he gets a +1/+1 counter every time we sacrifice anything, it’s common for him to become a 10/10 or larger. So, taking advantage of that power, Infantry ShieldInfantry Shield makes a ton of 1/1 tokens that we can swing in with. As an added bonus, we sacrifice those tokens in our end step. That means that we’re essentially doubling Korvold’s power and drawing a boatload of cards every time we attack with our commander.

This card is a really easy way to accelerate into the late game, and close out the game from there!

And, of course, there’s a ton of cards from Edge of Eternities (EOE) that work perfectly with this deck’s game plan.

From EOE’s main set, Umbral Collar ZealotUmbral Collar Zealot is one of the best sac outlets that’s ever been printed. This two-drop can sacrifice both creatures and artifacts for free, and even lets us surveil as a bonus when we do so. It might cost more mana than Viscera SeerViscera Seer, but it certainly makes up for that with its boosted power, toughness, and graveyard-filling ability.

Evendo BrushrazerEvendo Brushrazer feels like it was made for Korvold decks. It sacrifices permanents, provides extra mana, and even gives us conditional card advantage as we act out our game plan. All that for just !

Rounding out this group is Scouring SwarmScouring Swarm, a card that fits only in specific Korvold decks. Should you choose to include fetch lands and Crucible of WorldsCrucible of Worlds effects in your 99, this card shines. Otherwise, it’s close to useless. So, even though this creature may not be of interest to every Korvold brewer, I wanted to point it out for everyone’s benefit.

A Modern Korvold Commander List

So, with all that said, what would a Korvold list with these cards included look like? I’m glad you asked…

This deck seeks to push through wins with armies of tokens, with a large commander, and with classic Jund value engines. Juri, Master of the RevueJuri, Master of the Revue can be a thrilling way to end the game, Mirkwood BatsMirkwood Bats can drain our opponents out over time, and Mazirek, Kraul Death PriestMazirek, Kraul Death Priest can beef up our board enough for a single decisive combat step.

Plus, all the deck’s Treasure synergies work nicely with Revel in RichesRevel in Riches as an alternate win condition. Although 10 Treasures seems like a high bar to clear, I think Korvold and Co. can get there easily.

That’s all for the first edition of The Refresh! I hope you enjoyed this series, and I’d love to know what commanders you’d like to see featured next. Feel free to let me know in the comments below!

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