K'rrik, Son of YawgmothK'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth | Art by Chase Stone

This is the story of a girl. Who cried a river and drowned the whole world!

That's not quite right, though. This is, in fact, Fire and Ice, the data-driven series where I go over cards that are becoming more or less popular for different Commander decks and talk about why they may be gaining or losing popularity.

I'm Julia, EDHREC's Duchess of Data, and I'm super excited to jump into today's article!

We've got a ton of data at EDHREC. In this series, we draw conclusions from that data to understand how certain commanders' decks have changed over time, give insight into how the format's players are thinking about new cards, and hopefully provide some tech for your favorite commander's list.

Today, we'll be focusing on one of the coolest monocolored cEDH commanders: K'rrik, Son of YawgmothK'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth. This Phyrexian Horror Minion packs a real punch, and I've got some great thoughts to share from some dedicated K'rrik players in this article. Let's get going!

K'rrik, Son of YawgmothK'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth

What's Hot and What's Not for K'rrik?

One player that I spoke to called K'rrik "black Dockside," referring to his ability to create tons of mana advantage. This commander takes the phrase "life is a resource" to heart, letting us turn each symbol on our cards into a symbol.

But K'rrik decks don't take this mana advantage lightly, and are instead often built around pushing for victory before opposing decks can get their feet on solid ground. Some cards that we'll talk about today may seem a bit odd at first, but make much more sense to include when K'rrik's mana acceleration is taken into account.

Among K'rrik's most popular cards are Blood CelebrantBlood Celebrant (in 62% of lists as another way to produce mana), Necrotic OozeNecrotic Ooze (in 50% of lists as a combo piece), and Beseech the QueenBeseech the Queen (in 44% of decks as a fantastic low-cost tutor).

What's Fiery for K'rrik Decks?

Insatiable AvariceInsatiable Avarice - Fire Score of 4.59

This sorcery is criminally underplayed format-wide. It's in just 2.8% of eligible Commander decks, but it's one of the best tutors we've seen printed in a long time.

K'rrik takes full advantage of this card, letting us pay just and six life (nine total after the spell resolves) to tutor any card we want to the top of our library and draw three cards. Even if the other two cards we draw aren't fantastic, this spell can rocket us to victory or let us cleanly answer an opposing threat.

EntombEntomb and Unmarked GraveUnmarked Grave - Fire Scores of 4.30 and 2.95, Respectively

K'rrik decks often win through Necrotic Ooze-centric graveyard combos. They also often reanimate huge threats like Razaketh, the FoulbloodedRazaketh, the Foulblooded from the bin. Entomb lets us dump any card we want into our 'yard for just two life if K'rrik is on the board, and can even be cast at instant speed. Unmarked Grave is slightly less efficient (and only grabs nonlegendary cards), but it's still a fantastic tutor.

These two spells are among the most important in our 99, and both deserve a slot in most any mono- deck that wants to play at a high Bracket.

Saw in HalfSaw in Half and Hoarding BroodlordHoarding Broodlord - Fire Scores of 3.82 and 3.17, Respectively

Saw in Half may look like a removal spell, but don't be fooled! It's primarily used as a combo piece with Hoarding Broodlord, letting us fetch up any two cards and cast them from exile at a reduced rate using convoke.

Of course, Saw in Half has some other uses. We could use it to copy Orcish BowmastersOrcish Bowmasters, Dauthi VoidwalkerDauthi Voidwalker, or even Crypt GhastCrypt Ghast. But I think of it as a way to win the game, primarily.

Same goes for Hoarding Broodlord, which can technically be used to fetch up any card. These two cards are a potent combination, and both have their mana costs reduced by K'rrik.

Dauthi VoidwalkerDauthi Voidwalker - Fire Score of 2.50

This Dauthi Rogue is one of the best graveyard hate pieces in all of Commander. It leaves our 'yard alone while not allowing our opponents to put more cards into theirs, and even lets us steal one of our opponents' best cards.

It's also worth noting that this creature can be cast for four life with our commander on the battlefield, making it functionally free.

SacrificeSacrifice - Fire Score of 2.47

K'rrik has a mana value of seven. Razaketh and Hoarding Broodlord have a mana value of eight. Point is, there's a lot of expensive creatures that we'll get onto the board over the course of a game. Sacrifice lets us turn those creatures into the mana boost we may need to close out the game.

Whether we're covering the generic costs of a win condition like Aetherflux ReservoirAetherflux Reservoir, giving our creatures lifelink with Vito, Thorn of the Dusk RoseVito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose, or just activating a Wishclaw TalismanWishclaw Talisman, the mana that Sacrifice creates could be game-deciding. It's even part of some winning lines with Peer into the AbyssPeer into the Abyss

Vilis, Broker of BloodVilis, Broker of Blood - Fire Score of 2.51

While we'll occasionally be able to make enough mana to hard cast Vilis, he's better served by being dragged out of the graveyard with a copy of Animate DeadAnimate Dead or convoked onto the board through Hoarding Broodlord. Once this Demon is on the board, though, he lets us turn four life points into four cards (and -1/-1 to the creature of our choosing).

Even if we're not activating Vilis' ability, the passive card advantage he'll provide as we cast other spells is staggering. Some K'rrik players I spoke with likened this creature to Yawgmoth's BargainYawgmoth's Bargain, and I don't think that's too far off!

Yawgmoth's WillYawgmoth's Will - Fire Score of 2.47

Speaking of cards that mention Yawgmoth, this spell lets us access everything in our graveyard for just and two life. We'll be dumping cards into our graveyard quite frequently, both through Entomb effects and through the normal course of game actions, making this sorcery a potent way to buy back some cards.

Lots of decks make good use of Yawg's Will, but K'rrik's mana advantage us lets us cast this card and any future cards from our graveyard for much less mana.

Peat BogPeat Bog - Fire Score of 2.42

While this land does enter tapped, it produces two mana each time we use it. Peat Bog makes turbo versions of K'rrik more easily able to win on turn two, which is often before opposing decks are able to stabilize in a meaningful way.

If we don't have the countermagic necessary to battle our opponents on the stack, it may be easier to win by simply pushing before they're able to respond. Peat Bog makes that strategy significantly easier, providing double the mana that most other lands do.

What's Icy for K'rrik Decks?

Phyrexian ObliteratorPhyrexian Obliterator - Ice Score of -2.77

While Phyrexian Obliterator is both a difficult-to-answer and must-answer threat at more casual tables, it doesn't quite stack up in dedicated cEDH pods. It can easily be dispatched with a Force of WillForce of Will or Deadly RollickDeadly Rollick, and is ultimately not driving our game plan forward. We want to produce tons of mana and combo off as quickly as possible, and this creature doesn't have an immediate impact upon resolving.

While Bracket 4 K'rrik lists may be able to justify running this card, it becomes much less effective in the faster-paced Bracket 5.

DefileDefile - Ice Score of -2.60

Because we're often trying to win the game by turn three, Defile won't kill many creatures. Giving -3/-3 to an opposing creature for just two life is nice, but it's not sure to kill Roaming ThroneRoaming Throne, Urza, Lord High ArtificerUrza, Lord High Artificer, or many of the other important creatures that we might encounter in the early stages of a game.

If we play many non-Swamp lands, this spell gets even worse.

Cabal StrongholdCabal Stronghold - Ice Score of -2.39

We're running more and more nonbasic lands in our mana bases these days, with Petrified HamletPetrified Hamlet, Susur Secundi, Void AltarSusur Secundi, Void Altar, and Talon Gates of MadaraTalon Gates of Madara all being considered for slots in place of SwampSwamps. Cabal Stronghold seems to be on the chopping block for pilots choosing to include all those cool new lands in place of basics.

What's in a K'rrik, Son of Yawgmoth Deck?

This K'rrik list is based on EDHREC's average decklist, with some influence from the decks on the cEDH Decklist Database. It's got all of our hot cards included in our 99, and all of our cold cards excluded.

Conclusion

I'd like to give a special thanks to the fine folks over on the K'rrik cEDH Discord Server and the Unified Mono Black cEDH Discord Server for their help. They provided some great insights on K'rrik and a whole bunch of individual cards that we spoke about today.

Those of you who find K'rrik interesting, or just want to hang out with some of the best mono- thinkers in Commander, should definitely check out those servers. I'll be back next week with more Fire and Ice, and return in about a month with another competitively oriented version of the series too!