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Building Around Nahiri and Koll, the Forgemaster in Commander

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Hello folks! I hope that you are having a rocking and kicking day today! Today I want to build a Commander deck around a new player from Kaldheim!

Who? Great question!

Koll, the Forgemaster

This uncommon Dwarf is the Forgemaster of my Heart! (And Nahiri's as well, I suppose...) When I saw him I realized that your typical Boros Equipment build around him will look a little different and I was excited to make that my first Commander deck around a new leader from Kaldheim!

So what does Koll, the Forgemaster do? Two things: when your non-tokens die, they head back to your hand for another go around the bin if they were equipped or enchanted by an Aura, and creature tokens equipped or enchanted net a +1/+1 boost.

That means we could head into three new directions for Boros Equipment Strategies!

  1. Tokens Matter. The first place that I want to unpack is the obvious. We want to go wide with tokens so that we'll get a +1/+1 for them when they are equipped or enchanted. My build will focus on the former, so we'll use that language solely from here on out. If you have too many tokens that are just 1/1 chumps like those made from Release the Dogs, then you'll outpace the Equipment you have available, so my tokens are going to tend to be bigger and fatter. Although there will be exceptions. Boros Equipment Tokens is a new place.
  2. Enters the Battlefield Triggers. Running dorks that will die and then allow you to recast them repeatedly. Take Solemn Simulacrum. Was it equipped? Great! Now when it dies, you'll be able to reload it and recast it and get another ETB trigger from it! This will feel more like a Midrange Boros Equipment build, also a new place for these decks.
  3. Combo. Another way to make this work is to combo out with damage. You need a piece of Equipment that costs nothing to equip like Shuko, a creature that costs nothing like Ornithopter, and a mana-free sac engine like Blasting Station. You drop the zero-drop dork, equip it, sacrifice for a damage, and then recur and keep going, killing everyone at the table.
  4. Sacrifice Engines. If you go the token/ETB route, you'll probably also want to grab some sacrifice engines so that you can make sure that your stuff dies instead of being tucked, exiled, or enchanted with something like Imprisoned in the Moon.

Which new Boros Build am I doing? #1 or #2 or #3?

Let me answer that with a card!

The first card that popped into my mind when I saw Koll was this one...

Beetleback Chief

Beetleback Chief is awesome for the card flow and you'll net 4 power among three bodies. You can kill it to send it back to your hand for another go around the bin and you can equip its tokens and net some better dorks for your effort! Guess what my friends? We're doing both the tokens and the ETB triggers!

Siege-Gang Commander
Pia and Kiran Nalaar
Mogg War Marshal

This were the next cards that leapt to my mind. Both make 1/1 tokens on arrival and will love to die and recur themselves for the cause. Both will sacrifice the dorks they make as well as some others in the deck that are nifty and keen and cool. Siege-Gang Commander can be equipped, sacrifice himself for two damage, and then recur for another 5 power across four bodies.

I adore Mogg War Marshal here. Like Solemn Simulacrum it can do a few things! It arrives and brings a 1/1 friend to the party. If you equip, you can sacrifice it for another 1/1 dork as well as recurring itself. It's also killable without a sacrifice engine just by letting it die to echo and then you can repeat and keep on keeping on. This is a great common for this build!

Goblin Bombardment
High Market

We need those sacrifice engines! In tossed a few here and there such as the aforementioned Blasting Station and everyone's favorite cheap effect in Goblin Bombardment. I also tossed in two lands that'll sacrifice dorks: High Market and Miren, the Moaning Well. You could run the very, very, very pricey Diamond Valley, and because this is not a real-life deck, why not? But I'm not worrying about a space here for it. High Market and Miren are it for most budgets though, I get it. Sacrifice that body!

Puresteel Paladin
Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer
Indomitable Archangel

Do you know what ability feels perfect for this deck? Metalcraft! I grabbed every metalcraft card that made sense. My favorite here is Jor Kadeen. His ability to pump up with the metalcraft is a big +3/+0 for the entire team. I also needed a way to protect the artifacts, so in leapt Indomitable Archangel. Puresteel Paladin goes into any Equipment deck with White as it's a key way to draw cards in the build and get free equips. Card flow is needed in White! I also am running the expected Sram, Senior Edificer.

I regularly run Decree of Justice in my decks, and usually it's for the cycling version, but in this version I'd be more tempted to cast it normally for the bigger Angels. Weird right? There is just one sorcery in the build and it's this!

Anax, Hardened in the Forge is amazing in this build. When your equipped dork dies, you'll return it to your hand with Koll and make a 1/1 red Satyr, and a second one if the power is big enough! That token will help with the creature flow. Good stuff! Unlike Koll, it doesn't need to be equipped so you'll create those dorks as any of your non-tokens die. Including Anax!

Nahiri, Storm of Stone
Nahiri, Heir of the Ancients
Nahiri, the Lithomancer

Now let's leave behind tokens and creatures and such for a moment or three and take a deep dive into planeswalkers. As you can see, this deck feels made for a certain planeswalker! Nahiri, Storm of Stone is the only planeswalker on Koll's EDHREC.com page and you can see why! Equip costs are dropped by 1 each, which has value in a deck with....18 pieces of Equipment. It's also in love with first strike, which will help your growing ranks stay alive when swinging. She has a lot of loyalty and you never need to activate her and just keep her alive!

But Nahiri, Heir of the Ancients and Nahiri, the Lithomancer are much better for the build and aren't on Koll's page, which strikes me as weird. My favorite is probably Nahiri, Heir of the Ancients. On arrival, you +1 and then sit back as you get a 1/1 token and a free Equipment for said token, which increases it by another +1/+1 with Koll. Great stuff! Want to push the battle your way? Use the -2 and then dig 6 cards down and grab a piece of Equipment (or a Warrior) and draw it to keep up that sweet pressure. She can also -3 to burn down a dork or 'walker that's getting too big for its britches. Nahiri, the Lithomancer is here as well as good for pushing around stuff. +2 her for a dork as a free equip as well. Sound familiar? You'll love to -2 her and bring back a dead piece of valuable Equipment. Why these two Nahiris aren't on Koll's page I have no idea!

Divine Visitation
Impact Tremors

Let's look at some synergetic enchantments. Divine Visitation was the first one I tossed in and I adore it here! Rather than your tokens arriving as 1/1s or other small fries, they'll punch above their weight as 4/4 game-winnin' flyers of Angel proportions. Another key card in this build is Impact Tremors. As said fries arrive to the battlefield, they'll ping your foes for one damage each time. Siege-Gang Commander? Four damage! Goblin Marshal? Five damage! Nasty stuff right? Right!

Let's turn back to dorks.

Evangel of Heliod
Reverent Hoplite
Iroas, God of Victory

I love how reliable devotion is in a two-color deck. It's not perfect, but it's closer! There are two cool uncommon Humans that will go wide with 1/1 Soldiers on arrival to the battlefield for five or 6 mana. They are very recur-able after dying and they are awesome with the token flow; you'll hope that you are controlling a Divine Visitation when one of these comes to the party.

Not every two-color deck needs to run its lesser God from Theros block, but this one loves Iroas, God of Victory! It punches with the best of them and it's great at saving your team from damage when they swing, which should be happening pretty often, right? Right! Also don't sleep on menace on a deck that's going wide.

Now let's turn to Equipment for a bit.

Skullclamp

Skullclamp is the single most important piece of Equipment for this build! Equip something like Rambunctious Mutt. Then sac the Mutt and draw two cards and return the Mutt to your hand. Now cast the Mutt and destroy an artifact or enchantment on arrival. If you have mana, Skullclamp will provide cards.

Colossus Hammer
Hammer of Nazahn
Shadowspear

Look at the bad boy that is Colossus Hammer. It arrives for 1 mana, and then you can turn a token or a better creature into a gamewinner. Koll equipped with this kills in two hits with Commander damage. You get free equips from places like 'walkers or Stonehewer Giant or something like Hammer of Nazahn.

We have a lot of fun equipment that you expect, like Lightning Greaves and Swiftfoot Boots. But the legendary duet of Hammer of Nazahn and Shadowspear sings nicely. The Hammer gives you a free upkeep on arrival as well as other pieces of equipment! I love it here with its indestructible and +2 to the front. Also don't sleep on the power of Shadowspear. It has a cheap cost and you can activate it to remove key hexproof and indestructible so that your removal can hit your foes' stuff. Good stuff all!

Helm of the Host

Look at Helm of the Host. This really wants to be on a dork with a nice enters-the-battlefield trigger like Flametongue Kavu or Solemn Simulacrum. Then you'll get a free token that has haste each of your turns and you'll net the trigger. Those tokens stick around, and you can equip them to make them +1/+1 with Koll's bonus as well! This deck really loves Helm of the Host here!

All right, let's head back to dorks for a bit.

Ardenn, Intrepid Archaeologist
Akiri, Fearless Voyager
Reyav, Master Smith

I had space for this Trinity of Equipment Loving Power. Ardenn, Intrepid Archaeologist is a fun uncommon card from Commander Legends that will let you get free equips to a creature. Load up a token with a piece or your Commander with everything and maybe kill with Commander damage! Ardenn loves Colossus Hammer! Don't sleep on Akiri Part Two from Zendikar Rising. Akiri, Fearless Voyager will net you cards as your equipped stuff swings, which might be a ton in a go-wide build like this! You can also pull off a piece of Equipment to save a creature by giving it indestructible. Finally, I hit up Commander Legends again for fellow uncommon Reyav, Master Smith, who will net you double strike as your equipped bodies swing. Again, in a go-wide deck like this? It's nasty! Koll with Colossus Hammer and Reyav will kill in one hit and this isn't even a Voltron build!

The expected duo of Godo, Bandit Warlord and Stoneforge Mystic is a powerhouse in this build? Each arrives to the battlefield and fetches your best Equipment from your library and puts it directly into play. They also really want to be equipped and then sacrificed while Koll is on the battlefield so you can fetch the right piece of Equipment again. And again. And again.

You like tokens and Equipment? I got you!

Take a deep dive into the Kaldheim spoiler. Did you the duo of Valkyrie's Sword and Dwarven Hammer? They are perfect for Koll! We want tokens? Check! Their pseudo-kicker will give you a dork on arrival. We want Equipment? Check! I am not running any flicker or blinking effects, but if I were? Their pseudo-kicker would be payable and fetchable for another token on arrival. Note that their pseudo-kicker is an option when they arrive, so that if you are dropping them for free from something like Stoneforge Mystic's ability you can pay their arrival cost and collect a dork and get the free activation on said dork as well!

Mask of Immolation
Ancestral Blade

That reminded me of this cool duo as well! Both will make a token on arrival, and with their free Equipment, Koll will give them an additional +1/+1! The Soldier from Ancestral Blade will be a cool 3/3 and the Mask of Immolation will be a 2/2. Both will remain post-death of our token friend. Note that Mask of Immolation does double duty here as a backup sacrifice effect for Goblin Bombardment and friends. You can pay two to equip a key dork you want to recur and then sacrifice it for a damage and recast it and drop it anew. Good stuff!

Basilisk Collar

Why is Basilisk Collar here? Great question! It's here for that deathtouch. I want to trade small tokens for bigger bodies. It's also amazing with trample and we have some pieces of Equipment that will loan you that critical ability. It's lifelink is fine (gain that life, my friends), but it's here as a cheap way to give a token deathtouch to enable it to trade up.

Now let's head back and look at a few more creatures and then we'll give you the deck proper.

Zirda, the Dawnwaker

There is a lesser known Companion that's perfect for a Boros Equipment build, and that's the Waker of Dawn itself, Zirda! Zirda, the Dawnwaker will drop the equip cost of your pieces by 2 mana each time you use them, although there is a minimum fee you cannot get under. Zirda is perfect-da in this Koll Happy Build! Oh, and don't forget to tap Zirda to make something unable to block. It works well with a certain menace-granting God.

I loved the enters-the-battlefield of most of my guys, and Cavalier of Dawn is certainly a good choice as it's a Generous Gift on a stick that can be used against one of your own for value. It's also great removal to recur repeatedly. Another reason I like it here is that death trigger. Might I suggest the best piece of Equipment you have? This thing is amazing to loop over and over again with Koll. While talking about death triggers, I tossed in Reveillark, which wants to die for the cause. Bring it back with Koll after equipping it. You get two free smaller dorks onto the battlefield like Karmic Guide and Imperial Recruiter for another slate of triggers and more self-bounce after death. Great stuff, right?

One more...

Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker

How could I end this conversation with anyone else? Kiki-Jiki is mad value for a deck with several enters-the-battlefield triggers like Stoneforge Mystic or Kor Cartographer. It also makes a token that you can equip and then swing with! What's not to love here? I don't know!

Let's look at my build!

Nahiri Loves Kill | Commander | Abe Sargent


And there you go! What did you think of my Koll design? Anything in here that inspired your own building fun times? Just let me know and thanks for reading!


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