Conditions Allow - Korvold, Gleeful Glutton EDH
(Korvold, Gleeful Glutton | Art by Francisco Miyara)
Gleefully Glutonous
Welcome back to Conditions Allow, where we take a legendary creature with a drawback and build a commander deck to turn it into a strength. This week I'm excited to finally dive into Wilds of Eldraine and revisit one of my favorite planes. Rather than continue the Arthurian quest from last time, WOE focuses more on the fairy tale inspiration of the plane, and no fairy tale would be complete without an evil, fire-breathing dragon for the heroes to slay.
In this day and age, an eight-mana creature has to do a lot of work to be worth choosing as your commander. As a 4/4, even with flying, haste, and trample, it doesn't really seem like Korvold, Gleeful Glutton is cut out for that amount of work. Thankfully, you can cut that eight mana down by one for each permanent type you've sacrificed the turn you cast him. Additionally, whenever Korvold, Gleeful Glutton deals combat damage, he'll get a +1/+1 counter and you'll draw a card for each permanent type in your graveyard. With the addition of battles, there are now seven card types (instants and sorceries being the only nonpermanent types), but I've only aimed to hit four when building this deck. That cuts Korvold's cost down to four mana, while still refilling your hand and presenting a surprisingly fast clock.
Leaving Everything Behind
Hitting as many types as possible for Korvold, Gleeful Glutton's cost reduction is the real hurdle to get over when building and playing this deck. Luckily, there're plenty of cards that sacrifice themselves for mana, so you don't really have to get four permanent types together. Vessel of Volatility is a huge mana boost, nearly capable of casting Korvold on its own. Tinder Wall, Generator Servant, and Reckless Barbarian are just as powerful, but are slightly more susceptible to removal. Rounding out the creatures I'm adding Goldhound, which counts for two types on its own, and even on a budget there are plenty of lands that sacrifice themselves. Crystal Vein, Havenwood Battleground, and Dwarven Ruins are worth tons of mana, but Cabaretti Courtyard and its cohorts from Streets of New Capenna are solid land drops for your Korvold turn as well.
Of course, you can get more creative than just lining up a few cantrips. Any two-mana Saga (that doesn't flip into a creature) will be sacrificed at the start of turn four. The Binding of the Titans helps fill your graveyard, while Welcome to Sweettooth gives you a few spare tokens to sacrifice if you need them. Deadly Dispute also works out to be mana-positive for Korvold, Gleeful Glutton. You get one mana off for sacrificing a creature, and then the Treasure adds a discount for artifact while adding a mana of its own.
Having the early draw to help put everything together can be critical as well. Chromatic Star, Chromatic Sphere, and Conjurer's Bauble all dig you a card deeper without costing mana, while Commander's Sphere still taps for mana the turn you sacrifice it as well. Urza's and Mishra's Bauble don't let you draw right away, but they still contribute to your permanent types in the graveyard once Korvold, Gleeful Glutton hits play.
Staying Alive
Once you do get Korvold, Gleeful Glutton in play, your primary focus is keeping him there. You'll probably have two or three permanent types in your graveyard to start. With flying and trample, Korvold is going to be drawing you three to four extra cards a turn very quickly, and even just gaining three +1/+1 counters a turn, Korvold, Gleeful Glutton can take out your opponents in nearly two attacks each. Heroic Intervention is a staple already, and I'm adding Gaea's Gift and Tamiyo's Safekeeping as well. I've also been adding Bolt Bend to more decks recently, and it supplements Deflecting Swat nicely.
If something does happen to Korvold, however, it still isn't the end of the world. You probably won't be able to re-cast him easily, but having access to black means you don't have to. From Stitch Together to Living Death, we have plenty of ways to bring Korvold back from the dead. Lich-Knights' Conquest is particularly nice for this deck since it lets you turn a Chromatic Star or Bitter Reunion into something much more impactful.
A King Needs His Court
As powerful as Korvold, Gleeful Glutton is, you can't rely on just him for victory. Three opponents can quickly overwhelm you with sheer numbers. The Witch-king of Angmar makes attacking you less attractive, while Utvara Hellkite and Titania, Protector of Argoth can play defense and offense, and if attacking isn't possible, Cavalier of Flame can quickly turn the tables late in the game. This may not seem like very many heavy hitters for a Commander deck, but our real focus here is Korvold, Gleeful Glutton, and drawing three or four extra cards a turn means your very likely to find at least one of these options.
To help round out the permanent count, I'm also including a few planeswalkers. Domri, Anarch of Bolas and Vraska, Golgari Queen are both additional removal options while also providing some ramp and card advantage respectively. Minsc & Boo, Timeless Heroes is more of an additional, parallel plan to Korvold, Gleeful Glutton, although it can fling a large Korvold if you can't afford to wait until your next combat step.
If you liked the look and feel of the original Korvold, Fae-Cursed King but were turned off by the combo potential, then this may be the Korvold for you. He needs you to do a little work to cast him and he can only do so much in a turn, but that's plenty to win you a fair share of games. There're also plenty of room for customization in this deck. You could lean more into reanimation, lands, or aristocrats, and Korvold, Gleeful Glutton will help tie the room together.
But how have you built Korvold, Gleeful Glutton? Are there any cards or synergies I've overlooked? Let me know in the comments, and thanks for reading!
