Is General Kreat, the Boltbringer good in Commander?

General Kreat, the Boltbringer

Legendary Creature — Goblin Soldier

Whenever one or more Goblins you control attack, create a 1/1 red Goblin creature token that's tapped and attacking.
Whenever another creature you control enters, General Kreat deals 1 damage to each opponent.

CMC: 3
Mana cost
Color identity: R
Rarity: uncommon
Set: Foundations Jumpstart
Price: $8.21
EDHREC rank: #2697

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General Kreat, the Boltbringer turns token-flooding red decks into a combat-damage engine that doubles as a ping machine, and the Breath of Fury interaction means a single wide attack can end the game on the spot. Norin the Wary decks in particular treat it as a must-include, since Norin's perpetual flickering feeds Kreat's trigger every single turn without attacking at all.

Best Commanders

Commanders with the highest synergy

Norin the Wary

57.1% of decks · synergy 0.48

Norin the Wary flickers out and back every turn by design, which means General Kreat, the Boltbringer pings an opponent every single upkeep for free — no attack required, no setup beyond casting both.

Muxus, Goblin Grandee

55.7% of decks · synergy 0.46

Muxus, Goblin Grandee dumps a board full of Goblins in one shot, and General Kreat, the Boltbringer converts that token flood directly into damage, letting Muxus close games before opponents can stabilize.

Grub, Storied Matriarch

46.8% of decks · synergy 0.45

Grub, Storied Matriarch generates a steady stream of tokens that keep entering the battlefield, and General Kreat, the Boltbringer turns every new arrival into a Lightning Bolt pointed wherever it hurts most.

Wort, Boggart Auntie

38.2% of decks · synergy 0.36

Wort, Boggart Auntie cares about Goblins dying and recurring, and General Kreat, the Boltbringer fits the tribal shell cleanly while adding a damage output the deck otherwise lacks.

Krenko, Mob Boss

41.9% of decks · synergy 0.32

Krenko, Mob Boss exponentially multiplies the Goblin count each turn, and General Kreat, the Boltbringer scales with that — more tokens entering means more pings, turning the exponential growth into proportional reach damage.

Format Analysis

Where it lives, where it can’t

Format	Verdict
commander	legal
legacy	legal
modern	not legal
pioneer	not legal
standard	not legal
vintage	legal
pauper	not legal
oathbreaker	legal

General Kreat, the Boltbringer is legal in Commander, Legacy, Vintage, and Oathbreaker, but Commander is the only format where it's genuinely at home — the card is built around having a full board of creatures entering repeatedly, which requires the slower, multiplayer pace of EDH to come online. In Legacy and Vintage it's theoretically castable but offers nothing competitive decks want; those formats kill on turn one or two and have no interest in a three-mana 3/3 that asks for a token engine to function. Oathbreaker is the one non-Commander format where you could build around General Kreat, the Boltbringer meaningfully, since the signature spell slot lets you pair it with a direct enabler, but the format's smaller audience limits how much play it will realistically see.

Key Combos

Combo lines featuring this card

432 decks

General Kreat, the BoltbringerBreath of Fury Goblin Warchief

Infinite LTB; Infinite ETB; Infinite death triggers; Infinite combat phases; Infinite combat damage; Infinite damage; Infinite sacrifice triggers; Infinite untap of creatures you control; Infinite mana creatures you control can produce

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398 decks

General Kreat, the BoltbringerBreath of Fury Goblin Chieftain

Infinite LTB; Infinite ETB; Infinite sacrifice triggers; Infinite death triggers; Infinite combat phases; Infinite untap of creatures you control; Infinite mana creatures you control can produce; Infinite combat damage; Infinite damage

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308 decks

Storm HerdGeneral Kreat, the Boltbringer

Near-infinite creature tokens; Near-infinite ETB; Near-infinite damage

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194 decks

The Locust God CuriosityGeneral Kreat, the Boltbringer

Near-infinite damage; Infinite card draw; Near-infinite ETB; Infinite draw triggers; Near-infinite creature tokens with haste

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146 decks

Breath of Fury Rising of the DayGeneral Kreat, the Boltbringer

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Budget Alternatives

Cheaper options that do most of the same work

If General Kreat, the Boltbringer is out of range, Cavalcade of Calamity covers the ping-on-attack angle for under a dollar, though it requires attacking and only fires for creatures with one power, so it's narrower and doesn't scale the same way. Impact Tremors is the other common comparison — it triggers on every creature entering rather than on the first one each turn, which often means more total damage, but it lacks the combat flexibility Kreat provides and doesn't double as a body on the board.

Price Context

Current price

$8.21 mid tier

At $8.21, General Kreat, the Boltbringer sits in the mid tier — expensive enough to feel like a deliberate include but not so costly it warps a budget. Demand is anchored by Norin the Wary and Krenko, Mob Boss decks, two of the most-built mono-red commanders on the site, which gives the price a stable floor as long as those archetypes stay popular.

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Sources

Mentioned

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Updated 2026-05-30. Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.