Kess, wielder of scepters

Commander / EDH* Sinken

SCORE: 36 | 31 COMMENTS | 7233 VIEWS | IN 11 FOLDERS


We're going combo —Jan. 10, 2019

The deck is slowly becoming more and more combo-focused. My win con was mostly down to only Torment of Hailfire and infinite mana, and so I was too scared to play Jeleva most of the time, meaning she was pretty useless as a commander. There were also few spells I wanted to cast from her in the first place. So off she went, and in Kess, Dissident Mage comes, whos ability to recast tutors is hopefully going to be invaluable.

I also added another combo, Niv-Mizzet, Parun + Curiosity, just to have more than one way to win. Might need lab man though.

Finally, I'm also trying Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker and Zealous Conscript. I know it's possible to run multiple copies of each combo piece here through i.e Splinter Twin, but I'm simply testing it out for now as a combo to tutor for, and as such it's actually better, in terms of speed, to run only one of each and instead use the slots for tutors.

So let's see what happens when big spell Jeleva turns into combo-wombo Kess...

Sinken says... #1

I love Mind's Dilation. Definietly a card I wanna put in. Fits very well with the theme too! I had very little success with Worst Fear overall. The few times I did get to cast it I couldn't really do much on my opponents turn. But Cruel Entertainment does look a lot more entertaining though :D

December 11, 2018 2:57 p.m.

Jaypay1994 says... #2

I'd definitely throw in more haste sources!! it's a great feeling when you can cast Jeleva and then immediately attack with her. i recommend:

also some board wipes would be good just to keep the board clear and kill Jeleva too. that way you can recast her for more spells!

also i would definitely give Stolen Identity a good look, because you basically cast it twice at the same time with her. Cast it with Jeleva's ability, then cipher it on to her. Once she deals damage to an opponent, you can then cast the spell a second time right away. Super cool synergy and a great way to ramp or get some creatures on board.

and then my last suggestion, for now, is Wildfire Eternal. this card is so good and it's a great way to cheat out big spells from your hand. i've actually made copies of him and was able to cast upwards of 4 big spells a turn. Super fun card.

If you're curious, you can look at my list. it is Jeleva and the deck that gets hated out.

December 19, 2018 5:12 p.m.

iComet Storm and Stroke of Genius are so much better x cost wincons than torment, hell even Exsanguinate is infinitely more consistent and potent storm can easily hit a table for 40 and stroke can easily deck people and theres no randomness to either, torment is not really a great card overall so you definitely shouldn't use it as a main wincon to build around, the other options arent pricy either and you can always run all 4

January 1, 2019 7:42 p.m.

Sinken says... #4

Stroke of Genius doesn't work as a win condition, as it only kills one player. It's possible to use on myself as draw though, so I can see that. I can see the argument for Comet Storm and Exsanguinate, but... why do you not like Torment? There's no randomness to it either, and if I can't combo off and I get into a lategame, Torment of Hailfire can potentially kill people from 11 mana much more easily than any of the others. Though I should probably run Stroke and Exsanguinate aswell

January 1, 2019 8:14 p.m.

hkhssweiss says... #5

I would actually disagree on Stroke of Genius being better than Torment of Hailfire. Torment for X=40 is most likely death on a table rather than Stroking X=40 which can only target one player and even if they survive with 3 life, their hand and board state is virtually nil.

January 1, 2019 8:18 p.m.

sure but colorwise Exsanguinate does the job 10 times as efficiently and Comet Storm is more reliable too, plus Stroke of Genius + Fork self with Laboratory Maniac is easy wins, lab maniac kinda being the best card in jeleva especially with Doomsday, point is those 3 reliably do there job every single cast, torment is super situational and token decks are extremely common in edh. sure torment is better than stroke but in nonblack decks stroke is very common in cedh and normal edh

and again he needs more wincons than just torment anyways so running both plus comet storm isnt a bad idea.

anyways im done with my suggestions im not here to argue

January 1, 2019 9:27 p.m. Edited.

Sinken says... #7

But the point here is to use infinite mana (that is tutored) to make Torment a guaranteed kill. Unless I play Jeleva a ton, and Echo Storm a gilded lotus, Torment and Exsanguinate are both probably going to fail killing my opponent. Lab man + Stroke + Fork is a 3 card combo that needs 45 mana ++ to win with. So with infinite mana all of them get the job done equally well? I do agree that I should atleast be running Exsanguinate in addition, though. We don't play anything close to cedh, and nothing like Doomsday combos, so which x spell I choose doesn't matter too much, I believe

January 3, 2019 11:17 a.m.

papahiggs says... #8

I like Soothsaying with Jeleva. There are some really good new cards that would be fantastic with her. Blade of Selves. While you don't get her attacks, you do get her etb ability and the chance to use all those cards. Helm of the Host does give you an etb and an extra attack and trigger. I think if you ran a few smaller spells Thousand-Year Storm could be insane. I also like Oblivion Sower as Jeleva tends to hit a lot of lands. I also loved Contempt in my Jeleva deck to reset the cards in exile.

January 8, 2019 5:03 p.m.