deck:As soon as I saw Commander 2020 drop and met Kelsien, the Plague, I said, we need to get Him some deathtouch! So with that concept, the idea of an "Assassin Tribal" deck was born! We built Version 1.0 as a collection of Assassins, but quickly realized this was not competitive at all.
Version 2.0 of this deck is pretty much 100% dependant on Kelsien to win. You will feel like you are playing D&D or Diablo 3 when killing things to gain XP points which do not go away, even when Kelsien does. Focusing on the Commander as the win con is not my typical way to build a deck, but Kelsien is a low cost commander and can be cast several times in a game without too much mana. (He WILL be a target).
The game plan is to get Kelsien out early, give Him Deathtouch, and let Him tap to kill things for experience accumulation. Tapping and untapping Kelsien a lot speeds up the process so we have several ways to do this in the deck. We want Kelsien to be Indestructible or we want to be able to avoid the command tax and bring Him back cheaply since He is typically public enemy #1. We want to control the board state through board wipes and targeted removal until Kelsien can start killing opponents in combat with enough experience. We want Kelsien Unblockable in the late game for massive swings and victory.
Kelsien he has a ton of equipment and tool options.
:: Kelsien Tech List::
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Command Beacon - let's you cast Kelsien from hand cheaply once per game. Excellent for when he gets removed a lot and the tax is high
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Everybody Lives! - panic button that saves Kelsien and stops people from combo killing.
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Shielded by Faith - another way get indestructibility on Kelsien.
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Whispersilk Cloak, OR Prowler's Helm OR Key to the City OR Rogue's Passage - the theme here is to make Kelsien unblockable. This is our win condition late game.
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Mithril Coat - flash it on and attach for indestructible Kelsien.
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Drumbellower - untrapping Kelsien every turn means he controls the board state and accumulates experience quicker. This combos nicely with Rite of the Raging Storm, as you kill the elemental after combat every turn.
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Malakir Rebirth
- is totally worth it for 1 black mana and 2 life as the price. You bring Kelsien back at Instant speed. Trust me, HE WILL be targeted, so you can never have too many ways to protect Him.
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Campfire - yet another way to skirt the command tax. Casting Kelsien from hand is going to be key.
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General's Kabuto - a sweet piece of equipment, it gives Kelsien Indestructible AND makes him in targetable.
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Stoneforge Mystic, Reckless Handling AND/OR Inventors' Fair - are here to tutor for Thornbite Staff or Whispersilk Cloak mainly. Just look up the artifact you need and go for it.
:: Ways to grant deathtouch to Kelsien or other creatures::
- Gorgon's Head
- Quietus Spike
- Basilisk Collar
- Virulent Swipe
- Void Beckoner
- Nazgul Battle-Mace
- Vault of the Archangel
- Ankle Shanker
- Bladebrand
- Retreat to Hagra
- Nezumi Prowler
- Battle-Rage Blessing
- Toxin Analysis
Equipment that let's you untap Him is especially useful, so you can tap 2 or more times in a turn with deathtouch and slay multiple creatures.
- Magewright's Stone
- Thornbite Staff
- Umbral Mantle
- Thousand-Year Elixir
- Drumbellower
- Staff of Domination
- Village Bell-Ringer
Kelsien is joined by other "ping" creatures with effects that deal damage to targets. Giving any of the pingers Deathtouch makes them all into murderers. Deathbringer Thoctar with death touch is a board wipe.
- Deathbringer Thoctar
- Vulshok Sorcerer
There are finishing spells which kill off things Kelsien has shot and take them out for Experience for Kelsien if there is no Deathtouch available.
- Lurking Deadeye
- You Are Already Dead
- Termination Facilitator is flipping perfect for Kelsien and other pingers to guarantee a kill.
- Mirrodin Avenged
You will struggle against opponent's who have massive board states, so Kelsien carries a whopping 11 board wipe effects. Well, technically 13 wipes if you combo Thornbite Staff with Kelsien & Deathtouch or Deathbringer Thoctar with Deathtouch.
:: Board Wipes ::
- Shatter the Sky
- Merciless Eviction
- Damn
- Ratchet Bomb - immediately torches all tokens. In my meta, this is very relevant.
- Promise of Loyalty
- Fumigate
- Crackling Doom
- Kaya's Wrath
- Path of Peril - can sweep boards of tokens because they have a Mana value 2 or less.
Graveyard/re-animator decks are a problem for Kelsien because you need to make sure what you kill stays dead. There are 5 tools to clear Graves: Jirina, Dauntless General, Kaya's Guile, Scavenger Grounds, Rakdos Charm and Bojuka Bog.
We leave home with a few different targeted removal spells so you should have an answer for anything somewhere in the deck.
- Fatal Push
- Kaya's Guile
- Chaos Warp
- Rakdos Charm
- Blast Zone
An assassin needs to be able to adapt to the situation on the field, and Mardu lack of card draw/ cantrips is a weakness here. Most effects enabling card draw involve lands Savai Triome, Sunbaked Canyon, Silent Clearing, and Bonders' Enclave. Card draw is built into a board wipe Shatter the Sky, and combat tricks such as Bladebrand and You Are Already Dead. Political options such as Humble Defector allows for early game alliances.
A fun idea is to always have something you can tap Kelsien and kill. Usually, there will be mana dorks around but if not, there are 3 ways to guarantee Kelsien a target. Humble Defector gives you 2 cards and you can easily ping him when he passes to an opponent, you can even be political and choose not to ping. Rite of the Raging Storm creates 5/1 Elementals which can never attack you, and that you may always ping. Forbidden Orchard not only gives you mana of any color, but a guaranteed 1/1 Spirit target every turn for experience.
Winning the Game::
There is really only one win condition, attacking with Kelsien and dealing Commander Damage/Combat Damage. You basically need to control the flow with your various spells and removal options.
The plan is to get Kelsien out early and get him pinging things for greater experience, so each time you cast Kelsien, he grows. The fun thing about experience counters is that they do not go away, so Kelsien can be killed and when he comes back, he has this buff on Him in addition to haste. This is another reason why we have so many ways to make Kelsien Indestructible. Kelsien can also ping creatures that later get board wiped and still earn experience. Making Kelsien unblockable with Rogue's Passage OR Key to the City OR Whispersilk Cloak means he will be able to deal lethal 20 Commander damage to other players in the late game.
:: Random Notes ::
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The Mana Dept is bare bones, but essential to make the deck work without a lot of ramp. We run 5: Sol Ring, Arcane Signet, Boros Signet, Orzhov Signet and Rakdos Signet.
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Hired Poisoner is useless really, but will never leave this deck. I had the most useless card in the deck Hired Poisoner commissioned as Donald Trump trying to inject someone with bleach. It is by design that this is the most useless card in the deck.
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I have the VIP pack copy of Stoneforge Mystic which I opened as a gift for helping an LGS during COVID-19 get emergency funding from the City.
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The Fatal Push promo was actually hard to get. At the time it was released, Push was a $15 card! I remember the store had 20 players in the event and they raffled off 4 copies, I got 1 from that event, thus this is a treasured piece of bling.
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Our entire deck operates for 6 Mana because the only card costing more - Void Beckoner- is simply cycled away for the Deathtouch Counter.
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Consider this line of play. Urza's Sylex for the Board Wipe, tutoring The Eternal Wanderer for option to Board Wipe again at a later time. Also, six lands is where we want to be, it hurts opponents more than us.
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The deck has few token requirements too, which is by design. Keeping the deck nice and clean in any standard deckbox was the goal. I use a Life Counter Wheel as "Experience" for this build.
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Added Orcish Bowmasters to the deck. Just punishes card draw decks heavily. Also enables a body to help you.
