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Kellan Buffs

Standard Aggro Enchant Enchantment RW (Boros)

ellectroide

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Land (23)

Regular Creatures (13)

Creature-ish Enchantments (7)

Birthright Boon and Hits (10)

Spells (7)

Sideboard

Permanents (5)

Spells (7)

Toolbox (3)

I really liked Kellan in K Arsenault Rivera's story articles, especially Two Great Banquets. I also like how you can buffer duplicates of him with his Adventure.

This deck has gone through a lot of iterations as I try to nail down how to best use our new favorite protagonist, whose card has what I'll generously call a difficult niche to find.

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More Sideboard Thoughts — April 10, 2024
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I think I ought to try putting together an actual, non-vibes-based sideboard strategy for myself. After making a few changes, here's what I've got. None of this is set in stone, but I'll do my best to consider it for one last league before Outlaws at Thunder Junction hits the format.

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Rationale

Ossification is hosed embarrassingly by Tishana's Tidebinder, so I'm better off focusing on spell-based removal such as Destroy Evil here. For the same reason, I can't afford to be pumping one mana per turn into my creatures with Spellbook Vendor, so I'll remove one as well.

That said, I'll still keep an Ossification in to be tutored for dealing with an Aclazotz  Flip. I'll also bring in the third Skrelv to deal with the high volume of kill spells.

OUT

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Rationale

The Esper flavor of this deck has Raffine, who is the number one target for Lithomantic Barrage. The logic on the other side-ins remains the same as with Dimir Midrange.

Because two of the best  Flip cards in my deck are enchantments, I'm sure Destroy Evil will be brought in against me, not to mention Negate. That's why I'll take out all the Wedding Announcements  Flip before they get the chance to blow them up. It's extra-important that I don't touch the playset of Witchstalker Frenzies, since their cost reduction will be vital to not getting Mana Leaked.

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Rationale

This is one of the matchups in which I'll lean more controlling. For that reason, all but the singelton Monstrous Rage I may need to push through lethal with Kellan will come out. Since most value this deck gets out of creatures is with ETB triggers, and the fact that it just spams tokens, one-for-one cards such as Ossification and Witchstalker Frenzy will fair poorly in this matchup. One Rabbit Battery will also come out, since its perk as an aggressive, Baird-enabling one-drop that can dodge removal is less relevant in a more controlling plan.

If I had more room in the sideboard I'd run a second End the Festivities for this matchup, but even then, it only really kills this deck's Goblins, and just when Warleader's Call isn't in play. Loran will come in to deal with that, and Surge of Salvation can protect a board built up with Jaya and Elspeth from End the Festivities, which will be brought in since they'll think I'm a pure aggro deck.

Destroy Evil's only real target against this deck is a virtual vanilla, so it'll stay out. I also probably won't bring in Radiant Grace  Flip, since despite this deck not having any exile removal, 1) it's going to side in Get Lost against me, and 2) it being singleton means I'll need to tutor it, and by that time the deck's explosive start will have passed the window where it'd be useful.

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Rationale

This is a deck that plans on killing with a fireball and using damage wraths to live long enough for it to work, so Surge of Salvation is a necessity. Fortunately not much in their sideboard changes their game plan; I'll just need to watch out for even more stabilizing cards such as Tranquil Frillback. Lion Sash will also come in as a beater that can stop constant stabilization from the SNC fetchlands and can dodge non-Abrade removal by reconfiguring, and Jaya will come in as another pseudoWitchstalker Frenzy.

I'm not planning on bringing in Destroy Evil, since it only hits one of their creatures (hey, I know that guy!), and once they resolve Virtue of Strength it's typically too late to do anything before they tap for mana.

As for the outs, Ossification is going to get dunked on by Tranquil Frillback, and I need Nissa gone yesterday, so it'll get cut. card:Skrelve, Defector Mite (ONE:301)|Skrelv is lackluster at stopping this deck's removal suite, so it'll get benched too. Lastly, the card-draw enchantment Wedding Announcement  Flip will get cut by one to make room for Jaya, who can pull similar duty without getting smacked by Tranquil Frillback.

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Rationale

This deck is a beating for me game one, and it'll remain so post-sideboard. I'm going to be facing down a lot of wraths, so I can't afford to be screwing around and pumping mana into my creatures with Spellbook Vendor. Chipping in for just a few damage with Rabbit Battery isn't going to be effective here, so a few are getting cut so the remaining one can serve as toolbox a finisher. Besides those creatures, I can't plan on Wedding Announcement  Flip to generate as much value with Leyline Binding on the loose, so I'll cut one of those.

It'd be easier to list the cards in their deck that aren't prime targets for Destroy Evil and Loran of the Third Path, but here's the list of those that are:

Archangel of Wrath in particular is going to be a big problem, so I'll need the extra Skrelv to guard against that kicker (and yes, I'll choose white), even though it's ineffective against the deck's many wraths. All the other creatures and enchantments are things I need to answer or fail to kill in time, which is why Planar Disruption will come in, since letting Atraxa reenter play and trigger again if Ossification is removed is doubly backbreaking.

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Rationale

Another matchup where I have to remember that I'm not ever going to be the beatdown, so Elspeth and Jaya will come off the bench. I could say the reason I'm running the (inferior) Elspeth over a second Jaya to avoid legend rule-ing myself, and that's part of it, but I also think activating her second ability on Baird could be really sweet. The third Skrelv will come in since I have room for it, and few of my creatures can even survive a shock.

I'll need to be playing shields-up early on, so Monstrous Rage will be of little use. I'll also side out all but one Rabbit Battery, since I'm not going to be racing anyone here, and the deck doesn't usually play Brotherhood's End anymore, so there's no use case for reconfiguring it to dodge a wrath. The reason I'm only running one End the Festivities in my sideboard, and won't bother to bring it in here, is because it doesn't actually kill that many of this deck's creatures.

I can also finally use my secret tech  Flip, unless they have Kumano  Flip out, but we'll see how often that happens. Since I'll still have a board of creatures, usually a decent amount 2/x, Surge of Salvation can lead to a complete blowout if they're not aware it's coming. Most decks would use Knockout Blow for this situation, but I want to give the greedy plan a try.

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Rationale

Much of the reasoning here is the same as with Dimir Midrange, unsurprisingly. One key difference is that, because one of the main win conditions I've encountered dodges sorcery-speed removal, I'm cutting Ossification entirely. Planar Disruption will come in to replace one of them to deal with the inevitable 2x Aclazotz  Flip, and Destroy Evil for the 2x Sheoldred. Two Wedding Announcements  Flip will come out to make room for the third card:Skrelv, Defector Mirte (ONE:301)|Skrelv, since I'm expecting them to be countered very often. I don't necessarily think Spellbook Vendor is a better card against this deck than Dimir Midrange, rather that Wedding Announcement  Flip is worse.

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Rationale

Another matchup where I need to stay aggressive. Destroy Evil doesn't hit as much as I'd like, but it kills Sheoldred, so at least one is good. Same situation as usual with Skrelv. I could bring in another Destroy Evil to deal with Virtue of Persistence, but I think if I let them get to seven mana I'm just dead anyway.

Wedding Announcement  Flip might come in more handy than I expect against Gix's Command, so I'll try leaving those in and taking out two Rabbit Batteries, since every creature in this deck is so huge, neither the stat boost or reconfiguring to dodge the wrath will matter very much.

OUT

IN

Rationale

The mainboard card:Temporaery Lockdown (DMU)|Temporary Lockdowns are going to have me fighting for my life here, so Destroy Evil and Loran are necessities. I haven't faced this deck too often, but I'm guessing that Boon-Bringer Valkyrie and Chrome Host Seedshark are a few of the sideboard cards they'll have in store for me. As for The Wandering Emperor, I need that guy killed. Clean shot. Failing that, I'll have an extra Skrelv to take the heat off my beaters.

I'm not sure how well Witchstalker Frenzy will fare against such a counterspell-heavy deck, but it only hits creatures, and I don't think it's cost reduction will matter much against No More Lies. If things go poorly I'll reconsider switching one or more Ossifications out to bring it back.

The Beatdown Pill — April 9, 2024
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Finally Trying Wedding Announcement — April 7, 2024
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RIP Lightning Helix, More Rethinking — March 23, 2024
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Temur Reclamation — March 16, 2024
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MKM Update, Rethinking — Jan. 21, 2024
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Cut Green — Dec. 4, 2023
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LCI Update — Nov. 17, 2023
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Less Aggro — Nov. 4, 2023
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Casual

92% Competitive

Revision 8 See all

(1 week ago)

-1 Baird, Argivian Recruiter main
+1 Spellbook Vendor main
Date added 7 months
Last updated 1 week
Legality

This deck is Standard legal.
Rarity (main - side)

4 - 2 Mythic Rares

22 - 4 Rares

20 - 5 Uncommons

0 - 4 Commons
Cards 60
Avg. CMC 2.05
Tokens Emblem Jaya Negotiator, Human 1/1 W, Monk 1/1 R, Soldier 1/1 W, Sorcerer, Spirit 1/1 C, Wicked
Folders Current
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