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If Zurgo Wasn't Boring - Kelsien EDH

Commander / EDH Counters Deathtouch Equip Goodstuff Group Hug Multiplayer RBW (Mardu)

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Lands (36)

Support (6)

Mana Ramp (12)

Counterplay & Removal (11)

Win Cons (7)

Group Hug (5)

Commander (1)

Commander: Kelsien, the Plague

Card Draw & Tutor (11)

Deathtouch (11)

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Other (2)

mardu is boring. lots of murder and smashing face, a little lifegain here and there, not much fun: that's what you get when you take red, the most fun color in Magic, and partner it up with black and white.

Kelsien, the Plague is different. an inherently political murder machine, he brings responsive gameplay and intrigue to a slice of the color pie that can use it.

this deck is moderately technical. play it badly, and your table will hate you out. play it well, and you should be able to steer the game in your favor. read about it below!

to understand why Kielsen is good, it's useful to compare him to Zurgo Helmsmasher. Zurgo:

  • costs five mana
  • starts off chonky
  • has haste, doesn't have vigilance, and has to attack every turn, but gains indestructible on your turn
  • self-buffs when he kills enemy creatures, using +1/+1 counters
  • 2,119 decks on EDHRec

by contrast, Kelsien:

  • costs 3 mana
  • starts off puny
  • has haste and vigilance; doesn't have to attack, but can do so without lowering defenses
  • self-buffs on killing a creature by tapping to ping, using experience counters
  • 2,315 decks on EDHRec

a lot of similarities, considering how differently the cards end up working!

Zurgo has the advantage of being really easy to play: get the guy out and start swinging, spamming boardwipes to take over the game. the only choice point you get is who to swing at. the downside is that, well, you've got no choices. strategic gameplay isn't really something you do with Zurgo.

Kelsien, on the other hand, is all about strategy. you're an assassin; cunning, deception, and intrigue are what you do. he comes out earlier, but he's a lot more dependent on the cards you play around him--without deathtouch to make his pings kill, Kelsien isn't a threat. above all, you get choices. you choose if and when to swing, who to assassinate and, most importantly, you communicate carefully with the table in order to control how these choices are perceived.

the #1 thing that makes Kelsien the better commander is the fact that he uses experience counters. when Zurgo dies, he's back to square one; when Kelsien dies, he's not. between that, his lower cost, and the fact that you can exercise caution in terms of your reputation at the table, Kelsien's the better option.

above all, he's awesome. like, holy moley, this card's flavor is 10/10. his gameplay as a sneaky, hyper-competent assassin hits it out of the park in terms of a commander representing a fantasy. he's hard not to love.

it's easy to play Kelsien badly, assassinating your opponents' best pieces willy-nilly. this will make everyone hate and fear you, and draw aggression you can easily avoid. if your opponents see Kelsien as an oppressive board presence, you've shot yourself in the foot, and you'll probably lose.

Kelsien's greatest strength isn't on the offensive, but on the defensive. when he's not tapped and has deathtouch, he's an extremely intimidating creature to swing on. he can block one enemy, shoot the other, and leave your opponent sorely punished for the aggression. this doesn't work as well when your opponent's going wide, but even so, if a Jetmir, Nexus of Revels player swings at you, you can pop the commander and leave their boardstate badly weakened. as long as Kelsien isn't tapped, opponents often won't attack you.

obviously, for any of this to be true, Kelsien needs deathtouch. I've included 11 ways to get it, plus three tutors, so the chances of you going without are negligible. all the cards I've included give it to Kelsien permanently. cards like Kaya, Geist Hunter seem like they'd fit the bill, but in terms of playing a strategic and responsive game, having deathtouch only on your turn's as good as not having it at all. the constantly visible threat of instant-speed reprisal is what makes Kelsien a compelling commander. you want to play defensively, strategically, and diplomatically. don't just shoot the biggest threat on your own turn and call it a day!

like any good Kelsien build, our #1 priority is to give him deathtouch.

getting it should be easy enough; we're running a lot of it, plus robust card draw and a handful of tutors. the question is, how do we keep it? how do we avoid attracting spot removal while maintaining such an obviously threatening board presence?

the answer is diplomacy. make it clear that you'll only be pecking off tokens and chump blockers so long as Kelsien and your deathtouch pieces are left alone--and that anyone who gives you trouble will be losing their most important creature. if Kelsien or your deathtouch piece are taken down, kill the offender's best creature at instant speed, reestablish your boardstate, and threaten to kill their best creature again. agree not to do so in exchange for some kind of deal--maybe that they attack another, more threatening player. try to get something out of the conflict.

it's worth keeping an extra deathtouch piece in hand whenever you can. if you find yourself in possession of more than one backup piece, however, I've included some creatures who can also make use of them.

  • Mathas, Fiend Seeker - the fact that he already has menace makes him a solid deathtoucher. swing away with him on an opponent who's done you dirty!
  • Thalia, Heretic Cathar - she trips your opponents up already, and has natural offensive and defensive ability with first strike. giving her deathtouch pushes her over the edge.
  • Shadrix Silverquill - he helps out enemies, which can make this deck more popular at most tables. once he's equipped, he's also a flying wall of death.
  • Halvar, God of Battle  - turns all your equipped creatures into double-strikers, and as a 4/4 body, he's as solid a candidate as any for equipment.
  • Kalemne, Disciple of Iroas - double strike, vigilance, and power that scales with your experience counters. deathtouch makes him a problem.
  • Goblin Sharpshooter - infinite death; read about what that means for you in the "Win Cons" section!

not exactly a strategy you'd expect in a Kelsien deck! still, outside of the fact that Mardu isn't the best slice of the color pie for it, I'd argue that a Kelsien group hug build is actually a solid idea. the main problem with group hug is that you don't always have a meaningful threat with which to enforce promised favors. Kelsien changes that. he can coerce players into keeping their word concerning their use of, say, Humble Defector. he can also get "hired" as a hitman; players can offer favors in exchange for some creature getting wiped off the board.

group hug also allows you to balance out the boardstate. help out the player who's struggling and, alongside making an ally, you've created a new threat for opponents to focus on. Kelsien walks out the winner whenever he can encourage conflict between everyone else.

here are the 5 cards with group hug potential I've included here, and how best to use them!

  • Humble Defector - offer him as a card draw engine to be returned immediately, or else. your friend who's struggling with card draw or mana fixing will appreciate it. these agreements can include as many players as you all can agree on, and can serve to form a friendly coalition. the fact that anyone who violates the terms of the agreement will face repercussions helps to secure these alliances.
  • Loran of the Third Path - great for a very simple bribe: "I'll choose you for this card draw, if you don't get mad when I snipe your chump blocker." Most people will respond well to that offer.
  • Mathas, Fiend Seeker - best when it's time to abruptly turn the board against a single, dominant player. everyone will get card draw and lifegain out of that player's demise, so people will get on board with the arrangement quickly.
  • Queen Marchesa - a bit idiosyncratic since losing a handle on the Monarchy can be risky. still, if the player who goes right before you could really use some card draw, and if you're invested in that player remaining relevant as the game goes on, you can go ahead and offer them a free swipe at you, so long as they return the favor. not as strong as Humble Defector in terms of building coalitions, but it'll do in a pinch, and you'll be getting free assassin tokens out of the deal.

  • Shadrix Silverquill - my favorite card which fits this subtheme. buff your second most dangerous opponent to antagonize the top dog. give card draw to someone in need and buff your own creatures instead. agree with the entire board to provide them with an inkling for Kelsien to assassinate in exchange for being left alone. your options are robust!

Daxos the Returned, Kalemne, Disciple of Iroas, Minthara, Merciless Soul - the other three cards in Mardu which also use experience counters! they might snatch you an extra counter or two. more importantly, they power up alongside Kelsien to create threats to board parity.

Daxos is probably my favorite of the three. we've got ten enchantments in this deck, so our chances of landing some extra experience counters are solid. aside from that, he's a great mana sink, and since his effect can be activated at instant speed, he allows for effective responsive gameplay. nothing like two extra blockers out of the blue to turn an opponent's assault on them.

Kelsien, the Plague + Thornbite Staff or Goblin Sharpshooter + deathtouch - hold the whole table at gunpoint! it might be a good idea to get another win con online before pulling the trigger, especially since asymmetrical boardwipe is second only to mass land destruction when it comes to getting the whole table to hate you. still, the threat can get players to ease off, letting you build up to your endgame undisturbed.

whether or not it's worth getting this threat online before getting your ducks in a row is up to discretion and playstyle. dropping it too early can result in opponents opting for casting a boardwipe of their own. still, spot removal on an enemy's part becomes unthinkable, and assymmetrical boardwipes like Kindred Dominance and Cyclonic Rift are a lot less appealing. you'd be surprised how long you can keep this threat on the board without interference, considering the leverage it affords you.

Dihada, Binder of Wills - turns the pressure up and makes swinging with Kelsien a no-brainer. also sets a ticking time bomb; either your opponents take care of Dihada, or they face an Insurrection.

Dihada's a nice win con, since she makes opponents want to attack her--but with Kelsien defending her, opponents don't want to attack her. she creates a microcosm of the same dynamic in which enemies find themselves when it comes to swinging on you. she's a distracting and frustrating board presence, dangerous to address and dangerous to ignore.

Halvar, God of Battle  - give your deathtouchers doublestrike. he can easily push the threat your board presents over the edge. Kelsien goes from a pain to a Voltron threat. should any of your other creatures get equipped, your board presence can become menacing.

sometimes it'll feel like a bad move to cast Halvar; it can encourage too much aggression. if that's the case, Sword of the Realms  serves as nice insurance for Kelsien, rendering him both more dangerous and less worth removing.

Vicious Shadows - my favorite win con. it turns up the heat, increases your political clout, and turns non-exile boardwipes into a game winner. a badly underrated card; if I had my druthers, it'd be standard issue for Kelsien decks.

Vicious Shadows goes unnoticed in Commander at large because it's an old card with an inflated mana cost. if a card with the same effect were printed today, its CMC would probably be 6 or even 5. but we're running a low mana curve here, so we can afford it, and it's hard to overstate how good this card is with Kelsien.

basically: every time you assassinate a creature, you get to punch someone in the face. it doesn't have to be the player who owns the creature you're assassinating, so you can even out the pressure accross the board. as much as this will threaten people, removing it is dangerous; the player who removes it knows they're choosing between maybe losing a chump blocker and maybe getting punched in the face, or definitely losing their best creature and getting punched in the face. as much as people will want to get rid of this thing, they'd rather that someone else do it for them.

but then you land a Ruinous Ultimatum or your Thornbite Staff, and it's too late: everyone's losing all their creatures, everyone's taking a lot of damage. this card will often be allowed to become a win con because it's too dangerous to remove while it's just a nuisance. and people won't even think of dropping boardwipes while it's on the board; you can make it clear that, if anyone does, they'll be taking all the resultant damage. in a Kelsien deck, Vicious Shadows protects itself.

I've decided not to count Vorpal Sword and Quietus Spike as win cons, even though they can be incredibly powerful. the first reason why is that both of these cards are vehicles for giving Kelsien deathtouch, first and foremost. the second is that using them aggressively will lose you the game.

no one likes being swung on for half their life. no one likes automatically losing the game. you can get away with using these cards aggressively once in a blue moon, either to close out a game with one opponent remaining or to deal with a player who's clearly about to run away with the win. aside from those cases, abuse these spells at your own risk. people will hate you out if you kill the vibe by ending someone's game prematurely.

that said, the threat these cards present is a lovely asset. if someone forgets you've got them out and swings wide, on your next turn, you can remind them of your ability to ruin their game and call in a favor. this will improve your board state and your standing at the table. as weapons, they're ham-fisted and lousy, but as bargaining chips, they're great.

fliers are a pain for us. prioritize them for assassinations, particularly creatures which produce flying tokens--think Kykar, Wind's Fury or Oona, Queen of the Fae. Shadrix Silverquill and Mask of Griselbrand are your answers.

this build doesn't do well against forced sac, especially once effects like Dictate of Erebos hit the board. against such decks, ready your removal spells and bully that player out of the game if you have to; you won't be unpopular for assassinating a Blood Artist or a Sheoldred, Whispering One.

reanimator decks and decks with lots of graveyard play can abuse Kelsien's presence to do what they do that much better. blow your Vampiric Tutor on grabbing Scavenging Grounds if that's what it takes to wreck their game. Mari, the Killing Quill is also a solid graveyard hate piece.

against opponents who use a lot of hexproof and indestructible: Shadowspear, Arcane Lighthouse, Detection Tower. consider saving your tutors for Shadowspear if you think your opponent's running something like Avacyn, Angel of Hope or Blightsteel Colossus. Anguished Unmaking and Chaos Warp are high-value cards in that kind of situation.

lastly, if you're up against a proper combo deck, there's nothing Kelsien can do against that unless one of the combo pieces happens to be a creature. this isn't a competitive build. against high-speed play, it loses.

whenever you pop a creature with Kelsien, you're not just getting rid of a threat. you're saying something about what you find threatening on the board, what your priorities are, which opponents you dislike and, by omission, which opponents you favor.

if you're going to win with Kelsien, you have to be willing to lean into this fact and choose your kills carefully. as to how you choose those kills, it's hard to say and context-dependent. some of your more relaxed friends might not retaliate to killing even a major creature, as long as you can explain your reasoning; some players will respond poorly, even if you just pick off a Reclamation Sage. Reading the room and good communication are important.

that said, here are a few tips.

  • play both sides. make an alliance with the biggest threat on the board; then, start helping their opponents out with group hug. assassinate the best player's smallest pieces--if they retaliate, you'll probably come out looking like the victim, so unless they can kill you immediately, you'll probably be able to build an alliance. after the top dog's put down, rinse, wash, repeat: make an enemy and a villain of the next biggest threat. do this until it's down to a 1 v. 1. hopefully, meanwhile, you'll have gotten a win con or two in place.
  • start with this basic ground rule: "I'll only assassinate the weakest piece of the player who's ahead." people will generally respond well to it. if they don't, it'll be easy to frame that player as greedy and unfair. in the event of two players having more or less even boardstates, take turns targeting the two of them to avoid a perception that you're picking on anyone in particular.
  • don't be afraid to snipe a win con. if Avenger of Zendikar hits the board, kill it before the start of your next turn. it'll piss that player off, but everyone else will be glad they're not about to get overrun by an army of plant tokens. if a decision wins a net surplus of approval from the table, it's probably a good one. if doing this involves breaking some kind of agreement with that player, see if you can lay off, group hug, and win their favor back. if you can't, oh well. at least you're not losing.
  • some of your pieces--Dihada, Binder of Wills, Mask of Griselbrand, Shadowspear, Sword of the Animist--want you to swing with Kelsien. do so carefully, and with the awareness that going too far can turn the table against you. in general, you don't want to be perceived as the #1 threat until you can back that threat up.
  • if you start to lose favor on the board, see if you can take an L without actually losing the game. let someone remove Kelsien and smack you around, just so long as you can make them look like the jerk for doing it. perception is everything!
proxies.

so there it is! my best attempt at making a genuinely fun Mardu deck. really proud of how this one came out tbh. definitely one of those decks I can't wait to show my friends. suggestions welcome, give it a +1 if you like it!

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99% Casual

Competitive

Revision 8 See all

(2 weeks ago)

-1 Gift of Immortality main
-1 Land Tax main
+1 Massacre Girl, Known Killer main
+1 Spiteful Banditry main
Top Ranked
Date added 1 year
Last updated 2 weeks
Legality

This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)

15 - 0 Mythic Rares

53 - 0 Rares

18 - 0 Uncommons

6 - 0 Commons
Cards 100
Avg. CMC 3.03
Tokens Assassin 1/1 B w/ Haste, Dungeon: Undercity, Elephant 3-3 G, Enchantment Spirit */* WB, Experience Token, Inkling 2/1 WB, Morph 2/2 C, Rebel 2/2 R, Shapeshifter 3/2 C, Skeleton 4/1 B, Spirit 1/1 C, The Initiative, The Monarch, Treasure
Folders Inspiration, Commander Inspiration
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