Kelsien and Friends!

Commander / EDH RBW (Mardu)

Kyle_Winter

Less than $2 (42)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Basilisk Collar
• 1x Elixir of Immortality
• 1x Quietus Spike
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Swiftfoot Boots
• 1x Mountain
• 1x Plains
• 1x Swamp
• 1x Ankle Shanker
• 1x General's Enforcer
• 1x Humble Defector
• 1x Death Pits of Rath
• 1x Anguished Unmaking
• 1x Chaos Warp
• 1x Disenchant
• 1x Psychotic Fury
• 1x Ride Down
• 1x Tainted Strike
• 1x Bojuka Bog
• 1x Buried Ruin
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Gateway Plaza
• 1x Nomad Outpost
• 1x Path of Ancestry
• 1x Rogue's Passage
• 1x Spire of Industry
• 1x Temple of Malice
• 1x Temple of Silence
• 1x Temple of the False God
• 1x Temple of Triumph
• 1x Unknown Shores
• 1x Vault of the Archangel
• 1x Lurrus of the Dream-Den
• 1x Queen Marchesa
• 1x Beacon of Unrest
• 1x Call of the Death-Dweller
• 1x Cleansing Nova
• 1x Divine Reckoning
• 1x Open the Armory
• 1x Read the Bones
• 1x Ruinous Ultimatum

$5 - $20 (19)

• 1x Mox Tantalite
• 1x Umbral Mantle
• 1x Stoneforge Mystic
• 1x Dance of the Dead
• 1x Flawless Maneuver
• 1x Pyroblast
• 1x Arid Mesa
• 1x Blood Crypt
• 1x City of Brass
• 1x Forbidden Orchard
• 1x Godless Shrine
• 1x Marsh Flats
• 1x Reflecting Pool
• 1x Sacred Foundry
• 1x Hammer of Nazahn
• 1x Varchild, Betrayer of Kjeldor
• 1x Shizo, Death's Storehouse
• 1x Cataclysm
• 1x Reanimate

$2 - $5 (12)

• 1x Lightning Greaves
• 1x Whispersilk Cloak
• 1x Avatar of Woe
• 1x Stonehewer Giant
• 1x Weathered Wayfarer
• 1x Animate Dead
• 1x Gift of Doom
• 1x Gift of Immortality
• 1x Boros Charm
• 1x Arcane Lighthouse
• 1x Castle Locthwain
• 1x Athreos, Shroud-Veiled

More than $100 (1)

• 1x Chrome Mox

Commander (1)

Unknown (14)

• 1x Clackbridge Troll
• 1x Detection Tower
• 1x Fabled Passage
• 1x Savai Triome
• 1x Embercleave
• 1x Helm of the Host
• 1x Mox Amber
• 1x Shadowspear
• 1x Kalemne, Disciple of Iroas
• 1x Mathas, Fiend Seeker
• 1x Zurgo Helmsmasher
• 1x Command the Dreadhorde
• 1x Mythos of Snapdax
• 1x Shatter the Sky

$20 - $100 (11)

• 1x Smothering Tithe
• 1x Deflecting Swat
• 1x Enlightened Tutor
• 1x Teferi's Protection
• 1x Ancient Tomb
• 1x Bloodstained Mire
• 1x Mana Confluence
• 1x Prismatic Vista
• 1x Mox Opal
• 1x Demonic Tutor
• 1x Thornbite Staff

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Sideboard

Less than $2 (3)

• 1x Gorgon's Head
• 1x Trading Post
• 1x Ashen Powder

$5 - $20 (1)

• 1x Rise of the Dark Realms

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Kelsien, the Plague is a BEAST. He is the coolest archer in the game. All he needs is deathtouch and he'll Voltron off of experience counters alone! I was originally looking at Mardu{R}{W}{B} to build a Kaalia of the Vast deck, but Kelsien spoke deeper to me.

The Story Show

Kelsien, the Plague was born of a love affair between Kenrith, the Returned King and a milk-maid of his own court. This certain King was known for conquering his kingdom with a Pure Heart and a Just Blade. Knowing this, the milk-maid steeled her heart to her child and left him alone in a foreign marsh, Bojuka Bog, to perish. It was only thanks to a passerby General's Enforcer, discovered the starving babe and brought Kelsien to his home, card:Castle Lochthwain. The Queen Marchesa recognized the mark of Royalty on baby Kelsien immediately, and having lost her own child to a Plague, set to raising the baby herself. She named him Kelsien, the Plague after the death of her own. With the help of her Royal Advisors, Mathas, Fiend Seeker and Varchild, Betrayer of Kjeldor, Queen Marchesa trained Kelsien to be the Plague that wipes every other Kingdom against her own.

The Strategy

The main strategy for this deck is my favorite of any commander deck; I'm going to make my Commander HUGE and MURDER you with Combat Damage. Kelsien grows with experience counters, meaning even if I wipe the board and he dies, he comes back as big as he was before then.

The Plan

Get Kelsien, the Plague out fast with Sol Ring, Ancient Tomb, etc., and start swinging at your opponents. Equip him with artifacts and enchantments such as Basilisk Collar, Quietus Spike, and Gift of Doom to make his damage 1-shot, 1-kill. Voltron with Hammer of Nazahn and Embercleave. Once Kelsien has built up enough experience counters (occasionally with the help of Kalemne, Disciple of Iroas), if you sneak by the enemy's defenses with Whispersilk Cloak, Shizo, Death's Storehouse, or Rogue's Passage then victory will be assured in a most-glorious 1-shot, 1-kill manner.

The Synergies and Combos

Untap

Thornbite Staff hasd one of the freshest and cheapest untap-creature mechanics in the game. Untapping our Commander means more killing of enemy creatures. Slap on Helm of the Host and you'll have no problem killing your enemies' creatures every turn with Kelsien, the Plague.

Best-Friends-Forever

Kelsien, the Plague has a couple best-friends in the deck that synergize very well with his tap-to-kill ability. Varchild, Betrayer of Kjeldor and Clackbridge Troll provide fodder for Kelsien, even when your opponents' creatures have all been wiped already. Kalemne, Disciple of Iroas is Kelsien's wife, the only other experience counter creature I found to hold her own in the deck. Whereas, Mathas, Fiend Seeker and Athreos, Shroud-Veiled are Kelsien's employers, giving him payoff in bounties and allies for killing your opponents' creatures. General's Enforcer is the easiest way to give Kelsien and his friends the indestructible they need.

Board Wipe

Kelsien, the Plague already works so hard clearing the board of enemy creatures, it's only fair we try to keep him safe from enchantments, artifacts, planeswalkers and the like. Anguished Unmaking, Chaos Warp, Divine Reckoning, Disenchant, Shatter the Sky, Avatar of Woe, Cleansing Nova, Cataclysm, Mythos of Snapdax, and Ruinous Ultimatum are all included to help us in our quest to keep Kelsien killing.

Update

I have built and playtested the deck a solid 20 or so times now and it works very well! Thank you for visiting I hope you like my Kelsein Commander!

Top Ranked	Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH RBW (Mardu) 3 years ago
Date added	3 years
Last updated	1 year
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	13 - 1 Mythic Rares 52 - 2 Rares 23 - 1 Uncommons 9 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.02
Tokens	Assassin 1/1 B w/ Haste, Companion Zone, Copy Clone, Experience Token, Goat 0/1 W, Human Soldier 1/1 W, Morph 2/2 C, Spirit 1/1 C, Survivor 1/1 R, The Monarch, Treasure
Folders	Commander Decks, Kelsien