Flavor Commander: Kiora, Sovereign of the Deep

Posted on July 19, 2023

Welcome back, Lore Seekers! Today we're going to talk about a Flavor Build for Kiora, Sovereign of the Deep. This desparked version of Kiora is exactly the sea monster Commander I've been looking for, so let's dive in (literally this time)!

Who is Kiora

Kiora, Sovereign of the Deep by Chris Rallis

Kiora was originally introduced in Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012, and made her first actual card appearance in Born of the Gods. When we meet her, she is impersonating Callaphe, Beloved of the Sea as she accompanies Elspeth Tirel and Ajani Goldmane to the very edge of Theros. In Drop by Drop, we learn that Kiora is looking to add Arixmethes, Slumbering Isle to her repertoire of sea creatures in a bid to have an army capable of fighting against the Eldrazi. She's opposed by Thassa, God of the Sea, who she may or may not have also impersonated. While Kiora is overpowered by the god, Thassa makes a mistake - she pins Kiora with the Bident of Thassa (called Dekella), which Kiora grabs and planeswalks away with as a consolation prize.

Back on Kiora's home plane of Zendikar during the Battle for Zendikar block, we learn that Kiora is a Cosi's Trickster, a sect of merfolk society that challenges the status quo. We also learn that she has a little sister named Turi that she desperately wants to keep safe. Armed with the Bident, Kiora takes the fight to the Eldrazi, shown in things like Tightening Coils. She eventually meets up with the newly formed Gatewatch as her forces help in the retaking of Sea Gate. When Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre arrives and attacks the reclaimed city, the Gatewatch's plan goes to hell and Kiora starts acting on her own. She summons Lorthos, the Tide Maker to battle the titans, but the sudden arrival of Kozilek, the Great Distortion overwhelms the giant octopus and Kozilek cuts him to pieces.

Kiora is left adrift in the sea, is rescued by Jori En, Ruin Diver, and they regroup with the Gatewatch. Kiora uses the power of the bident to keep the hordes of Eldrazi spawn at bay while the Gatewatch use their magic, but she goes rogue and ultimately parts ways with the Gatewatch to do her own thing. She appeared again briefly in War of the Spark, fighting for the Simic Zonots, the pieces of the long-buried oceans that have made their way back to the surface.

The Flavor Includes

Kiora's Dambreaker by Matthias Kollros

I would say about 75% of Kiora's deck-builds itself. Kiora, Sovereign of the Deep is all about sea monsters, and for her deck there are only so many Kraken, Leviathan, Octopus, and Serpent cards. There are about twelve print cards that depict Kiora, and I made sure to include those right off the bat, including the commander, Kiora, Sovereign of the Deep and her three paper planeswalker cards, Kiora, the Crashing Wave, Kiora, Master of the Depths, and Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner. Bident of Thassa has an updated art to show it in Kiora's possession. Godhunter Octopus and Kiora's Dambreaker both fall into the sea monster theme. Finally, Temple of the False God, Kiora Bests the Sea God, Kiora's Dismissal, Swell of Growth, and Tightening Coils are all useful cards that feature her in the art. Given her history, I also consider Theran, Ravnican, and Zendikari cards fair game, flavorfully.

A Kiora deck is going to focus on Sea Monsters, specifically the "Ula's Typal" batching of Krakens, Leviathans, Octopi, and Serpents. There are eight cards that feature this batching, including Kiora, Sovereign of the Deep herself. The first place it was ever printed was on Quest for Ula's Temple, hence being referred to as Ula's Typal. The Quest itself is great in this deck, but note that using it doesn't trigger Kiora's ability.

Kenessos, Priest of Thassa is a small stretch for flavor here, but given that Kiora impersonated Thassa with the Tritons of Theros for a time, I think it works. He's also another example of 'sea monsters matter' and works well with Scry, which we have a small sub-theme of in the deck. Slinn Voda, the Rising Deep is a sea monsters matter card PLUS merfolk matter. When it hits the board kicked, you lose nothing. I can't imagine Kiora has never seen or heard of Slinn Voda, so I'm including it here. Serpent of Yawning Depths makes your sea monsters impossible to block, or nearly so, and Spawning Kraken gives you value for each time you deal damage with one. Finally, Whelming Wave and Slinn Voda, the Rising Deep both bounce everyone else's board back to their hands.

Given that Kiora has traveled the multiverse in search of creatures of the deep, I think most of the sea monsters here make complete sense, but there are a few creatures I want to call out specifically.

Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait is from an unknown plane, but the ability here (extra land, draw on landfall) is tough to pass up. Given Kiora's history searching for sea monsters on various planes, I'm okay include ones we don't specifically know she encountered here.

Arixmethes, Slumbering Isle is not one of those 'well maybe she met them'. Arixmethes is the island-sized Kraken that Kiora attempts to form a connection to for summoning when Thassa interferes. It's perfect in a Kiora deck, and you have to wonder if things would have been different if she had Arixmethes to face down an Eldrazi titan.

Brinelin, the Moon Kraken is both a form of removal in the deck and a reference to 'the Moon Kraken' from the very first Zendikar novel, In the Teeth of Akoum.

Callaphe, Beloved of the Sea is the demigod that Kiora impersonated during her time on Theros, making her a perfect addition to the deck. The fact that she gives semi-Ward 1 to your creatures and enchantments is a nice bonus.

Charix, the Raging Isle is a Zendikari leviathan, and while Charix and Kiora didn't appear in the same set, I have to assume she's got a line on it.

Cosi's Trickster is a direct reference to the sect Kiora belonged to, so it was hard not to include here. I also needed some lower cost creatures, and this fit the bill nicely.

Lorthos, the Tidemaker is a creature we directly saw Kiora summon during the battle with the Eldrazi, and I think it'll work out much better for you than it did for her then.

Omnath, Locus of Mana is an elemental native to Zendikar, and while we don't directly see them interact, I think the ability here is strong enough for Kiora's purposes (banking Green mana to cast big sea monsters later) that it's a worthy inclusion.

Thassa, God of the Sea is another character that Kiora impersonated, making this card a shoe-in. Thassa also contributes to the scry sub-theme and allows our sea monsters to be unblockable.

Thrasios, Triton Hero gives us scry and ramp for a low price, he's one of the most expensive cards in this deck but if you draw him early he really makes the deck sing. I'm grandfathering him in under the same reasoning as Kenessos.

Tromokratis is our original Kraken from Theros, and gives us a good combat trick with its all-or-nothing requirement for blocking.

Verazol, the Split Current is a serpent from Merfolk territory, there's no way Kiora isn't aware of it. It also gives us a cheaper sea monster to cast to trigger Kiora's ability earlier in the game.

Playing the Deck

The core gameplay of the deck is very simple: ramp into sea monsters, usually for value while you have your Commander out or one of the other "UIa's Typal" cards. There are a number of board wipes in the form of mass bounce that your side should be able to avoid. The various sea monsters have abilities that will help lock your opponent's boards down or make your creatures effectively unblockable. That's it. It's that simple.

There are two minor sub-themes in this deck: Kicker and Scry. Scry is just generally useful anyway, but Kenessos, Priest of Thassa adds value to the few cards that do it here. Merfolk Falconer leverages kicked spells to Scry, and Verazol, the Split Current allows you to copy your kicked spells. Kicker is also a late game way of helping you use the excess mana you'll eventually have playing this deck.