It's time, I think, to build a deck for myself.

It's funny, though. I have ways I like to play Magic, but truth is I really like playing in general. I like lots of different styles of decks, and for every Mono-Black Kill-All-The-Things terror machine I have, I've got something wacky, something combat-oriented, a combo machine, and something designed just to make the table have more fun. As long as the deck is doing something, I'm probably going to enjoy it.

(All of the decks linked above I actually own and play in real life. And I acknowledge Meren of Clan Nel Toth isn't Mono-Black, but it works the same way and no one likes it when I play that deck. I love playing lots of different styles!)

That means that, for me, nothing from Wilds of Eldraine really stood out. My wife, my kid, my dad - cards all jumped out to me as being good for them, but as I scrolled through the list, looking for myself, I was a bit stumped. A lot of them looked like fun.

But then one of them caught my eye.

When I first started playing EDH, I began with a Mono-Black deck, mostly because I've always liked playing Mono-Black and because I happened to open an Anowan, the Ruin Sage in a draft. My next deck was Mono-Green around Molimo, Maro-Sorcerer, and it became apparent to me the thing to do was to build a mono-color deck for each of the colors (which, actually, was the genesis of my first series of articles around here nine years ago, but I digress). When I looked at the White deck I wanted to build, I decided I'd try Khemba, Kha Regent. She looked solid, neat ability, let me play with cool Equipment, and I had been playing a Mono-White Standard deck built around Quest for the Holy Relic and cheap Creatures to go get Argentum Armor and build-my-own-Eldrazi, so I thought I could lean into that sort of synergy.

I played the deck for a few years, and it was... fine. It never ended up being as fun as I wanted it to be, because Kemba kind of pushes you two directions - are you a Voltron deck or a tokens go-wide deck? If you build for both, you dilute both strategies, and it ends up just kind of wimpy. I took it apart and used the Equipment other places.

Since then, though, I've been looking for a place to put cool Equipment in an Equipment-themed deck. I like playing with Equipment and would like to have a deck like this in my stable. Kellan may just be my answer.

Kellan, the Fae-Blooded | Commander | Mark Wischkaemper

• Commander (1)
• 1 Kellan, the Fae-Blooded // Birthright Boon

• Creatures (12)
• 1 Akiri, Fearless Voyager
• 1 Ardenn, Intrepid Archaeologist
• 1 Armored Skyhunter
• 1 Bruenor Battlehammer
• 1 Danitha Capashen, Paragon
• 1 Halvar, God of Battle
• 1 Lion Sash
• 1 Merry, Esquire of Rohan
• 1 Puresteel Paladin
• 1 Sram, Senior Edificer
• 1 Stoneforge Mystic
• 1 Sun Titan

• Instants (10)
• 1 Boros Charm
• 1 Chaos Warp
• 1 Dispatch
• 1 Enlightened Tutor
• 1 Generous Gift
• 1 Loran's Escape
• 1 Path to Exile
• 1 Ride Down
• 1 Stroke of Midnight
• 1 Swords to Plowshares

• Sorceries (5)
• 1 Open the Armory
• 1 Phyrexian Rebirth
• 1 Sevinne's Reclamation
• 1 Steelshaper's Gift
• 1 Unfinished Business

• Enchantments (10)
• 1 All That Glitters
• 1 Angelic Gift
• 1 Fighter Class
• 1 Forge Anew
• 1 Mantle of the Ancients
• 1 Sigarda's Aid
• 1 Songbirds' Blessing
• 1 Spirit Mantle
• 1 Timely Ward
• 1 Unquestioned Authority

• Artifacts (22)
• 1 Anduril, Flame of the West
• 1 Beamtown Beatstick
• 1 Bitterthorn, Nissa's Animus
• 1 Blackblade Reforged
• 1 Bladehold War-Whip
• 1 Bloodforged Battle-Axe
• 1 Colossus Hammer
• 1 Hammer of Nazahn
• 1 Hexplate Wallbreaker
• 1 Loxodon Warhammer
• 1 Mask of Memory
• 1 Masterwork of Ingenuity
• 1 Mithril Coat
• 1 Nettlecyst
• 1 Shadowspear
• 1 Sunforger
• 1 Sword of Feast and Famine
• 1 Sword of Forge and Frontier
• 1 Sword of Hearth and Home
• 1 Sword of the Animist
• 1 The Reaver Cleaver
• 1 Thran Power Suit

• Lands (40)
• 5 Mountain
• 8 Plains
• 1 Ancient Den
• 1 Axgard Armory
• 1 Battlefield Forge
• 1 Boros Garrison
• 1 Buried Ruin
• 1 Castle Ardenvale
• 1 Clifftop Retreat
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Eiganjo, Seat of the Empire
• 1 Exotic Orchard
• 1 Furycalm Snarl
• 1 Great Furnace
• 1 Hall of Heliod's Generosity
• 1 Kher Keep
• 1 Minas Tirith
• 1 Mistveil Plains
• 1 Needle Spires
• 1 Needleverge Pathway // Pillarverge Pathway
• 1 Roadside Reliquary
• 1 Rogue's Passage
• 1 Rugged Prairie
• 1 Slayers' Stronghold
• 1 Spectator Seating
• 1 Sundown Pass
• 1 Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion
• 1 Temple of Triumph
• 1 War Room

Buy This Deck Export text format

Kellan gives us a second color and a built-in curve, which is kind of cool. We can turn two play the sorcery and turn three play our Commander, then hopefully on turn four equip him and swing for a chunk of damage. Once again we're kind of pulled in two directions - after all, when we Equip him we also buff up our other Creatures - but it seems less important to push into that ability. We can use our Double-Striking Commander just fine, and have a little subtheme that cares about that bonus if we want.

One nice thing is our curve can be kept rather low. I'm skipping all forms of ramp here and just going with my 40 Lands. We have very few which come into play tapped, though, because we want to use that mana early. Like I said, the goal is to stay on curve at least till turn four, and if we try to play Arcane Signets or Commander's Spheres we'll end up throwing that curve all off. Use the mulligan wisely and don't keep a hand with fewer than three Lands, though!

We have a few pieces of Equipment which draw us cards, and in fact, Mask of Memory and Sword of the Animist are both excellent choices with Birthright Boon. We also have some Creatures which keep cards flowing, like Akiri, Fearless Voyager and Puresteel Paladin. We've also got some ways to buy back our stuff, like Forge Anew, which ends up saving us mana, too; I love the idea of getting back a Colossus Hammer, dropping it for one, and Equipping it for free. 12/12 Double Strike, coming at you? A few cards which seek out specific pieces of Equipment add to Birthright Boon, including the Mystic, are always good to have, mostly because if we really need a way to punch through or draw cards or whatever, it helps us get the thing we need.

We're mostly going to win with Kellan. We're going to strap him up with some Swords and Hammers and all kinds of stuff, including a few choice Auras like All That Glitters and Angelic Gift, and swing with his Double Striking self. It should be decently easy to get to 21 damage with him, and stuff like Spirit Mantle and Unquestioned Authority will help push him through.

We have a few of the best point removal spells in the game, but we also get Dispatch because we'll almost always have Metalcraft, and Stroke of Midnight to deal with non-Creature issues. Oh, and any chance I get to run Ride Down, I run Ride Down, because it's my favorite card in the game. (Now you know the real reason I wanted to build this Commander!)

That's about it. We have a Rogue's Passage to help Kellan sneak through, and a bunch of fun Equipment to attach to him. Feel free to mix and match with what you like and what you have; heck, Argentum Armor might not be a bad choice for this one.

One of the fun things about decks like this is they generally work well but they feel different each time. Because Birthright Boon only happens once, and you're pretty likely to go get Sword of the Animist (I would, since it's playable on turn four and makes sure you keep getting Lands), that's kind of where the same game stops. After that, it has a lot more to do with what you draw; will you hit that Spirit Mantle you need to break through someone's rank of Tokens? Will you luck into the Fighter Class to go get Colossus Hammer just in time to race the player about to combo off? It'll be fun and different each time, without too much likelihood of the deck simply not working at all.

It's also worth noting a number of the cards are here because I actually own them! That Kemba deck came apart and a few of the pieces have moved on, but many of them are just hanging out, waiting for the right deck. This might be just the place!

For my playgroup, I think this deck will be anywhere from fair to pretty good in terms of win rate. Based on play-testing, this deck will throw out enough damage to win the game (with three opponents) by around turn eight, which I feel like is a turn or three earlier than we tend to finish up, so it might be a touch on the fast side. That said, I don't think anyone will mind it, and if my friends bring enough removal, they shouldn't have too much trouble.

What's your favorite Equipment commander? Do you ever feel like being pulled in two directions (or more) when building dilutes your deck too much? Let me know on socials!

Thanks for reading.