Kelsein the Plague by icybeesting

Format: Commander

Commander: Kelsien, the Plague

Bracket: 3

Deck overview

This Mardu experience-counter deck, helmed by Kelsien, the Plague, is a deliberate, incremental control-Voltron hybrid. The core loop involves giving Kelsien deathtouch via Basilisk Collar, Gorgon's Head, or similar equipment, then using his tap ability to snipe creatures, slowly accumulating experience counters that pump him and fuel other payoffs like Minthara, Merciless Soul, Daxos the Returned, and Otharri, Suns' Glory. Untap engines such as Thornbite Staff, Drumbellower, and Sting, the Glinting Dagger let Kelsien fire multiple times per turn cycle, clearing boards while growing. The deck packs a dense protection and recursion suite to keep Kelsien on the battlefield, and wins through commander damage (often accelerated by Quietus Spike or Vorpal Sword) or a swarm of experience-spawned Rebel and Spirit tokens. It is a moderately paced deck that rewards patience and resource management.

Decklist (100 cards)

• 1 Aetheric Amplifier
• 1 Arcane Signet
• 1 Arid Mesa
• 1 Aspect of Gorgon
• 1 Basilisk Collar
• 1 Battlefield Forge
• 1 Blasphemous Act
• 1 Blood Crypt
• 1 Bloodstained Mire
• 1 Bojuka Bog
• 1 Boros Charm
• 1 Caves of Koilos
• 1 Command Beacon
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Crackling Doom
• 1 Daxos the Returned
• 1 Drumbellower
• 1 Elegant Parlor
• 1 Ertha Jo, Frontier Mentor
• 1 Exotic Orchard
• 1 Fabled Passage
• 1 Falthis, Shadowcat Familiar
• 1 Fighter Class
• 1 Flooded Strand
• 1 Fracture
• 1 General's Enforcer
• 1 Gift of Doom
• 1 Glaring Spotlight
• 1 Godless Shrine
• 1 Gorgon Flail
• 1 Gorgon's Head
• 1 Harvester of Souls
• 1 Hawkeye's Bow
• 1 Hawkeye, Young Avenger
• 1 Humble Defector
• 1 Illusionist's Bracers
• 1 Jeska's Will
• 1 Kalemne, Disciple of Iroas
• 1 Kelsien, the Plague
• 1 Lae'zel, Vlaakith's Champion
• 1 Lightning Greaves
• 1 Luxury Suite
• 1 Magda, Brazen Outlaw
• 1 Magewright's Stone
• 1 Maha, Its Feathers Night
• 1 Mari, the Killing Quill
• 1 Marsh Flats
• 1 Minas Tirith
• 1 Minthara, Merciless Soul
• 1 Mirrodin Avenged
• 1 Mithril Coat
• 1 Mjölnir, Hammer of Thor
• 1 Morbid Opportunist
• 2 Mountain
• 1 Mythos of Snapdax
• 1 Open the Armory
• 1 Orcish Bowmasters
• 1 Otharri, Suns' Glory
• 1 Path to Exile
• 1 Patriar's Seal
• 3 Plains
• 1 Plaza of Heroes
• 1 Prismatic Vista
• 1 Puresteel Paladin
• 1 Quietus Spike
• 1 Raucous Theater
• 1 Reconnaissance
• 1 Reflecting Pool
• 1 Rune of Mortality
• 1 Sacred Foundry
• 1 Savai Triome
• 1 Shadowspear
• 1 Shadowy Backstreet
• 1 Shay Cormac
• 1 Shinka, the Bloodsoaked Keep
• 1 Shizo, Death's Storehouse
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Spectator Seating
• 1 Steelshaper's Gift
• 1 Sting, the Glinting Dagger
• 1 Stroke of Midnight
• 1 Sulfurous Springs
• 4 Swamp
• 1 Swiftfoot Boots
• 1 Swords to Plowshares
• 1 Takenuma, Abandoned Mire
• 1 Teferi's Protection
• 1 Termination Facilitator
• 1 Thornbite Staff
• 1 Vandalblast
• 1 Vault of Champions
• 1 Verdant Catacombs
• 1 Vorpal Sword
• 1 You Are Already Dead