Tainted Kess CEDH by thedevil613

Format: Commander

Commander: Kess, Dissident Mage

Bracket: 5

DeckCheck Threat Index: 90

Deck overview

This deck is an optimized competitive EDH Grixis Turbo build helmed by Kess, Dissident Mage. It aims to achieve an ultra-fast, protected victory on Turns 2–3 through high-density fast mana, premier tutors, and compact win conditions. Its primary path resolves Thassa's Oracle alongside Demonic Consultation or Tainted Pact, exiling the library to win on the spot. Alternatively, the deck casts an early Ad Nauseam or Necropotence to draw dozens of cards, or establishes an Underworld Breach engine with Lion's Eye Diamond and Brain Freeze to mill out opponents or storm into an Oracle finish. Kess, Dissident Mage acts as a resilient value and recursion engine from the command zone, allowing critical spells to be recast from the graveyard. A comprehensive interaction suite of free counterspells and low-cost bounce protects the combo and disrupts opponents.

Decklist (100 cards)

  • 1 Ad Nauseam
  • 1 An Offer You Can't Refuse
  • 1 Ancient Tomb
  • 1 Arcane Signet
  • 1 Arid Mesa
  • 1 Badlands
  • 1 Blood Crypt
  • 1 Bloodstained Mire
  • 1 Brain Freeze
  • 1 Brainstorm
  • 1 Cabal Ritual
  • 1 Chain of Vapor
  • 1 Chrome Mox
  • 1 City of Brass
  • 1 Command Tower
  • 1 Cyclonic Rift
  • 1 Dark Ritual
  • 1 Dauthi Voidwalker
  • 1 Deflecting Swat
  • 1 Demonic Consultation
  • 1 Demonic Tutor
  • 1 Diabolic Intent
  • 1 Exotic Orchard
  • 1 Fellwar Stone
  • 1 Fierce Guardianship
  • 1 Final Fortune
  • 1 Flooded Strand
  • 1 Flusterstorm
  • 1 Force of Negation
  • 1 Force of Will
  • 1 Gamble
  • 1 Gemstone Caverns
  • 1 Gilded Drake
  • 1 Grim Monolith
  • 1 Imperial Seal
  • 1 Into the Flood Maw
  • 1 Intuition
  • 1 Island
  • 1 Jeska's Will
  • 1 Kess, Dissident Mage
  • 1 Ledger Shredder
  • 1 Lion's Eye Diamond
  • 1 Lotus Petal
  • 1 Luxury Suite
  • 1 Mana Confluence
  • 1 Mana Drain
  • 1 Mana Vault
  • 1 Marsh Flats
  • 1 Mental Misstep
  • 1 Mindbreak Trap
  • 1 Misty Rainforest
  • 1 Mockingbird
  • 1 Morphic Pool
  • 1 Mox Amber
  • 1 Mox Diamond
  • 1 Mox Opal
  • 1 Muddle the Mixture
  • 1 Mystic Remora
  • 1 Mystical Tutor
  • 1 Necropotence
  • 1 Opposition Agent
  • 1 Orcish Bowmasters
  • 1 Otawara, Soaring City
  • 1 Pact of Negation
  • 1 Polluted Delta
  • 1 Pyroblast
  • 1 Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer
  • 1 Reanimate
  • 1 Red Elemental Blast
  • 1 Rhystic Study
  • 1 Scalding Tarn
  • 1 Simian Spirit Guide
  • 1 Snap
  • 1 Sol Ring
  • 1 Spell Pierce
  • 1 Spire of Industry
  • 1 Steam Vents
  • 1 Swamp
  • 1 Swan Song
  • 1 Tainted Pact
  • 1 Talisman of Creativity
  • 1 Talisman of Dominance
  • 1 Talisman of Indulgence
  • 1 Thassa's Oracle
  • 1 Timetwister
  • 1 Toxic Deluge
  • 1 Training Center
  • 1 Underground River
  • 1 Underground Sea
  • 1 Underworld Breach
  • 1 Vampiric Tutor
  • 1 Verdant Catacombs
  • 1 Volcanic Island
  • 1 Watery Grave
  • 1 Wheel of Fortune
  • 1 Wheel of Misfortune
  • 1 Windfall
  • 1 Wishclaw Talisman
  • 1 Wooded Foothills
  • 1 Yawgmoth's Will