“Oh this is going to be fun”
Art:Killian, Ink Duelist
by Ryan Pancoast
Table of Contents
Todays Featured Commander Is:
Killian is an Orzhov madman! Killian is a ton of fun to buff and play and is absolutely perfect for the aura / voltron archetype. Coming out the gate with lifelink and menace as well as a way to make not only our auras better but also making our single target removal! Combine that into a package for only 2 mana and your opponents may groan when this madman hits the table! Killian is a different take but has a lot of the same elements of what you would expect for an Orzhov deck, there is nothing wrong with switching it up on your opponents! Without further adieu lets get it!
The Deck:
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Killian, Ink Duelist Auras!
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Why Killian, Ink Duelist?
The main reason we chose Killian is because they are absolutely perfect for an aura / voltron style deck not only are they super cheap and reduce the cost of our auras and anything that casts, they are also packing menace and lifelink all they need is some buffs and we have a winning recipe! This deck is crazy efficient and fast and hits like a truck!
Deck Overview:
This section contains information about cards in the deck and how they function within the deck! As well as highlighting some of my favorite cards in the deck!
Creatures:
Since we have a ton of enchantments and overall our devotion can get pretty high we can use Gray Merchant of Asphodel
as an effective way to gain some life or in some cases finish off our opponents! Grim Guardian
is another great card that allows us to passively whittle down our opponents and can be quite the nuisance. Spiteful Squad
we almost always use as a blocker / sacrifice target so we can buff up Killian even more!
We of course need ways to make our enchantments even cheaper like Starnheim Courser
and Transcendent Envoy
both of which make our enchantments even cheaper and allow us to hold up some removal or draw spells! We also have a lot of defensive enchantments and they can occasionally get removed so we can use cards like Auramancer
, Ironclad Slayer
are both great ways to get some of our key Auras back!
Instants:
Our instant package is where a lot of our removal lies and because of Killian this is always discounted by 2 colorless! Crib Swap
and Bleed Dry
are both super sweet cards but get really crazy when we can cast them for one and two mana. Cards like Ob Nixilis's Cruelty
is a one mana exile effect when Killian is out! This efficiency allows us to be more offensive on our turn and buff Killian all the way! Since Killian is a super valuable permanent we can use cards like Loran's Escape
and Shelter
as great ways to protect Killian from single target removal!
Sorceries:
Once we get Killian buffed up we can use cards like Essence Harvest
as a 3 mana way to sometimes end the game or get a big attack in after and end the game that way! Liturgy of Blood
is super sweet in this deck since it is basically free costing 3 and getting 3 back! We dont have a ton of creatures and the ones we do have provide a bunch of value so we absolutely have to include Unearth
! Night's Whisper
and Read the Bones
are both effective card draw spells to help us keep the casting going!
Artifacts:
Mana is the name of our game packing classics like Arcane Signet
, Charcoal Diamond
and Marble Diamond
. We will never complain about extra mana or if we have are having trouble getting our colors some mana fixing. My favorite artifact in the deck is Wedding Invitation
which not only gives us a card but makes Killian unblockable a super easy way to commander damage kill an opponent
Enchantments:
There are an absolute ton of enchantments in the deck (I know very shocking) but they can easily be broken down into two categories ones that stop our opponents and Auras for Killian, the best part is that both of these categories get reduced from Killian!
For auras that target our opponents stuff we have strategically chosen enchantments that cost 3 so we can get there cast down to one when Killian is out! Oblivion Ring
, Hobble
which also gives us a card out of the deal and Bound in Silence
all of these cards are great ways to stop our opponents pesky creatures and we can do it very easily!
We also have a ton of offensive enchantments while a lot of these get the discount some dont but they are still crazy good like Ethereal Armor
and All That Glitters
that can get us very close to a commander damage kill very quickly! Asha's Favor
is a card that makes Killian into some serious Keyword Soup! Feast of the Unicorn
may be an expensive effect at 4 mana but since we are only playing 2 mana!
Land Base:
We have a low overall cost, but in testing I found that 35 was still the perfect number and allowed us to rarely flood and always have what we need. Our land base is all Orzhov but we do have some additional ways to draw cards like Desert of the True
and Polluted Mire
these are good early or late game, they almost always get cycled in the late game as an extra card draw! Our land base doesn’t do anything too fancy or out of the ordinary.
Strengths of the Deck:
- Super easy to cast spells for cheap due to Killian’s ability
- Killian having menace makes him naturally evasive
- Super easy to buff him for a commander damage kill
Weaknesses of the Deck:
- Gameplan is a little bit all-in
- Weak to enchantment hate
- Weak to control strategies
Deck Stats:
Sample Hands:
Main Win Conditions:
We have no infinite combos or loops in the deck, while we can use really any creature for the auras / voltron strategy we typically choose Killian since he is already packing menace and lifelink all Killian is missing is some buffs, and dont worry we have that covered. Arguably our main win condition since we can easily draw into it and kill is Phyresis
which we can easily get out an infect kill. Other than that it is not hard for our deck to do commander damage to the whole table and grab the win!
Conclusion:
In conclusion Killian is a super fun creature that allows us to heavily discounts anything that targets a creature, we can use this mana discount not only to be more efficient but too operate on less resources if we need too! Killian is the real deal, whether we are infecting or commander damaging our opponents out of the game we will have a great time doing it. This deck is a ton of fun and Killian is a slam dunk of a card. Thanks for reading to the end and thank you for all of your support!