Competitive Kess Storm-Control

Commander / EDH Combo Competitive Infinite Combo Spellslinger Storm UBR (Grixis)

Kylenano

Land (29)

• 1x Island
• 1x Mountain
• 1x Swamp
• 1x Snow-Covered Island
• 1x Snow-Covered Mountain
• 1x Snow-Covered Swamp
• 1x Ancient Tomb
• 1x Badlands
• 1x Blood Crypt
• 1x Bloodstained Mire
• 1x Cascade Bluffs
• 1x City of Brass
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Fiery Islet
• 1x Flooded Strand
• 1x Mana Confluence
• 1x Misty Rainforest
• 1x Morphic Pool
• 1x Polluted Delta
• 1x Prismatic Vista
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Scalding Tarn
• 1x Steam Vents
• 1x Underground Sea
• 1x Volcanic Island
• 1x Watery Grave
• 1x Wooded Foothills
• 1x Academy Ruins
• 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

Wincon (8)

• 1x Aetherflux Reservoir
• 1x Isochron Scepter
• 1x Guttersnipe
• 1x Laboratory Maniac
• 1x Demonic Consultation
• 1x Dramatic Reversal
• 1x Doomsday
• 1x Torment of Hailfire

Mana Ramp (18)

• 1x Chromatic Lantern
• 1x Chrome Mox
• 1x Dimir Signet
• 1x Izzet Signet
• 1x Lion's Eye Diamond
• 1x Lotus Petal
• 1x Mana Crypt
• 1x Mana Vault
• 1x Mox Diamond
• 1x Primal Amulet  ^Flip
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Talisman of Creativity
• 1x Talisman of Dominance
• 1x Cabal Ritual
• 1x Dark Ritual
• 1x Seething Song
• 1x Mox Opal
• 1x Baral, Chief of Compliance

Control (14)

• 1x Notion Thief
• 1x Arcane Denial
• 1x Counterspell
• 1x Cyclonic Rift
• 1x Flusterstorm
• 1x Force of Negation
• 1x Force of Will
• 1x Mana Drain
• 1x Pact of Negation
• 1x Slaughter Pact
• 1x Stifle
• 1x Terminate
• 1x By Force
• 1x Toxic Deluge

Utility (4)

• 1x Snapcaster Mage
• 1x Lim-Dul's Vault
• 1x Mission Briefing
• 1x Yawgmoth's Will

Commander (1)

Card Draw (16)

• 1x Scroll Rack
• 1x Sensei's Divining Top
• 1x Mystic Remora
• 1x Ad Nauseam
• 1x Brainstorm
• 1x Frantic Search
• 1x Opt
• 1x Predict
• 1x Thought Scour
• 1x Gitaxian Probe
• 1x Night's Whisper
• 1x Ponder
• 1x Preordain
• 1x Serum Visions
• 1x Wheel of Fortune
• 1x Windfall

Tutor (10)

• 1x Spellseeker
• 1x Trinket Mage
• 1x Entomb
• 1x Muddle the Mixture
• 1x Mystical Tutor
• 1x Vampiric Tutor
• 1x Tezzeret the Seeker
• 1x Demonic Tutor
• 1x Fabricate
• 1x Merchant Scroll

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Maybeboard

Control (18)

• 1x Cursed Totem
• 1x Brain Freeze
• 1x Delay
• 1x Dispel
• 1x Flusterstorm
• 1x Izzet Charm
• 1x Mana Leak
• 1x Mental Misstep
• 1x Pyroblast
• 1x Reality Shift
• 1x Red Elemental Blast
• 1x Remand
• 1x Snap
• 1x Spell Pierce
• 1x Dreadbore
• 1x Mnemonic Betrayal
• 1x Praetor's Grasp
• 1x Vandalblast

Card Draw (6)

• 1x Mental Note
• 1x Visions of Beyond
• 1x Sleight of Hand
• 1x Time Spiral
• 1x Wheel of Fortune
• 1x Windfall

Land (4)

• 1x Bojuka Bog
• 1x Reflecting Pool
• 1x Strip Mine
• 1x Gemstone Caverns

Mana Ramp (2)

• 1x Grim Monolith
• 1x Mox Diamond

Wincon (1)

• 1x Tainted Pact

Utility (6)

• 1x Candelabra of Tawnos
• 1x Animate Dead
• 1x Copy Artifact
• 1x Tainted Pact
• 1x Reanimate
• 1x Unearth

Tutor (3)

• 1x Diabolic Intent
• 1x Imperial Seal
• 1x Personal Tutor

Other (2)

• 1x Fabricate
• 1x Merchant Scroll

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Introduction

Hi all! Here is my personal crack at a competitive Kess deck for EDH. The deck is supposed to be designed with a storm/consultation/doomsday core inside a moderate control shell. I've play-tested the deck (without Modern Horizons additions and the changes mentioned below) a handful of times and have been quite happy with the results. Posting here for comments/suggestions from the community as I am always looking to make it better and am quite new to the game with about 3 months of experience.

New Additions/Changes

1. Slaughter Pact to improve the deck's ability to deal with creatures and opposing commanders that need to connect to go off.
2. Stifle to help out against abilities that can't be dealt with by the deck's counterspells. I lost one game on the last draw step of a doomsday combo to a creature-sacking ability that destroyed lab man and couldn't be countered by the Force of Will in my hand.
3. Imperial Recruiter as another low CMC creature tutor which can chain into other creature-tutors and can be useful as a chump blocker. Deck inter-connectivity is always nice.

Obvious Improvements

There are a few clear upgrades that I am aware of but that are just too expensive as the deck has already cost a small fortune. These are:

1. Badlands , Underground Sea and Volcanic Island in place of one of the basic islands, swamps and mountains.
2. Timetwister in place of Echo of Eons .

Win-Cons & Strategies

1. Doomsday + Laboratory Maniac - The classic doomsday win-con.
2. Demonic Consultation + Laboratory Maniac - With lab man on the field, cast Demonic Consultation and name a card not in the deck. Another possibility is to have Kess in play, cast Demonic Consultation naming Laboratory Maniac , then casting it again from the graveyard with Kess's ability and naming a card not in the deck.
3. Dramatic Reversal + Isochron Scepter - The traditional infinite mana combo with either Sol Ring or Mana Crypt and another artifact to tap and untap Isochron Scepter imprinted with Dramatic Reversal . With a cantrip available, this should be a good storming off point.
4. Storming to 151+ life with Aetherflux Reservoir and zapping each opponent.
5. Omniscience + Show and Tell - This will usually herald the start of a storm win or cantrip into one of the other win-cons.
6. Dramatic Reversal + Isochron Scepter + Torment of Hailfire - Destroy all permanents, cards in opponents hands and life totals with infinite mana, where = in Torment of Hailfire 's effective CMC.
7. Paradox Engine + several mana rocks can start the storm win.
8. Guttersnipe can also accelerate the storm win if in play early enough before Aetherflux Reservoir charges up.
9. Dramatic Reversal + Isochron Scepter + Urza, Lord High Artificer - With unlimited mana, cast the deck with card:Urza, High Lord Artificer's ability.

The strategy is to draw/tutor/cantrip into one or more of the above win-cons, using control spells to slow the opponents attempts to stop this from happening or deploying their own win-cons. Played aggressively, this deck can achieve turn 3 wins with moderate consistency and some luck, and turn 1 wins are theoretically possible with a near-perfect hand. This would be: Laboratory Maniac + Mana Crypt + Lotus Petal + Demonic Consultation + Any land that produces .

Looking forward to any suggestions/comments from the community!

Top Ranked	Achieved #64 position overall 5 years ago Achieved #37 position in Commander / EDH 5 years ago Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH Storm 5 years ago Achieved #1 position in Commander / EDH UBR (Grixis) 5 years ago
Date added	5 years
Last updated	3 years
Key combos	Dramatic Reversal + Isochron Scepter Omniscience + Show and Tell Doomsday + Laboratory Maniac Demonic Consultation + Laboratory Maniac Dramatic Reversal + Isochron Scepter + Urza, Lord High Artificer
Legality	This deck is not Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	19 - 0 Mythic Rares 35 - 0 Rares 18 - 0 Uncommons 14 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	1.94
Folders	edh