The Kill(ian) Box

Commander / EDH KibaAlpha

SCORE: 122 | 36 COMMENTS | 10884 VIEWS | IN 43 FOLDERS


dnthymamai says... #1

Nice! Really, all of your card choices are spot on! Powerful buffs, effective removal, tutors, draw, this deck has it all! When I rely on my Commander in any of my decks, I usually try to have some Protection from any Color spells at the ready, but with the enchantments buffs, It would not be that great on this deck as they would fall off.

The only thing I would maybe suggest is giving Spectra Ward a thought? Great deck!

April 27, 2021 2:16 a.m.

Last_Laugh says... #2

Bad advice deleted lol.

April 27, 2021 3:25 a.m. Edited.

EVENcast says... #3

Nice Killian Deck! I’ve been working on a similar build, Killing Killian, and I think I’ve stumbled onto a few good strategies. I’d recommend Sigarda's Aid to drop your auras at instant speed. When your opponents see Phyresis they’re going to make sure they can block or remove the commander ASAP, but if you wait to drop it before the damage step you can eliminate an opponent before they know it’s coming. I like the idea of sneaky infect wins, so I’ve also included Snake Cult Initiation and Inkmoth Nexus . Nexus will lose its auras at the end of turn, but if you can buff it at instant speed you’ll potentially be able to take someone out. I’m dubious weather Killian can win through regular commander damage, as we need to buff him +19, so I’m really leaning on infect. I’m working on a primer as well, and I’ll be making updates once I have more gameplay data... I’ll probably check back in on your page to see what you’ve come up with as well. Feel free to check out my list and throw some suggestions out as well! Good luck with your Kill Box!

April 27, 2021 9:02 p.m.

EVENcast says... #4

One more suggestion: Eldrazi Conscription is much more viable as a 6 drop with our commander out, and can also become a one hit kill with Phyresis . I disagree with the Spectra Ward suggestion, as it prevents us from dropping more auras onto the enchanted creature.

April 27, 2021 9:09 p.m.

klaudiohmm says... #5

Hey! I think that you should use more Auras that draws a card when they enter the battlefield (e.g. Angelic Gift for flying, Grisly Transformation for evasion to non-Orzhov creatures, Sage's Reverie ). A card like Chosen by Heliod probably work better than Holy Strength , for example.

A card like Skeletal Scrying may help you drawing cards. You can use Auras destroyed by the first time Killian is removed to fuel it.

What do you think about Hateful Eidolon ? It can be a voltron beater and help you draw cards if Killian is destroyed. Scarab of the Unseen can also help you recovering Auras from a creature that is about to be destroyed. This with Auras that draws a card when they enter the battlefield may be a good card advantage play.

Maybe a boardwipe or two can help you in some situations.

April 28, 2021 8:47 a.m.

klaudiohmm says... #6

I think that some spells can take benefit from Killian's ability as well.

Silverquill Command may be a good addition, it costs only two if you choose the "+3/+3 and flying" mode, while it can reanimate one draw engine like Kor Spiritdancer or Sram, Senior Edificer . I also like Wretched Confluence , it costs only three mana if you choose the "-2/-2" mode at least once, and the other modes are very interesting in my opinion.

If you're struggling against removals, maybe Sejiri Shelter  Flip helps you protect Killian without affecting your mana base that much. Dark Dabbling maybe helps too.

April 28, 2021 8:57 a.m.

KibaAlpha says... #7

@dnthymamai

Thank you for the very positive comment and suggestion. I had at the beginning considered Spectra Ward , however it being CMC 5 and that it locks me out of being able to add any further auras to the CMDR has me choosing to pass on the card. I am looking at other options for protecting my CMDR.

@EVENcast

Thank you for the positive comments and suggestions. Sigarda's Aid I had at the start but wasn't getting the value from it's flash and now that I'm looking at removing Phyresis it would offer even less.

Eldrazi Conscription is just way to high CMC for this particular build. The focus is 3 CMC auras with 1 colour pip and 2 or fewer colourless mana. If Killian didn't have the 2 colourless mana reduction ability I'd have Eldrazi Conscription in the deck for sure.

@klaudiohmm

Thank you for your comments and suggestions. Angelic Gift is nice but I didn't want to use up card slots for a single ability like flying for a single card draw. I'm working to maximize my gains and opted for Asha's Favor for 3 abilities I wanted. There are some auras I'm working to slot in that will draw me a card on cast.

A couple of your suggestions have me considering them. I'm still tinkering and tweaking the deck so perhaps they will find their way in. Wretched Confluence with a CMC of 5 is going outside of my current build parameters. I really do not want to exceed a CMC of 4. I'm looking at a more of a speedy Voltron build.

April 28, 2021 4:22 p.m.

KibaAlpha says... #8

klaudiohmm

I may end up eating my words. It's looking like I will be making changes to add auras that ETB draw a card such as Angelic Gift as you suggested.

April 28, 2021 6:32 p.m.

Last_Laugh says... #9

Ok, I took a better look at your list and my deleted post wasn't as far off as I thought. I'd suggested Horobi, Death's Wail to make your auras double as removal. You could also include Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter to combo with it ("all" can be 0).

April 28, 2021 9:20 p.m.

klaudiohmm says... #10

Last_Laugh

This deck is a voltron deck, so it wants to pump a creature with a lot of auras preventing it from being destroyed. Horobi goes for a very different route, I think Horobi behaves more like a control deck, using free or cheap "target creature" effects (even with lands and bad artifacts, like Squee's Toy ) to control the board while winning the game with heavy X-spells or something like Revel in Riches (I have a Horobi list on my tappedout profile and played some matches with it).

If we cast Horobi, we won't pump Killian with Auras, and this is exactly what this deck wants to do.

KibaAlpha

The "keeping the low curve" is very comprehensible, but I don't know if the matches you'll play will be that fast (considering you're playing voltron that wins the game through combat damage, a slower strategy than combo in most cases). If the matches takes longer, I guess that you'll need more powerful spells (removal, recursion, etc), that will eventually cost more mana.

I see that you're not running Retether , another great recursion spell. I think that you should at least give it a try. It's a way to re-trigger your Auras ETB effects and pump Killian if it's removed.

I don't know if you've tested this deck and could keep up with your opponents in longer games. What are your experiences with this deck and these situations?

April 29, 2021 6:36 a.m.

DuTogira says... #11

Collection of
Auras and
Library of
Various
Enchantment
Spells

June 10, 2021 10:03 p.m.

KibaAlpha says... #12

DuTogira

That's so obvious and a good fit. Thanks for seeing what I was missing.

June 10, 2021 10:13 p.m.

Housegheist says... #13

What about replacing Maze of Ith for Thaumatic Compass  Flip?

It can tutor up some lands - which is always needed in BW - and once it flipped it has the same effect as the maze plus it taps for one colorless.

June 17, 2021 4:34 a.m.

Housegheist says... #14

Sry, for double... But Hyena Umbra and Felidar Umbra could provide some additional protection to your commander. Umbral Mantle would provide some pseudo-vigilance pump effect.

And Umbra Mystic would push the totem armor-strategy even further.

Oh and Cunning Rhetoric is awesome against enemy attacks :)

June 17, 2021 4:48 a.m. Edited.

KibaAlpha says... #15

Housegheist

I find the compass to be too slow compared to the maze. I when playing Orzhov prefer artifact ramp over land ramp.

The colourless mana it offers isn't of an real value to me. I've brewed this deck to for the most part work with very minimal colourless mana.

The hyena and felidar umbra I considered before and am again. Probably going to swap them in.

The Umbral Mantle isn't really needed. I already have three auras that give vigilance and I have Reconnaissance .

I love Cunning Rhetoric and it's in my Liesa deck.

I appreciate and thank you for your suggestions.

June 17, 2021 4:50 p.m.

MattouWolf says... #16

Interesting deck, I used to run Geist of Saint Traft voltron build with tons of enchantment auras and equipments, it was fun, you could easily remove one opponent with commander damage but usually it was hard to do that to all the players and they somehow pulled out faster combo win in the meantime, but it was fun nonetheless ^^

June 29, 2021 3:13 a.m.

Vessiliana says... #17

Have you thought about Daxos the Returned? He will get experience each time you cast an aura on Killian, and that will give you the option of sinking mana into making big, instant-speed blockers.

August 25, 2021 4:41 a.m.
October 1, 2021 8:24 a.m.

griffstick says... #19

1 card short of a hundred. I say add Unquestioned Authority

December 1, 2021 8:30 a.m. Edited.

griffstick says... #20

Nevermind you've got that. How about Pentarch Ward

December 1, 2021 8:33 a.m.

TrashedPandai says... #21

Might be worth checking out Entangler

February 11, 2022 12:56 a.m.

H-E-N-R-Y says... #22

I've wanted to make this guy for a while; good work KibaAlpha!

June 19, 2022 1:22 p.m.

Robe of Stars might be good here. Basically a slightly different Flickerform. The only downside is that the attached creature is gone until your next turn... and in this deck, that probably means your only blocker is gone, too. But it can be great to save your commander in a pinch.

June 19, 2022 4:42 p.m.

Darksteel Mutation locks down commanders and seems to fit in here

July 19, 2022 11:40 p.m.

SnowGryph says... #25

Look into creatures with the "Bestow" keyword. They're a good answer to removal since they hit the field as creatures afterward. Unfortunately very few fit into the mana cost you've set out but here are a few I think would be good

Nighthowler, Eidolon of Countless Battles & Ghostblade Eidolon - more damage, rather straightforward

Herald of Torment & Cavern Lampad - extra sources of evasion since Arbiter won't always show up.

Additionally Gift of Immortality can help avoid having to re-cast your commander.

July 20, 2022 8:44 p.m.

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