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They called him Kellan, the Kid inMagic: The Gathering’sOutlaws of Thunder Junction. The half-human, half-faerie outlaw joined his father’s gang to discover what sort of man he wanted to be. As it turned out, honor among thieves wasn’t held in too high regard in Thunder Junction, but if you play your cards right, you can wind up with some loyal friends.
Playing your cards right by Kellan means playing them anywhere other than your hand. Do that and Kellan will reward you with either a free permanent spell or an extra land. That kind of value can make Kellan a real mean hombre.
The Commander: Kellan, The Kid
Kellan, the Kid has a lot of qualities for a great Commander. He’sefficient at just three mana, gives youaccess to all three Bant colors (green, blue, and white), and hasevasion and life gain built-in. But what really makes Kellan stand out is the block of text that takes up most of the card.
Whenever youcast a spell from anywhere other than your hand, you get toplay a card from your hand of equal or lesser mana value. If you don’t want to, then you can play an extra land. Either you get value, or you get ramp. It’s a win-win.
The key to a good Kellan, the Kid deck isgettinga lot of cards that aren’t necessarily played from your hand. Fortunately, Magic has a lot of ways to do this. Besides cards that explicitly state they can be played from the graveyard or from exile, there’s the flashback, jump-start, suspend,cascade,foretell,discover,rebound,escape,battles, andadventurekeywords that all instruct you to cast a spell from somewhere other than your hand.
So, every time you activate any of those keywords, Kellan triggers, and you either get a free spell cast or a free land played.
SinceKellan will be playing a lot of cardsfrom your handfor free,additional card draw effects will be necessaryto keep your hand full of cards for Kellan to sneak into play.
Building Your Kellan, The Kid Commander Deck
Bantis already one of my favorite color combinations, as it comes with manystaple blue,green, andwhite cards. A solid base of card draw, ramp, and instant-speed removal just needs to be built out with Kellan-friendly cards.
Foretell, Plot, Adventures, And More
A lot of those cards are going to beadventures. These dual-purpose cards generally offer a cheap effect early on and then a more splashy effect when played from exile later on. This provides incredible flexibility in the early game with cards likeGiant KillerandStormkeld Vanguardoffering removal and becoming threats in the late game while simultaneously triggering Kellan’s ability.
Another keyword we’ll lean into isforetellandplot. These abilities are functionally similar, allowing you to ‘play’ cards now in order to cast them from exile on a later turn. This can potentially create some explosive turns if you manage to stack a few plot/foretell cards (likeSurge of Brilliance,Green Slime, andBattle Mammoth) to trigger Kellan multiple times.
Of course, mere value doesn’t win games. For that, we turn to cards likeApex Devastator. Already a giant bomb in Commander, Apex Devastator isthe perfect monster for Kellan as the cascade keyword triggers his ability. Throwing down a 10/10 and then immediately following that up with eight more cards of equal or lesser mana value (four from the cascades and four more from Kellan) is sure to swing games in your favor.
Even lands get in on this action.Hidden Nursery,Hidden Cataract, andHidden Courtyard’s discover keyword can trigger Kellan too!
Card Draw
With Kellan constantly emptying your hard, you’re going to need a lot ways to refill it.Vega, the Watcher,Vizier of the Menagerie,Rashmi, Eternities Crafter,Inspiring Refrain,Deep Analysis,Extraordinary Journey, and more will keep refilling your hand even as they also trigger Kellan to keep playing more and more cards.
Board Sweepers
Simply playing more spells than your opponents can often win games, but so can a well-timed board wipe.Illithid Harvester,Realm-Cloaked Giant, andDoomskarcan all trigger Kellan while removing a board of threats, whileFinal Showdowncan protect Kellan as you or an opponent blow up the board.
While it’s better to stick with creatures to improve your board presence, there are a ton of enchantments and artifacts that help trigger Kellan. The appropriately-namedKellan Joins Upcombines withExtraordinary Journey,Virtue of Loyalty, andMind’s Dilation, while on the artifact side,The Key to the VaultandChimil, the Inner Sunkeep churning cards off your library while triggering Kellan again and again.
Ramp
Getting your high mana value cards out or simply recasting Kellan for the fifth time is going to take a lot of mana. Kellan himself will help out a lot there, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take advantage of green’s ramp spells.Farseek,Cultivate, andBirds of Paradiseare joined by newcomerTower Winder, which helps fetch your best land while also killing anyone foolish enough to attack you.
Growth Spiraljoins from the green/blue Simic faction, as doesDoc Aurlock, Grizzled Genius. And don’t forget the usualSol Ring,Arcane Signet, andFellwar Stone.Sol Talismanalso joins thanks to its Suspend ability allowing it to trigger Kellan while providing a big mana boost in the late game.
Vizier of the Menagerie
Plains (2)
Budget Substitutions
One of the best things aboutKellan, the Kid isthathe’sa powerful commander who won’t break your bank. Throwing out hundreds of dollars for cards like Boseiju, Apex Devastator, and the shock lands can be a little too painful to Magic newcomers. Thankfully, you’re able to absolutely make Kellan on a budget by considering these substitutions.
Ellie and Alan, Paleontologists
