Killian, Ink Duelist - Auras & Instants

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Ruiner
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Post by Ruiner » 1 year ago

Killian, Ink Duelist - Auras & Instants

Killian, Ink Duelist

Commander

Enchantments (Non-Aura)

Draw/Tutors (Non-Creature)

Misc. Instants

Planeswalkers

Approximate Total Cost:

General Overview

Killian, Ink Duelist is a commander that can be built in a few ways but overwhelmingly benefits from the use of auras and single target instants and/or sorceries. While you could take advantage of his cost reduction abilities to go wide with a bunch of creatures all enchanted with different auras, I have gone pretty much all in on the Voltron strategy with this deck. Killian is almost always dropping on turn 2, and occasionally even on turn 1 (with Chrome Mox or Gemstone Caverns) with this deck so he comes out swinging quickly before other decks even start to get established.

With the number of lifegain elements, this deck is surprisingly resilient in the face of other fast paced decks. The commander's built in Lifelink combined with the stat boosts prevalent in the deck can give you a nice cushion early on. One swing that connects by a creature enchanted with Celestial Mantle can often put you nearly out of reach for many aggro based decks and big X spell decks that don't go infinite; multiple swings gets silly.

This deck runs a healthy suite of creature removal spells, most of which exile. Killian makes all of these much cheaper, and opponents will get used to the possibility of you potentially exiling multiple creatures with little mana available.

Creatures in this deck, as with most voltron decks, have been chosen mainly for how the complement the aura based voltron strategy. Nearly every creature synergizes with the commander in some way with only a few exceptions.

I've run other creatures for a backup plan previously but honestly commander tax is almost never a big issue for this deck so it is rare to be locked out of the commander damage route for long.

I have chosen to exclude unconditional tutors like Demonic Tutor and Vampiric Tutor by choice. I'm not opposed to these in general, I run them in other decks, and they definitely would make the deck stronger but I want to reduce the urge to just grab Hatred every game and I know that's pretty much what I would do every time. Hatred kills should be special.

If the stars align and you drop Killian on Turn 1, there is potential for a Turn 2 commander damage kill if you have Hatred in hand. I have not yet had the fortune of it happening but it's going to be brutal when it happens some day (it has happened on Turn 3 once).
Last edited by Ruiner 5 days ago, edited 8 times in total.

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Toshi
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Post by Toshi » 1 year ago

Great to find this take on my beloved commander!
While my deck looks a lot different Astarion's Thirst is most certainly a card i didn't come up with but will have to grab a copy of.
Keep up the good work.

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Post by Zyren » 1 year ago

light of promise and sunbond have been MVPs when i play killian. I see you have light of promise but you should really add sunbond too even though its an inferior card. They create a very explosive start and can easily win a game if opponents don't have an answer to killian. Aetherflux reservoir is also a very effective alternate win since its so easy to get to 50+ life.

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Post by Ruiner » 1 year ago

Made a few quick edits due to some recently released cards:

Added Cards
+1 Plaza of Heroes - This is a no brainer for any voltron deck and with Killian's low cost it will be able to make black or white mana very quickly.
+1 Mandate of Abaddon - It's a board wipe that's also targeted and leaves Killian alive. For essentially two mana, I think this card is going to be impressive.

Removed Cards
-1 Plains
-1 Westgate Regent - I liked this card but it is very rare that I've even needed a backup plan, which is what this card is.

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Post by Toshi » 1 year ago

Ruiner wrote:
1 year ago
+1 Mandate of Abaddon - It's a board wipe that's also targeted and leaves Killian alive. For essentially two mana, I think this card is going to be impressive.
Sweet! I completely overlooked this reverse Fell the Mighty and will certainly pick up a copy for my list as well.

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Post by Ruiner » 9 months ago

No recent cards have really gotten my attention for this deck but I am making a few changes:

Added Cards
+1 Esper Sentinel
+1 Dark Confidant
+1 Lotus Petal

Removed Cards
-1 Nykthos Paragon
-1 Mirror Strike
-1 Swamp

Increasing my odds (slightly) of a Turn 1 Killian and adding some potential card draw that also doubles as sacrifice fodder in a pinch.

I really like Mirror Strike, it can do dumb stuff when it costs just 2 mana, but sometimes it is like a bad fog or just sitting useless in my hand so I'm reluctantly cutting it.

Nykthos Paragon is cool but something had to go and it's probably the worst creature in the deck.

Dropped a land but this is a pretty low to the ground deck anyway so I think 35 lands will be fine.

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Post by Arebennian » 9 months ago

Reprieve as a white counterspell?

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Post by Ruiner » 9 months ago

Arebennian wrote:
9 months ago
Reprieve as a white counterspell?
Definitely a card I like and once I snag a copy I may make room for it (already pre-ordered a few for various decks assuming I'd want to give it a shot).

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Post by pokken » 9 months ago

When playing Reprieve just keep reminding yourself you can target your own spells out from under countermagic to blow them out. :) It's a hard play pattern to remember if you're not a Remand player from way back.

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Post by Ruiner » 6 months ago

The new Eldraine set has a number of cards for consideration for this deck, so I've made a few changes:

Added Cards
+1 Songbirds' Blessing - This seems like an obvious card that has to be included. I expect it will do some major work.
+1 Stroke of Midnight - Another good removal spell that is likely to be a staple in most white decks, and in this deck it only costs if you are targeting a creature.

Removed Cards
-1 Halvar, God of Battle // Sword of the Realms - This card has been good, but I do have a decent number of other double strike giving cards, so it seems like a safe cut for the time being.
-1 Baleful Mastery - It's a good exile card, but I think Stroke of Midnight is going to be a bit more versatile/useful overall.


Other cards I have considered from this latest set:
Eriette of the Charmed Apple - This deck is heavy on auras, she favors a deck heavy on auras. I have a copy to experiment with in the future possibly. She provides another angle of attack, but generally I'm not super worried about Killian getting taxed out of being playable, so I don't know that I need another angle of attack.
Lord Skitter's Blessing - This could be a decent source of ongoing card draw. It's a Phyrexian Arena that comes down a turn earlier, and puts an aura token into play to (slightly) buff Killian and helps the cards that care about the number of enchantments in play. I think it has potential.

There are a number of other "role token" cards in this set but I didn't find any of them to be particularly great for this deck.

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Post by Whipsaw » 6 months ago

Love this spin on Killian! He's one of my first home brew decks so it holds a special place in my heart.

Have you ever thought about including The Gaffer for some incidental draw?

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Post by Ruiner » 6 months ago

Whipsaw wrote:
6 months ago
Love this spin on Killian! He's one of my first home brew decks so it holds a special place in my heart.

Have you ever thought about including The Gaffer for some incidental draw?
I actually do have a copy of The Gaffer set aside for this deck and I've definitely thought about including it. It is totally playable I think.

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Post by RogHimself » 6 months ago

Hi Ruiner!

I have been playing myself some Killian as well for over a year. Recently gave him a revision with some of the new toys we've got in the meanwhile.

Have you thought of going all-in aura focussed? This would bring more use out of cards like Mantle of the Ancients, All That Glitters, Kor Spiritdancer etc. This strategy also unlocks Replenish and Retether and is allround more focussed on what Killian's best at: get discount on juicy Aura spells and swing for the win.

Anyways, some cards I highly advise in this archetype that have performed for me are:

Necropotence - We basically have endless life with our commander.
Apostle's Blessing - Zero-mana protection nobody sees coming.
Surge of Salvation - One-mana to protect ALL permanents against targetted removal.
Pentarch Ward - Run as much of these type of ETB-Draw aura's that have an added benefit such as this one as possible. They basically cycle themselves and synergizes greatly with all your Aura-pay offs. Also nice to get some extra draw when they are mass-recurred through Replenish-type effects.

Cards that I'm about to test are:

Light-Paws, Emperor's Voice - Cast any four-drop aura and search for overperformers Songbirds' Blessing or Sage's Reverie to get more aura's on the field. Or cast any three-dop to get a nice removal spell in the form of Chains of Custody. Or when you need protection on Killian just search for Flickering Ward or Felidar Umbra and move them over to Killian.
Lotho, Corrupt Shirriff - Basically a better mana rock. Since I'm always casting at least two spells in my own turn it always triggers. Triggering on opponent's is just gravy.
Beseech the Mirror - Bargain it by sacrificing any aura (Sage's Reverie in the best case), tutor for Replenish, cast it for free and get all aura's back, including the one you've just sacrificed.

Finally I'd like to add that I highly discourge to run colorless lands in a Killian list, especially if it's lower-to-the-ground (lower average CMC). Killian reduces the colorless cost, but not the colored ones so you would only need those in most situations. Also it's not really necessary to run a lot of ramp-spells, since Killian is basically a beefed-up Medallian in the CZ (if built correctly).

If you're interested, find my list here. I advise you to use Moxfield's tags so you can see the balance in the deck between Draw/Protection/Pump-spells.
https://www.moxfield.com/decks/_0fUuiPdhEukhmVC1irKUQ

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Post by Ruiner » 6 months ago

RogHimself wrote:
6 months ago
Hi Ruiner!

I have been playing myself some Killian as well for over a year. Recently gave him a revision with some of the new toys we've got in the meanwhile.

Have you thought of going all-in aura focussed? This would bring more use out of cards like Mantle of the Ancients, All That Glitters, Kor Spiritdancer etc. This strategy also unlocks Replenish and Retether and is allround more focussed on what Killian's best at: get discount on juicy Aura spells and swing for the win.
It's a tough balancing act, finding room for more auras and keeping draw and interaction/removal in the mix well. At the moment I think I've got a pretty healthy number of auras.

Anyways, some cards I highly advise in this archetype that have performed for me are:

Necropotence - We basically have endless life with our commander.
Apostle's Blessing - Zero-mana protection nobody sees coming.
Surge of Salvation - One-mana to protect ALL permanents against targetted removal.
Pentarch Ward - Run as much of these type of ETB-Draw aura's that have an added benefit such as this one as possible. They basically cycle themselves and synergizes greatly with all your Aura-pay offs. Also nice to get some extra draw when they are mass-recurred through Replenish-type effects.
Necropotence is really only missing because I haven't bothered to get another copy (I am not opposed to proxies for others but I don't use them myself). It definitely should be in this deck though.
Surge of Salvation was out of stock on pre-orders from my usuals when it came out and then I just keep forgetting to get a copy. It's good for pretty much any white deck.
I'm not really huge on Pentarch Ward although I can see the appeal. I think I've got a decent amount of protection already and giving protection from a particular color is risky or potentially dead in hand (if I need pro-white or pro-black, that could lock me down, while protection from creatures or something similar doesn't). The "draw a card when this enters" auras are cool, and card draw is good, but a lot of those auras are less impactful. Not saying it's wrong to go that way of course, it definitely has it's advantages.

Cards that I'm about to test are:

Light-Paws, Emperor's Voice - Cast any four-drop aura and search for overperformers Songbirds' Blessing or Sage's Reverie to get more aura's on the field. Or cast any three-dop to get a nice removal spell in the form of Chains of Custody. Or when you need protection on Killian just search for Flickering Ward or Felidar Umbra and move them over to Killian.
Lotho, Corrupt Shirriff - Basically a better mana rock. Since I'm always casting at least two spells in my own turn it always triggers. Triggering on opponent's is just gravy.
Beseech the Mirror - Bargain it by sacrificing any aura (Sage's Reverie in the best case), tutor for Replenish, cast it for free and get all aura's back, including the one you've just sacrificed.
I'm honestly not a huge fan of Light-Paws, Emperor's Voice in this particular deck (as a commander it can be a monster). I played around with it a bit for a few games but ultimately I wasn't big on putting my auras on anything that isn't Killian, and while you can move some of them afterwards, it's more hoops to jump through than I want to bother with for the most part. I can see the appeal if you aren't absolutely focused on a commander damage win, and want to spread some auras around.

I can see potential in Lotho, Corrupt Shirriff but it feels a little slow, at least in the early game. I can drop a mana rock early and immediately start using it, or I have to wait and cast two spells and generate that initial one mana, which could be awkward if I would have rather had that extra mana to use on one of my previous spells. It is a body for edict effects though, and if your table has a lot of low to the ground decks it may end up fine enough. I don't think I'm looking to try that one out but I bet there are games it will be a pretty decent card.

I definitely like Beseech the Mirror, even beyond the Replenish angle, just being able to trade in a cheaper less impactful aura for the one you want right now is good. Haven't managed to snag a copy yet.

Finally I'd like to add that I highly discourge to run colorless lands in a Killian list, especially if it's lower-to-the-ground (lower average CMC). Killian reduces the colorless cost, but not the colored ones so you would only need those in most situations. Also it's not really necessary to run a lot of ramp-spells, since Killian is basically a beefed-up Medallian in the CZ (if built correctly).

If you're interested, find my list here. I advise you to use Moxfield's tags so you can see the balance in the deck between Draw/Protection/Pump-spells.
https://www.moxfield.com/decks/_0fUuiPdhEukhmVC1irKUQ
I've definitely tried to keep colorless utility lands to a minimum but I think the ones I've included are all rather useful and I haven't noticed it impacting my plays.

I do like the inclusion of City of Brass style lands in your list, which I hadn't thought to include, to maximize your ability to play some of those double and triple white or black cards. Generally I don't think about those for decks less than 3 colors.

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Post by Ruiner » 5 months ago

Made a fairly minor change to the deck:

Added Cards
+1 Necropotence
+1 City of Brass
+1 Mana Confluence

Removed Cards
-1 Night's Whisper
-1 Swamp
-1 Plains


From this latest Dr. Who set, I definitely considered adding This Is How It Ends, as that seems pretty great for just two mana (with Killian's discount), and got a copy just in case, but I couldn't figure any card to remove to try it out that it is "better" than at the moment.

From the Fallout previews, I'm definitely looking forward to adding V.A.T.S. whenever that is released, that's going to be pretty sweet.

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Post by Whipsaw » 3 months ago

Can confirm from last weekend, Songbirds Blessing is a house in this deck. Killian and Light-Paws on the field by T4 led to Killian becoming a 30/30 with every keyword possible and LP was sitting at 17/17 prot from creatures and murdering the other players within two turns.

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Post by Ruiner » 1 month ago

A quick update to the deck due to our latest murder mystery set:

Added Cards
+1 Unexplained Absence - This seems fairly solid. With Killian in play, as long as you target at least one creature, it feels like this does some significant work for just . Giving your opponent(s) potential mystery creatures could come back to bite you, but it feels worth the risk to try out. The cloaked creatures having ward is a concern, but at least Killian does make your targeted removal cheaper. Also, the potential to hit one of your own less useful permanents in the event you need a surprise blocker or sacrifice fodder from an edict is nice.
+1 Minas Morgul, Dark Fortress - It's not from the most recent set but I'm finally getting around to adding it. The potential to make Killian permanently unblockable is very nice, and Weathered Wayfarer can potentially tutor it up. I'm generally hesitant to put a "comes into play tapped" land in an aggressive deck like this, there is a chance it's going to slow you down, but the payoff may be worth it. Randomly giving opponent's creatures shadow for political reasons can also potentially be a plus, but I don't know how often that'll come into play with this particular deck.

Removed Cards
-1 Swamp - Pretty straight-forward swap for Minas Morgul.
-1 Nomad Mythmaker - I needed to find room to try out a new card. This card is okay, but can be awkward at times. The effect is powerful in some games, but having to wait a whole turn cycle after playing it to actually use the effect can be rough. If you have a "do nothing turn" and can drop it in advance of needing it, then it's not so bad, but I feel safe dropping this for now.


Another card I eyed from this latest set was Redemption Arc. I think this is super playable in this deck. It's essentially another copy of Timely Ward without flash, but with the benefit of being an offensive/removal spell, and also if enchanting Killian, can save him from a theft effect. I didn't see this as "essential" but I snagged a copy to try in the future potentially. The art is pretty sweet as well.


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Post by Ruiner » 1 month ago

RogHimself wrote:
1 month ago
I've added Unexplained Absence to my list as well. One mana to exile two creatures and a nonland permanent seems legit :-)
Should end up being , it costs originally and Killian reduces it by . Killian doesn't reduce the spell cost by 2 per creature targetted.

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Post by Ruiner » 5 days ago

Have some quick changes from the recent Fallout set:

Added Cards
+1 Idolized - This is cheap and should significantly increase Killian's clock. EDIT: After a game last night, can confirm card is dumb for basically one mana and totally worth it.
+1 V.A.T.S. - Essentially uncounterable, for generally two mana, this is going to be handy for clearing out token swarms and I'm betting outside of that use it will probably hit multiple creatures when used. Even if you only hit one creature, instant speed uncounterable removal is pretty sweet.

Removed Cards
-1 Sigarda's Aid - It feels so weird removing this card from an aura based deck. I was thinking back and there are actually very few games where I utilize this instant speed aura casting though. In general I want auras on Killian when he connects, and the "trick" of putting an aura on him when someone neglects to block is almost never happening (either he's unblockable, or someone wants to stop their commander damage count from increasing by any amount). The defensive auras have flash is nice of course.
Occasionally the free equip has been great, but there are a lot of times I play this and then it does almost nothing.
-1 Umbra Mystic - Another aura based deck staple and I'm removing it. Over the years this one hasn't been exactly stellar. There is a lot of exile based removal, and you have to proactively play this in anticipation of the non-exile based removal. If I wasn't so all-in on the voltron strategy, going wide with auras, it would be a much more useful card.

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Post by Uncle_Krupi » 2 days ago

Very cool deck, Ruiner. At first glance at least I have a few questions/comments.

In light of Kilian having Menace, is protection from creatures doing that much for you? I like Spirit Mantle for the efficiency and Unquestioned Authority for the card draw (especially if I can repeat it with cards like Meticulous Excavation), but Holy Mantle always felt a bit like diminishing returns. Do opponents often "take the bait" with cards like Orzhov Advokist?

Does it weather wraths well? I feel like an indestructibility source might not go amiss. Redemption Arc even plays both ways if you happen to not need indestructibility on Kilian at that moment.

I've always wanted to run an Orzhov auras deck so I can run my pet creature Evershrike, but I won't pretend he's that amazing in a really tuned deck. Still, worth mentioning.

Cheers!
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Post by Ruiner » 2 days ago

Uncle_Krupi wrote:
2 days ago
Very cool deck, Ruiner. At first glance at least I have a few questions/comments.

In light of Kilian having Menace, is protection from creatures doing that much for you? I like Spirit Mantle for the efficiency and Unquestioned Authority for the card draw (especially if I can repeat it with cards like Meticulous Excavation), but Holy Mantle always felt a bit like diminishing returns.
Menace is very helpful early on in the first few turns, but an opponent getting two creatures essentially makes Killian's attack a waste to "just kill their creatures". If someone is playing a deck that floods the board, menace quickly becomes not enough. If at all possible, you don't want him blockable. Holy Mantle both being a buff and giving unblockabke for essentially two mana has been well worth it in my experience (especially if another effect is giving double strike, that 4 point damage swing is nice).
Do opponents often "take the bait" with cards like Orzhov Advokist?
It really varies, but really even just getting the buff each round for Killian has made those effects worthwhile in my experience.
Does it weather wraths well? I feel like an indestructibility source might not go amiss. Redemption Arc even plays both ways if you happen to not need indestructibility on Kilian at that moment.
Timely Ward and Robe of Stars are pretty good at being proactive Wrath protection. If people are Wrath crazy in your playgroup it's certainly not a bad idea to include another. Honestly, with Killian's low mana cost, he gets back to swinging fairly quickly, and if you are lucky enough to have Demonic Embrace or Angelic Destiny in the mix, that really helps.

Ideally, if you know there is a control deck that is going to repeatedly wipe, they are probably your first target.
I've always wanted to run an Orzhov auras deck so I can run my pet creature Evershrike, but I won't pretend he's that amazing in a really tuned deck. Still, worth mentioning.

Cheers!
Yeah Evershrike is not great in this particular version of a Killian deck, but maybe if you weren't going all in on voltron, went with more of a go wide strategy where Killian helps others, I could see it having a place.

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