Arcane Foundry › Commanders › Kelsien, the Plague
Kelsien, the Plague
Legendary Creature — Human Assassin · {R}{W}{B} · Black/Red/White commander
Vigilance, haste
Kelsien gets +1/+1 for each experience counter you have.
{T}: Kelsien deals 1 damage to target creature you don't control. When that creature dies this turn, you get an experience counter.
Build a Kelsien, the Plague deck →
What Kelsien, the Plague actually does
Read off the card by the same engine the Forge and Analyzer use — this is the mechanical classification, not a summary.
- Activated ability{T}: Kelsien deals 1 damage to target creature you don't control. When that creature dies this turn, you get an experience counter.
- Keyword · vigilancevigilance
- Keyword · hastehaste
- AbilityKelsien gets +1/+1 for each experience counter you have.
What a Kelsien, the Plague deck needs
Plays as pinger. What the commander asks of the other 99 — read from the card and checked by hand.
- untap and haste effects for the commander (each ping that kills gives an experience counter)
- pingers and deathtouch
The Kelsien, the Plague deck plan
The roles the Forge fills for this commander, and how many cards of each.
- 10× Untap the commander so the tap ability is an engine, not a one-shot
- 6× Actually remove one problem permanent — preventing its damage is not removing it
- 9× Find the exact card the plan needs
- 2× Answer a whole board at once
- 8× Refill your hand
- 2× Keep a permanent you control alive through removal
- 11× Get ahead on mana
- 16× A permanent that does something every turn it is on the battlefield — the deck's body, for a commander whose text asks for nothing specific
- 10× Put haste on the commander the turn it resolves — a tap ability is unusable otherwise
Best cards for Kelsien, the Plague
Ranked by an engine that reads what each card does — its real cost, its delay and how reliably it works — rather than counting how often other people play it.
Untap the commander so the tap ability is an engine, not a one-shot
- Aggravated Assault3 mana
- Aurelia, the Warleader6 mana
- Sting, the Glinting Dagger2 mana
- Umbral Mantle3 mana
- Genji Glove5 mana
- Éomer, Marshal of Rohan4 mana
- Honor-Worn Shaku3 mana
- Lightning Runner5 mana
Actually remove one problem permanent — preventing its damage is not removing it
- Path to Exile1 mana
- Swords to Plowshares1 mana
- Wild Magic Surge2 mana
- Defile1 mana
- Tragic Slip1 mana
- March of Otherworldly Light1 mana
- Infernal Grasp2 mana
- Terminate2 mana
Find the exact card the plan needs
- Demonic Tutor2 mana
- Diabolic Intent2 mana
- Vampiric Tutor1 mana
- Imperial Seal1 mana
- Demonic Consultation1 mana
- Grim Tutor3 mana
- Tainted Pact2 mana
- Scheming Symmetry1 mana
Answer a whole board at once
- Damn2 mana
- Vanquish the Horde8 mana
- Toxic Deluge3 mana
- Damnation4 mana
- Wrath of God4 mana
- Blasphemous Act9 mana
- Chain Reaction4 mana
- Day of Judgment4 mana
Refill your hand
- Esper Sentinel1 mana
- Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer1 mana
- Skullclamp1 mana
- Black Market Connections3 mana
- Braids, Arisen Nightmare3 mana
- Morbid Opportunist3 mana
- Phyrexian Arena3 mana
- Professional Face-Breaker3 mana
Keep a permanent you control alive through removal
- Flowering of the White Tree2 mana
- Hexing Squelcher2 mana
- Bastion Protector3 mana
- Codsworth, Handy Helper3 mana
- Avacyn, Angel of Hope8 mana
- Coppercoat Vanguard2 mana
- General's Enforcer2 mana
- Lightning Greaves2 mana
Get ahead on mana
- Sol Ring1 mana
- Boros Signet2 mana
- Orzhov Signet2 mana
- Rakdos Signet2 mana
- Palladium Myr3 mana
- Worn Powerstone3 mana
- Chrome Mox0 mana
- Everflowing Chalice0 mana
A permanent that does something every turn it is on the battlefield — the deck's body, for a commander whose text asks for nothing specific
- Crashing Drawbridge2 mana
- Cleric Class1 mana
- Bontu's Monument3 mana
- Mirror Entity3 mana
- Oketra's Monument3 mana
- Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose3 mana
- Artist's Talent2 mana
- Goro-Goro, Disciple of Ryusei2 mana
Put haste on the commander the turn it resolves — a tap ability is unusable otherwise
- Rising of the Day3 mana
- Thousand-Year Elixir3 mana
- The Fire Crystal4 mana
- Lightning Greaves2 mana
- Swiftfoot Boots2 mana
- Urabrask the Hidden5 mana
- Fervor3 mana
- Hammer of Purphoros3 mana
Combos with Kelsien, the Plague
Known combos from Commander Spellbook that Kelsien, the Plague is a piece of, and how many decks list them.
- Kelsien, the Plague + Thornbite Staff4,058 decks