Arcane Foundry › Commanders › Kianne, Dean of Substance // Imbraham, Dean of Theory

Kianne, Dean of Substance // Imbraham, Dean of Theory

Legendary Creature — Elf Druid // Legendary Creature — Bird Wizard · {2}{G} {2}{U}{U} · Green/Blue commander

{T}: Exile the top card of your library. If it's a land card, put it into your hand. Otherwise, put a study counter on it. {4}{G}: Create a 0/0 green and blue Fractal creature token. Put a +1/+1 counter on it for each different mana value among nonland cards you own in exile with study counters on them. Flying {X}{U}{U}, {T}: Exile the top X cards of your library and put a study counter on each of them. Then you may put a card you own in exile with a study counter on it into your hand.

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What Kianne, Dean of Substance // Imbraham, Dean of Theory 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}: Exile the top card of your library. If it's a land card, put it into your hand. Otherwise, put a study counter on it.
• Activated ability{4}{G}: Create a 0/0 green and blue Fractal creature token. Put a +1/+1 counter on it for each different mana value among nonland cards you own in exile with study counters on them.
• Activated ability{X}{U}{U}, {T}: Exile the top X cards of your library and put a study counter on each of them. Then you may put a card you own in exile with a study counter on it into your hand.
• Keyword · flyingflying

What a Kianne, Dean of Substance // Imbraham, Dean of Theory deck needs

Plays as counters. What the commander asks of the other 99 — read from the card and checked by hand.

• cards that exile from your own library and play from exile (its payoff fires on every card played from exile)
• +1/+1 counter producers and payoffs (its text places or reads +1/+1 counters)
• token payoffs — anthems, sacrifice outlets and go-wide finishers (it makes tokens on repeat)
• mana rocks and dorks beyond the curve (its ability turns spare mana into value)
• haste and untap effects that reach the commander (a tap ability is unusable the turn it lands)

The Kianne, Dean of Substance // Imbraham, Dean of Theory deck plan

The roles the Forge fills for this commander, and how many cards of each.

• 8× Put haste on the commander the turn it resolves — a tap ability is unusable otherwise
• 12× Exiles from your own library and lets you play it — the card flow of an exile-matters commander
• 5× Untap the commander so the tap ability is an engine, not a one-shot
• 14× Put +1/+1 counters on creatures you control, or multiply the ones already there
• 12× Make creature tokens — a static anthem or a go-wide commander needs a board to be wide
• 4× A team pump that actually pumps tokens
• 5× Actually remove one problem permanent — preventing its damage is not removing it
• 9× Find the exact card the plan needs
• 2× Answer a spell or ability before it resolves

Best cards for Kianne, Dean of Substance // Imbraham, Dean of Theory

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.

Build this deck in the Arcane Forge →

Arcane Foundry is free to join and every tool is included: the Arcane Forge deck builder, the ARCANE Analyzer that scores a deck by simulating games rather than counting staples, a card scanner, a collection vault, and live webcam Commander tables. Read the guide · Browse all commanders · Pricing