Kess, Dissident Mage1UBR
Legendary Creature - Human Wizard
Flying
During each of your turns, you may cast an instant or sorcery card from your graveyard. If a card cast this way would be put into your graveyard this turn, exile it instead.
3/4
I will get the ball rolling by highlighting that because her ability casts the spell from your graveyard rather than that spell gaining flashback, we can Overload from our graveyard with her ability. That makes Cyclonic Rift, Vandalblast and Mizzium Mortars excellent additions.
Also, because her toughness is 4, red damage wraths like Pyroclasm, Anger of the Gods, Slagstorm and Sweltering Suns are solid choices. These cards are especially strong in creature heavy metas (which many metas will be with the upcoming tribal sets, particularly Vampires and Wizards which often have smaller bodies).
Spell efficient spells that cost 1 or 2 mana are especially good because they are easy to play in the same turn back to back. Double Preordain/Sleight of Hand for UU, double Flame Slash/Lightning Bolt for RR, or even double Terminate for BBRR is excellent value. Free spells are also strong and easy to take advantage of (i.e. Gitaxian Probe, Snap)
Buyback spells like Capsize are really strong because we can cast them early game as regular spells and by them by with Kess, Dissident Mage later.
If you are interested in playing a more competitive/oppressive build, extra turn spells that do not exile are an obvious inclusion (i.e. Time Warp, Walk the Aeons).
Kess, Dissident Mage really is a standout to me as a Grixis player from the new decks. Very much makes me think of a spell version of Karador, which is appropriate for the colors. Her open-endedness is sweet.
I hadn't considered how her ability interacts with Overload or Buyback, so good catch there. Being able to cast Cyclonic Rift Overloaded two times in a game sounds hilariously infuriating for others, even if it is only on your turn. Thinking about it
AS you mentioned, all of the one-mana cantrips are solid with her.
Just a small list of cantrip effects. Some are worse than others, but found a few cards I hadn't really known existed. Portent is almost another Ponder. Being able to have a few effects that might let you see other's hands could be interesting, too.
Oh, also, I'm sure everyone's considered it for her somewhat: Storm. Being Grixis, we have Tendrils of Agony, Mind's Desire(and it's new Magus), Grapeshot, etc. Aetherflux Reservoir too, I suppose. Have a single turn with Yawgmoth's Will, and a crapton of spells in your graveyard, and storm count could go way up. On that front, Paradox Engine would be disgusting too - cast a cantrip, untap 3 or 4 mana worth of rocks, float them all, then cast another.
You only get one, but being able to cast a storm spell twice in one turn seems, ah, interesting.
Also, you can cast the increasing cycle from the graveyard (thus doubling them) for their normal mana cost.
Private Mod Note
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Card advantage is not the same thing as card draw. Something for 2B cannot be strictly worse than something for BBB or 3BB. If you're taking out Swords to Plowshares for Plummet, you're a fool. Stop doing these things!
First off, thank you for posting this. I wanted to put one up, but I'm not really good enough at deckbuilding to kick one of these off.
Secondly, Kess is my favorite spoiled commander since Breya. Dragons get good support, Mardu finally gets midrange, and Wizards gets some fun stuff, but boy did Grixis just get an insane value general in Kess.
Keep in mind, she doesn't give us a built in wincon. She gives us insane value and every excuse we need to play a ton of spells and feel like a proper evil wizard. With that in mind, I think we want to look at the following strategies:
My vision is a deck with a ton of cantrips and removal to keep the board in your favor, use Kess to play out of the graveyard as needed, and then get super oppressive with big Grixis gods and Bolas. The wincon has yet to be decided, as I don't see the Gods flipping into creatures too often. Will probably end up with a direct damage route, if I can't find enough big flying beats.
Damage based board wipes like the ones mentioned previously and others like Whipflare and Breath of Darigaaz seem especially powerful in token or creature wide filled metas which will become much more popular thanks to the new tribal decks.
Keep in mind I don't play with tutors or infinite combos. I am also running some cards that aren't staples and you may be unfamiliar with, so feel free to share feedback, ask any questions or make any change recommendations.
Mizzix's Mastery is really good with her. Especially if you used Intuition to get it to your hand/graveyard. I like the idea of a certain build running Sphinx-Bone Wand. Running Cast Through Time would be cool to get extra value out of your spells, though they won't rebound if you cast them through her ability. Also, I've been looking for a home to use Swarm Intelligence.
The 6/6 beatdown strat, gotcha. I think those are all solid picks, I'm going to look for some big burn or X cost spells that I can end out with. Something like Torment of hailfire for 10, copied twice.
The 6/6 beatdown strat, gotcha. I think those are all solid picks, I'm going to look for some big burn or X cost spells that I can end out with. Something like Torment of hailfire for 10, copied twice.
I think Exsanguinate is better than Torment of Hailfire for that. I'm not sure I like giving my opponents free sacrifice outlets, and the life gain is also nice. Banefire is also nice because it can't be prevented.
The 6/6 beatdown strat, gotcha. I think those are all solid picks, I'm going to look for some big burn or X cost spells that I can end out with. Something like Torment of hailfire for 10, copied twice.
I think Exsanguinate is better than Torment of Hailfire for that. I'm not sure I like giving my opponents free sacrifice outlets, and the life gain is also nice. Banefire is also nice because it can't be prevented.
Right. Also, Bond of Agony is a cheezy win if you copy it once or twice - pay 15 life, copy it twice, everyone dies.
Since she is already built around the graveyard, I feel the best way to take Kess, Dissident Mage is to make her a reanimator deck with other strong instants and sorceries for backup. Casting the titular Reanimate twice seems good, but even Zombify twice getting scary fatties from three of the best colors for game ending creatures is perfectly fine.
Add a backbone of card filtering and removal spells and I might even go so far as to call her an upgrade over Karador if you're looking to build a pure reanimation deck.
Since she is already built around the graveyard, I feel the best way to take Kess, Dissident Mage is to make her a reanimator deck with other strong instants and sorceries for backup. Casting the titular Reanimate twice seems good, but even Zombify twice getting scary fatties from three of the best colors for game ending creatures is perfectly fine.
Add a backbone of card filtering and removal spells and I might even go so far as to call her an upgrade over Karador if you're looking to build a pure reanimation deck.
I think there is more interesting space for her than to be a reanimator commander. Red offers little in the reanimation realm and omitting white means losing out on a lot. Oloro, Ageless Ascetic is a much better reanimation general.
While I like the idea of using Kess, Dissident Mage to double up on incremental advantage (i.e. Double Snap, Double Preordain, Double Tragic Slip), flashing back huge spells the following turn as if it were a makeshift rebound can also be powerful. For example, casting Blatant Thievery or Insurrection twice.
Since she is already built around the graveyard, I feel the best way to take Kess, Dissident Mage is to make her a reanimator deck with other strong instants and sorceries for backup. Casting the titular Reanimate twice seems good, but even Zombify twice getting scary fatties from three of the best colors for game ending creatures is perfectly fine.
Add a backbone of card filtering and removal spells and I might even go so far as to call her an upgrade over Karador if you're looking to build a pure reanimation deck.
I think there is more interesting space for her than to be a reanimator commander. Red offers little in the reanimation realm and omitting white means losing out on a lot. Oloro, Ageless Ascetic is a much better reanimation general.
While I like the idea of using Kess, Dissident Mage to double up on incremental advantage (i.e. Double Snap, Double Preordain, Double Tragic Slip), flashing back huge spells the following turn as if it were a makeshift rebound can also be powerful. For example, casting Blatant Thievery or Insurrection twice.
The main issue is getting there. 7/8 mana is basically our entire turn, 10 if you want countermagic up to secure it. I think those are fun to curve into, but a focus on them will make the deck too clunky.
You can't really run this deck like an Izzet cost-reduction deck - adding black doesn't help that goal, it opens up tutors, removal, and Grixis creatures. The deck can't ramp or cost reduce enough to justify running several 7+ CMC spells. I think you want to run cards like No Mercy and Dissipation Field and Crawlspace, removal/countermagic/cantrips to keep up the pace and control the board, and then Nicol Bolas, God-Pharaoh and company.
Since she is already built around the graveyard, I feel the best way to take Kess, Dissident Mage is to make her a reanimator deck with other strong instants and sorceries for backup. Casting the titular Reanimate twice seems good, but even Zombify twice getting scary fatties from three of the best colors for game ending creatures is perfectly fine.
Add a backbone of card filtering and removal spells and I might even go so far as to call her an upgrade over Karador if you're looking to build a pure reanimation deck.
I think there is more interesting space for her than to be a reanimator commander. Red offers little in the reanimation realm and omitting white means losing out on a lot. Oloro, Ageless Ascetic is a much better reanimation general.
While I like the idea of using Kess, Dissident Mage to double up on incremental advantage (i.e. Double Snap, Double Preordain, Double Tragic Slip), flashing back huge spells the following turn as if it were a makeshift rebound can also be powerful. For example, casting Blatant Thievery or Insurrection twice.
While I see the advantages offered by white, Red gives you access to haste enablers (Anger being an all time favorite for exactly this archetype) the value generation of doubling up on reanimation, especially mass reanimation with haste enablers, is entirely back breaking and worth switching red in. Flayer of the Hatebound also adds some gas and transforming your spells into undercosted game-winning creatures seems much more reliable than hoping to storm off or rely on your opponents board with thievery effects.
Since she is already built around the graveyard, I feel the best way to take Kess, Dissident Mage is to make her a reanimator deck with other strong instants and sorceries for backup. Casting the titular Reanimate twice seems good, but even Zombify twice getting scary fatties from three of the best colors for game ending creatures is perfectly fine.
Add a backbone of card filtering and removal spells and I might even go so far as to call her an upgrade over Karador if you're looking to build a pure reanimation deck.
I think there is more interesting space for her than to be a reanimator commander. Red offers little in the reanimation realm and omitting white means losing out on a lot. Oloro, Ageless Ascetic is a much better reanimation general.
While I like the idea of using Kess, Dissident Mage to double up on incremental advantage (i.e. Double Snap, Double Preordain, Double Tragic Slip), flashing back huge spells the following turn as if it were a makeshift rebound can also be powerful. For example, casting Blatant Thievery or Insurrection twice.
While I see the advantages offered by white, Red gives you access to haste enablers (Anger being an all time favorite for exactly this archetype) the value generation of doubling up on reanimation, especially mass reanimation with haste enablers, is entirely back breaking and worth switching red in. Flayer of the Hatebound also adds some gas and transforming your spells into undercosted game-winning creatures seems much more reliable than hoping to storm off or rely on your opponents board with thievery effects.
She would probably be too strong otherwise, but her one per turn limitation really hurts. She compares to a fixed Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder, just with a lower threat level and a bit more control over what she’s doing. At least your turns don’t take forever.
For some hidden gems, the Expertise cycle seems really strong. They will sit in your graveyard until you have something in your hand that is a good follow-up.
Also, River Kelpie and similar for a lot of value.
Buyback is of course great, but hard to use Forbid.
She compares to a fixed Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder, just with a lower threat level and a bit more control over what she’s doing. At least your turns don’t take forever..
I disagree with this assessment and I think it is short sighted for players to immediately dismiss her as Yidris light. Kess, Dissident Mage is not simply a worse or fixed version of Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder. She's easier to cast than Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder and doesn't have to deal combat damage before gaining card advantage which I believe is very significant. Having more selection rather than worrying about cascade means your deck doesn't lack synergy just because it runs counterspells. Piloting Kess requires much more skill and decision making and gives you more influence and actually determine the outcome of the board state.
Kess also has strong synergy with mechanics like Overload and Buyback that Yidris doesn't have and can also benefit from cards that reward players for playing out of their graveyard (i.e. Burning Vengeance, Secrets of the Grave).
Since she is already built around the graveyard, I feel the best way to take Kess, Dissident Mage is to make her a reanimator deck with other strong instants and sorceries for backup. Casting the titular Reanimate twice seems good, but even Zombify twice getting scary fatties from three of the best colors for game ending creatures is perfectly fine.
Add a backbone of card filtering and removal spells and I might even go so far as to call her an upgrade over Karador if you're looking to build a pure reanimation deck.
I think there is more interesting space for her than to be a reanimator commander. Red offers little in the reanimation realm and omitting white means losing out on a lot. Oloro, Ageless Ascetic is a much better reanimation general.
While I like the idea of using Kess, Dissident Mage to double up on incremental advantage (i.e. Double Snap, Double Preordain, Double Tragic Slip), flashing back huge spells the following turn as if it were a makeshift rebound can also be powerful. For example, casting Blatant Thievery or Insurrection twice.
While I see the advantages offered by white, Red gives you access to haste enablers (Anger being an all time favorite for exactly this archetype) the value generation of doubling up on reanimation, especially mass reanimation with haste enablers, is entirely back breaking and worth switching red in. Flayer of the Hatebound also adds some gas and transforming your spells into undercosted game-winning creatures seems much more reliable than hoping to storm off or rely on your opponents board with thievery effects.
Why not just run Marchesa?
There are actually quite a few reasons, though the biggest one is a utilitarian advantage. If I want to make a reliable reanimator deck I have to devote more space to utility creatures and effects that recur said reanimation spells (Archaeomancer etc.) if I'm running Marchesa. Additionally she wants you to have more creature in general to take advantage of her ability, sacrifice outlets to ensure that you can always use it when you need to, and the ability to get in for combat damage while manipulating who is on the throne in multiplayer. That's a lot of deck building requirements if you want a consistant deck.
Kess doesn't ask for that, and, in fact, frees up a lot of space. You don't need Call To Mind/Archaomancer effects when she can recast for you, you don't need looters or utility creatures if you can recast utility spells without taking up extra slots, and she lets you streamline your deck into a potent pile of powerful instants and sorceries, reanimatable fatties, reanimation spells, and almost nothing else.
I still think Oloro, Ageless Ascetic is the superior reanimator general and Kess, Dissident Mage excels elsewhere. Passing on white in reanimator control means you are missing out on Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite, Ashen Rider and Avacyn, Angel of Hope, arguably the best reanimator targets in the format. Oloro's lifegain makes playing an agressive mana base along with cards like Mana Crypt less painful and allows cards like Reanimate to impact your life total less. White also gives you Unburial Rites.
Kess allows you to play spells like Exhume and Reanimate multiple times, but a reanimator deck doesn't want to play their commander on turn 4, they ideally want to reanimate a threat.
What I like about Kess, Dissident Mage is you don't have to play her as soon as possible. Frequently from my testing, I like to play her when I have access to 5 mana, that way the same turn I play her, I can cast a spell like Fatal Push, Preordain or Void Snare from my graveyard in the same turn and get immediate value. Alternatively you can play Anger of the Gods/Radiant Flames on turn 3, cast Kess on turn 4 and recast Anger of the Gods on turn 5. She's an amazing midrange/control general that encourages our opponents not to overextend because they know we can reuse our removal spells. It's an incredibly unique ability.
Legendary Creature - Human Wizard
Flying
During each of your turns, you may cast an instant or sorcery card from your graveyard. If a card cast this way would be put into your graveyard this turn, exile it instead.
3/4
Discussion thread for the new UBR commander, Kess, Dissident Mage.
What strategies work well with Kess, Dissident Mage?
What cards have strong synergies with Kess, Dissident Mage?
What are good hidden gems that support Kess, Dissident Mage?
I will get the ball rolling by highlighting that because her ability casts the spell from your graveyard rather than that spell gaining flashback, we can Overload from our graveyard with her ability. That makes Cyclonic Rift, Vandalblast and Mizzium Mortars excellent additions.
Also, because her toughness is 4, red damage wraths like Pyroclasm, Anger of the Gods, Slagstorm and Sweltering Suns are solid choices. These cards are especially strong in creature heavy metas (which many metas will be with the upcoming tribal sets, particularly Vampires and Wizards which often have smaller bodies).
Spell efficient spells that cost 1 or 2 mana are especially good because they are easy to play in the same turn back to back. Double Preordain/Sleight of Hand for UU, double Flame Slash/Lightning Bolt for RR, or even double Terminate for BBRR is excellent value. Free spells are also strong and easy to take advantage of (i.e. Gitaxian Probe, Snap)
Buyback spells like Capsize are really strong because we can cast them early game as regular spells and by them by with Kess, Dissident Mage later.
Burning Vengeance has good synergy with Kess, Dissident Mage by allowing us to Shock every time we use her ability. Secrets of the Grave isn't as strong, but it allows us to cantrip every time we use her ability.
If you are interested in playing a more competitive/oppressive build, extra turn spells that do not exile are an obvious inclusion (i.e. Time Warp, Walk the Aeons).
UBRKess, Dissident MageUBR - Controlling Dissidents
GRhonas the IndomitableG - Indomitable Four Drops
WUBOloro, Ageless AsceticWUB - Loot & Renanimate
I hadn't considered how her ability interacts with Overload or Buyback, so good catch there. Being able to cast Cyclonic Rift Overloaded two times in a game sounds hilariously infuriating for others, even if it is only on your turn. Thinking about it
AS you mentioned, all of the one-mana cantrips are solid with her.
Just a small list of cantrip effects. Some are worse than others, but found a few cards I hadn't really known existed. Portent is almost another Ponder. Being able to have a few effects that might let you see other's hands could be interesting, too.
Oh, also, I'm sure everyone's considered it for her somewhat: Storm. Being Grixis, we have Tendrils of Agony, Mind's Desire(and it's new Magus), Grapeshot, etc. Aetherflux Reservoir too, I suppose. Have a single turn with Yawgmoth's Will, and a crapton of spells in your graveyard, and storm count could go way up. On that front, Paradox Engine would be disgusting too - cast a cantrip, untap 3 or 4 mana worth of rocks, float them all, then cast another.
Looting is very good too. Faithless looting basically draws you 4 cards for 2 mana.
Intuition is extremely strong. Basically, the equivalent to Buried Alive in Karador.
I'm not sure how you plan to win exactly. You have some consistency for storm.
Also, you may want to consider flicker effects. If you flicker Kess, you get to cast a second spell from the graveyard.
8.RG Green Devotion Ramp/Combo 9.UR Draw Triggers 10.WUR Group stalling 11.WUR Voltron Spellslinger 12.WB Sacrificial Shenanigans
13.BR Creatureless Panharmonicon 14.BR Pingers and Eldrazi 15.URG Untapped Cascading
16.Reyhan, last of the Abzan's WUBG +1/+1 Counter Craziness 17.WUBRG Dragons aka Why did I make this?
Building: The Gitrog Monster lands, Glissa the Traitor stax, Muldrotha, the Gravetide Planeswalker Combo, Kydele, Chosen of Kruphix + Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa Clues, and Tribal Scarecrow Planeswalkers
Everyone gets Static Orb, and you get a bunch of blue mill cards too.
Darkblast and Nightmare Void let us continue this spell theme, but we also have Stinkweed Imp, if you have a sac or discard outlet.
You only get one, but being able to cast a storm spell twice in one turn seems, ah, interesting.
Also, you can cast the increasing cycle from the graveyard (thus doubling them) for their normal mana cost.
On phasing:
Secondly, Kess is my favorite spoiled commander since Breya. Dragons get good support, Mardu finally gets midrange, and Wizards gets some fun stuff, but boy did Grixis just get an insane value general in Kess.
Keep in mind, she doesn't give us a built in wincon. She gives us insane value and every excuse we need to play a ton of spells and feel like a proper evil wizard. With that in mind, I think we want to look at the following strategies:
Now, my playgroup doesn't like nor really play cutthroat decks, so no need to go the combo/lockdown route or the storm route. For more of a fun, casual-lite Grixis flavor build, I'm thinking I want Erebos, God of the Dead, Thassa, God of the Sea, Mogis, God of Slaughter, The Locust God, The Scorpion God, and Keranos, God of Storms. I also want Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker and Nicol Bolas, God-Pharaoh.
Other cards to think about are Reiterate and Reverberate. Also staples like Rite of Replication.
My vision is a deck with a ton of cantrips and removal to keep the board in your favor, use Kess to play out of the graveyard as needed, and then get super oppressive with big Grixis gods and Bolas. The wincon has yet to be decided, as I don't see the Gods flipping into creatures too often. Will probably end up with a direct damage route, if I can't find enough big flying beats.
Padeem, Consul of Innovation - Artifact value/combo.
Sidisi, Brood Tyrant - Sultai zombie reanimator.
Hidden gems I am running include Radiant Flames and Rough // Tough which both have excellent synergy with Sudden Spoiling and Curse of the Swine.
Damage based board wipes like the ones mentioned previously and others like Whipflare and Breath of Darigaaz seem especially powerful in token or creature wide filled metas which will become much more popular thanks to the new tribal decks.
UBRKess, Dissident MageUBR - Controlling Dissidents
GRhonas the IndomitableG - Indomitable Four Drops
WUBOloro, Ageless AsceticWUB - Loot & Renanimate
Padeem, Consul of Innovation - Artifact value/combo.
Sidisi, Brood Tyrant - Sultai zombie reanimator.
Sure. My list is shared below.
Keep in mind I don't play with tutors or infinite combos. I am also running some cards that aren't staples and you may be unfamiliar with, so feel free to share feedback, ask any questions or make any change recommendations.
1x Kess, Dissident Mage
Card Advantage (9)
1x Opt
1x Ponder
1x Preordain
1x Sleight of Hand
1x Forbidden Alchemy
1x Painful Truths
1x Consecrated Sphinx
1x Sphinx of Uthuun
1x Cruel Ultimatum
Mass Removal (10)
1x Pyroclasm
1x Rough // Tough
1x Anger of the Gods
1x Mizzium Mortars
1x Radiant Flames
1x Sweltering Suns
1x Sudden Spoiling
1x Toxic Deluge
1x Cyclonic Rift
1x Curse of the Swine
Spot Removal (13)
1x Chain Lightning
1x Lightning Bolt
1x Flame Slash
1x Fatal Push
1x Dreadbore
1x Go for the Throat
1x Reality Shift
1x Snap
1x Roast
1x Terminate
1x Burning Vengeance
1x Dismember
1x Slave of Bolas
1x Void Snare
1x Counterspell
1x Countersquall
1x Negate
1x Pillage
1x Capsize
1x Kolaghan's Command
1x Wash Out
1x Vandalblast
Protection (3)
1x Spellskite
1x Lightning Greaves
1x Sword of Feast and Famine
Win Conditions (9)
1x Balefire Dragon
1x Frost Titan
1x Inferno Titan
1x Massacre Wurm
1x Noxious Gearhulk
1x Sire of Stagnation
1x Wurmcoil Engine
1x Thraximundar
1x Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker
Ramp/Mana Fixing (8)
1x Lotus Petal
1x Sol Ring
1x Dimir Signet
1x Fellwar Stone
1x Izzet Signet
1x Rakdos Signet
1x Talisman of Dominance
1x Talisman of Indulgence
Land (38)
1x Blackcleave Cliffs
1x Blood Crypt
1x Bloodstained Mire
1x City of Brass
1x Command Tower
1x Crumbling Necropolis
1x Darkslick Shores
1x Dragonskull Summit
1x Drowned Catacomb
1x Exotic Orchard
4x Island
1x Mana Confluence
5x Mountain
1x Path of Ancestry
1x Polluted Delta
1x Scalding Tarn
1x Shivan Reef
1x Smoldering Marsh
1x Spirebluff Canal
1x Steam Vents
1x Strip Mine
1x Sulfur Falls
1x Sulfurous Springs
1x Sunken Hollow
3x Swamp
1x Tectonic Edge
1x Underground River
1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1x Watery Grave
UBRKess, Dissident MageUBR - Controlling Dissidents
GRhonas the IndomitableG - Indomitable Four Drops
WUBOloro, Ageless AsceticWUB - Loot & Renanimate
For reference, the list of cards I'm compiling to go through is here: https://deckbox.org/sets/1774791
Padeem, Consul of Innovation - Artifact value/combo.
Sidisi, Brood Tyrant - Sultai zombie reanimator.
Win conditions include Balefire Dragon, Frost Titan, Inferno Titan, Massacre Wurm, Noxious Gearhulk, Sire of Stagnation, Wurmcoil Engine and Thraximundar. Plus swinging with Kess, Dissident Mage.
Seems like plenty of win conditions to me.
UBRKess, Dissident MageUBR - Controlling Dissidents
GRhonas the IndomitableG - Indomitable Four Drops
WUBOloro, Ageless AsceticWUB - Loot & Renanimate
Padeem, Consul of Innovation - Artifact value/combo.
Sidisi, Brood Tyrant - Sultai zombie reanimator.
The Buyback cards are really good. I am running Capsize in my list now.
UBRKess, Dissident MageUBR - Controlling Dissidents
GRhonas the IndomitableG - Indomitable Four Drops
WUBOloro, Ageless AsceticWUB - Loot & Renanimate
I think Exsanguinate is better than Torment of Hailfire for that. I'm not sure I like giving my opponents free sacrifice outlets, and the life gain is also nice. Banefire is also nice because it can't be prevented.
UBRKess, Dissident MageUBR - Controlling Dissidents
GRhonas the IndomitableG - Indomitable Four Drops
WUBOloro, Ageless AsceticWUB - Loot & Renanimate
Right. Also, Bond of Agony is a cheezy win if you copy it once or twice - pay 15 life, copy it twice, everyone dies.
Padeem, Consul of Innovation - Artifact value/combo.
Sidisi, Brood Tyrant - Sultai zombie reanimator.
increasing confusion, increasing vengeance, increasing ambition.
Add a backbone of card filtering and removal spells and I might even go so far as to call her an upgrade over Karador if you're looking to build a pure reanimation deck.
I think there is more interesting space for her than to be a reanimator commander. Red offers little in the reanimation realm and omitting white means losing out on a lot. Oloro, Ageless Ascetic is a much better reanimation general.
While I like the idea of using Kess, Dissident Mage to double up on incremental advantage (i.e. Double Snap, Double Preordain, Double Tragic Slip), flashing back huge spells the following turn as if it were a makeshift rebound can also be powerful. For example, casting Blatant Thievery or Insurrection twice.
UBRKess, Dissident MageUBR - Controlling Dissidents
GRhonas the IndomitableG - Indomitable Four Drops
WUBOloro, Ageless AsceticWUB - Loot & Renanimate
The main issue is getting there. 7/8 mana is basically our entire turn, 10 if you want countermagic up to secure it. I think those are fun to curve into, but a focus on them will make the deck too clunky.
You can't really run this deck like an Izzet cost-reduction deck - adding black doesn't help that goal, it opens up tutors, removal, and Grixis creatures. The deck can't ramp or cost reduce enough to justify running several 7+ CMC spells. I think you want to run cards like No Mercy and Dissipation Field and Crawlspace, removal/countermagic/cantrips to keep up the pace and control the board, and then Nicol Bolas, God-Pharaoh and company.
Padeem, Consul of Innovation - Artifact value/combo.
Sidisi, Brood Tyrant - Sultai zombie reanimator.
While I see the advantages offered by white, Red gives you access to haste enablers (Anger being an all time favorite for exactly this archetype) the value generation of doubling up on reanimation, especially mass reanimation with haste enablers, is entirely back breaking and worth switching red in. Flayer of the Hatebound also adds some gas and transforming your spells into undercosted game-winning creatures seems much more reliable than hoping to storm off or rely on your opponents board with thievery effects.
Why not just run Marchesa?
Padeem, Consul of Innovation - Artifact value/combo.
Sidisi, Brood Tyrant - Sultai zombie reanimator.
I like the burn route, also using things like Geistblast, and Refuse/Cooperate to manage the once per turn limitation.
For ramp, I would not undervalue rituals. Casting Seething Song or Dark Ritual twice in a turn will get you to Time Stretch and Expropriate mana pretty quickly.
For some hidden gems, the Expertise cycle seems really strong. They will sit in your graveyard until you have something in your hand that is a good follow-up.
Also, River Kelpie and similar for a lot of value.
Buyback is of course great, but hard to use Forbid.
I disagree with this assessment and I think it is short sighted for players to immediately dismiss her as Yidris light. Kess, Dissident Mage is not simply a worse or fixed version of Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder. She's easier to cast than Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder and doesn't have to deal combat damage before gaining card advantage which I believe is very significant. Having more selection rather than worrying about cascade means your deck doesn't lack synergy just because it runs counterspells. Piloting Kess requires much more skill and decision making and gives you more influence and actually determine the outcome of the board state.
Kess also has strong synergy with mechanics like Overload and Buyback that Yidris doesn't have and can also benefit from cards that reward players for playing out of their graveyard (i.e. Burning Vengeance, Secrets of the Grave).
UBRKess, Dissident MageUBR - Controlling Dissidents
GRhonas the IndomitableG - Indomitable Four Drops
WUBOloro, Ageless AsceticWUB - Loot & Renanimate
There are actually quite a few reasons, though the biggest one is a utilitarian advantage. If I want to make a reliable reanimator deck I have to devote more space to utility creatures and effects that recur said reanimation spells (Archaeomancer etc.) if I'm running Marchesa. Additionally she wants you to have more creature in general to take advantage of her ability, sacrifice outlets to ensure that you can always use it when you need to, and the ability to get in for combat damage while manipulating who is on the throne in multiplayer. That's a lot of deck building requirements if you want a consistant deck.
Kess doesn't ask for that, and, in fact, frees up a lot of space. You don't need Call To Mind/Archaomancer effects when she can recast for you, you don't need looters or utility creatures if you can recast utility spells without taking up extra slots, and she lets you streamline your deck into a potent pile of powerful instants and sorceries, reanimatable fatties, reanimation spells, and almost nothing else.
Kess allows you to play spells like Exhume and Reanimate multiple times, but a reanimator deck doesn't want to play their commander on turn 4, they ideally want to reanimate a threat.
What I like about Kess, Dissident Mage is you don't have to play her as soon as possible. Frequently from my testing, I like to play her when I have access to 5 mana, that way the same turn I play her, I can cast a spell like Fatal Push, Preordain or Void Snare from my graveyard in the same turn and get immediate value. Alternatively you can play Anger of the Gods/Radiant Flames on turn 3, cast Kess on turn 4 and recast Anger of the Gods on turn 5. She's an amazing midrange/control general that encourages our opponents not to overextend because they know we can reuse our removal spells. It's an incredibly unique ability.
UBRKess, Dissident MageUBR - Controlling Dissidents
GRhonas the IndomitableG - Indomitable Four Drops
WUBOloro, Ageless AsceticWUB - Loot & Renanimate