Kess, Dissident MageKess, Dissident Mage | Art by Izzy

Welcome one and all to Fire and Ice! This is EDHREC's data-driven series where I go over cards that are becoming more or less popular for different commanders, and talk about why they may be gaining or losing popularity. I'm Julia, your Duchess of Data, and I'm super excited to jump into today's article!

EDHREC, of course, has a ton of data. In this series we draw conclusions from that data about how certain decks have changed over time, give insight into how the format's players are thinking about new cards, and hopefully provide some tech for your favorite commander's list.

Today, we're focusing on Kess, Dissident MageKess, Dissident Mage, one of the most popular Grixis () cards out there. As of the time of writing, she leads 8,026 decks and sits at the #279 spot on EDHREC's top commanders list.

This article will include some cards from Secrets of Strixhaven. Our Fire and Ice database was just updated to include these cards, but some of them aren't in a ton of decks yet. Be sure to take their Fire Scores with a grain of salt, as any amount of additions to decks when a card is brand new can skew our data.

Kess, Dissident MageKess, Dissident Mage

What's Hot and What's Not for Kess, Dissident Mage

For , we get a 3/4 flying creature that lets us cast a spell from our graveyard on each of our turns before exiling that spell. Kess decks excel at reusing instants and sorceries. Whether pilots are recasting cantrips, looping wheels, or cheating their way into multiple turns in a row, there's tons of ways for Kess pilots to get extra uses out of their best spells.

Among her most popular cards are draw spells like PonderPonder (47% of decks), cost reducers like Goblin ElectromancerGoblin Electromancer (35% of decks), and Game Changers like Mystical TutorMystical Tutor (40% of decks).

What's Fiery for Kess Decks?

Decorum DissertationDecorum Dissertation - Fire Score of 18.39

This sorcery is part of a brand new cycle of cards that recast themselves on each of our turns after we first resolve them. This cycle iterates on the epic cycle from Saviors of Kamigawa, which was decidedly not epic.

With that bit of trivia out of the way, let's talk about this card specifically. Five mana is a big investment, but we can think of this spell as a better version of Phyrexian ArenaPhyrexian Arena. We get to draw two cards at the start of each of our turns, and even get cards as soon as this spell resolves. It's tricky to evaluate these paradigm spells, as we don't really have many other nonpermanent cards that provide us with a repeatable effect every turn.

Decorum Dissertation seems like a great card in decks that care about instants and sorceries. Elsewhere, it likely costs too much mana for the effect it provides. Notably, we don't get to cast multiple copies of this spell on our first main phase if we spend to cast it again from our graveyard using Kess' ability.

Prismari, the InspirationPrismari, the Inspiration - Fire Score of 9.17

is a lot to spend on any creature. But this Elder Dragon lets us string together some massive turns, and is particularly strong when paired with Kess. We can recast rituals and card draw spells to keep our storm turns going, which can often lead to us winning the game.

Unfortunately, this seven-drop doesn't protect itself very well. Its ward cost is trivial in our 40-life format, so I'd rather play a less expensive value permanent that's more likely to stick on the field (like Kuja, Genome SorcererKuja, Genome Sorcerer).

Mana SculptMana Sculpt - Fire Score of 7.85

Kess is a Wizard, which turns this CancelCancel variant into a slightly worse version of Mana DrainMana Drain. is 50% more mana than , which makes Mana Drain a better choice overall. Mana Sculpt is a fun card for lower power - or lower budget - Kess pilots looking for synergistic countermagic, though!

Hexing SquelcherHexing Squelcher - Fire Score of 3.15

What can I say about this Goblin that hasn't already been said? It's a fantastic card, and one of the best creatures we've ever seen. Kess decks tend to sit in Bracket 3 or Bracket 4, due to the commander's super powerful abilities, meaning that pilots will have to contend with opposing counterspells relatively often. This two-drop lets us get around those pesky spells with ease!

It also provides our creatures with a ward ability, but the cost is easily ignorable by an opponent seeking to remove something.

Expressive IterationExpressive Iteration - Fire Score of 1.03

Although it may cost more than cards like OptOpt and PreordainPreordain, Expressive Iteration stands as one of the best cheap card draw pieces in our format. We get to see three cards and access two of them, while also choosing which of those two cards we'd like to cast more immediately.

It's hard to beat the efficient card advantage and selection that Expressive Iteration provides, even if it isn't the flashiest card ever.

What's Icy for Kess Decks?

Rhystic StudyRhystic Study and The One RingThe One Ring - Ice Scores of -1.49 and -1.04

For Kess pilots who want to play in Bracket 4, both of these spells are fantastic inclusions. Rhystic Study and The One Ring provide a metric ton of card advantage to any pilot that casts them, but they're a bit too strong for some Bracket 2 and 3 pods.

Both of these permanents are also Game Changers, meaning that their declining popularity might be indicative of some Kess pilots dropping their decks down a Bracket.

Secrets of the DeadSecrets of the Dead - Ice Score of -1.08

This enchantment does let us draw at least one extra card per turn, but we'd rather spend that elsewhere. Generally, high-power decks aren't in the business of casting slow, incremental card advantage engines. It's too much mana investment for too little immediate payoff.

This card is in 14% of Kess decks as of the time of writing, but that number seems to be dropping a bit.

Thrill of PossibilityThrill of Possibility - Ice Score of -1.12

This spell seems like it's a great fit for Kess decks, as it lets us dump a spell into our graveyard for later use. But if we're dumping an instant or sorcery into the bin, wouldn't it be better to cast that spell from our hand to put it in our graveyard after it resolves instead? Unless that spell has some special effect when cast from the 'yard, like See the TruthSee the Truth, it's better off in our hand.

We've got access to better card advantage anyways, through effects like Flame of AnorFlame of Anor. Thrill of Possibility just isn't quite cutting it anymore.

Young PyromancerYoung Pyromancer - Ice Score of -1.05

Young Peezy, as the kids call this two-drop, is still a staple of Spellslinger decks throughout Commander. But we've gotten a whole bunch of more interesting token makers recently. From Namor the Sub-MarinerNamor the Sub-Mariner to Prismari PianistPrismari Pianist, there's lots of permanents that can hit the battlefield before our commander does and start churning out tokens.

Young Pyromancer will always have a home in some Kess lists, but it seems that a few pilots are exploring the new options too.

Blasphemous ActBlasphemous Act - Ice Score of -1.00

This is one of the best board wipes in Commander, hands down. But other spells work just a bit better with Kess. She's got four toughness, meaning cards like SlagstormSlagstorm and Toxic DelugeToxic Deluge allow us to more selectively wipe the board, leaving her alive. We can also make use of Cyclonic RiftCyclonic Rift, chaining rituals together to overload it way ahead of schedule.

Although Blasphemous Act is a fantastic card, it's not quite right for Kess pilots looking to squeeze every ounce of synergy into their 99.

What's in a Kess, Dissident Mage Deck?

Here's a Kess list with all of her Fiery cards and none of her Icy cards. This is, notably, a Bracket 4 list. Most decks that we show you on this series are in Bracket 2 or 3, so just be aware that there's a few more Game Changers than usual in this list.

Conclusion

It seems that Secrets of Strixhaven cards are quite popular with Commander players. FlashbackFlashback, for example, is already in nearly 3.26% of eligible decks on EDHREC! That's a similar percentage to Sapphire MedallionSapphire Medallion and co., which are among the most powerful artifacts in our format. Point is, SOS had some great cards.

Which Secrets of Strixhaven cards have you slotted into your decks? Do you have a different opinion on the paradigm spells? Let me know in the comments below, and I'll be back next week for more Fire and Ice!