Kinnan, Bonder ProdigyKinnan, Bonder Prodigy | Art by Jason Rainville

No bad cards? I thought you said no banned cards...

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

EDHREC, of course, has a ton of data. We'll draw conclusions from that data about how certain commanders' decks have changed over time, give insight into new cards, and hopefully provide some tech for your favorite commander's list.

It's that time again, so we'll be focusing on a Bracket 5 (a.k.a. cEDH) commander in this article. Today, we're focusing on Kinnan, Bonder ProdigyKinnan, Bonder Prodigy. This two-drop is super powerful, and is considered to be one of the strongest competitive deck leaders out there!

Kinnan, Bonder ProdigyKinnan, Bonder Prodigy

What's Hot and What's Not for Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy?

For , Kinnan is a 2/2 Human Druid. He lets each of our nonland permanents add an extra mana when we activate their mana abilities. He also allows us to spend to grab a super strong non-Human creature from the top of our library right onto the battlefield.

Kinnan pilots want to run out a few mana dorks and mana rocks early in the game, generate value with the mana advantage that their commander creates, and go infinite with some infamous combos.

Among the most popular cards for this commander are Thrasios, Triton HeroThrasios, Triton Hero (74% of decks), Fyndhorn ElvesFyndhorn Elves (79% of decks), and Hullbreaker HorrorHullbreaker Horror (81% of decks).

What's Fiery for Kinnan Decks?

Shang-Chi, Master of Kung FuShang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu - Fire Score of 13.20

This card is fantastic for most every build of Kinnan. For just two mana, this Human Warrior Hero does a ton. He provides "haste" to our creatures to allow our mana dorks to tap for extra mana the turn they hit the field, while also adding two mana to use for activated abilities.

Pseudo-haste is, of course, fantastic for a creature-based deck. Shang-Chi also adds two mana that we can use to activate Thrasios, use our commander's ability, or pay for transmute costs.

Shang-Chi is better in faster versions of Kinnan,that want to flip into spooky creatures or combo off as fast as possible. But, even the slowest versions of this commander should consider including this mana dork.

Gene PollinatorGene Pollinator - Fire Score of 3.28

The Kinnan players that I spoke to described this card as "fine." It can be great when played on turn one, because then it acts as another Birds of ParadiseBirds of Paradise. But, outside of that dream scenario, it's just a worse version of Springleaf DrumSpringleaf Drum. They weren't enthused by this creature, and I'm not either.

There are so many fantastic one-drop dorks and rocks out there that it's difficult to justify playing Gene Pollinator. It's neat to say "turn one, I play a Forest and cast Eugene," but that's not good enough to justify playing this creature in such a high-powered deck.

Flash PhotographyFlash Photography - Fire Score of 2.74

While we're not in as clone-heavy of a meta as we were in the days of Dockside ExtortionistDockside Extortionist, clones are still super strong in cEDH. Using this spell, we can make copies of Rhystic StudyRhystic Study, Mystic RemoraMystic Remora, or other card advantage engines.

If we flip into a particularly potent creature, we can even make a copy of it. Imagine the fun that we can have with two copies of Consecrated SphinxConsecrated Sphinx!

Whir of InventionWhir of Invention - Fire Score of 1.88

Kinnan decks are filled with powerful artifacts. Some of these just make mana, like Talisman of CuriosityTalisman of Curiosity, but others are part of game-ending combos, like Basalt MonolithBasalt Monolith.

The strength of Whir of Invention lies in its flexibility and its lack of timing restriction. We can cast this spell at any moment, grabbing whichever artifact seems to fit the situation at hand. We can grab a combo piece to win on top of an opponent's attempt, fetch up The One RingThe One Ring to blunt a strong combat, or go find an Imposter MechImposter Mech to generate some value.

SnapbackSnapback and CommandeerCommandeer - Fire Score of 1.70 and 1.67

Although these are "second-tier" free spells, and certainly not as strong as the likes of Force of WillForce of Will and Force of NegationForce of Negation, they're still fantastic cards.

The vast majority of our cards are anyway, meaning that we'll be able to cast these spells for free pretty consistently.

What's Icy for Kinnan Decks?

Nyxbloom AncientNyxbloom Ancient - Ice Score of -2.03

This Elemental is fantastic when we get to flip it off the top of our deck with Kinnan...but it's not great otherwise. Spending on a creature that doesn't draw cards or win us the game on the spot is a big risk!

This card's Ice Score isn't that high, meaning that many players are still finding a slot for this in their decks. But with big creatures like The Unagi of Kyoshi IslandThe Unagi of Kyoshi Island coming out recently, it's harder to justify playing Nyxbloom.

Tezzeret the SeekerTezzeret the Seeker - Ice Score of -2.00

This five-mana 'walker is great. Its and first abilities are both super useful!

We need to hard-cast Tezzy every time we want to use him. There's no good way to tutor planeswalkers onto the battlefield, and we can't flip into planeswalkers with Kinnan's ability. Tezzeret is great, but only works well in slower Kinnan decks that can extract value from him over multiple turns.

Green Sun's ZenithGreen Sun's Zenith - Ice Score of -1.66

This spell has a few things working against it. First off, it's a sorcery. Timing restrictions are not great in cEDH, where flexibility really matters. We also need to pay the full mana value of the creature that we're searching for, while some other spells provide us with a discount. Finally, Green Sun's can't be recast from the graveyard.

There are tons of other options that shore up one (or multiple) of these weaknesses, like Archdruid's CharmArchdruid's Charm, Chord of CallingChord of Calling, or Nature's RhythmNature's Rhythm. It's hard to find a spot for GSZ with all of this in mind.

What's in a Kinnan Deck?

Here's a Kinnan list that includes all of his Fiery cards and none of his Icy cards. This deck was based heavily on the NBC (No Bad Cards) Kinnan list, which can be found on the cEDH Decklist Database.

Conclusion

As with all of our cEDH editions, this article wouldn't have been possible without the help of the fine folks over at the Kinnan Discord Server. They gave great insight on free spells, "Eugene the Pollinator," and more.

If you're interested in learning more about this commander, please check out their server. And, if you're interested in seeing more Commander data, please come back next week for more Fire and Ice.