<p style="text-align: right;"><em><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Killian, Ink Duelist|STX|197" href="#" target="_blank">Killian, Ink Duelist</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://www.ryanpancoast.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ryan Pancoast</a></em></p>
<p>Friendly greetings and welcome! I'm John Sherwood, a Limited player with a Commander habit. Have you ever loved a Draft or Sealed deck so much you wanted to experience it again? That feeling is one reason set mechanics rate high in my deckbuilding preferences.</p>
<p>Repartee, the Silverquill set mechanic from <a href="https://edhrec.com/sets/sos"><em>Secrets of Strixhaven</em></a>, is a blast in Limited. Those repartee creatures have some great payoffs for casting instants and sorceries with targets. I especially love getting bonuses for casting removal spells.</p>
<p>Now I'm excited to see what repartee can do with 100 cards instead of 40. Even before playing repartee in a Sealed deck, I had my eye on <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Killian, Ink Duelist|STX|197" href="#" target="_blank">Killian, Ink Duelist</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> as a potential commander for this new ability.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Killian, Ink Duelist|STX|197"></div></div>
<p>In a manner befitting a hero of the Phyrexian Invasion, Killian already leads a respectable 3000 decks. Many of those decks are <a href="https://edhrec.com/commanders/killian-ink-duelist/auras" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Auras</a> decks, because Killian discounts the casting cost of the Auras. His discount also applies to the instants and sorceries that trigger repartee. However, repartee is incompatible with Auras.</p>
<p>Enchantress players might see repartee's limitation as a downside. I see it as an opportunity to take a previously solved Commander in a new direction.</p>
<h2>The <em>Secrets of Strixhaven </em>Sealed Deck</h2>
<p>My <em>Secrets of Strixhaven</em> Sealed deck will make up the bones of this <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Killian, Ink Duelist" href="#" target="_blank">Killian, Ink Duelist</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> repartee Commander deck. Unfortunately, my local game store sold out their prerelease events, so I missed out on a Silverquill-themed event kit. Instead, I bought a Draft Night box and played Sealed at home with my son. Pure kitchen table <em>Magic</em>, as Richard Garfield intended.</p>
<p>I built a <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-w" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-b" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span> deck around repartee and prepare creatures, with plenty of removal. The deck had a trim curve, a few flyers, and a high level of interaction; it was beautiful. Still, there were fewer combat tricks than I would have liked, and I blame that deficit for my resounding defeat at the hands of a prodigious pre-teen.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Silverquill Sealed" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Creatures]
*1 Abigale, Poet Laureate // Heroic Stanza
*1 Adventurous Eater // Have a Bite
*1 Biblioplex Tomekeeper
*2 Elite Interceptor // Rejoinder
*1 Melancholic Poet
*1 Owlin Historian
*1 Rehearsed Debater
*1 Scathing Shadelock // Venomous Words
*1 Sneering Shadewriter
*1 Stirring Honormancer
*1 Stirring Hopesinger
[/Creatures]
[Sorceries]
*1 Cost of Brilliance
*2 Daydream
*1 Pull from the Grave
[/Sorceries]
[Enchantments]
*1 Graduation Day
[/Enchantments]
[Instants]
*1 Bitter Triumph
*1 Foolish Fate
*1 Fracture
*1 Harsh Annotation
*1 Locust Spray
*1 Rapier Wit
*1 Wander Off
[/Instants]
[Lands]
*2 Forum of Amity
*6 Plains
*1 Skycoach Waypoint
*7 Swamp
*1 Terramorphic Expanse
[/Lands]"></span></div>
<h2>Cuts and Keeps</h2>
<p>In Sealed, players build a deck of at least 40 cards from six booster packs. I listed 41 above, because I swapped <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Fracture|SOA|65" href="#" target="_blank">Fracture</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> for <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Owlin Historian" href="#" target="_blank">Owlin Historian</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> between games. Sadly, I failed to notice Fracture doesn't target creatures until it was in my hand. I'm including it here as a cautionary tale about reading the cards before including the cards.</p>
<p>Fracture won't be in the final version of the Commander deck either, because Killian has better removal options at his Inkling-stained fingertips.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Fracture|SOA|65"></div></div>
<p>Additionally, a Sealed deck may include multiple copies of the same card if they came from the packs. The duplicates of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Daydream" href="#" target="_blank">Daydream</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Elite Interceptor" href="#" target="_blank">Elite Interceptor</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Forum of Amity" href="#" target="_blank">Forum of Amity</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> need to be cut to make this a legal, singleton Commander deck.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Elite Interceptor"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Abigale, Poet Laureate"></div></div>
<p>Further subtractions include some of the deck's draft chaff. Creatures with prepare were crucial in the Limited environment, but their glory fades in a constructed setting. For example, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Elite Interceptor" href="#" target="_blank">Elite Interceptor</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> helped manage my opponent's blockers with its prepared spell Rejoinder. Meanwhile, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Abigale, Poet Laureate" href="#" target="_blank">Abigale, Poet Laureate</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> was a serious threat in the tight, creature-heavy lists that win low power 1v1 games.</p>
<p>I enjoy the prepared mechanic, but it isn't the focus of this deck.</p>
<p>I won't convert this deck to Commander totally unprepared, though. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Scathing Shadelock" href="#" target="_blank">Scathing Shadelock</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a solid body with repeatable card advantage. Free access to a cheap sorcery once per round is great value, and keeping this card preserves some of the deck's Limited feel.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Scathing Shadelock|SOS|98"></div></div>
<h2>Recs</h2>
<p>After trimming a little chaff out of my Sealed list, it's time to start counting up again. My next stop is EDHREC's namesake feature.</p>
<p>There's two great ways to do this. The old-fashioned way is to click the <a href="https://edhrec.com/recs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Recs link</a> on the EDHREC menu bar, and paste the list. Those of us awesome enough to use <a href="http://www.archidekt.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Archidekt</a> get direct access to Recs via the EDH Recs tab in Archidekt's Card search. Either way, the Recs tool produces recommendations based on the cards already in the list.</p>
<div id="attachment_183090" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/KillianRec.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-183090" class="wp-image-183090 size-large" src="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/KillianRec-1024x503.png" alt="A screen shot of EDH Recs search results via Archidekt Card search." width="1024" height="503" srcset="https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/KillianRec-1024x503.png 1024w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/KillianRec-300x147.png 300w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/KillianRec-768x377.png 768w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/KillianRec-1536x755.png 1536w, https://cloudflare.edhrec.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/KillianRec.png 1919w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></a><p id="caption-attachment-183090" class="wp-caption-text">The Archidekt Card search automatically pulls Recs from EDHREC based on the cards currently in your deck.</p></div>
<p>The top five Recs are other creatures with repartee, and an instant named <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Killian&#039;s Confidence" href="#" target="_blank">Killian&#039;s Confidence</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. Referencing the commander directly is an easy flavor win. Conveniently, this sorcery also targets a creature, draws a card, and comes back from the graveyard. I'm sold.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Killian&#039;s Confidence"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Snooping Page"></div></div>
<p><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Snooping Page" href="#" target="_blank">Snooping Page</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is an especially good target for Killian's Confidence. Becoming unblockable makes excellent use of the +1/+1 counter, and guarantees the combat damage to get Killian's Confidence back in hand for next turn. For very little setup, we get an engine for all our other repartee triggers. Plus we get to draw two extra cards on each repetition.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Scolding Administrator"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Informed Inkwright"></div></div>
<p>Many of the repartee creatures are trying to go tall, like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Scolding Administrator" href="#" target="_blank">Scolding Administrator</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Lecturing Scornmage" href="#" target="_blank">Lecturing Scornmage</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. The Scolding Administrator is a <a href="https://mtg.wiki/page/List_of_Magic_slang/R%26D_slang#Signpost" target="_blank" rel="noopener">signpost uncommon</a>, and a <a href="https://mtg.wiki/page/Bear_(template)" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bear with set's mechanic</a>. It's the cardboard incarnation of everything this deck is trying to do, and I wish I'd had one in my Sealed pool.</p>
<p>I may have been scorned by booster pack contents, but I'm not missing out again. Menace makes this Owl a threat on developing board states. Then the latter ability, reassigning its counters, creates an opportunity to stay relevant in the mid-to-late game.</p>
<p>While the other Silverquill are busy getting bigger, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Informed Inkwright" href="#" target="_blank">Informed Inkwright</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is going wide. Those Inkling tokens will quickly flood the board and evade most blockers.</p>
<h2>Tracing Roots</h2>
<p>Repartee is not truly a new mechanic: it's a descendent of older mechanics. Prowess, heroic, magecraft, and valiant are all interwoven into repartee's design pedigree. Many older cards with these ability words offer solid support for a repartee deck.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Phalanx Leader"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Whiskervale Forerunner"></div></div>
<p>Sadly, I missed <em>Theros</em> block during a break from <em>Magic. </em>When I returned to the hobby in 2018, heroic captured my imagination and my slim card budget. I love seeing the lineage of heroic in repartee, as well as a new home for <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Phalanx Leader" href="#" target="_blank">Phalanx Leader</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. If you read my <a href="https://edhrec.com/articles/the-best-nonlegendary-creatures-in-secrets-of-strixhaven" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Best Nonlegendary Creatures in <em>Secrets of Strixhaven</em></a>, then you already know about pairing Phalanx Leader with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Stirring Hopesinger" href="#" target="_blank">Stirring Hopesinger</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. Phalanx Leader is a great target, regardless of which repartee creatures are in play.</p>
<p>Unlike heroic, valiant did not inspire me to build any decks. I love <em>Bloomburrow</em>, but valiant whiffed for me. Heroic and valiant both want to be the target, so they are competing for attention. Good thing there aren't many options for valiant anyway. I like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Whiskervale Forerunner" href="#" target="_blank">Whiskervale Forerunner</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> in this deck as a utility to dig for better payoffs. Payoffs like these prowess and magecraft picks:</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Monastery Mentor"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sedgemoor Witch"></div></div>
<p>These token makers are helping the deck go even wider. Magecraft and prowess go hand-in-hand in <a href="http://edhrec.com/tags/spellslinger" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Spellslinger</a> decks, and their flexibility is a boon to repartee. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Monastery Mentor" href="#" target="_blank">Monastery Mentor</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a proven closer in any deck casting multiple noncreature spells per turn. The Pests from <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sedgemoor Witch" href="#" target="_blank">Sedgemoor Witch</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> are not as threatening as Monks with prowess, but they can pester your opponents or pad your life total.</p>
<h2>Legendary Creatures</h2>
<p>One more thing before we look at the finished repartee Commander deck. Or, rather, two more cards. I want to highlight two very special legendary creatures; both of which could be alternative commanders for this deck.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Shay Cormac"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Papalymo Totolymo"></div></div>
<p>I'm not versed in the lore of either <em>Assassin's Creed</em> or <em>Final Fantasy</em>. I don't know anything about these characters. Is <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Shay Cormac" href="#" target="_blank">Shay Cormac</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> an outlaw with a sense of chivalry? Or a paladin with a criminal side hustle? Either way, the <em>Magic</em> spin on this Human Knight Rogue lends his blade to the plentiful creature removal. The option to nullify defensive keywords is clutch, and there will be plenty of chances to post and collect Shay Cormac's bounties.</p>
<p><em>Final Fantasy</em>'s relationship with fantasy tropes drifts between referential and subversive. For every "typical" fantasy character, there's at least one that breaks from fantasy convention. I have to suppress my Tolkien-coded concept of "Dwarf" when I look at <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Papalymo Totolymo" href="#" target="_blank">Papalymo Totolymo</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<p>If you share the same malady, do yourself a favor and take your medicine. This text box is worth it. Draining the table is a fun way to incrementally win a game. As if a built-in win condition weren't enough, Papalymo is also an edict on a stick. It's not all-in on removal like Shay Cormac, but sometimes forcing a sacrifice is all you need to sculpt a better board state.</p>
<h2>Killian, Ink Duelist Commander Deck List</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Silverquill" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Commander]
*1 Killian, Ink Duelist
[/Commander]
[Sorceries]
*1 Cost of Brilliance
*1 Damn
*1 Daydream
*1 Dig Site Inventory
*1 Exhilarating Elocution
*1 Hex
*1 Killian&#039;s Confidence
*1 Moment of Reckoning
*1 Practiced Offense
*1 Pull from the Grave
*1 Silverquill Command
[/Sorceries]
[Enchantments]
*1 Graduation Day
[/Enchantments]
[Instants]
*1 Anguished Unmaking
*1 Astarion&#039;s Thirst
*1 Bitter Triumph
*1 Closing Statement
*1 Dark Dabbling
*1 Erode
*1 Foolish Fate
*1 Fracture
*1 Generous Gift
*1 Harsh Annotation
*1 Inkshield
*1 Interjection
*1 Locust Spray
*1 Masterful Flourish
*1 Mortify
*1 Path to Exile
*1 Rabid Attack
*1 Rapier Wit
*1 Shelter
*1 Show of Confidence
*1 Silverquill Charm
*1 Stroke of Midnight
*1 Utter End
*1 Wander Off
[/Instants]
[Creatures]
*1 Agent of the Fates
*1 Brigone, Soldier of Meletis
*1 Conciliator&#039;s Duelist
*1 Forum Necroscribe
*1 Informed Inkwright
*1 Lecturing Scornmage
*1 Mavinda, Students&#039; Advocate
*1 Melancholic Poet
*1 Monastery Mentor
*1 Nettle Guard
*1 Papalymo Totolymo
*1 Phalanx Leader
*1 Rehearsed Debater
*1 Scathing Shadelock // Venomous Words
*1 Scolding Administrator
*1 Sedgemoor Witch
*1 Shay Cormac
*1 Snooping Page
*1 Stirring Hopesinger
*1 Whiskervale Forerunner
[/Creatures]
[Artifacts]
*1 Arcane Signet
*1 Diary of Dreams
*1 Sol Ring
*1 Spell Satchel
*1 Talisman of Hierarchy
[/Artifacts]
[Lands]
*1 Bleachbone Verge
*1 Caves of Koilos
*1 Command Tower
*1 Eclipsed Steppe
*1 Fetid Heath
*1 Forum of Amity
*1 Godless Shrine
*1 Isolated Chapel
*12 Plains
*1 Rogue&#039;s Passage
*1 Shattered Sanctum
*1 Shineshadow Snarl
*1 Skycoach Waypoint
*11 Swamp
*1 Tainted Field
*1 Terramorphic Expanse
*1 Vault of Champions
[/Lands]"></span></div>
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
<p>Whether or not you experienced Silverquill in Limited play, I'm confident this <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Killian, Ink Duelist" href="#" target="_blank">Killian, Ink Duelist</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> deck will be a blast in Commander. Commander decks are often forced to choose between interaction or building value engines. This deck does both, and does it in style with a repertoire of repartee and its precursor mechanics.</p>
<p>What else would you add to this deck? What would you cut? Have you ever converted a Limited deck to Commander? I'd love to talk about it in the comments.</p>


strixhaven repartee mechanic

Exploring the Repartee Mechanic, With Killian, Ink Duelist