RedLegendary Creature — Human Faerie ScoutKellan, Planar Trailblazer
Mana value1Rank#12,357
The Commander
Guide
Gameplan
Drop Kellan turn one, then pump mana into him across turns to level him from a cheap Scout into an impulse-draw Detective and finally a 3/2 double-striking Rogue. You win by connecting with combat, snowballing card advantage off the Detective trigger, and accelerating into a wide or aggressive red board.
Strengths
- One-mana commander that's instantly castable and recastable cheaply
- Built-in impulsive card advantage engine in mono-red, which historically struggles for card draw
- Scales into a double-strike threat that doubles combat-damage exile triggers
- Low color requirement makes the manabase trivial and frees slots for ramp and rocks
Weaknesses
- Tiny base body that dies to nearly any removal or chump-blocks easily
- Needs to connect in combat to generate value, so evasion is mandatory
- Mono-red lacks reliable interaction, recursion, and ramp compared to other colors
- Sinking mana into leveling Kellan competes with developing your board
Key Cards
- Embercleave — Cheap finisher that gives trample and double strike, turning Kellan into a lethal threat that exiles extra cards on hit.
- Fireshrieker — Cheap, repeatable double strike to double the Detective's impulse-draw triggers without spending Kellan's level-up mana.
- Rogue's Passage — Guarantees Kellan connects for unblockable combat damage to keep the card advantage flowing.
- Mask of Memory — Stacks with the combat-damage trigger for explosive card flow when Kellan or any attacker connects.
- Birgi, God of Storytelling — Generates mana off your impulse-played spells, fueling more casts and Kellan's level-ups.
- Ragavan, Nimble Pilgrim — Another cheap aggressive value creature, but more importantly examples of the dash/treasure shell that supports Kellan's tempo plan.
Upgrade Path
Prioritize evasion and double-strike enablers (Rogue's Passage, Fireshrieker, Embercleave) so Kellan reliably connects and doubles his value triggers. Add fast mana like Sol Ring, Jeska's Will, and treasure generators to outpace the leveling costs, and lean into impulse-draw payoffs such as Birgi and Underworld Breach. Tighten the curve with efficient burn and protection (Deflecting Swat, Heroic Intervention) to push toward a faster, more resilient aggro build.
Core Cards
The most-played cards for this commander, built from aggregated deck data (the Mythic Graph). Build public decks to seed it.
Win Conditions
- ▸Commander damage from a leveled-up double-striking Kellan with evasion or Embercleave
- ▸Going wide with cheap creatures and an aggressive red beatdown
- ▸Chaining impulse-drawn burn and threats into overwhelming card advantage and reach
Archetypes
- Aggro/Voltron — Kellan becomes an evasive double-strike threat you can suit up to pressure life totals fast.
- Impulsive Card Advantage — The Detective trigger plus other exile-and-play effects let mono-red chain free spells off the top of the library.
- Spellslinger/Tempo — Combat triggers and impulse draw reward a low-curve deck full of cheap burn and rituals to keep casting.
Combos
No combos found for this commander on Commander Spellbook.
Related Commanders
Same color identity (R), by popularity.
