Kess, Dissident Mage
Flying Once during each of your turns, you may cast an instant or sorcery spell from your graveyard. If a spell cast this way would be put into your graveyard, exile it instead.
How Kess decks play in EDH
Kess, Dissident Mage is a Grixis commander in blue, black and red costing 1UBR, and its legendary creature - human wizard line shapes the whole deck around it. It works out of the graveyard, so self-mill and cheap recursion effectively become extra card advantage. Built-in evasion means damage gets through reliably, so effects that scale that damage are worth more than extra bodies. The cards below are the ones Kess, Dissident Mage decks actually play most often, grouped by the job they do.
Most-played cards
20 cards · about $38.53Play rates from EDHREC. Prices from Scryfall, refreshed daily.
Ramp (1)
Card draw (6)
Counterspells (1)
Creatures (6)
Synergy & payoffs (6)
Build the full 100
Grimoire generates a complete, Commander-legal Kess, Dissident Mage decklist with a written strategy, a full mana base and live prices — from the whole card pool, or only from cards you already own.
Start with KessKess deck questions
What colours can I use in a Kess, Dissident Mage deck?
Kess, Dissident Mage has a Grixis colour identity, so every card in the deck must be blue, black and red or colourless. That includes mana symbols in rules text, not just casting cost.
What are the best cards for Kess, Dissident Mage?
The cards played most often in Kess, Dissident Mage decks include Geist of Saint Thalia, Samut, Tyrant of Naktamun, Glamdring, Foe-hammer // Gleam of Death. The full list of staples above is grouped by the job each card does, so you can see the deck's skeleton rather than just a pile of names.
How much does a Kess, Dissident Mage deck cost?
The 20 most-played cards shown above come to roughly $38.53 at current market prices. A complete 100-card build costs more, and Grimoire can generate a budget version instead if you set a price ceiling.
Can I build a Kess, Dissident Mage deck from cards I already own?
Yes. Import your collection into Grimoire and choose "my cards" when you build. The generator will only use cards you actually own, and the Missing Cards page shows what you would need to buy to finish any list.