Kelsien, the Plague
Legendary Creature — Human Assassin
Vigilance, haste
Kelsien gets +1/+1 for each experience counter you have.
: Kelsien deals 1 damage to target creature you don't control. When that creature dies this turn, you get an experience counter.
- CMC
- 3
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- BRW
- Rarity
- mythic
- Set
- Commander 2020
- Price
- $2.97
- EDHREC rank
- #7785
Kelsien, the Plague turns every opponent's creature death into a permanent stat boost and a repeatable ping — pair him with Thornbite Staff and he becomes an untap-on-kill machine that loops through boards on his own. The setup cost is real: haste enablers, tap outlets, and protection all compete for deck slots, making this a build-around commander rather than a plug-and-play threat. If Ezio Auditore da Firenze is your preferred assassin flavor, Kelsien, the Plague is the more explosive engine.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Ezio Auditore da Firenze
Ezio Auditore da Firenze runs Kelsien, the Plague in over 21% of decks because both cards orbit the same axis — killing creatures and profiting from it — and Kelsien's experience counters keep scaling as Ezio's triggered hunts fill the graveyard.
Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad
Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad slots Kelsien, the Plague into roughly 16% of builds, using Kelsien's repeatable deathtouch ping to satisfy Altaïr's assassination requirements and generate the counter upgrades that define that deck's late game.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | not legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Commander is where Kelsien, the Plague does all his meaningful work — as the 99 he provides a compact deathtouch pinger, and in the command zone he headlines a Mardu control-combo deck built around experience counters and untap loops. Legacy and Vintage technically allow him, but a three-mana 1/1 with no immediate impact on a non-creature-dependent board has no competitive role in either format. Oathbreaker is the one fringe case worth noting: Kelsien's ping plus a pump or protection spell as signature can generate incremental advantage in a lower-power setting, though the format's speed limits how many experience counters he'll realistically accumulate.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Kelsien, the PlagueThornbite Staff
Destroy each creature that enters the battlefield under an opponent's control; Destroy any number of creatures opponents control; Lock
View on Commander Spellbook ↗Price Context
Current price
$2.97 cheap tier
At $2.97, Kelsien, the Plague sits in budget commander territory for a mythic with a dedicated combo identity — that price reflects modest demand outside his own dedicated builds. Supply is stable enough that the price is unlikely to spike without a reprint or a sudden surge in Assassin-tribal interest, so picking one up now carries low financial risk.
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Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.