Talion, the Kindly Lord
Legendary Creature — Faerie Noble
Flying
As Talion enters, choose a number between 1 and 10.
Whenever an opponent casts a spell with mana value, power, or toughness equal to the chosen number, that player loses 2 life and you draw a card.
- CMC
- 4
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- BU
- Rarity
- mythic
- Set
- Wilds of Eldraine
- Price
- $11.90
- EDHREC rank
- #1492
Talion, the Kindly Lord enters and immediately taxes every opponent who plays cards matching your chosen number — drawing you cards when they do and dealing them damage, all on a 3/4 flying body for four mana. The cost is a single configuration decision at cast time, and getting that number right (usually 2 or 3 in most metas) turns Talion, the Kindly Lord into a repeating card-advantage engine that punishes the table for simply playing Magic.
Best Commanders
Commanders with the highest synergy
Tegwyll, Duke of Splendor
Tegwyll, Duke of Splendor draws a card whenever a Faerie you control dies, and Talion, the Kindly Lord is a Faerie that keeps triggering off opponent plays — together they stack draw engines that compound through a single tribal shell.
Obyra, Dreaming Duelist
Obyra, Dreaming Duelist pings opponents whenever you draw on their turn, and Talion, the Kindly Lord hands you that draw trigger every time an opponent casts a spell matching your chosen number, turning each opponent's turn into chip damage.
Alela, Cunning Conqueror
Alela, Cunning Conqueror cares about instants and flash spells and creates Faerie tokens off them, and Talion, the Kindly Lord provides a punishing tax that discourages opponents from doing the very things that would otherwise develop their board against you.
Maralen, Fae Ascendant
Maralen, Fae Ascendant tutors on upkeep and runs Faerie tribal as a subtheme, and Talion, the Kindly Lord slots in as a value piece that punishes opponents' spell activity while counting as a Faerie body for tribal synergies.
Sygg, River Cutthroat
Sygg, River Cutthroat draws cards whenever opponents lose three or more life in a turn, and Talion, the Kindly Lord chips in one damage per matching spell, helping tick opponents toward that threshold while providing a second independent draw trigger.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | legal |
| standard | legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Commander is where Talion, the Kindly Lord is genuinely powerful — four opponents casting spells every turn cycle means the chosen-number trigger fires constantly, and a single correct call (2 is the consensus correct number in most pods, hitting Sol Ring, Counterspell, and most two-drops) turns Talion into a low-cost draw engine and life-loss clock simultaneously. In competitive Commander, the card is playable but not prioritized; the four-mana slot is crowded and faster decks don't care about one damage per trigger. In 60-card formats like Modern and Pioneer, Talion, the Kindly Lord is legal but sees almost no play — the effect is too slow and too passive against opponents who simply go under it. Legacy and Vintage have the redundancy of faster threats and hate pieces that make a 3/4 for four a luxury no blue-black shell needs.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Budget Alternatives
Cheaper options that do most of the same work
The closest budget analog is Underworld Dreams effects — Megrim or Nekusar, the Mindrazer punish spell activity in different ways but don't replicate Talion, the Kindly Lord's on-demand draw. If the draw-and-damage trigger is what you're after at a lower price, Arcanis the Omnipotent and Phyrexian Arena each cover part of the function but sacrifice the reactive, opponent-punishing element that makes Talion worth the slot.
Price Context
Current price
$11.90 mid tier
At $11.90, Talion, the Kindly Lord sits in the mid tier — expensive enough to feel like a deliberate inclusion, cheap enough that it's not a barrier for most Commander budgets. It's a mythic rare with sustained demand across multiple Faerie commanders, so the price reflects real play rate rather than speculation.
Explore
Sources
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.