Reducing the cost of legendary spells while using your graveyard as an endless casting resource makes Kethis, the Hidden Hand from Core Set 2020 one of the most explosive Abzan commanders in Magic: The Gathering.
As a 3/4 Elf Advisor costing three mana (), Kethis features two high-impact abilities: legendary spells you cast cost less, and paying while exiling two legendary cards from your graveyard allows you to play legendary cards directly from your graveyard until end of turn. By stacking high-density legendary cards, fast mana dorks, and self-mill engines, Kethis enables rapid board states and deterministic graveyard combo loops.
Here is the strategic operational blueprint of Moxfield’s premier Kethis list, detailing how to discount legendary permanents, execute graveyard re-casts, and assemble instant win conditions.
1. Core Mechanics & Strategic Phases
Succeeding with Kethis requires high legendary card density, fast mana dorks, graveyard stocking engines, and compact legendary win loops.
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Early Game (Turns 1–2): Ramp using low-cost dorks like Birds of Paradise or legendary utility dorks like Delighted Halfling. Stock the graveyard via self-mill or targeted tutors.
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Mid Game (Turns 3–4): Cast Kethis for . Capitalize on his generic mana discount to play legendary Planeswalkers, legendary creatures, and legendary artifacts like Mox Amber for reduced costs.
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Late Game (Turns 4+): Activate Kethis’s graveyard-recast ability. Loop zero-mana legendary artifacts like Mox Amber alongside sacrifice outlets to generate infinite mana and storm counts, resolving a game-ending win condition.
2. Moxfield Highlights: Legendary Synergies & Combo Loops
The highest-rated community lists on Moxfield optimize Kethis by maintaining a massive ratio of legendary permanents to maximize both his cost reduction and his graveyard activation costs.
Mox Amber / Mox Opal / Lotus Petal
Fast mana and combo fuel. Because Mox Amber is a legendary artifact, Kethis allows it to be repeatedly re-cast out of the graveyard for zero mana, fueling infinite mana loops when combined with self-mill or sacrifice outlets.
Teshar, Ancestor’s Apostle / Rona, Herald of Invasion
Historic recursion engines. Triggers whenever you cast historic or legendary spells, bringing back low-cost creatures and key combo components continuously from your graveyard.
Yawgmoth, Thran Physician / Urza’s Ruinous Blast
Legendary interaction and control. Urza’s Ruinous Blast acts as a one-sided board wipe that exiles all nonland, nonlegendary permanents, leaving your entire Kethis legendary board state completely intact.
Silence / Grand Abolisher
Protection suite. Locks down opposing instant-speed interaction while Kethis initiates multi-card legendary recursion loops.
3. Copy & Paste Kethis, the Hidden Hand 100-Card Decklist
Use the text box below to copy the complete highly-optimized community list. It contains exactly 1 Commander and 99 mainboard cards, calibrated for an error-free import into Moxfield.
1 Kethis, the Hidden Hand
1 Abrupt Decay
1 Animate Dead
1 Arcane Signet
1 Assassin's Trophy
1 Avacyn's Pilgrim
1 Bayou
1 Birds of Paradise
1 Blood Artist
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Boseiju, Who Endures
1 Carrion Feeder
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Chord of Calling
1 City of Brass
1 Command Tower
1 Culling the Weak
1 Dark Ritual
1 Dauthi Voidwalker
1 Deathrite Shaman
1 Delighted Halfling
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Diabolic Intent
1 Eldritch Evolution
1 Elves of Deep Shadow
1 Elvish Mystic
1 Entomb
1 Esper Sentinel
1 Finale of Devastation
1 Fyndhorn Elves
1 Gemstone Caverns
1 Godless Shrine
1 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Imperial Seal
1 Jeweled Lotus
1 Llanowar Elves
1 Lotus Petal
1 Mana Confluence
1 Mana Crypt
1 Mana Vault
1 Marsh Flats
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Mox Amber
1 Mox Diamond
1 Mox Opal
1 Nature's Claim
1 Orcish Bowmasters
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Polluted Delta
1 Reanimate
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Silence
1 Sol Ring
1 Stitcher's Supplier
1 Survival of the Fittest
1 Sylvan Library
1 Sylvan Safekeeper
1 Temple Garden
1 Teshar, Ancestor's Apostle
1 Undergrowth Stadium
1 Urza's Ruinous Blast
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Viscera Seer
1 Walking Ballista
1 Wild Growth
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Worldly Tutor
1 Yawgmoth, Thran Physician
10 Plains
10 Swamp
10 Forest
Summary: Discount Legends, Loop the Graveyard
Moxfield’s top deck builders prioritize Kethis, the Hidden Hand because his dual static and activated abilities convert legendary permanents into ultra-cheap spells and infinite graveyard value. By pairing legendary ramp with zero-cost artifact loops and one-sided legendary wipes, Kethis locks down battlefields and combo-kills pods effortlessly. Copy the flawless 100-card decklist above, recur your legendary cards from the graveyard, and dominate your next Commander pod.
