Kethis, the Hidden HandKethis, the Hidden Hand | Art by Yongjae Choi

Magic has had 30 years to not only come up with a whole host of different and interesting themes to build a deck around, but also develop them into something you can play with in all five colors. The problem is that too many five-color decks make them all feel less special. In this series, I want to break apart the five-color decks.

I'll discuss the theme, what value each color adds to it, the core colors of the theme, and then suggest a pair of commanders that each use at least one of the core colors but bring other spices to the table.

Core colors, for the record, will be determined by total number of decks in a given color with that theme under EDHREC. There'll be some consideration given to the monocolor, two-color, and three-color categories.

Today on Dueling Deck Techs we're looking at the Legends theme, or "Legendary Matters."

Why Play Legendary Matters?

Okay, this is a bit of a weird one. Legendary is a supertype with a downside in most formats and a marker that it can be your commander if it's a creature. There's no innate benefit to running a bunch of legendary spells in your deck. It was just… cool.

In recent years, certain themes have been given more and more commander options. There are 30 commanders which are red, white, or red-white, and care about Equipment. You have 54 blue, red, or blue-red Spellslinger commanders. So you can be building a theme and accidentally stumble into a high concentration of legends.

In recent years, Wizards of the Coast has tapped into Legendary Matters as a cool theme. It originally cropped up back in Kamigawa block, and got a quick mention in Theros and even Fate Reforged, both because they had a “high number of legendary creatures.” (Cue laugh track.)

For the record, there were about 40 cards which referenced legendary spells printed between 2001 and 2017. Starting with Dominaria (2018) to the current present of 2025, we've gotten 215 cards with the word “legendary” (some of which include cards like Price of FamePrice of Fame and the slew of clone spells which make the tokens nonlegendary). This was partly due to the theme getting recognized as popular and being mined for material, partly for commander draft sets, and partly for Universes Beyond sets.

So it's well-fed. In what way?

Core Colors of Legendary Matters

Okay, so Legendary Matters is a theme that can be found in any color, but there's a quick rundown to note. Legendary Matters has been a theme in all colors in Kamigawa block, Esper in Dominaria (2018), Mardu in Dominaria United, and Bant in Doctor Who.

For each of the five colors, here are the number of mono-colored cards which care about legendary.

White: 28

Blue: 26

Black: 13

Red: 10

Green: 18

There are a lot of multicolor cards for this theme, but breaking down the color distribution there is a touch too in-depth for this article (and that's saying something). All that to say, white has some of the best effects for legendary creatures, thanks to it being one of the central themes and having had the highest number of cards for the theme. It can tutor, recur, and otherwise interact with legendary creatures in a lot of important and impactful ways.

It's kind of a tough call from here forward, but I think the right call is blue. It has a solid number of historic cards, and it has a unique angle on legendary creatures: clones. A lot of blue's cards with “legendary” on them are some kind of clone effect designed to make sure you don't have to sacrifice them to the legend rule. This means there's not a diverse amount of effects but there is a density, which is perfect for building a consistent strategy. It does also have some solid ways to turn the theme into card advantage, important for our needs.

This is the part of the article where I would normally pause and show off a cool commander in these colors and a handful of cards as a “starter pack” if you want the core experience. That's… not the case here. The baseline for legendary creatures is Jodah, the UnifierJodah, the Unifier. There are a few pockets of Legendary Matters throughout the color sets, but only where there's presently a commander for the theme. It can arise naturally, but unless a commander can pay if off, you don't have a strong reason to build it in just any color.

Aragorn, the UniterAragorn, the Uniter is the only apparent exception to this, because his set had a strong legendary theme and even a set which just wants characters from the story is going to have a naturally high density of legendary creatures.

Okay, with that cleared up, let's see…

What Does Each Color Offer?

A clear power player in the legendary theme is green. Green is a creature color anyways, but it does get specific synergies and rewards for legendary creatures. It has some really impactful effects in the ramp category, not to mention the only mono-color card that can draw cards off of casting legendary spells, Reki, the History of KamigawaReki, the History of Kamigawa.

Black is a support color, one which really wants to be paired with white for two of its strongest legendary cards: Ratadrabik of UrborgRatadrabik of Urborg and Primevals' Glorious RebirthPrimevals' Glorious Rebirth. It's not without tools of its own, having forms of removal and card advantage tailored around the theme.

The final color rounding us out is red. Red's got the least amount of support for legendary or historic on its own, needing to draw on other colors to kick up its rewards, like Jhoira, Weatherlight CaptainJhoira, Weatherlight Captain or Djeru and HazoretDjeru and Hazoret. It does add a nice dose of aggression to the archetype when present.

Alright, now let's review our options.

Selesnya and Grixis: Frodo BagginsFrodo Baggins and Sauron, Lord of the RingsSauron, Lord of the Rings

Simic and Mardu: Bonny Pall, ClearcutterBonny Pall, Clearcutter and Shanid, Sleepers' ScourgeShanid, Sleepers' Scourge

These first two options are… something of a stretch for legendary creatures. Sure, Shanid is absolutely a slam dunk for the theme, but Bonny Pall is just the closest we have because she makes a second legendary when she enters.

Orzhov and Temur: Arvad the CursedArvad the Cursed and Lara Croft, Tomb RaiderLara Croft, Tomb Raider

Likewise, our third option has the obvious Arvad, but Lara Croft is just the closest Temur has to offer right now. She doesn't care at all about legendary creatures, which makes it a little hard to work with.

Here we have our real options. I think any of these could make for a fun set.

Izzet and Abzan: Shaun, Father of SynthsShaun, Father of Synths and Kethis, the Hidden HandKethis, the Hidden Hand

Boros and Sultai: Djeru and HazoretDjeru and Hazoret and Nashi, Moon's LegacyNashi, Moon's Legacy

Dimir and Naya: Nashi, Searcher in the DarkNashi, Searcher in the Dark and Yoshimaru, Ever FaithfulYoshimaru, Ever Faithful & Tana, the BloodsowerTana, the Bloodsower

I'll be honest, I think the Izzet/Abzan and Boros/Sultai could have both been compelling options… but I wrote a Boros/Sultai in the first of these articles, a few months ago! So I chose Izzet/Abzan so I could finish the set.

Overview of Shaun, Father of Synths

Shaun's ability creates a tapped, attacking copy of an attacking legendary creature whenever you attack. This can create some incredible board states, thanks to a few of our high-impact legendary creatures. Landing any one of the following will turn the corner or accelerate any advantages you've gained. If you get Pol Jamaar, IllusionistPol Jamaar, Illusionist and The Locust GodThe Locust God at the same time, you're going to make so many bugs. (Note: Pol Jamaar can pretty handily name either Synth or Human for some guaranteed advantage.)

Now these are our curve toppers, and the deck can't be all about them. We need early-game synergies to help get our game plan going. Beyond the typical litany of mana rocks (focusing on three-mana where we can, thanks to this sterling recommendation) and cheap draws to help us develop what we need, we've got some historic synergies to run out early on. An important note with Shaun is that while he makes the copy nonlegendary, it becomes an artifact, so it does remain historic.

Now there's a trick to Shaun, which is how combat-oriented he is. The creature he copies has to be attacking. There are ways to make sure your one attacking creature is safe, but I think it's easier to say “in for a penny, in for a pound” and protect all your attackers with these options. While your early game might only have you able to swing with one or two, in the late-game with a developed board, these read as “remove target player.”

Shaun is five mana and hard to protect, because blink spells exile all your Synths. Slip Out the BackSlip Out the Back is a good option, true, but we also want some level of redundancy. Our deck wants to use and reuse powerful enters effects on legends and crash in frequently. (Feldon of the Third PathFeldon of the Third Path is a particularly fun option because if we do have Shaun around, he can copy the temporarily resurrected creature to keep around for the following turns.)

Redundancy is good, but when we have Shaun online, the best way to get more of his effect is by copying the trigger. Strionic ResonatorStrionic Resonator is the originator of this effect, but we've gotten a few more ways to play the doubling game since. Return the FavorReturn the Favor is only a one-shot, but it provides double duty in acting as a way to save Shaun from spot removal. Adric, Mathematical GeniusAdric, Mathematical Genius provides a unique bit of flexibility – he can't save Shaun, but he can save all of the Synths from being exiled!

Shaun, Father of Synths Legendary Commander Deck List

Here's the full list:

As you can see, this is a fairly aggressive deck that can go into the long game with the virtual card advantage that Shaun provides. Now let's see what the other colors can manage.

Overview of Kethis, the Hidden Hand

Kethis, the Hidden HandKethis, the Hidden Hand is cheaper than Shaun, but doesn't encourage aggression to the same degree. He reduces the cost of legendary spells by one and has an activated ability which lets you play legendary cards from your graveyard. Our legendary spells are going to eat up a lot of real estate in the deck — 60 cards out of the 99 are legendary — which means we need some of our ramp, draw, and removal to come attached to those crowned cards.

Kethis's text box uses the phrase “graveyard” and his color identity includes green and black, so you know what that means: self-mill! He wants us to exile two cards before we can start playing legendary cards from the yard, so we really want to stock the 'yard.

Kethis naturally uses the graveyard, but we have several other legendary spells that can make use of the graveyard. It's a common theme in white-black and green-black. There is a slight tweak in the deckbuilding to help synergize with Winter, Cynical OpportunistWinter, Cynical Opportunist — I made sure to include Invasion of FioraInvasion of Fiora and a few legendary creatures that were also enchantments or artifacts, like The Peregrine DynamoThe Peregrine Dynamo and Nylea, Keen-EyedNylea, Keen-Eyed.

It's not just Kethis who cares about legends. Thirty-one cards in the deck have “legendary” somewhere in the textbox. Some of these are the legendary lands like The ShireThe Shire, which are enablers for our strategy. On some, it's trinket text, like Kaya the InexorableKaya the Inexorable's ultimate. Others are excellent, synergistic payoffs for the restriction.

These are a lot of solid engines we've got going on, but we still need a way to win the game. In a creature-based deck like this one, combat is going to be the way to play. Legendary creatures have a few different anthems from over the years, which ensures we can get one of them on the board to help us chip in harder.

Overall this is a much slower deck, focused on disrupting game plans while grinding out card advantage. Don't discount how valuable the cost reduction is! Casting spells earlier is powerful. I mean, turning Isildur's Fateful StrikeIsildur's Fateful Strike into a MurderMurder with upside may not actually be powerful enough, but it's fun enough that I'm sticking with it.

Kethis, the Hidden Hand Legendary Commander Deck List

Here's the full deck!

Conclusion

And that's Legendary Matters. This archetype is kind of a mixed bag right now. There aren't enough payoffs and enablers to run the theme in a color combination unless it has a commander who can support the theme. Jodah, the UnifierJodah, the Unifier feels like the type of commander where you could take any Legendary Matters deck, slot him at the helm and change up the manabase just enough to cast him, and it'll probably run better. There's a lot that could be said about the theme and its relation to the incredibly high number of legendary creatures, but I want to hear from you.

I've personally wanted to try to make a legends theme deck since pulling a Heroes' PodiumHeroes' Podium during original Theros. Where do you all land on the archetype? Is it one of those decks that went from “niche” to “busted” too fast, or something else?