Modern Horizons 3 is one of the most significant expansions to come out of Magic: The Gathering in quite some time. Not only did it introduce a number of powerful new cards to the Modern format, it also brought devastating new commanders to decks.
Although Modern Horizons 3 comes with a large number of commanders, including 4 pre-con options, no card in the expansion has had a greater and more visible impact on the game than Nadu, Winged Wisdom.
With Nadu on the Modern banned list, the dreaded bird was finally banned from MTG tournaments. Unfortunately, Nadu did not join the ranks of the rare cards banned from Commander.
However, as his era of dominance comes to an end, we thought it would be interesting to take a look at some of the other Modern Horizons 3 commanders who have been overshadowed by Nadu’s time at the helm.
Arna Kennerüd, Captain of the Sky
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Arna Kennerüd, Skycaptain is an Esper Commander from Modern Horizons 3 that many players may have overlooked at the time.
While Arna could easily become a true powerhouse, with a wide variety of possible builds available, this commander hasn’t received the same fan attention as Nadu or other MH3 favorites like The Necrobloom and Ulalek, Fused Atrocity.
We’ll walk you through how to build a powerful Arna Kennerüd deck, including options for focusing on equipment, enchantments, or +1/+1 counters. This guide won’t contain the exact specifications of a 100-card deck, but will provide several suggestions to consider alongside Arna.
Making the most of your commander’s abilities
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Arna Kennerüd, Skycaptain is a 4/4 flying Esper with a mana value of 5. This commander has 4/4 stats and flying, making her a great Voltron-style centerpiece of the deck, being an active threat, while also possessing an incredible passive ability.
While this commander may take some time to get to the field due to his above average mana value, his lifelink can allow you to quickly recover from an early life or tempo loss.
It’s important to note that Arna’s token generation ability does not require her to attack in order to trigger. As such, it’s beneficial to build your board before casting her with a starting point of tokens, equipment, and/or auras so that Arna can start providing you with value as soon as she hits the field.
If possible, it’s best to avoid legendary gear, even staples like the Animist’s Sword, as they cannot benefit from Arna’s token generation.
Creatures
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You’ll want to split your creature choices into two halves, those that help streamline your modified strategy through cost reduction, tutoring, and other means, and evasive beaters that can be charged up to target your opponents’ life total directly.
A few select creatures serve as both support and evasive attackers, such as the flying, gear-equipped Armored Skyfighter, and these should be prioritized for inclusion if they fit your intended build.
There are also Equipment cards that enter the field and create a token creature using the Living Weapon, Gift, and For Mirrodin! abilities. These can be used to create an additional presence on the field each turn.
The feat in particular requires some careful thought here, because while the initial version of a given creature will become an Aura, any token copies created by Arna will not be able to be cast for their feat cost, and will enter the field as token creatures instead.
Support
- Codsworth, housekeeper
- Pure Steel Paladin
- Ardenn, intrepid archaeologist
- Mystic of the Stone Forge
- Halvar, God of Battle
- Pearl-Ear, Imperial Advisor
- Sent from the ancestors
- Faithful inventor
- Giant stone cutter
Attackers
- Alela, the clever provocateur
- Balan, knight errant
- Kappa Gunner
Support/Attack Hybrids
- Armored Sky Fighter
- Basim Ibn Ashaq
- Evil Strix
- Registry Destroyer
- Refine, intriguing clairvoyant
- Starnheim Courier
- Danitha Capashen, Paragon
- Danitha, the hope of Benalia
- To the enchanter
Creatures that can be equipped
- Drummer Skull
- Cloud Steel Kirin
- The Razorfield Ripper
- Nettle cyst
- Elemental Glyph
- Eidolon of Countless Battles
Power increases
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Arna Kennerüd, Skycaptain thrives on empowering your creatures, turning them into high-damage, well-armored, and hard-to-block threats by creating additional copies of Equipment, Auras, and +1/+1 counters.
It is possible to create a simplified Arna deck by focusing on only one of these three areas, or a less cohesive but more varied deck by balancing any combination of the three.
When you use any of the following power boosts attached to your creatures, your deck will be able to deal deadly damage in a surprisingly few turns.
Equipment
- Inquisitor’s Bane
- Golem Hide Gauntlets
- The sword of truth and justice
- Blood Forged Battle Axe
- Sword of War and Peace
- Colossal Hammer
- Sword of Light and Shadow
- Skull plate
- Argentum Armor
- Empyrean plate
- Thran Power Suit
- Kemba Banner
Auras
- Ethereal Armor
- All that glitters
- The anger of the nerds
- The daydream of the wise man
- Eldrazi Conscription
- Idolatrous
- Coat of the Ancients
- Auramancer Costume
- Righteous Authority
Reduction of equipment costs
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If you choose to use equipment with Arna, reducing the cost of equipping is essential to outpacing your opponents. While several of the support creatures mentioned above can help, these non-creature cards are essential to getting your attackers equipped as quickly as possible:
- Sigarda’s Help
- Forge Again
- Nazahn’s Hammer
- Improvisation on the battlefield
Deletion
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Playing with Esper colors gives Arna Kennerüd access to a good variety of point removal and board clearing techniques. In addition to the usual suite of Instants and Sorceries, equipment with associated removal effects works especially well, as Arna can use them repeatedly.
Phantom Blade and Aegis of Assimilation stand out here, offering repeatable removal that can take out your opponents’ biggest threats every turn, and can be easily searched for by the deck’s variety of equipment tutors.
- Phantom Blade
- Assimilation Aegis
- Chains of custody
- Anguished Deconstruction
- Tearing of the void
- Counterspell
- Dovin’s veto
- The Winds of Rath
- Toxic Flood
Protection
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This deck can be very difficult to stop once it gets going, and your opponents will be looking to slow you down and grab your best cards wherever possible.
While Arna can go all out when creating token creatures, you’ll often be limited to a small number of creatures in the early stages of the game, making it imperative to protect yourself so you’re not left completely open by one-time removal.
- Protected by faith
- Undisputed authority
- Lavaspur boosts
- Teferi’s Protection
- Flawless maneuver
- Flame of force
- Unbreakable training
- Contractual guarantee
- Scourge of the Conqueror
Mana production
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Mana rocks are still effective in this deck, but if you want to get really explosive, there are several pieces of power-boosting gear that also serve as ramp options.
The Forge and Frontier Sword is incredible for speeding up your land drops, giving you enough mana to cast and equip your best tools with ease. The Seeker’s Dagger is another must-have, with Arna’s inherent flying making the blockers she generates for your opponents negligible.
- Dowsing Dagger
- Gold Veined Spike
- The gold pan
- Lever blade
- Forge and Frontier Sword
- Sword of the hearth and home
- Sword of wealth and power
- Sword of Feast and Famine
- Pip-Boy 3000
Card drawing
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One-time draws, instants, and sorceries can be safely ignored, as several Aura and Equipment cards offer increasing amounts of draws each turn through Arna’s token creation.
With this, it’s entirely possible to further streamline your options, focusing on card draw options that also provide a combat-specific bonus, from power boosts to evasion.
For example, Curiosity is a simple, incredibly cheap, and aggressive draw option, but it pales in comparison to Combat Seeker, which functions similarly while providing protection and a power boost for Arna and the deck’s other legendary creatures.
- Sram, main builder
- Sword of Fire and Ice
- Combat research
- Mask of riddles
- Cartridge of knowledge
- Memory Mask
- Glitter lens
- Flight feather
- A stunning vision
Double the power
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Due to their incredible strength, these token doublers are among the most expensive cards you can assemble for Arna.
While these cards will undoubtedly provide a huge boost to the deck, giving you even more value every time Arna creates tokens, it’s more than okay to leave them out of a budget build, as this commander can quickly cruise to victory no matter what.
- Procession of the anointed
- Wandering Throne
- Mondrak, Glory Dominus
- Ocelot Pride
That concludes our roundup of options for building an Arna Kennerüd, Skycaptain deck. This commander is both exceptionally powerful and fun to play, and Modern Horizons 3 has plenty of other incredible commanders, including reprints and a whole host of pre-cons.
