Ikoria Commander Showdown - Jeskai Vs Abzan

Welcome to another article in the Ikoria Commander Showdown from CommandBeacon.com. We have two more of the Commander deck Legendaries this time, again we're still pitting humans against monsters but they're vastly different. Our contenders today are Gavi, Nest Warden the Jeskai Cycle Commander with her Dinosaur Cats and Kathril, Aspect Warper the Abzan Nightmare Insect with a swarm of keywords. Enough talking about who they are and more about their cards and decklists.

Gavi, Nest Warden

Gavi is a 2/5 for 5 Jeskai Commander devoted to a fan-favourite mechanic, Cycling. She has a defensive body but the value is for sure all in the abilities. Gavi has an alternate cost where you can pay 0 instead of a cards cycling cost for the first card you cycle each turn, which as an alternative for the usual costs for Decree of Silence and Decree of Annihilation is incredibly powerful. You get the cycle effect, card draw, and on top of that just keep making more Dinosaur Cat tokens, whoever chose that creature type knows what they're doing.

The deck itself takes advantage of the Cycling aspect to run some very narrowly played cards that really shine with this deck. With Astral Slide and Astral Drift we're bringing even more cycling value and blinking all the creatures! Besides being able to abuse enter the battlefield we can blink Gavi to defend her from removal. So the strategy is to cycle, control, and possibly swarm with tokens until you're out of opponents.

Gavi, Nest Warden

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Commander (1)

1 Gavi, Nest Warden

Creatures (21)

1 Containment Priest

1 Dockside Extortionist

1 Snapcaster Mage

1 Auramancer

1 Eldrazi Displacer

1 Fiend Hunter

1 Irencrag Pyromancer

1 Nimble Obstructionist

1 Spellseeker

1 Trophy Mage

1 Academy Rector

1 Archaeomancer

1 Curator of Mysteries

1 Purphoros, God of the Forge

1 Solemn Simulacrum

1 Thassa, Deep-Dwelling

1 Perplexing Chimera

1 Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind

1 Sun Titan

1 Agent of Treachery

1 Eternal Dragon

Artifacts (10)

1 Mana Crypt

1 Skullclamp

1 Sol Ring

1 Arcane Signet

1 Azorius Signet

1 Boros Signet

1 Fluctuator

1 Izzet Signet

1 Chromatic Lantern

1 Raugrin Crystal

Enchantments (10)

1 Land Tax

1 Improbable Alliance

1 Lightning Rift

1 Tectonic Reformation

1 Astral Drift

1 Astral Slide

1 Cast Out

1 Smothering Tithe

1 New Perspectives

1 Decree of Silence

Instants (12)

1 Brainstorm

1 Enlightened Tutor

1 Mystical Tutor

1 Swords to Plowshares

1 Boros Charm

1 Censor

1 Cyclonic Rift

1 Mana Drain

1 Starstorm

1 Complicate

1 Forsake the Worldly

1 Hieroglyphic Illumination

Sorceries (8)

1 Gamble

1 Ponder

1 Preordain

1 Sweltering Suns

1 Time Wipe

1 Akroma's Vengeance

1 Echo of Eons

1 Decree of Annihilation

Lands (38)

1 Ancient Tomb

1 Arid Mesa

1 Ash Barrens

1 Blasted Landscape

1 Bloodstained Mire

1 Cascade Bluffs

1 Command Tower

1 Desert of the Fervent

1 Desert of the Mindful

1 Desert of the True

1 Drifting Meadow

1 Flooded Strand

1 Forgotten Cave

1 Hall of Heliod's Generosity

1 Hallowed Fountain

1 Homeward Path

1 Irrigated Farmland

2 Island

1 Lonely Sandbar

1 Misty Rainforest

1 Mountain

1 Path of Ancestry

2 Plains

1 Plateau

1 Polluted Delta

1 Prismatic Vista

1 Remote Isle

1 Rugged Prairie

1 Scalding Tarn

1 Secluded Steppe

1 Smoldering Crater

1 Steam Vents

1 Tundra

1 Volcanic Island

1 Windswept Heath

1 Wooded Foothills

Kathril, Aspect Warper

Kathril is a 3/3 Nightmare Insect for 5 mana, yup that's all. Oh and it also has an enter the battlefield effect that gives an ability counter for each matching ability of flying, first strike, double strike, deathtouch, hexproof, indestructible, lifelink, menace, reach, trample, and vigilance on any creature you control and gets a +1/+1 counter on it for each creature you placed a counter on, but besides that just a 3/3 for 5 mana.

Kathril is similar to cards like Cairn Wanderer, SoulFlayer and Majestic Chimera, but it's so much more versatile. You can go all-in with Kathril to have a devastating creature filled with keywords or share with others to make a threatening board and a bigger Kathril. There are ways to blink Kathril as well and the ability is an enter the battlefield so keep piling on those counters! There is no limitation so you could give the same abilities to a creature multiple times to get a bigger Kathril. The deck has been loaded with keyword option creatures with Odric, Lunarch Marshal to share with your whole board.  This is all dependant on a decent graveyard though so beware the graveyard hate.

Kathril, Aspect Warper

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Commander (1)

1 Kathril, Aspect Warper

Creatures (28)

1 Serra's Ascendant

1 Bloodghast

1 Stoneforge Mystic

1 Sylvan Caryatid

1 Drana, Liberator of Malakir

1 Eternal Witness

1 Faeburrow Elder

1 Glissa, the Traitor

1 Leyline Prowler

1 Mirran Crusader

1 Rhonas the Indomitable

1 Vampire Nighthawk

1 Woe Strider

1 Disciple of Bolas

1 Odric, Lunarch Marshal

1 Oketra the True

1 Questing Beast

1 Thrun, the Last Troll

1 Sidisi, Undead Vizier

1 Sigarda, Host of Herons

1 Carnage Tyrant

1 Grave Titan

1 Kokusho, the Evening Star

1 Noxious Gearhulk

1 Sun Titan

1 Wurmcoil Engine

1 End-Raze Forerunners

1 Razaketh, the Foulblooded

Artifacts (12)

1 Mana Crypt

1 Sensei's Divining Top

1 Skullclamp

1 Sol Ring

1 Arcane Signet

1 Lightning Greaves

1 Nim Deathmantle

1 Ashnod's Altar

1 Sword of Feast and Famine

1 Sword of Fire and Ice

1 Birthing Pod

1 Batterskull

Enchantments (6)

1 Animate Dead

1 Survival of the Fittest

1 Sylvan Library

1 Necromancy

1 Mirari's Wake

1 The Eldest Reborn

Instants (4)

1 Enlightened Tutor

1 Vampiric Tutor

1 Kaya's Guile

1 Return of the Wildspeaker

Sorceries (5)

1 Demonic Tutor

1 Buried Alive

1 Damnation

1 Wrath of God

1 Rishkar's Expertise

Planeswalkers (7)

1 Liliana of the Veil

1 Vivien, Champion of the Wilds

1 Garruk Wildspeaker

1 Kaya, Ghost Assassin

1 Sorin, Vengeful Bloodlord

1 Liliana, Death's Majesty

1 Liliana, Dreadhorde General

Lands (37)

1 Arid Mesa

1 Bayou

1 Bloodstained Mire

1 Bojuka Bog

1 Cavern of Souls

1 Command Tower

1 Fetid Heath

1 Flooded Strand

3 Forest

1 Gavony Township

1 Godless Shrine

1 Isolated Chapel

1 Marsh Flats

1 Misty Rainforest

1 Overgrown Tomb

1 Path of Ancestry

1 Phyrexian Tower

2 Plains

1 Polluted Delta

1 Reflecting Pool

1 Savannah

1 Scrubland

1 Strip Mine

1 Sunpetal Grove

2 Swamp

1 Temple Garden

1 Twilight Mire

1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

1 Verdant Catacombs

1 Windswept Heath

1 Wooded Bastion

1 Wooded Foothills

1 Woodland Cemetery

There's our next round of Commanders decks done. Ikoria is an insane set with so many powerful creatures, all these crazy effects, so many keywords and I think these Commanders show aspects of that quite well. For a full breakdown of Gavi and Kathril check out their respective deck articles on Command Beacon. Until next time have fun, keep shuffling, and stay safe.