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Arna Kennerüd, Skycaptain is an Esper (white/blue/black) commander inMagic: The Gathering. There are many ways to build the deck, caring about modified creatures (creatures that have a counter on them, are equipped, or are enchanted by an Aura). Since there are so many support cards for modified creatures and the enablers, the deck is very consistent.
The deck is unique in that rather than stacking Auras and Equipment onto one creature, it wants you to spread them out across multiple creatures. The deck can get out of hand very quickly, leading to explosive turns that will instantly make you the biggest threat in the game.
Envoy of the Ancestors
Mantle of the Ancients
x4 Island
x7 Plains
x4 Swamp
Underground River
The deck consists of one battle, 21 creatures, five sorceries, eight instants, 17 artifacts, 13 enchantments, and 34 lands.This build of Arna Kennerüd, Skycaptain is focused on using enchantments and Equipment, but you can also opt to build it focusing more on counters if that’s more your speed.
Key Cards
Arna Kennerüd, Skycaptain
The commander,Arna Kennerüd, Skycaptainis what makes the deck function to the best of its ability. Its ward effect makes it awkward to remove, and it has great keywords to make Arna a solid attacker and blocker in combat.
It doubles anything attached to a modified creature when it deals combat damage, soenter-the-battlefield triggers can be re-used. In many cases, this involves drawing a card to keep your handfresh with more Aurasand Equipment.
Arna Kennerüd, Skycaptain doesn’t need to attack itself to use the ability. So long as a modified creature dealt combat damage, you’ll be able to trigger Arna’s ability. This lets you hold Arna back in combat where it would die and only swing in with modified creatures you know will have no trouble connecting.
Sram, Senior Edificer
A natural downside to decks relying on Aura and Equipment is they can run out of steam if the creature they get put onto gets removed and leaves you with nothing left in your hand.Sram, Senior Edificeris a way to counteract that downside, making it so the Aura or Equipment you cast replaces itself in the hand.
SinceSram triggers on the casting of the spell, even if that spell is countered, you still get to drawyour card. Sram is great for making sure you will always have action to do on your turn, and is a solid choice to stack your protective Auras and Equipment onto so you won’t lose the effect.
Codsworth, Handy Helper
Codsworth, Handy Helperdoes a whole lot for just three mana.It’s a mana dorkfor two white mana, which, while only usable on Auras and Equipment, make up a quarter of your deck. It also lets youmove Aura and Equipment for free by tapping it, helping you to get around big equip costs.
As if all this wasn’t good enough, it also gives your commander ward. This islayered on top of Arna’s own ward, meaning if anyone wants to target it with Codsworth on the field, they’ll have to discard a card and pay two mana for it to not be countered.
Nettlecyst
Nettlecystisone of the best Equipment permanentsyou can copy with Arna Kennerüd’s ability. Every time it enters the battlefield, you get a Germ token on top of a copy of Nettlecyst. Since it grows the stats equal to the total number of artifacts and enchantments you control, once one hits the battlefield, it’ll keep multiplying.
If not checked early, if Arna Kennerüd is on the battlefield, Nettlecyst copies will snowball out of control. Even if you don’t want to use the Germ token,you can move Nettlecyst to a more evasive attackerto continue to make copies of it.
Nettlecyst is good on its own, so long as you have multiple artifacts and enchantments on the battlefield already. For three mana, you may have a very threatening creature late in the game when you already have an established battlefield.
Zur The Enchanter
Tutoring is an amazing effect, andZur the Enchanter lets youbring out any enchantmentwith three or less mana value and put it on the battlefield directly. For Auras, once they enter you get to choose where you want to enchant it to.
Thistriggers off of Zur attacking, so you may bring outthe best Auras from your deckto enchant Zur before it can ever be blocked. If Arna Kennerüd is on the battlefield, you can bring out whatever Aura you want to start copying and begin growing Zur to massive stats.
Halvar, God Of Battle
Halvar, God of Battle, while double-sided, you only want to be casting on the front side. The backside Sword of the Realms is just an Equipment that gives +2/+0 and vigilance and returns the equipped creature to the hand when it dies. However, Halvar, God of Battle turns all your modified creatures into double strikers.
Double strike is important since it deals combat damage twice. This means you get two Arna Kennerüd, Skycaptain triggers in combat instead of just one, giving you two token copies of the permanent attached to the creature.
Since you are giving so many stat boosts, the double strike comes up quite a bit when it comes to dealing lethal amounts of damage. With the right selection of modified creatures, it’s possible towin the game in one combat stepwith Halvar on the battlefield.
How To Play The Deck
The deck is all aboutdeciding what Auras will go best on what creatureswhile constantly creating token copies of them with Arna Kennerüd’s ability. The Equipment copies don’t matter as much, as you may move those how to please, however,Auras will be stuck to that creature(baring moving it with a cards likeCodsworth, Handy Helper).
You don’t want to focus too heavily on one creature, and want to be spreading your Auras and Equipment out evenly. The stronger creatures likeArchon of Sun’s Grave, Zur the Enchanter,andArna Kennerüd, Skycaptainitself are the ones you want to ensure are protected so you don’t lose them to removal or combat.
The best option for Auras when choosing what creature toput them on are ones that you know can get in for damage. This guarantees an Arna Kennerüd trigger, and is especially important for those that draw cards when they enter the battlefield to give you more action in your hand.
Thedeck wins through combat, dwindling down your opponents' life totals with powerful attackers and holding up defense with blockers. With how many solid Auras and Equipment there are to copy, you’ll often always have a battlefield of creatures ready to block whatever your opponent has for you.
The downside to the deck is thatthe Auras can be hard to return to the battlefieldif they ever wind up in the graveyard. The Equipment selection is harder to remove since if the creature dies, they simply go back to being on the battlefield. You dohaveaccess to counterspellsto hold off board wipes, as there aren’t many other ways to protect your battlefield from those.
