By Terry Miller

Deck Introduction:

 

Kai’sa is a Fury/Mind deck, centered around using spells to take your opponents units out, while also replacing themselves in hand. Although only about half of set one has been revealed so far, Kai’sa already demonstrates a unique playstyle. This article explores her current strengths, core strategies, and potential with the current cards.

 

These are the three cards, (four once we get the red Kai’sa) that make her different from other decks. Her legend exhausts to pay a power for any spell, her champion allows you to recast spells from trash on conquer with a cost less than your current points, and her signature deals 2 damage 6 times while being able to split between battlefields or base, which is currently the only card that can split damage.

Core Cards:

These are the core cards I would include at the current time and I don’t see these cards changing between lists. Immortal Phoenix is an incredible engine that you can replay every time you kill a unit with a spell. Void Seeker is a 4 damage spell plus a draw, and Get Excited can kill bigger units by pitching Sky Splitter or optional cards like Unchecked Power. 

 

Due to Phoenix’s heavy power cost on recursion, I do recommend playing Seal of Rage in this deck despite Kai’sa’s legend ability. Towards the mid/late game you can also cast multiple spells per turn and it also helps alleviate the 3 power requirement on Icathian Rain.

With the current card pool, Ravenbloom Student is our best 2c unit. I could see possibly replacing this with a unit we haven’t seen yet, but he does synergize with the deck very well since we do want to be casting spells. He also takes very favorable combats with Stupefy while Stupefy replaces itself or being able to Void Seeker one battlefield and get the boost to contest afterwards.

Non-Core/Optional Cards:

These are the cards I think are decent to fill the blanks after the core cards. Darius and Ekko are both accelerate or pseudo accelerate with Darius’s trigger. Stupefy is a combat trick that also cantrips itself, you can also cast this from trash with Kai’sa if you don’t have any other targets as a free draw spell. Unchecked Power can help you clear the bigger bodies off boards, especially the ones with deflect. As mentioned previously, it also doubles as a 7 energy card you can pitch to Get Excited if you don’t need it in the matchup.

My Current List: 

As mentioned previously, decks are ever-evolving while we continue to see more spoilers of set one. This is where I’m at with the current cards. If I were to remove anything currently, it would be either Sprite Call or Ekko depending on what I would look to replace. Sprite Call can get you some early aggression, but I will talk about some turn sequences below as well as Kai’sa champion targets.

Goals Throughout the Game:

This list is built to go first, given Jinx’s dominance in this early meta. I believe you should be building to go first or you concede a lot of percentage points into one of, if not, the most popular deck.

Turn one you would ideally setup a Ravenbloom Student, but this can also be a Legion Rearguard if you don’t have the Student.Turn two will vary depending on the deck you’re playing and if you have access to Targon’s on board. If you have access to it, you can conquer with Student, play a Phoenix, and hold up Void Seeker/Get Excited on your opponent's turn. 

If you have Get Excited + Phoenix, you can wait until your opponent moves a unit to the battlefield and since most units on turn one will be 3 might or less, you can Get Excited and pitch the Phoenix. Since Phoenix will be in trash upon Get Excited’s resolution, you can reborn the Phoenix after killing the unit on your opponent’s turn which accomplishes the same thing.

Understanding this two-turn setup is crucial for your mulligan decisions. Prioritize keeping Ravenbloom Student and efficient removal spells like Void Seeker or Get Excited to enable early Phoenix recursion. If Student isn’t available, it’s perfectly reasonable to keep Legion Rearguard, the key is just having a play on turn one. Since we have one the strongest signatures in the game, I do not generally do not recommend mulliganing Icathian Rain unless you have multiple copies, though even then, it’s still often worth keeping.

Once we get past the first two turns, you can look at establishing a Kai’sa champion to start recurring spells. It’s important to plan ahead for your Kai’sa turn as she does require some setup with points and the spells you have access to at the time. Kai’sa is not an aggro deck, so it’s okay to give space turns 3-4 if it means setting yourself up to stabilize after.

Conclusion: 

Overall I think Kai’sa is a very fun deck to play and is my personal favorite currently. She can hold her own into most decks while not having any severe losing matchups. I expect to get a few more spells, including a blue draw spell as well as her Fury champion, which I expect to improve the quality of the deck.