Legendary Creature — Merfolk Noble

Kiora, the Rising Tide

Mana value3EDHREC#3,673

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The Commander

When Kiora enters, draw two cards, then discard two cards.

Threshold — Whenever Kiora attacks, if there are seven or more cards in your graveyard, you may create Scion of the Deep, a legendary 8/8 blue Octopus creature token.

Guide

Gameplan

Mono-blue self-mill and graveyard value: dump cards with Kiora's ETB loot, fill your graveyard fast, then attack to flood the board with 8/8 Octopus tokens once you hit threshold. You win through evasive beats backed by counterspells, card advantage, and recursion of your discarded payoffs.

Strengths

Cheap 3-mana commander that immediately filters and digs for what you need
Generates a continuous stream of 8/8 bodies once threshold is online, hard to grind through
Mono-blue gives access to the best countermagic, card draw, and protection in the format
Self-mill enables graveyard recursion and reanimation synergies

Weaknesses

Tokens are vanilla 8/8s with no evasion, easily chump-blocked or wrathed
Heavily commander-dependent; repeated removal stalls the whole engine
Mono-blue lacks efficient creature removal and life gain
Self-mill can deck you out in long games without recursion
No built-in evasion or haste means tokens are slow to close games

Key Cards

Reliquary Tower — Lets you hold the cards Kiora's loot and blue draw spells generate without discarding to hand size.
Brain Freeze — Storm-fueled self-mill to instantly cross the seven-card threshold.
Whir of Invention / Cyclonic Rift — Cyclonic Rift clears blockers so your 8/8 tokens swing for lethal.
Rogue's Passage — Pushes a single huge Octopus through for commander-damage or big chunks.
Mystic Sanctuary — Recurs key instants from a stocked graveyard, fueling a control engine.
Thassa, Deep-Dwelling — Blinks Kiora to re-trigger the loot and gives your tokens evasion.

Upgrade Path

Add mass self-mill (Glimpse the Unthinkable effects, Hedron Crab, Tasha's Hideous Laughter) to hit threshold by turn three or four reliably. Layer in evasion and protection—Aqueous Form, Whispersilk Cloak, Lightning Greaves, and counterspells—so your tokens connect and Kiora survives. Top-end blue payoffs like Consecrated Sphinx, reanimation targets, and Cyclonic Rift turn the value engine into a real closing threat.

Core Cards

The most-played cards for this commander, built from aggregated deck data (the Mythic Graph). Build public decks to seed it.

Win Conditions

▸Beating down with multiple 8/8 Scion of the Deep tokens
▸Unblockable damage via Rogue's Passage or evasion enablers
▸Reanimating large discarded threats and swinging
▸Combat after a board wipe like Cyclonic Rift clears blockers

Archetypes

Self-Mill Value — Kiora's loot and threshold reward aggressively filling your own graveyard.
Tokens / Go-Wide — Repeated 8/8 Octopus tokens build an overwhelming board through combat.
Mono-Blue Control — Counters and card draw protect the engine while tokens close the game.
Reanimator — Discarded fatties from Kiora's loot can be cheated back with blue reanimation.