While 2024’s Foundations was a welcome shake-up of the MTG core set concept, it was also a near-impossible set to fully grasp. With over 500 cards in total, a lot of bangers slipped through the cracks, with players regularly rediscovering them over time. Kykar, Zephyr Awakener is undoubtedly one such MTG card, being largely glossed over so far despite its massive potential as a Commander.
Kykar, Zephyr Awakener MTG
Kykar offers both repeatable blink and token generation, provided you pack enough noncreature spells to keep triggering his ability, easily attainable with the likes of Brainstorm and Swords to Plowshares. Instants are ideal here, since they let you trigger Kykar’s abilities on opponents’ turns to surprise them, but cards like High Fae Trickster will make sorcery-speed options like Lotus Petal just as good.
In order to keep Kykar running all game long, you’ll want to include some cards that let you recur the noncreature spells you cast. Creatures like Shipwreck Dowser and Scholar of the Ages are great options here, and can even be blinked with Kykar for bonus recursion later. Buyback spells, like Allay and Mystic Speculation, also slot in nicely, as they’re self-recurring once you have enough mana.
Once you’ve got your Kykar engine running smoothly, you’ll have access to blink on tap, which enables a potent grindy playstyle. Blinking creatures like Mulldrifter and Sun Titan can generate a ton of value over time, especially with trigger doublers like Panharmonicon in the mix. To further support this playstyle, additional blink pieces like Ephemerate and Restoration Angel are must-includes here.
Since Kykar’s tokens, and many of its best blink targets like Cloudblazer, have Flying, cards like Air Nomad Legacy add a different angle of attack. You can also add in damage-based draw engines like Enduring Curiosity, to keep the value up when shifting to this style.
Enter The Infinite
While Kykar is plenty strong when played fair, its abilities also lend themselves nicely to infinite combos. When paired with Time Warp and Archaeomancer, for instance, Kykar lets you take infinite turns by blinking the latter and recurring the former every turn. This combo doesn’t win the game on its own, but given Kykar’s skill at assembling an evasive attack force, it shouldn’t take too much work to do so.
For a funkier combo, Kykar can draw your entire deck with the help of Harmonized Trio and Intruder Alarm. Provided you have a couple of tokens in play, and a creature like Silver Myr that taps for blue mana, each Brainstorm cast with Trio will Prepare the next and refund your mana. This lets you set up for Thassa’s Oracle, or rack up a huge Storm count for Brain Freeze.
An Underplayed Blink Engine
Though Kykar has a ton to offer as a Commander, not many players are running it as one so far. According to EDHREC data, just 3,841 players currently run Kykar at the helm. While it fares better in the 99, appearing in around 32,300 decks there, the card still feels underplayed for how good it is in the format.
While this is bad news for Kykar, it does mean picking up copies of this card is incredibly cheap. On TCGplayer right now, you can nab near-mint base copies of Kykar for just $0.20, and the fancy borderless version is only $0.44. At these prices, Kykar is a no-brainer pickup, either as the foundation of a fresh budget brew or as a solid add to the Blink 99.
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