Kess, Dissident Mage
Kess, Dissident Mage: Legendary Creature - Human Wizard, New Capenna Commander. MTG card printings, market prices, rulings, and format legality on Mana Grove.
- Mana cost
- {1}{U}{B}{R}
- Mana value
- 4
- Type
- Legendary Creature - Human Wizard
- Colour identity
- Blue, black and red (UBR)
- Power / toughness
- 3/4
- Rarity
- Mythic
- Set
- New Capenna Commander (NCC)
- Released
- 2022-04-29
- Collector number
- 344
- Artist
- Izzy
- Keywords
- Flying
- Commander
- Can be your commander
Build around this card with Grover
About Kess, Dissident Mage
Kess, Dissident Mage is a Magic: The Gathering card, a mythic rare blue, black and red legendary creature from New Capenna Commander (NCC), a Commander product released in April 2022. It is collector number 344 in that set, with art by Izzy. It costs {1}{U}{B}{R} (one generic, one blue, one black and one red mana) to cast, for a mana value of 4. It is a 3/4 creature. Its colour identity is blue, black and red. It is legal in Modern, Legacy, Vintage, Commander, Duel Commander, Oathbreaker and Penny Dreadful. It has been printed in 6 sets, from Treasure Chest (2016) to New Capenna Commander (2022). It can be your commander. The latest aggregated market price for this printing is $3.68 (normal finish, as of 2026-10-23).
Card text
Flying
Once during each of your turns, you may cast an instant or sorcery spell from your graveyard. If a spell cast this way would be put into your graveyard, exile it instead.
"Loss has no meaning here. You cannot take from those who have nothing."
Market price
Latest aggregated market price for the normal finish of this printing: $3.68 (as of 2026-10-23).
The figure covers this printing only; other printings carry their own price on their own page.
Format legality
Legality of Kess, Dissident Mage by format. Formats in which it is not legal are not listed.
| Modern | Legal |
|---|---|
| Legacy | Legal |
| Vintage | Legal |
| Commander | Legal |
| Duel Commander | Legal |
| Oathbreaker | Legal |
| Penny Dreadful | Legal |
Other printings of Kess, Dissident Mage
Kess, Dissident Mage has been printed in 6 sets. The other printings are listed newest first, with the rarity and release year of each.
| Printing | Rarity | Year |
|---|---|---|
| The List (PLST) #NCC-344 | Mythic | 2026 |
| Secret Lair Drop (SLD) #1167 | Mythic | 2022 |
| Modern Horizons (MH1) #206 | Mythic | 2019 |
| Treasure Chest (PZ2) #65763 | Mythic | 2017 |
| Commander 2017 (C17) #39 | Mythic | 2017 |
Official rulings
Seven official rulings apply to Kess, Dissident Mage, newest first.
- If a spell cast this way is put into another zone after it resolves (perhaps because it had buyback), it's considered a new object. If that card later moves to your graveyard, it won't be exiled.
- If a sorcery card is put into your graveyard during your main phase and the stack is empty, you have a chance to cast it before any player may attempt to remove that card from your graveyard.
- If you cast one instant or sorcery card from your graveyard and then have a new Kess come under your control in the same turn, you may cast another instant or sorcery card from your graveyard that turn.
- You must pay the costs to cast that card. If it has an alternative cost, you may cast it for that cost instead.
- Once you begin to cast the card, losing control of Kess won't affect the spell. You can finish casting it as normal and it will be exiled if it would be put into your graveyard.
- You must follow the normal timing permissions and restrictions of the card you cast from your graveyard.
- If you cast a card from your graveyard using another permission (such as that of flashback), Kess's effect doesn't apply. You can cast another instant or sorcery card from your graveyard.
Similar cards
Other creature cards with a blue, black and red colour identity, ranked by how often they appear in Commander decks.