<p style="text-align: right;"><i><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Karolina Dean, Runaway" href="#" target="_blank">Karolina Dean, Runaway</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by Jeff Dekal</i></p>
<p>Before he wrote the massive hit <i>Saga</i>, Brian K. Vaughan wrote a little series for Marvel called <i>Runaways</i>, starring six children, whose parents were all part of an evil cult. It's a classic of the early 2000s and even got a solid adaptation recently. Those crazy kids and their terrible parents. I read a lot of 'em, so I was pleasantly surprised to see the whole crew included in one of the Jumpstart packs!</p>
<p>Fittingly, they play in space of “casting a spell from anywhere other than your hand”, which is both adjacent to the exile theme and also represents the creative thinking they always had to do. Most of them are mono-red, but one of them has a unique ability to make herself a five-color commander…</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Karolina Dean, Runaway"></div></div>
<h2>What Does Karolina Dean, Runaway Do?</h2>
<p>Karolina Dean, Runaway is a 4-mana 3/3 flyer with one potent, albeit strange, ability: "At the beginning of your first main phase, add <span class="mana-container-container"><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-w" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-u" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-b" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-r" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span><span class="mana-container"><i class="ms ms-cost ms-g" style="margin-left: inherit !important;"></i></span></span>. This mana can't be used to cast spells from your hand."</p>
<p>This restriction is surprisingly small. That mana can be spent on impulse-drawn cards, activated abilities, spells cast from a graveyard, and many more. There are many roads the Runaway and her friends could rush down — I like the <a href="https://edhrec.com/tags/exile">Exile</a> theme, so I went with it. Make no mistake — Karolina can head plenty of decks, from <a href="https://edhrec.com/tags/adventures">Adventures</a> to <a href="https://edhrec.com/tags/flashback">Flashback</a> to <a href="https://edhrec.com/tags/equipment">Equipment</a>.</p>
<p>Let's see what Karolina needs to shine.</p>
<h2>Key Cards for Karolina Dean, Runaway</h2>
<p>There are three major pieces of this deck: setting up cards to be cast from other zones, payoffs for those cards, and extra uses of Karolina's mana. The first is the widest net: cards with Adventures, Flashback, Foretell, Suspend, prepared spells, or “bottling” effects can all play nicely.</p>
<p>This presents a solid mana advantage turn after turn, getting to use up to five extra mana with consistency. Previous precons have given us the infamous <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Prosper, Tome-Bound" href="#" target="_blank">Prosper, Tome-Bound</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and similarly powerful <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Faldorn, Dread Wolf Herald" href="#" target="_blank">Faldorn, Dread Wolf Herald</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, both of which help churn out extra cards to cast from exile.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Questing Druid"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ignite the Future"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Venture Forth"></div></div>
<p>Two of Karolina's fellow Runaways fall into this category. Chase can pitch a card we don't need to bottle the top card, while Molly's Power-Up ability (which impulse draws) can be paid for by Karolina.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Chase Stein, Runaway"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Molly Hayes, Runaway"></div></div>
<p>Karolina's mana boost is reason enough to go for it, but synergy is a powerful throughline and the myriad Paradox and adjacent themes come together very well. The aforementioned precon commanders aside, there are 18 cards in the deck that care about cards being cast from exile or anywhere other than your hand. (The only downside of this deck theme is that you will need to distinguish between the two, as Flashback won't trigger <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Fire Lord Zuko" href="#" target="_blank">Fire Lord Zuko</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and a few others like him.) Most of the payoffs are in the form of tokens, counters, or direct damage, so they all help the game close out.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Pia Nalaar, Consul of Revival"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Advanced Reconstruction"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Fire Lord Zuko"></div></div>
<p>And two more Runaways fill out here. Nico deals direct damage and can turn cards into free casts, while Alex gives Paradox-cast creatures haste and a buff.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Nico Minoru, Runaway"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Alex Wilder, Runaway"></div></div>
<p>Finally, there are two quirks to Karolina's mana and the ways it can be used that this deck takes advantage of. For one, it can be used to activate abilities, namely Equipment and Class cards. Shaving five mana off of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Colossus Hammer" href="#" target="_blank">Colossus Hammer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and equipping it “fairly” is a real possibility here. Second, it is a triggered ability that can be targeted by copy effects, so including four ways to copy it is great. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mister Fantastic" href="#" target="_blank">Mister Fantastic</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> can copy it twice even, although you'll have to pay the mana normally to do that. (But who cares– you'll have 15 mana!)</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Colossus Hammer"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Kirol, Attentive First-Year"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Fortune Teller&#039;s Talent"></div></div>
<p>Last addendum: <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Gert and Old Lace, Runaways" href="#" target="_blank">Gert and Old Lace, Runaways</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> don't technically interact with the theme, but I still included them here for fun flavor and the basic utility. There are some graveyard synergies available, thanks to all the discard to exile enablers, including the other as-of-yet unmentioned member of the gang: <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Victor Mancha, Runaway" href="#" target="_blank">Victor Mancha, Runaway</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>! I do like the little interaction in which Gert and Old Lace can pitch a card to get a basic land, then Victor can get it back.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Gert and Old Lace, Runaways"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Victor Mancha, Runaway"></div></div>
<h2>How Does the Deck Win?</h2>
<p>This is a grindy midrange rumblefest. A lot of impulse draw can run pretty cheap, so <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Karolina Dean, Runaway" href="#" target="_blank">Karolina Dean, Runaway</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> churning out five mana can go a long way. The mana advantage is going to be pretty key to keeping things going, so Karolina needs back up. Cost reducers and sweet ramp options will accelerate things.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Dream Devourer"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Doc Aurlock, Grizzled Genius"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Savvy Trader"></div></div>
<p>There are a few token makers here and there but the deck still runs 35 creatures, plenty to get on board and start attacking. Some already have solid stats, like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Beanstalk Giant" href="#" target="_blank">Beanstalk Giant</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, while others can get big over time (<span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Laelia, the Blade Reforged" href="#" target="_blank">Laelia, the Blade Reforged</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>). Others may not do so well in the red zone, but the 9 Equipment can help. As mentioned previously, the deck has plenty of ways to ping away when attacking isn't quite getting there.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Iraxxa, Empress of Mars"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Laelia, the Blade Reforged"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Shadow of the Goblin"></div></div>
<p>Matter of fact: <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Karolina Dean, Runaway" href="#" target="_blank">Karolina Dean, Runaway</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> has flying and is only kind of small as a 3/3. She can reasonably get into the zone with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sword of the Animist" href="#" target="_blank">Sword of the Animist</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="The Reaver Cleaver" href="#" target="_blank">The Reaver Cleaver</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and she makes equipping <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Colossus Hammer" href="#" target="_blank">Colossus Hammer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Belt of Giant Strength" href="#" target="_blank">Belt of Giant Strength</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> pretty simple to do.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Belt of Giant Strength"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sword of Forge and Frontier"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Scepter of Celebration"></div></div>
<p>And with all this bling, this alien is ready to shine!</p>
<h2>Karolina Dean, Runaway Commander Deck List</h2>
<p>Look now, or you might miss them…</p>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Runaways" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="&nbsp;
[Commander]
*1 Karolina Dean, Runaway
[/Commander]
&nbsp;
[Creatures]
*1 Alex Wilder, Runaway
*1 Annie Flash, the Veteran
*1 Appa, Steadfast Guardian
*1 Beanstalk Giant // Fertile Footsteps
*1 Chase Stein, Runaway
*1 Commander Liara Portyr
*1 Conspiracy Theorist
*1 Daredevil, Man Without Fear
*1 Doc Aurlock, Grizzled Genius
*1 Dream Devourer
*1 Faldorn, Dread Wolf Herald
*1 Fire Lord Zuko
*1 Flaming Tyrannosaurus
*1 Gert and Old Lace, Runaways
*1 Iraxxa, Empress of Mars
*1 Kang Prime
*1 Kellan, the Kid
*1 Kirol, Attentive First-Year
*1 Laelia, the Blade Reforged
*1 Lorehold Archivist // Restore Relic
*1 Memory Worm
*1 Mister Fantastic
*1 Mizzix, Replica Rider
*1 Molly Hayes, Runaway
*1 Nico Minoru, Runaway
*1 Pia Nalaar, Consul of Revival
*1 Prosper, Tome-Bound
*1 Questing Druid // Seek the Beast
*1 Runaway Steam-Kin
*1 Savvy Trader
*1 Tlincalli Hunter // Retrieve Prey
*1 Vastlands Scavenger // Bind to Life
*1 Vega, the Watcher
*1 Vhal, Candlekeep Researcher
*1 Victor Mancha, Runaway
[/Creatures]
&nbsp;
[Enchantments]
*1 Advanced Reconstruction
*1 Annie Joins Up
*1 Fortune Teller&#039;s Talent
*1 Kellan Joins Up
*1 Shadow of the Goblin
[/Enchantments]
&nbsp;
[Artifacts]
*1 Arcane Signet
*1 Belt of Giant Strength
*1 Colossus Hammer
*1 Interdimensional Web Watch
*1 Monster Manual // Zoological Study
*1 Scepter of Celebration
*1 Sol Ring
*1 Strionic Resonator
*1 Summoning Materia
*1 Sword of Forge and Frontier
*1 Sword of Hearth and Home
*1 Sword of the Animist
*1 The Reaver Cleaver
*1 Two-Handed Axe // Sweeping Cleave
[/Artifacts]
&nbsp;
[Sorceries]
*1 Avatar&#039;s Wrath
*1 Escape to the Wilds
*1 Ignite the Future
*1 Impending Flux
*1 Rousing Refrain
*1 Venture Forth
[/Sorceries]
&nbsp;
[Instants]
*1 Suspend Aggression
*1 Ultimate Magic: Holy
[/Instants]
&nbsp;
[Lands]
*1 Cascading Cataracts
*1 City of Brass
*1 Command Tower
*1 Cori Mountain Monastery
*1 Crumbling Necropolis
*1 Exotic Orchard
*1 Fabled Passage
*3 Forest
*1 Frontier Bivouac
*2 Island
*1 Jetmir&#039;s Garden
*1 Jungle Shrine
*1 Ketria Triome
*9 Mountain
*1 Mystic Monastery
*1 Nomad Outpost
*1 Oscorp Industries
*1 Path of Ancestry
*2 Plains
*1 Raugrin Triome
*1 Savage Lands
*1 Savai Triome
*1 Swamp
*1 Xander&#039;s Lounge
*1 Ziatora&#039;s Proving Ground
[/Lands]
&nbsp;"></span></div>
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
<p>“Cast from exile” or the more general “non-hand” spell archetype has gotten a massive amount of attention, starting in earnest in 2021 with the <i>Adventures in the Forgotten Realms</i> preconstructed deck. Crazy to think it's only been five years, but it's shown up in several color combinations and even has a five-color commander option now. The final weird thing is that, yes, I did choose nine basic Mountains. Untapped lands are great and this deck has a big slant towards red for clear reasons. It'll be fun to see how it shakes out.</p>
<p>What do you think about the “new” archetype and its fast development?</p>


karolina dean

Powerful Paradoxes with Karolina Dean, Runaway