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Kytheon, Hero of Akros // Gideon, Battle-Forged

Kytheon, Hero of Akros // Gideon, Battle-Forged

Legendary Creature — Human Soldier // Legendary Planeswalker — Gideon

Kytheon wants a deck that makes attacking it too costly, so opponents fight each other. It also works in a deck built around Humans, Soldiers or Tap / Untap Loops.

  • Mana costwhite
  • White ()
  • Power / toughness2 / 1
  • RarityMythic

At end of combat, if Kytheon and at least two other creatures attacked this combat, exile Kytheon, then return him to the battlefield transformed under his owner's control.

2 genericwhite: Kytheon gains indestructible until end of turn.

//

+2: Up to one target creature an opponent controls attacks Gideon during its controller's next turn if able.

+1: Until your next turn, target creature gains indestructible. Untap that creature.

0: Until end of turn, Gideon becomes a 4/4 Human Soldier creature with indestructible that's still a planeswalker. Prevent all damage that would be dealt to him this turn.

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Archetypes

Cards That Fit Kytheon, Hero of Akros

Picked for what they do in Kytheon's deck. When two cards do the same job, the one with the lower comes first. All of them fit Kytheon's color identity.Mana ValueThe total amount of mana a card costs, all added up. A card costing two generic and one green has a mana value of three. Wizards renamed this from "converted mana cost" in 2021, so older cards and articles may still use the old name.Sol RingOpen the full glossary

plan6

The 6 Cards

Humans plan6

The 6 Cards

plan6

The 6 Cards

Rulings for Kytheon, Hero of Akros

explain how Kytheon works in tricky situations. They come from Wizards of the Coast, the company that makes Magic.RulingThe official answer to how a card works in a tricky situation. Most rulings are written by Wizards of the Coast, the company that makes Magic, and a few are notes from Scryfall, the card database Magic players use. A ruling explains a card. It does not change what the card says.Open the full glossary

Wizards of the Coast 22 Jun 2015

A double-faced card enters the battlefield with its front face up by default, unless a spell or ability instructs you to put it onto the battlefield transformed, in which case it enters with its back face up.

Wizards of the Coast 22 Jun 2015

A Magic Origins planeswalker that enters the battlefield because of the ability of its front face will enter with loyalty counters as normal.

Wizards of the Coast 22 Jun 2015

Each face of a double-faced card has its own set of characteristics: name, types, subtypes, power and toughness, loyalty, abilities, and so on. While a double-faced card is on the battlefield, consider only the characteristics of the face that's currently up. The other set of characteristics is ignored. While a double-faced card isn't on the battlefield, consider only the characteristics of its front face.

Wizards of the Coast 22 Jun 2015

Gideon's first ability causes a creature to attack him if able. If, during its controller's declare attackers step, that creature is tapped, is affected by a spell or ability that says it can't attack, or hasn't been under its controller's control continuously since that player's turn began, then that creature doesn't attack. If there's a cost associated with having that creature attack, its controller isn't forced to pay that cost. If they don't, the creature doesn't have to attack.

Wizards of the Coast 22 Jun 2015

Gideon's third ability causes him to become a creature with the creature types Human Soldier. He remains a planeswalker with the planeswalker type Gideon. (He also retains any other card types or subtypes he may have had.) Each subtype is correlated to the proper card type: Gideon is just a planeswalker type (not a creature type), and Human and Soldier are just creature types (not planeswalker types).

Wizards of the Coast 22 Jun 2015

If a double-faced card is manifested, it will be put onto the battlefield face down (this is also true if it's put onto the battlefield face down some other way). Note that "face down" is not synonymous with "with its back face up." A manifested double-faced card is a 2/2 creature with no name, mana cost, creature types, or abilities. While face down, it can't transform. If the front face of a manifested double-faced card is a creature card, you can turn it face up by paying its mana cost. If you do, its front face will be up. A double-faced card on the battlefield can't be turned face down.

Wizards of the Coast 22 Jun 2015

If Gideon becomes a creature due to his third ability, that doesn't count as having a creature enter the battlefield. Gideon was already on the battlefield; he only changed his types. Abilities that trigger whenever a creature enters the battlefield won't trigger.

Wizards of the Coast 22 Jun 2015

If Gideon can't be attacked, perhaps because he has left the battlefield before the creature's controller's next combat, the creature targeted by Gideon's first ability can attack you or another planeswalker you control, or its controller can choose to have it not attack at all.

Wizards of the Coast 22 Jun 2015

If the creature targeted by Gideon's first ability changes controllers before it has the chance to attack Gideon, the ability will apply to it during its new controller's next turn.

Wizards of the Coast 22 Jun 2015

If you activate Gideon's third ability and then damage is dealt to him that can't be prevented, that damage has all applicable results: specifically, the damage is marked on Gideon (since he's a creature) and that damage causes that many loyalty counters to be removed from him (since he's a planeswalker). If Gideon has no loyalty counters on him, he's put into his owner's graveyard as a state-based action. (As long as he still has indestructible, the marked damage won't cause him to be destroyed.)

Wizards of the Coast 22 Jun 2015

In some rare cases, a spell or ability may cause one of these five cards to transform while it's a creature (front face up) on the battlefield. If this happens, the resulting planeswalker won't have any loyalty counters on it and will subsequently be put into its owner's graveyard.

Wizards of the Coast 22 Jun 2015

Kytheon's first ability will count creatures that attacked but are no longer on the battlefield (perhaps because they didn't survive combat damage being dealt). It will not count any creatures that were put onto the battlefield attacking, as those creatures were never declared as attackers.

Wizards of the Coast 22 Jun 2015

Say you activate Gideon's third ability, then an opponent gains control of him before combat. You may have any of your creatures attack Gideon (since he's still a planeswalker). Then Gideon may block (since he's a creature). He may block any eligible attacking creature, including one that's attacking him. During combat, he behaves as an attacked planeswalker and/or a blocking creature, as appropriate. For example, he deals combat damage to any creatures he's blocking, but he doesn't deal combat damage to any unblocked creatures that are attacking him.

Wizards of the Coast 22 Jun 2015

The back face of a double-faced card (in the case of Magic Origins, the planeswalker face) can't be cast.

Wizards of the Coast 22 Jun 2015

The mana value of a double-faced card not on the battlefield is the mana value of its front face.

Wizards of the Coast 22 Jun 2015

You can activate one of the planeswalker's loyalty abilities the turn it enters the battlefield. However, you may do so only during one of your main phases when the stack is empty. For example, if the planeswalker enters the battlefield during combat, there will be an opportunity for your opponent to remove it before you can activate one of its abilities.

Wizards of the Coast 8 Apr 2016

The back face of a double-faced card doesn't have a mana cost. A double-faced permanent with its back face up has a mana value equal to the mana value of its front face. Each back face has a color indicator that defines its color.

Wizards of the Coast 29 Sep 2017

You can control two of this permanent, one front-face up and the other back-face up, at the same time.

18 rulings, all written by Wizards of the Coast. Read the originals on Gatherer ↗

Similar Commanders

Commanders that share the most with Kytheon, and what they share.

Color identityEvery color of mana symbol on a card, in its cost and in its rules text. Your commander's color identity sets the limit for your whole deck: every other card has to fit inside it. A deck led by a green and white commander cannot play a card with any blue in its color identity.Open the full glossaryWPlayers write colors as letters: W for white.PillowfortPillowfort decks make attacking you so costly or unappealing that opponents attack each other instead. Cards like Ghostly Prison make a player pay mana for every creature that attacks you, buying time for your own plan.Open the Pillowfort pageProtectionA creature with protection from something, like a color, is safe from anything with that quality. It cannot be damaged, enchanted or equipped, blocked, or targeted by it, and players remember the four with the word DEBT. It does not stop effects that neither target nor damage, like a board wipe that destroys every creature. ProgenitusOpen the Protection pageFogPrevents combat damage, usually for a whole turn. A single card can blank an entire attack, which in multiplayer often means surviving a turn you had no other answer to. Fog, Spore Frog, Maze of IthOpen the Fog pageSoldiersSoldiers are mostly white, and many cards make Soldier tokens, so Soldier decks tend to spread out with lots of creatures.Open the Soldiers page