Kadena: Old Sneaky Snake

Commander / EDH BUG (Sultai) Manifest Megamorph Morph Theme/Gimmick Value Engine

bushido_man96

Morphs (27)

• 1x Ainok Survivalist
• 1x Bane of the Living
• 1x Brine Elemental
• 1x Chromeshell Crab
• 1x Deathmist Raptor
• 1x Den Protector
• 1x Dulcet Sirens
• 1x Gift of Doom
• 1x Grim Haruspex
• 1x Herdchaser Dragon
• 1x Hooded Hydra
• 1x Icefeather Aven
• 1x Kadena's Silencer
• 1x Kheru Spellsnatcher
• 1x Nantuko Vigilante
• 1x Sagu Mauler
• 1x Salt Road Ambushers
• 1x Serpentine Basilisk
• 1x Silumgar Assassin
• 1x Skinthinner
• 1x Stratus Dancer
• 1x Thelonite Hermit
• 1x Thousand Winds
• 1x Titanic Bulvox
• 1x Vesuvan Shapeshifter
• 1x Voidmage Apprentice
• 1x Willbender

Manifest (7)

• 1x Cloudform
• 1x Ghastly Conscription
• 1x Jeskai Infiltrator
• 1x Primordial Mist
• 1x Scroll of Fate
• 1x Temur War Shaman
• 1x Thieving Amalgam

Draw (6)

• 1x Explore
• 1x Grim Haruspex
• 1x Growth Spiral
• 1x Kumena's Awakening
• 1x Secret Plans
• 1x Sultai Charm

Tokens (2)

• 1x Hooded Hydra
• 1x Thelonite Hermit

Stax (1)

• 1x Brine Elemental

Land (37)

• 1x Ash Barrens
• 1x Bojuka Bog
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Evolving Wilds
• 1x Exotic Orchard
• 9x Forest
• 7x Island
• 1x Jungle Hollow
• 1x Llanowar Wastes
• 1x Myriad Landscape
• 1x Opulent Palace
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Shrine of the Forsaken Gods
• 1x Sunken Hollow
• 6x Swamp
• 1x Terramorphic Expanse
• 1x Thornwood Falls
• 1x Yavimaya Coast

Utility (10)

• 1x Dulcet Sirens
• 1x Ixidron
• 1x Qarsi High Priest
• 1x Seedborn Muse
• 1x Strionic Resonator
• 1x Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
• 1x Temur Sabertooth
• 1x Tidal Barracuda
• 1x Vernal Equinox
• 1x Vesuvan Shapeshifter

Protection (7)

• 1x Gift of Doom
• 1x Kadena's Silencer
• 1x Kheru Spellsnatcher
• 1x Stratus Dancer
• 1x Temur Sabertooth
• 1x Voidmage Apprentice
• 1x Willbender

Recursion (4)

• 1x Den Protector
• 1x Ghastly Conscription
• 1x Haunted Crossroads
• 1x Phyrexian Reclamation

GY Hate (1)

• 1x Ghastly Conscription

Sac Outlets (1)

• 1x Qarsi High Priest

Commander (1)

Removal (13)

• 1x Ainok Survivalist
• 1x Chromeshell Crab
• 1x Deathmist Raptor
• 1x Icefeather Aven
• 1x Mire in Misery
• 1x Nantuko Vigilante
• 1x Putrefy
• 1x Reality Shift
• 1x Serpentine Basilisk
• 1x Silumgar Assassin
• 1x Skinthinner
• 1x Sultai Charm
• 1x Temur War Shaman

Ramp (9)

• 1x Cultivate
• 1x Explore
• 1x Farseek
• 1x Growth Spiral
• 1x Qarsi Deceiver
• 1x Sakura-Tribe Elder
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Thran Dynamo
• 1x Trail of Mystery

Buffs (6)

• 1x Biomass Mutation
• 1x Overrun
• 1x Overwhelming Stampede
• 1x Salt Road Ambushers
• 1x Secret Plans
• 1x Trail of Mystery

Boardwipes (2)

• 1x Bane of the Living
• 1x Thousand Winds

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Maybeboard

Other (23)

• 1x Aphetto Alchemist
• 1x Carnage Altar
• 1x Cloudform
• 1x Darkwater Catacombs
• 1x Erratic Portal
• 1x Fledgling Mawcor
• 1x Foul Orchard
• 1x Golgari Guildgate
• 1x Grazilaxx, Illithid Scholar
• 1x Hystrodon
• 1x Illusionist's Bracers
• 1x Ixidor, Reality Sculptor
• 1x Jeskai Infiltrator
• 1x Primordial Mist
• 1x Simic Guildgate
• 1x Temple of the False God
• 1x Thespian's Stage
• 1x Tortured Existence
• 1x Weaver of Lies
• 1x Wilderness Reclamation
• 1x Woodland Stream
• 1x Yedora, Grave Gardener
• 1x Zoetic Cavern

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Introduction

This is my upgrade of the C19 Faceless Menace deck, featuring Kadena, Slinking Sorcerer. I'd never played with morph much before, but new of the mechanic and had seen it around. Having a Commander to build morph around was a good reason to put those morph cards to use. Add to that the fact that Kadena draws cards for casting morphs, and it was pretty easy to decide to go all-in. Card draw on the Commander? Yes, please! Even if it is conditional.

The Value Train

Kadena is a value engine, so I'm leaning into it with lots of morph creatures. I want to draw as many cards as I can when Kadena is in play, which means the bulk of the creatures in the deck are morph creatures. Being able to play creatures face-down fudges the mana curve of the deck, too, so I can hopefully set up fast, and then start responding to threats by morphing creatures. Just being able to draw cards for doing what the deck wants to do is a great start. But there's always room to improve.

Kadena and Trail of Mystery is a great little value engine that ensures we can hit our land drops. Due to the colorless nature of casting a creature face down, I may be able to go with more basic lands in this deck than it already has. I'm going to experiment with this as I go along. Secret Plans is another great card that rewards us for doing what the deck wants to do, turn creatures face up.

The next way to increase value is to play at instant speed. Kadena makes the first face-down creature spell I cast each turn free; not just my turn. Why not try to take advantage of this on everyone else's turn, too? I can't afford to go get a Vedalken Orrery, but I am going to experiment with Vernal Equinox and see what kind of value I can get from it. I've kept Seedborn Muse in the deck, so I could take advantage of playing at instant speed. I'm also running Tidal Barracuda, which looks like a fun one.

Morphin' Time

The obvious next step in getting morphs on the board is to morph them. Most of the morphs are not impressive creatures when it comes to their power/toughness, so getting punchy isn't going to be the main way to win. Morphing usually provides more value in the form of removal, protection, or some other utility. One of the best ways I have of protecting my board state is with the Pickles soft lock, but I'd rather not grind a game to a halt if I don't have to. Hopefully, I can morph creatures and pick off problems here and there, and pick my spots to slide in some damage. I have included some Overrun effects to help my little creatures pack a bit more of a punch.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Casting the creatures face-down and then morphing them for value is great, but one-and-done is no fun. I wanted to work in some ways to get multiple uses out of my morphs. Whenever I think about getting recurring value out of creatures, I always go to graveyard recursion first. I love using the graveyard as a resource, and that's where my mind tends to go first. But first, I have to get the creatures there. So, to Reduce the number of creatures on my board, I'm running some sac outlets. These can also be helpful to avoid exile effects on a creature I'd really like to have back later. Aside from that, sac outlets are fun! I've got Thallid Soothsayer to draw me cards, Quarsi High Priest to work with the morph/manifest theme, Claws of Gix as a cheap outlet, and Bloodthrone Vampire, who is a bit out of place in here, but I can sac creatures to pump her up. May look at replacing her with Fallen Ideal down the road.

I'm not running a reanimator package here, but I am running a recursion package with cards like Haunted Crossroads and Phyrexian Reclamation to get morphs that have died back into my hand to Reuse. Den Protector is a morph version of Regrowth for this deck.

As far as Recycling goes, I've got Temur Sabertooth to bounce morphed creatures back to my hand to play face-down again. Icefeather Aven is our morph version of Man-o'-War. I've considered Erratic Portal, as well. Just need to find another cut to add it in. Ixidron pops in and turns all our creatures face down again, along with everyone else's.

Combos

The only real combo in the deck is the Pickles Lock: Brine Elemental + Vesuvan Shapeshifter . Other comboesque synergies include:

Thelonite Hermit + Vesuvan Shapeshifter

Vesuvan Shapeshifter + Voidmage Apprentice

I'm not sure what other combos I could add to the deck without getting away from the theme.

Conclusion

Kadena is Old Sneaky Snake, hiding her plans and being all sneaky in general. I hope you like this version, and leave suggestions and upvotes!

Date added	4 years
Last updated	1 year
Key combos	Brine Elemental + Vesuvan Shapeshifter Thelonite Hermit + Vesuvan Shapeshifter Vesuvan Shapeshifter + Voidmage Apprentice
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	5 - 0 Mythic Rares 33 - 0 Rares 23 - 0 Uncommons 16 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.49
Tokens	City's Blessing, Manifest 2/2 C, Morph 2/2 C, Saproling 1/1 G, Snake 1/1 G
Folders	Sultai EDH Decks I Have, Decks I Like