Kadena's Crafty Catering

Commander / EDH BUG (Sultai) Counters Midrange Multiplayer Tokens

slaftergames

Land (36)

• 1x Alchemist's Refuge
• 1x Bojuka Bog
• 1x Breeding Pool
• 1x Command Tower
• 1x Drowned Catacomb
• 1x Exotic Orchard
• 1x Fabled Passage
• 1x Flooded Grove
• 4x Forest
• 1x Hinterland Harbor
• 5x Island
• 1x Llanowar Wastes
• 1x Morphic Pool
• 1x Opulent Palace
• 1x Overgrown Tomb
• 1x Reliquary Tower
• 1x Sunken Hollow
• 2x Swamp
• 1x Temple of Deceit
• 1x Temple of Malady
• 1x Temple of Mystery
• 1x Twilight Mire
• 1x Underground River
• 1x Watery Grave
• 1x Woodland Cemetery
• 1x Yavimaya Coast
• 1x Zagoth Triome
• 1x Zoetic Cavern

Other (10)

• 1x Counterspell
• 1x Crystal Shard
• 1x Ghastly Conscription
• 1x Ixidor, Reality Sculptor
• 1x Jolrael, Mwonvuli Recluse
• 1x Overwhelming Stampede
• 1x Scroll of Fate
• 1x Seedborn Muse
• 1x Strionic Resonator
• 1x Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir

Morphs (27)

• 1x Ainok Survivalist
• 1x Bane of the Living
• 1x Brine Elemental
• 1x Broodhatch Nantuko
• 1x Chromeshell Crab
• 1x Deathmist Raptor
• 1x Den Protector
• 1x Echo Tracer
• 1x Gift of Doom
• 1x Grim Haruspex
• 1x Hooded Hydra
• 1x Icefeather Aven
• 1x Kadena's Silencer
• 1x Kheru Spellsnatcher
• 1x Mischievous Quanar
• 1x Nantuko Vigilante
• 1x Sagu Mauler
• 1x Salt Road Ambushers
• 1x Silumgar Assassin
• 1x Stratus Dancer
• 1x Thelonite Hermit
• 1x Unblinking Bleb
• 1x Vesuvan Shapeshifter
• 1x Voidmage Prodigy
• 1x Weaver of Lies
• 1x Willbender
• 1x Zoetic Cavern

Removal (10)

• 1x Ainok Survivalist
• 1x Assassin's Trophy
• 1x Bane of the Living
• 1x Beast Within
• 1x Cyclonic Rift
• 1x Ixidron
• 1x Nantuko Vigilante
• 1x Putrefy
• 1x Reality Shift
• 1x Silumgar Assassin

Commander (1)

Ramp and Fixing (14)

• 1x Arcane Signet
• 1x Birds of Paradise
• 1x Burgeoning
• 1x Chromatic Lantern
• 1x Cultivate
• 1x Farseek
• 1x Fellwar Stone
• 1x Kodama's Reach
• 1x Nature's Lore
• 1x Sakura-Tribe Elder
• 1x Sol Ring
• 1x Thran Dynamo
• 1x Trail of Mystery
• 1x Zoetic Cavern

Card Advantage (10)

• 1x Aphetto Runecaster
• 1x Beast Whisperer
• 1x Grim Haruspex
• 1x Lifecrafter's Bestiary
• 1x Primordial Mist
• 1x Secret Plans
• 1x Thieving Amalgam
• 1x Unblinking Bleb
• 1x Vizier of the Menagerie
• 1x Whisperwood Elemental

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Maybeboard

Morph (36)

• 1x Aphetto Alchemist
• 1x Aphetto Exterminator
• 1x Broodhatch Nantuko
• 1x Coral Trickster
• 1x Dermoplasm
• 1x Disruptive Pitmage
• 1x Dragon's Eye Savants
• 1x Dream Chisel
• 1x Dulcet Sirens
• 1x Ebonblade Reaper
• 1x Fathom Seer
• 1x Hystrodon
• 1x Kin-Tree Warden
• 1x Maelstrom Djinn
• 1x Marang River Skeleton
• 1x Master of the Veil
• 1x Mistfire Weaver
• 1x Monastery Loremaster
• 1x Obscuring Aether
• 1x Pine Walker
• 1x Primal Whisperer
• 1x Quicksilver Dragon
• 1x Raven Guild Master
• 1x Riptide Entrancer
• 1x Riptide Survivor
• 1x Root Elemental
• 1x Ruthless Ripper
• 1x Serpentine Basilisk
• 1x Shorecrasher Elemental
• 1x Silent Specter
• 1x Silumgar Spell-Eater
• 1x Skinthinner
• 1x Soul Collector
• 1x Thousand Winds
• 1x Voidmage Apprentice
• 1x Yedora, Grave Gardener

Draw (6)

• 1x Guardian Project
• 1x Mystic Forge
• 1x Pendant of Prosperity
• 1x Teferi's Ageless Insight
• 1x The Great Henge
• 1x Wavebreak Hippocamp

Ramp (6)

• 1x Azusa, Lost but Seeking
• 1x Sakura-Tribe Scout
• 1x Tempt with Discovery
• 1x The Great Henge
• 1x Thought Vessel
• 1x Wayward Swordtooth

Bounce (5)

• 1x Cloudstone Curio
• 1x Crystal Shard
• 1x Equilibrium
• 1x Temur Sabertooth
• 1x Words of Wind

Land (3)

• 1x Command Beacon
• 1x Darkwater Catacombs
• 1x Tolaria West

Stampede (3)

• 1x Biomass Mutation
• 1x Overrun
• 1x Thunderfoot Baloth

Manifest (6)

• 1x Cloudform
• 1x Ethereal Ambush
• 1x Jeskai Infiltrator
• 1x Qarsi High Priest
• 1x Temur War Shaman
• 1x Write into Being

Surprise (6)

• 1x Alchemist's Refuge
• 1x Leyline of Anticipation
• 1x Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
• 1x Tidal Barracuda
• 1x Vedalken Orrery
• 1x Wilderness Reclamation

Other (5)

• 1x Backslide
• 1x Eternal Witness
• 1x Muraganda Petroglyphs
• 1x Opposition Agent
• 1x Ruxa, Patient Professor

Removal (3)

• 1x Abrupt Decay
• 1x All is Dust
• 1x Leadership Vacuum

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Introduction

Insert a joke, a piece of flowery prose or some other, similar introductory device here.

Kadena's most noteworthy attributes are:

1. Face-down cards - MTG, like most card games, involves a certain measure of uncertainty; one doesn't (usually) know exactly what an opponent has in her hand or deck. However, Kadena takes this element of mystery one step further, since many of the deck's permanents will enter the battlefield face-down. This is fun both as a strategy and as a mental exercise (since it's important for the person playing Kadena to keep close track of what each face-down permanent - it doesn't do to be peeking at them too often, since an opponent may accidentally catch sight of a card and won't be able to un-see what's been seen, and also because it gives the impression that one isn't properly in control of one's own deck).

2. Card Advantage - Having a source of card draw in the command zone is a great asset for any EDH deck.

3. Timing - At the time of writing, this particular deck includes only six instants. Thus one might at first assume that most of its activity will occur during its turn and at sorcery-speed. Not so, however, because turning morphs face-up is such a large part of what this deck does (and also because this deck has cards like Scroll of Fate and Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir, which offer further flexibility) - I've found that in most games, Kadena is almost as active during the end step of the player who precedes her in the turn order as she is during her own turn (sometimes even more so). Persons who feel trapped with a deck that mostly acts during its own turn and isn't especially interactive will definitely enjoy this aspect of Kadena's character.

4. Trickery - This topic is treated at greater length in a section below, but here suffice it to say that Kadena offers a wide array of tricks like theft, imitation etc. that make the deck quite interactive.

Arguably most of the subsequent points are really just expanding on the first point (i.e. the element of mystery), but they're significant enough that they each deserve to be addressed in turn, even if they are basically side effects contingent on the prevalence of the morph and manifest mechanics.

The Strategy

Kadena herself promises card advantage, but neither she nor any of the deck's morphs (with the possible exception of Brine Elemental) are likely to end the game on their own. At present, the best way to achieve this is with Cyclonic Rift, Overwhelming Stampede or Jolrael, Mwonvuli Recluse plus a heap of morph creatures (I'd also like to add Craterhoof Behemoth someday).

This deck runs no tutors and includes no infinitely repeatable combinations. However, I don't consider this a disadvantage, as far as fun is concerned (obviously in strictly competitive terms, it is one), because the beauty of Kadena as a commander is that she hardly requires an "infinite combo" or something similar. Once she has a few face-down permanents on the battlefield, it will be virtually impossible for other players to know what she might be capable of if attacked or otherwise bothered. She might send your removal right back at you (Willbender, cancel your spell (Stratus Dancer et al.), trade creatures with you (Chromeshell Crab) or do any number of other nasty, unpleasant things. Thus it's fairly easy - especially if one regularly plays with the same group - to keep others from trying to interfere very heavily in Kadena's development. This allows her to accumulate resources while other players are knocked out of the game, then strike with overwhelming force. She empathically is not saddled with the same challenge confronting, say, a Xyris or Nekusar deck, or a Kenrith deck - she isn't trying to set up a single spectacular and game-ending play, but rather developing quietly, flexibly, with no fixed telos in sight. Her opponents know that they shouldn't let her get too many face-down permanents into play, but then again, what is such a contingent, uncertain threat next to the danger of Prossh playing Food Chain next turn or somebody dropping Worldgorger Dragon? The fact that Kadena combines card draw and mystery in the command zone makes possible this distinctly more casual and adjustable approach.

Obviously this is more easily described than executed, but then again one really only needs to satisfy a few comparatively basic preconditions to pull it off: 1) develop your mana base; 2) keep Kadena in play, which in turn ensures card advantage and steadily increases the number of face-down permanents that you control; and 3) prevent anybody from playing any really serious hate, which in turn becomes steadily easier as one continues to meet the second condition.

Thus I can recommend Kadena as a commander who will allow you to win without 1) being aggressive, 2) having to focus heavily on a small set of crucial, game-winning combinations or 3) spending a great deal of money on the cards which constitute those combinations, not to mention tutors.

Mana

The deck's selection of mana acceleration heavily emphasizes cards that cost only one or two mana, so that I can play Kadena on turn three or - rarely, but it's a treat - one turn two (land, Sol Ring and Arcane Signet or Fellwar Stone on turn one, then another land on turn two). The faster the deck develops its mana base, the sooner it can start drawing cards at a rapid rate and deploying creatures like Teferi and Seedborn Muse to increase its flexibility and develop even faster.

Generally speaking, the deck's means of acceleration are quite conventional - they mainly comprise cheap artifacts and (also cheap) sorceries that fetch lands. The only morph-related acceleration comes from Trail of Mystery.

Since this deck has card advantage in the command zone, it also relies on drawing cards as an indirect means of developing and stabilizing its mana base - i.e. it draws a lot of cards, so it should always be able to play a land on its turn. I've also included Burgeoning in the 99 as a release valve for a land-filled hand.

Real Average CMC

Since one almost never plays any of the deck's morphs face-up (Hooded Hydra is probably the most common exception), the deck's average CMC is a pretty meaningless number - e.g. Gift of Doom costs five mana, but that figure is practically irrelevant because only in a very, very unusual situation would one pay that cost instead of casting it either for free (with Kadena) or for three mana and then turning it face-up by sacrificing a creature. Fortunately there are a couple of more accurate figures which one can here substitute for an average CMC.

The first of these formulae is to calculate the average CMC of all the non-morph cards in the deck and then average it (proportionally, of course) with the average cost of turning a morph face-up. As of January 2020, the weighted average arrived at in this way was 3.12.

A second possible formula would be to average the CMC of the deck's non-morph cards, the average cost of turning a morph card face-up and also the number three, halving the weight of the morph category and then setting the weight of the number three equal to it - e.g. xy∗(z/2)m∗(z/2)3, where x is the proportion of non-morph cards in the deck, y is the average CMC of a non-morph card, z is the proportion of morph cards in the deck and m is the average cost of turning a morph face-up. This would then also account for the fact that turning a morph face-up is not the only cost associated with a morph card - one may also have to cast it. However, although the formula may be sound in theory, the empirical evidence suggests that a figure arrived at in this way would be at least somewhat misleading because in practice I am able to play Kadena frequently and keep her on the battlefield for long periods of time, ergo I rarely have to pay mana to cast a morph. However, that's hardly to suggest that this average is totally irrelevant, and in any case it was 3.15 as of December 2019 and therefore scarcely different from the above average.

This link leads to a model of the deck's actual curve as it appeared in early 2020 (changes to the deck's complement of morph cards since then have been very minor - limited, I believe, to a single card): Kadena - True Curve.

Card Advantage

Kadena is the deck's primary means of drawing cards (or at least the most accessible option). However, the deck also includes other morph-related card advantage, e.g. the Aphetto Runecaster, Primordial Mist. Beast Whisperer and Lifecrafter's Bestiary, though they have nothing to do with the morph or manifest ability specifically, serve well in this deck because of its high proportion of creatures (well over a third, at the time of writing).

With any EDH deck in which black is a constituent color, one has to consider tutors. I confess I don't especially like them, because once you've included them in your deck, you have no excuse not to also include very powerful cards that almost single-handedly win games, and at that point you've spent an enormous amount of money to create a deck that's possibly less fun (because it offers less variety and fosters less creativity) than the version of it that doesn't have tutors and said powerful cards. And in fact the delightful thing about Kadena - indeed, it may be the single best thing about her - is that you scarcely have to justify not including powerful tutors in the deck, even from a competitive standpoint, because she provides card advantage, mystery and discount all in one (see above). Thus I find it perfectly acceptable, even markedly preferable to just keep drawing cards and see how the game develops, rather than including any tutors in the deck list.

Hijinks, Shenanigans and Removal

I dare say it's a well-known fact in EDH that stealing something from somebody and then using it yourself is a taboo utterly unrivaled by destroying, bouncing or otherwise removing it. Kadena's card pool offers a wide variety of such tricks, and although I have not taken full advantage of that in this deck (e.g. not running Sudden Substitution or Riptide Entrancer), the list still very much reflects her wily ways. Originally I had a custom category in the deck list for this sort of thing, but so many of the creatures in it were also morphs that it seemed redundant.

Exchange and Thievery

Chromeshell Crab, Kheru Spellsnatcher, Thieving Amalgam - For one thing, the Amalgam is this deck's only means of gaining life, which occasionally gives it added significance. More often and importantly though, it serves as a form of unconventional (and very annoying, for your opponents) card advantage. The Spellsnatcher is one of the most hated cards in the deck, to be sure; its finest catch so far has been Elesh Norn. Beyond the general unease that Kadena inflicts upon her opponents because of all the face-down permanents she plays, the Crab and the Spellsnatcher make other players especially circumspect about playing powerful cards when Kadena has mana available, and the Amalgam keeps them guessing about which cards you've stolen from their decks. The protracted game of cat-and-mouse that ensues is crucial for a deck that doesn't have an infinite combination or some other particularly explosive victory condition.

Copying

Mischievous Quanar, Vesuvan Shapeshifter - Copying is less resented than robbery, I've found, and that only stands to reason: the person whose card is being copied does still get to keep that card, after all. Though copying is usually also a bit less appealing for this reason, it can still yield excellent results. Making my own Yarok, the Desecrator with the Shapeshifter is always delightful, and the Quanar has disrupted an attempt at victory more than once, e.g. by copying an opponent's Heroic Intervention before said opponent intended to play Damnation and then swing for lethal damage.

Cancels and Redirection

Kadena's Silencer, Stratus Dancer, Willbender - These cards are valuable as much for the psychological effect as for the actual cancel/redirection; opponents in my meta have become quite loath to play removal against one of my face-down morphs, lest I respond with Willbender. The Silencer in turn is a delightfully versatile card.

Other

Brine Elemental - This card is often a victory condition of its own (since one can use it in conjunction with Strionic Resonator or cards that turn a morph face-down again).

Ghastly Conscription - When used on an opponent's graveyard instead of one's own, this card constitutes a sort of theft, and potentially quite a nasty one, at that (n.b. the potential synergy between it and Thieving Amalgam).

Besides this array of shenanigans and tricks, the deck includes some of the finest conventional removal available in its colors (see the section in the deck list entitled "Removal," above). Counterspell is a great cancel to run if you aren't extraordinarily wealthy or happened to crack a pack with Mana Drain in it (or have a generous, older relative who's been playing since the 90s and passed the card on to you - whatever, the point is I don't have it and probably never will). I may add another cancel to further defend against infinite combinations that don't use instants or sorceries (e.g. Food Chain) - maybe if I do ever get that Mana Drain, I'll include it alongside Counterspell, rather than substituting it for the latter.

Beyond cancels, Assassin's Trophy and Beast Within are superbly cheap and versatile cards, and Cyclonic Rift is practically a win condition. With Reality Shift and Bane of the Living, the deck even has an answer to indestructible threats. Not included in the removal category of the deck list but also relevant are the deck's two bounce morphs, Echo Tracer and Icefeather Aven. Ixidron provides a highly unusual answer to an ascendant enemy board state.

I don't own any copies of Abrupt Decay, so the question of whether to replace Putrefy with it is purely academic, for the moment. In EDH - i.e. in a format where games last much longer than in, say, Modern - I do believe there is a strong argument for Putrefy over Abrupt Decay, but the reverse could also be said; ultimately the debate may come down to small, circumstantial factors, e.g. the attributes of one's local meta.

It would be wonderful if WOTC were to print some more (good) morphs that remove creatures. Skinthinner is totally unsatisfying, Silumgar Assassin is scarcely better and Bane of Progress is quite situational.

Possible Adjustments

Quite aside from possible improvements to the deck list given above, the latter isn't actually complete yet: I still have to acquire Ixidor, the Aphetto Runecaster, Primordial Mist and a few lands (namely the filter lands, Breeding Pool, Morphic Pool, Temple of Deceit and Zagoth Triome). In the meantime I'm running Nurturing Peatland, Waterlogged Grove and a few other lands as placeholders for the latter, and Pendant of Prosperity, Tempt with Discovery and a few morphs to stand in for the non-land cards that I'm still missing.

For someone with a larger budget than mine or with no budgetary constraints at all, there are plenty of attractive but very expensive cards which would improve the deck - e.g. Craterhoof Behemoth, Sunken Ruins, Thought Vessel (CMC2 ramp and a second way besides Reliquary Tower to abrogate your hand limit) or Tolaria West (a great way to fetch Reliquary Tower). One could also include five-color lands like Mana Confluence or City of Brass to get the most out of cards like Thieving Amalgam.

In my experience, Dream Chisel and Obscuring AEther are practically redundant in this deck. That said, they are obvious quasi-tribal effects for morph and might appeal to some players for that reason.

I still tweak the list of morph creatures occasionally - Zoetic Cavern is a relatively new addition, and Bane of the Living and Icefeather Aven will probably be the first cards to go when WOTC prints some good morphs.

The maybeboard is quite large and contains plenty of other cards that one might consider for the deck, albeit also a great deal of chaff (mainly morphs and manifest cards) that I just keep indexed here for reference.

Record

2019: 2-0 in the United States, 2-1 in Germany

Date added	4 years
Last updated	2 years
Legality	This deck is Commander / EDH legal.
Rarity (main - side)	6 - 0 Mythic Rares 53 - 0 Rares 18 - 0 Uncommons 12 - 0 Commons
Cards	100
Avg. CMC	3.34
Tokens	Beast 3/3 G, 2/2 G Token Creature Cat, Insect 1/1 G, Manifest 2/2 C, Morph 2/2 C, Saproling 1/1 G, Snake 1/1 G
Folders	Reference Decks