I've been playing with this deck for a while, and it has largely been successful, able to deal with some pretty strong decks on occasion, and hold off the ire of a whole table. The game plan pretty standard: get out Kadena ASAP (the deck is setup to get her out on turn 3 with some regularity), then play a morph each turn for value. Eventually get a flash enabler, so it can drop a morph on each players' turn to really get the value engine rolling. Hold up mana and try to have answers for whatever problems everyone else throws down.
Eventually, it can form a psuedo-lock with the Pickles combo of Brine Elemental + Vesuvan Shapeshifter, but that does more to delay the game than end it. To close things out, I have Craterhoof Behemoth and Biomass Mutation. I'm not thrilled with Biomass, since my critturs don't come with any form of evasion or trample, meaning I have to win on number of bodies, which isn't always possible. I would prefer something else in this slot, although it is a flexible spell, and has been used to survive some beefy attacks or damage-based//-X/-X board wipes.
One consideration I've add was to include an extra turn spell to recur with Den Protector, enabling infinite turns if I also have a Vesuvan Shapeshifter. Given the deck doesn't have a ton of tutoring, I don't know how reliable this plan will be, but an extra turn spell is basically never a waste, and the fact that I'm happy to cast it whenever, then recur it later means it doesn't sit dead until I'm ready for it.
In the maybe board, I'm considering replacing Ixidor and Vedalken Orrery. The former, because I never seem to activate him, and have had several games where he sat in my hand as I played other more relevant spells, and the latter, because it feels like it doesn't do enough alongside the other flash enablers. I'd rather have Tidal Barracuda or Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir here (would appreciate feedback on which to go with).
Debating replacing Equilibrium with Crystal Shard. On the one hand, Equilibrium can be used multiple times in a turn, and can be used offensively, but on the other I've often had situations where I want to bounce a creature of mine to recast it, but didn't have a creature to play. Shard removes one of the hoops to jump through for reusing morphed creatures, but it's an overall weaker card. In a similar vein, I'm considering Paradoxical Outcome. It can reset my used morphs, while also drawing cards, and can also protect my board from board wipes. That thinking had me also considering Evacuation, which will tend to hurt my opponents more than it will hurt me, but it doesn't remove problem creatures for long.
The other big debate I'm having is whether to replace Windgrace's Judgment with Assassin's Trophy. Judgment's 5 mana cost has been an issue on occasion, but being able to hit multiple targets has been valuable on others.
Besides those, the rest of the maybe board is a handful of cards I'm weighing to get some more value. Open to any suggestions for adds/cuts here.
Kadena's Slinking Surprises
Approximate Total Cost:
Maybe Board:
- 1 Birds of Paradise
- 1 Dulcet Sirens
- 1 Ezuri, Claw of Progress
- 1 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
- 1 Tidal Barracuda
- 1 Voidmage Prodigy
- 1 Time Warp
- 1 Villainous Wealth
- 1 Find // Finality
- 1 Nightmare Unmaking
- 1 Seasons Past
- 1 Vampiric Tutor
- 1 Pact of Negation
- 1 Sudden Substitution
- 1 Evacuation
- 1 Paradoxical Outcome
- 1 Assassin's Trophy
- 1 Crystal Shard
- 1 Burgeoning
- 1 Exploration
- 1 Dense Foliage
- 1 Cryptolith Rite
- 1 Oversold Cemetery
