Kadena, Mystery Morphs

Tevesh · Post by **Tevesh** » 4 years ago

I like Control but the problem I have is that it takes a long time to win. It's why I disassembled my Daxos and Vosk; it is unfair to have a player or two be eliminated and need to wait another 45 minutes for the duel to be concluded. So, perhaps these midrange decks I've cooked up don't have the same win percentage but at least they would conclude the games quickly.

I've made another nostalgia deck: Morphs. I chose Kraum and Thrasios because they're outside of the coveted 3 cost that represents Morphs. With card advantage in the Command Zone, I can focus on playing interesting morphs. The idea is to use Creatures to control the board while beating down. Plus I can play shenanigans and head games with my Morphs. Use them, bounce them, shuffle my hand and play another face down. Who knows what it'll be? Plus, y'know, Willbender memery.

I kicked Kraum and Thrasios out of the chair because they were too good; the deck literally dragged them down. But I knew of a Green Blue man who plays well with 2 power Creatures and his name is Ezuri. Then the C19 Morph deck was made and I saw that they pretty much stole my list, so I guess I'll just slot in Black now.

Morphing Time

Approximate Total Cost:

Changelog

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Changes 09/10/19

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Changes 09/10/19

In

Out

1 Beast Whisperer

1 Tatyova, Benthic Druid

1 Reality Shift

1 Mystic Remora

1 Rhystic Study

Approximate Total Cost:

Changes 09/09/19

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Changes 09/09/19

In

1 Vedalken Orrery

1 Reliquary Tower

3 Island

2 Swamp

1 Forest

Out

1 Simic Growth Chamber

1 Underground River

1 Yavimaya Coast

Approximate Total Cost:

Changes 08/26/19

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Changes 08/26/19

New Commander

1 Kadena, Slinking Sorcerer

In

1 Skinthinner

1 All is Dust

1 Vivien, Champion of the Wilds

1 Leyline of Anticipation

3 Swamp

1 Terramorphic Expanse

Old Commander

1 Ezuri, Claw of Progress

Out

1 Simic Ascendancy

1 Hadana's Climb

1 Sage of Hours

1 Edric, Spymaster of Trest

1 Viral Drake

1 Dryad Arbor

7 Island

5 Forest

Approximate Total Cost:

Changes 07/09/19

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Changes 07/09/19

In

1 Kodama's Reach

1 Cultivate

1 Wilderness Reclamation

1 Edric, Spymaster of Trest

1 Faerie Conclave

Out

1 Krosan Grip

1 Forest

Approximate Total Cost:

Changes 05/19/19

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Changes 05/19/19

In

1 Simic Ascendancy

1 Sage of Hours

1 Explosive Vegetation

1 Viral Drake

1 Nissa, Vastwood Seer

1 Dryad Arbor

1 Karn's Bastion

Out

1 Swan Song

1 Temur Sabertooth

1 Solemn Simulacrum

1 Conqueror's Galleon

1 Thaumatic Compass

1 Forest

1 Island

Approximate Total Cost:

2018

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Changes 11/25/18

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Changes 11/25/18

In

1 Hadana's Climb

1 Coastal Piracy

1 Inspiring Call

Out

1 Weaver of Lies

1 Bred for the Hunt

1 Constant Mists

Approximate Total Cost:

Changes 11/21/18

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Changes 11/21/18

Commander In

1 Ezuri, Claw of Progres

In

1 Bred for the Hunt

1 Master Biomancer

1 Vigor

6 Island

6 Forest

Commander Out

1 Thrasios, Triton Hero

1 Kraum, Ludevic's Opus

Out

1 Ire Shaman

1 Mina and Denn, Wildborn

1 Gruul Turf

4 Mountain

Approximate Total Cost:

Changes 11/16/18

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In

1 Kessig Wolf Run

1 Flamekin Village

Out

2 Mountain

Approximate Total Cost:

Changes 11/13/18

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Changes 11/13/18

In

1 Mina and Denn, Wildborn

1 Conqueror's Galleon

1 Tomb of the Spirit Dragon

Out

1 Ondu Giant

1 Wild Wanderer

1 Mountain

Approximate Total Cost:

Changes 10/13/18

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In

1 Beast Whisperer

1 Soul of the Harvest

Out

1 Aphetto Runecaster

1 Unblinking Bleb

Approximate Total Cost:

Changes 10/5/18

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In

Out

1 Grow from the Ashes

1 Forest

1 Mountain

1 Island

Approximate Total Cost:

Changes 9/20/18

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Changes 9/20/18

In

1 Sakura-Tribe Elder

Out

1 Sylvan Ranger

Approximate Total Cost:

Changes 9/18/18

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Changes 9/18/18

In

1 Frontier Bivouac

1 Shrine of the Forsaken Gods

Out

1 Forest

1 Island

Approximate Total Cost:

Changes 9/15/18

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Changes 9/15/18

In

1 Primordial Mist

1 Tatyova, Benthic Druid

1 Sylvan Ranger

1 Kessig Wolf Run

3 Forest

3 Island

2 Mountain

Out

1 Multani, Yavimaya's Avatar

1 Shaman of the Great Hunt

1 Coiling Oracle

1 Terramorphic Expanse

1 Shivan Reef

Approximate Total Cost:

Changes 9/14/18

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Changes 9/14/18

In

1 Weaver of Lies

1 Salt Road Ambushers

1 Monastery Loremaster

1 Hystrodon

1 Echo Tracer

1 Ire Shaman

Out

1 Trygon Predator

1 Ruric Thar, the Unbowed

1 Sylvan Ranger

1 Wood Elves

1 Altered Ego

1 Seedborn Muse

1 Nezahal, Primal Tide

1 Tendershoot Dryad

1 Etali, Primal Storm

1 Ulvenwald Hydra

1 Progenitor Mimic

Approximate Total Cost:

Dragonlover · Post by **Dragonlover** » 4 years ago

This deck speaks to my soul, I love morph as a mechanic! Recently built a Storrev deck using it and manifest and it's so much fun to play!

Any particular reason you're not running Ugin, the Ineffable?

Dragonlover

Tevesh · Post by **Tevesh** » 4 years ago

Dragonlover wrote: ↑
4 years ago
This deck speaks to my soul, I love morph as a mechanic! Recently built a Storrev deck using it and manifest and it's so much fun to play!

Any particular reason you're not running Ugin, the Ineffable?

Dragonlover

Yeah, Morphs are tons of fun. I have been itching to use them in a Casual deck.

If Ugin Manifested, I would be all over him but he doesn't. I did think about it, but paying six mana to only Ramp my Morphs doesn't seem like a good deal, even with the other piece of utility he has.

Tevesh · Post by **Tevesh** » 4 years ago

I joked with my friends that I saw that Wizards had cribbed my U/G Morph deck, so I guess I should just add Black. The deck has gotten a lot weaker, Ezuri was quite potent in the Command Zone. Time to find out if I can make something fun and original with Kadena:

Changes 08/26/19

New Commander

1 Kadena, Slinking Sorcerer

In

1 Skinthinner

1 All is Dust

1 Vivien, Champion of the Wilds

1 Leyline of Anticipation

3 Swamp

1 Terramorphic Expanse

Old Commander

1 Ezuri, Claw of Progress

Out

1 Simic Ascendancy

1 Hadana's Climb

1 Sage of Hours

1 Edric, Spymaster of Trest

1 Viral Drake

1 Dryad Arbor

7 Island

5 Forest

Approximate Total Cost:

Rumpy5897 · Post by **Rumpy5897** » 4 years ago

Huh, when I looked at Kadena my reaction was "damn, they're really trying to push this morph thing" rather than "damn, this is a worse morph commander than Ezuri"

somehow the combination of cost reduction and card advantage speaks to me more than piling on +1/+1 counters.

Pardon the aggressively cliche suggestion, but Seedborn Muse?

Tevesh · Post by **Tevesh** » 4 years ago

Rumpy5897 wrote: ↑
4 years ago
Huh, when I looked at Kadena my reaction was "damn, they're really trying to push this morph thing" rather than "damn, this is a worse morph commander than Ezuri" somehow the combination of cost reduction and card advantage speaks to me more than piling on +1/+1 counters.

Pardon the aggressively cliche suggestion, but Seedborn Muse?

I was thinking of Seedborn myself.

Adding Black doesn't really add any wincons; if you notice, most of my 5+ CMCs have stayed the same. Unless I go with an obviously good end game card, such as an Exsanguinate, Black Morphs don't bring much to the table. And said Exsanguinate has nothing to do with the Morph theme.

Black gave me two more kill dudes, a Bane of the Living Wrath, a little bit of protection with Gift of Doom and more swarmy bodies with Thieving Amalgam. I've made my mana base worse, as three colour is harder to support than two, and I'm not sure if I got enough oomph to win the game. 'Pushed' Morphs are still 2/2s and if your deck folds to 2/2s, you deserve to lose, but then again, this is in my 'Tier 4' which is what I play against newbies. So, we'll see if they deserve to lose.

Ezuri brings a lot of wincons to the table. With the loss of the +1/+1 theme, Prolifterate was cut which also eliminates Simic Ascendancy, Sage of Hours and Viral Drake. That's three alternative wincons that left the deck without the addition of more ways to win, aside from turning sideways with Gray Ogres. Y'know, plus putting a bunch of +1/+1 counters on Creatures that my opponent has no idea what's underneath; I have won without unmorphing except as an answer due to my guys all being 5/5+.

Hence the addition of Flash; that way in theory I should be able to keep playing Morphs each turn for free to draw a card. Still, I don't think the value is strong enough to cause a win. This isn't Emeria, the Sky Ruin, Astral Slide or Sheoldred, Whispering One levels of value. Traditional methods of cheating aren't going to work, as I also want my Creatures to come into play face down. The good news is that I'm going to have to get real creative to make this good, which is what I find to be the best part of Commander.

Rumpy5897 · Post by **Rumpy5897** » 4 years ago

So, essentially, what used to make the previous version of the morph deck good was stuff that wasn't morphs.

Tevesh wrote: ↑
4 years ago
The good news is that I'm going to have to get real creative to make this good, which is what I find to be the best part of Commander.

You betcha. It's nice that closer inspection of some of these C19 legends reveals them to be a lot more interesting than what it says on the tin, requiring some interesting decisions to try to arrive at a functional deck. Kadena's EDHREC is pretty much just morphs and morph accessories as far as the eye can see, so it's not gonna be super helpful here.

Tevesh · Post by **Tevesh** » 4 years ago

Pushing off Seedborn Muse for now:

Changes 09/09/19

In

1 Vedalken Orrery

1 Reliquary Tower

3 Island

2 Swamp

1 Forest

Out

1 Simic Growth Chamber

1 Underground River

1 Yavimaya Coast

Approximate Total Cost:

If I get Flash, I can really chain card draw with Kadena's free cost on Morphs. I can then use them to unmorph as Control pieces, then beat face. I found myself continually over 7 and I would run out of Basics to fetch between Sword of the Animist and Trail of Mystery. I didn't need as much mana fixing as I thought, as most of the valuable mana was Blue. So, in goes Reliquary Tower and most of the mana fixing lands leave.

Tevesh · Post by **Tevesh** » 4 years ago

Leaning heavier into Morphs:

Changes 09/10/19

In

Out

1 Beast Whisperer

1 Tatyova, Benthic Druid

1 Reality Shift

1 Mystic Remora

1 Rhystic Study

Approximate Total Cost:

With my Commander being a built-in draw engine, I'm shrinking back raw draw and going for more recursion. An Unmorphed Creature has no added benefit, by adding Sabertooth and Shard, I can get them back into my hand to cast to draw. Hence the axing of four sources of draw. Seasons Past also goes in as a way to get lots of cards back; especially since my Morphs all do tend to cost different amounts.

Seedborn Muse has been included as I want to play on all of the turns. Zendikar Resurgent is so I can afford the expensive plays I do want to pull off.

Outcryqq · Post by **Outcryqq** » 4 years ago

What do you think about Ugin, the Spirit Dragon? With your morphs and manifests being colorless, this seems like it would have a very strong chance of being an asymmetrical board exile effect. And since your deck is already ramping, you should have access to the mana to actually cast him.

Tevesh · Post by **Tevesh** » 4 years ago

Outcryqq wrote: ↑
4 years ago
What do you think about Ugin, the Spirit Dragon? With your morphs and manifests being colorless, this seems like it would have a very strong chance of being an asymmetrical board exile effect. And since your deck is already ramping, you should have access to the mana to actually cast him.

$50 USD is the reason why.

He's the sort of card I wouldn't think of because it's outside of my consideration due to dollars, but now that you've put him on my radar, I might snag one when Singles are on sale and/or special occasion.

Tevesh · Post by **Tevesh** » 4 years ago

I'm retiring this deck as it is pure predatory at this Tier and can't withstand the dedicated hate of higher tier decks/games.

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