d_iros, once phage gets reanimated, it's controller loses the game and then control of the creature returns to its owner -- you. If you have a sac outlet, then you can sac Phage again and pick a different opponent.

kpres - I was not aware of that. As I mentioned in the description I'm a commander noob so this insight is invaluable. Even more reason to include Endless Whispers . I need to think more about what to cut for it (and possibly something else for a sac outlet). I'd prob cut Beastmaster Ascension for Endless Whispers to switch to a more flavorful Phage focused finisher. Not sure what I'll cut for the sac outlet

The more I think about Endless Whispers the more utility I find. Having it on board is protection for Phage as anyone who would remove her (outside of exile effects) can be threatened with instantly losing the game. This provides protection from most boardwipes which the rest of the deck can't provide. It makes even an unequipped Phage a valuable attacker against players who don't have a mob of tokens as they must block a deathtouch creature and if they kill Phage in the process, game over over for someone and you get Phage back. As kpres said in the case that Phage is manifested this provides a very easy way to off a player early, get Phage on the board early, and start being aggressive.

Definitely cutting Beastmaster Ascension to lean into the Phage synergies. Next up is considering what to cut for a sac outlet to end the game with Phage and Endless Whispers. Another thing to consider is whether or not to include another manifest source ( Primordial Mist for example) to lean into the above synergy.

Also, if someone knows what happens when a transformed Westvale Abbey  ^Flip or Elbrus, the Binding Blade  ^Flip goes to the graveyard with Endless Whispers in play I would love to know. Thank you to everybody for all the advice to a new commander player.

A Dual-Faced Card (DFC) only has characteristics of its front face while in any zone that is not the battlefield. What would happen is Endless Whispers would see the creature die and trigger. You choose an opponent, but they would get the front face of the card not the creature on the back.

Cut Crystal Shard for Ashnod's Altar for the following combo: Ashnod's Altar + Endless Whispers + Phage the Untouchable

I think that last edit I'm gonna make to this deck us upgrading the mana base with off colored fetches. Maybe. I'm not a big fan of off-colored fetches just from a flavor perspective but I think the deck could use more mana fixing. I think it's hit a pretty good point where I just want to play it rather than brew more. I don't really know where it could go from here. I also think it strikes a good balance between being a Kadena deck and a Phage deck. I'll probably update the description at some point to reflect the changes the community has helped me make. Only other thing I'm thinking about is replacing Elbrus, the Binding Blade  ^Flip for a more reliable finisher if I can't get it to work in real games. Probably with Beastmaster Ascension and have another way to win with morphs. Thank you to everyone for your suggestions and knowledge, you helped this deck reach it's full potential.

I really like Elbrus the Binding Blade, but I always end up cutting it from decks eventually.

Just a heads up, the Endless Whispers + Phage the Untouchable + sacrifice outlet doesn't work. According to rule 800.4, 800.4a. When a player leaves the game, all objects (see rule 109) owned by that player leave the game, any effects which give that player control of any objects or players end, and all spells and abilities controlled by that player on the stack cease to exist. Then, if there are any objects still controlled by that player, those objects are exiled. This is not a state-based action. It happens as soon as the player leaves the game. If the player who left the game had priority at the time he or she left, priority passes to the next player in turn order who’s still in the game. In short, this means Phage the Untouchable gets exiled rather than returning to your control. If u have ways to instantly bounce or regain control of it that would work, but the 3 cards themselves don't quite do the trick.

I'd also recommend Biomancer's Familiar and, if you're willing to spend the money, Training Grounds . These both make your morph activations cheaper. I was running both in my build and it helped a lot.

divinagon

Unfortunately neither of those two work with morph abilities since they aren’t activated abilities. Morphing a creature is a special action.

702.36e Any time you have priority, you may turn a face-down permanent you control with a morph ability face up. This is a special action; it doesn’t use the stack (see rule 116). To do this, show all players what the permanent’s morph cost would be if it were face up, pay that cost, then turn the permanent face up. (If the permanent wouldn’t have a morph cost if it were face up, it can’t be turned face up this way.) The morph effect on it ends, and it regains its normal characteristics. Any abilities relating to the permanent entering the battlefield don’t trigger when it’s turned face up and don’t have any effect, because the permanent has already entered the battlefield.

divinagon

Well that certainly takes some wind out of my sails. Thanks for bringing it to my attention though. I'm probably gonna cut Endless Whispers, Ixidor, and Scroll of Fate for a set of cards more likely to help me close out a game. I've been putting a lot of thought into my deck lately and need to take a break so it will probably be some time before the update comes. Any suggestions in the mean time are welcome.

d_iros

Take a look at my list. You can see the route I’ve gone. It’s pretty tuned and works really well often at instant speed.

You Just Activated My Trap Card!

Commander / EDH Abzkaban

SCORE: 201 | 35 COMMENTS | 9130 VIEWS | IN 42 FOLDERS

Abzkaban

The two cards I've been eyeing on your list are Equilibrium and Words of Wind . I imagine with the whole first step of this deck being build a draw engine they could become pretty oppressive.

I feel like securing a draw engine is the #1 priority for Kadena. You can win any number of ways after that. As long as you can reset your morphs, then you have a solid control shell as well. Both of those can help create a tempo imbalance as well as help you draw/reset.

Cut Ashnod's Altar, Endless Whispers, Scroll of Fate, Ixidor, Beastmaster Ascension, and Dark Ritual. Added Body of Research as a second card that can be an instakill in one round of combat. Added in Simic Ascendancy which can combo for a win with Body of Research . Upgraded the mana base with off color fetches for the fixing many of the cards require. Did minor adjustment to basic land counts and mana rocks to reflect the needs of the deck. Added Phyrexian Altar for the any color of mana it can produce. Updated the description to change the change in direction of the deck. Added Grim tutor as OK option / replacement for a proxy of Imperial Seal I intend to make. I can't remember what other changes there were but they are all reflected in the description.

This is not where I imagined the deck ending up, but as I look at it I see a sort of a "fair" combo deck. Answers exist to the combos used for winning, it can be fast but sometimes it won't be. You can shoot for pulling off less certain combos like winning with Elbrus. One day you might pickle lock turn 5. I think as a result of the draw engine and the tutors it may be possible to tailor playing this deck for different tables by pursuing different combos. That's the deck. There won't be any more edits until a new card comes out that gets me brewing again.

lol I love the pickle lock

While I really enjoyed playing Kadena, I found that the games I played with her were very long, mainly because my turns were so slow and I had so many actions and reactions. I couldn't put my finger on it, it's not like it's the only durdle-y deck I've played, but it was so slow.

That said, cards that draw on creature entry or cast are the main thing that seems to be missing from this, Soul of the Harvest or Beast Whisperer or even Lifecrafter's Bestiary could really improve your draws. I'm not sure your tutors supercede this.

Soulus101

Generally games will go really quick if you can set up a Prophet of Kruphix effect. At that point it’s really easy to outvalue and control the board. Usually it takes just one turn cycle of prophet if that to reach a win con.

I do agree that additional card draw makes Kadena run more smoothly. Beast Whisperer and Guardian Project are all stars here. I don’t know that I personally like Soul of the Harvest purely for its mana cost, but it does trigger on entry rather than cast which is a notable difference.

Soulus101 - My experience with looking over many Kadena decks on this site is that most do not have ways to definitively win the game consistently. That is what I'm trying to bring to the table, a Kadena deck that uses her and morphs to find the cards that do the actual winning, in my own janky yet carefully considered way.

I already have three such cards, Guardian Project , Beast Whisperer (already in the deck, but thank you), and Teferi's Ageless Insight . I don't think any of the flexible black tutors can be cut with how convoluted most of the few win conditions of this deck are. I find the deck typically wins turn 8-11 (occasionally earlier, occasionally later) if left uninterrupted and the tutor package has been a large part of that consistency. Lastly, one of my favorite uses of tutors in this deck is not to find the win piece, but the piece that is going to take the draw engine to the next level. That being said, there are definitely improvements that can be made to the consistency of getting a good draw engine going and another More Cards Per Morph card should always be considered.

I worry that the 6 CMC cost of Soul of the Harvest is too high and the card won't make an impact until too late. At 6+ turns you want to be focused on deploying combo pieces and leaving the rest of your mana open for morphs. Lifecrafter's Bestiary seems like a good option, I've spent a long time considering it, but it is definitely a step down from a card like Beast Whisperer which is already in the deck and the weakest of my More Cards Per Morph cards. I feel like both need a shot being played with to really know, but also there's nothing I'm quick to cut from this list at the moment to make room for them.

Of all the tutors I might cut it may be Shared Summons . I think it has good application in this deck but the 5 CMC cost is pretty painful. I still need more time playing with it though.

d_iros

I would advise against cutting Shared Summons. It has proved to be the best creature tutor in my deck. Generally it’ll grab me Seedborn Muse and Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir but can also grab the pickles lock or mix and match if I’ve got one piece of each already. Otherwise it can grab Den Protector and Vesuvan Shapeshifter for the Cyclonic Rift lock or any other pieces I need. Pulling two creatures at eot is just too valuable, and it’s one of the reasons I’ll go off on turn 5 or 6.

Abzkaban - In this deck it can get Tidal Barracuda and Beast Whisperer for a draw engine as well. It has a ton of potential for sure, just haven't been able to resolve it yet and see it first hand. I like that if you get it opening hand you can be reasonably sure you're gonna get some kind of value or win going.

Abzkaban - I stumbled upon the following infinite combo recently: Aphetto Alchemist + Illusionist's Bracers + Fledgling Mawcor which would be possible to slot into this deck. I have yet to actually play a real game of commander and am waiting for my LGS to open back up to see what the meta is like before putting an infinite combo in. This combo would be great with Shared Summons as well. I put a section under How to Win for anyone looking for more info.

I think your logic makes sense! And of course, I forget draw is stapled to the commander, which actually makes your overall draw package look much better.

I missed your "more cards per morph" section. Might be worth including them in your "draw" section as well; redundant but clearer. On the subject of Custom groupings, I generally avoid putting fetchlands with no mana ability under my land count, as they are technically tutors. I like my land count to reflect the odds that I'll consistently hit my land drops, and fetches kinda skew that. The fact that 10 of your 35 lands don't tap for mana is relevant I think. In fact, now that I think about it, 10 fetchable lands and 13 land-fetch cards a bit topsy-turvy isn't it? Especially as only 6 lands are basics and 3 of your fetch effects can only fetch basics, the risk of falling behind on mana seems high.

Soulus101

Why would you not include fetches in your land count? Fetches don’t skew the odds of hitting your land drops. They ensure you hit your land drops and color fix them especially if you run shocks. There is no risk of falling behind on mana… The land base here is fine. I count 10 fetches, and the only one restricted to a basic is Prismatic Vista. Not gonna lie this is the strangest take on fetches I’ve ever seen. How can you be concerned they don’t tap for mana when they go and get you a land that does tap for mana?

Soulus101

If I'm being honest the area where I know the least about what I'm doing is making a mana base and am open to feedback regarding it but honestly I don't know what you're trying to tell me. I have looked at manabases of top decks with off-color fetches and essentially copied them with slight modification. In none of those top decks have I seen this type of mana base be brought up as having the same issue. I'm definitely in line with Abzkaban's view here.

One of the advantages of this type of mana base that my deck desperately needs is mana fixing as we're trying to win with Phage the Untouchable and Body of Research . This is also why I run Chromatic Lantern . I wouldn't run a mana base this expensive unless I absolutely needed to so if you have an example of a more appropriate mana base please link it here.