Kadena, Slinking Sorcerer | Upping the Average

[@willmcgee8379]

Another nice option for this deck is Jolrael, Mwonvuli Recluse. She gives you more bodies to go wide as you will always be drawing 2 cards on your turn at a minimum if you cast a morph with Kadena out, and Jolrael comes with an option to buff up your board late game based on hand size. Sadly the buff does not include Trample, so mileage may vary.

[@lugh.i]

Jolrael is great, she always raises eyebrows when she drops and the buff makes Morphs huge to keep the pressure on your opponents and force them to block to survive.

[@wurdofwizdumb1928]

I came to the comment section for suggest the exact same card. She is sooo good and so fun in this deck.

[@JohnDoe-df7bl]

YES MY VERY FIRST COMMANDER!

[@razzlefrazzle69]

Same!

[@Deloiz]

I love my Tidal Barucoda in this deck. Players don't want to remove it since it kinda helps them, but me more. Also protects my turn.

[@JaimeAGB-pt4xl]

I'm glad to see that this upgraded deck is Very close to my kadena deck already... I do appreciate the crystal shard and mystic forge tech... Thanks guys, great resource as always

[@KeroTheInvincible]

I've been wanting to see an Upping the Average on Kadena for so long! Kadena was the first precon I bought when I started commander. I'm still not very good with the deck, but I've never had the heart to give up on it. One interesting addition I've seen in the deck is Heartless Summoning, reducing your Morphs to 1/1s in exchange for them costing only 1 mana, outside of Kadena's ability. Plus, if you can manage to have Heartless Summoning, Yedora, and Ruthless Ripper out with a black card in hand, you have an infinite damage set-up. With Ruthless Ripper constantly dying and turning into a Forest, which you can then flip face-up by revealing a black card in your hand, dealing 2 damage before dying and turning back into a Forest. You can even tap the Forest in between to net 1 green per cycle.

[@dunzhen]

bro...thanks for this! omg!

[@catanthill]

I love Joey covering these precon decks. Kadena was the first precon I upgraded! Now, I have 12 decks. I am definitely going to swap out Forsaken Monument and Ixidor.

[@zombieslayer3153]

Don’t take Ixidor out the card is very strong it flips most of your morphs face up for cheaper then they could be normally and he makes your manifest card much stronger

[@pkerkles]

This is the first deck I purchased and upgraded. Happy to see it get some love here.

[@mbell3024]

I've had a Kadena deck since her release, and I love all these changes (except my beloved unblinking bleb)

[@jaredreid2661]

Ain't no one messing with my bleb!

[@alexhernandez5436]

Was a tough cut but I understand the premise, best to be interactive with the opponent.

[@alannicholls3658]

Equilibrium, Cunning Evasion, Words of Wind are all excellent upgrade options 👌 😊😋

[@HauntedOnee]

This is an awesome Upping The Average! Thank you for taking the time for doing it with Kadena. She was my third precon and I ended up making her a Morph and Mill strategy. I call the deck the Mighty, Morphing and Milling Co. Thanks again! 😊

[@scottcampbell9515]

Wait…Mystic Forge WORKS with this? O M G

[@brennanclement8582]

It does mechanically, but in my experience it's not worth the mana unless it sticks around for a really, really long time.

[@Ryadic]

My favorite commander. Instant click when I got the notification

[@JohnDoe-df7bl]

For more wind conditions in the deck I recommend getting earthshaker Giant and return of the wild speaker

[@crawdaddy1234]

I was waiting with bated breath through the entire video for Mystic Forge.

[@grantbolanos1364]

Into the North is a good 2-mana ramp option given that you're swapping in the snow duals.

[@micahhonig1575]

One of my favorite commanders, my upgraded version of the deck looks almost exactly like this. Makes me happy. Thanks for a couple of specific cards I didn’t know about though, I’ll be making some swaps here shortly!

[@killkaio7565]

Every time you play a morph you should legally have to say now I've set a trap card

[@lugh.i]

7:45 Echo Tracer can also return itself to hand, in case you're low on Morphs in hand 😉

[@zen_tewmbs]

🧠 🧠

[@chadanenberg6454]

A lot of people make fun of beastmasters Ascension but in some Decks it is absolutely crazy.

[@jacknelson8640]

Love 'Upping the Average'

[@omahonda]

Love your videos, Joseph! You are a talented deck builder and content creator. Thanks for sharing.

[@DJcream13]

Yedora is a great include since it opens up another line of win conditions. Ruthless Ripper is a morph that deals 2 to face on flip and goes infinite with Yedora + generic sac outlet. Temur Charger goes infinite as well but wins through mill with Alter of Dementia.

[@jonshort2314]

DRAGON THRON OF TARKIR is a great add to the deck. It's an equipment that pumps all your creature and gives them trample. Mana cost is high, but I find that it works just fine in the deck.

[@andrewheng5297]

I really enjoyed Tidal Barracuda as a tricky way to give your spells flash. Its 1 mana cheaper than Teferi, and cheaper $$-wish too. It does give a bonus to your opponents, but since you tend to be able to respond at instant speed its not an issue

[@Yammenkow]

And the bonus doesn't let them flash stuff in on your turn, just the other opponents! Obviously that's still helping your opponents overall, but takes the sting out that they can surprise you with counters or combat tricks as long as it's your turn!. The benefit for everyone also makes it less of a target for removal.

[@lunasterling4009]

A personal favorite of mine is Ebonblade Reaper. Most people dont even know it is a card and even fewer expect to be hit by it in the first place. Just be careful of when you use it because it can make massive enemies if timed incorrectly.

[@joseguilherme4342]

Yeah sir, ty for you work! Ty for the video!

[@TheLaserLordLOL]

Since we’re doing a 2019 precon, could we get Ghired for the next episode!?!!!

[@TheSilverFox442]

Yes please!

[@Dubi264]

For a win condition, I've loved archetype of imagination and champion of lambholt. Sometimes you don't need to pump your creatures if they just can't be blocked. I'd also highly recommend Primeval Bounty and Field of the Dead to grow your swarm of creatures even larger!

[@ivorymantis1026]

My favorite boardwipe in black is Languish. 4 CMC, -4/-4 across the board. Ignores indestructible, avoids a few other workarounds.

[@Thespqr1997]

have to say: i did not realise the interaction between yedora & morph cards

[@alexhernandez5436]

Yes but unless you have a sac outlet I have the problem of having my morphs dying unless from combat or a bomb.

[@estellairon9448]

@@alexhernandez5436 Ashnod's Altar is a GREAT sac outlet for this, allowing for infinite combos of up to two generics and one green. You can get your whole graveyard with Den Protector, clear the battlefield from artifacts and enchantments with Ainok Survivalist... As I'm poor, I'm going with Viscera Seer and Embodiment of Insight, whereas at least VS lets me scry the whole deck with a given loop, and EoI lets me turn Yedora's terrains into creatures instantly, letting me save up a bit of mana for the loops.

[@Dmaulinator]

Already been mentioned, but words of wind is insanely good here. I play panharmonicon in my Kadena deck, and once mid game rolls around you can do some very silly things with it, sol ring, words of wind, and any morph. Add a couple of cost reducers to your colorless castings, and all of a sudden you can use sol ring near-endlessly by bouncing it and a morph to your hand with its effect, while your opponent bounces 2 permanents per rotation. Not non-land, just PERMANENTS. Requires you to be in a pretty specific position, but none of the cards are bad on their own, and it’s come up for me plenty of times.

[@tserrofz9]

Joey, I love you for that intro. Please never change

[@Shadow298]

A niche card that's nice to add is Soul Collector. the morph cost of 3 black pips is a little tricky at times but if you enchant it with Gift of Doom & leave it as a blocker you'll be getting a bit of value from nicking your opponents' stuff. This video also made me buy a Faceless Menace pre-con because I missed it upon release.

[@lugh.i]

Yes! Excellent video, thanks for finally giving Kadena an Upping the Average 🧐👉👉

[@Yesnomu]

Love the wordplay like always! BTW, Mystic Forge got a subtle wording update to help clarify why it works: "You may cast artifact spells and colorless spells from the top of your library."

[@kaiokenx100]

Muldrotha is a nice way to recur morph creatures from the graveyard. Recasting your morphs face down from the graveyard over and over feels pretty good.

[@thetogtube2]

Spot on... the deck is an engine... and struggles with win cons for sure.

[@Chuubii]

I play her as mill. Tutelage cards are great with the inate card drawing ability. Finishers arr playing cards from opponents' graveyards

[@justinfisher8749]

Just got this pre con today so this helped learning how to use it

[@andrewpeli9019]

Built this commander when it got all the support from the Disguise mechanic. It’s a lot of fun, but pretty mentally taxing to remember what morphs you have e in front of you.

[@ColbySwift83]

Three all stars in my kadena deck have been: vela, equilibrium and words of wind Testing out ruxa and volo

[@luukvangriensven2559]

thanks for the great video!

[@royalfishness1]

Engineered Plague is hilarious in here when all your creatures come in colorless

[@royalfishness1]

whoops, meant spreading plague

[@benrichardson5662]

5:18 Dang Joey we're just building an EDH deck, you don't need to start dropping bars on us 😂 In all seriousness, that was delightful though.

[@FKnop]

I found Primal Whisperer to be very useful.

[@vasylpark2149]

For Mystic Forge wouldn't it be because a morph is colorless and it is an alternate casting cost.

[@mofomiko]

Im a bit late to the party, but do not sleep on Dulcet Sirens. It's cheap to Morph and activate, and you can use the biggest Threat on the board and send it elsewhere. It's devastating against Voltron strategies and has decided a lot of games for me since i've included it - it has become my favorite Morph because of that.

[@BozzLightyr]

14:38 hi I have a question if anyone can answer. I took out the glyphs because I figured the granting of intimidate would negate the glyphs' buff or would it keep the buff because it is Vela's ability granting it or what??

[@alexhernandez5436]

It would negate it yes because only creatures with No Abilities are granted the +2/+2

[@Shurgatal]

I'd love to see an episode on a more unconventional commander like Kardur :)

[@davidhaas5975]

Another win-con to keep in mind, the best sultai card! Villainous Wealth! In most games I have played with my Karen’s deck, I get to 10-15 lands relatively easily due to the sheer card draw paired with ramp. Plus with leyline of anticipation, it’s another gotcha mana sink. Also, it doesn’t require you to have a board of creatures, and Kadena decks can falter if they run out of morphs and is then board wiped…

[@rodrigpimenta]

Another non-budget upgrade would be cloudstone curio! You can bounce back to your hand morphs that have already flipped and draw more cards as you cast them again e reuse their effets

[@henrivalencia21]

can you / someone create a list where craterhoof, triumph and other out of the budget cards included. I'm trying to follow this build and I don't know which cards should be removed when adding those

[@arenkai]

For Craterhooh, Beastmaster ascension, and Triumph, remove the other board pump win conditions such as stampede, bogbeast, end-raze forerunners, etc. Apply this concept to everything else: if it does the same thing, but worse, it comes out

[@mn6334]

It's not a strong upgrade but Volo could be a cheap option if you want to try to go a little wider. Your morphs don't have a creature type so you'd always get the copy when casting them but the copy would basically just be a Bear token.

[@LuisCastillo-eu4mx]

I would love to see you play this deck

[@azazelgrigori9244]

Might I suggest first responder? At the end of your turn, you may return a morph card to your hand from your field. Then he gets counters based on that cards power. Think of him as an additional way to reuse morph cards.

[@BozzLightyr]

thanks man I love kadena

[@alkex1]

My wincon on Kadena is Ixidor+Phage the Untouchable. Reliable? No. Fun and in Flavor? Yes

[@camrontaylor542]

Hey, if you have time revisiting, this commander would be very worth it with new cards that have been printed. Yedora, grave gardener, and the manifest enchantment coming out in commander masters for example

[@braydenjames8957]

Veilatone amulet, cloud key and somberwald sage

[@k9commander]

Mystic Forge works because morphs are 'colorless nonland' cards.

[@adrianjimenez1988]

I play strixhaven stadium as a wincon, I end the biggest threat player and I kill the others with pure damage from constant swings with mass bounce spells and dolmen gate for protection.

[@TheCreaTaur]

I think the idea with the fight mechanic is you put down a morph creature and select your fight targets, then after the spell resolves while holding priority you morph it into something bigger, right?

[@bagosk8r90]

I actually left tempt with discovery and thespian stage in it. Add dark depths. Just need one mook to grab a land with me 🤣

[@phluffy368]

What can I swap seedborn muse for? The replacement card doesn't need to have the untap effect

[@milkydoesstuff1828]

Temur warshaman is part of a infinite combo with ruthless ripper and yedora, only reason to run it

[@Narphang]

What about Gyome, every morph etb will trigger 1 token plus indestructible at the cost of one mana, if you play on the morph side, Ruxa might help a lot .Nice upping the average btw.

[@PaulissVegan]

can we get a Kaust, Eyes of the Glade Upping the Average?

[@dedhart]

I like to call my kadena deck, Kadena and her army of John Cena's because you can't see them.

[@fabio.n4458]

Next, Phage the untouchable. please!!!!!!

[@alexhernandez5436]

Fun Fact you can Manifest Phage with Scroll of Fate then after Blockers if no one blocked the Manifest you Unmanifest her for her CMC and Kill that Player. Super Sneaky.

[@davidengkent7756]

Hey, so how effective has Overwhelming Stampede been in these decks? Because I kinda see a lack of big creatures to really make the card a big enough buff, it's one of the reasons I haven't cut Sagu Mauler yet.

[@TheSilverFox442]

With Kadena out, Overwhelming Stampede is an easier-to-cast Overrun. +3/+3 and trample is already a very significant buff, especially if your board is wide enough. I wouldn't keep Mauler in just for that interaction, personally.

[@mrsnufflegums]

I'm surprised no Volo, Guide to Monsters in the list. He gives you free 2/2's whenever you cast a morph. It's not super amazing, but it helps clog the board up and makes things awkward to attack into you

[@mrsnufflegums]

Since creatures without types can't share creature types

[@lugh.i]

That's a nice idea!

[@ambercarlson8220]

I was playing with 3 people 1 was already out so me and 2 other people this guy was playing elves, so very nasty. I played biomass mutation with overwhelming stampede killing one of them. I had swung with all and was tapped out. I was at 2 life which at the time I didn't realize. he swings with a 2/2 creature and I lose

[@carldooley9344]

I got 99 Cheatyface to use as card art. It's hilarious.

[@andreusemanuel4868]

Damn, look at all those 2/2 creatures entering the battlefield! If only someone "experienced" could give some +1/+1 counters to make our creatures big, maybe an UG elf, dunno.

[@toms1782]

My playgroup doesn't allow morph anymore, lol.

[@spearhead2054]

Bit late to the party but I still want to put my 2 cts down. I would never cut Forsaken Monument, since it doubles every colorless source, not just lands. I play it alongside every painland and every talisman. Also it buffs the morphs so they stay alive long enough til you want to flip them. And never underestimate small incremental life gains, especially when it triggers on the main thing your deck is doing.

[@PauperPrincex]

Need more win conditions? Manifest Phage the Untouchable into play using Sensei's Divining Top for more consistency. Oh? You decided to let the 2/2 through? You Just Lost The Game.

[@juanmartin631]

i was thibnk about fortell and manifest i think if you manifest a card with fortell. you can cast it later hahah

[@silverfox4428]

That's...not how that works. At all. You don't get to cast a foretell card just because it's face down. You have to pay the 2 mana to foretell it, and then you can cast it from exile. A manifested card with foretell is not foretold, so you can't cast it that way.

[@liammanning8334]

Win cons I run jolrael, biomass mutation, villainous wealth,. I think forsaken monument is an Allstar, I run the talismans as well as llanowar wastes to combo with it. There are plenty of other colorless lands that also add colors that work well. Arch of orazca, ash Barrens work well with forsaken monument. Can use the mana for soul of phyrexia, the win cons, or to make dark depths work when you don't have a thespian stage, can also dump mana in equilibrium and temur sabertooth.. or dump all the mana in lair of the hydra when someone doesn't have blockers... there are so many synergies with forsaken monument.. I think it's a mistake to cut it.. sea gate restoration, use Talismans and colorless land do draw so much..I also run urboeg and yavimaya, cradle of growth to help for colorless land, crop rotation to get my gaeas cradle or dark depth thespian combo. The deck has so many Insidental win cons. I accidently win too fast with the deck.. I'd also suggest cunning evasion. You can attack.. if they block you can return cards to hand and replay for morph drawing.. or they don't block you sneak in with cards like riptide entrancer.. deadly rollick is a definite inclusion. And I like to run cryprolyth rite.

[@TheSilverFox442]

Thing is, that sounds like a fairly different build than what Joey went for here. He even mentioned that he thought there were likely Kadena decks where it would be good - and it sounds like you've got one of them.

[@janderson9413]

The only win-con you need is manifesting Phage, the Untouchable and flipping her up when someone doesn't block her lol. 7 mana, but it's kind of like a Vorpal Sword that they don't see coming. And why add mana rocks? Why not just more ramp (Nature's Lore, Three Visits, Skyshroud Claim)? There's a reason the Simic talisman was cheap enough to get added to the deck.

[@juto1234567]

If you want to make mystic forge more effective more artifacts allows you to cast more things off the top of your library even though land ramp might be safer.

[@vincent-antoinesoucy1872]

I found that flood of tears work very well here. Straight worst than cyc rift but cyc rift is a dud that shouldn't be played. flood works super well because all your rocks are at 2 mana and you can easily dump kadena plus free morph with it, so you build back way faster than any one else.

[@kommanderkronk]

I only ever run 30 lands....am I the weird one? Lol all my decks function great with only 30 lands.

[@almoghh123]

That's pretty low in my experience. try more like 36, I believe it helps unless you are running extremely low CMC decks.

[@kommanderkronk]

@@almoghh123 my mana curve is usually 3.5 or lower so yeah maybe that's it

[@HomeCookinMTG]

I noticed about 30% of these kadina decks playing guardian project, Seems not awesome when you’re morphing creatures all the time

[@EDHRECast]

Guardian Project gets an Honorable Mention at 18:06 in this video! It turns out Morph creatures are nameless creatures, which means they do not share a name with any other creature, so Guardian Project will indeed trigger for every face-down creature :)

[@HomeCookinMTG]

@@EDHRECast Weird, would have thought that morphs share the name morph. Still think I like the beast whisperer better though, I’m always a fan of stapling an effect to a creature in my creature decks