Want these upgrades without breaking the bank? Pick up our proxy Deadly Disguise pre-con upgrade pack HERE.Â
In this edition of Proxy Power Up, we are taking a look at the Deadly Disguise Commander pre-con deck, featuring Kaust, Eyes of the Glade as the commander. Set against the backdrop of the chilling Murders at Karlov Manor expansion from Magic: The Gathering, this deck invites you to embrace the darkness and uncover the secrets hidden within the whispers of the night by discovering the power of using face-down card mechanics!As we navigate this tangled web of deceit and cunning, we bring forth a guide to elevate your Deadly Disguise deck to new heights. In this comprehensive upgrade guide, we will unveil nine cards that will seamlessly integrate into the deck’s murder mystery theme, enhancing both the flavor and power of your deck. Additionally, we’ll shed light on nine cards that, while perhaps intriguing, may benefit from a well-executed exit strategy.
Join us on this gripping journey as we enhance your Deadly Disguise deck, ensuring it becomes a formidable force that not only captivates the essence of a murder mystery but also leaves your opponents guessing at every turn. The stage is set, the curtains drawn—let the investigation begin!
Tocasia’s Welcome: Out of the box, this deck already has a decent amount of cheap creatures that can trigger Tocasia’s Welcome. That said, after you take into account that many of the deck’s high-end creatures can also be cast for their morph cost, this card becomes a super consistent card advantage engine.
Miraris’ Wake: Not only does Mirari’s Wake offer a nice anthem for your creatures, but it also essentially doubles up your available mana. Hard to pass that up.
Aurelia’s Vindicator: Aurelia’s Vindicator is a new card from the Murders at Karlov Manor main set and it fits in perfectly in this deck. It offers a decently-costed evasive lifelinking body with a bit of built-in protection. that said, the real upside comes from the ability to exile your opponent’s biggest threats at instant speed.
Aura Shards: Aura shards is an aggressively-costed way to remove your opponent’s pesky artifacts & enchantments over and over and over again!
Legolas’s Quick Reflexes: If you weren’t paying attention to the holiday release of the “Tales of Middle Earth Holiday Release” (SOOOO many sets), you may not even know that this new commander staple exists. This card just does SO much for one mana. Give it a try!
Farewell: This deck comes with quite a few board wipes. I like the idea of keeping a few of the board wipes that let you potentially keep your small, face-down creatures before flipping them. That said, this a a clear upgrade over Dusk//Dawn.
Dream Chisel: Getting Dream Chisel in play early on will allow some incredibly mana efficient plays throughout the game.
Delney, Streetwise Lookout: This card is sweet and might be the top card on my “build around” list from this set + it is INSANELY good alongside all of our face-down creatures. You can have a TON of fun with this card.
Cryptolith Rite: If we are going to flood the board with 2/2 creatures, we might as well put them to work by becoming mana dorks to help us ramp into our win conditions.
Thelonite Hermit: This card reads a lot better than it plays. Investing 8 mana (over two turns) for a 1/1 and four 2/2s just isn’t THAT exciting in modern commander. For EIGHT mana, should be making game-changing/winning plays.
Dusk // Dawn: As I mentioned above, this deck comes with a good amount of board wipes out of the box. After adding in Farewell, there simply isn’t a need to Dusk // Dawn.
Krosan Colossus: A vanilla 9/9 is basically unplayable. Flipping this face up with Kaust is cute, but that ceiling isn’t worth the insanely low floor.
Lifecrafter’s Bestiary: Lifecrafter’s Bestiary is a decent draw engine, however, we have better & more efficient ways for card advantage in this deck. That said, this one wasn’t an easy cut.
Wild Growth: Wild Growth is another card I wouldn’t judge you for keeping in. That said, with access to green we have PLENTY of better ways to ramp. Without any enchantment synergies, I’d pass on Wild Growth.
Ransom Note: Ransom Notes found its way into all four of the Murders at Karlov Manor commander pre-con decks. So as you can guess, this card is trying to do so many things that it actually doesn’t actually do that much at all. Easy cut. (!!Spoiler alert!! We cut this card from all four decks).
Krosan Cloudscraper: Similar to Krosan Colossus, a big vanilla creature without evasion or trample is hard to justify. Not to mention that you need to pay two mana per turn just to keep this big dummy around. Pass.
Nantuko Vigilante: Nantuko Vigilante is a decent artifact/enchantment removal on a body. That said, Aura Shards (see above) is a MUCH more efficient/better option for this role.
Temple of the False God: It’s always controversial to remove a land from a precon. That said, there are enough land ramp options in this deck that I think you’ll be just fine to cut a bad land like Temple of the False God. #sorrynotsorry
For affordable mana base upgrades for this deck, make sure to check out our land packs HERE.
Want these upgrades without breaking the bank? Pick up our proxy Deadly Disguise pre-con upgrade pack HERE.