Precon Upgrade Guide
Faceless Menace Upgrade Guide
What to cut, what to add, and how to play the Sultai morph and manifest precon from Commander 2019, commanded by Kadena, Slinking Sorcerer.
Commander 2019
Faceless Menace
Morph bluffs and face-down math reward careful sequencing. Out of the box, before any upgrades. How we rate precons
Buy Faceless Menace on TCGplayer →Quick verdict
Faceless Menace is a Sultai deck built on face-down creatures, and its commander makes that plan both cheap and card-positive. Kadena, Slinking Sorcerer makes the first face-down creature spell you cast each turn cost three less, which is free for a morph, and draws a card whenever a face-down creature enters under your control. The deck's weak points are a slow mana base, a few expensive creatures that aren't morphs, and some cards that help opponents as much as they help you.
TurnZero HQ rates Faceless Menace a 4 out of 5 on difficulty and a 4 out of 5 on power, as it comes in the box. That is our editorial read, not an official Wizards rating. The full hundred cards are on the Faceless Menace decklist page, and every other precon we cover is on the precon directory.
How the precon plays
Kadena, Slinking Sorcerer is a four-mana 3/3. Morph and megamorph creatures can be cast face down as a 2/2 for three mana, and Kadena takes three off the first one each turn, so you play one for free every turn. Kadena also draws a card whenever a face-down creature enters under your control. That includes cards put onto the battlefield face down by manifest, like Scroll of Fate does, so the deck draws a lot.
The face-down creatures pay off when they are turned face up. Kheru Spellsnatcher counters a spell and lets you cast it, Silumgar Assassin and Skinthinner destroy creatures, Thousand Winds bounces every other tapped creature, and Bane of the Living gives all creatures -X/-X. Opponents see a row of 2/2s and have to guess which one is which.
The deck rewards every flip with Secret Plans , which draws a card each time a permanent you control is turned face up, and with Trail of Mystery , which fetches a basic land for each face-down creature and gives flipped creatures +2/+2. Deathmist Raptor returns from the graveyard each time something turns face up, so it is hard to remove for good.
What works out of the box
Kadena, Slinking Sorcerer ↗
Your first face-down creature each turn costs three less, so a morph is free, and every face-down creature entering draws a card. That is a free body and a card each turn.
Secret Plans ↗
Two mana. Face-down creatures get +0/+1 and you draw a card each time one is turned face up. With Kadena it doubles the cards each morph is worth.
Trail of Mystery ↗
Fetches a basic land to hand for every face-down creature that enters and gives each flipped creature +2/+2. It ramps and draws lands at the same time.
Kheru Spellsnatcher ↗
Turned face up, it counters a spell, exiles it, and lets you cast that card for free. The mana cost to flip it is steep, but it steals an opponent's best spell.
Deathmist Raptor ↗
A 3/3 deathtouch creature that returns from your graveyard whenever a permanent of yours is turned face up. In this deck that happens most turns.
Sultai Charm ↗
Three mana at instant speed to kill a monocolored creature, destroy an artifact or enchantment, or draw two and discard one. It covers whatever the game needs.
What needs improvement
The mana base is the biggest problem. The box runs two guildgates, two gain lands and two more lands that always enter tapped, three bounce lands, Opulent Palace , Bojuka Bog and Myriad Landscape , plus Temple of the False God and Shrine of the Forsaken Gods , which make little mana early in a deck with almost no colorless spells. A three-color deck with a four-mana commander should not be this slow.
Some of the top end ignores the plan. Apex Altisaur costs nine and Thieving Amalgam costs seven, and neither one is a morph. Pendant of Prosperity and Tempt with Discovery give opponents cards or lands. Kadena's discount only applies to face-down creatures, so a cheap morph does more for this deck than a big creature cast face up.
Upgrade ideas
Each upgrade below starts from something the deck does poorly and says what a replacement card has to do. The cards named are examples, not the only answer: if you own something else that does the same job, or a newer printing does it better, it goes in the same slot. Make one change at a time and play a few games between them, so you can tell which change helped. The general method is in how to upgrade a Commander precon →
1. Fix the mana base
Kadena needs three colors on turn four, and the morphs need specific colors to flip. A tapped land every other turn makes both of those late.
What to look for Two-color lands in the deck's three pairs that usually enter untapped, such as check lands, painlands and similar. Cut lands that make only colorless mana first.
Cut, for example
Temple of the False God Makes no mana until you control five lands. It fails to help on the turns you need mana most.
Shrine of the Forsaken Gods Its extra mana only casts colorless spells, and this deck has a handful of artifacts at most.
Golgari Guildgate Always enters tapped and does nothing else. One of several lands like it in the box.
2. Replace the big creatures with more morphs
Kadena's discount and card draw only work on face-down creatures. Every slot spent on a seven- or nine-mana creature cast face up is a slot that doesn't get a free cast or a card.
What to look for Creatures with morph, megamorph or disguise that have a useful effect when turned face up, or cards that reward having face-down creatures.
Cut, for example
Apex Altisaur Nine mana for a 10/10 that fights. It does nothing with Kadena and is often stuck in hand.
Thieving Amalgam Seven mana. Its manifests draw cards with Kadena, but it arrives so late that the game is usually decided already.
Add, for example
Ruthless Ripper ↗
Flips by revealing a black card, so turning it face up costs no mana. It has deathtouch and makes a target player lose 2 life when it flips.
Hystrodon ↗
A morph that flips for three mana into a 3/4 trampler that draws a card each time it deals combat damage to a player.
Etrata, Deadly Fugitive ↗
Gives every face-down creature you control a way to turn face up for four mana, or to be cast for free if it is not a creature card. It fixes manifested noncreature cards.
3. Ramp without helping the table
Two of the deck's mana and card cards also give opponents resources. A deck that draws as much as this one doesn't need to share.
What to look for Ramp costing two mana that only benefits you, ideally putting a land onto the battlefield untapped.
Cut, for example
Pendant of Prosperity Enters under an opponent's control, and every time you use it, that opponent also draws and may put down a land.
Tempt with Discovery Four mana, and each opponent may fetch a land too. You get more lands than they do, but every opponent who accepts ramps as well.
4. Put more face-down creatures onto the battlefield
Kadena draws for every face-down creature that enters, not only ones you cast. Effects that manifest or cloak the top of your library each give you a body and a card.
What to look for Repeatable manifest or cloak effects, or one-shot ones that also do something useful.
Cut, for example
Scaretiller A four-mana 1/4 that puts lands down when it taps. It is slow ramp and does nothing with face-down creatures.
Great Oak Guardian Six mana for a 4/5 flash reach that pumps one player's creatures. Too expensive for a situational trick.
Add, for example
Whisperwood Elemental ↗
Manifests the top card of your library at each of your end steps, so with Kadena it is a 2/2 and a card every turn.
Cryptic Coat ↗
Three mana: cloaks the top card of your library and attaches itself to it, making that creature unblockable. You can return the Coat to hand and cast it again for another cloak.
Win conditions
The deck wins by attacking with flipped creatures and big reveals. A board of face-down creatures turns into a Sagu Mauler , a Hooded Hydra with five counters, or a set of Saprolings from Thelonite Hermit at instant speed, and Overwhelming Stampede or Biomass Mutation turns that board into lethal. Kadena's card draw keeps you ahead on resources while you set it up.
Who should buy this precon
A demanding deck that rewards a player who likes hidden information. You have to remember what each face-down creature is, when to flip it, and how much mana to keep up for the flip, while opponents try to read your board. It is strong once you learn it, but it is a poor first Commander deck. Players who enjoy bluffing and instant-speed surprises will get the most from it.
Checked against the printed decklist on October 10, 2026.
Track how the upgrades actually perform.
TurnZero HQ keeps a win rate per deck version, so you can change a few cards, play some games, and see the difference instead of guessing.
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