Kaust, Eyes of the Glade costs {R/W}{G} and is a 2/2. Whenever a creature you control that was turned face up this turn deals combat damage to a player, you draw a card. For {T} you turn a face-down attacking creature you control face up. Every face-down creature that attacks becomes a face-up creature that connects and draws a card.
The precon already has the face-down makers and the doublers, including Scroll of Fate, Experiment Twelve, Veiled Ascension and Panoptic Projektor. Each swap below pairs a cut with an add, and every card is scored with the same numbers the Oracle uses to build decks: synergy and inclusion from the Kaust decks, plus lift, which shows how much more often a card turns up in Kaust decks than in decks that could play it. Only a few thousand decks exist, and lift is very high for nearly every face-down card.
Looking for the unmodified list first? Read the Deadly Disguise precon guide.
What is holding the deck back
Not enough payoffs for turning face up
Yarus, Roar of the Old Gods, Pyrotechnic Performer, Unyielding Gatekeeper and Sumala Sentry all reward a face-down creature connecting or being turned face up. They are among the top-scoring cards the precon leaves out.
Not enough ways to make face-down creatures
Hauntwoods Shrieker, Threats Around Every Corner and Hide in Plain Sight manifest dread or cloak, each making a face-down 2/2 for Kaust to turn up.
Cards that do nothing with a face-down creature
Tesak, Judith's Hellhound is not a card Kaust, and Mirror Entity, Neheb, Ransom Note, Scourge of the Throne, Decimate, Jeska's Will and Wild Growth are each played in about one Kaust deck in three or fewer decks usually play.
The 10 swaps
Each pair shows the numbers for the card coming out and the card going in. Click a card image to zoom.

Tesak, Judith's Hellhound is a four-mana 3/3 that unleashes Dogs and adds mana when it attacks. It is not a card Kaust decks usually play.
Yarus, Roar of the Old Gods is a 4/4 for {2}{R}{G}. Other creatures you control have haste, you draw a card whenever one or more face-down creatures you control deal combat damage to a player, and when a face-down creature dies it returns face down and then face up. It is the highest-scoring card the precon leaves out.

Mirror Entity is a 1/1 changeling for {2}{W} that makes your creatures X/X for {X}. It is played in about one Kaust deck in five.
Pyrotechnic Performer is a 3/2 for {1}{R} with disguise {R}. Whenever it or another creature you control is turned face up, that creature deals damage equal to its power to each opponent. Every flip is damage to the whole table.

Neheb, the Eternal is a five-mana 4/6 that makes red mana from opponents' lost life. It is played in about one Kaust deck in six.
Unyielding Gatekeeper is a 3/2 for {1}{W} with disguise {1}{W}. When it is turned face up, you exile another target nonland permanent, and if you controlled it, it returns tapped, otherwise its controller creates a 2/2 Detective. Removal that is also a flip.

Ransom Note is a one-mana Clue that surveils and can cloak or goad. It is played in about one Kaust deck in five.
Hauntwoods Shrieker is a 3/3 for {1}{G}{G}. Whenever it attacks you manifest dread, and for {1}{G} you reveal a face-down permanent and may turn it face up if it is a creature. A face-down creature every attack, and a way to turn them up.

Imperial Hellkite is a seven-mana 6/6 flying Dragon with morph {6}{R}{R}, so it costs eight to turn up. It is played in about one Kaust deck in five.
Threats Around Every Corner costs {3}{G}. When it enters you manifest dread, and whenever a face-down permanent enters under your control you search for a basic land and put it onto the battlefield tapped. Every face-down creature you make is also a land.

Scourge of the Throne is a six-mana 5/5 flier with dethrone and an extra combat. It is played in about one Kaust deck in five.
Hide in Plain Sight costs {3}{G}: you look at the top five cards of your library and cloak two of them, putting the rest on the bottom. Two face-down 2/2 creatures with ward {2} for four mana.

Decimate costs {2}{R}{G} and destroys an artifact, a creature, an enchantment and a land, and it needs a legal target for each. It is played in about one Kaust deck in three.
Expose the Culprit costs {1}{R} at instant speed. You may turn a face-down creature face up, and exile face-up creatures you control with disguise in a face-down pile and cloak them. Two mana to flip one, and another way to re-hide them.

Jeska's Will is a three-mana sorcery that adds mana or exiles cards to play. It is played in about one Kaust deck in three.
Sumala Sentry is a 1/3 reach creature for {G}{W}. Whenever a face-down permanent you control is turned face up, you put a +1/+1 counter on it and on Sumala Sentry. A two-drop that makes every flip permanent.

Wild Growth is a one-mana Aura that adds an extra {G} from a land. It is played in about one Kaust deck in three.
Overgrown Zealot is a 0/4 for {1}{G}. It taps for one mana of any color, or for two mana of any one color that you spend only to turn permanents face up. A mana dork that pays for the flips.

Thelonite Hermit ({3}{G}) is one of the lowest-scoring cards in the precon, at 31 in the Oracle: it is in 32% of Kaust decks with 31% synergy. It reads: All Saprolings get +1/+1. Morph {3}{G}{G}. When this creature is turned face up, create four 1/1 green Saproling creature tokens.
Curator Beastie ({4}{G}{G}) scores 46: it is in 46% of Kaust decks with 45% synergy. It reads: Reach. Colorless creatures you control enter with two additional +1/+1 counters on them. Whenever this creature enters or attacks, manifest dread.
The full swap list
Cut
- Tesak, Judith's Hellhound
- Mirror Entity
- Neheb, the Eternal
- Ransom Note
- Imperial Hellkite
- Scourge of the Throne
- Decimate
- Jeska's Will
- Wild Growth
- Thelonite Hermit
Add
- Yarus, Roar of the Old Gods
- Pyrotechnic Performer
- Unyielding Gatekeeper
- Hauntwoods Shrieker
- Threats Around Every Corner
- Hide in Plain Sight
- Expose the Culprit
- Sumala Sentry
- Overgrown Zealot
- Curator Beastie
What to keep
These cards are doing the deck's heavy lifting. Do not cut them.
- Scroll of Fate$0.24
Played in 94% of Kaust decks. Manifests a card from your hand for {T}, a face-down creature every turn. - Experiment Twelve$0.31
Puts +1/+1 counters equal to its power on any creature turned face up, and has disguise. - Veiled Ascension$0.20
Gives face-down creatures flying and cloaks the top card of your library each upkeep. - Panoptic Projektor$0.32
Makes your next face-down spell cheaper, and makes triggers from turning a permanent face up happen an additional time. - True Identity$0.19
Scries 1 and draws a card whenever a permanent you control is turned face up, and has disguise {W}.
If you want to spend more
These are strong but sit outside a budget upgrade. Prices are the cheapest paper printing.
- Dream Chisel$4.56
Face-down creature spells cost {1} less. It costs more than a budget upgrade should. - Valgavoth's Onslaught$0.33
Manifests dread X times and puts X counters on each of those creatures.
Deadly Disguise already has the face-down makers and the doublers. The upgrade is cheap payoffs for turning creatures face up and more ways to make them, in place of cards that do nothing with a face-down creature. These ten swaps cost about $3 in total.
Want a full 100-card list built around Kaust, Eyes of the Glade from today's data?
Build with The Oracle →Frequently asked questions
What are the best upgrades for the Deadly Disguise precon?
Using data from 2,911 Kaust decks, the highest-scoring additions are Yarus, Roar of the Old Gods (for Tesak, Judith's Hellhound), Pyrotechnic Performer (for Mirror Entity) and Unyielding Gatekeeper (for Neheb, the Eternal). The full list has 10 swaps, each scored with synergy, inclusion and lift.
How much does it cost to upgrade Deadly Disguise?
All 10 swaps cost about $2.55 at the cheapest paper printings (TCGplayer market prices via Scryfall, 2026-10-27). If you want to spend more, the guide also covers Dream Chisel ($4.56) and Valgavoth's Onslaught ($0.33).
What should I cut from Deadly Disguise?
The weakest cards for this commander are Tesak, Judith's Hellhound, Mirror Entity and Neheb, the Eternal. The guide explains the reason for every cut, and swaps each one for a card that scores higher.
Which cards should I keep in Deadly Disguise?
Keep Scroll of Fate, Experiment Twelve, Veiled Ascension, Panoptic Projektor and True Identity. These are the cards doing the deck's heavy lifting.
What does Kaust do?
Kaust, Eyes of the Glade costs {R/W}{G} and is a 2/2. Whenever a creature you control that was turned face up this turn deals combat damage to a player, you draw a card. For {T} you turn a face-down attacking creature you control face up. Every face-down creature that attacks becomes a face-up creature that connects and draws a card.
More Murders at Karlov Manor Commander upgrade guides
How the numbers work
Inclusion is the share of Kaust, Eyes of the Glade decks (2,911 of them when this was written, 2026-10-27) that play the card. Synergy is how much more often they play it than other decks in the same colours. Oracle score is synergy × 0.6 plus inclusion × 0.4, the same blend The Oracle uses to rank cards for a deck. Lift compares how often the card appears in these decks with how often it could, capped at 8× here; it is shown for context and does not change the score.
Two cautions. Players who run the precon unmodified count as Kaust decks, which flatters every card the precon contains. Lift is very high for nearly every face-down card because only a few thousand Kaust decks exist and few other decks play them, so use lift to compare cards, not to judge one in isolation. A card the commander's decks do not usually play counts as 0 in the average score. Prices are the cheapest non-foil paper printing on TCGplayer (via Scryfall), in USD, and move daily.









