Overview
Faceless Menace is a morph deck that plays creatures face down and turns them up for value. Kadena, Slinking Sorcerer makes the first face-down creature spell you cast each turn cost {3} less, and a face-down creature costs {3} to cast, so your first one is free. Whenever a face-down creature enters under your control, you draw a card.
The 99 cards are 31 creatures, 1 planeswalker, 5 artifacts, 4 enchantments, 7 instants, 11 sorceries and 40 lands. Most of the creatures have morph or megamorph, including Skinthinner, Silumgar Assassin, Stratus Dancer, Willbender, Kheru Spellsnatcher, Bane of the Living and Thousand Winds. Manifest cards such as Scroll of Fate, Ghastly Conscription and Thieving Amalgam put even more face-down creatures onto the battlefield, and Secret Plans and Trail of Mystery reward every face-down creature, while Strionic Resonator copies a triggered ability such as a turn-up trigger.
Key Cards
Playing the Deck
The early game is about mana and a free first morph. Sol Ring, Cultivate, Explore, Farseek and Sakura-Tribe Elder ramp you, Trail of Mystery fetches a basic land when a face-down creature enters, and Thran Dynamo helps with the big turn-up costs. Kadena's discount lets you play a creature face down for free and draw a card.
The middle of the game is about flipping creatures. Silumgar Assassin, Skinthinner, Chromeshell Crab and Icefeather Aven remove or move creatures when they are turned up, Stratus Dancer, Kadena's Silencer and Kheru Spellsnatcher counter spells and abilities, and Deathmist Raptor returns to the battlefield whenever a permanent you control is turned face up. Hooded Hydra makes Snakes when it dies.
The late game is about huge flips and sweepers. Bane of the Living gives all creatures -X/-X, Thousand Winds returns all other tapped creatures, Hex destroys six creatures, Sagu Mauler and Apex Altisaur are huge, and Overwhelming Stampede pushes damage through. Volrath, the Shapestealer puts a -1/-1 counter on a creature at the start of each of your combats.
Strengths & Weaknesses
Strengths: The deck has a surprising amount of interaction hidden in face-down creatures, so opponents have to guess what each 2/2 can do. It also has plenty of card draw and removal, including Putrefy, Sultai Charm, Reality Shift, Mire in Misery, Echoing Truth and Willbender.
Weaknesses: A face-down creature is only a 2/2 until you pay to turn it up, so the deck is slow and mana-hungry, and a sweeper or a good attack can punish it before the flips. Three colours with many demanding morph costs make the mana awkward, and a lot of the cards are situational when face down.
Want to improve it? See the Faceless Menace upgrade guide: twelve swaps with the data behind each one.
Want to see what a fully optimised Kadena, Slinking Sorcerer build looks like? Try the Oracle.
✦ Build with The OracleFrequently Asked Questions
What cards are in the Faceless Menace decklist?
The Faceless Menace precon is a 100-card Commander deck led by Kadena, Slinking Sorcerer. The full Faceless Menace decklist, with every card, current prices and a button to copy the list into your deck builder, is on this page.
When was Faceless Menace released?
Faceless Menace was released on August 23, 2019 as part of Commander 2019.
Who is the commander of Faceless Menace?
Faceless Menace is led by Kadena, Slinking Sorcerer, a Sultai (U/B/G) legendary creature.
How many creatures are in Faceless Menace?
The 99 cards besides Kadena, Slinking Sorcerer include 31 creatures.
How many lands does Faceless Menace have?
Faceless Menace has 40 lands in the 99 cards besides Kadena, Slinking Sorcerer, including basic lands.
Full Decklist
All 100 cards from the out-of-the-box Faceless Menace precon, with current prices. Click any card to expand it.