The planeswalker Kiora lived a good life on Zendikar, studying the awesome might of the predators of the sea, powerful krakens and massive sea serpents and other beasts of the deep. But then came the Eldrazi, and the power of seemingly the most powerful creatures on the plane paled in comparison to the twisted monstrosities that now ravaged her home. Not knowing what else to do, she fled, escaping to distant planes to find the mightiest creatures of the oceans of the multiverse to combat the Eldrazi and save Zendikar.
What she found was Theros, where immense krakens, octopi, serpents, and leviathans roamed deep below the surface, incredible raw power that could be unleashed on the Eldrazi. But they were hidden away, and Kiora was forced to search and enlist the aid of the citizens of Theros. The merfolk of the plane, the tritons, revered her and helped willingly, but many land dwellers needed to be convinced. Kiora impersonated many legendary figures to get the information she needed.
One of those roles was that of Callephe, a legendary mariner who sailed off the end of the plane and met with their gods in the realm of Nyx. But Kiora's trickery backfired, as two other planeswalkers, Elspeth Tirel and Ajani Goldmane, sought Callephe's aid and found Kiora. Forced to keep up appearances, she aided them in their search for entrance into the hidden realm of the gods...until the gods themselves found her. Her treachery now revealed, she must face the wrath not only of the gods, but that of a fellow walker of the multiverse.
Ajani is not amused. He has traveled far to aid his companion Elspeth in her quest to find and defeat an usurper to Nyx, and has no time or patience for deception. His quest, and his friend, will not be threatened.
When deceit meets determination, who will emerge victorious?
*** (The opposing deck is here: http://www.mtgvault.com/jre47/decks/duel-decks-kiora-vs-ajani) ***
Just like Wizards' Duel Decks, this is centered around one mythic and features primarily Modern-legal cards with some older ones mixed in (which, if printed, would get the new, current border and in some cases updated art as well). It also sticks to just a handful of rares and tends to go with a lot of one-ofs among other cards, with a small handful of key cards that may get multiple copies (and even then, usually only two). Each deck has the same number of rares and even uncommons in an attempt to keep them balanced. Also, unlike Event Decks and other feature decks from Wizards, Duel Decks lack sideboards. I tried very hard to keep with all those restrictions here... believe me, if this were your more typical constructed deck, it would look a lot different!
The mythic here is the Mentor of Heroes version of Ajani, the first long-overdue G/W planeswalker, and the rares are Ajani's Chosen, Fleecemane Lion, Sabertooth Nishoba, Soul's Majesty, Silence, Stirring Wildwood, and Sungrass Prairie. Not much in the way of money-makers, but they're very thematic of Ajani leading his leonin brethren into battle across the fields of Theros.
But there's more to it than that. Ajani has always been known for his lifegain, and this deck features that extensively, with a number of cards (including Ajani himself) that gain you life, and Ajani's Pridemates to reap massive benefits from it.
The other theme that's newer for Ajani is auras. His Mentor of Heroes persona's middle ability can pull them (or creatures) from your deck, and there are a bevy of powerful ones to choose from. Between them and a suite of instants and sorceries that target your creatures for benefits, the "Hero" part of Ajani's new title fits well, as some of his leonin followers have Heroic abilities and Ajani's Chosen spews out more leonin whenever you play one of those auras.
Swarm over Kiora's deceived followers, and pump up the Pridemates and others with those auras, tricks, and Ajani himself to even stand toe-to-toe with the monstrosities she summons from the deep. In surprisingly short order, you can pump up a 2-cost creature to levels where it can clash with a Kraken or Leviathan...and win!
I appreciate ANY feedback you can provide here, good or bad. How's the balance between the two decks? Anything I can improve? Any gaping holes that you see? Useful comments will get you +1 rep points and a virtual slap on the back. :-P
If you liked this, check out my other duel decks at "http://www.mtgvault.com/jre47/duel-deck". I have many already and they're expanding quickly. If you have any specific requests (planeswalker vs. planeswalker, theme vs. theme, race vs. race, or anything else), let me know and I'll see what I can put together.
Thanks for reading!