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-ajani-vs-kiora) ***
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 Kiora, the Crashing Wave herself, and the rares are Stormtide Leviathan (how could I not, right?), Master of the Pearl Trident, Quest for Ula's Temple, Whelming Wave, Unexpected Results, Breeding Pool, and Temple of Mystery. There are some decent chase cards in there, but they're mainly all here to fit the theme of Kiora assembling her merfolk brethren to seek out and unleash massive Krakens, Leviathans, Octopi, Serpents, and even a Nautilus upon their enemies.
Obviously, those beasties are typically rather expensive, so a little ramp never hurts. I surprised even myself by not having much ramp in green (the color you would think would feature it heavily) and instead relying on obscure Sea Scryer, who makes my inner Vorthos squeal with delight. (The flavor...the flavor!!) Kiora's Follower obviously fits the deck like a glove, and can untap lands for additional ramping as needed. And in a pinch, you can trigger Kiora's middle ability to get some more land on the battlefield. (Though ideally you want to ALWAYS be using her +1 ability until she can unleash the kraken{s} with her third and final ability.)
But the best way to get those expensive monstrosities out is to not have to pay their costs at all. Quest for Ula's Temple is fantastic at that if you land it early, and Unexpected Results can pull a beastie out of seemingly nowhere.
And Kiora can assemble an able fighting force while waiting to get the big boys in play. Her triton/merfolk devotees are pretty good on their own, especially if Master of the Pearl Trident rises from the depths to lead them. With a number of ways to make the opponent have an Island even if they don't want to, that mass islandwalk can lead to a very fast finish.
Other than that, it's just tricks to keep the potent Cats and other creatures under Ajani's command in check. Not much in the way of countering (not really Kiora's style), but there are several cards that lock opposing creatures down and/or deal with the auras they'll certainly be carrying around. Beware, though...many of your lockdown cards are themselves auras, which Ajani can get rid of a few different ways.
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!