What's the strategy for using this deck?
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Thanks for the feedback man! Despite my many decks, you are probably the first person to have commented with an actual productive comment. So thanks!
Marsh flats is there purely for deck-thinning. With A) Kithkin being a fast deck, and B) at least one Knight of Meadowgrain hitting the board, I've found that the life loss is basically always worth it. Windbrisk heights has certainly screwed me on occasion. But more often than not I can either send away a A) Spectral Procession, B) Oblivion Ring, C) Unmake, D) Cloudgoat Ranger E) Honor of the Pure or F) Thoughtweft Trio - all of which are excellent cards to spring on an opponent, especially if I wouldn't normally have the mana to play them (since this deck can stomp with just two mana). But agreed, they're not a perfect land and they are hardly /needed/. Your point on Path to Exile is a good one. A really good one. I may actually be making that change soon. I think I will stick with Ajani, and I can be quite honest in why. While Elspeth's final ability beats Ajani's with ease, Ajani both heals and pumps up all my creatures in a very permanent fashion. Kithkin is about getting a lot of small tribal creatures out fast, and having them all play off each other. Ajani plays perfectly into this because he pumps up all your Kithkin on the board instantly. Elspeth is nice, but she doesn't bring Kithkin into play, so they're stuck as 1/1's until the end of time (unless I have Honor of the Pure out). Having /more/ creatures is always nice, but I don't know - I've just always found Ajani more useful for his pump ability. Also, for what it's worth, I've never had the dual Ajani problem, or if I have, it's worked fine because I just use his second ability until he dies and then immediately play the second to my opponents dismay haha. Cloudgoat Ranger is an awesome card. I absolutely love him. The fact that he drops three kithkin, who for all intents and purposes could be dropping into play as 7/7's haha, in additon to the versatility of making him into a flying creature who can be buffed. Suffice to say, he has won me countless games, and is a beautiful drop right after your opponent wipes the board. Drawing him early is a pain, but I've used him with startling effectiveness every time I've played. I suggest giving him a shot. Elspeth Tirel is a trade I'd consider making with him I suppose, if I ever got my hands on the card. I ran Goldmeadow Stalwart in this deck for since it was first built. I finally just took him out to put in Figures I finally acquired, considering this a better one-drop. I haven't had a ton of time to playtest without him, but I may definitely drop him back in. THANKS FOR THE COMMENT! I love hearing from people!
Also, no offense, but Marrow-Gnawer (if there's only one of them) is just a waste of card-space in your deck. Since you aren't running any other rats, it's second ability is useless. Which makes it a 2/3 fear, for 5 - yikes. If you're just interested in having an unblockable rogue, I would suggest Inkfathom Infiltrator - a 2/1 for 2, unblockable.
Pretty good for monoblack. I made a rogue deck (link below) and I found the best combination IMHO is a blue/black deck. It allows more control. Not to mention, hands down the best rogue card: Notorious Throng. If you don't want to go the Blue/Black route, I would suggest you run some Marsh Flitters. Three creatures (and rogues, no less) for the price of one is awesome. Also Stinkdrinker Bandit is another clutch card, and by itself wins countless games for me. Also Bitterblossoms go without saying, if you can afford them obviously (I know I can't). My rogue deck: http://www.mtgvault.com/ViewDeck.aspx?DeckID=131727
This is actually a pretty cool concept for an Emperor deck. I can't say I'm a particular fan of the mana-ramp artifacts simply because, as Emperor, you have more than enough time to drop your land. Though Spectral Searchlight is really excellent in this set-up. Have you thought about running things like Jinxed Idols that you can give to your enemies in here?
In a multiplayer, unless you play against heavy removal, running Felidar Sovereign's might be better than Test of Endurance. It costs more, but the extra firepower can ratchet your life up, and in a chaos you usually have a bigger chance of having the time to get your mana base up. Just a thought.
Actually, if you check Sedraxis Specter on MTG Gatherer, the bottom judge ruling reads: "If a creature returned to the battlefield with unearth would leave the battlefield for any reason, it's exiled instead -- unless the spell or ability that's causing the creature to leave the battlefield is actually trying to exile it! In that case, it succeeds at exiling it. If it later returns the creature card to the battlefield (as Oblivion Ring or Flickerwisp might, for example), the creature card will return to the battlefield as a new object with no relation to its previous existence. The unearth effect will no longer apply to it."