I think people might be underestimating the power of this card's ability to manipulate the enemy's draw - so long as you have a constant source of
, it is possible to deny combo decks their necessary draw and noncombo decks can easily be screwed out of an extra source of damage (creature), a crucial effect (creature,spell,permanent), or a way to lessen damage (spell, shield). With Reverse Time, you can permanently get rid of a card unless your opponent runs multiple copies, while with Mindgate you can manipulate draws on both sides of the field. This doesn't account for the fact that Kitsune can also mutate on death, so multiples aren't useless (and multiples still have a utility if the first Kitsune fails at doing its job.)
For reference:
Kitsune Trickster | Kitsune Trickster
Is the card accurately priced for its disruption abilities?
Shuffling the opponent's deck while seeing their next draw is too powerful for the activation cost. It is similar to but not as powerful as a draw lock.
The transformation upon death seems unnecessary and would increase the cost beyond the other abilities.
I'm considering the following changes to the card:
Lower stats to 0 | 1 (both versions)
Lower casting cost by 1
(both versions)
Raise casting cost by 1
(both versions)
Thoughts?