The preconstructed Commander deck built around Kadena, Slinking Sorcerer gives new players a working shell — Legendary Creature — Snake Wiza...
The preconstructed Commander deck built around Kadena, Slinking Sorcerer gives new players a working shell — Legendary Creature — Snake Wizard Sorcerer, colour identity black, green, blue — whose exact text is:
The first face-down creature spell you cast each turn costs {3} less to cast.
Whenever a face-down creature you control enters, draw a card.
Upgrading a precon is not about replacing it. It is about finding the roles the shell performs weakly — ramp, card draw, interaction, and closing power — and swapping the weakest cards in each role for stronger ones that serve the same job. This guide works by role, which is the honest way to upgrade any prebuilt deck without inventing a decklist you have not verified.
What to cut, by role
Cut cards that duplicate a role you already perform better, cards whose mana cost belongs to a later turn than the role needs, and cards that only function when the game is already going well. Work one role at a time, keep a written list of every swap, and play games between rounds of changes — a precon upgraded on evidence stays coherent, while one rebuilt in a single evening often loses the charm that made it fun.
What to add, by role
Real upgrade candidates that serve this commander's plan include: Whisperwood Elemental (mana cost {3}{G}{G}; Creature — Elemental; 4/4; rarity: mythic; most recent printing listed by Scryfall: Duskmourn: House of Horror Commander): At the beginning of your end step, manifest the top card of your library. (Put it onto the battlefield face down as a 2/2 creature. Turn it face up any time for its mana cost if it's a creature card.)
Sacrifice this creature: Until end of turn, face-up nontoken creatures you control gain "When this creature dies, manifest the top card of your library." Apex Altisaur (mana cost {7}{G}{G}; Creature — Dinosaur; 10/10; rarity: rare; most recent printing listed by Scryfall: The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Commander): When this creature enters, it fights up to one target creature you don't control.
Enrage — Whenever this creature is dealt damage, it fights up to one target creature you don't control. Gift of Doom (mana cost {4}{B}; Enchantment — Aura; rarity: rare; most recent printing listed by Scryfall: Commander 2019): Enchant creature
Enchanted creature has deathtouch and indestructible.
Morph—Sacrifice another creature. (You may cast this card face down as a 2/2 creature for {3}. Turn it face up any time for its morph cost.)
As this Aura is turned face up, you may attach it to a creature.
Build and check your list with the MTGBrew AI deck builder, and browse every card mentioned here in the MTGBrew card database on MTGBrew.
If this topic is on your bench, keep going with Smothering Tithe in Commander: Treasure for Every Opponent Draw — it covers the neighbouring decisions from a different angle, and the two pieces together give you a fuller picture than either one alone.
Keep reading
Keep reading: Smothering Tithe in Commander: Treasure for Every Opponent Draw and Coming Soon: Your MTGBrew Profile Record — vs the Computer and vs Real Players.
A sane upgrade order
The wins rarely come from a single spectacular play. They come from the deck doing its ordinary thing one turn earlier than the table expects, then doing it again while opponents are still setting up. Build for that ordinary game first: enough lands to make your drops, enough ramp to reach your key spells on schedule, and enough card flow that one removal spell slows you down instead of ending you.
Start with the mana base and the draw package, then interaction, then finishers. That order feels unglamorous and wins the most games, because a deck that always makes its land drops and always has cards in hand gets to show you what its exciting cards can actually do.
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