The preconstructed Commander deck built around Omo, Queen of Vesuva gives new players a working shell — Legendary Creature — Shapeshifter No...
The preconstructed Commander deck built around Omo, Queen of Vesuva gives new players a working shell — Legendary Creature — Shapeshifter Noble, colour identity green, blue — whose exact text is:
Whenever Omo enters or attacks, put an everything counter on each of up to one target land and up to one target creature.
Each land with an everything counter on it is every land type in addition to its other types.
Each nonland creature with an everything counter on it is every creature type.
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: Lord of the Unreal (mana cost {U}{U}; Creature — Human Wizard; 2/2; rarity: rare; most recent printing listed by Scryfall: Magic 2012): Illusion creatures you control get +1/+1 and have hexproof. (They can't be the targets of spells or abilities your opponents control.) Scute Swarm (mana cost {2}{G}; Creature — Insect; 1/1; rarity: rare; most recent printing listed by Scryfall: Duskmourn: House of Horror Commander): Landfall — Whenever a land you control enters, create a 1/1 green Insect creature token. If you control six or more lands, create a token that's a copy of this creature instead. Arixmethes, Slumbering Isle (mana cost {2}{G}{U}; Legendary Creature — Kraken; 12/12; rarity: rare; most recent printing listed by Scryfall: Duskmourn: House of Horror Commander): Arixmethes enters tapped with five slumber counters on it.
As long as Arixmethes has a slumber counter on it, it's a land. (It's not a creature.)
Whenever you cast a spell, you may remove a slumber counter from Arixmethes.
{T}: Add {G}{U}.
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 Heliod, Sun-Crowned Commander Spotlight: What This Legend Brings to the Command Zone — 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: Heliod, Sun-Crowned Commander Spotlight: What This Legend Brings to the Command Zone and Frodo, Adventurous Hobbit Commander Spotlight: What This Legend Brings to the Command Zone.
A sane upgrade order
Protect the plan, but do not smother it. A small protection package earns its keep when your commander is the engine; beyond that, extra protection spells dilute the very strategy they are guarding. The same discipline applies to interaction: run enough answers to stop a game-ending threat, and spend the remaining slots on cards that move your own plan forward.
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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