Painbow - Precon Primer

Legends' Legacy - Precon Primer

Legends' Legacy - Upgrade Guide

Painbow - Upgrade Guide

<h6 style="text-align: right;">(<span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Urza, Chief Artificer" href="#" target="_blank">Urza, Chief Artificer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://gawelbartlomiej.com/">Bartlomiej Gawel</a>)</h6>
<p>Hello! I’m Bert from the Scrap Trawlers, where we do EDH on a budget. I'm returning to provide you all some insight into the Urza’s Iron Alliance Commander deck. This includes how it plays, its strengths and weaknesses, which new cards are worth looking at, and what reprints we are excited for. Let’s get started!</p>
<h2><strong><span style="font-size: 18pt;">The Basics</span></strong></h2>
<p>This time around the Urza’s Iron Alliance deck is an Esper deck let by a new iteration of Urza himself. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Urza, Chief Artificer" href="#" target="_blank">Urza, Chief Artificer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> lends himself to an artifact creature strategy with a focus on aggro as he gives artifact creatures menace. So with that information the deck is focused around artifact creatures being able to get through your opponents' defenses with a whopping total of 36 creatures and a majority of those falling in the artifact category. The initial shell of the deck does an amazing job of providing you with an army and the resources to back them up. Just take a look at the decklist.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Urza Precon" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Commander]
*1 Urza, Chief Artificer
[/Commander]
[Creatures]
*1 Alela, Artful Provocateur
*1 Angel of the Ruins
*1 Armix, Filigree Thrasher
*1 Baleful Strix
*1 Bronze Guardian
*1 Chief of the Foundry
*1 Chrome Courier
*1 Darksteel Juggernaut
*1 Digsite Engineer
*1 Etched Champion
*1 Etherium Sculptor
*1 Ethersworn Adjudicator
*1 Filigree Attendant
*1 Hexavus
*1 Indomitable Archangel
*1 Losheel, Clockwork Scholar
*1 Marionette Master
*1 Master of Etherium
*1 Myr Battlesphere
*1 Noxious Gearhulk
*1 Sai, Master Thopterist
*1 Sanwell, Avenger Ace
*1 Scholar of New Horizons
*1 Sharding Sphinx
*1 Sharuum the Hegemon
*1 Shimmer Dragon
*1 Solemn Simulacrum
*1 Steel Hellkite
*1 Steel Overseer
*1 Tawnos, Solemn Survivor
*1 Teshar, Ancestor&#039;s Apostle
*1 Thought Monitor
*1 Vedalken Humiliator
*1 Whirler Rogue
*1 Wire Surgeons
*1 Wreck Hunter
[/Creatures]
[Lands]
*1 Ancient Den
*1 Arcane Sanctum
*1 Ash Barrens
*1 Azorius Chancery
*1 Bojuka Bog
*1 Command Tower
*1 Darksteel Citadel
*1 Dimir Aqueduct
*1 Evolving Wilds
*1 Exotic Orchard
*1 Goldmire Bridge
*4 Island
*1 Mistvault Bridge
*1 Orzhov Basilica
*1 Path of Ancestry
*4 Plains
*1 Prairie Stream
*1 Razortide Bridge
*1 River of Tears
*1 Seat of the Synod
*1 Skycloud Expanse
*1 Spire of Industry
*1 Sunken Hollow
*3 Swamp
*1 Temple of Deceit
*1 Temple of Enlightenment
*1 Temple of Silence
*1 Vault of Whispers
[/Lands]
[Artifacts]
*1 Arcane Signet
*1 Azorius Signet
*1 Bident of Thassa
*1 Cranial Plating
*1 Dimir Signet
*1 Kayla&#039;s Music Box
*1 Liquimetal Torque
*1 Orzhov Signet
*1 Relic of Progenitus
*1 Skullclamp
*1 Sol Ring
*1 Swiftfoot Boots
*1 Thopter Shop
*1 Thought Vessel
[/Artifacts]
[Sorceries]
*1 Austere Command
*1 March of Progress
*1 One with the Machine
*1 Phyrexian Rebirth
*1 Preordain
*1 Urza&#039;s Ruinous Blast
*1 Vindicate
[/Sorceries]
[Instants]
*1 Despark
*1 Sphinx&#039;s Revelation
*1 Swords to Plowshares
*1 Unbreakable Formation
[/Instants]
[Enchantments]
*1 Tempered Steel
*1 Thopter Spy Network
[/Enchantments]"></span></div>

<p>As you can see from the decklist, we are mainly creature-focused with a plethora of artifact creatures in our arsenal with the support of some really good artifacts and enchantments to ensure our robotic allies are all the way powered up. Let's get down to specifics, shall we!</p>
<h2><strong><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Workshop Analytics</span></strong></h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Digsite Engineer"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Shimmer Dragon"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Tawnos, Solemn Survivor"></div></div>
<p>As we look at our creature section we see 28 artifact creatures, which is a more than generous start to the deck. Even the eight creatures left over have artifact synergies in their design so it really feels like there were no spaces unused to include some awesome effects in this deck. Some of my favorite non-artifacts include <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Digsite Engineer" href="#" target="_blank">Digsite Engineer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Shimmer Dragon" href="#" target="_blank">Shimmer Dragon</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and the newly printed <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tawnos, Solemn Survivor" href="#" target="_blank">Tawnos, Solemn Survivor</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. Digsite Engineer has always been one of my favorite includes for artifacts shells since their creation in Commander 2021. In a deck like this where almost fifty percent of the deck is artifacts, we will have a field day creating more constructs for Urza to give menace to. Army-in-a-can has never been a better statement than when it's used here. Next is one of my favorite reprints in the set, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Shimmer Dragon" href="#" target="_blank">Shimmer Dragon</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. Originally from the <em>Throne of Eldraine</em> Brawl decks, this card has the awesome ability of being both a big beater that protects itself when you have enough artifacts and a source for card draw. Definitely an A-plus in my book. Last but not least, one of the cards that I am waiting to mess with the most is <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tawnos, Solemn Survivor" href="#" target="_blank">Tawnos, Solemn Survivor</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. The effect just seems unique in its own right but also just meshes with Urza really well. Whether it's creating copies of Thopters or Constructs, both are just fuel for the second ability where you can create a copy of something scarier. Another honorable mention for the non-artifact creatures is <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Losheel, Clockwork Scholar" href="#" target="_blank">Losheel, Clockwork Scholar</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, who does an immaculate job of protecting our team on the offensive while also providing some card draw as we have artifact creatures come into play. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sai, Master Thopterist" href="#" target="_blank">Sai, Master Thopterist</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> does something similar to Digsite engineer, making flying 1/1s instead. Another newly printed card is <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sanwell, Avenger Ace" href="#" target="_blank">Sanwell, Avenger Ace</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> which provides us with some amazing card selection when he attacks!</p>
<p>Next we will take a look at some of the awesome artifact creatures that are included in the deck. Some of the creatures included have abilities that create more tokens to enhance your board state, such as <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Myr Battlesphere" href="#" target="_blank">Myr Battlesphere</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sharding Sphinx" href="#" target="_blank">Sharding Sphinx</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, while others just have general useful effects that help our game, like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Thought Monitor" href="#" target="_blank">Thought Monitor</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Angel of the Ruins" href="#" target="_blank">Angel of the Ruins</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Noxious Gearhulk" href="#" target="_blank">Noxious Gearhulk</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Master of Etherium" href="#" target="_blank">Master of Etherium</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. We have a multitude of effects that increase our creatures' power and toughness, increasing our deck's aggressiveness, such as <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Chief of the Foundry" href="#" target="_blank">Chief of the Foundry</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Steel Overseer" href="#" target="_blank">Steel Overseer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and the above mentioned <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Master of Etherium" href="#" target="_blank">Master of Etherium</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, each helping to sculpt the ideal environment for the Urza Constructs to frolic and cause mayhem.</p>
<h2><strong><span style="font-size: 18pt;">How well do these gears mesh?</span></strong></h2>
<p>We play as an aggressive deck that wants to flood the board with artifact creatures and tokens so that we can get into the red zone and deal huge amounts of damage to our opponents. I played the deck against three others, including the Mishra deck, and this is how it turned out.</p>
<p>I was able to populate the board with tokens mainly through Urza’s effect. I got down an early <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Filigree Attendant" href="#" target="_blank">Filigree Attendant</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and it caused a ton of problems for my opponents due to it flying and me making a construct each turn. The deck has so many mana rocks that I never had a mana issue and playing them also increased the power of my constructs and creatures. In no time, I had a powerful board of creatures ready to attack and it made it pretty difficult for my opponents with each of them having menace. There was a board wipe at one point but just to prove how resilient the deck is I kept <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Digsite Engineer" href="#" target="_blank">Digsite Engineer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> in my hand with a couple of artifacts and it was as if nothing had happened to my board at all. I was then able to get Urza out again for three mana.</p>
<h2><strong><span style="font-size: 18pt;">Final Thought</span></strong></h2>
<p>The Urza’s Iron Alliance precon is a really powerful deck. It's made up of a cohesive theme that builds upon itself by first creating artifact creatures and then using effects like Urza’s to further expand your board, culminating in fun and threatening gameplay. The reprints in this one are a big A-plus, they all add to the artifact theme and increase the synergy of the deck, with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Shimmer Dragon" href="#" target="_blank">Shimmer Dragon</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> being my favorite. What do you think about the Urza’s Iron Alliance precon? Leave a comment below!</p>
<p>Come back again soon to check out our upgrade articles that will give you a bunch of recommendations on cards you can use to power up your army of choice. Don't forget to check out the Scrap Trawlers on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/scraptrawlers">Youtube</a> as well as our <a href="https://www.twitch.tv/scraptrawlers">Twitch</a>. Hope to see you all again soon!</p>


Urza's Iron Alliance - Precon Primer

Mishra's Burnished Banner - Upgrade Guide

<h6 style="text-align: right;"><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mishra, Eminent One" href="#" target="_blank">Mishra, Eminent One</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://vargasni.com/">Randy Vargas</a></h6>
<h1>His Eminence</h1>
<p>Welcome back everyone, to another EDHREC precon primer. Today we're reviewing the <em>Mishra's Burnished Banner</em> deck released with <em>Brother's War Commander</em>. Naturally, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mishra, Eminent One" href="#" target="_blank">Mishra, Eminent One</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is leading the charge.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Mishra, Eminent One"></div></div>
<p>Mishra is a 5/4 human artificer for five mana that makes a token copy of a noncreature artifact you control every turn, except it's a 4/4 creature with haste named Mishra's Warform you have to sacrifice at end of turn. This is useful to get more mileage out of value artifacts and it doesn't hurt to run a decent sized creature you were going to lose anyway into your opponent's board. The ability had some interesting applications and makes some previously underwhelming cards worth playing, but at five mana I find myself wanting just a little more from this commander.</p>
<p>If Mishra isn't appealing, you can always swap him out for <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ashnod the Uncaring" href="#" target="_blank">Ashnod the Uncaring</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> who has a powerful ability in her own right and strictly more fabulous hair. Ashnod copies the ability of an artifact or creature if a permanent was sacrificed to activate it. Doubling up on effects from things like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mind Stone" href="#" target="_blank">Mind Stone</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is powerful, but there are only 16 such cards in the deck so I recommend playing Mishra out of the box. Speaking of which, let's take a look at the contents of the deck.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Mishra&#039;s Burnished Banner" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Commander]
*1 Mishra, Eminent One
[/Commander]
[Artifacts]
*1 Arcane Signet
*1 Commander&#039;s Sphere
*1 Cursed Mirror
*1 Dimir Signet
*1 Dreamstone Hedron
*1 Executioner&#039;s Capsule
*1 Fellwar Stone
*1 Hedron Archive
*1 Ichor Wellspring
*1 Idol of Oblivion
*1 Lithoform Engine
*1 Machine God&#039;s Effigy
*1 Mind Stone
*1 Mirrorworks
*1 Mnemonic Sphere
*1 Mycosynth Wellspring
*1 Nihil Spellbomb
*1 Oblivion Stone
*1 Oni-Cult Anvil
*1 Prophetic Prism
*1 Rakdos Signet
*1 Servo Schematic
*1 Smelting Vat
*1 Sol Ring
*1 Spine of Ish Sah
*1 Strionic Resonator
*1 Thran Dynamo
*1 Trading Post
*1 Wayfarer&#039;s Bauble
*1 Wondrous Crucible
[/Artifacts]
[Creatures]
*1 Ashnod the Uncaring
*1 Audacious Reshapers
*1 Blast-Furnace Hellkite
*1 Brudiclad, Telchor Engineer
*1 Emry, Lurker of the Loch
*1 Fain, the Broker
*1 Farid, Enterprising Salvager
*1 Geth, Lord of the Vault
*1 Glint Raker
*1 Hellkite Igniter
*1 Herald of Anguish
*1 Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain
*1 Master Transmuter
*1 Metalwork Colossus
*1 Muzzio, Visionary Architect
*1 Padeem, Consul of Innovation
*1 Scavenged Brawler
*1 Silas Renn, Seeker Adept
*1 Slobad, Goblin Tinkerer
*1 Traxos, Scourge of Kroog
*1 Workshop Elders
[/Creatures]
[Sorceries]
*1 Blasphemous Act
*1 Expressive Iteration
*1 Faithless Looting
*1 Feed the Swarm
*1 Terisiare&#039;s Devastation
*1 Thoughtcast
[/Sorceries]
[Lands]
*1 Ash Barrens
*1 Buried Ruin
*1 Command Tower
*1 Crumbling Necropolis
*1 Darkwater Catacombs
*1 Dimir Aqueduct
*1 Drossforge Bridge
*1 Exotic Orchard
*1 Great Furnace
*5 Island
*1 Izzet Boilerworks
*1 Mistvault Bridge
*4 Mountain
*1 Myriad Landscape
*1 Path of Ancestry
*1 Rakdos Carnarium
*1 Reliquary Tower
*1 Seat of the Synod
*1 Shadowblood Ridge
*1 Silverbluff Bridge
*1 Smoldering Marsh
*4 Swamp
*1 Temple of Deceit
*1 Temple of Epiphany
*1 Temple of Malice
*1 Terramorphic Expanse
*1 Vault of Whispers
[/Lands]
[Instants]
*1 Abrade
*1 Bedevil
*1 Chaos Warp
*1 Fact or Fiction
*1 Thirst for Knowledge
[/Instants]"></span></div>

<h2>The Battle Plan</h2>
<p>The main strategy of this deck is tough to pin down. I'd say it's mostly a value engine deck based around non creature artifacts. It's looking to build cards in hand and on the battlefield through Mishra's copying effect along with the numerous sacrifice effects in the deck. We already have plenty of options if we're looking to junk our artifacts, but this deck comes with a few new toys I want to talk about. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Farid, Enterprising Salvager" href="#" target="_blank">Farid, Enterprising Salvager</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> makes artifact tokens whenever you lose a non token artifact. While the scraps do nothing on their own, Farid can sacrifice them to dig for cards, goad a creature, or get bigger and there are numerous other cards we can use those scraps for. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Smelting Vat" href="#" target="_blank">Smelting Vat</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a great way to get more stuff on board by letting you sacrifice an artifact to look through the next eight cards and find up to two artifacts with the same total cost. Keep in mind the token copy Mishra makes will keep the mana value of the original, so you want to copy your high cost stuff for this. Aside from sacrificing for value, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Wondrous Crucible" href="#" target="_blank">Wondrous Crucible</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> provides some protection for all your permanents and potentially gives you free spells at your end step, which means if Mishra makes a copy it will stick around long enough to give you that benefit.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Farid, Enterprising Salvager"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Smelting Vat"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Wondrous Crucible"></div></div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Despite all the value engines in the deck, it's still looking to close out the game with combat. There are a few token producers in the deck, so having <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Brudiclad, Telchor Engineer" href="#" target="_blank">Brudiclad, Telchor Engineer</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> shift them into whatever Mishra copied is a great way to get an army of 4/4's out of nowhere. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Workshop Elders" href="#" target="_blank">Workshop Elders</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> gives artifact creatures flying and can animate something every turn. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Scavenged Brawler" href="#" target="_blank">Scavenged Brawler</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a new card that can be exiled from the graveyard to put four counters along with flying, vigilance, trample, and lifelink. This is great for turning the commander into a legitimate threat or powering up <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Traxos, Scourge of Kroog" href="#" target="_blank">Traxos, Scourge of Kroog</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Hellkite Igniter" href="#" target="_blank">Hellkite Igniter</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. Finally <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Blast-Furnace Hellkite" href="#" target="_blank">Blast-Furnace Hellkite</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> can be cast at instant speed thanks to the artifact offering ability, surprising an opponent with suddenly double striking attackers.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Brudiclad, Telchor Engineer"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Workshop Elders"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Hellkite Igniter"></div></div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h2>Playing the Deck</h2>
<p>Like many engine based decks, this one takes a while to get going. A lot of the early cards are either ramp, or something for Mishra to copy later on like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ichor Wellspring" href="#" target="_blank">Ichor Wellspring</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and most of the creatures being either high cost or in for utility, so don't expect to participate in combat early on. Things really start to get going once you land the commander. Making copies of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mnemonic Sphere" href="#" target="_blank">Mnemonic Sphere</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> to draw cards or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Wayfarer&#039;s Bauble" href="#" target="_blank">Wayfarer&#039;s Bauble</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> to ramp is all well and good, but you really start to be a problem when you're destroying things every turn by copying <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Spine of Ish Sah" href="#" target="_blank">Spine of Ish Sah</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> then sacrificing the token to <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Audacious Reshapers" href="#" target="_blank">Audacious Reshapers</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Smelting Vat" href="#" target="_blank">Smelting Vat</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> to get more artifacts. Don't be afraid to sacrifice your non token stuff since there are ways to get your artifacts back like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Emry, Lurker of the Loch" href="#" target="_blank">Emry, Lurker of the Loch</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Silas Renn, Seeker Adept" href="#" target="_blank">Silas Renn, Seeker Adept</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. In the mid to late game it's easy to build a frightening board, so you want to get there quickly. In starting hands I'd advise trying to get four mana producers, ideally three lands and a mana rock you can cast. I also think it's a good idea to be looking out for cards like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mycosynth Wellspring" href="#" target="_blank">Mycosynth Wellspring</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> or <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Servo Schematic" href="#" target="_blank">Servo Schematic</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> that come down early and make decent targets for the commander later.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Ichor Wellspring"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Spine of Ish Sah"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Audacious Reshapers"></div></div>
<p>The deck is capable of generating a lot of value and can fill the board with artifacts, but that doesn't necessarily translate into a win. It's quite possible to spend a lot of time taking game actions, and drawing cards without actually moving toward a way to close out the game. The focus on non creature artifacts can also be a problem because the deck ends up being light on defense. The creatures tend to be top end finishers or utility pieces that feel bad to block with so you're likely to end up taking a few hits throughout the game. More aggressive decks can put you in the danger zone before you're ready to develop your plan and because this deck can take so many game actions, there's a good chance those aggressive decks will be nervous about what you're doing. I found this to be the case playing against the <em>Urza's Iron Alliance </em>deck. My deck did a lot, but ultimately struggled to defend against Urza's construct army.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h2>New Toys</h2>
<p>Mishra comes with some awesome new toys, aespecially for artifact decks. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Terisiare&#039;s Devastation" href="#" target="_blank">Terisiare&#039;s Devastation</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a fantastic new board wipe for artifact decks. It gives creatures -1/-1 for each artifact you control so it gets around indestructible, and if you need to increase that number, you can pay into the X cost to get some powerstones. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Machine God&#039;s Effigy" href="#" target="_blank">Machine God&#039;s Effigy</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is an interesting new mana rock. It copies a creature like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cursed Mirror" href="#" target="_blank">Cursed Mirror</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> only the effigy doesn't become a creature. Notably this is an infinite mana combo with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Devoted Druid" href="#" target="_blank">Devoted Druid</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, but this card is also very useful if you want to have a copy of a creature that is spared the myriad ways creatures get killed in a game of Commander. It's going to be great for artifact decks and clone decks alike. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Wondrous Crucible" href="#" target="_blank">Wondrous Crucible</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>is a lot at seven mana, but there are plenty of decks out there that would be interested in the self mill, and the extra protection from Ward 2 is more impactful than it seems and many opponents will be caught off guard by it. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Blast-Furnace Hellkite" href="#" target="_blank">Blast-Furnace Hellkite</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is far and away the my favorite new card in this deck. I'm already sold at giving double strike to creatures attacking your opponents, but this card has icing on the cake with artifact offering. Not can you reduce the cards hefty cost, but you can cast it at instant speed turning yours or an opponents attack suddenly lethal. This is a great fit for all those goad commanders we've seen lately and I expect to see it pop up in dragon decks, but it's a great fit for any combat focused deck.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Terisiare&#039;s Devastation"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Machine God&#039;s Effigy"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Blast-Furnace Hellkite"></div></div>
<h2>Hand Me Downs</h2>
<p>At first glance, I was unsure about the reprint value in this set. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Lithoform Engine" href="#" target="_blank">Lithoform Engine</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> commands the most value among reprints and is useful in many decks, but even then it's only going for about $7. On a closer look, though the deck has many staple cards that always seem to end up being a few dollars like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Blasphemous Act" href="#" target="_blank">Blasphemous Act</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Chaos Warp" href="#" target="_blank">Chaos Warp</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bedevil" href="#" target="_blank">Bedevil</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Expressive Iteration" href="#" target="_blank">Expressive Iteration</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is powerful enough to be banned in Pioneer, and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cursed Mirror" href="#" target="_blank">Cursed Mirror</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is a fun mana rock with a ton of applications.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Blasphemous Act"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Expressive Iteration"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Cursed Mirror"></div></div>
<p>In addition to general use cards, there are a lot of excellent reprints geared toward artifact decks like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Silas Renn, Seeker Adept" href="#" target="_blank">Silas Renn, Seeker Adept</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Emry, Lurker of the Loch" href="#" target="_blank">Emry, Lurker of the Loch</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> (Eldraine was three years ago), and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Padeem, Consul of Innovation" href="#" target="_blank">Padeem, Consul of Innovation</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Silas Renn, Seeker Adept"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Emry, Lurker of the Loch"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Padeem, Consul of Innovation"></div></div>
<p>Since the <em>Brother's War </em>preconstructed decks are printed entirely with the old frame, many of the reprints are going to be unique versions of the cards which might be of interest to collectors or to people with Commander decks that only use the old frame cards.</p>
<h2>Final Verdict</h2>
<p>Overall, <em>Mishra's Burnished Banner</em> is a great deck, if a little bit of a grind. I think it could be made much better with a some tricks to keep your opponents at bay along with a few more ways to get in for damage. It's a great place to start on building an artifact deck as it has a lot of great cards for the strategy and potential commanders for a deck if you decide not to use Mishra or Ashnod. It's a good value as it gives you unique printings of classic Commander cards. Those are my thoughts on <em>Mishra's Burnished Banner</em>, feel free to drop yours in the comments. Stay tuned for my upgrade guide coming soon and remember to budget before you buy it.</p>


Mishra's Burnished Banner - Precon Primer

Necron Dynasties Upgrade Guide

Forces of the Imperium - Upgrade Guide

Exit from Exile - Upgrade Guide