“My crooked man is out tonight.“
Art:Time Warp
by Pete Venters
Table of Contents
If you haven’t checked out yesterday’s article where we went over the budget upgrades for the deck, I recommend you check that out. You can find it below this article! Now, let’s get straight into the non-budget upgrades for the deck. Non-budget upgrades include gamechangers as well as cards that make the deck go from good to insane, whether it’s card advantage or spells that can end the game, non-budget is where a ton of the super spicy cards live. This one is going to be a blast. Without further ado, let’s get it!
Our Upgraded Precon So Far:
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Jeskai Striker Precon Decklist!
Non-Budget Upgrades for the Deck:
Add:
On TCGPlayer, copies of Swan Song range from 10 to 12 dollars; some copies are a little cheaper, depending on the version.
Cut:
Swan Song is a great staple counter for a reason; it’s just quite strong, and with our commander, it’s even better. If an opponent wants to engage in a counter-war, we certainly have the commander and the ammo to do it. I cut Ancestral Vision because we don’t have a ton of ways to get it for free, and we have quite a bit of card draw already. In testing with Vision in the deck, it was occasionally a dead draw.
Add:
On TCGPlayer, copies of Smothering Tithe range from 25 to 40 dollars; some copies are a little cheaper, depending on the version.
Cut:
I don’t think I need to explain just how good Tithe is. This card is a powerhouse and allows us to generate an absolute ton of mana and just go crazy with the spellslinging. If opponents do decide to pay the tax, it can be terrible for them and slow them down considerably. This card is amazing. The Tempest Technique is just not worth it for the deck. While we typically are able to get the storm count high, I typically tend to go wider than our opponents as opposed to one big attack. I think Tithe is considerably better.
Add:
On TCGPlayer, copies of Bria, Riptide Rogue range from 12 to 15 dollars; some copies are a little cheaper, depending on the version.
Cut:
Bria is actually insane in this deck. Since we are already running cards like Young Pyromancer
and Third Path Iconoclast
, we can easily fill up our board, and with Bria, we can deal an insane amount of damage. I wasn’t a big fan of Baral and Kari Zev in the deck when I tested. We have quite a bit of mana production in the deck, and overall, I just think that Bria is better.
Add:
On TCGPlayer, copies of Deflecting Swat range from 40 to 50 dollars; some copies are a little cheaper, depending on the version.
Cut:
In our deck we attract an absolute ton of heat, its not surprising players definitely tend to get a little squirrely especially when we start our spellslinging, because of that I think Deflecting Swat is an upgrade that is absolutely needed, I also really like that we are able to cast it as a second spell and do it again, this card works very well with our commander. Just a great card for the deck. Consider is a decent card, but we have far better card draw present within the deck.
Add:
On TCGPlayer, copies of Rhystic Study range from 50 to 70 dollars; some copies are a little cheaper, depending on the version.
Cut:
You know it had to be here. If we are playing a spellslinging deck that loves to draw cards, we absolutely had to include Rhystic Study; it is a game-changer for a reason, and this card absolutely makes this deck considerably better. I don’t think I need to explain just how good this card is. I cut Aligned Heart because we already have a ton of token production, and overall, it’s pricey and doesn’t help the deck a ton.
Conclusion:
Thank you so much for reading to the end! I hope you enjoyed both of these articles. With the non-budget and budget upgrades, this is a very strong deck that can spellsling like crazy and make a crazy board with tokens that can hit like a truck. I had a ton of fun with this deck and cant wait to upgrade it further when new sets come out! Stay tuned and tap in as we cover the rest of the commander decks as well!