Tuesday Night Takeover
Zimone, Infinite Analyst
EDH April 6, 2026

Quandrix Unlimited Precon Upgrade Guide

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Commander Overview

The Quandrix college in Strixhaven are the math nerds, the ones who like sacred geometry and fractals. The Quandrix Unlimited commander deck, with Zimone, Infinite Analyst at the helm, is the newest deck for X-spell enthusiasts.

Zimone offers us a scaling effect that makes your big spells cheaper as the game goes on, and the alternate commander, Primo, Unbounded, creates fractals whenever your base 0/0 creatures deal damage.

I was intrigued by the premise of the deck, and spent a lot of time puzzling over what cards to swap in to make it more efficient. At the end of the day, I found only 12 cards that I think would make improvements on a relatively modest budget. The Ozolith is the obvious include, but that’s a $70 card now, so unless you have one bumping around, I left it out of this list.

What We’re Removing

The main cards that I opted to remove were non-creatures. The hydras and other Simic creatures that come in the deck weren’t half bad, but I felt the other areas were a bit weaker. The deck clearly has a focus on X spells, but not all of our removal or ramp needs to have X in the mana value. In the early game, it’s important to have cheap, straightforward options for ramp and interaction.

Cards to Remove:

Mana

Typically, I’d remove 4-5 lands from a precon, simply because Wizards loves stuffing your deck with extra lands. But, this deck has more utility lands than the other precons (stuff like Rogue’s Passage, Alchemist’s Refuge, and Opal Palace). I only decided to remove Temple of the False God out of principle, as well as the filter lands, Flooded Grove and Overflowing Basin.

Creatures

There are a couple of Zimone cards at this point, and Zimone, Quandrix Prodigy is one of the weakest, in my opinion. Altered Ego also had to go, it was a bit too expensive for the effect it offered us.

Noncreature Spells

The bulk of cards we’re removing are X-cost interaction or ramp, as well as some weaker cards like Eureka Moment. Commander's Insight is too expensive for it’s effect, and Open the way will only ever be a 4-mana, 3-lands at its best. [[Primal Might is a cool card, but we might not always have mana to dump into X, so I yanked it.

I also opted to take out Mana Bloom and Perplexing Test, as they just felt a bit redundant/unnecessary in the deck.

What We’re Adding

Finding cards to slot into this deck was a bit challenging, mainly because I’m not a Simic player by trade. However, I recognized some gaps in the deck once some of the original cards were removed.

Cards to Add:

Mana

Breeding Pool is the only land I’m adding back into the deck, keeping the land count at 35. There are a decent number of mana rocks, too, so if you feel the deck still has too much mana, I’d yank Terramorphic expanse or another tapped land.

Creatures

To replace Zimone, Quandrix Prodigy, I’ve added in Zimone, Paradox Sculptor, which synergizes nicely with all of the creatures that care about +1/+1, including the commander.

I’ve also opted to add in Vorel of the Hull Clade as another counter doubler, and Nexos as a way to quickly get a lot of mana to dump into X spells.

Altered Ego gave us a creature-copy effect, but it cost a lot of mana. Mockingbird gives us the same ability, but at a much lower cost.

And finally, I added Pollywog Prodigy for more card draw. While his Evolve ability isn’t particularly good in this deck, there are so many ways to add counters, double counters, etc., that make him a powerhouse for card draw in mid-to-late game.

Instants and Sorceries

Ripples of Potential is kind of like a Teferi’s Protection for our creatures. It gives us more counters, and keeps those creatures safe. The original list had a few spells that bounded all creatures to hand, which felt a bit counter-intuitive, considering our creatures are going to be accumulating counters throughout the game.

Growth Spiral is a better Eureka Moment, and Braingeyser is better than Commander's Insight.

Repulsive Mutation felt like an auto-include in this deck because it deals with X spells, counters, and is a counterspell. In most cases, this can be a 2-mana counter anything because we will most likely have the largest creatures throughout most of the game. Tamiyo's Safekeeping is another card that just feels like it belongs in any deck that can run it.

And finally, I added Overwhelming Stampede as a finisher. The deck seems like it wants to grow creatures as big as possible and make them unblockable. This board-buff also gives them trample, and will probably massively change game, if not end it entirely.

Deck Upgrades

If you want to take a look at the price for each of the upgrades, here’s a look at what you’ll be spending:

Suggested Upgrades


ADD Zimone, Paradox Sculptor
CUT Zimone, Quandrix Prodigy
High Priority Gameplan $3.10

ADD Vorel of the Hull Clade
CUT Primal Might
High Priority Gameplan $0.34

ADD Breeding Pool
CUT Temple of the False God
High Priority Mana $9.64

ADD Nexos
CUT Mana Bloom
High Priority Mana $13.18

ADD Pollywog Prodigy
CUT Entracing Melody
High Priority Card Draw $6.64

ADD Ripples of Potential
CUT Overflowing Basin
High Priority Protection $2.41

ADD Mockingbird
CUT Altered Ego
Mid Priority Clone $4.03

ADD Growth Spiral
CUT Eureka Moment
Mid Priority Utility $0.32

ADD Repulsive Mutation
CUT Perplexing Test
Mid Priority Protection $0.86

ADD Braingeyser
CUT Commander's Insight
Mid Priority Card Draw $0.00

ADD Overwhelming Stampede
CUT Flooded Grove
Mid Priority Finisher $0.22

ADD Tamiyo's Safekeeping
CUT Open the Way
Mid Priority Protection $5.11

Upgrade Cost $45.85 TCGPlayer Buy Upgrades ManaPool Buy Upgrades WNYGaming Code "TNTSUB" (-5%)

Conclusion

I thought this deck had a better base than some of the other Secrets of Strixhaven precons. Obviously, you could take this deck up a notch with improvements like the Ozolith and more consistent card draw, but at this power level, I think this deck can put in the work. Hydras and X-spells have always been interesting to me, and I like the way this deck approaches the theme.

Please take a look at the full upgraded decklist below

Bracket 2 Simic X Spells
Command Zone

Zimone, Infinite Analyst

Legendary Creature — Human Wizard
$103.62

Creature 30

1 Benevolent Hydra $0.92
1 Deekah, Fractal Theorist $0.35
1 Elusive Otter $0.25
1 Forgotten Ancient $0.35
1 Goldvein Hydra $2.69
1 Guardian Augmenter $0.90
1 Hangarback Walker $0.29
1 Hydroid Krasis $0.25
1 Ingenious Prodigy $0.30
1 Kami of Whispered Hopes $2.61
1 Kinetic Ooze $0.35
1 Lifeblood Hydra $0.33
1 Mockingbird $3.56
1 Nev, the Practical Dean $0.27
1 Nexos $13.16
1 Owlin Spiralmancer $0.30
1 Pollywog Prodigy $6.14
1 Primo, the Unbounded $1.69
1 Primordial Hydra $1.70
1 Quandrix Apprentice $0.22
1 Slash Clone $0.37
1 Stonecoil Serpent $0.31
1 Striding Shotcaller $0.25
1 Tanazir Quandrix $0.23
1 The Goose Mother $0.29
1 Troyan, Gutsy Explorer $0.24
1 Vorel of the Hull Clade $0.34
1 Yavimaya Bloomsage $0.80
1 Zimone, All-Questioning $0.18
1 Zimone, Paradox Sculptor $3.12

Instant 15

1 Beast Within $0.38
1 Biomass Mutation $0.23
1 Decisive Denial $0.27
1 Growth Spiral $0.32
1 Nexus Mentality $0.28
1 Pull from Tomorrow $0.27
1 Quandrix Charm $0.21
1 Quandrix Command $0.20
1 Rapid Hybridization $0.97
1 Repulsive Mutation $0.79
1 Silkguard $0.42
1 Stroke of Genius $0.28
1 Tamiyo's Safekeeping $4.84
1 Tyvar's Stand $0.49
1 Zimone's Hypothesis $0.23

Sorcery 9

1 Animist's Awakening $0.38
1 Braingeyser
1 Curse of the Swine $0.29
1 Expansion Algorithm $2.26
1 Nature's Lore $1.88
1 Oversimplify $0.20
1 Overwhelming Stampede $0.45
1 Primal Might
1 Three Visits $3.67

Artifact 7

1 Arcane Signet $0.72
1 Astral Cornucopia $0.31
1 Brass Infiniscope $0.36
1 Elementalist's Palette $0.30
1 Fractal Harness $0.28
1 Ozolith, the Shattered Spire $4.83
1 Sol Ring $2.05

Enchantment 3

1 Hardened Scales $1.90
1 Lattice Library $0.26
1 Unbound Flourishing $2.66

Land 35

1 Alchemist's Refuge $0.34
1 Breeding Pool $9.57
1 Command Tower $0.42
1 Exotic Orchard $0.35
1 Fabled Passage $1.21
6 Forest $0.14
1 Hinterland Harbor $0.39
7 Island $0.12
1 Opal Palace $0.29
1 Oran-Rief, the Vastwood $0.32
1 Paradox Gardens $0.14
1 Path of Ancestry $0.32
1 Quandrix Campus $0.15
1 Rain-Slicked Copse $0.27
1 Reliquary Tower $3.22
1 Rogue's Passage $0.39
1 Sodden Verdure $0.40
1 Study Hall $0.21
1 Tangled Islet $0.34
1 Temple of Mystery $0.21
1 Terramorphic Expanse $0.30
1 Turbulent Wilderness $5.21
1 Vineglimmer Snarl $0.23
1 Yavimaya Coast $0.35

Tokens Used 8

Beast
Boar
Food
Fractal
Frog Lizard
Primo, the Indivisible
Thopter
Treasure

EDH BRACKET

1
Exhibition
2
Core
3
Upgraded
4
Optimized
5
cEDH
Bracket 2 // Core

The average current preconstructed deck.

  • No Mass Land Denial
  • No Chaining Extra Turns
  • No 2-Card Infinite Combos
  • No Game Changers
  • Few Tutors
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