We're back for yet another precon upgrade article and this time we're upgrading, er, Upgrades Unleashed! This is the second of the two Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty Commander precons with the other one, Buckle Up, having been covered earlier this week. We've seen mechs, but now we're going to be doing something else that's a staple of cyberpunk: giving yourself upgrades.

Much like how last week I talked about mechs being common themes in Japanese pop culture, so too are upgrades. Cybernetic enhancements gained a lot of prominence in anime and video games over the years and can be seen in numerous properties. The most well-known of these is arguably Ghost in the Shell, but it's been a continual staple when you look at series like Cowboy Bebop, Outlaw Star, and earlier ones such as Astro Boy and Cyborg 009.

It's also just been a big part of cyberpunk in general. The idea of these kinds of upgrades tend to posit the question: what does it mean to be human? How much of a person and living organism are you if you're made up of artificial parts? Some properties go deeper on this, where rather than simply focusing on upgrades, you get into moral ideas of whether or not a robot can be a human. This is one of the crucial points of one of the most well-known cyberpunk properties: Blade Runner.

Today, though, we're focusing on upgrades in Magic. Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, drawing heavily on these properties, plays on the ways and ideas of how to upgrade oneself. With Magic, this includes the use of counters, equipment, and auras. Chishiro, the Shattered Blade does quite a bit with all of the elements of this strategy and makes for a really sweet precon with Upgrades Unleashed. How does it stack up? Let's check out the list and find out!

Upgrades Unleashed Precon | Commander | Wizards of the Coast

• Commander (1)
• 1 Chishiro, the Shattered Blade

• Creatures (28)
• 1 Acidic Slime
• 1 Agitator Ant
• 1 Akki Battle Squad
• 1 Ascendant Acolyte
• 1 Champion of Lambholt
• 1 Fertilid
• 1 Forgotten Ancient
• 1 Genesis Hydra
• 1 Goblin Razerunners
• 1 Grumgully, the Generous
• 1 Kaima, the Fractured Calm
• 1 Kami of Celebration
• 1 Komainu Battle Armor
• 1 Kosei, Penitent Warlord
• 1 Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin
• 1 Loyal Guardian
• 1 Orochi Merge-Keeper
• 1 Ox of Agonas
• 1 Primeval Protector
• 1 Rampant Rejuvenator
• 1 Rishkar, Peema Renegade
• 1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
• 1 Spearbreaker Behemoth
• 1 Tanuki Transplanter
• 1 Taurean Mauler
• 1 Towashi Guide-Bot
• 1 Walking Skyscraper
• 1 Whiptongue Hydra

• Instants (5)
• 1 Beast Within
• 1 Chaos Warp
• 1 Hunter's Insight
• 1 Silkguard
• 1 Starstorm

• Sorceries (10)
• 1 Chain Reaction
• 1 Collision of Realms
• 1 Decimate
• 1 Kodama's Reach
• 1 Rampant Growth
• 1 Rishkar's Expertise
• 1 Shamanic Revelation
• 1 Smoke Spirits' Aid
• 1 Soul's Majesty
• 1 Vastwood Surge

• Enchantments (10)
• 1 Bear Umbra
• 1 Concord with the Kami
• 1 Elemental Mastery
• 1 Invigorating Hot Spring
• 1 One with the Kami
• 1 Ordeal of Nylea
• 1 Rhythm of the Wild
• 1 Shifting Shadow
• 1 Snake Umbra
• 1 Unquenchable Fury

• Artifacts (8)
• 1 Arcane Signet
• 1 Blackblade Reforged
• 1 Bonehoard
• 1 Fireshrieker
• 1 Mage Slayer
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Swiftfoot Boots
• 1 Sword of Vengeance

• Lands (37)
• 12 Mountain
• 14 Forest
• 1 Cinder Glade
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Exotic Orchard
• 1 Game Trail
• 1 Gruul Turf
• 1 Opal Palace
• 1 Oran-Rief, the Vastwood
• 1 Raging Ravine
• 1 Temple of Abandon
• 2 Mossfire Valley

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This deck actually looks pretty cool! I'm not quite as over the moon with this as I was with the Buckle Up list, but that was something else. It was much more focused and honed in approach to what it was doing: strictly artifacts and vehicles. With modifications, however, you get spread a little more thin between the counters, auras, and equipment, so it can feel a little less cohesive as a result. What you get out of the box is still pretty great, though, but it could use a little help.

It should also be noted that Wizards made a slight oopsie with this list and that there are in fact two Mossfire Valley in the list. Supposedly, they claimed that this was supposed to be another basic land. However, a Commander copy of Nissa, Voice of Zendikar - who would work really nicely in this list - and her token did show up briefly in the Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty Commander image gallery. This has caused suspicion that she was actually supposed to be in here, so hey, that's a pretty easy start for upgrading this list.

Speaking of, let's check out how an updated list might look!

Upgrades Unleashed Revamped | Commander | Paige Smith

• Commander (1)
• 1 Chishiro, the Shattered Blade

• Creatures (30)
• 1 Acidic Slime
• 1 Agitator Ant
• 1 Akki Battle Squad
• 1 Avabruck Caretaker // Hollowhenge Huntmaster
• 1 Avenger of Zendikar
• 1 Champion of Lambholt
• 1 Dowsing Shaman
• 1 Evolution Sage
• 1 Fertilid
• 1 Forgotten Ancient
• 1 Grumgully, the Generous
• 1 Gyre Sage
• 1 Incubation Druid
• 1 Kami of Celebration
• 1 Komainu Battle Armor
• 1 Kosei, Penitent Warlord
• 1 Krenko, Tin Street Kingpin
• 1 Lizard Blades
• 1 Loyal Guardian
• 1 Primeval Protector
• 1 Renata, Called to the Hunt
• 1 Rishkar, Peema Renegade
• 1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
• 1 Spearbreaker Behemoth
• 1 Tanuki Transplanter
• 1 Taurean Mauler
• 1 Toski, Bearer of Secrets
• 1 Towashi Guide-Bot
• 1 Ulasht, the Hate Seed
• 1 Whiptongue Hydra

• Planeswalkers (3)
• 1 Jiang Yanggu, Wildcrafter
• 1 Nissa, Voice of Zendikar
• 1 Nissa, Who Shakes the World

• Instants (6)
• 1 Beast Within
• 1 Chaos Warp
• 1 Inspiring Call
• 1 Krosan Grip
• 1 Silkguard
• 1 Starstorm

• Sorceries (5)
• 1 Decimate
• 1 Kodama's Reach
• 1 Rishkar's Expertise
• 1 Shamanic Revelation
• 1 Vastwood Surge

• Enchantments (11)
• 1 Bear Umbra
• 1 Concord with the Kami
• 1 Crown of Flames
• 1 Fertile Ground
• 1 Ordeal of Nylea
• 1 Rancor
• 1 Rhythm of the Wild
• 1 Snake Umbra
• 1 Unquenchable Fury
• 1 Whip Silk
• 1 Wild Growth

• Artifacts (8)
• 1 Arcane Signet
• 1 Batterskull
• 1 Blackblade Reforged
• 1 Nim Deathmantle
• 1 Sol Ring
• 1 Swiftfoot Boots
• 1 Sword of Light and Shadow
• 1 Sword of Truth and Justice

• Lands (34)
• 10 Forest
• 6 Mountain
• 1 Cinder Glade
• 1 Command Tower
• 1 Cragcrown Pathway // Timbercrown Pathway
• 1 Fire-Lit Thicket
• 1 Game Trail
• 1 Karplusan Forest
• 1 Kessig Wolf Run
• 1 Kher Keep
• 1 Mosswort Bridge
• 1 Opal Palace
• 1 Oran-Rief, the Vastwood
• 1 Raging Ravine
• 1 Rockfall Vale
• 1 Rootbound Crag
• 1 Sheltered Thicket
• 1 Spire Garden
• 1 Stomping Ground
• 1 Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth

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When looking at upgrading this deck, I looked primarily at the three methods of modifying creatures and how the deck performs at them. All three areas (counters, auras, and equipment) are solidly represented at a level that works well enough with Chishiro, but both equipment and auras leave a little to be desired. Counters get a lot of love and support, which is no surprise given how many easy ways there are to pump up your creatures in this manner.

Auras were one of the ones that jumped really quickly for me. The precon thankfully already has some great ones in the mix, like Shifting Shadow, Unquenchable Fury, and Bear Umbra. However, there's ultimately only a handful of these auras and some are sorely missed. The one that stood out the most to me was Rancor. It's such a cheap and easy inclusion that can keep coming back and getting you more and more tokens in the process. I also looked at others with the ability like Fiery Mantle, Aspect of Mongoose, and Undying Rage, but felt they weren't quite as good. Instead, I moved over to cards like Crown of Flames and Whip Silk, which you can bounce repeatedly for extra value.

Equipment is somewhat interesting because the ones in the precon themselves are actually pretty decent. Sword of Vengeance, Blackblade Reforged, Swiftfoot Boots, heck even Bonehoard and Mage Slayer are all solid choices. There're definitely some better ones that can be slipped in here, though. Nim Deathmantle and Sword of Light and Shadow are both excellent ways to get back your creatures as they die. Batterskull is also great because, much like Crown of Flames and Whip Silk, it can be brought back to your hand and played again for bonus value with Chishiro. What's more, it actually produces a modified creature thanks to the living weapon ability! Lastly, Sword of Truth and Justice - a largely underappreciated Sword - shines in a deck like this, where you want counters to go around constantly.

A few cards felt like really easy cuts along the way as well. Collision of Realms is a cool Commander card, but really doesn't feel like a card that needs to really be here, as your deck wants to go fairly wide. There's also some pretty negative synergy when used with auras as well. Kaima, the Fractured Calm is another card like this, where it seems like an incredible build-around, but there's very few auras you want to be putting on opposing creatures. Whip Silk and Crown of Flames can be good here, but it definitely feels like a very narrow setup. It'd be better as a commander on its own rather than in the 99 like this.

Ox of Agonas doesn't feel particularly exciting either, and a number of the deck's Rampant Growth abilities can be swapped for a number of mana generating auras. Not only is there better synergy with Chishiro this way, but you also lose a lot of basics as you upgrade your lands anyways, making a greater number of "search for basic land" effects less effective. Some of the other new cards here like Ascendant Acolyte, Smoke Spirits' Aid, and One with the Kami I ended up cutting, but truthfully I really like them. I simply felt there were better things that could be done, so don't feel like you should auto-cut them! They're really cool and all deserve a spot, I just couldn't find one myself.

Paige Smith

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