Ahoy Mateys Upgrade Guide

Quick verdict

Ahoy Mateys is a Pirate deck with a commander that brings a crew member back from the graveyard every turn. Admiral Brass, Unsinkable returns a Pirate as a 4/4 with haste at the start of each of your combats, so even a 1/1 comes back as a real attacker. The Pirates themselves reward hitting players with Treasure, cards, and stolen spells. The weak spots are two expensive board wipes that hit your own crew, little else that feeds the graveyard after Brass's first mill, and a mana base with several lands that always enter tapped.

TurnZero HQ rates Ahoy Mateys a 2 out of 5 on difficulty and a 3 out of 5 on power, as it comes in the box. That is our editorial read, not an official Wizards rating. The full hundred cards are on the Ahoy Mateys decklist page, and every other precon we cover is on the precon directory.

How the precon plays

Admiral Brass, Unsinkable mills four cards when it enters. Then, at the beginning of combat on each of your turns, you may return a Pirate creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield with a finality counter on it. It becomes a base 4/4 and gains haste for the turn, so it can attack right away. The finality counter means it is exiled instead of dying, so each Pirate comes back once.

Most of the crew pays you when it connects. Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator makes a Treasure for each opponent your Pirates damage, Breeches, Brazen Plunderer and Ramirez DePietro, Pillager steal cards off the top of opponents' libraries, and Admiral Beckett Brass takes a nonland permanent from a player hit by three or more Pirates in a turn. Lords like Corsair Captain , Skeleton Crew and Beckett Brass pump the team.

The small evasive Pirates are good targets for Brass. Departed Deckhand and Spectral Sailor are hard to block as 1/1s or 2/2s and much more threatening as 4/4s, and Siren Stormtamer can be sacrificed to protect Brass, then brought back next combat.

What works out of the box

Admiral Brass, Unsinkable ↗

Returns a Pirate from your graveyard as a 4/4 with haste at the start of every combat on your turn, so the deck rebuilds after trades and removal.

Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator ↗

A three-mana flier that makes a Treasure for each opponent your Pirates damage. A wide attack can produce several Treasures a turn.

Breeches, Brazen Plunderer ↗

Exiles the top card of each opponent your Pirates damaged, and you can play those cards that turn with any mana. It turns attacks into card advantage.

Admiral Beckett Brass ↗

Gives your other Pirates +1/+1, and steals a nonland permanent at your end step from a player hit by three or more Pirates.

Port Razer ↗

When it connects, it untaps your creatures and gives you an extra combat phase. With a board of Pirates that is often lethal.

Skeleton Crew ↗

A lord for Pirates and Skeletons that makes a 2/2 Skeleton Pirate whenever creature cards leave your graveyard. Brass triggers it every turn.

What needs improvement

The deck has two expensive wipes that work against it. Blood Money costs seven and destroys every creature, yours included, and Evacuation returns your whole crew to hand along with everyone else's. Blasphemous Act is easier to justify because Brass can rebuild from the graveyard afterward, but you rarely want three wipes in a creature deck. Windfall also refills every opponent's hand.

Brass also only mills once, when it enters. After that, the graveyard fills slowly unless Pirates die in combat, and some turns Brass has nothing worth returning. The lands make the early game slower than it needs to be: the three Thriving lands, Crumbling Necropolis , Path of Ancestry and Port of Karfell all enter tapped.

Upgrade ideas

Each upgrade below starts from something the deck does poorly and says what a replacement card has to do. The cards named are examples, not the only answer: if you own something else that does the same job, or a newer printing does it better, it goes in the same slot. Make one change at a time and play a few games between them, so you can tell which change helped. The general method is in how to upgrade a Commander precon →

1. Keep the graveyard stocked with Pirates

Brass only does something if there is a Pirate in your graveyard at the start of combat. Cheap ways to mill or discard make sure there is a target every turn.

What to look for One- or two-mana cards that mill or discard several cards and replace themselves, so the graveyard grows without costing you a turn.

Cut, for example

✕

Wayfarer's Bauble Three mana in total to put a basic land onto the battlefield tapped. The signets and Treasure already cover the deck's ramp.

✕

Windfall Everyone discards and draws a new hand. It puts Pirates in your graveyard, but it hands opponents a full grip as well.

Add, for example

Stitcher's Supplier ↗

A one-mana creature that mills three when it enters and three more when it dies. It finds Pirates for Brass early.

Thought Scour ↗

One-mana instant that mills two and draws a card. It replaces itself while giving Brass more to work with.

Cathartic Reunion ↗

Two mana to discard two cards and draw three. Discarding a big Pirate like Angrath's Marauders sets up a 4/4 return next combat.

2. Trade the self-wipes for targeted removal

The deck wins by attacking with a crew of Pirates, so board wipes that hit your side cost you more than they cost opponents. Cheap targeted removal deals with blockers and threats while your board stays.

What to look for Instant-speed removal or counterspells costing two mana that deal with one threat at a time. See how much removal a Commander deck needs.

Cut, for example

✕

Blood Money Seven mana to destroy every creature, yours included. The Treasures do not make up for losing your crew.

✕

Evacuation Returns every creature to its owner's hand. Your tokens disappear, and your Pirates have to be recast at full price.

Add, for example

Infernal Grasp ↗

Two-mana instant that destroys any creature for 2 life. Simple, cheap removal.

Terminate ↗

Two mana in black and red at instant speed to destroy a creature. A second clean answer in the deck's colors.

Counterspell ↗

Two mana to counter any spell, including a board wipe aimed at your Pirates.

3. Replace the lands that always enter tapped

A three-color creature deck wants its two-drop Pirates out on turn two. Six lands in the box always enter tapped, which costs tempo every game.

What to look for Two-color lands in the deck's colors that can enter untapped from the first turn. Basic land types also help Choked Estuary, Foreboding Ruins and Sulfur Falls.

Cut, for example

✕

Thriving Isle Always enters tapped. Its color fixing is fine, but an untapped dual land does the same without the lost turn.

✕

Thriving Moor The same problem as Thriving Isle: a tapped land that fixes two colors.

Add, for example

Watery Grave ↗

Enters untapped for 2 life and taps for blue or black. As an Island and a Swamp it also untaps Choked Estuary and Sulfur Falls.

Blood Crypt ↗

Enters untapped for 2 life and taps for black or red. It turns on Foreboding Ruins.

Steam Vents ↗

Enters untapped for 2 life and taps for blue or red. It turns on Frostboil Snarl and Sulfur Falls.

4. Cheap Pirates that are better as 4/4s

Brass sets each returned Pirate to a base 4/4, so the best targets are cheap creatures with evasion or a useful ability. They are cheap to cast and threatening when they come back.

What to look for One- or two-mana Pirates (or changelings, which count) with evasion or an enters ability. Low power does not matter, since Brass replaces it.

Cut, for example

✕

Timestream Navigator Its extra turn needs the city's blessing, four mana, and a tap. Most games it is a 1/1 that does nothing.

✕

Commander's Sphere A three-mana rock in a deck that already has three signets, Arcane Signet, and plenty of Treasure.

Add, for example

Changeling Outcast ↗

A one-mana 1/1 that can't be blocked and is every creature type, so it is a Pirate. Returned by Brass, it is an unblockable 4/4 with haste.

Kitesail Freebooter ↗

A two-mana flying Pirate that takes a noncreature, nonland card from an opponent's hand. Brass can bring it back for a second look.

Win conditions

Games are won through steady attacks from a crew that keeps coming back. Admiral Brass, Unsinkable adds a hasty 4/4 every turn, the lords pump the team, and Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator and Breeches, Brazen Plunderer turn every hit into mana and stolen cards. Port Razer gives you a second combat, and Angrath's Marauders doubles the damage once the board is wide.

Who should buy this precon

A good pick for a newer player who likes typal decks and attacking. The commander's trigger is a single choice each turn, which Pirate to bring back, and the rest of the deck follows from attacking. It is less suited to someone looking for a lot of interaction, since the box has few answers until you add some.

Checked against the printed decklist on October 10, 2026.