Precon Upgrade Guide
Call for Backup Upgrade Guide
What to cut, what to add, and how to play the Naya +1/+1 counters precon from March of the Machine, commanded by Bright-Palm, Soul Awakener.
March of the Machine
Call for Backup
Backup triggers reward sequencing your buffs. Out of the box, before any upgrades. How we rate precons
Buy Call for Backup on TCGplayer →Quick verdict
Call for Backup is a +1/+1 counters deck whose commander doubles the counters on one creature every time it attacks, so a modest board turns into one huge threat within a couple of turns. Bright-Palm, Soul Awakener pairs well with cards like Kalonian Hydra , Conclave Mentor and Shalai and Hallar , and the deck has more real payoffs than most precons. It loses ground through a slow, tapland-heavy mana base, a handful of expensive creatures that do little the turn they land, and almost nothing to keep the board alive through a wrath.
TurnZero HQ rates Call for Backup a 3 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 Call for Backup decklist page, and every other precon we cover is on the precon directory.
How the precon plays
Bright-Palm, Soul Awakener is a four-mana 4/3 with backup 1. When it enters, you put a +1/+1 counter on a creature, and if that creature is another one, it also gets Bright-Palm's attack trigger until end of turn. That trigger doubles the number of +1/+1 counters on a target creature and stops creatures with power 2 or less from blocking it. In practice you attack with Bright-Palm each turn and point the doubling at whatever already has the most counters.
The deck feeds that doubling from many directions. Conclave Mentor adds an extra counter every time counters go on a creature, Good-Fortune Unicorn and Juniper Order Ranger put a counter on every creature that enters, and the other backup creatures, such as Death-Greeter's Champion and Mirror-Style Master , spread counters and lend their attack abilities for a turn. Kalonian Hydra doubles the counters on every creature you control when it attacks, which stacks with Bright-Palm.
Several cards turn counters into damage or cards. Shalai and Hallar deals damage to an opponent equal to the counters placed on your creatures, so a single doubling trigger can hit for ten or more. Uncivil Unrest doubles the damage your countered creatures deal, and Armorcraft Judge and Inspiring Call draw a card for each creature with a counter.
What works out of the box
Bright-Palm, Soul Awakener ↗
Doubles the +1/+1 counters on a creature each time it attacks and keeps small creatures from blocking it. Two attacks turn four counters into sixteen.
Shalai and Hallar ↗
Deals damage to an opponent whenever counters go on your creatures, equal to the number placed. Every doubling trigger becomes direct damage.
Kalonian Hydra ↗
Doubles the counters on every creature you control when it attacks. Alongside Bright-Palm, the whole board grows fast.
Conclave Mentor ↗
Two mana, and every time counters go on one of your creatures, one more goes on. It improves almost every card in the deck.
Mirror-Style Master ↗
Makes a temporary copy of each attacking modified creature when it attacks. With counters everywhere, that can double your damage for the turn.
Inspiring Call ↗
Draws a card for each creature with a +1/+1 counter and makes those creatures indestructible until end of turn. It is the deck's only real answer to a destroy-based wipe.
What needs improvement
The mana is slow for a three-color deck. Three Temples, Jungle Shrine , Krosan Verge and Mosswort Bridge all enter tapped, Temple of the False God does nothing early, and Ichor Elixir is a four-mana rock whose planar dice text never comes up in a normal game. Bright-Palm wants to be attacking on turn five, and these cards push that back.
Protection is thin. A deck that piles counters onto a few creatures loses everything to one board wipe, and only Inspiring Call and Semester's End help with that. The top of the curve also has some soft spots, like the seven-mana Emergent Woodwurm and the six-mana Triskelion , that take a whole turn and do little until the turn after.
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. Fix the mana and ramp earlier
A four-mana three-color commander wants to come down on turn three or four, and the deck's colorless rocks and tapped lands make that hard. Two-mana green ramp spells that fetch lands are a better fit than four-mana artifacts.
What to look for Ramp spells or rocks costing two mana or less that produce colored mana, ideally putting a land onto the battlefield untapped. See how much ramp a Commander deck needs for a target count.
Cut, for example
Ichor Elixir Four mana for two colorless. Its planar dice text only matters in Planechase games, and two-mana ramp gets you there a full turn sooner.
Temple of the False God Produces nothing until you control five lands, so it is a dead draw in the opening turns when you need mana most.
Add, for example
Nature's Lore ↗
Two mana to put any Forest card onto the battlefield untapped, including dual lands with the Forest type.
Farseek ↗
Two mana to fetch a Plains or Mountain card, including typed duals, which fixes the colors this deck struggles to find.
Three Visits ↗
A second copy of the same effect: two mana, a Forest card onto the battlefield untapped.
2. Protect the board from a wipe
Bright-Palm's plan stacks counters onto a few creatures over several turns. One wrath erases all of that, and the deck has only one instant that stops it.
What to look for Instants that give your creatures indestructible or hexproof for three mana or less, so you can hold them up on an opponent's turn.
Cut, for example
Hindervines Prevents combat damage from creatures without counters. It stops one attack, while a protection spell can save the whole board.
Heaven // Earth Earth deals damage to every creature without flying, which includes most of your own board. It works against the deck's plan.
Add, for example
Heroic Intervention ↗
Two mana at instant speed: your permanents gain hexproof and indestructible until end of turn.
Boros Charm ↗
Two mana. Makes your permanents indestructible for a turn, or gives a creature with lots of counters double strike for a lethal attack.
Flawless Maneuver ↗
Free to cast while you control your commander, and it makes your creatures indestructible until end of turn.
3. Draw more cards in the midgame
Outside of Armorcraft Judge and Inspiring Call , the deck has little card draw, and it empties its hand quickly. An enchantment that draws off creatures keeps the counters coming.
What to look for Repeatable draw that triggers on creatures entering, preferably on a cheap permanent you can play early.
Cut, for example
Path of the Pyromancer Discards your hand to draw that many plus one. It is a small gain for five mana, and its planar vote does nothing outside Planechase.
Mindless Automaton Four mana and you discard cards to grow it, then remove two counters to draw one. Slow card flow that eats your own counters.
Add, for example
Guardian Project ↗
Draws a card whenever a nontoken creature with a new name enters under your control. Almost every creature in this deck is a one-of.
Elemental Bond ↗
Three mana, and draws a card whenever a creature with power 3 or greater enters under your control. Counters push many of yours over that line.
4. Trade expensive creatures for cheap counter engines
The deck's six- and seven-drops do little the turn they land. Cheaper cards that add extra counters make every backup trigger and every doubling bigger.
What to look for Cards costing three mana or less that either add extra counters whenever counters are placed, or turn counters into damage.
Cut, for example
Emergent Woodwurm Seven mana. Its attack trigger is strong, but it needs a full turn on the battlefield before it does anything beyond backup.
Triskelion Six mana for three pings. Walking Ballista does the same job at any point on the curve.
5. Add removal that answers anything
The deck's removal is a few fight spells, Swords to Plowshares and Generous Gift . Flexible instant-speed answers let you deal with artifacts, enchantments and planeswalkers too.
What to look for Instant-speed removal for three mana or less that hits any permanent type. See how much removal a Commander deck needs.
Cut, for example
Flamerush Rider Five mana to copy one attacker for a turn. Mirror-Style Master does the same thing for every modified attacker.
Win conditions
The upgraded deck still wins through combat. Put counters on a creature early, attack with Bright-Palm, Soul Awakener to double them each turn, and let Kalonian Hydra and Conclave Mentor grow the rest of the board. Shalai and Hallar turns each big doubling into damage to an opponent, which often finishes a player who has already blocked away the attackers. The changes above get Bright-Palm down sooner and keep the board standing long enough to swing twice.
Who should buy this precon
A good fit for someone who has played a few Commander games and wants a creature deck with real choices. Each attack asks you to pick a doubling target, and the backup creatures ask where to put counters and which attack ability to share, so there is more to track than in a simple beatdown deck. It suits a player who likes building one huge threat and is comfortable with the damage math that comes with Shalai and Hallar.
Checked against the printed decklist on October 10, 2026.
Track how the upgrades actually perform.
TurnZero HQ keeps a win rate per deck version, so you can change a few cards, play some games, and see the difference instead of guessing.
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