Precon Upgrade Guide
Cavalry Charge Upgrade Guide
What to cut, what to add, and how to play the Esper Knights precon from March of the Machine, commanded by Sidar Jabari of Zhalfir.
March of the Machine
Cavalry Charge
Aggressive and go-wide: straightforward. Out of the box, before any upgrades. How we rate precons
Buy Cavalry Charge on TCGplayer →Quick verdict
Cavalry Charge is a straightforward Knight deck with a commander that helps even before it is cast. Sidar Jabari of Zhalfir loots every time you attack with Knights, from the command zone or the battlefield, so the deck smooths its draws from the first attack on. Lords like Knight Exemplar and Valiant Knight , plus evasion from Herald of Hoofbeats , give it a real way to close games. The weak points are a three-color mana base full of tapped lands and colorless rocks, a pair of board wipes that hurt you more than your opponents, and a few slow cards at the top of the curve.
TurnZero HQ rates Cavalry Charge 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 Cavalry Charge decklist page, and every other precon we cover is on the precon directory.
How the precon plays
Sidar Jabari of Zhalfir has eminence: whenever you attack with one or more Knights, if Sidar is in the command zone or on the battlefield, you draw a card and then discard one. That means you can start looting on turn two with a cheap Knight and only cast Sidar when the board is ready. Once on the battlefield it is a 4/3 with flying and first strike, and whenever it deals combat damage to a player, you return a Knight creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield.
The deck wants to attack every turn with a wide board of Knights. Hero of Bladehold and Adeline, Resplendent Cathar add attacking tokens each combat, Knight Exemplar and Valiant Knight pump the team, and Herald of Hoofbeats gives your other Knights horsemanship, which makes them very hard to block in most games.
The loot from eminence fills the graveyard with Knights, and the deck has ways to use them. Sidar returns one on each hit, Haakon, Stromgald Scourge lets you cast Knights from your graveyard, and Knights' Charge can return all of them at once. Elenda and Azor is a top-end finisher that turns spare mana into cards and lifelink tokens.
What works out of the box
Sidar Jabari of Zhalfir ↗
Loots on every Knight attack even from the command zone, and returns a Knight from your graveyard each time it hits a player.
Herald of Hoofbeats ↗
Gives your other Knights horsemanship, so they can only be blocked by creatures with horsemanship. Most tables have none.
Knight Exemplar ↗
Other Knights get +1/+1 and indestructible. It protects the board from destroy effects and from bad blocks.
Hero of Bladehold ↗
Makes two attacking tokens and pumps every other attacker each time it attacks. Few four-drops add as much damage.
Adeline, Resplendent Cathar ↗
Three mana for a big vigilant body that makes a token for each opponent every time you attack.
Exsanguinator Cavalry ↗
Every Knight that connects gets a +1/+1 counter and makes a Blood token, which lets you trade a spare card for a new one.
What needs improvement
The mana is the first problem. The deck runs three Temples, three Thriving lands, Arcane Sanctum and Path of Ancestry , all of which enter tapped, plus Ichor Elixir and Fractured Powerstone , which make only colorless mana. Many of the Knights cost two white or two black, so colored sources matter more than raw mana.
Two of the deck's sweepers fight its own plan. Promise of Loyalty makes you sacrifice all but one creature, and Fell the Mighty usually kills your pumped Knights before it kills anything else. A wide aggressive deck wants protection for its own board and targeted answers for everyone else's.
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 colored mana
An Esper deck full of WW and BB costs can't lean on colorless rocks and tapped lands. Cheaper colored sources get your two- and three-drop Knights out on curve.
What to look for Two-mana rocks that make one of your colors, and dual lands that usually enter untapped. The land and mana base guide covers which duals fit a three-color deck.
Cut, for example
Ichor Elixir Four mana for two colorless mana. The planar dice text only matters in Planechase, and a two-mana colored rock does more for this deck.
Fractured Powerstone A two-mana rock that makes only colorless. The die roll is irrelevant outside Planechase.
Temple of the False God Makes no mana until you control five lands, which is too late for a deck that wants to attack early.
Add, for example
Talisman of Hierarchy ↗
Two mana, taps for white or black at the cost of 1 life. Both of the deck's heaviest colors in one rock.
Talisman of Progress ↗
Two mana, taps for white or blue. It helps cast Sidar and Herald of Hoofbeats on time.
Isolated Chapel ↗
A white-black dual that enters untapped if you control a Plains or a Swamp, which is most turns.
Glacial Fortress ↗
A white-blue dual that enters untapped if you control a Plains or an Island.
2. Protect the team instead of wiping it
Your board is the win condition, so a card that sacrifices your own creatures is a poor answer. A protection spell keeps your Knights through an opponent's wrath and can also win the game.
What to look for Instants that give your creatures indestructible or protection, ideally ones that can also be used offensively.
Cut, for example
Promise of Loyalty Every player keeps one creature and sacrifices the rest. You almost always have the widest board, so you lose the most.
Add, for example
Akroma's Will ↗
With a commander out, your creatures get flying, vigilance, double strike, lifelink, indestructible and protection from each color for the turn. It saves the board or wins the game.
Flawless Maneuver ↗
Free to cast while you control your commander, and your creatures gain indestructible until end of turn.
3. Lower the curve with cheaper Knights
Eminence triggers on the first Knight attack, so a cheap Knight on turn one or two starts the loot engine. The deck's seven-drop and some of its five-drops slow that down.
What to look for Knights costing three mana or less that either attack well early or make the rest of the team hit harder.
Cut, for example
Knight of the Last Breath Seven mana for a 4/4 whose value comes mostly from dying. It is too slow for an attacking deck.
Syr Konrad, the Grim Five mana. Its triggers deal 1 damage each, and the deck does not kill or mill enough creatures to make it more than a body.
Haakon, Stromgald Scourge Can only be cast from your graveyard, so it is a dead card in your opening hand.
Add, for example
Knight of the Ebon Legion ↗
One mana, and it pumps itself by +3/+3 with deathtouch for three mana. A Knight that starts eminence on turn two.
Silverblade Paladin ↗
Three mana. Pair it with your best attacker and both get double strike as long as they stay paired.
Kinsbaile Cavalier ↗
Four mana, and every Knight you control has double strike. It doubles the damage of the lord-pumped team.
4. Add removal that hits more than creatures
The deck has good creature removal but only Return to Dust for artifacts and enchantments. Flexible answers stop a combo piece or a blocker-making engine.
What to look for Instants costing three mana or less that handle creatures and at least one other permanent type. See how much removal a Commander deck needs.
Cut, for example
Fell the Mighty Destroys every creature with power greater than a target creature's. With lords out, your Knights are usually the biggest creatures on the table.
Win conditions
The upgraded deck wins the same way the precon does: attack every turn with a wide board of Knights. Herald of Hoofbeats makes most of them unblockable in practice, Knight Exemplar and Valiant Knight pump them, and Kinsbaile Cavalier or Akroma's Will turns one big attack into a lethal one. Sidar Jabari of Zhalfir keeps your hand pointed at the next threat and brings Knights back from the graveyard after a removal spell.
Who should buy this precon
A good first Commander precon for someone who likes attacking. The plan is easy to follow (play Knights, attack, loot), and the main decision each turn is which card to discard to eminence. It is a decent pick for a newer player who wants a typal deck with clear lords and evasion, and it stays fun to upgrade one card at a time.
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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