Precon Upgrade Guide
Counter Blitz Upgrade Guide
What to cut, what to add, and how to play the Bant counters precon from Final Fantasy, commanded by Tidus, Yuna's Guardian.
Final Fantasy
Counter Blitz
Counters moving between creatures is the most math-heavy of the four. Out of the box, before any upgrades. How we rate precons
Buy Counter Blitz on TCGplayer →Quick verdict
Counter Blitz is a +1/+1 counters deck with a commander that rewards careful play more than raw size. Tidus, Yuna's Guardian moves a counter between your creatures each combat and, once a creature with counters connects, draws a card and proliferates. The pieces are good, but the deck spends slots on slow seven-drops and symmetrical effects that cost it its own board, and it has few ways to make sure its countered creatures get through blockers.
TurnZero HQ rates Counter Blitz a 4 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 Counter Blitz decklist page, and every other precon we cover is on the precon directory.
How the precon plays
Tidus, Yuna's Guardian costs three and does two things. At the beginning of combat on your turn, you may move a counter from one creature you control onto another, which lets you put a counter on a creature that has none or stack counters on the one that can get through. Then, once each turn, when one or more of your creatures with counters deal combat damage to a player, you may draw a card and proliferate, which adds another counter of each kind to anything you choose.
The deck's job is to make that trigger happen every turn. Hardened Scales , Tromell, Seymour's Butler and Maester Seymour put counters on creatures as they come down, Chocobo Knights gives countered creatures double strike whenever you attack, and Rikku, Resourceful Guardian makes each creature unblockable for the turn when it gets a counter, which Tidus's own move can set up.
Proliferate turns the whole board into a growing threat. Inexorable Tide proliferates whenever you cast a spell, and Grateful Apparition does it on combat damage. Damning Verdict destroys only creatures with no counters, so in this deck it is usually a one-sided board wipe.
What works out of the box
Tidus, Yuna's Guardian ↗
Moves a counter each combat, then draws a card and proliferates when a creature with counters connects. Cheap enough to come down on turn three.
Rikku, Resourceful Guardian ↗
Any creature that gets a counter can't be blocked that turn. Tidus moving a counter at the start of combat makes the receiver unblockable.
Chocobo Knights ↗
Every creature with a counter gains double strike when you attack, which doubles the damage each of them deals.
Inexorable Tide ↗
Proliferates on every spell you cast. Each counter on the board grows a little more with every card you play.
Damning Verdict ↗
Destroys only creatures with no counters on them. Most of your creatures survive, and most of your opponents' do not.
Tromell, Seymour's Butler ↗
Every other nontoken creature enters with an extra +1/+1 counter, so each creature you cast is ready for Tidus and Rikku right away.
What needs improvement
A few cards work against the plan. Bane of Progress destroys all artifacts and enchantments, including your own Hardened Scales , Inexorable Tide and Sphere Grid , and Promise of Loyalty makes you sacrifice all but one of your creatures along with everyone else. Sin, Unending Cataclysm is seven mana and strips counters off your board to grow itself.
The deck also relies on Rikku for evasion, and if Rikku is removed many of Tidus's attacks run into blockers. Its mana base has a lot of lands that enter tapped, including three Temples, Seaside Citadel , Path of Ancestry and three tapped duals, which slows a deck whose commander wants to be out on turn three.
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. Make countered creatures hard to block
Tidus only draws and proliferates when a creature with counters deals combat damage to a player. Right now Rikku, Resourceful Guardian is the main way to get past blockers, so the engine stalls when it is gone.
What to look for Permanents that give evasion or combat advantages to creatures with +1/+1 counters, so the whole team benefits rather than one attacker.
Cut, for example
Yuna's Decision Four mana to either sacrifice a creature for a card and a free drop, or return two permanent cards to hand. It is slow and doesn't help a creature connect.
2. Replace cards that cost you your own board
A counters deck builds its advantage over several turns on a few permanents. Effects that hit everything, including your own enchantments and creatures, undo that work.
What to look for Cheap removal or counterspells that answer one threat and leave your board alone, ideally at instant speed.
Cut, for example
Bane of Progress Six mana to destroy all artifacts and enchantments, which takes out your own counter engines along with opponents' cards.
Promise of Loyalty Each player keeps one creature and sacrifices the rest. You usually have the widest board at the table, so you lose the most.
Add, for example
Swords to Plowshares ↗
Exiles a creature at instant speed for a single white mana. The creature's controller gains life equal to its power.
Generous Gift ↗
Three mana to destroy any permanent. The 3/3 Elephant it leaves behind is a small price for an answer that hits anything.
Swan Song ↗
One mana to counter an enchantment, instant, or sorcery, which covers most board wipes. The opponent gets a 2/2 flier.
3. Get more counters for less mana
The expensive end of the deck spends a lot of mana for a small effect on the counter plan. Cheap cards that add or keep counters make every Tidus trigger bigger.
What to look for Cards costing three mana or less that double counters, proliferate on their own, or keep counters when a creature dies.
Cut, for example
Sin, Unending Cataclysm Seven mana, and it grows by removing counters from your own permanents. The counters are safer spread across the team.
Chasm Skulker Grows one counter per card drawn and makes Squid tokens when it dies. It is slow to matter and doesn't help the others.
Forgotten Ancient A 0/3 that gains counters when players cast spells and moves them in your upkeep. It takes several turns to do much.
Add, for example
Branching Evolution ↗
Doubles every +1/+1 counter placed on your creatures. Together with Hardened Scales, each counter becomes several.
Evolution Sage ↗
Proliferates whenever a land enters under your control. Most turns that is one extra proliferate without spending any mana.
Thrummingbird ↗
A two-mana flier that proliferates when it deals combat damage to a player. Give it a counter and it also triggers Tidus.
The Ozolith ↗
One mana. When a creature with counters leaves the battlefield, the counters go onto this artifact, and you can move them onto a creature at the start of combat.
4. Untap the mana base
Tidus is a three-drop that wants to start moving counters as early as possible. The box has eight lands that always enter tapped plus Temple of the False God , which makes no mana until you have five lands.
What to look for Two-color lands in white-blue, green-blue or green-white that enter untapped on most turns.
Cut, for example
Temple of the False God Adds nothing until you control five lands, which makes it a dead draw early in the game.
Idyllic Beachfront Always enters tapped. A land that enters untapped from turn three on is better here.
Tangled Islet Always enters tapped, for the same reason.
Win conditions
The upgraded deck wins with a wide board of creatures carrying counters that opponents can't block. Each turn Tidus, Yuna's Guardian moves a counter where it matters, one creature connects, and the proliferate grows everything at once. Chocobo Knights doubles the damage, and Damning Verdict clears blockers while sparing your creatures.
Who should buy this precon
Best for an experienced player who enjoys lots of small decisions. Each turn you choose which counter to move, which permanents to proliferate, and which creature to send in, and the deck is much stronger when those choices are right. A newer player can still have fun with it, but the triggers and the counter tracking take some practice.
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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