Precon Upgrade Guide
Dungeons of Death Upgrade Guide
What to cut, what to add, and how to play the Esper dungeon and reanimation precon from Adventures in the Forgotten Realms, commanded by Sefris of the Hidden Ways.
Adventures in the Forgotten Realms
Dungeons of Death
Venture and graveyard triggers ask you to track two things at once. Out of the box, before any upgrades. How we rate precons
Buy Dungeons of Death on TCGplayer →Quick verdict
Dungeons of Death is an Esper reanimator deck with a slow but steady engine. Sefris of the Hidden Ways ventures into the dungeon once a turn whenever a creature card hits your graveyard, and each completed dungeon brings a creature back to the battlefield. The deck has good looting and solid reanimation targets, but it carries several dice and artifact cards that do nothing for that plan, too few cheap ways to put creatures in the graveyard on every turn, and a mana base full of tapped lands.
TurnZero HQ rates Dungeons of Death 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 Dungeons of Death decklist page, and every other precon we cover is on the precon directory.
How the precon plays
Sefris of the Hidden Ways ventures into the dungeon whenever one or more creature cards are put into your graveyard from anywhere. It triggers only once each turn, but every player's turn counts, so a discard or mill on an opponent's turn is another venture. When you complete a dungeon, Sefris returns a creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield. Depending on which dungeon and path you choose, finishing one takes three to seven ventures.
The deck's job is to trigger Sefris every turn around the table and pick good things to reanimate. Merfolk Looter , Obsessive Stitcher , Champion of Wits and Geier Reach Sanitarium discard creatures, while Forbidden Alchemy and sacrifice outlets like Doomed Necromancer and High Market put them there too. Hama Pashar, Ruin Seeker makes each room ability trigger twice, and Radiant Solar and Midnight Pathlighter add extra ventures.
The reanimation targets are strong. Sun Titan , Ashen Rider , Sunblast Angel and Cloudblazer all do their work when they enter, so getting them back with Sefris, Karmic Guide or Unburial Rites is real value.
What works out of the box
Sefris of the Hidden Ways ↗
Ventures once each turn, on any player's turn, when a creature card hits your graveyard, and reanimates a creature whenever you complete a dungeon.
Hama Pashar, Ruin Seeker ↗
Every dungeon room ability triggers an additional time. It doubles the value of each venture Sefris gives you.
Obsessive Stitcher ↗
Loots every turn to put creatures in your graveyard, then sacrifices itself to reanimate one when you need it.
Sun Titan ↗
Returns a cheap permanent from your graveyard each time it enters or attacks, and it is a strong reanimation target itself.
Ashen Rider ↗
Eight mana to cast, but it exiles a permanent when it enters and again when it dies. It is the deck's best card to discard and reanimate.
Karmic Guide ↗
A flier that reanimates a creature when it enters. Reanimated by Sefris, it brings back a second creature.
What needs improvement
The set's dice and treasure cards don't fit here. Bucknard's Everfull Purse goes to another player after you use it, Component Pouch and Clay Golem are slow artifacts, and Rod of Absorption , Arcane Endeavor and Extract Brain are spell cards in a deck that wants creatures in the graveyard. Revivify only returns creatures that died the same turn, and only puts them onto the battlefield on a high roll.
Sefris can trigger on every player's turn, but the deck has few instant-speed ways to put a creature card in the graveyard outside your own turn. The mana base also leans on Thriving lands, bounce lands, Arcane Sanctum and Nimbus Maze , so the deck often starts a turn behind. The land and mana base guide covers how to judge each land.
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. Fill the graveyard on every turn
Sefris triggers once each turn, including opponents' turns. Cheap mill and instant-speed card selection let you venture three or four times a round instead of once.
What to look for One- or two-mana cards that mill or discard, especially instants you can cast on an opponent's turn, and creatures that mill when they enter.
Cut, for example
Bucknard's Everfull Purse Makes Treasure on a die roll, then passes to the player on your right. The deck doesn't need the ramp enough to hand an opponent a mana engine.
Component Pouch Three mana for a rock that has to roll dice to build counters before it makes mana. Too slow for what it gives.
Add, for example
Stitcher's Supplier ↗
One mana to mill three cards when it enters and three more when it dies. Both halves can trigger Sefris.
Thought Scour ↗
One mana at instant speed to mill two and draw a card. Cast it on an opponent's turn for an extra Sefris trigger.
Fact or Fiction ↗
Instant-speed draw that puts the other pile into your graveyard. Any creature cards in that pile trigger Sefris.
2. Venture more often
Sefris alone finishes a dungeon slowly. Creatures that venture on entering or attacking get you to the reanimation payoff sooner and benefit from Hama Pashar too.
What to look for Cheap creatures that venture into the dungeon when they enter or attack, or that get stronger once you've completed a dungeon.
Cut, for example
Clay Golem A four-mana 4/4 whose monstrosity costs six and a die roll. It does nothing for the dungeon plan.
Rod of Absorption Exiles instants and sorceries for a later free cast. The deck plays few of those, so it rarely holds anything worth casting.
Arcane Endeavor Seven mana to draw cards on a die roll, and the free spell needs an instant or sorcery in hand. It is too expensive for what it does.
Add, for example
Nadaar, Selfless Paladin ↗
Three mana, ventures when it enters and whenever it attacks, and pumps your other creatures once you've completed a dungeon.
Acererak the Archlich ↗
Three mana to venture and return to your hand, which you can repeat each time you have the mana, until you complete Tomb of Annihilation. Once you have, it stays as a 5/5.
Planar Ally ↗
A flier that ventures into the dungeon each time it attacks.
3. Cheaper reanimation
Sefris returns a creature only when a dungeon is finished. One- and two-mana reanimation spells put Ashen Rider or Sun Titan onto the battlefield on turn three or four.
What to look for Reanimation that costs two mana or less, so you can discard a big creature and bring it back the same turn or the next.
Cut, for example
Revivify Only returns creatures that went to the graveyard from the battlefield this turn, and only to the battlefield on a high roll.
Extract Brain Lets you cast a card from an opponent's hand. It depends on what they're holding and doesn't help the graveyard plan.
Add, for example
4. Untapped mana in all three colors
A three-color deck with this many tapped lands often can't cast its two- and three-mana enablers on time. Painlands are an inexpensive fix.
What to look for Lands that produce two of white, blue and black and enter untapped.
Cut, for example
Thriving Heath Enters tapped and makes only two of your three colors.
Thriving Moor The same problem: tapped, and it covers only two colors.
Nimbus Maze Makes colored mana only if you control the right basic land type, and colorless otherwise.
Add, for example
Win conditions
The deck wins by grinding out value until its creatures take over. Sefris and Hama Pashar, Ruin Seeker move through dungeons while Karmic Guide , Animate Dead and Unburial Rites return Sun Titan , Ashen Rider and Sunblast Angel . Midnight Pathlighter then makes your creatures unblockable except by legendary creatures, which usually ends the game.
Who should buy this precon
Best for an experienced player who likes long games and doesn't mind tracking several systems at once. You manage a dungeon, remember Sefris's once-per-turn trigger on every player's turn, choose which creatures to discard and when, and plan around reanimation targets. Newer players can enjoy it, but it rewards someone already comfortable with Commander's rules.
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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