Precon Upgrade Guide
Eternal Bargain Upgrade Guide
What to cut, what to add, and how to play the Esper life-gain precon from Commander 2013, commanded by Oloro, Ageless Ascetic.
Commander 2013
Eternal Bargain
Life goes up, cards come down, a simple engine to keep running. Out of the box, before any upgrades. How we rate precons
Buy Eternal Bargain on TCGplayer →Quick verdict
Eternal Bargain is a slow, grinding life-gain deck whose commander turns every point of life gained into a card and a drain. Oloro, Ageless Ascetic gains you 2 life each upkeep even from the command zone, which makes the deck hard to kill from the very first turn. Its problems are a mana base built almost entirely from tapped lands, very little ramp toward a six-mana commander, and several creatures from the original 2013 list that don't gain life or do much else.
TurnZero HQ rates Eternal Bargain 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 Eternal Bargain decklist page, and every other precon we cover is on the precon directory.
How the precon plays
Oloro, Ageless Ascetic costs six mana in all three colors. At the beginning of your upkeep you gain 2 life, and a separate ability does the same while Oloro sits in the command zone, so the deck gains life every turn before you cast anything. Once Oloro is on the battlefield, each time you gain life you may pay {1} to draw a card and make each opponent lose 1 life. The trigger cares about how many times you gain life, not how much, so many small gains are better than one large one.
The deck stacks payoffs on top of that. Sanguine Bond makes an opponent lose life equal to what you gain, Well of Lost Dreams turns life gained into more cards, Ajani's Pridemate and Cradle of Vitality turn it into +1/+1 counters, and Vizkopa Guildmage can copy a turn's life gain onto every opponent. Divinity of Pride and Serra Avatar become huge once your life total is high.
The rest is control. Toxic Deluge , Famine and Nevinyrral's Disk reset the board, Crawlspace limits how many creatures can attack you, and Thopter Foundry turns spare artifacts into flying chump blockers and life.
What works out of the box
Oloro, Ageless Ascetic ↗
Gains 2 life every upkeep from the command zone or the battlefield, and on the battlefield each life gain can draw a card and drain every opponent for 1.
Sanguine Bond ↗
Every time you gain life, an opponent loses that much. With Oloro gaining life each turn, it is the deck's most direct way to end the game.
Well of Lost Dreams ↗
Pays you cards for life you gain, on top of Oloro's own draw. Together they turn every life gain into a lot of card advantage.
Toxic Deluge ↗
Three mana to shrink every creature by as much life as you pay. In a deck with a high life total, it is an efficient and flexible board wipe.
Thopter Foundry ↗
Turns any spare artifact into a 1/1 flier and 1 life. Each activation is another Oloro trigger.
Divinity of Pride ↗
A five-mana 4/4 flier with lifelink that becomes an 8/8 once you have 25 life, which this deck reaches easily.
What needs improvement
The mana base is the biggest weakness. Guildgates, bounce lands, Arcane Sanctum , Rupture Spire , Transguild Promenade and two cycling lands all enter tapped, and Temple of the False God makes nothing early. Combined with only three mana rocks, Oloro often comes down a turn or two later than you want. See the land and mana base guide for what an upgraded three-color mana base looks like.
Several creatures don't gain life or help the plan. Serene Master , Marrow Bats , Tidal Force and Diviner Spirit were filler in 2013 and still are, and the Curses mostly reward other players for attacking each other without giving you anything.
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. Ramp toward a six-mana commander
Oloro costs six and needs all three colors, and the precon has only Sol Ring, Obelisk of Esper and Pristine Talisman to get there faster.
What to look for Two-mana rocks that tap for colored mana, ideally any color. Each one also leaves {1} open for an extra Oloro trigger later.
Cut, for example
Serene Master A 0/2 that only does anything when it blocks. It gains no life and doesn't help you cast Oloro.
Marrow Bats A five-mana 4/1 that costs life to regenerate. Paying life works against the deck's whole plan.
Add, for example
2. Replace the slowest tapped lands
A three-color deck with this many tapped lands loses a full turn of mana over the first few turns, and Oloro's six-mana cost makes every lost mana count.
What to look for Dual lands in two of your colors that usually enter untapped. Start by replacing lands that cost extra mana or make colorless.
Cut, for example
Rupture Spire Enters tapped and costs {1} more to keep, so it sets you back a turn while fixing colors.
Transguild Promenade The same problem as Rupture Spire: tapped, plus {1} you can't spend on anything else that turn.
Temple of the False God Taps for nothing until you control five lands.
Add, for example
Glacial Fortress ↗
Enters untapped with a Plains or Island out and taps for white or blue.
Drowned Catacomb ↗
Untapped with an Island or Swamp out, tapping for blue or black.
Isolated Chapel ↗
Untapped with a Plains or Swamp out, tapping for white or black. The three check lands cover every color pair.
3. Gain life more often, in smaller amounts
Oloro's draw-and-drain triggers once per life gain event, no matter how big. Cheap cards that gain 1 life many times per round of turns get far more out of Oloro than one big gain.
What to look for Cheap permanents that gain life on a frequent, repeatable event: creatures entering, opponents losing life, or each attack.
Cut, for example
Tidal Force Eight mana for a 7/7 that taps or untaps one permanent each upkeep. It gains no life and is the most expensive card in the deck.
Diviner Spirit Draws cards for you and for the player it hits in equal number, so it helps that opponent as much as it helps you.
Add, for example
Soul Warden ↗
One mana: you gain 1 life whenever another creature enters, yours or an opponent's. Each one is a separate Oloro trigger.
Authority of the Consuls ↗
One mana: opponents' creatures enter tapped and each one gains you 1 life.
Exquisite Blood ↗
Gains you life whenever an opponent loses life, so Oloro's drain feeds itself one paid trigger at a time. With Sanguine Bond it is a two-card loop that ends the game, so check that your table is fine with combos.
4. Swap the Curses for instant-speed removal
The deck's sweepers handle wide boards, but it has few cheap ways to answer one threat without wiping your own creatures. The Curses it plays mostly help other players.
What to look for Removal costing three mana or less at instant speed. Cards that hit enchantments as well as creatures fit an Esper deck well.
Cut, for example
Curse of Inertia Lets whoever attacks the cursed player tap or untap a permanent. That rarely benefits you more than the attacker.
Curse of Shallow Graves Gives a Zombie to anyone who attacks the cursed player. It is political at best, and the tokens can just as easily end up attacking you.
Win conditions
The deck wins by draining a little every turn until opponents run out. Oloro, Ageless Ascetic makes each opponent lose 1 life per life-gain trigger you pay for, Sanguine Bond and Vizkopa Guildmage turn your life gain into direct life loss, and Divinity of Pride and Serra Avatar become large threats once your life total climbs. With the upgrades, Exquisite Blood paired with Oloro or Sanguine Bond can end the game in a single turn.
Who should buy this precon
A comfortable pick for a newer player who prefers a slow game and a high life total. The plan is simple to follow, the commander helps you even before you cast it, and it forgives mistakes because you rarely risk dying early. Players who want fast games or lots of combat will find it slow, especially before the mana base is upgraded.
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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