Precon Upgrade Guide
Evasive Maneuvers Upgrade Guide
What to cut, what to add, and how to play the Bant evasive creatures precon from Commander 2013, commanded by Derevi, Empyrial Tactician.
Commander 2013
Evasive Maneuvers
Tapping down blockers and untapping your own lands rewards careful sequencing. Out of the box, before any upgrades. How we rate precons
Buy Evasive Maneuvers on TCGplayer →Quick verdict
Evasive Maneuvers is a tempo deck built around getting small creatures through and getting paid each time they connect. Derevi, Empyrial Tactician taps or untaps a permanent whenever one of your creatures deals combat damage to a player, which can lock down an opponent's blocker or land, or untap your own creature with a tap ability. The deck's weaknesses are a mana base full of tapped lands, Curses and artifacts that don't advance the plan, and too few cheap evasive creatures to trigger Derevi reliably.
TurnZero HQ rates Evasive Maneuvers 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 Evasive Maneuvers decklist page, and every other precon we cover is on the precon directory.
How the precon plays
Derevi, Empyrial Tactician is a three-mana 2/3 flier. When it enters, and whenever a creature you control deals combat damage to a player, you may tap or untap target permanent. It also has an ability that costs {1}{G}{W}{U} and puts it onto the battlefield straight from the command zone. That is not casting it, so commander tax never goes up and Derevi keeps coming back for four mana after each removal spell.
The deck wants many small creatures that can't be blocked. Fliers like Thornwind Faeries and Winged Coatl , and unblockable creatures like Lu Xun, Scholar General and Hada Spy Patrol , each give you a Derevi trigger when they connect. You can spend those triggers tapping an opponent's best blocker or a land before their turn, or untapping your own creatures with tap abilities, like Kazandu Tuskcaller for another Elephant or Thornwind Faeries for another ping.
Murkfiend Liege pumps your green and blue creatures and untaps them on every other player's untap step, so they can attack on your turn and still block or use tap abilities on everyone else's. Roon of the Hidden Realm , Mistmeadow Witch and Conjurer's Closet reuse your creatures' enter-the-battlefield effects, including Derevi's own tap or untap.
What works out of the box
Derevi, Empyrial Tactician ↗
Taps or untaps a permanent each time one of your creatures hits a player, and returns from the command zone for four mana with no commander tax.
Murkfiend Liege ↗
Pumps your green and blue creatures and untaps them during every other player's untap step, so your creatures attack and still guard you.
Kazandu Tuskcaller ↗
Once leveled up, each tap makes a 3/3 Elephant, and Derevi's untap lets it make another in the same turn.
Thornwind Faeries ↗
A flier that triggers Derevi on its own and taps to ping any target. Untapping it with Derevi gives you a second ping.
Roon of the Hidden Realm ↗
Blinks a creature each turn for two mana, reusing effects like Derevi's tap or untap or Fiend Hunter's exile.
Lu Xun, Scholar General ↗
Horsemanship makes it effectively unblockable, and it draws a card every time it deals damage to an opponent.
What needs improvement
The mana base is the most obvious problem. Guildgates, bounce lands, Seaside Citadel , Faerie Conclave , Sejiri Refuge , Secluded Steppe , Rupture Spire and Transguild Promenade all enter tapped, and Temple of the False God makes nothing early. A tempo deck needs to cast a creature and still hold up mana, which tapped lands make hard.
The deck also spends slots on cards that don't trigger Derevi or protect your board. Diviner Spirit draws as many cards for the player it hits as for you, the Curses mostly help other players, and Thunderstaff and Leonin Bladetrap are defensive artifacts in a deck that wants to attack. See how much card draw a Commander deck needs for what to aim for instead.
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. Untapped lands for a tempo deck
A deck that wants to cast creatures and hold up a flash creature or counterspell can't afford a tapped land every other turn.
What to look for Two-color lands in your colors that usually enter untapped. Replace the ones that cost extra mana or tap for colorless first.
Cut, for example
Rupture Spire Enters tapped and costs {1} to keep, so it loses a full mana on the turn you play it.
Transguild Promenade The same tapped land with the same {1} upkeep cost.
Temple of the False God Makes no mana until you control five lands.
2. More cheap evasive creatures and combat draw
Derevi triggers once for each creature that connects. The more small fliers and unblockable creatures you have early, the more triggers and cards you get each turn.
What to look for One- and two-mana fliers or creatures that make your small creatures unblockable, plus enchantments that draw when your creatures deal combat damage.
Cut, for example
Diviner Spirit Draws you and the damaged player the same number of cards, so it helps that opponent as much as you.
Curse of Predation Grows every creature that attacks the cursed player, including your opponents' creatures.
Add, for example
Spectral Sailor ↗
One mana for a 1/1 flier with flash, and it can turn spare mana into cards later.
Tetsuko Umezawa, Fugitive ↗
Your creatures with power or toughness 1 or less can't be blocked. Most of the deck's small creatures and dorks qualify.
Coastal Piracy ↗
Draws a card whenever a creature you control deals combat damage to an opponent, which pairs with every Derevi trigger.
3. Mana creatures that Derevi can untap
Derevi untaps any permanent. A mana creature or a flier that taps for mana gives you extra mana each time a creature connects, and it ramps you on turn two.
What to look for One-mana creatures that tap for your colors, ideally with flying or another ability that helps your attackers.
Cut, for example
Curse of Inertia Gives a tap or untap to whoever attacks the cursed player. Derevi already does that for you, and the Curse hands it to opponents too.
Restore Returns a land from a graveyard. Its usual target is a spent fetch land, which is a small return for a card.
4. Trade defensive artifacts for interaction
The deck's answers lean on temporary effects like tapping and blinking. A cheap removal spell and a counterspell let it deal with a real threat permanently.
What to look for One- or two-mana instants that remove a creature or counter a spell, so you can hold them up while attacking.
Cut, for example
Thunderstaff Prevents 1 combat damage and gives attackers +1/+0 for two mana. Neither effect matters much in this deck.
Leonin Bladetrap Damages attackers without flying. It is a defensive card in an attacking deck, and it only works once.
Win conditions
The deck wins through many small hits rather than one big attack. Fliers and unblockable creatures chip in every turn, and each hit triggers Derevi, Empyrial Tactician to tap down a blocker or untap a creature like Kazandu Tuskcaller for more value. Murkfiend Liege , Mirror Entity and Tempt with Glory turn that board into a real clock, and Control Magic and Rubinia Soulsinger take an opponent's best creature to add to it.
Who should buy this precon
A moderate pick for someone who enjoys tempo and small decisions. Each Derevi trigger asks what to tap or untap, and the best choice changes every turn: an opponent's blocker, a land before their turn, or one of your own tap abilities. It rewards planning a turn ahead more than raw card power, so it suits a player who already knows the basics and wants a deck that feels clever.
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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