Precon Upgrade Guide
Guided By Nature Upgrade Guide
What to cut, what to add, and how to play the mono-green Elves precon from Commander 2014, commanded by Freyalise, Llanowar's Fury.
Commander 2014
Guided By Nature
Mana dorks and a card-draw payoff, an easy plan to pilot. Out of the box, before any upgrades. How we rate precons
Buy Guided By Nature on TCGplayer →Quick verdict
Guided By Nature is a mono-green Elves deck that makes a lot of mana early and turns it into a wide board. Freyalise, Llanowar's Fury adds a mana Elf every other turn and removes an artifact or enchantment when needed, and Elves like Priest of Titania and Elvish Archdruid scale with every Elf you control. The deck's weak points are a pile of cards that only answer fliers, little protection for a board of 1/1s, and fewer Elf payoffs than the theme deserves.
TurnZero HQ rates Guided By Nature 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 Guided By Nature decklist page, and every other precon we cover is on the precon directory.
How the precon plays
Freyalise, Llanowar's Fury is a five-mana planeswalker. Her +2 creates a 1/1 green Elf Druid with "{T}: Add {G}." Her −2 destroys target artifact or enchantment. Her −6 draws a card for each green creature you control, which in this deck can be ten or more.
The early turns are about mana Elves: Llanowar Elves , Elvish Mystic , then Priest of Titania and Elvish Archdruid , which add one green for each Elf on the battlefield or that you control. Freyalise's +2 keeps adding to that count. By the midgame you can cast several spells a turn.
That mana goes into the finishers. Ezuri, Renegade Leader gives every Elf +3/+3 and trample for five mana, Overrun and Overwhelming Stampede do the same for the whole team, and Thunderfoot Baloth gives everything +2/+2 and trample while Freyalise is on the battlefield. Skullclamp on a 1/1 Elf draws two cards whenever you need to refill.
What works out of the box
Freyalise, Llanowar's Fury ↗
Makes a mana Elf every other turn, answers an artifact or enchantment, and her ultimate draws a card for every green creature you control.
Priest of Titania ↗
Adds green for each Elf on the battlefield. Once a few Elves are out it taps for four or more mana.
Elvish Archdruid ↗
Another mana Elf that scales with the board, and it gives every other Elf +1/+1.
Ezuri, Renegade Leader ↗
Pumps every Elf +3/+3 with trample for five mana, which turns a board of 1/1 mana Elves into lethal damage.
Skullclamp ↗
Equip it to a 1/1 Elf and it dies, drawing two cards. The deck has plenty of 1/1s to spend.
Thunderfoot Baloth ↗
While you control Freyalise, every other creature you control gets +2/+2 and trample. A smaller Overrun that lasts as long as both stay out.
What needs improvement
Too many slots go to cards that only answer fliers. Whirlwind , Elvish Skysweeper , Predator, Flagship , Silklash Spider and Tornado Elemental all kill flying creatures and little else. Against a pod without fliers they do almost nothing, and the deck has very few answers to a big ground creature. See how much removal a Commander deck needs for a rough target.
A board of 1/1 Elves dies to any small board wipe, and the box has no way to protect it. A few cards also help opponents as much as you: Sylvan Offering gives an opponent the same tokens, and Grave Sifter lets every player return cards.
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. Add more Elves that pay off the tribe
Every Elf you add increases what Priest of Titania and Elvish Archdruid tap for and what Ezuri's pump is worth. A few slots now go to Elves that do little for the rest of the deck.
What to look for Cheap Elves that make extra Elf tokens, pump other Elves, or turn a wide board into mana.
Cut, for example
Wellwisher Taps to gain life per Elf. Life rarely matters for this deck; mana and damage do.
Titania's Chosen A 1/1 that grows a little each time a green spell is cast. Too slow to matter in a deck that wins with a single big attack.
Add, for example
Elvish Warmaster ↗
Two mana. Makes a 1/1 Elf token once each turn when other Elves enter, and has a late-game pump for the team.
Heritage Druid ↗
Tap three untapped Elves for three green mana. Elves that just entered can be tapped for it, because tapping them as a cost of another card's ability ignores summoning sickness.
Dwynen's Elite ↗
Two mana for two Elves if you already control one.
Elvish Clancaller ↗
Two-mana lord that gives other Elves +1/+1 and can fetch another copy of itself late in the game.
2. Swap the flier hate for flexible removal
The deck plays five or six cards that only kill fliers. Removal that can hit any permanent covers the same threats and every other kind too.
What to look for Cheap instant-speed removal that hits any permanent, or that uses your own big creatures to fight.
Cut, for example
Whirlwind Four mana to destroy fliers, and nothing else. A blank in many games.
Elvish Skysweeper Five mana and a sacrifice to kill one flier. Very expensive for a narrow effect.
Predator, Flagship Five mana to cast and five more each turn to destroy a flier. The deck has better uses for that mana.
3. Draw cards from casting creatures
Elves empty your hand quickly, and once it is empty the mana has nowhere to go. Draw engines that trigger off creatures keep the deck casting.
What to look for Creatures or enchantments that draw a card whenever you cast or play a creature, or a big draw spell that scales with your board.
Cut, for example
Loreseeker's Stone Six mana before it draws anything, and the activation gets more expensive the more cards you hold.
Grave Sifter Six mana, and every player gets to return cards from their graveyard, not just you.
Add, for example
Beast Whisperer ↗
An Elf that draws a card whenever you cast a creature spell.
Guardian Project ↗
Draws a card whenever a nontoken creature enters with a name you don't already have on the battlefield or in your graveyard. Most Elves here are one-of.
Return of the Wildspeaker ↗
An instant that either draws cards equal to your biggest non-Human's power or gives your non-Humans +3/+3. Both modes fit.
4. Protect the board from a wipe
Elves are small and a single cheap wipe clears them. One protection spell held up on the key turn keeps the mana and the attackers alive.
What to look for Cheap instants that give your permanents indestructible or hexproof.
Cut, for example
Assault Suit Hands your creature to an opponent each turn and costs four plus three to equip. It does not help the Elf plan.
Sylvan Offering Whichever mode you choose, an opponent gets the same tokens you do.
Win conditions
The deck wins with one large attack. Build a board of Elves and Elf tokens, ramp through Priest of Titania and Elvish Archdruid , then cast Overrun , Overwhelming Stampede or activate Ezuri, Renegade Leader and swing with everything. Thunderfoot Baloth does a smaller version of the same thing every turn. Freyalise's −6 is the backup when you need a new hand.
Who should buy this precon
A friendly deck for a newer player. Elves make the plan clear: play small creatures, make a lot of mana, and cast a pump spell to win. The choices each turn are easy to see, and the upgrades above mostly swap narrow cards for flexible ones. Players who want a lot of interaction with opponents will find mono-green limited.
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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