Precon Upgrade Guide
Mardu Surge Upgrade Guide
What to cut, what to add, and how to play the Mardu tokens precon from Tarkir: Dragonstorm, commanded by Zurgo Stormrender.
Tarkir: Dragonstorm
Mardu Surge
Go wide, attack: straightforward. Out of the box, before any upgrades. How we rate precons
Buy Mardu Surge on TCGplayer →Quick verdict
Mardu Surge is an aggressive tokens deck with a cheap commander and a lot of cards that make attackers for free. Zurgo Stormrender costs three, makes a Warrior every time it attacks, and draws or drains whenever a token leaves. The box is one of the stronger ones in its set, with Adeline, Resplendent Cathar , Hero of Bladehold and Skullclamp already included. Its weak points are a handful of seven- and eight-mana cards that don't fit a fast deck, a mana base with several tapped lands, and fewer ways to profit from tokens dying than Zurgo would like.
TurnZero HQ rates Mardu Surge 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 Mardu Surge decklist page, and every other precon we cover is on the precon directory.
How the precon plays
Zurgo Stormrender is a three-mana 3/3 with mobilize 1: when it attacks, you create a tapped and attacking 1/1 red Warrior that is sacrificed at the next end step. Its second ability triggers whenever a creature token you control leaves the battlefield. If the token was attacking, you draw a card; otherwise each opponent loses 1 life. The mobilize Warrior is sacrificed after combat, so each attack with Zurgo ends with a drain.
Most of the deck makes tokens while attacking. Adeline, Resplendent Cathar , Hero of Bladehold , Ainok Strike Leader and Legion Warboss add attackers every combat, and Redoubled Stormsinger copies every token that entered that turn. Cards like Lingering Souls , Release the Dogs and Siege-Gang Commander fill the board between attacks.
The rest turns those tokens into value. Skullclamp draws two cards whenever a 1/1 dies wearing it, Bastion of Remembrance drains when your creatures die, and Viscera Seer gives you a free way to sacrifice a token whenever you want Zurgo's trigger.
What works out of the box
Zurgo Stormrender ↗
Three mana, makes an attacker every time it attacks, and draws or drains whenever a token leaves. The commander does a little every turn from turn three on.
Adeline, Resplendent Cathar ↗
Makes a 1/1 for each opponent whenever you attack, and its power equals your creature count. Few three-drops add as much to a token deck.
Skullclamp ↗
Equip a 1/1 token and it dies, drawing two cards. Zurgo also triggers as the token leaves, so each one-mana equip draws two and drains each opponent for 1.
Redoubled Stormsinger ↗
Copies each token that entered this turn as a tapped and attacking token. On a turn with Adeline and Zurgo attacking, that doubles the army.
Hero of Bladehold ↗
Makes two attacking Soldiers each attack and gives every other attacker +1/+0. It ends games quickly if left unanswered.
Thalisse, Reverent Medium ↗
At each end step, makes a 1/1 flying Spirit for every token you created that turn. After a big attack, it often adds four or five fliers.
What needs improvement
The deck's curve is low except for a few cards that cost seven or more. Legion Loyalty is eight mana and Myr Battlesphere is seven, and both arrive after the deck has usually won or lost. Blade of Selves costs four to equip, which is a full turn's mana in the midgame.
The mana base has seven lands that enter tapped every time, including both temples, Canyon Slough and Nomad Outpost . A three-mana commander and a deck full of two- and three-drops want every land untapped on turns one through 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. Untap more of your lands
Zurgo comes down on turn three and wants to attack on turn four. Tapped lands push both of those back a turn.
What to look for Two-color lands in Mardu pairs that enter untapped early: painlands, fastlands or shocklands. Red-black is the pair the box is shortest on.
Cut, for example
Canyon Slough A red-black land that always enters tapped. The cycling rarely matters in a deck this low to the ground.
Temple of Silence Always tapped. The box already has three other white-black lands that can enter untapped.
Temple of Triumph Always tapped, in the red-white pair the deck also covers with Battlefield Forge and Clifftop Retreat .
Add, for example
Sulfurous Springs ↗
The red-black painland. It always enters untapped.
Blackcleave Cliffs ↗
The red-black fastland, untapped as long as you control two or fewer other lands, which covers the turns that matter.
Inspiring Vantage ↗
The red-white fastland, a direct swap for the tapped red-white temple.
2. Trade the expensive top end for cheap token makers
A deck that wins by attacking with 1/1s wants to spend its mana on more 1/1s, not on one eight-mana enchantment. Cheaper token engines also give Zurgo more tokens to draw and drain from.
What to look for Cards costing two to four mana that make tokens every turn or double the tokens you already make.
Cut, for example
Legion Loyalty Eight mana to give your creatures myriad. Strong if it resolves, but in this deck the game is usually decided before you have eight lands.
Myr Battlesphere Seven mana for a 4/7 and four Myr. It is a fine top end in a slower deck, but here a two-mana engine does more.
Blade of Selves Gives myriad to one creature, but costs four to equip. It is slow to move around and the copies are exiled at end of combat.
Add, for example
Bitterblossom ↗
Two mana: a 1/1 flying Faerie every upkeep for 1 life. A steady supply of evasive tokens for Zurgo and Skullclamp.
Anointed Procession ↗
Doubles every token you create, including Zurgo's mobilize Warrior and Adeline's Humans. Four mana in a deck that makes tokens every turn.
Krenko's Command ↗
Two mana for two 1/1 Goblins. Cheap fodder for Skullclamp and a fast start toward a wide board.
3. Get paid when tokens die
Zurgo already drains when tokens leave outside of combat, and the deck has sacrifice outlets. Cards that also drain when your creatures die stack with that and give the deck reach through blockers.
What to look for Cheap creatures or enchantments that drain opponents or draw whenever your creatures die.
Cut, for example
Commander's Insignia Gives +1/+1 per time you've cast your commander from the command zone. On the first cast that is a four-mana anthem for +1/+1, which Angel of Invention already beats.
Goldlust Triad A five-mana flier with myriad that makes Treasure on damage. It doesn't make lasting tokens or care about them dying.
Add, for example
Zulaport Cutthroat ↗
Two mana: whenever it or another creature you control dies, each opponent loses 1 life and you gain 1. Every mobilize Warrior and Skullclamp activation becomes a second drain.
Blood Artist ↗
Two mana, and any creature dying (yours or theirs) makes a player lose 1 life and you gain 1. It also punishes opponents for chump-blocking your tokens.
4. Add two-mana rocks in the colors you need
The deck's ramp includes Wayfarer's Bauble , which costs mana twice and puts a land in tapped. A rock that taps for colored mana right away gets Zurgo and the three-drops out faster.
What to look for Two-mana artifacts that tap for one of your colors the turn they come down, especially in red-black.
Cut, for example
Wayfarer's Bauble One mana, then two more and a tap to fetch a tapped basic. It is three mana spread over two turns for one land.
Win conditions
The deck wins by attacking with a wide board. Zurgo, Adeline and Hero of Bladehold add attackers every turn, and Within Range makes each opponent lose life equal to the number of creatures attacking them. When combat stalls, Bastion of Remembrance , Zurgo's drain and the death triggers added above finish players from range. Divine Visitation turns every token into a 4/4 flying Angel if the game goes long.
Who should buy this precon
A good first deck for someone who likes attacking. Most turns are simple: cast creatures, attack with everything, and draw or drain as tokens leave. There is a lot of counting once the board is wide, but very few hard choices, and the deck is fast enough to win before slower decks set up.
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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