Precon Upgrade Guide
Mishra's Burnished Banner Upgrade Guide
What to cut, what to add, and how to play the Grixis artifact precon from The Brothers' War, commanded by Mishra, Eminent One.
The Brothers' War
Mishra's Burnished Banner
Token copies of what you cast add real value. Out of the box, before any upgrades. How we rate precons
Buy Mishra's Burnished Banner on TCGplayer →Quick verdict
Mishra's Burnished Banner is a Grixis deck of noncreature artifacts that its commander copies into a hasty attacker every turn. Mishra, Eminent One turns a cheap artifact like Ichor Wellspring into a 4/4 that draws a card when it enters and another when it is sacrificed, so the deck gets value from its own trinkets every combat. The engine is strong, but the mana base has a lot of lands that enter tapped, there is almost nothing that counters a spell, and Mishra himself has no protection in a deck that leans on him.
TurnZero HQ rates Mishra's Burnished Banner 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 Mishra's Burnished Banner decklist page, and every other precon we cover is on the precon directory.
How the precon plays
Mishra, Eminent One is a five-mana 5/4. At the beginning of combat on your turn, he creates a token copy of target noncreature artifact you control. The copy is named Mishra's Warform, is a 4/4 Construct artifact creature in addition to its other types, and has haste until end of turn. You sacrifice it at the beginning of the next end step.
Because the token is a copy, it keeps every ability of the artifact you chose. A copy of Ichor Wellspring draws a card when it enters and another when it is sacrificed. A copy of Spine of Ish Sah destroys a permanent when it enters. A copy of Servo Schematic makes a Servo on the way in and on the way out. Every turn the question is which artifact gives you the most for one combat.
The rest of the deck supports that loop. Idol of Oblivion draws a card on any turn you create a token, which Mishra does every turn. Strionic Resonator copies Mishra's trigger for a second Warform, Mirrorworks copies nontoken artifacts as you cast them, and Padeem, Consul of Innovation gives your artifacts hexproof.
What works out of the box
Mishra, Eminent One ↗
Turns a noncreature artifact into a hasty 4/4 copy every combat. The copy keeps all the original's abilities, including enter and leave triggers.
Spine of Ish Sah ↗
The best Warform target in the box. Each copy destroys a permanent when it enters, so Mishra becomes repeatable removal.
Ichor Wellspring ↗
A two-mana artifact that draws a card on entering and on going to the graveyard. A Warform copy draws two cards every turn.
Idol of Oblivion ↗
Taps to draw a card on any turn you created a token. Mishra creates one every turn, so this is a steady draw engine.
Strionic Resonator ↗
Copies Mishra's combat trigger for a second Warform, or copies a Warform's own enter trigger like the Spine's destroy.
Padeem, Consul of Innovation ↗
Gives your artifacts hexproof and draws a card each upkeep if you control the artifact with the greatest mana value.
What needs improvement
The mana base is slow for a three-color deck. Crumbling Necropolis , three Temples, three bounce lands, three Bridges and Path of Ancestry all enter tapped. Mishra costs five and wants to be on the battlefield early, since every turn he is out is another Warform.
There is plenty of creature removal, but nothing that stops a spell, so an opponent's board wipe or combo resolves. Oblivion Stone is one of the deck's few answers to a crowded board, and it destroys your own artifacts unless you pay to protect each one. Mishra also has no way to dodge removal, and the deck slows down a lot without him.
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. Replace the slowest lands
Mishra costs three colors and five mana, and the deck wants to cast cheap artifacts before him. Lands that enter tapped cost you the turn you need to set up.
What to look for Dual lands in two of your three colors that usually enter untapped, such as check lands or pain lands.
Cut, for example
Crumbling Necropolis Makes all three colors but always enters tapped. Duals that enter untapped help the curve more.
Temple of Malice Enters tapped every time for a single scry.
Temple of Epiphany Same problem as the other Temples: a tapped land in a deck that wants to move fast.
Add, for example
2. Add counterspells
The deck is blue and has nothing that stops a spell. A board wipe clears Mishra and the artifacts he copies, and cheap counters keep that from happening.
What to look for Counterspells costing two mana or less, especially ones that stop board wipes and removal.
Cut, for example
Oblivion Stone A wipe that destroys your own artifacts unless you spend four mana per fate counter to protect them. It works against a deck built on artifacts.
Faithless Looting Draws two and discards two, so casting it from your hand leaves you a card down. Expressive Iteration and Thirst for Knowledge filter without that cost.
Nihil Spellbomb Graveyard hate that only matters against some tables. A counterspell covers more threats.
3. Give Mishra better artifacts to copy
A Warform keeps every ability of the artifact it copies, and it enters and leaves every turn. Cheap artifacts with enter or leave triggers give you a card or more each time.
What to look for Cheap noncreature artifacts that do something when they enter the battlefield or when they are put into a graveyard.
Cut, for example
Blast-Furnace Hellkite Nine mana, or an artifact plus the difference with artifact offering. It is a big flier, but the cost is hard to meet.
Dreamstone Hedron Six mana for a rock. By the time it is out, the deck should already be using its mana on Warforms and spells.
4. Protect Mishra
The whole deck runs through Mishra's combat trigger, and he has no protection of his own. Cheap equipment that gives him hexproof or shroud keeps targeted removal off him.
What to look for Cheap equipment or spells that give your commander hexproof, shroud or indestructible.
Cut, for example
Trading Post Four mana, and each ability costs another mana and a tap. Slow for a deck that wants its mana for the engine.
Win conditions
The deck wins with steady value and hasty 4/4s. Mishra copies a different artifact every combat, drawing cards, destroying permanents with Spine of Ish Sah , or making extra bodies, while the Warform attacks. Hellkite Igniter , Metalwork Colossus and Herald of Anguish are the bigger threats, and Brudiclad, Telchor Engineer can turn a pile of tokens into copies of the best one.
Who should buy this precon
A good deck for someone comfortable with Commander who enjoys choosing the right target every turn. Mishra's trigger rewards knowing what each artifact does when it enters or leaves, and three colors make the mana harder than a two-color deck. It is playable for a newer player, but it shows its strength once you know the deck well.
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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