Precon Upgrade Guide
Primal Genesis Upgrade Guide
What to cut, what to add, and how to play the Naya populate and big tokens precon from Commander 2019, commanded by Ghired, Conclave Exile.
Commander 2019
Primal Genesis
Go wide, then populate your biggest token. Out of the box, before any upgrades. How we rate precons
Buy Primal Genesis on TCGplayer →Quick verdict
Primal Genesis is a Naya token deck that copies its biggest token over and over. Ghired, Conclave Exile arrives with a 4/4 trampling Rhino and populates every time it attacks, so each attack adds another Rhino to the fight. The plan is simple and it works. The deck is held back by a mana base where most nonbasic lands enter tapped, a few very expensive creatures, and a board wipe that kills your own tokens.
TurnZero HQ rates Primal Genesis 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 Primal Genesis decklist page, and every other precon we cover is on the precon directory.
How the precon plays
Ghired, Conclave Exile is a five-mana 2/5. When it enters you create a 4/4 green Rhino token with trample, and whenever Ghired attacks you populate: you create a copy of a creature token you control, and that copy enters tapped and attacking. Copying the Rhino each turn means Ghired adds four trampling power to every attack.
The deck's other token makers give populate better targets. Rampaging Baloths makes a 4/4 Beast on each land drop, Garruk, Primal Hunter makes 3/3 Beasts, and Wingmate Roc and Roc Egg make 3/4 and 3/3 fliers. Growing Ranks populates every upkeep, Song of the Worldsoul populates on every spell you cast, and Full Flowering and Second Harvest copy many tokens at once.
Card draw comes from creature size. Elemental Bond and Garruk's Packleader draw whenever a creature with power 3 or greater enters, which includes every Rhino, and Colossal Majesty draws each upkeep while you control a creature with power 4 or greater.
What works out of the box
Ghired, Conclave Exile ↗
Brings its own 4/4 trampling Rhino and copies a token every attack. Even with nothing else on the board, it adds a new attacker each turn.
Growing Ranks ↗
Populates at the start of every upkeep. Paired with Ghired, you make two copies of your best token each turn cycle.
Elemental Bond ↗
Draws a card whenever a creature with power 3 or greater enters under your control, and most of the deck's tokens are 3/3 or bigger.
Second Harvest ↗
Four mana at instant speed to copy every token you control. Cast it at the end of an opponent's turn and attack with twice the board.
Rampaging Baloths ↗
A 6/6 trampler that makes a 4/4 Beast every time a land enters under your control. Those Beasts are good populate targets.
Rootborn Defenses ↗
Three mana at instant speed: populate, and your creatures gain indestructible. It stops a destroy-based board wipe and adds a token.
What needs improvement
The mana base is the deck's slowest part. Four gain lands, three bounce lands, Jungle Shrine , Krosan Verge and Myriad Landscape all enter tapped, and Evolving Wilds , Terramorphic Expanse and Naya Panorama put their basics onto the battlefield tapped as well. Ghired costs five mana in three colors, so a tapped land on turn four or five often delays it a full turn.
A few slots work against the plan. Desolation Twin costs ten and Tectonic Hellion costs seven, and the Hellion can make you sacrifice lands if your ramp has put you ahead. Phyrexian Rebirth destroys every creature including your tokens. The deck also has little cheap removal for a creature that walls your Rhinos; see how much removal a Commander deck needs.
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
Ghired needs five mana on turn four or five, and the deck's ramp spells already put lands in tapped. Duals that enter untapped make sure that ramp actually speeds you up.
What to look for Two-color lands in the deck's three pairs that enter untapped when you control a basic of the right type. Swap out the gain lands and colorless-only lands first.
Cut, for example
Rugged Highlands Always enters tapped for 1 life. The life rarely matters in a deck that gains plenty from Trostani and Thragtusk.
Graypelt Refuge Another gain land that always enters tapped.
Myriad Landscape Enters tapped, taps for colorless, and needs two more mana to fetch two basics of one type. It is slow in three colors.
2. Double the tokens instead of casting huge creatures
Every populate and every token maker in the deck gets twice as good with a token doubler. That does more for the plan than a ten-mana creature that never interacts with populate.
What to look for Permanents costing four mana or less that create extra tokens whenever you would create tokens.
Cut, for example
Desolation Twin Ten mana for two 10/10s. The token is a strong populate target, but it costs so much that you rarely get there.
Tectonic Hellion Seven mana for an 8/5 haste. Its attack trigger makes whoever controls the most lands sacrifice two, and after the deck's ramp that is often you.
Add, for example
Parallel Lives ↗
Four mana: every effect that creates tokens creates twice as many. Ghired's populate makes two Rhinos per attack.
Anointed Procession ↗
The white version of the same effect. With both out, each token becomes four.
Mondrak, Glory Dominus ↗
A four-mana 4/4 that doubles your tokens. Being a creature, it attacks too, and it can earn an indestructible counter.
3. Cheap removal that spares your board
The box's main removal is a board wipe that kills your tokens, plus a six-mana exile. A token deck wants one-target answers that cost little.
What to look for Removal costing three mana or less that targets one creature or permanent, preferably at instant speed.
Cut, for example
Phyrexian Rebirth Destroys every creature, yours included. The one Horror token it leaves is a poor trade for a board of Rhinos.
Hate Mirage Four mana for temporary copies of two opponents' creatures. It neither removes anything nor adds to your board.
4. Make each attack hit harder
Ghired attacks into a wide board every turn. An anthem or a counter engine turns each new token into extra damage for the whole team.
What to look for Enchantments or creatures that pump all your creatures, ideally scaling with how many tokens enter or attack.
Cut, for example
Doomed Artisan Makes a Sculpture each end step, but Sculptures can't attack or block. It does nothing for Ghired's attacks.
Feldon of the Third Path Three mana and a tap for a one-turn copy of a creature card in your graveyard. Too narrow for a deck that keeps its creatures on the battlefield.
Add, for example
Cathars' Crusade ↗
Each creature that enters puts a +1/+1 counter on every creature you control. Every populate grows the whole team.
Beastmaster Ascension ↗
Three mana. Gets a quest counter for each attacking creature, and at seven your creatures get +5/+5. One wide attack is often enough to turn it on.
Win conditions
The upgraded deck wins the same way the precon does. Cast Ghired, Conclave Exile , populate a Rhino every attack, and let Growing Ranks and Second Harvest add more copies. A token doubler turns each of those into two, and Cathars' Crusade or Beastmaster Ascension makes the final attack lethal across the table.
Who should buy this precon
A good first deck for a player who wants a straightforward plan. Ghired's ability takes no decisions beyond picking which token to copy, and the deck is mostly creatures and token makers. It sits at a casual power level, and the upgrades above make it faster without making it harder to play. Players looking for a deck with lots of interaction or tricky lines will want something else.
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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