Quick Draw Upgrade Guide

Quick verdict

Quick Draw is a spellslinger deck whose commander pays you for casting a second spell every turn, and the box gives it plenty of one-mana cantrips to do that with. Stella Lee, Wild Card turns that second spell into an extra card, and on a big turn she copies your third spell as well. What holds the precon back is a set of slow, clunky cards that do not chain with anything, a thin answer suite for a deck that wants to hold mana up anyway, and a mana base with too many lands that enter tapped.

TurnZero HQ rates Quick Draw 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 Quick Draw decklist page, and every other precon we cover is on the precon directory.

How the precon plays

Stella Lee, Wild Card is a three-mana 2/4 with two abilities. Whenever you cast your second spell in a turn, you exile the top card of your library and may play it until the end of your next turn, so every turn you cast two spells is a turn you draw an extra card. Her tap ability copies an instant or sorcery you control, but only once you have cast three or more spells that turn. Because the first ability works on any turn, including your opponents', holding up a cantrip and a counterspell gets you a card on their turn too.

The rest of the deck is built around cheap spells and the permanents that reward them. Preordain , Ponder , Opt , Serum Visions and Faithless Looting cost one mana, so casting two in a turn is easy. Goblin Electromancer , Haughty Djinn and Thunderclap Drake make your instants and sorceries cheaper. Young Pyromancer , Murmuring Mystic and Talrand, Sky Summoner make a token for each one, and Guttersnipe deals 2 damage to each opponent every time.

The big turns come from copying. Veyran, Voice of Duality makes your spell-cast triggers happen twice, Arcane Bombardment recasts a spell from your graveyard every turn, and Mizzix's Mastery overloaded can cast your entire graveyard of instants and sorceries for free.

What works out of the box

Stella Lee, Wild Card ↗

Every second spell in a turn becomes an extra card you can play, and three spells in a turn unlocks a free copy. She rewards the cheap cantrips the deck is already full of.

Veyran, Voice of Duality ↗

Triggers from casting or copying an instant or sorcery happen an additional time, so Guttersnipe deals 4 to each opponent and Young Pyromancer makes two tokens per spell.

Guttersnipe ↗

Two damage to each opponent for every instant or sorcery you cast. In a deck that casts several a turn, this is the cleanest way to close a game.

Archmage Emeritus ↗

Draws a card whenever you cast or copy an instant or sorcery, which keeps the hand full while you chain cantrips.

Arcane Bombardment ↗

Each turn your first instant or sorcery also exiles a random one from your graveyard, and you get to cast a copy of every card it has exiled. It keeps growing for the rest of the game.

Storm-Kiln Artist ↗

Makes a Treasure every time you cast or copy an instant or sorcery, so a turn of cheap spells pays for the expensive one at the end.

What needs improvement

A handful of cards cost a lot and do little toward casting two or three spells a turn. Rousing Refrain and Midnight Clock take several turns to pay off, Smoldering Stagecoach needs a crew and an attack before it does anything, and Pyretic Charge costs five mana to throw away the hand you were planning to cast. Every one of those slots could be a one-mana spell that triggers Stella.

The deck also has fewer answers than its play pattern deserves. It holds mana open on other players' turns already, yet Arcane Denial is the only real counterspell, and the removal is mostly Pongify , Chaos Warp and Curse of the Swine . The lands do not help: Izzet Boilerworks , Temple of Epiphany and Temple of the False God all slow down the early turns where a cantrip deck wants to be casting spells.

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. Hold up cheap counterspells and removal

Stella triggers on your second spell in any turn, so an instant you cast on an opponent's turn counts. Cheap counterspells give you a reason to keep mana up and a card from Stella when you use them.

What to look for Instants that stop a spell or remove a creature or artifact for one or two mana. Anything that costs three or more is too slow to pair with a cantrip in the same turn.

Cut, for example

✕

Rousing Refrain Adds red mana for each card in one opponent's hand, but it is five mana or a three-turn suspend, and the mana is only useful on the turn it resolves.

✕

Smoldering Stagecoach A Vehicle that needs crew 2 and an attack before its cascade does anything. Spellslinger decks rarely want to attack with a 5-toughness artifact.

Add, for example

Counterspell ↗

Two mana to counter any spell. The standard every other counterspell is measured against.

Swan Song ↗

One mana to counter an instant, sorcery, or enchantment. It answers most board wipes and combo pieces, and the 2/2 bird it gives away rarely matters.

Abrade ↗

Two mana at instant speed to deal 3 damage to a creature or destroy an artifact. It covers both early threats and mana rocks.

2. Swap slow cards for one-mana spells

Everything in this deck gets better when you cast more spells per turn. One-mana cantrips make it easy to cast two in the same turn and trigger Stella while still holding mana up.

What to look for Instants or sorceries that cost one mana and replace themselves with a card. Instants are better, since you can cast them on an opponent's turn.

Cut, for example

✕

Midnight Clock A three-mana rock that reshuffles your hand and graveyard only after twelve counters. In this deck the graveyard is a resource, and the reset wipes it out.

✕

Pyretic Charge Five mana to discard your hand and draw four. In a deck built on casting the cards in hand, the discard usually costs you spells.

Add, for example

Brainstorm ↗

One mana at instant speed to draw three and put two back. It digs deep and costs almost nothing to fit next to another spell.

Consider ↗

One-mana instant that draws a card and lets you put the top card in the graveyard first. Cheap, and it fuels the delve and flashback cards.

Spell Pierce ↗

One mana to counter a noncreature spell unless its controller pays 2. Strong early and still useful later as the cheap second spell for Stella.

3. Fix the lands that enter tapped

A deck that wants to cast two spells on turn three cannot afford to skip a turn's mana. The box has several lands that enter tapped or produce nothing early.

What to look for Blue-red dual lands that enter untapped, or that enter untapped in the first few turns. See the land and mana base guide for the full range.

Cut, for example

✕

Izzet Boilerworks Enters tapped and returns a land to your hand. It can net a land drop later, but it costs you tempo the turn you play it.

✕

Temple of the False God Taps for nothing until you control five lands, which makes it a blank on the turns you most need mana.

Add, for example

Steam Vents ↗

Enters untapped for 2 life and taps for blue or red. It is also an Island and a Mountain, which helps Sulfur Falls and Frostboil Snarl.

Spirebluff Canal ↗

Enters untapped while you control two or fewer other lands, which covers the turns that matter most.

Fiery Islet ↗

Taps for blue or red for 1 life and can later be sacrificed to draw a card when you have lands to spare.

4. Turn every spell into mana or a threat

A few of the box's support cards do very little once they are on the battlefield. Permanents that pay you mana or grow for each spell make the long chains possible and give the deck another way to win.

What to look for Cheap creatures or permanents that trigger on every spell you cast, ideally with mana or a growing body as the payoff.

Cut, for example

✕

Cursed Mirror A three-mana rock whose copy mode lasts only one turn. A creature that makes mana on every spell does more for the same cost.

✕

Leyline Dowser Pays one mana and a tap to mill a single card. It is slow card selection when the cantrips already do that job better.

✕

Electrostatic Field A wall that deals 1 damage to each opponent per instant or sorcery. Guttersnipe does twice as much for one more mana.

Add, for example

Birgi, God of Storytelling ↗

Adds red mana every time you cast a spell, and that mana lasts until end of turn. Long spell chains effectively pay for themselves.

Sprite Dragon ↗

A two-mana flier with haste that gets a permanent +1/+1 counter for each noncreature spell you cast. It becomes a real threat within a few turns.

Baral, Chief of Compliance ↗

Makes your instants and sorceries cost one less, and loots whenever one of your counterspells resolves.

Win conditions

The upgraded deck wins the same ways the precon does, only faster. Damage from Guttersnipe adds up over a long chain of cheap spells, especially with Veyran, Voice of Duality doubling it. Tokens from Young Pyromancer , Talrand, Sky Summoner and Murmuring Mystic build a flying army, and Eris, Roar of the Storm adds a 4/4 Dragon every turn you cast two spells. A turn with Mizzix's Mastery overloaded or Arcane Bombardment running can recast enough of your graveyard to finish the table.

Who should buy this precon

A good pick for a player who enjoys sequencing spells and is ready to track a few triggers each turn. Stella asks you to count spells and decide whether to save the exiled card for your next turn, which takes some practice but is not overwhelming. It is less suited to someone who wants a deck that plays creatures and attacks, since most turns here are spent casting instants and sorceries.

Checked against the printed decklist on October 10, 2026.