Precon Upgrade Guide
Rebellion Rising Upgrade Guide
What to cut, what to add, and how to play the Boros tokens precon from Phyrexia: All Will Be One, commanded by Neyali, Suns' Vanguard.
Phyrexia: All Will Be One
Rebellion Rising
For Mirrodin! tokens go wide. Out of the box, before any upgrades. How we rate precons
Buy Rebellion Rising on TCGplayer →Quick verdict
Rebellion Rising is a Boros token deck where every token hits twice. Neyali, Suns' Vanguard gives your attacking tokens double strike and exiles a card you can play each time tokens attack a player, so the deck turns a wide board into both damage and card flow. It has plenty of token makers and anthems already. What holds it back is a pair of cards that wipe or help opponents, two expensive spells at the top of the curve, and a few lands that enter tapped or make only colorless mana.
TurnZero HQ rates Rebellion Rising 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 Rebellion Rising decklist page, and every other precon we cover is on the precon directory.
How the precon plays
Neyali, Suns' Vanguard is a four-mana 3/3. Attacking tokens you control have double strike, so a 1/1 Soldier deals 2 and a token pumped by Intangible Virtue deals 4. Whenever one or more of your tokens attack a player, you exile the top card of your library, and during any turn you attacked with a token you may play that card. Attacking with tokens every turn keeps your hand topped up.
The deck makes tokens from many angles. Legion Warboss and Loyal Apprentice add a hasty token every combat, Assemble the Legion and Court of Grace make more each upkeep, and spells like Hordeling Outburst , Increasing Devotion and White Sun's Zenith fill the board at once. The For Mirrodin! equipment, such as Kemba's Banner and Hexplate Wallbreaker , arrives with a Rebel token to carry it.
Anthems turn those bodies into real attackers. Intangible Virtue , Phantom General and Prava of the Steel Legion pump tokens, and Adriana, Captain of the Guard gives your whole team melee. Since Neyali doubles the damage of every attacking token, each +1/+1 counts twice.
What works out of the box
Neyali, Suns' Vanguard ↗
Attacking tokens get double strike, and each token attack exiles a card you can play that turn.
Assemble the Legion ↗
Makes one more hasty Soldier each upkeep than the last. Left alone for a few turns, it wins the game by itself.
Intangible Virtue ↗
Tokens get +1/+1 and vigilance. With Neyali, each token deals two extra damage and stays back to block.
Hexplate Wallbreaker ↗
Comes with a Rebel token, and when the equipped creature attacks in the first combat, your attackers untap and you get an extra combat.
Otharri, Suns' Glory ↗
A hasty lifelink flier that makes more attacking Rebel tokens every time it attacks, and it can return from the graveyard for four mana and a tapped Rebel.
Flawless Maneuver ↗
Free while Neyali is on the battlefield, and it makes your creatures indestructible for the turn. It answers most wraths.
What needs improvement
A couple of cards work against the plan. Chain Reaction deals damage to each creature equal to the number of creatures on the battlefield, which in this deck usually means your own board dies first, and Cut a Deal draws every opponent a card. The top of the curve also includes Goldwardens' Gambit at eight mana before Equipment discounts and Myr Battlesphere at seven.
The mana base has some drag. Temple of the False God makes nothing until your fifth land, Temple of Triumph , Myriad Landscape and Path of Ancestry enter tapped, and several utility lands produce only colorless. Boros token decks want to curve out early, and those lands slow the first few turns.
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. Turn every token into damage
Neyali already doubles combat damage from tokens. Cards that deal damage when a creature enters, or that make each token much bigger, give the deck reach when the board gets stalled.
What to look for Enchantments or creatures that deal damage when your creatures enter, or replace your tokens with larger ones.
Cut, for example
Hate Mirage Copies two opposing creatures for a turn. It depends on what opponents have and does not build your own board.
Loxodon Warhammer Three to cast and three to equip for +3/+0, trample and lifelink. It costs too much mana per turn in a deck that wants to cast token makers.
Add, for example
Purphoros, God of the Forge ↗
Indestructible, and deals 2 damage to each opponent whenever another creature enters under your control. Hordeling Outburst becomes 6 damage to each opponent.
Impact Tremors ↗
Two mana: each creature that enters under your control deals 1 damage to each opponent.
Divine Visitation ↗
Every creature token you would create becomes a 4/4 flying Angel instead. With Neyali, each one deals 8 when it attacks.
2. Replace the self-harming cards with clean removal
This deck only needs to remove a blocker or an engine, not reset the board. Cheap targeted answers do that without hurting your tokens or feeding opponents cards.
What to look for Instant-speed removal costing three mana or less that targets a single permanent. See how much removal a Commander deck needs.
Cut, for example
Chain Reaction Damage equal to the number of creatures on the battlefield, to each creature. Your wide board makes it bigger and dies to it.
Cut a Deal Each opponent draws a card so you can draw that many. In a four-player game, it gives three opponents a card each to get yourself three.
3. Lower the curve with token makers that attack
Neyali rewards attacking with tokens every turn from turn four on. Three- and four-drops that make attacking tokens do that, while seven- and eight-drops often arrive too late.
What to look for Creatures costing four mana or less that make a token every combat or put tokens onto the battlefield attacking.
Cut, for example
Goldwardens' Gambit Eight mana minus one per Equipment for five hasty Rebels. It needs a lot of Equipment out to be cheap.
Myr Battlesphere Seven mana for a 4/7 and four Myr. The tokens are good with Neyali, but a cheaper token maker gets there sooner.
4. Untap the lands
Two-color aggressive decks lose the most to tapped lands, and this one runs several. Duals that enter untapped help the deck curve out.
What to look for Red-white dual lands that enter untapped on the turns you need them. The land and mana base guide compares the cycles.
Cut, for example
Temple of the False God Taps for nothing until you control five lands, so it is a blank in the opening turns.
Temple of Triumph Always enters tapped. Scry 1 is a small reward for the lost tempo.
Win conditions
The upgraded deck wins by attacking with a wide board of double-striking tokens. Make tokens every turn with Legion Warboss , Assemble the Legion and Hero of Bladehold , pump them with Intangible Virtue and Phantom General , and let Neyali, Suns' Vanguard double their damage. Purphoros, God of the Forge and Impact Tremors finish opponents who survive the attack, and Flawless Maneuver or Clever Concealment keeps the board through a wrath.
Who should buy this precon
A friendly first Commander deck. The plan is easy to see (make tokens, attack with them, play the exiled card), and the deck has its protection built in. The main thing to learn is remembering to play Neyali's exiled cards on turns you attacked with a token, since they stay playable only on those turns. It suits anyone who likes a big board and a lot of combat.
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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