Precon Upgrade Guide
Spirit Squadron Upgrade Guide
What to cut, what to add, and how to play the Azorius flying Spirits precon from Innistrad: Crimson Vow, commanded by Millicent, Restless Revenant.
Innistrad: Crimson Vow
Spirit Squadron
Fly over, go wide: straightforward. Out of the box, before any upgrades. How we rate precons
Buy Spirit Squadron on TCGplayer →Quick verdict
Spirit Squadron is a flying tokens deck that wins by going wide in the air, and its commander makes sure the board refills. Millicent, Restless Revenant gets cheaper for every Spirit you control and makes a 1/1 flying Spirit whenever it or another nontoken Spirit dies or hits a player. The deck is easy to play and has good lords, but it runs very few ways to protect a board of 1/1s from a wipe, includes its own sweepers that hurt you most, and spends several slots on cards that aren't Spirits or don't help the token plan.
TurnZero HQ rates Spirit Squadron 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 Spirit Squadron decklist page, and every other precon we cover is on the precon directory.
How the precon plays
Millicent, Restless Revenant costs seven but has affinity for Spirits, so each Spirit you control, tokens included, makes it one mana cheaper. It is a 4/4 flier, and whenever it or another nontoken Spirit you control dies or deals combat damage to a player, you create a 1/1 white Spirit token with flying. With a handful of Spirits out, it often costs three or four.
The deck around it is mostly cheap flying Spirits. Supreme Phantom and Drogskol Captain pump every other Spirit, and the Captain also gives them hexproof. Rattlechains lets you cast Spirits at instant speed, Hanged Executioner and Twilight Drover make extra tokens, and Geist of Saint Traft brings a 4/4 Angel into every attack.
Card draw comes from Mentor of the Meek , which draws whenever a small creature enters, Ethereal Investigator , Bygone Bishop and Reconnaissance Mission . Mirror Entity is the deck's finisher. With a dozen tokens out, it turns all of them into large creatures for one big attack.
What works out of the box
Millicent, Restless Revenant ↗
Gets cheaper for every Spirit you control and makes a flying Spirit token whenever a nontoken Spirit dies or connects. It is cheap to cast and keeps the board wide.
Drogskol Captain ↗
Three mana: other Spirits get +1/+1 and hexproof. Your tokens become 2/2 fliers that spot removal can't touch.
Supreme Phantom ↗
A two-mana lord that gives other Spirits +1/+1. With the Captain out, every token is a 3/3 flier.
Mirror Entity ↗
Sets every creature you control to X/X for X mana. A board of twelve 1/1 tokens becomes twelve 5/5s for five mana.
Mentor of the Meek ↗
Pay one to draw whenever a creature with power 2 or less enters. Almost every Spirit and token in the deck qualifies.
Rattlechains ↗
Flash Spirits let you build your board at the end of an opponent's turn, after their sorcery-speed removal has passed.
What needs improvement
A board of 1/1 fliers is exactly what a board wipe punishes, and the deck has almost nothing that keeps its creatures alive through one. It even includes its own wipes in Kirtar's Wrath and Flood of Tears , which hurt a token deck far more than they hurt the table.
Some slots don't pull their weight. Rhoda, Geist Avenger is a Human with no flying, Oyobi, Who Split the Heavens costs seven and only triggers when you cast a Spirit, and Benevolent Offering gives an opponent three flying tokens too. The mana also leans on Marble Diamond and Sky Diamond , which enter tapped. See the land and mana base guide for a cleaner setup.
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. Protect the board from a wipe
This deck spends its whole game building a wide board of small fliers. One sweeper resets it, and right now the deck has nothing to answer that.
What to look for Instants that give your whole team indestructible, ideally for three mana or less so you can hold them up while still developing.
Cut, for example
Kirtar's Wrath Destroys all creatures, yours included. Even with threshold, two Spirit tokens back are a poor return for your own board.
Flood of Tears Returns every nonland permanent to its owner's hand. Your tokens stop existing, so it hurts you most.
Add, for example
Flawless Maneuver ↗
Creatures you control gain indestructible, and it costs nothing while you control your commander.
Unbreakable Formation ↗
Three mana at instant speed for indestructible. Cast in your main phase, it also puts a +1/+1 counter on each creature.
Akroma's Will ↗
With your commander out, choose both modes: indestructible and protection from colors to survive a wipe, or double strike for a lethal attack.
2. Make every token count
The deck makes plenty of 1/1 fliers but only a couple of cards make them bigger or draw off them. More of those turn a wide board into a fast clock.
What to look for Cheap anthems that pump tokens, effects that make extra tokens, or engines that draw when Spirits enter.
Cut, for example
Rhoda, Geist Avenger A Human with no flying whose counters depend on opponents' creatures getting tapped. It mostly exists to fetch Timin, Youthful Geist .
Oyobi, Who Split the Heavens Seven mana, and it makes tokens only when you cast a Spirit or Arcane spell, not when tokens enter.
Add, for example
Intangible Virtue ↗
Two mana: creature tokens you control get +1/+1 and vigilance. It stacks with the Spirit lords.
Anointed Procession ↗
Doubles every token you make. Millicent, Hanged Executioner and Twilight Drover all make twice as many.
Kindred Discovery ↗
Name Spirit: you draw a card whenever a Spirit enters or attacks, tokens included.
3. More Spirit tokens for less
Millicent costs one less for each Spirit you control, and the lords pump every token. Cheap spells that make several Spirits at once get both going faster than random token effects.
What to look for Spells or Spirit creatures costing three mana or less that make two or more flying Spirit tokens, or that also answer a threat.
Cut, for example
Benevolent Offering Gives you three flying Spirits, but gives an opponent three as well. A token deck can do better than arming another player.
Haunting Imitation Only makes tokens if creature cards happen to be on top of each library. Its output is too random to rely on.
Add, for example
Spectral Procession ↗
As little as three white mana for three 1/1 flying Spirits, and every one of them lowers Millicent's cost.
Midnight Haunting ↗
Three mana at instant speed for two 1/1 flying Spirits. Cast it at the end of an opponent's turn.
Skyclave Apparition ↗
A three-mana Spirit that exiles a nonland, nontoken permanent with mana value 4 or less when it enters. A body and a removal spell in one.
4. Mana that comes in ready
Two diamonds that enter tapped and a few slow lands make the early turns clumsy. Untapped rocks and dual lands let you cast a two-drop and a lord on curve.
What to look for Two-mana rocks that enter untapped, and white-blue dual lands that usually enter untapped.
Cut, for example
Marble Diamond Enters tapped and makes only white, so it doesn't speed up the turn after you play it.
Sky Diamond The blue version, with the same problem.
Temple of the False God Makes no mana until you control five lands, which is when you need it least.
Add, for example
Win conditions
The upgraded deck wins in the air. Spread out cheap Spirits and token spells, pump them with Supreme Phantom , Drogskol Captain and Intangible Virtue , and attack every turn while Millicent replaces what dies. Hold up Flawless Maneuver or Akroma's Will for the wipe, and finish with Mirror Entity or a double-strike attack when the board is wide enough.
Who should buy this precon
A good first Commander deck for someone who likes flying creatures and simple attacks. The plan is easy to follow, the lords make every token better without much to track, and Millicent is cheap to cast. It is less suited to a player who wants a lot of control over the game, since the deck mostly wins by attacking.
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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