Precon Upgrade Guide
Sworn To Darkness Upgrade Guide
What to cut, what to add, and how to play the mono-black Demons precon from Commander 2014, commanded by Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath.
Commander 2014
Sworn To Darkness
Straightforward drain, cash it in for a Demon when you're ready. Out of the box, before any upgrades. How we rate precons
Buy Sworn To Darkness on TCGplayer →Quick verdict
Sworn To Darkness is a mono-black deck with a commander that either drains the table or makes a 5/5 flying Demon, and plenty of big black creatures to back it up. Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath gives the deck reach in a long game, and Crypt Ghast and Magus of the Coffers give it a lot of mana once Swamps pile up. It loses ground in a few places: some cards undo your own board, the removal is pricier than black usually needs, and the sacrifice theme lacks the cheap creatures that pay off each death.
TurnZero HQ rates Sworn To Darkness 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 Sworn To Darkness decklist page, and every other precon we cover is on the precon directory.
How the precon plays
Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath is a five-mana planeswalker. His +2 makes each opponent lose 1 life and you gain that much. His −2 creates a 5/5 black Demon with flying and costs you 2 life. His −8 gives you an emblem that lets you pay {1}{B} and sacrifice a creature to gain life and draw cards equal to its power.
Early on the Demon is usually the right call, since a 5/5 flier protects Ob and pressures an opponent at the same time. Once you have a blocker, the +2 drains the whole table every turn and climbs toward the emblem. With the emblem, every Demon token becomes five cards.
The rest of the deck leans on black's strengths: mana from Swamps through Crypt Ghast and Magus of the Coffers , drain from Gray Merchant of Asphodel , and creatures that turn deaths into value, like Butcher of Malakir , Skirsdag High Priest and Ghoulcaller Gisa .
What works out of the box
Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath ↗
Either drains every opponent each turn or makes a 5/5 flying Demon. Both modes are strong in multiplayer, and the emblem turns big creatures into cards.
Crypt Ghast ↗
Every Swamp you tap for mana adds an extra black. In a mono-black deck this roughly doubles your mana.
Gray Merchant of Asphodel ↗
Each opponent loses life equal to your devotion to black and you gain the total. In a four-player game with a few black permanents out, that is a huge life swing.
Grave Titan ↗
A 6/6 deathtouch body that makes two 2/2 Zombies on entering and on every attack. It builds a board by itself.
Butcher of Malakir ↗
Each time one of your creatures dies, every opponent sacrifices a creature. With Demon and Zombie tokens around, it clears boards fast.
Magus of the Coffers ↗
Adds black for each Swamp you control. Late in the game it funds the X spells like Profane Command and Black Sun's Zenith on its own.
What needs improvement
A few cards fight the deck's own plan. Aether Snap removes every counter from every permanent, which includes Ob Nixilis's loyalty, and exiles your own tokens. Abyssal Persecutor stops you from winning while you control it. Skeletal Scrying exiles cards from your graveyard that Victimize and Dread Return want to bring back.
The sacrifice cards have little to reward each death. Butcher of Malakir and Skirsdag High Priest help, but cheap creatures that drain on every death would turn Ghoulcaller Gisa and Disciple of Bolas into a real engine. The deck could also use more two-mana removal and a draw engine that keeps working every turn.
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. Add drain payoffs for every creature that dies
The deck already sacrifices creatures with Gisa, Disciple of Bolas and Flesh Carver, and Ob Nixilis makes tokens. Cheap drain creatures turn each of those deaths into life loss for the table.
What to look for Two- or three-mana creatures or enchantments that drain opponents whenever a creature dies, plus a free sacrifice outlet.
Cut, for example
Raving Dead Attacks a random opponent every turn whether you want it to or not. A five-mana body you don't control the aim of.
Abyssal Persecutor A 6/6 flier for four, but you can't win while you control it, and getting rid of it needs a sacrifice outlet you may not have.
Add, for example
Blood Artist ↗
Whenever it or any creature dies, a target player loses 1 life and you gain 1.
Zulaport Cutthroat ↗
Two mana. Every time one of your creatures dies, each opponent loses 1 life and you gain 1.
Viscera Seer ↗
A free sacrifice outlet that scries each time. It saves a creature's value from removal and triggers every death payoff.
Bastion of Remembrance ↗
An enchantment version of Zulaport Cutthroat that comes with a 1/1 token, so it is harder to remove.
2. Lower the cost of removal
Black has the best cheap creature removal in the game, but much of the box's removal costs four or five mana or only works in odd windows. Two-mana answers leave mana for Ob Nixilis and the rest of your turn.
What to look for Instant-speed removal costing two mana or less that kills most creatures.
Cut, for example
Aether Snap Removes all counters from all permanents and exiles every token, including Ob Nixilis's loyalty and your own Demons.
Wake the Dead Can only be cast during combat on an opponent's turn, and the creatures it returns are sacrificed at end of turn. Very narrow.
Sudden Spoiling Shrinks one player's creatures for a turn. It stops one attack or helps one of yours, but it removes nothing.
3. Add steady card draw
Ob Nixilis's emblem draws cards only late in the game. Before that, the deck relies on one-shot spells. A repeating draw engine keeps threats coming after the first removal spell or board wipe.
What to look for Cheap enchantments that draw every turn, or two-mana spells that draw two cards for some life.
Cut, for example
Infernal Offering Both modes help one opponent as much as you: they draw two too, or they also return a creature.
Skeletal Scrying Exiles cards from your graveyard as its cost, which takes targets away from Victimize, Dread Return and Profane Command.
Add, for example
4. Smooth out the mana
Ob Nixilis costs five and the deck's best cards cost six or more. A two-mana rock that enters tapped or a four-mana rock is a slow way to get there.
What to look for Two-mana rocks that enter untapped, or lands that make extra mana in a deck full of Swamps.
Cut, for example
Charcoal Diamond Enters tapped, so it does nothing on the turn you play it.
Unstable Obelisk A three-mana rock that adds one, with a removal mode that costs seven more mana.
Add, for example
Arcane Signet ↗
Two-mana rock that enters untapped and adds black.
Cabal Coffers ↗
A land that adds black for each Swamp you control. In a mono-black deck it is a second Magus of the Coffers that dodges creature removal.
Wayfarer's Bauble ↗
One mana to cast and two to use, it puts a basic Swamp onto the battlefield, which also grows Crypt Ghast and the Coffers effects.
Win conditions
The deck wins by draining and by flying Demons. Ob Nixilis of the Black Oath and Gray Merchant of Asphodel chip away at every opponent at once, while Demon tokens, Grave Titan and Reaper from the Abyss attack. With drain creatures added, Butcher of Malakir and the sacrifice cards also deal damage every time something dies, which ends games faster than combat alone.
Who should buy this precon
A good fit for someone who likes black and wants a straightforward deck. Most cards are big creatures and clear removal, and Ob Nixilis's choice each turn is simple. It is less suited to someone who wants tight combos, though the upgrades above make the sacrifice side much stronger.
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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