Precon Upgrade Guide
Upgrades Unleashed Upgrade Guide
What to cut, what to add, and how to play the Gruul counters and Equipment precon from Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, commanded by Chishiro, the Shattered Blade.
Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty
Upgrades Unleashed
Modified triggers stack up on one big threat. Out of the box, before any upgrades. How we rate precons
Buy Upgrades Unleashed on TCGplayer →Quick verdict
Upgrades Unleashed rewards you for putting Auras, Equipment and counters on your creatures. Chishiro, the Shattered Blade makes a 2/2 menace Spirit whenever an Aura or Equipment enters under your control, and puts a +1/+1 counter on each modified creature at your end step, so the board keeps growing. The deck's problems are a short supply of cheap Auras and Equipment to trigger Chishiro, board wipes that kill your own creatures, and a few cards that work against the plan.
TurnZero HQ rates Upgrades Unleashed 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 Upgrades Unleashed decklist page, and every other precon we cover is on the precon directory.
How the precon plays
Chishiro, the Shattered Blade has two triggers. Whenever an Aura or Equipment enters under your control, you create a 2/2 red Spirit with menace. At the beginning of your end step, each modified creature you control gets a +1/+1 counter. A creature is modified if it has an Equipment or one of your Auras attached or any counter on it. Once a creature has a counter, Chishiro keeps it modified and adds another one every turn.
The deck spreads counters early with Rishkar, Peema Renegade , Grumgully, the Generous and Invigorating Hot Spring , which turns on Chishiro's end-step trigger across the board. Rishkar, Peema Renegade also lets every creature with a counter tap for {G}, and Orochi Merge-Keeper taps for {G}{G} once modified.
The payoffs care about modified creatures. Akki Battle Squad untaps them and gives you an extra combat, Kami of Celebration turns each modified attacker into an extra card, and Ascendant Acolyte doubles its counters every upkeep. Card draw comes from Rishkar's Expertise , Shamanic Revelation and Soul's Majesty , which all scale with a large board.
What works out of the box
Chishiro, the Shattered Blade ↗
A 2/2 menace Spirit for every Aura or Equipment you play, and a +1/+1 counter on every modified creature each end step. The board grows on its own.
Akki Battle Squad ↗
When your modified creatures attack, it untaps them all and gives you an extra combat once each turn. With Chishiro's counters, that is often lethal.
Rishkar, Peema Renegade ↗
Puts counters on two creatures, which makes them modified, and lets every creature with a counter tap for {G}. Ramp that grows with the board.
Invigorating Hot Spring ↗
Gives modified creatures haste and moves a +1/+1 counter onto a creature once each turn. It starts Chishiro's end-step growth right away.
Kami of Celebration ↗
Each modified attacker exiles the top card of your library for you to play this turn, and casting from exile adds a counter.
Rishkar's Expertise ↗
Draws cards equal to your biggest creature's power, then casts a spell up to five mana for free. Late in the game it refills your hand.
What needs improvement
For a commander that wants Auras and Equipment entering, the box has few cheap ones. Most of its Equipment costs three or more to cast or equip, so Chishiro often makes one Spirit a turn at best. One-mana Equipment and Auras that come back are the cheapest way to make more tokens.
Several cards hurt your own board. Chain Reaction deals damage equal to the number of creatures on the battlefield to each creature, which grows with your own tokens. Collision of Realms shuffles all creatures away, and Shifting Shadow destroys the creature it enchants every upkeep. Agitator Ant hands opponents +1/+1 counters, and Goblin Razerunners asks you to sacrifice lands.
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 cheap Auras and Equipment
Every Aura or Equipment that enters makes a Chishiro Spirit, and each one makes a creature modified. One-mana pieces let you do this several times a turn.
What to look for Equipment or Auras costing one or two mana, ideally with a cheap equip cost or a way to return to your hand so you can play them again.
Cut, for example
Shifting Shadow Gives haste but destroys the enchanted creature every upkeep. It throws away the counters Chishiro put there.
Agitator Ant Lets every player put two +1/+1 counters on a creature each end step to goad it. Opponents get bigger creatures and you get little.
Goblin Razerunners Grows by sacrificing lands, which sets back a deck that wants mana for equip costs.
Add, for example
Rancor ↗
One mana for +2/+0 and trample. When it goes to the graveyard it returns to your hand, so you can recast it for another Spirit.
Bonesplitter ↗
One mana, equip {1}, +2/+0. Cheap to cast and cheap to move to whichever creature is attacking.
Shadowspear ↗
One mana for +1/+1, trample and lifelink. It can also strip hexproof and indestructible from opponents' permanents for {1}.
2. Replace self-wipes with spot removal
This deck builds a wide, growing board, so a board wipe usually costs you more than anyone. Targeted removal fits a creature deck better.
What to look for Cheap instants that remove one creature or artifact. Removal that uses your creature's power gets better as Chishiro's counters stack.
Cut, for example
Chain Reaction Deals damage to each creature equal to the number of creatures on the battlefield. With your Spirit tokens out, it kills your own board.
Collision of Realms Seven mana to shuffle every creature away and replace it with a random one. It undoes your counters and your Equipment setup.
3. Protect the modified creatures
Auras and Equipment tie a lot of value to a single creature. A cheap protection spell turns a removal spell into a wasted card for the opponent.
What to look for Instant-speed hexproof or indestructible for one or two mana, for one creature or the whole board.
Cut, for example
Whiptongue Hydra Destroys every creature with flying, yours included. It is narrow removal on a six-mana body.
4. Lower the top of the curve
A few expensive cards sit in hand while the deck wants to be playing Equipment and Auras. Cheaper cards that reward modified creatures do more in the same slots.
What to look for Two- or three-mana creatures or Auras that reward modified creatures or grow quickly with your other enchantments.
Cut, for example
Primeval Protector Eleven mana minus one for each creature opponents control. Against a table with few creatures it is close to uncastable.
Bonehoard Its size depends on creature cards in all graveyards, which is often small in the early and middle game.
Add, for example
Kodama of the West Tree ↗
Three mana: modified creatures you control have trample, and each one that deals combat damage to a player fetches a basic land.
Ancestral Mask ↗
An Aura that gives +2/+2 for each other enchantment on the battlefield. It triggers Chishiro and grows with the deck's other Auras.
Win conditions
The deck wins by attacking with a wide board of large, modified creatures. Play cheap Auras and Equipment for Spirit tokens, let Chishiro, the Shattered Blade add counters every end step, and swing with Akki Battle Squad for a second combat. Kodama of the West Tree and Rancor give the team trample. The upgrades add more cheap triggers and stop the deck from wiping its own board.
Who should buy this precon
A fair fit for a player who has a few games of Commander behind them and likes creature decks with a bit more to think about. Tracking which creatures are modified and where to put each Equipment takes some attention, but the plan is direct: build a board and attack. It plays at a steady middle power level.
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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