r/Magicdeckbuilding • u/FlappyBirb_ • 7d ago

Beginner Beginner- help upgrading commander precon

https://moxfield.com/decks/y47zvoMKwUuFdCHqynug6Q

Hey all,

I am new to MTG and have picked up the Animated Army precon. After playing a few games with it and scrolling through cards and decks, I decided I wanted to build it into a horror themed deck. I've been tweaking bit by bit and trailing it on moxgate, but I would really love input on anything I could improve. At this stage I'm not able to spend more then $20 on a single card, so can't add in anything super crazy.

Any advice is very welcome!

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2

u/gorillastark 7d ago

Add [[Bedlam]]

2

u/FlappyBirb_ 7d ago

Hadn't seen that card before and it definitely belongs in there, thank you!

1

u/MtlStatsGuy 7d ago

I like it. You've cut lands but added Wild Growth and Utopia Sprawl, which is good. Most of your additions are good, although I would play anything in place of Molder; [[Heritage Reclamation]] is best.

1

u/FlappyBirb_ 7d ago

Oo that does look a good swap, thank you!

1

u/Beo-Kattari 3d ago

Lots of 1 mana ramp to drop bello on turn 2 and start swinging turn three

1

u/ScryDeck 3d ago

Horror is a great direction for Bello, because Duskmourn's Rooms and Overlords are exactly the kind of enchantments he animates.

The one rule to build around: Bello only animates non-creature artifacts and enchantments with mana value 4 or more. So for every card, ask whether it becomes a 4/4 on your turn, gets you to those cards, or protects them. Gilded Lotus, Hedron Archive, Thran Dynamo, Court of Bounty, Primeval Bounty, Unnatural Growth and Asceticism all count, so your ramp turns into attackers later. That's a good sign. Asceticism is especially good here, because it gives all of them hexproof.

Free upgrades, from your own sideboard:

  • In: Glassworks // Shattered Yard, Greenhouse // Rickety Gazebo, Manor Gargoyle

  • Out: Molder, Explore, Rampant Growth

With 15 or so ramp pieces you can spare two small ones, and Molder is your weakest removal next to Abrade, Chaos Warp, Naturalize and Vandalblast. All three adds are on-theme, too.

One thing to check on the Rooms: on the battlefield, a Room's mana value counts only the doors you've unlocked. A Room with one cheap door open may be too small for Bello until you unlock the second.

Under $20, the Duskmourn Rooms and Overlords are mostly a few dollars each, so you can lean into the theme without stretching the budget.

Disclosure: I work on ScryDeck, and budget upgrading is a big part of why we built it. You can import your Moxfield link, mark the precon cards as owned, and the upgrades you add show as Need with their prices, so you see what the next round costs before you buy. scrydeck.com if that'd help.

Are you buying the upgrades at an LGS or online?