SparkMTG has a free upgrade guide for every current Commander precon: all six Reality Fracture decks, the four Star Trek decks, the four Warhammer 40K decks, the four Marvel Super Heroes decks and the Miku Secret Lair deck. Each guide names the best cards to add, five budget picks, and what to cut. Start with the budget tier: most decks improve for about $10.
Star Trek upgrade kit
The newest kit: all four Star Trek precons, upgraded
Star Trek is the current release, out November 13, 2026. The kit gives each of the four Commander decks 15 exact swaps in a three-step buy order, plus an upgraded 100-card list. Subscribe free and we send you the kit.
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Key facts
Guides: 19 deck-by-deck upgrade guides, 4 set hubs, and 2 guides that work on any deck.
Sets covered: Reality Fracture (6 decks, out October 2, 2026), Star Trek (4 decks, out November 13, 2026), Warhammer 40K (4 decks, reprint confirmed October 8, 2026), Marvel Super Heroes (4 decks) and the Hatsune Miku Secret Lair deck.
Budget-first approach: every deck guide leads with 5 best cards regardless of price, then 5 budget picks under about $5 each, then the exact cards to cut.
What budget means: the five Reality Fracture budget picks run $1.92 to $4.77 per deck, and the Marvel budget tiers run about $6.50 to $10.
Any deck: the Precon Upgrade Playbook fixes any precon with 15 colorless cards for about $8.27, plus about $10 of mana fixing.
What to buy first
The buy order: lands first, power last
The kit sorts the upgrades for each Star Trek Commander deck into three steps: lands, then budget swaps, then power swaps. Buy one step at a time and stop wherever the budget does. Subscribe free and we send you the kit.
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Best Commander precons right now, ranked
We ranked every released precon SparkMTG has a guide for by the "Stock or upgrade?" verdict in its own guide (fine stock first, then playable stock that needs land fixes, then decks that need upgrades before they feel good), and within each tier by the cost of that guide's five budget picks, cheapest first.
Rank | Deck | Set | Colors | Price | Best for | Guide link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Keen Engineering | Reality Fracture (Foundations Commander) | Blue | $29.99 MSRP; budget picks about $1.92 | Tinkerers who like artifact engines | |
2 | Reign of Dragons | Reality Fracture (Foundations Commander) | Red | $29.99 MSRP; budget picks about $2.45 | Dragon fans at slower tables | |
3 | Tramplesaurus Rex | Reality Fracture (Foundations Commander) | Green | $29.99 MSRP; budget picks about $4.24 | New players: the best first deck of the six | |
4 | Calling All Angels | Reality Fracture (Foundations Commander) | White | $29.99 MSRP; budget picks about $4.59 | Angels and lifegain fans | |
5 | Wretched Ranks | Reality Fracture (Foundations Commander) | Black | $29.99 MSRP; budget picks about $4.77 | Zombie fans who like going wide | |
6 | Necron Dynasties | Warhammer 40K | Black | $59.99 at launch, reprint price not announced; budget picks about $7.49 | Graveyard and artifact fans | |
7 | Multiverse Reforged | Reality Fracture | White, blue, black, red | $49.99 MSRP; budget picks about $2.54 | Story fans and collectors, not a first deck | |
8 | The Fantastic Four | Marvel Super Heroes | White, blue, black, red | Budget picks about $4 | Spellslinger and four-color brewers | |
9 | Tyranid Swarm | Warhammer 40K | Blue, red, green | $59.99 at launch, reprint price not announced; budget picks about $4.76 | Big-creature fans | |
10 | Forces of the Imperium | Warhammer 40K | White, blue, black | $59.99 at launch, reprint price not announced; budget picks about $7.94 | Most players; a good first three-color deck | |
11 | The Ruinous Powers | Warhammer 40K | Blue, black, red | $59.99 at launch, reprint price not announced; budget picks about $8.52 | Experienced players who like big cascade turns | |
12 | Avengers Assemble | Marvel Super Heroes | White, blue, red | Budget picks about $31 | Beginners: the most focused Marvel deck | |
13 | Hatsune Miku | Secret Lair Commander Deck | Green, white | $149.99; ten-card upgrade about $42.66 | Go-wide tokens and lifegain | |
14 | Wakanda Forever | Marvel Super Heroes | Green, white | Budget picks about $6 | Artifact Voltron builders willing to pick a lane | |
15 | Doom Prevails | Marvel Super Heroes | Blue, black, red | Budget picks about $14 | Villain fans; highest ceiling with Loki as commander | |
Not rated | Odds and Ends | Secret Lair Commander Deck | White, blue, black | $149.99; budget swaps about $2.66 | Players who want the Esper Sentinel and Sensei's Divining Top reprints, not a first deck |
Prices and verdicts come from each linked guide and the Reality Fracture, Warhammer 40K and Secret Lair hubs, checked on the dates those pages state. Marvel Super Heroes MSRPs are not in our guides, so those rows show upgrade cost only. Warhammer 40K sealed decks sold for $231.37 to $356.81 on October 8, 2026, so buy singles until the reprint lands. Odds and Ends is not rated because its guide gives a bracket, not a stock verdict.
Upcoming, not ranked yet: the four Star Trek Commander decks (November 13, 2026) and the four Marvel: Darkhold Destiny decks (April 9, 2027). They join the table once they release and our guides have full decklists.
No retyping
Paste-ready 100-card lists for all four Star Trek decks
The kit includes the upgraded 100-card list for each of the four Star Trek Commander decks, ready to paste into your deck builder. Built from Wizards' October 29 decklists. Subscribe free and we send you the kit.
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Reality Fracture precon upgrade guides
Six decks, out October 2, 2026. Wizards published the decklists in September, so every guide below has the full 100 and the ten exact cuts. Start with all six Reality Fracture precons explained.
Calling All Angels: Giada, Font of Hope, mono-white Angels. The upgrades add lifegain payoffs that grow the whole team; five budget picks for about $4.59.
Keen Engineering: Sai, Master Thopterist, mono-blue artifacts. Cheap artifacts that trigger Sai for zero or one mana; five budget picks for about $1.92.
Wretched Ranks: Ghoulcaller Gisa, mono-black Zombies. Adds the drain and sacrifice payoffs the engine is missing; five budget picks for about $4.77.
Reign of Dragons: Lathliss, Dragon Queen, mono-red Dragons. Swaps filler for hasty, real Dragons that trigger Lathliss; five budget picks for about $2.45.
Tramplesaurus Rex: Ghalta, Primal Hunger, mono-green stompy. Adds cheap ramp and protection for Ghalta; five budget picks for about $4.24.
Multiverse Reforged: Jace, Multiverse Architect, four-color creature swapping. Fills the two color pairs the mana misses; five budget picks for about $2.54.
Star Trek precon upgrade guides
Four decks, out November 13, 2026. Full decklists are not public yet, so these guides list the adds now and get in-deck cuts once Wizards posts the lists. Start with all four Star Trek Commander decks explained.
Federation Fleet: Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Jeskai Spacecraft. Adds ramp and protection so the fleet charges faster; five budget picks under $12.
Landing Party: Mr. Spock, Bant landfall. The cheapest Star Trek deck to upgrade, with five budget picks under $8.
Klingon Fury: Worf, Mardu aggro. Token doublers, anthems and cheap reach to end games early; five budget picks under $11.
We Are the Borg: The Borg Queen, Esper assimilate. Theft, copy effects and artifact payoffs; five budget picks under $11.
Warhammer 40K precon upgrade guides
Four decks, first released October 7, 2022. Wizards confirmed a reprint on October 8, 2026, with the date and price still to be announced. Start with all four Warhammer 40K Commander precons compared.
Necron Dynasties: Szarekh, the Silent King, mono-black artifacts. Adds reanimation and a sacrifice outlet so the army keeps coming back; five budget picks for about $7.49.
Tyranid Swarm: The Swarmlord, Temur +1/+1 counters. Adds counter doublers so the swarm grows faster and draws more; five budget picks for about $4.76.
Forces of the Imperium: Inquisitor Greyfax, Esper tokens. Turns the token engine into ramp and card draw; five budget picks for about $7.94.
The Ruinous Powers: Abaddon the Despoiler, Grixis cascade. Adds cheap damage sources so Abaddon cascades more often; five budget picks for about $8.52.
Marvel Super Heroes precon upgrade guides
Four decks. The Marvel precon upgrade kits put all four on one page, with budget, mid and full tiers and a one-click cart for each.
Avengers Assemble precon upgrade guide: Captain America, Team Leader, Jeskai Heroes. Doubles Hero triggers and keeps an aggro deck from running out of cards; about $10 at the budget tier.
Doom Prevails precon upgrade guide: Doctor Doom, King of Latveria, Grixis villains. Moves Loki to the command zone and adds the interaction the stock list lacks; about $10 at the budget tier.
The Fantastic Four: Mister Fantastic, four-color spells. Fixes the mana first, then feeds him cheap spells and payoffs; about $7 at the budget tier.
Wakanda Forever: T'Challa, the Black Panther, Selesnya artifacts. Cuts the cards that fight equipping T'Challa and adds more artifacts; about $6.50 at the budget tier.
Adds and cuts
15 exact swaps per deck, each add paired with its cut
The guides on this page explain the picks. The kit turns the four Star Trek decks into a checklist: 15 swaps per deck, each card to add listed with the card it replaces. Prices checked November 8, 2026. Subscribe free and we send you the kit.
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Marvel: Darkhold Destiny (April 9, 2027)
Four decks, out April 9, 2027, listed at $74.99 each for Amazon US preorder. No commander or decklist is revealed yet, so these are preview guides with colors, themes and preorder links, and they get the full adds and cuts once Wizards posts the lists. Start with all four Darkhold Destiny Commander decks explained.
Strange Academy: Esper, Doctor Strange on the box, Spellcasters and Blink. Commander not revealed yet.
Gods of Asgard: Naya, Thor on the box, Power Matters and Godlike Gear (Equipment). Commander not revealed yet.
Midnight Sons: Orzhov, Blade on the box, Gain Life and Vampires, the only two-color deck. Commander not revealed yet.
Lords of Hel: Rakdos, Hela on the box, Generate Tokens and Sacrifice. Commander not revealed yet.
Secret Lair precon upgrade guides
Hatsune Miku Secret Lair deck: Miku, Song of the People is a Trostani reskin, so the deck is Selesnya tokens and lifegain. Ten cards for $42.66 that give it a way to actually close games.
How to upgrade any Commander precon
If your deck is not listed above, these two guides work on any precon in any colors.
The Precon Upgrade Playbook: 15 colorless cards for about $8.27 that fix the ramp, draw and removal every precon is short on, six rules for what to cut, and a mana base fix for about $10.
Skip the Salt: ten budget swaps for the format's most hated cards, around $17 for all ten, so your upgrade does not make the table groan.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to upgrade a precon?
The budget tier is usually around $10 or less. Our Reality Fracture budget picks run $1.92 to $4.77 per deck, and the Marvel budget tiers run about $6.50 to $10. The Playbook's Universal 15 costs about $8.27 and the mana fix about $10 more, so the whole system is under $20. Full Marvel builds run $125 to $189.
What should I cut first from a precon?
Cut the deck's off-theme shadow plan first, because most precons are two half-decks. Then cut six-plus mana cards that do not end the game, win-more cards, sorcery-speed one-for-one removal costing four or more, vanilla creatures and situational hate cards. Never cut lands, ramp or your commander's direct support.
Are Commander precons worth buying?
Yes, as a starting point. A precon is built to play a long game against other precons out of the same box, so it ships short on ramp, card draw and removal. That makes it cheap to fix: a $30 Reality Fracture deck plus a few dollars of budget picks plays like a much stronger deck.
Which precon is best for beginners?
Calling All Angels and Tramplesaurus Rex are the most beginner-friendly of the five $30 Reality Fracture decks. Landing Party is the friendliest of the four Star Trek decks and the cheapest to upgrade. Avengers Assemble is the most focused and beginner-friendly Marvel deck.
Can I use one upgrade package for every precon?
Yes. The Universal 15 in the Precon Upgrade Playbook is all colorless, so the same fifteen cards work in any precon in any colors. Buy them once and move them to the next deck you open.
How often do you add new upgrade guides?
We publish a best-cards-and-budget-picks guide for every new Commander precon, usually the week the decklist goes public, and this page gets the link the same week. New guides also go out in the newsletter every Sunday.
Before you go
Take the Star Trek upgrade lists with you
One kit for the four Star Trek Commander decks: the three-step buy order, the 15 swaps per deck and the upgraded 100-card lists. Subscribe free and we send you the kit.
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Prices come from each linked guide and were checked on the date that guide states. Singles move, so treat them as a guide.
SparkMTG is unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Wizards of the Coast Fan Content Policy. Not approved or endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. Magic: The Gathering is the property of Wizards of the Coast LLC.