Tyranid Swarm Precon Upgrade Guide: 5 Best Cards and 5 Budget Picks

Tyranid Swarm is the blue, red and green (Temur) Commander precon from Warhammer 40,000, released October 7, 2022 at $59.99. The commander is The Swarmlord. It grows its creatures with +1/+1 counters and draws a card when they die, and the payoffs scale with however much mana you have. This guide covers what the deck is, whether it is worth buying, the 5 best cards to add, 5 budget picks under $5, the $10 upgrade plan, and the stock 100 with the exact cards to cut. Prices checked October 11, 2026.

Part of our guide to all four Warhammer 40K precons.

Tyranid Swarm is a blue, red and green (Temur) +1/+1 counters deck. The Swarmlord is a six-mana 5/5 that draws a card whenever a creature you control with a counter on it dies, and it enters with two extra counters for each time you have already cast it from the command zone. The 99 leans on ravenous creatures, which enter with X +1/+1 counters and draw a card when X is 5 or more (Termagant Swarm, Zoanthrope, Mawloc, Exocrine), plus counter support like Hardened Scales and Bred for the Hunt. Magus Lucea Kane, the alternate commander, adds a counter every combat and copies your X spells.

Yes, if you like big creatures and drawing cards every time they trade. The ravenous creatures scale with your mana, so late draws are never dead. Skip the sealed deck at the $299.81 TCGplayer market price Spikey Bits reported on October 8, 2026; the singles add up to about $165, and the reprint may bring sealed copies closer to launch price.

None of the five below is in the stock list, and each one replaces a specific card named in the cut list further down. Prices are the cheapest printing on Scryfall as of October 11, 2026.

Every card here costs under $5 for its cheapest printing as of October 11, 2026. The five together run about $4.76.

Start with the Precon Upgrade Playbook: fifteen colorless cards, six cut rules, and a ten dollar mana base that work on every precon ever printed. Then make the five budget swaps above, about $4.76 in total. The exact cards to take out are in the decklist section below.

Wizards published the full 100 cards (official decklist). The commander is The Swarmlord. Cards in bold are the ten our upgrade cuts.

Creatures (36): Aberrant, Acolyte Hybrid, Atalan Jackal, Biophagus, Broodlord, Clamavus, Deathleaper, Terror Weapon, Exocrine, Gargoyle Flock, Genestealer Locus, Genestealer Patriarch, Ghyrson Starn, Kelermorph, Haruspex, Hierophant Bio-Titan, Hormagaunt Horde, Lictor, Magus Lucea Kane, Malanthrope, Mawloc, Nexos, Old One Eye, Purestrain Genestealer, Ravener, Screamer-Killer, Sporocyst, Termagant Swarm, Tervigon, The Red Terror, Toxicrene, Trygon Prime, Tyranid Harridan, Tyranid Prime, Tyrant Guard, Venomthrope, Winged Hive Tyrant, Zoanthrope

Instants (4): Aetherize, Harrow, Inspiring Call, Starstorm

Sorceries (6): Cultivate, Explore, Farseek, Hull Breach, Rampant Growth, Tyranid Invasion

Artifacts (6): Arcane Signet, Bone Sabres, Goliath Truck, Herald's Horn, Icon of Ancestry, Sol Ring

Enchantments (8): Abundance, Bred for the Hunt, Death's Presence, Hardened Scales, New Horizons, Overgrowth, Shadow in the Warp, The First Tyrannic War

Lands (39): Ash Barrens, Cave of Temptation, Cinder Glade, Command Tower, Evolving Wilds, Exotic Orchard, Frontier Bivouac, Game Trail, Opal Palace, Path of Ancestry, Rugged Highlands, Temple of Abandon, Temple of Epiphany, Temple of Mystery, Terramorphic Expanse, Thornwood Falls, Unclaimed Territory, 8 Forest, 7 Island, 7 Mountain

What is the Tyranid Swarm precon?

Tyranid Swarm is the blue, red and green (Temur) Commander precon from Warhammer 40,000, released October 7, 2022, led by The Swarmlord. It grows creatures with +1/+1 counters and draws cards when they die.

What is the Tyranid Swarm commander?

The Swarmlord, a six-mana Temur 5/5 that draws a card whenever a creature you control with a counter on it dies.

What are the best cards to add to Tyranid Swarm?

Doubling Season, Kalonian Hydra, Branching Evolution, Herald of Secret Streams, Guardian Project. None of them are in the stock list.

What are the best budget upgrades for Tyranid Swarm?

Rishkar's Expertise, Evolution Sage, Beast Within, Armorcraft Judge, Hydroid Krasis. All five cost under $5 for their cheapest printing as of October 11, 2026, about $4.76 together.

Is Tyranid Swarm being reprinted?

Yes. A Wizards representative confirmed a small reprint of all four regular Warhammer 40,000 Commander decks on October 8, 2026. Wizards has not announced a date or a price, and the Collector's Editions were not mentioned.

Who is the alternate commander in Tyranid Swarm?

Magus Lucea Kane. It puts a +1/+1 counter on a creature at the beginning of each of your combats and taps for two colorless mana that copies your next X spell.

Or start with the full Warhammer 40K precon guide, or browse every precon upgrade guide.

Related: Warhammer 40K Commander precon reprint: decks, date and prices.

Decklist from Wizards of the Coast (official decklists). Card prices from Scryfall, cheapest non-foil printing, October 11, 2026.

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.