This is the complete guide to playing the Spirit Squadron preconstructed deck, commanded by Millicent, Restless Revenant. This guide contains all the information needed to pilot the deck to victory straight out of the box!

The main game plan for the Spirit Squadron deck is to build up an early boardstate of evasive Spirits in order to cast Millicent for two mana, and then pump its Spirit army to deliver lethal damage to its opponents.

Millicent is very expensive to cast, but with its cost reduction ability, it can actually be the cheapest commander at the table, even after multiple commander taxes are applied. Even in the event of a board wipe, all Spirits that die alongside Millicent will leave behind a 1/1 Spirit token with Flying. These two factors highly incentivize building a board full of nontoken Spirits. This deck is fully capable of getting on board before turn 5, and a common play pattern afterwards will be to land a two mana Millicent and generate multiple Spirit tokens by dealing combat damage right away. At that point, if Millicent is destroyed, the extra Spirit tokens it provided will feed its own cost reduction ability, meaning Spirit Squadron is tough to stop once it gets going.

It’s important to get the initial batch of Spirits onto the board quickly so Millicent can hit the board sooner and begin the endless chain of Spirits.

• Spectral Sailor is the cheapest nontoken Spirit this deck can offer; flash and the card draw ability are extra upsides.
• For cheap, evasive two drops, the deck has Remorseful Cleric, Shacklegeist, and Rattlechains, all with significant upsides.
• Hanged Executioner provides an extra Spirit token upon entry and doubles as expensive removal later on.

Another big strength of this deck is its ability to profit from its massive amount of Spirits, either with an effect that helps future Spirits, or with a continuous buff.

• For power boosts, Drogskol Captain, Supreme Phantom, and Drogskol Reinforcements grant solid bonuses at the precon level, and will allow this deck’s board of Spirits to close out games much more quickly. Drogskol Captain even gives hexproof, which will cause headaches across the table.
• Oyobi, Who Split the Heavens, Sire of the Storm, and Nebelgast Herald give bonuses when Spirits are cast, helping to power out future plays and increase the deck’s synergy.
• Angel of Flight Alabaster, Distant Melody, and Spectral Shepherd round out the remaining Spirit tribal support, with an additional honorable mention going to Reconnaissance Mission for paying off a large board of fliers with repeatable card advantage.

This deck also contains a nice supporting cast of redundant board wipe insurance, in case Millicent isn’t around.

• Arcane Denial is the only counterspell in the deck, and it’ll be there to stop game-ending threats and certain board wipes.
• Haunted Library, Promise of Bunrei, and Field of Souls all grant extra Spirits when certain creatures die, and they allow this deck to commit harder to the board with less fear of losing everything. Hallowed Spiritkeeper is an army in a can that practically undoes a wrath effect upon its death.
• Sudden Salvation can save a few key nontoken creatures, including Millicent, and will do a decent job at helping the deck rebound from a board wipe, but at the precon level it’s tough to squeeze more advantage out of.

Spirit Squadron has an average mana value of 3.32, meaning the average nonland card in the deck costs a little bit more than three mana to play. That is a pretty good rate for a precon, and it’s good that the deck doesn’t have too many clunky spells detracting from its main game plan.

However, one weakness this deck does suffer from is a poor selection of mass removal, which is ironic considering its awesome suite of board wipe insurance. Answering a single threat is very doable, but this deck can become overwhelmed by multiple large creatures and be faced with awkward scenarios that involve resetting its own board.

• Kirtar’s Wrath is already expensive for a Wrath of God variant, but the only thing it offers in return is three Spirits with threshold, something this deck won’t even be that good at obtaining.
• Flood of Tears is honestly bad in a token deck, not only because any tokens will cease to exist without providing any value to their controller, but because bouncing the nontoken Spirits isn’t much of an upside either. Board wipes in this deck should keep some of its Spirits intact while eliminating most of the creatures controlled by opponents.
• Fell the Mighty fails as a board wipe, because the “target creature” requirement opens this spell up to be fizzled by an opposing removal spell. This won’t be reliable unless each opponent is virtually tapped out, and even then, the power and toughness of creatures in play might not work out favorably.

Though the deck is lacking in the board wipe department, overall it is an efficient Spirit-making machine. Listed below are some of its strongest overperformers, cards that are worth protecting that can contribute heavily to a victory, especially in the precon environment.

• Ethereal Investigator provides both board advantage and card advantage, which is an impressive feat considering its mana cost. In a four player game, it already comes with three Clues, and they help fuel its second ability, which pumps out even more 1/1 Flying Spirit tokens for the deck to utilize. 
• Mentor of the Meek will see all the 1/1 tokens entering the battlefield and help keep Spirit Squadron full on cards, especially with Millicent in Play. If Mentor of the Meek survives long enough, this deck will be too far ahead to stop.
• Benevolent Offering is just a very powerful card at this power level. It bolsters the deck’s life total, provides relevant bodies, and even hands out some advantage that can curry favor with other players.

Overperformers in preconstructed decks usually come alongside underperformers, and Spirit Squadron is no exception.

• Ghostly Prison, along with Windborn Muse, serve virtually no purpose in this deck other than to divert attackers, but offering opponents a choice and being nothing more than a speedbump means there are plenty of better options out there.
• Kami of the Crescent Moon is a group hug card, and offering free cards isn’t something this deck is interested in, especially when its controller is the last person to benefit.
• Haunting Imitation looks decent, but performs so poorly that it is better saved as the final spell cast in a hand, when there’s nothing else to do. There’s no way to control the outcome, and when it’s unfavorable or whiffs, the tempo loss is just too high.

Keeping in mind the strengths and weaknesses of Spirit Squadron will help keep games streamlined, lead to less feel-bad moments, and contribute to many more victories!

Nitpicking Nerds

The Nitpicking Nerds are two Commander-loving best friends who make awesome Youtube videos. Every fiber of their being is committed to helping people power up their decks, gain percentage points, and have more fun playing the best format in the world!