(Bright-Palm, Soul Awakener | Art by Mila Pesic)

What’s going on everyone! I’m Bert from the Scrap Trawlers channel, where we do EDH on a budget. Last time we showed off the new Call for Backup deck from March of the Machine, so now we're back to give that deck some upgrades so it can work to its full potential. So that we can go over the upgrades properly, let's take a look at the decklist and talk about the areas that we want to improve upon. Here is the list:

So What About the Soul Awakener?

So before we get too deep into the upgrades, let's talk about our face commander Bright-Palm, Soul Awakener. It brings us the new ability Backup, which allows us to share its second ability by putting its +1/+1 counter on another creature when it enters the battlefield. Bright-Palm costs Naya (red, green, white) and a colorless, a solid cost for a commander, meaning that we'll be able to recast them a couple times in a game to get some additional use out of the ability. Bright-Palm is the first true +1/+1 counter commander that we have had which will give them some staying power in the format. The general strategy that we're going for in this particular deck is aggro. We want to rush the board and build it up so that we can make the most out of our Backup and counters. In short, we want to go wide and then tall.

Since we're an aggro deck, we want some cards that empower that strategy while improving on some general areas of the deck such as card draw, removal, and protection, while also including some cards that enhance and enable our strategy. In the sphere of card draw we want to add repeatable card draw sources so that we'll always be able to keep cards in hand and have more options for plays. For removal I want to add a couple of cards that fit the deck better than some of the ones we currently have, and as for protection I would like to add some cards that also empower our counter strategy. Let's get started.

Who’s Getting Added to the Squad?

Let’s start with card draw. Since having repeatable sources is vital for any deck, the first card I would like to add is Beast Whisperer, which allows us to draw a card whenever we cast a creature. The initial shell of the deck had 39 creatures so that'll give us a ton of opportunities to draw cards. In that same vein we have Soul of the Harvest for the same reasoning, lots of creatures means lots of triggers. Soul of the Harvest has an added benefit of being a 6/6 trampler, making it a great target for our Bright-Palm’s Backup ability.

Lifecrafter’s Bestiary as a card just cleans up our draws with its scry ability and gives us the option to pay an additional green for an actual card, quite the added benefit though it is a bit costly in three colors. It’s at about five bucks now, but Garruk’s Uprising will be a slam dunk in our deck, giving us that all important repeatable card draw and having a bonus of giving our team trample, which is always good to have when we plan on going somewhat tall.

Last but not least for card draw is something of a pet card of mine, and that's Sanctuary Warden. This lovely angel enters with two Shield counters, so it has pretty good protection making it a great target to buff up, but the real draw is the trigger on entering or attacking where we can remove one counter from our creature (ANY creature we control that is) or planeswalker to draw a card. It has evasion so it's going to be an amazing attacker and I expect for it to be a great card in this deck. 

When it comes to protection I just wanted to add a couple of cards that mesh with the deck a bit better. The first card that I would like to talk about is Silkguard. I like to call this card a secret modular card as you can cast it just for one to give your creatures with counters hexproof until the end of turn or you can pump mana into it to buff up your team. Either way this card is great and deserves to be in the deck.

Next on my list to add in is Unbreakable Formation, which was included in the Cavalry Charge precon but omitted here. I think it does a great job giving us versatility in this deck, as we can either protect our board on our opponent's turn or we can use it during our turn to buff the team and keep up blocks. Lastly, let's welcome Selfless Spirit to the budget crew as you can pick it up for under a dollar now. It gives us an early turn play that can be used later as protection for our board, and it also flies, giving us a great target to put counters on.

Keeping the ball rolling, I wanted to add a simple ramp package to the deck to increase our consistency. So with that being said the first card I would like to talk about is Vastwood Surge. At its lowest its an Explosive Vegetation, but we also have a powerful Kicker ability.

Next is a boring “staple,” but in three color green decks I always add Farseek just because it gives us so many options when it comes to what we can get. Traverse the Outlands is another where its performance can depend on board state, but I believe this is a deck that it can prosper in. Even if we only control Bright-Palm, that is four or five lands that we can get, which I call a win for sure. I also believe that the deck at its current state could play a couple more basics.

Next let's just add a couple cards that can help us get some removal in a pinch. First I want you to consider Steelbane Hydra. I know it's not the best card but I do think having repeatable removal that fits anywhere in our curve has the possibility to be a power house. Next to add a bit of graveyard hate that also has synergies for +1/+1 counters I am adding Scavenging Ooze, a powerful card that puts counters on itself and doubles as removal for those pesky graveyard decks. Finally, Knight of Autumn comes to mind as a good creature, as having a modular spell on a body is always good. Knight of Autumn just provides us with the choices that matter, like buffing or destroying an artifact or enchantment. There is even the option to gain four life in a pinch, so it really gives us options for them all. However since this is a +1/+1 counter deck we'll probably opt for the second mode since we'll have a plethora of ways to add counters to it. 

Let’s get to adding some cards that either enhance the cards in the deck or enable them to succeed. The very first card that came to mind when I saw Bright-Palm was Grumgully, The Generous, which ensures that our creatures will come in with a buff. Right now in the deck we have 39 creatures, of which there are 10 humans, but a few of those are on my chopping block, so Grumgully will give us a lot of value. Invigorating Hot Spring will both enable haste and provide us with the ability to place counters on our creatures.

As we continue to buff our board, there needs to be a body that's a good target for Bright-Palm’s Backup Ability. I have two cards in mind, and they are Verdurous Gearhulk and Halana and Alena, Partners. These two cards provide counters for our board state while also making good Backup targets due to their innate abilities. I am hoping to get counters on Halana and Alena and double them with Bright-Palm, then put more counters on Bright-Palm so they can double further. 

There are a few additional cards that I would LOVE to add, however they are what I consider budget-breakers and I cannot in good conscience recommend them. But if you happen to have these cards feel free to add them in for amazing results. With the hefty number of creatures we have, something like Guardian Project will do absolute work in this deck, making it so we draw a literal ton of cards (okay maybe not literally, but there will be a lot of cards). Also a good creature that will be a house here is Elder Gargaroth. Lastly, a card that could take the place of any of our protection spells is Flawless Maneuver, making it easier to protect our stuff if we control our commander.

Who Didn't Make the Cut?

Let's go over the cuts that I made for the deck, the first of which being the cards that only work in Planechase, Fractured Powerstone and Ichor Elixir. If your playgroup is planning on playing Planechase then keep these in and have a ball! Though Commander players should remove these for something that can work on that format.

Strionic Resonator is our next cut and I am just not impressed with it in the deck. There are a ton of triggers in the deck that the card can copy, but some of the cards we're adding will be more impactful and synergistic.

I took out a chunk of the creatures that were unimpressive, those being Alharu, Solemn Ritualist, Brawn, Constable of the Realm, Elite Scaleguard, Falkenrath Exterminator, High Sentinels of Arashin, Mindless Automaton, Pridemalkin, Triskelion, and Fertilid. These cards are either not very cost-effective, too situational, or have been replaced in the addition section by something better.

All we have left are the spells that were cut: Ion Storm, Dromoka’s Command, Heaven // Earth, Hindervines and Return to Nature. These have been replaced by cards that are more effective for our overall gameplan.

Team Roster?

Here is that Final List:

Here we have our powered up precon ready to take a pod by…well not storm, but aggro in this case. There are some other cards that could be removed but we already cut a whopping 18 cards, so I didn't want to overdo and mess up the deck's core. 

Make sure to check back for more precon guides from us Scrap Trawlers. You can also check out our budget content over on Twitch and YouTube and follow us on Twitter. Don’t forget to upgrade your Precon on a budget!

Scrap Trawlers

Scrap Trawlers is a Magic: The Gathering budget EDH streaming and video group, with gameplay, deck techs, chats, and more. Catch our videos at youtube.com/scraptrawlers. Andy, Lenny, and Bert.