Hey friends! It’s time for another precon guide here on EDHREC. Today we’re giving a little spit polish to the Desert Bloom deck from Outlaws of Thunder Junction. In case you missed it, go check out my review for the deck, where we went over what the deck does and how to play it.

This precon got a solid review from me, with only a few minor issues holding it back from greatness. The deck already achieves its game plan well, so we’re just gonna upgrade a few cards to make it punch even harder.

Let’s tune up.

What’s In the Original Deck?

This deck is red, green, and white, and led by Yuma, Proud Protector, a 6/6 Human Ranger that costs eight mana, but with a reduction of one mana for each Desert card in our graveyard. When he attacks or enters we can sacrifice a land to draw a card, and whenever a Desert goes to our grave from anywhere we make a 4/2 Plant Warrior token with reach.

The backup commander is Kirri, Talented Sprout, a 0/3 Plant Druid for four mana that boosts our Plants and Treefolk (we don’t actually have any Treefolk in the deck) +2/+0. And at the beginning of our postcombat main, we can return a land, Plant, or Treefolk card from our graveyard to our hand.

Here’s the original list for Desert Bloom:

What Budget Cards Can We Add to Desert Bloom?

We’ll break our upgrade up into two parts, one budget ($5 or less per card) and one non-budget (>$5).

Just a quick note before we start. I rarely make any changes to the land suite for these upgrade guides because, frankly, it's boring to talk about. You don't need me to tell you what lands to add to the deck to make it better. And while this deck is land-focused, and we could certainly add more Deserts, I'm gonna continue with not tweaking the lands here, just because it would only serve to make the article longer.

My first aim was to give a bit more oomph to our tokens, starting by making even more of them. Felidar Retreat, with its two Landfall options, is one of the best cards in the upgraded deck. More tokens is great, but also being able to pump up our creatures for a big swing without the crackback danger is huge. We’re also adding Phylath, World Sculptor, which many would refer to as “Avenger of Zendikar we have at home.” While I agree it’s a lesser version of Avenger, its ability to turn Yuma’s Plant Warrior tokens into 8/6s, or higher, gives it a huge boost here.

To make the tokens into an insurmountable army, we’ll call for some help from a Background: Inspiring Leader. Yes, this is a bit of a gamble, seeing as Yuma is so expensive and doesn’t have built-in protection (who doesn’t have ward these days?), but I think it will pay off more often than not. And to get one big swing, we’re throwing in Overwhelming Stampede.

I also wanted to get cards flowing a bit more, since the deck often wants you to have lands in hand. For that we’ll add Decaying Time Loop, which has that superb Retrace ability this deck loves. Garruk’s Uprising and Shamanic Revelation both love the fact that Yuma’s tokens have four power, so those are easy adds. 

Now let’s also talk about Nahiri’s Lithoforming, and why I think it’s better in this deck than the more-played Scapeshift. While there’s the drawback of having to pay the extra cost for each land, there’s the bonus of us being able to play all the extra lands for the turn. And guess what? This deck has several cards that allow us to play lands from the yard, so we can just replay all those lands we just sacrificed. Plus we just drew a bunch of cards! Of course there’s the drawback of them entering tapped, but they were tapped anyway from paying for the spell. Still, it’ll be nice to fix that, and all the other lands that enter tapped. We can’t afford Amulet of Vigor on our budget, but I think Spelunking might be even better.

Life from the Loam is currently budget enough for this section, but I assure you it won’t be for long. Pick them up while they’re cheap! We will, and we’re happy to throw it in the deck. There’s also Crop Rotation for more cheap land sacrificing. And Worldsoul’s Rage works beautifully in this deck for dealing out massive damage and reclaiming lands from our yard at the same time.

Last is Conduit of Worlds, which I also suspect won’t be budget for long if Yuma gets popular. This is coming in to replace Perennial Behemoth, as it’s a cheaper option mana-wise, doesn’t die to board wipes, and has that sweet activated ability.

Cards go in, cards gotta come out. These babies are taking the dirt nap: Descend upon the Sinful, Electric Revelation, Escape to the Wilds, Genesis Hydra, Nantuko Cultivator, Perennial Behemoth, Satyr Wayfinder, Scaretiller, Skullwinder, Thrilling Discovery, Unholy Heat, World Shaper, Wreck and Rebuild

Here’s the budget upgraded list for Desert Bloom:

And a few more cards I couldn’t find room to add: Blossoming Tortoise, Cemetery Protector, Countryside Crusher, Erinis, Gloom Stalker, Knight of the Reliquary, Rampaging Baloths, Securitron Squadron, Splendid Reclamation, Tectonic Reformation, Undergrowth Recon, Valakut Exploration

What Are Some Good Expensive Cards We Can Add to Desert Bloom?

Got a fistful of dollars you’re looking to spend on upgrading this precon? We can make that happen.

We’ll start by upping our token game even more, with Ojer Taq, Deepest Foundation, who triples our creature tokens. There’s also Grand Crescendo, which can make us some tokens, but more importantly saves our army from a board wipe.

With all these creatures entering the battlefield, it’s time to bring out our old friend Purphoros, God of the Forge to lower some life totals. And for big combats, we’ll throw in Akroma’s Will and the always-feared Craterhoof Behemoth.

For more land sacrifice, we’ll add Sylvan Safekeeper and Elvish Reclaimer. The Safekeeper is a huge card here, because we have expensive creatures we want to keep safe. Also, we’ll throw in Scapeshift. I mentioned before that Nahiri’s Lithoforming is better in this deck, but there’s no reason we can’t have both.

During playtesting, I noticed several creatures had enter-the-battlefield effects. I considered Panharmonicon for this list, but immediately dismissed it when I remembered that Elesh Norn, Mother of Machines is vastly better. It covers those creature ETBs, sure, but it also doubles all of our Landfall triggers, which the artifact doesn’t do.

And last, we’ll add a card from the “smoke ‘em if you got ‘em” category: Mox Diamond. Yes, most people won’t have the card or be willing to buy it. But if you have one sitting around, it works here since it makes you discard a land. That’s $600 synergy, my friends!

These cards are hittin’ the dusty trails: Crop Rotation, Decimate, Eccentric Farmer, Explore, Heaven // Earth, Marshal’s Anthem, Rumbleweed, Sevinne’s Reclamation, Swiftfoot Boots, Winding Way

Here’s the non-budget upgraded list:

And a few more cards to consider: Bennie Bracks, Zoologist, Realms Uncharted, Virtue of Strength, Warleader’s Call, Wrenn and Realmbreaker, Wrenn and Six

3:10 to Yuma

That’s it for our Upgrade Guide for Desert Bloom. Well, did I make this deck better? Any cards I missed? What’s your favorite Western movie? Let me know in the comments. And keep your peepers peeled here on EDHREC for more precon guides from yours truly.

More Precon Fun:

Outlaws of Thunder Junction - Yuma, Proud Protector Deck Tech

Heavenly Inferno - Kaalia Precon Upgrade

Mutant Menace Fallout Precon Upgrade Guide

Andy Zupke

Andy's been playing Magic on and off since Fallen Empires. He loves to travel, drink, eat, and spend time with family and friends.