Tricky Terrain Precon Upgrade Guide - Modern Horizons 3
June 12, 2024 by
Andy Zupke 
We’re back with another precon guide for Modern Horizons 3. Today we’re taking the knife to Tricky Terrain to see if we can up its game. In case you missed it, feel free to peruse my review of the precon, where we looked at what’s in the deck and how to play it.
I gave this one an average score, brought down mostly by its inability to capitalize on the abilities of its two commanders. This should be easy to fix, so let’s get to it.
What’s in the Original Deck?
Tricky Terrain is green and blue and led by Omo, Queen of Vesuva. Omo is a 1/5 Shapeshifter Noble for three mana, and when she enters or attacks you can put an everything counter on up to one creature and up to one land. A land with an everything counters is every land type, and nonland creatures with the counters are every creature type.
Our backup commander is Jyoti, Moag Ancient, a 2/4 Elemental for four mana that makes a 1/1 Forest Dryad land creature token when it enters for each time you’ve cast your commander from the command zone. And at the beginning of each combat it buffs your land creatures +X/+X, where X is Jyoti’s power.
Here’s the original deck list:
Tricky Terrain Precon
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What Budget Cards Can We Add to Tricky Terrain?
We’ll break this upgrade into two parts, one for budget ($5 per card or less) and one not.
The first thing I wanted to do with this deck is give Jyoti something to do. From the original list, Jyoti was completely out of place with almost no land creature presence in the deck. So for this we’ll add Tatyova, Steward of Tides, Embodiment of Insight, Kamahl, Heart of Krosa, and Sylvan Advocate. Tatyova gives land creatures flying and turns lands into creatures with her triggered ability. Embodiment of Insight gives land creatures vigilance, and also wakes up a land for its landfall trigger. Kamahl can turn your lands into creatures for just two mana, and he also buffs all your creatures with +3/+3 and trample. This is a huge boost to both our lands and our token armies. And Sylvan Advocate just makes our land creatures a bit bigger.
My other complaint about the precon was that it didn’t do anything with the everything counters on creatures. So we’re throwing in cards that will give extra abilities and strength to our everything creatures, with Galerider Sliver, Lord of the Unreal, Hakbal of the Surging Soul, Herald of Hoofbeats, Mirkwood Channeler, Azami, Lady of Scrolls, and Galecaster Colossus. Galerider gives our everything creatures flying, while Lord of the Unreal gives them a p/t boost and hexproof, and Herald of Hoofbeats makes them unblockable. Mirkwood Channeler boosts one creature for a turn for each of our Forests, which will be most of our lands (or all of them if Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth is out). Azami turns our everything creatures into card draw, while Galecaster turns them into instant-speed removal. Hakbal is the best of the bunch, allowing all of our everything creatures to explore at the beginning of combat, in addition to his own attack trigger.
For more counter fun, let’s throw in Xolatoyac, the Smiling Flood to untap all of our stuff with everything counters. Slogurk, the Overslime also gets +1/+1 counters when we put lands in the graveyard, and helps us to get them back.
And last I added in a card to help us get infinite mana: Wirewood Lodge. How does this work? You’ll need Lodge, as well as Magus of the Candelabra on the board with an everything counter so he counts as an Elf. We’ll also need some lands that tap for more than one mana, like Cloudpost, Simic Growth Chamber, and the Urza’s lands. As long as we’re netting positive on mana, and making a green mana each time, we can tap our lands for mana, tap Magus to untap our lands, and use Wirewood Lodge to untap Magus. Repeat ad infinitum.
These are the cards we’re kicking out: Blast Zone, Quandrix Campus, Thornwood Falls, Fog Bank, Satyr Wayfinder, Elvish Rejuvenator, Oblivion Stone, Propaganda, Uro, Titan of Nature’s Wrath, Desert Warfare, Harmonize, Seer’s Sundial, Replication Technique, Hydra Broodmaster, and Treasure Cruise
Here’s our budget upgraded deck list:
Tricky Terrain Budget Upgrade
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And a few more cards to consider for your upgrade: Doppelgang, Zimone, Quandrix Prodigy, Scuttling Sliver, Case of the Locked Hothouse, Cyclone Summoner, Dismiss into Dream (Omo can target opponents' creatures with her counters)
What Are Some Good Expensive Cards We Can Add to Tricky Terrain?
Let’s start with the obvious here: Field of the Dead. I mean, it should be a Desert, right? Even without a land type, this card is perfect on this list for its ability to churn out Zombie tokens.
I really wanted to have Omo sending out more everything counters than just once per turn, so I thought I’d up her triggers with a Roaming Throne so we can toss out counters to two lands and two creatures when she attacks. But Throne’s effectiveness doesn’t end there. Remember that any creature with a counter has every creature type, so all of their triggers will also happen again, including landfall triggers. Speaking of which, say hello to Ancient Greenwarden. This Elemental will double all triggers from lands entering, with the added bonus of letting you play lands from the grave.
We’ve got a few cards for digging more lands out of the deck. Elvish Reclaimer can sac one to fetch another for the low cost of two mana. Cultivator Colossus has a sick enter the battlefield ability that repeats if you can drop a land. Thrasios, Triton Hero can scry lands onto the battlefield. Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait lets you play an extra land each turn and draws you a card when you drop a land. And Reshape the Earth can fetch any ten lands cards from your library onto the field.
For some extra value, let’s throw in the new Nadu, Winged Wisdom from the main Modern Horizons 3 set. I like this here because Omo’s ability targets creatures, meaning when she puts an everything counter on one, Nadu will trigger. For extra protection, we’ll add Heroic Intervention. For extra mana, Nyxbloom Ancient. And for another way to close games, Triumph of the Hordes.
We’re dropping these kids off: Temple of Mystery, Expedition Map, Poison Dart Frog, March from Velis Vel, Rampant Frogantua, Skullwinder, Slogurk, the Overslime, Eureka Moment, Mirkwood Channeler, Summary Dismissal, Azami, Lady of Scrolls, Apex Devastator
Here’s our non-budget upgraded list:
Tricky Terrain Non-Budget Upgrade
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And a few more pricey cards to think about: Joraga Warcaller, Sylvan Safekeeper, Life from the Loam, Springheart Nantuko, Sigil Tracer, Wrenn and Realmbreaker, Coat of Arms, Doubling Season
I Hope This Joke Lands
That’s it for our EDHREC Upgrade Guide of Tricky Terrain. We gave both of the deck’s commanders a lot more to do, and the deck is much better for it.
But what do you think? Did I make the deck better? Any great cards I missed? Sound off in the comments below. And don’t forget to stay tuned for more precon guides, here on EDHREC.
More Precon Fun:
Mirror Mastery - Riku Precon Upgrade
Quick Draw - Thunder Junction 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.
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