Upgrading the Commander Precon: Divine Convocation (Kasla, The Broken Halo)

The Commander decks from March of the Machine are themed around the battle between the Phyrexians and the rest of the multiverse. Today we'll talk about Kasla, The Broken Halo, the main commander of the Divine Convocation deck.

Kasla is an angel, in Jeskai colors, which costs six mana and has Convoke, Vigilance, Haste, and Flying. And with the following ability text: "Whenever you cast a spell with Convoke, scry 2 and draw a card."

Her precon deck relies on taking advantage of the Convoke mechanic. Next we will analyze the list, its strategies and how to improve it.

The theme of the Divine Convocation precon is the army being led by angels. To represent this idea, we have several creature token generators, such as Goblin Instigator, Chasm Skulker, Elspeth, Sun's Champion and Secure the Wastes.

The large number of tokens that the deck manages to generate matches the army theme, in addition to helping to cast the Convoke spells. In the “divine” sector of the precon, we have, in addition to the commander herself, Angel of Salvation, Seraph of the Masses and Angel of Finality.

Overall, the deck has a decent amount of card draw, removals and ramping, considering that many spells have Convoke and for that reason, each generated token counts as a ramp for them.

The deck being Jeskai ends up generating an inconvenience: the main colors of the convoke keyword are usually green and white. Without green, you lose access to many great cards with the ability. As a result, we have the deck filled with several questionable cards to have a reward in using Kasla, the Broken Halo and its last ability, Flight of Equenauts being the prime example.

To compensate for this, there are new cards which grant Convoke for the next spell (Wand of the Worldsoul, Flockchaser Phantom) and several that have trigger for being tapped (Wildfire Awakener, Goblin Medics, Fallowsage, Saint Traft and Rem Karolus).

Finally, it is important to mention that, in these precons, the “Planechase” mechanic is back and some cards that interact directly with them have been included.

In short, the strategy works like a tokens deck that tries to win by playing big spells with Convoke. We have a very superficial blink and ETB theme, with Cloud of Faeries, Spirited Companion and Mistmeadow Vanisher, but honestly, it has few cards and little payoff to consider, in addition to the complete lack of synergy with the rest of the list.

Although the idea seems very fun, upgrading it is tricky, as the Convoke spells are somewhat limited. It suffers the same problem as Ranar the Ever-Watchful, Otrimi, the Ever-Playful or any other commander who works based on a mechanic that appeared in a few sets: small pool, making their decks too similar, or too weak.

That said, I like tokens, I love Jeskai and I really like the idea of playing my commander without having to pay mana for it, so I hacked my brain to find out how to improve the precon and what strategy to use!

Initially, the first thing I did was research how many cards with convoke or that directly interact with Convoke were in Jeskai colors: 52, already including the ones that will be released with the precon and the MOM set. A ridiculously low amount is what I initially thought. However, arguably we have 22 cards, in addition to the commander, that have the quality to enter the list.

Ideally, when I want to do a tribal or thematic strategy, I aim to use somewhere between 27-32 cards within the tribe or theme, for consistency.

But the reality is that not even the deck in its pre-constructed form tries to do that: it has 17 cards with convoke and 7 “payoffs” for the mechanic. There are 24 cards within the theme. It also has 17 token generators, leaving it well divided between tokens and convoke themes.

There's the argument that the token generator is part of the convoke theme, as we need them for the mechanic to be worthwhile. I agree that we need. That said, my point is that if even the precon, that could fill the deck with weaker convoke cards, given the context of having a lower power level, doesn't, then we don't need to either.

Ok, so we'll make a token deck in Jeskai and use Kasla instead of Kykar, Wind's Fury. Why? Simple, cheating commander mana cost is fun and efficient. You can use convoke to pay the commander tax, too. As a result, with the proper board, you can always cast Kasla for cheap, just like Tasigur, the Golden Fang and Delve.

Kasla, The Broken Halo has Vigilance, Flying, and Haste, making her an excellent aggressor. Unfortunately, she has 5 powers, and it would take 5 turns to take someone out for commander damage. Fortunately, Jeskai is an excellent combination to power up creatures, either as a whole team or individually.

With that, we have a token deck and a Jeskai commander who is an efficient aggressor and cares about convoke. What to do? Jeskai Ascendancy was the obvious answer for me. A lot of non-creature spells, generating plenty of tokens, drawing many cards.

We won't be a Voltron - at least not on purpose, but we can become one if the situation permits. And with strategy in mind, let's move on.

Fillers to come out

The first thing to do now that we have a plan is to take out what doesn't fit the plan and count how many “free slots” we have. The first to go are the ones that work best with the Planechase mechanic. Particularly, I think Plane cards are cool, but only sporadically, spells that only focus on that aren't valuable for the strategy even when we are playing Planechase.

Fractured Powerstone, Ichor Elixir and Path of The Ghosthunter are cards that only work interestingly when we have Planechase rolling, and without that, they're terrible. Maybe Path of The Ghosthunter is average, but never mind, I'm going for the cut.

With that, two "ramps" came out of the deck and a token generator. Now we have 6 Ramps and 16 Token Generators.

Now let's remove the Convoke cards that aren't worth it: Joyful Stormsculptor, Seraph of the Masses, Angel of Salvation, Flight of Equenauts, Cut Short, Stoke the Flames, Temporal Cleansing, Shatter the Source and Chant of Vitu-Ghazi.

There were 8 cards with convoke and a card that rewards you for using convoke, but more importantly: there were 4 spot removals.

We now have 9 cards with convoke and 9 removals in the deck.

Currently, the deck has been reduced to 88 cards. With 12 slots left, it is already possible to place some Staples. I will limit it to using only Staples that have a more affordable price: Jeskai Ascendancy, Frantic Search, Dig Through Time, Generous Gift, Negate and Boros Charm.

Half of the slots were vacant. So, we have 94 cards now. We added 3 sources of card draw, two removals and two protections, Negate counting as a spot removal and protection. The deck originally had 8 draw sources, now it has 11, a very reasonable amount, especially considering we have some constant sources. The number of targeted removals rose to 11.

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Ramp

In the filler section, we took out two mana rocks, the minimum we want is for it to come back to a total of 8 ramp sources. Unfortunately, the deck didn't come with the signets, but we'll put in at least 2. The options are Boros Signet, Azorius Signet, and Izzet Signet.

Since we have 3 signets and I don't want to leave any out, I'll take out Cultivator's Caravan. Three mana cards need to have an interesting extra effect to be worth it, and I don't think a 5/5 that you have to tap three tokens to turn into a creature is good enough.

Caravan is out, totaling 96 cards.

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Convoke Spells

We took out a good amount of convoke spells earlier, it's time to replenish.

Without thinking twice, you can put Zephyr Singer and Obelisk of Urd. Two cards that will improve the token army we intend to make.

Another card with convoke and excellent, but with a bit steep price, is Clever Concealment, a friendlier version of Teferi's Protection. It won't save you from a lethal blow, but it protects your permanents and has convoke. Perfect for the deck.

We still have Bennie Bracks, Zoologist. Card Advantage for doing something you would normally already be doing is always a positive.

Now the deck has 100 cards again. So from now on, for every card placed, we'll have to take something away.

Not counting the commander, we have 15 cards with convoke in the text and 12 card draw sources. The idea is to reach the initial 17. So let's continue.

A card that we should put on the list to help with convoke is Invasion of Segovia. It generates tokens when it enters the battlefield and, if transformed, becomes a creature that grants convoke to your non-creatures, in addition to untapping your creatures at your end step.

With its entry, I'm choosing to take out Banisher Priest. First, for considering it a weak removal. Second, because the deck is full of creatures.

Besides that, I'm reluctant between two cards that are good: City on Fire and Transcendent Message. I like both, and arguably you can use them, but for that, you would need an excellent manabase, since both have a very high specific mana cost.

Knight-Errant of Eos and Return to the Ranks are other excellent options in a vacuum. However, the first one doesn't work as we won't have so many creatures. The second is who will join the list. Recursion is always good, and I'll leave good 2 cost creatures in the deck. As a consequence of this line, I will remove a creature that has little synergy with the strategy: Mistmeadow Vanisher.

Reaching the initial number of cards with convoke, I believe it is enough to take advantage of the commander and now we just need cards that, I believe, are actually good in a token strategy.

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Token Generators

Elspeth, Knight Errant and Archangel Elspeth are excellent cards here: they create tokens, buffs the Commander and both have powerful finisher abilities.

Saheeli, Sublime Artificer and Jaya, Fiery Negotiator make a lot of sense here too.

With that, we have 4 new cards. Then others will have to leave: Improbable Alliance, Cloud of Faeries, Evolving Wilds and Terramorphic Expanse.

The first is a bad token generator. The second does little for the deck. The last two are out because we have too many lands, now that we are improving it, we can cut a few of them to further improve our consistency.

But we need more engines: Monastery Mentor and Third Path Iconoclast are two excellent token generators. Nadir Kraken and Nesting Dovehawk leaves.

Young Pyromancer is another excellent token generator for low mana cost. Deluxe Dragster leaves. I thought the card was really cool, but it doesn't really match the theme and costs a lot of mana.

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Buffs

For now, we've maintained the initial balance of draw, ramp, and removals. However, something that didn't end up being the focus of the precon was making the token army stronger.

We already have Elspeth which can power up creatures in one way or another, Venerated Loxodon which distributes counters to up to 5 creatures, Zephyr Singer which grants evasion to up to 4 creatures, and Jeskai Ascendancy that makes all creatures stronger. Unfortunately, it's still not enough.

Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite and Intangible Virtue are the obvious names to make the team stronger. Goblin Medics and Village Bell-Ringer leaves.

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Manabase

The manabase doesn't have much secret, you put as many lands that generate more than one color that your budget allows.

Battlefield Forge, Clifftop Retreat, Deserted Beach, Glacial Fortress, Shivan Reef, Hallowed Fountain, Steam Vents, Sacred Foundry are the ones I'll put on this list, but there's a lot of room for improvement if the money is available.

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Well, Commander is an experimentation format, especially when we have some new concepts. Jeskai based on Convoke is certainly a novelty.

The final list looked like this:

The changes in this list were made with a relatively limited budget in mind and not completely overhauling the base deck. So keep in mind two things: probably the amount of mana ramp, card draw and derivatives can be further improved, but only with a few practical tests to be sure of how it is. However, I don't think it's going to deviate much from the numbers I've given.

Targeted removals and sweepers will depend on the Metagame. You can increase or decrease each of them according to the needs of your local scene. If you put in more sweepers, Martial Coup is mandatory. I just didn't put it because I like everything is already included in the deck and I didn't think I would need or resolve it that often.

Here's an example of a list, in case you have spare money and don't mind modifying precon decks.

I won't provide details, as the idea is the same as above, only with more efficient and more expensive cards. The idea is not to make a cEDH, so no super combos and fast mana. It's just a lot of money being thrown into the deck.

In the end, Convoke on Jeskai is very difficult to work with, I believe I made a list that is a good start for where to take the deck, but the power level will always be limited.

At this Commander level between 5-7, most slots are flexible and there are plenty of expensive staples, so modify as you see fit. I hope that those who bought precon will be able to enjoy this exotic commander.