Upgrading Commander Precon - Rebellion Rising (Neyali, Suns' Vanguard)

Phyrexia: All Will Be One brought us two new precon decks for Commander that are quite interesting and different from one another. Today, we'll upgrade Rebellion Rising, with Neyali, Suns' Vanguard as the commander, representing the Mirrodin resistance against the Phyrexian threat!

Released in the Boros color combination, this deck is aggressive, creates several tokens and always attacks 3 opponents to exile more cards with Neyali, Suns' Vanguard.

This list has great cards, like Clever Concealment and Flawless Maneuver, to maintain your board, but there are other cards that are not that interesting. Let's remove them to open up space for cards that are more optimized.

Rebellion Rising List

We have a very cool base, but we can't forget we're dealing with a pre-constructed deck - that means we'll change and enhance this list even more. We changed almost 20% of this deck, bringing cards that fit into the token synergy and also interact with the exile effect our commander has.

Cards Removed

We removed heavy cards and even some cards that are relatively weak considering the complete pool of cards we have access to. Cards that are a bit uncommon, like Cut a Deal, were also removed, after all, we want advantages only for us, and not for the opponents too. Considering this, we removed Harmonious Archon because it changes the base Power and Resistance of not only your creatures, but all creatures in play.

We removed 3 basic lands because 38 total lands is a number of lands that is just a bit too high. Some slower cards, like Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer or Commander's Sphere, also opened up space for new additions.

Creating and Interacting with Tokens

This deck focuses on having Neyali on the board at all times, always trying to trigger an attack on 3 different opponents to create more advantage. Therefore, we need to maintain a rhythm when creating tokens. To support these tokens and not necessarily just create them, we use a few cards like Inspiring Leader (as a buff), and Divine Visitation to transform small tokens into bigger and better creatures. To boost our token creation even more, we also use Mondrak, Glory Dominus, thanks to its ability to double the final number of tokens.

To create tokens, on the other side, we have an array of possibilities. As spells, we use both Secure the Wastes and Song of Totentanz - which can be a finisher depending on the game state it is used, considering it gives Haste to not only these tokens, but all creatures alike.

In the enchantment section, we have Rabble Rousing, which is excellent because it creates creatures equivalent to the number of attackers alongside its Hideaway ability, which is easily triggered considering this deck's functionality. We also have Court of Embereth, which fulfills some roles excellently - creating tokens, possibly drawing cards thanks to the Monarch, and also deal damage to all opponents simultaneously if you can keep the crown until its next upkeep. All these traits make it a possible win condition if you can create enough creatures.

We also have creatures that fulfill their role excellently by creating tokens directly when you attack: Hero of Bladehold (with the Battle Cry bonus, buffing the attacking creatures even more), and Battle Angels of Tyr, which is present mostly because of its Myriad, but all its other functionalities are welcome, considering it can create Treasures, gain life, and even draw cards.

Finally, creating one token per turn that already has evasion and grows every turn, we have Urabrask's Forge. With enough time, this token can grow enormously, and, if Neyali is on the board, it will be a creature with Double Strike and Trample for your opponents to deal with. It will be quite problematic for them and quite fun for the one piloting this deck.

Answers and Miscellaneous

As Aggro players don't live off attacks alone, we need answers to deal with possible enemy threats. This deck already has a good variety of them, such as Path to Exile and Generous Gift. So, because it is better to be careful than to cry later, as a precaution we added Chaos Warp and Swords to Plowshares to answer problematic situations.

We also added creatures that interact directly with the exile effect Neyali provides. Pia Nalaar, Consul of Revival creates Thopter tokens any time a card is played from exile, be it a land or not, creating value from Neyali's ability. We also basically have a second commander, Commander Liara Portyr, which will also exile cards from the top of our deck (totaling 6 cards exiled if Neyali is on the board and 3 opponents are being attacked), and each card will have its cost discounted by 3 generic mana thanks to Commander Liara Portyr. It is definitely one of the most important cards in this deck, and can heavily impact the game from the moment it enters the battlefield.

We also use Iroas, God of Victory both to guarantee that our creatures will survive combat and give them evasion with Menace; Taunt from the Rampart as a possible finisher, basically removing all blockers in your way (and even if you don't kill them, you'll force your opponents to attack each other); Impact Tremors as an alternative win condition to not depend entirely on combat damage to win the game, and finally Welcoming Vampire, to draw cards.

This is our upgraded list! We upgraded just a few things, but they were crucial, bringing more power, consistency, and cards that can create huge turns of events in several possible situations.

As mentioned before, the original list already had good cards, so just a few things were refined until we got to this result. We have an Aggro deck that is very fun to pilot and can keep its options as the game develops.

Alternative List with Otharri, Suns' Glory

As an alternative commander, we chose Otharri, Suns' Glory, in a very similar build, but with many Proliferate interactions to increase the number of Rebel tokens created to also increase Otharri's Experience counters. We also have a few other cards that are more expensive and can also see play in Neyali's deck - Anointed Procession and Ojer Taq, Deepest Foundation, for instance.

These are two similar goals, but different at the same time, both with their own unique traits as aggressive decks. It's worth checking out both lists to see which one do you want to build!

This is a considerably strong and well-structured precon deck. With just a few changes, it was already possible to make it even cooler, stronger and consistent, practically without altering the initial goal's original essence - an aggressive token deck. It is uncommon to see this type of deck in this color combination, but, after analyzing it thoroughly, we can see it performs well in this archetype and can develop its game plan well. It is a very interesting deck to build and play with, and even play against, to see how you should react to it and to understand its play lines better.

Did you like this upgrade? Do you prefer the original list? Or the alternative commander? Share your thoughts!

See you next time!