Upgrading Commander Precon - Tyranid Swarm (Magus Lucea Kane)

We previously had the upgrades of the other Commanders from Warhammer 40k, from the Universes Beyond series, but one of the tribes was missing: the Tyrannids. This eccentric race of aliens with insect aspects brought the Ravenous mechanic along with them: the creature that has this ability enters the battlefield with X +1/+1 counters, and if the X is 5 or more, its controller draws a card as the creature enters.

At first, it seems like a slow ability, mainly because X always needs to be at least 5 to really take advantage of the draw mechanic. However, obviously, the deck is built around this, and has a variety of cards that make this ability work even better. One of them is one of the deck's alternate commanders, including the star chosen for today's guide: Magus Lucea Kane.

Tyranid Swarm Decklist and Strategy

The deck is a Temur color combination , themed around Tyrannid-type creatures, which interact with +1/+1 counters and X-cost spells, most of which are of them creature spells.

Every Warhammer 40k list is pretty strong for a preconstructed deck, and this one is no exception. The original list has a variety of powerful cards (which are even more valuable as time goes by), but some seem to be lost there in the middle considering their objective, and maybe they present because of the lore aspect, such as Ghyrson Starn, Kelermorph: A great card, especially as a commander. But the deck doesn't have many sources that deal exactly 1 damage to take advantage of Ghyrson, so it's an example of a powerful card that will be on the updated list.

As mentioned earlier, we'll be using Magus Lucea Kane as the commander here. The original commander, The Swarmlord, is also a good alternative, but considering games I watched on tables and talking to those who acquired this deck, Magus Lucea Kane manages to offer a better advantage early on, to structure a field with more creatures and also a possible bigger source of card draws, considering creatures with Ravenous will be copied.

In this upgrade, we will bring to the deck some other creature options that, despite not being Tyrannids, are great and contrast well with the commander, besides ramps, other cards with +1/+1 counter synergy, with X-cost spells and other winconditions besides combat damage.

Here, about 30% of the original list was changed, with additions thinking about the deck as a whole: better creatures, specific answers, fewer creatures that are there just because they are a relevant part of Warhammer history or nostalgia. The cards that were chosen to leave gave way to even better ones, which will enhance the deck as a whole.

Manabase

39 lands was the original number of lands in the decklist, and the list itself has great ramps, like the commander Magus Lucea Kane, Haruspex, Nexos, among others. Considering this and also the fact that the deck has green cards, the number of lands has been reduced to 35.

Only Hinterland Harbor, Sulfur Falls and Rootbound Crag were added as lands that generate colored mana, as a considerable portion of the deck interacts with basic lands. And as the only land that generates colorless mana, Reliquary Tower to avoid possible discards if too many cards are drawn.

The lands removed were some basic and others that didn't seem very relevant considering the variety of options we have today in Commander.

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Ramp

The deck already has Arcane Signet, Sol Ring, Rampant Growth, and Cultivate.

We added the remaining signets: Gruul Signet, Izzet Signet and Simic Signet as 2-mana ramps. We also added Elementalist's Palette, which, in addition to generating a mana of any color, is a card with great potential in this deck, as it can generate a lot of mana for X-cost spells, which is essential on this list.

Kodama's Reach and Nature's Lore were included as well, as they can fetch a Cinder Glade, for example.

Harrow, New Horizons and Overgrowth were removed to give slots to more efficient spells.

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+1/+1 Counters and X Cost

Several creatures were removed from the list, such as the aforementioned Ghyrson Starn, Kelermorph, Genestealer Locus, Acolyte Hybrid and a few others. For example, Toxicrene is a great card, but it's a slot that can be easily replaced.

Purestrain Genestealer is also another good card, but it has been replaced by Kodama of the West Tree, which gives evasion to your creatures and also makes them have potential to ramp as well. This solves two problems in one, considering that Atalan Jackal also left the list.

The aforementioned Elementalist's Palette is one of the X-cost synergistic cards, and in addition to that, Unbound Flourishing has also been added, which doubles the value of X in the cost of creature spells. This is also important to point out, as Raveneous only triggers the draw of the card when the X is greater than 5, not when the power is greater than 5. So Hardened Scales increases the number of counters +1/+1 on the creature, but if the X is 4 on casting, despite the creature entering the battlefield with five +1/+1 counters, Ravenous won't trigger and won't provide a card draw.

And since Magus Lucea Kane copies the X-cost spell cast, Twinning Staff has been added to provide even more creatures on the battlefield. Hydroid Krasis and Altered Ego were also other X-cost additions.

Going into +1/+1 counters, we brought some options that can both buff the creatures and give them haste: Rhythm of the Wild, Uncivil Unrest and Invigorating Hot Spring. As another Hardened Scales, we have Ozolith, the Shattered Spire. And as a possible "finisher", Herald of Secret Streams, since the deck spawns swarms of large creatures, how much of a problem would it be for opponents if they just couldn't get unblocked?

And to close with a golden key: All Will Be One. This card is almost indispensable in a +1/+1 counter themed decks that have red, even more so in Tyranid Swarm, where in the original list we have The Red Terror, which combo with All Will Be One the instant the first +1/+1 counter is put on after having both on the battlefield.

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Answers and Other Additions

Targeted answers such as Beast Within and Chaos Warp have been added to deal with permanents that can be problematic in games. Also added are enchantments that provide card draws: Garruk's Uprising and Temur Ascendancy (which in addition to card draws also grants haste) and an enchantment that can be considered a win condition: Simic Ascendancy.

Silkguard is a great answer here, as it can even work for just one mana to protect your creatures from possible targets. And last but not least, the first commander in the Temur color combination: Animar, Soul of Elements. A great addition that couldn't be left out, considering that it only tends to grow increasingly in this deck. Blasphemous Act was also placed here because it's a great red sweeper.

Explore, Abundance, Death's Presence, Starstorm and Tyranid Invasion were removed, again, for the reason that the cards that replace them have better potential in the deck.

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And so, there goes the new and updated Tyranid Swarm decklist. Additions that are really relevant and give the deck a certain power, making it stand out even more in its proposal.

About 1/3 of the deck was changed, aiming to improve the Ravenous theme and the deck as a whole, with additions of other victory conditions even beyond combat damage, to have a greater variety in the games of who pilots it.

Here we also put a slightly more expensive and elaborate alternative, focusing basically on the same mechanics mentioned above, but now with slightly stronger cards for more competitive environments, such as Doubling Season, Fierce Guardianship and others.

This list is more expensive and more optimized, focused on tables that have a slightly higher power level.

The +1/+1 counters mechanic mixed lightly with X cost really caught my eye, and I'm glad I was the one who upgraded this deck on this article series.

Magus Lucea Kane is a great commander for the Tyrannids. But even Animar, Soul of Elements can be commander of this deck. And you, who would you use as commander? Would you add something? Would you take out the combo? Share with us!