Dance of the Elements Upgrade Guide: 10 Juicy Cards to Add

Do you want to improve your new five-color precon? Wish to make it more fun and explosive? Then you’ve come to the right place, as our Dance of the Elements Upgrade Guide can help you do just that.

Below you’ll find 10 card swap suggestions, that should make this deck even more exciting. There are also some additional upgrade ideas, if you want to take the precon into slightly different directions, as well as mana base upgrades.

But before we get to all that, let’s first check what this deck is all about.

Dance of the Elements Game Plan

As you can see from the main and secondary commander below, this deck is all about large Elemental creatures with powerful enters effects.

The suggestions below assume you’re using Ashling, the Limitless as your main commander. (Although, most of these will also work fine with Mass of Mysteries too.)

You’ll try to utilize the powerful combination of generic evoke cost and getting a token when you sacrifice a nontoken Elemental. The decklist is already suited to do that pretty well, but there are still improvements to be made.

Overall, this is a solid Commander precon, but a few heavy hitters are missing, and we’re starting with of with one of those.

#1 Sunderflock

First up, an Elemental from the Lorwyn Eclipsed main set. Nine mana might seem like a lot, but Sunderflock has a built-in cost reduction. If you have a five mana Elemental in play, this will only cost four mana.

At that point, its enters effect will feel insanely powerful, as it will typically bounce all creatures except yours. That might not be as powerful as Cyclonic Rift, but it’s getting close to it. Plus, it works really nicely with this deck’s synergies.

For example, if you control Ashling, the Limitless, you can cast Sunderflock for its new evoke cost of four mana. But Sunderflock’s cost reduction also applies, making it a one mana play. Now that’s truly insane!

Replaces: Shatter the Sky

Shatter is a fine wrath, but Sunderflock fits that role better, while still being on theme.

#2 Flamekin Harbinger

Here’s another Elemental, but this’s one is as cheap as it gets. For a single mana you get to search your library for an Elemental and put it on top of your deck.

Sure it doesn’t go directly to your hand, but you’ll probably have plenty of draw effects, and the card works with all of your Elemental synergies. It’s hard to ask for much more than that for this mana cost.

Replaces: Eclipsed Flamekin

The cut here is just a more expensive and clunkier version of the same card.

#3 Cavalier of Dawn

One problem when building or upgrading Commander decks is finding enough slots for everything. You want card advantage, ramp, removal, efficient creatures, all while also keeping your synergies. That’s why it’s cool to use cards that fit multiple roles.

One such card is the white Cavalier. It’s an Elemental that serves as a removal for any nonland permanent. Plus, its dies-effect makes it play really well with Ashling.

Replaces: Ingot Chewer

Now this is a perfectly fine card to play, albeit a bit narrow. Cavalier seems a bit more flexible, but if you still want additional artifact removal, feel free to cut another card instead of Chewer.

#4 Shinestriker

Hey, here’s another Elemental from Lorwyn Eclipsed. On its own, it’s probably a bit below rate. However, when you pair it with your Commander it can become a powerful draw spell for four mana. Since you’re getting two copies, you’re drawing at least 4 cards (Ashling counting for red, Shinestriker for blue), but often this number will be even higher.

Plus, it’s really cheap, which is nice.

Replaces: Distant Melody

We’re essentially swapping two card draw spells. Shinestriker might be a bit clunkier, but when it pops off it really pops of. If you enjoy card advantage spells, you could simply play both and cut something else instead.

#5 Urza’s Incubator

Incubator is a spectacular card for decks playing lots of expensive creatures of the same type. Given that Dance of the Elements features a ton of huge Elementals, it makes perfect sense to include it.

It works great with Ashling’s evoke cost too. With it in play, all your Elementals now have an evoke cost of two mana.

This effect can be even better in multiples, as you can then get the cost down to zero. At that point, you can really go off with some broken plays.

Here are a few cards that work similar, if you want to pursue this game plan: Heartless Summoning, Animar, Soul of Elements, Semblance Anvil, and Herald’s Horn. You can use all of those or just the ones that fit your vision best.

Replaces: Abundant Growth

A cheap effect that fixes your mana, but doesn’t really get you ahead. You can achieve similar benefits by simply improving your mana base. That also won’t take one of your valueable nonland slots.

#6 Solitude

Here’s another card that does double duty. It’s both an interaction spell and an Elemental.

As many Modern players can attest, the face that you can cast it for zero mana is extremely broken. Additionally, you will get another copy, if you also control your commander. This allows you to take out two threats on the same turn you cast Ashling.

Replaces: Crib Swap

Solitude fills the same role as this instant, while simply being a better card — both for this deck and in a vacuum too. (At least most of the time.)

#7 Sneak Attack

Sometimes you won’t control your commander, but you’d still like to enact your game plan. This powerful red enchantment can help you do that. Plus, it works perfectly fine with Ashling in play too.

You get to put your Elementals in play for a single red mana, and you get the sacrifice bonus at the beginning of the next end step.

Once upon a time, this enchantment was really pricey, but a few reprints brought its price down to a more affordable card.

Replaces: Shimmercreep

Medium sized Elemental that drains a little just isn’t powerful enough. There are many of stronger options out there — be it Elementals or support cards like Sneak Attack.

#8 Reflections of Littjara

With most creatures in your decks being Elementals, this enchantment provides a lot of value in a longer game. Getting another copy of each Elemental you cast is really powerful, particularly since you can cast them ahead of schedule with your commander.

One thing to note here is that if you evoke an Elemental, the copy will also be considered evoked, so you’ll need to sacrifice the token. Besides, it doesn’t work with token doublers, such as the next card on the list, since the token technically isn’t being created.

Replaces: Elemental Spectacle

With the right setup, this can make up to five Elementals, and gain you some life, but the card still feels kinda vanilla, and not particularly powerful. The blue enchantment will likely play out much better.

#9 Parallel Lives

Sure, Dance of the Elements isn’t a token deck, which is the usual home for this enchantment. However, your commander still creates tokens. With Parallel Lives in play, you’re getting twice as many. And you don’t need to sacrifice the second one!

Pretty potent effect, and you could add similar options to the mix for even more shenanigans. (More about those in the Bonus Recommendations section.)

Replaces: Hoofprints of the Stag

This enchantment is extremely slow, and the payoff is… A 4/4 Elemental? You can tell that the card was first printed almost 20 years ago, in the original Lorwyn set. Its power level is just not on par with modern era designs.

#10 Ashling, Rekindled / Ashling, Rimebound

The tenth and last card is yet another card from Lorwyn Eclipsed. This two mana creature is a pretty neat play at all points of the game. The front side allows you to loot, which is often useful. More power comes from the back side, which allows you to ramp into expensive spells.

This perhaps isn’t the most exciting option, but it’s a solid card and a fairly budget-friendly addition. Plus, it’s also a different version of Ashling, making it a perfect flavor fit.

Replaces: Springleaf Parade

This new card is a playable one, but it rewards you for playing lots of tokens. That’s not really what the deck is about, so it’s getting cut.

Dance of the Elements Upgrade Recap

That’s it for the ten card swaps, so here’s a quick overview of the suggestions.

Don’t feel like you need to follow these suggestions exactly. Cut the cards you don’t like, keep the ones you enjoy casting. Really make your deck your own.

Mana Base

One area that we didn’t discuss is the mana base. For a budget build, the one that comes with the precon is serviceable. However, there’s still a lot of room for improvement if you want to spend more. (Or if you already own some of the rare lands.)

One neat addition is The World Tree. Once you get to six lands, it solves all of your mana issues, and you can tap your lands as you please.

Afterwards, the upgrades can get quite pricey. You want a mix of shocks (Temple Garden), fetches (Windswept Heath), and possibly tri-lands with types (Spara’s Headquarters). Getting all of these can be expensive.

A good compromise might be picking up shock lands that were just reprinted in the main Lorwyn Eclipsed set. These five lands are now at their lowest price point in quite a while:

• Blood Crypt
• Hallowed Fountain
• Overgrown Tomb
• Steam Vents
• Temple Garden

If you can pair them with a couple of fetch lands, and trim some of the lands that always enter tapped, you’ll already make your mana significantly better, even if not optimal.

Bonus Recommendations

Given that this deck contains five colors, and can therefore play any card, there are plenty of other cards you could add to it. Here are a few options, that we didn’t mention above.

Is There Something Missing?

With that we’re wrapping up our Dance of the Elements Upgrade Guide. But with so many cards to pick from, we’ve certainly missed some. Let our readers know about your ideas for which cards to use to make this deck better and more fun.

Also, if you’re interested about the other Lorwyn Eclipsed deck, check Blight Curse Upgrade Guide here.

Until next time, enjoy playing with your upgraded precon, and may you never run into mana problems!