Do you want to make your new Brimaz, Blight of Oreskos Commander deck better? If so, you’ve come to the right place, as in this Growing Threat Upgrade Guide you’ll find great cards to add to your deck in order to improve it and make it more fun.
Before We Start
This time around, I’m trying something new. I wanted to get these guides out as quickly as possible. However, it’s hard to do a proper deep-dive in just a couple of days. That’s why the article will go live with just the three best cards, that will significantly improve your deck, no matter which direction you build it in.
This way, you’ll quickly get some ideas in which direction you can lean with your upgrade. I hope that by the time the decks will be released in paper, this guide will be updated with other important information. (Such as which other cards to add, which ones to remove, example of an upgraded decklist, and so on.)
Since most players probably won’t play with Planechase variation, I won’t focus too much on that part of the deck. You can still play with the upgraded deck and Planechase cards, if you want – the upgrades won’t make it unplayable in that mode. It just won’t be the focus of this article.
Anyway, let’s check the decklist, to see what we’re working with:
Growing Threat Decklist
Some cards’ images haven’t been added to the database yet. You can find them in our March of the Machine Commander Decks Guide.
Get the Deck
One final thing before we get to the upgrades: If you don’t already own the Growing Threat precon, you can get it on Amazon.
How to Upgrade Growing Threat?
When I start upgrading a Commander precon, I like to take a deeper look at the main commander, to see which synergies to lean into. However, there’s a problem with that when it comes to Brimaz, as it’s quite unfocused.
There’s a support for both Phyrexian creatures and artifact creatures. So right off the bat, you have two options to choose from. Second, the payoff comes in a form of Incubator tokens. These also need some building around, if you want to get the most out of them.
The same is true for the proliferate payoff. You’ll have some synergies with Incubators, but to really take advantage from it, you need to build around it. On top of that, it triggers from Phyrexians dying. Perhaps you’ll also need some sacrifice support.
So, if your only goal is to make this deck as good as it can possibly be, your best option is to narrow your focus. You could build a Phyrexian sacrifice deck, or an artifact creatures deck with some synergies with Incubators.
However, it’s not that fun if you’re only using half of your commander’s text box. That’s why I decided to perhaps narrow the focus a little, but still use all parts of the buffalo. (Or shall I say cat?) If you want, you can still narrow the focus yourself, if that’s something you prefer, but in this Growing Threat Upgrade Guide, I’ll try to have a bit of everything.
Top 3 Cards for Growing Threat Upgrade
Sometimes it can be hard to upgrade a whole 100-card deck all at once. That’s why I like to first highlight just three cards, that will improve the deck the most. In this section, I only omit some of the most expensive cards, and I try to focus on on-theme cards, as opposed to general staples. With that said, let’s get to it!
Mondrak, Glory Dominus
Mondrak is a recent card, as it was released in the previous set, Phyrexia: All Will Be One. It’s a great addition to the Growing Threat precon, as it checks multiple boxes:
- It’s a Phyrexian, so it works with your Phyrexian synergies.
- Token doubling works well with Incubator tokens.
- The final ability offers some support for the sacrifice subtheme.
As you can see, Mondrak does a lot of different things for this deck. Since we’re trying to support all of Brimaz’s abilities, this is a perfect card to add to the deck. The card is quite expensive on the secondary market, but thankfully you’ll be able to use it in any other white deck that uses tokens.
Everflowing Chalice
It’s rare that I recommend a mana rock in my top 3 choices. However, if you pair Everflowing Chalice with Brimaz, Blight of Oreskos, you get an insanely powerful ramp tool.
That’s because Brimaz allows you to proliferate multiple times over the course of the game. Each time you proliferate, you put another charge counter on the Chalice, which will now make even more mana.
At its worst, you can play Everflowing Chalice for two mana, and it’ll be fine. At its best you’ll get to proliferate multiple times, and get tons of mana. So, you either get a fine card, or a completely insane one. I really like such cards, where you can’t really go wrong with it, and you have amazingly high potential.
Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
In this deck you want to include Phyrexians and artifact creatures, which trigger Brimaz, so it makes Incubate tokens. They will also become creatures eventually. As a result, you’ll end up with lots of creatures when you’re playing with the Growing Threat precon.
That’s why I started looking for a good mass pump effect. At first, I thought of Tempered Steel, which could buff all of your transformed Incubators, and other artifact creatures. However, then I remembered a more iconic card that could be used instead.
I’m talking about the OG Elesh Norn Grand Cenobite, of course! While you do have to pay seven mana for it, you get a lot of value from your investment. All your creatures get a significant boost, and giving all your opponents’ creatures -2/-2 can decimate many strategies. On top of that, it fits into the deck’s Phyrexian theme. If you have Brimaz out when you play Elesh Norn, you’ll also get an Incubator token with seven +1/+1 counters.
Elesh Norn fits so perfectly in the deck, that it would be a shame to not include it.
Conclusion
That’s it for our Growing Threat Upgrade Guide. At least for now – make sure to check back in a week or so, to get the full upgrade with all the details you’ll need. Of course, if you have a recommendation of your own, feel free to leave a comment below and share it with me and our other readers.
If you want to see the upgrades for the other four March of the Machine Commander decks, you can check them by following these links:
- Call for Backup Upgrade Guide
- Cavalry Charge Upgrade Guide
- Divine Convocation Upgrade Guide
- Tinker Time Upgrade Guide (coming soon)
Until next time, have fun and win many games with your upgraded Growing Threat deck.