Dance of the Elements Upgrade Guide: 17 Easy Changes You Can Make

Ashling, the Limitless | Illustration by Kai Carpenter

Lorwyn Eclipsed has two new and exciting Commander precons, and today we cover Dance of the Elements. Gone are the days when Horde of Notions was the only 5-color elemental-matters commander available, or being stuck with Morophon, the Boundless. This precon brings two new commanders that you can explore in their own ways, and it's already quite strong right out of the box. But we can still tune it up a bit!

I’m not making this deck beefier or ultracompetitive, or fundamentally changing anything. I’ll just streamline some elements and fix some notable exclusions with proposed easy changes. And of course, without spending a lot of money, since those Commander precons are getting better, stronger, and pricier at the same time.

Let’s go!

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Magic: the Gathering Lorwyn Eclipsed - Commander Deck | Dance of The Elements

• RETURN TO THE LAND OF LIGHT AND SHADOW—Lorwyn returns, not as it once was, but a world split in two. Explore this dual-aspect plane filled with enchanting creatures and embrace the powers of order and chaos.
• READY-TO-PLAY COMMANDER DECK—Pick up and play Magic’s most popular multiplayer format
• CONTENTS—100-card Dance of the Elements deck with 12 new cards (including 2 foil Mythics), deck box, 10 double-sided token cards, strategy insert, reference card

$33.90

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Dance of the Elements Deck Overview

Subterfuge | Illustration by Ilse Gort

This precon features two exciting new WURBG commanders. The first one is Ashling, the Limitless, the face of the deck. The defining characteristic of this commander is that you can evoke any elemental from your hand for mana, even those that don't have evoke or that have a more expensive evoke ability (Reveillark comes to mind, although it's not in this precon). Of note, the new mythic evoke elementals from Lorwyn Eclipsed cost 2 mana to evoke, but with Ashling, you can get the best of them. For example, I can evoke Deceit for to get both benefits, but with the regular evoke, I need to choose between or . gives me nothing.

Regardless, the best use of this commander is evoking expensive elemental creatures like Avenger of Zendikar or Titan of Industry for 4. It also helps with the mana fixing issue of the deck since your commander only costs red and you don't need colored mana to evoke. As a bonus, you get a token of the evoked elemental after you sacrifice it, so that's actually two enters triggers, and you can attack with it until the end of turn. It's almost like a fusion between evoke and blitz. Not too shabby.

The second legendary 5-color elemental is Mass of Mysteries. It's a beefier creature that’s much harder to cast, but that gives another elemental you control myriad. Your Mulldrifter can attack with two more copies and give you four cards. Or you can enhance Shriekmaw‘s removal capabilities. Or make a billion tokens with Avenger of Zendikar. It's a nice commander if built properly, but here it's going to sit in the 99.

Horde of Notions, the OG 5-color elemental commander is in the precon as a nice reference, and you can play it in the deck as a good elemental, but it's an inferior choice for a commander. Same goes for Jegantha, the Wellspring.

Upgrade Plan

Usually, Commander precons have a mix of cards that work better with different legendary creatures so that the owner of the precon can test a variety of builds. Using Ashling, the Limitless, the deck has a clear main strategy: Take advantage of powerful elemental creatures and their enter effects, especially when you evoke them for thanks to your commander’s abilities. Although the two main commanders differ in how best to use elementals, both complement each other well. But Mass of Mysteries is better if you use your elemental creatures to attack or take advantage of its five colors.

This leaves us with a few problems to solve: It’s nice to evoke a 7-mana elemental for 4 mana, but what if you actually want to cast it, or if your commander isn’t online or is removed? You’ll be left with high mana value cards, not to mention you’ll need 5-color fixing to cast cards like Yarok, the Desecrated or Horde of Notions.

Most of my suggested card swaps will address the high mana curve, and add some needed ramp or interaction. Also, of note, most nonbasics from this deck enter the battlefield tapped, so I’ll address this. 

Animar, Soul of Elements

Suggested Cut: Cream of the Crop

Animar, Soul of Elements checks many boxes. It’s an elemental, it makes your creatures cheaper, and it even makes your commander’s evoke cheaper, or potentially free. I’ll take out Cream of the Crop to make room for it. I think the deck needs fewer clunky cards, and it’s doing fine in the card selection department.

Flamekin Harbinger

Suggested Cut: Thriving Moor

Flamekin Harbinger costs 1 mana and can tutor for other elementals, so it solves some of your problems. Early in the game you might want something like Smokebraider, while later in the game, you can fetch some powerful bombs. It’s never dead, and you can often retrieve it from your graveyard using cards like Muldrotha, the Gravetide, or copy its effect. I’ll cut the first of three Thriving lands I want to cut, so there goes Thriving Moor.

Reflecting Pool

Suggested Cut: Thriving Isle

A little bit on the expensive side, but this deck could use a Reflecting Pool. Many of your lands already produce five colors of mana, or at least three. Thriving Isle is the one to leave since I’m replacing it with a much better land.

Rottenmouth Viper

Suggested Cut: Thriving Heath

The main problem with Rottenmouth Viper is that sometimes it has a low impact in the game because players have a clear choice to make when this card has only one blight counter. Not so much here. With the redundancy your commander offers, sometimes this card triggers three or four times in a given turn, quickly piling up blight counters. It works very well with myriad, too. Also, your commander has the line “Whenever you sacrifice a nontoken Elemental”, and this card is a free sac outlet when it enters. Thriving Heath goes to make room for it.

Cavalier of Night

Suggested Cut: Slithermuse

We already have Cavalier of Thorns, which works perfectly in this deck, so let’s add one more. Like Rottenmouth Viper, Cavalier of Night is a strong sacrifice outlet and removal option; it’s potentially a second Shriekmaw, and it Unearths a creature for free when it dies. Excellent evoke target as well, and Ashling helps with the triple black casting cost. Slithermuse is the elemental to cut, as I think it’s one of the clunkiest creatures in this deck. Sometimes it won’t die, or you won’t get enough cards.

Ashling’s Command

Suggested Cut: Shatter the Sky

Ashling's Command is a powerful elemental spell; it does stuff you actually want, like draw cards, fix your mana via Treasure, or copy a good elemental. Shatter the Sky leaves because I don’t have the urge to play a 4-mana sweeper that badly. Note that you cannot evoke this spell, since Ashling has been errata‘d to only work with permanent spells.

Ephemerate

Suggested Cut: Reality Shift

Evoke is the main mechanic of the show, so why not blink some evoked elemental creatures? Ephemerate is one of the better, cheap ways to do this twice, and for a single mana. This card shines when a good chunk of your deck revolves around good enters creatures. I’ll cut Reality Shift because it’s really only a great removal spell when you’re mono-blue and don’t have better options.

Sunderflock

Suggested Cut: Belonging

Sunderflock is great as a board reset. You’ll keep your elementals on the battlefield while your opponents won’t get that lucky. This card even gets cheaper as the game goes on, and it often costs 4-5 (not to mention the evoke possibility). I want to cut Belonging, because you don’t get much benefit from your creature and elemental count, and I want to shave off the number of big, dumb elementals.

Nulldrifter

Suggested Cut: Eclipsed Flamekin

Mulldrifter is nice, so let’s add Nulldrifter. Here you’re paying 2 mana more to upgrade a 2/2 into a 4/4 that works well with both of your 5c legends (due to annihilator, not card draw). The natural evoke cost is the same, so it’s like you’re adding an extra Divination to your deck. Eclipsed Flamekin, while being cheaper, has to go.

Imoti, Celebrant of Bounty

Suggested Cut: Ingot Chewer

Did you know evoke considers the cost of the spell and not the cost paid for evoke? With Imoti, Celebrant of Bounty around, if you evoke Avenger of Zendikar, a 7-mana creature, you get to cascade even if you pay the . It’s a nice combo. And Imoti also comes with its own cascade trigger, too. Ingot Chewer leaves as a lesser elemental that will be, in most cases, a Smelt or two.

Rampant Growth

Suggested Cut: Vernal Sovereign

There’s nothing wrong with Rampant Growth as a 2-mana ramp piece, especially in 5-color decks. You even have some landfall payoffs, and this deck has lots of basics. To make room for it, I’ll take out Vernal Sovereign, a card that I think is better with the commander that gives myriad. I don’t see this deck going too wide either.

Horizon of Progress

Suggested Cut: Sandsteppe Citadel

Here, I’m adding another potential 5-color land that can sometimes ramp you. Horizon of Progress works with some of your landfall permanents, and it’s nice to put extra lands into play. I’ll take Sandsteppe Citadel out in an effort to reduce the number of lands that enter tapped.

Herald’s Horn

Suggested Cut: Elemental Spectacle

Herald's Horn is excellent in a heavy typal deck like this one. You get cost reduction on elemental spells, and once per turn, you have a good chance to draw into an elemental card. Also, this card reduces evoke costs. Making room for it is an expensive noncreature, nonelemental spell that will sometimes be dead in your hand: Elemental Spectacle. I'd let it slide if we were playing with a 5-color commander instead.

Airbender Ascension

Suggested Cut: Hoofprints of the Stag

Airbender Ascension is a nice way to take advantage of your creatures entering the battlefield, and once it’s powered up, you can airbend a creature every turn. Hoofprints of the Stag is an easy cut because it’s a clunky 2-mana enchantment that at most gives you a token or two per game.

Reflections of Littjara

Suggested Cut: Springleaf Parade

A nice mid-to-end game card, Reflections of Littjara doubles your elemental spells, and a good chunk of this deck is, indeed, elemental spells. I’ll take out Springleaf Parade for it.

Anguished Unmaking

Suggested Cut: Forest

Adding more ways to interact is always nice, and Anguished Unmaking is one of the better ones. This deck has a lot of lands, and taking out a basic Forest for this card seems appropriate.

Patchwork Banner

Suggested Cut: Bane of Progress

Patchwork Banner is our 5-color elemental lord mana rock. It fixes mana and helps your creatures. I don’t feel like you need Bane of Progress. Sure, it’s an elemental and a good mass Disenchant effect, but you’re usually losing something when you cast this card, and it’s not the best card to evoke or recur. Like, I’ll evoke it, load it up with +1/+1 counters, then just sacrifice it right away?

The Final Deck and New Cards

Here’s the final precon decklist. I’ve managed to cut some cards that were a bigger payoff if you’re playing Mass of Mysteries as a commander, like cards that care about colors or attacking.

Here are all the cards that I’ve added. If you wish, you can get all of them with a single click of the shopping cart button.

Commanding Conclusion

Flamebraider | Illustration by Pete Venters

Dance of the Elements is a nice Commander precon right out of the box. Not revolutionary or anything broken, really, but it’s solid, and it works. If you’re not on a budget or have the needed cards, feel free to add expensive elemental cards like Solitude, Lumra, Bellow of the Woods, or one of the new mythic elemental evoke creatures like Deceit and Emptiness. All the additions are budget cards, with only a few costing $5 or more. These alterations all maintain the original spirit of the deck, while trimming the rough edges.

What cards would you like to see in this build? What if we didn’t have a budget limit? Let me know in the comments section below, or let’s discuss it on the Draftsim Discord.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy evoking expensive elementals.

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