Heavenly Inferno 2026 Upgrade Guide: 25 Easy Changes You Can Make

Kaalia of the Vast | Background Illustration by Michael Komarck

Heavenly Inferno is one of the five original Commander precons, a Mardu () deck centered on Kaalia of the Vast. If you’re an avid EDH player, you’ve brewed or faced this MTG legend quite a few times.

The precon itself is from the same batch that gave us Riku of Two Reflections, Ghave, Guru of Spores, and Animar, Soul of Elements, just to cite some classic commanders. While it marks the beginning of WotC directly supporting Commander via precons, much has changed in MTG and especially in EDH since 2012.

Today, I’m going to suggest easy changes that you can make to improve the overall quality of the deck. Most of these changes are pretty simple: Take out bad cards and replace them with newer, more powerful ones.

Heavenly Inferno Deck Overview

Most Commander precons in MTG nowadays have a focus problem: There are many themes and different legendary creatures to support, and the decks are designed and sold as a bit of a jumble.

This precon, however, is from another era of Magic products and gameplay. So let’s address elephant in the room: Heavenly Inferno has a lot of bad cards. Like, 40 or so. Nowadays, Commander precons are also very powerful right out of the box, while many of this precon’s cards don’t see play anymore.

But Kaalia of the Vast is a powerful card – it’s currently #7 on EDHREC with almost 40k lists. The main idea with Kaalia is to create favorable conditions so that your commander can attack and put a powerful angel, demon, or dragon onto the battlefield. It’s just that the big targets this deck aimed to cheat into play in 2012 are worse than today’s 4- and 5-mana dragons or demons.

To improve this deck, we can focus on three main aspects of the deck: First, we’ll have to play more EDH staples. Second, we can increase the consistency of the deck by playing better angels, demons, and dragons. Third, if we want to really cheat things into play, then we’ll need better cards to put into play without paying their mana cost.

You can improve all of these elements by swapping in cheap cards, or cards that WotC has been reprinting in the last 4-5 years or so.

Upgrade Plan

Our commander is Kaalia of the Vast. There’s another legendary creature in Tariel, Reckoner of Souls, but I’m not considering it as a possible commander at all. This deck doesn’t suffer from focus. Tariel is a good target for Kaalia, and it’s a clear player in the deck’s 99.

Aside from the terrible mana base (and we say that today’s precon mana bases are bad), I want to improve the demons, dragons, and angels from this deck. I’ll also pay close attention to cards that help ensure Kaalia can attack and survive, or that your commander isn’t immediately sniped when it enters play.

For example, this deck’s demons have powerful triggers when they’re cast, but that’s not what Kaalia does best. You’d rather not cast your 10-mana demon in this deck just to get a benefit; you’ll want it to enter play and do something strong. Some 4- and 5-mana angels and dragons in this deck wouldn’t see play in today’s Limited formats. That's all to say we've got some work to do.

#1. Mana Base Upgrades

Cards to Add:

• 1 Nomad Outpost
• 1 Clifftop Retreat
• 1 Isolated Chapel
• 1 Dragonskull Summit
• 1 Caves of Koilos
• 1 Battlefield Forge
• 1 Sulfurous Springs
• 1 Haunted Ridge
• 1 Shattered Sanctum
• 1 Sundown Pass
• 1 Graven Cairns
• 1 Fetid Heath
• 1 Rugged Prairie

Suggested Cuts:

• 3 Plains
• 3 Mountain
• 3 Swamp
• 1 Molten Slagheap
• 1 Akoum Refuge
• 1 Rupture Spire
• 1 Vivid Meadow

Here, I want to take out some basic lands and some bad dual lands to run some good, reliable dual lands. I’m including 13 new lands here, between one tri-land and four cycles of dual lands touching red, white, and black. WotC has been doing a great job of reprinting interesting dual lands in Commander precons, and the prices have tanked.

An observation: This precon was released before Khans of Tarkir, so an obvious land for this deck like Nomad Outpost wasn’t even designed yet.

#2. Arcane Signet

Suggested Cut:

This is also an obvious inclusion. The deck has all the signets, and it’s lacking the best one for EDH since it was only introduced in Throne of Eldraine. Arcane Signet grants reliable 3-color fixing, and Armillary Sphere is a bit slow by today’s standards.

#3. Rakdos, Patron of Chaos

Suggested Cut:

Let’s begin to improve our demons. Rakdos, Patron of Chaos is a big demon that immediately gives you a benefit on your end step; you’ll either draw cards, or they’ll sacrifice something. No one’s interested in a 4/5 creature with a downside, like Razorjaw Oni.

#4. Archfiend of Depravity

Suggested Cut:

My main gripe with Reiver Demon is that you’ll get a benefit when you cast it, and in this deck, you’re aiming to cheat creatures into play. Archfiend of Depravity can offer you a similar big demon that forces one of your opponents to lose creatures, and it has an achievable mana value of 5 as well.

#5. Hoarding Broodlord

Suggested Cut:

Diabolic Tutor is a clunky tutor, so I’m replacing it with a tutor on a dragon, and that’s Hoarding Broodlord. You can sometimes convoke this card into play, but slamming down a 7/6 flying dragon that’s also a tutor attacking someone is the stuff of dreams, and your opponents will hate you for that.

#6. Demon of Loathing

Suggested Cut:

Demon of Loathing is an efficient, budget demon that’s perfect for cheating into play and hitting something out of the blue. Dread Cacodemon, like Reiver Demon, isn’t something you want to cheat into play, so that’s out.

#7. Drakuseth, Maw of Flames

Suggested Cut:

Moving on to dragons, we have an interesting cheat target in Drakuseth, Maw of Flames. It’s giant as a 7/7, and when it attacks you can kill up to three targets,though you don't get that part right away when Kaalia puts it into play. I’ll take out Cleansing Beam, a bad sweeper that shouldn’t even be here in the first place.

#8. Hellkite Tyrant

Suggested Cut:

Hellkite Tyrant is a staple in Commander, partially because it’s an artifact format. With one hit, you’ll steal Treasure tokens, lands, mana rocks, and the like. I’m not saying you’ll win with this card’s alternate win condition, but it’s an excellent cost-to-benefit dragon. Dragon Whelp is okay to bad in Limited, so that should be an easy cut.

#9. Neriv, Heart of the Storm

Suggested Cut: Orzhov Guildmage

Neriv, Heart of the Storm is an excellent dragon at 4 mana, and it’s very relevant to this deck since you want to get a big creature into play attacking. Thanks to Neriv, it will deal double the damage, and you have some 7-power creatures that'll deal 14 damage in a single hit. Orzhov Guildmage is a weak 2-drop that has no place in this deck, so it’s an easy out.

#10. Scourge of the Throne

Suggested Cut:

Scourge of the Throne has a powerful attack trigger, and if you can get extra turns, it’s even better. Having this card in play and attacking with it and your commander can end games on the spot. Furnace Whelp is an actively bad dragon, so let’s take it out.

#11. Smaug, Wicked Worm

Suggested Cut:

Smaug, Wicked Worm is a powerful dragon that only needs to hit the board to be good. It's the type of back-up card that can help cast your spells if the Kaalia plan isn't working out. Malfegor can give you some massive board control, but it’s a clunkier card, and you don’t have graveyard or discard synergies.

#12. Lyra Dawnbringer

Suggested Cut:

Let’s focus on angels next. Lyra Dawnbringer is a very solid creature that can gain you some life, and it holds its own in the sky. Lightkeeper of Emeria is the worst angel in the deck. I have no interest in a 2/4 flying creature that can sometimes gains me a bunch of life, and multikicker doesn’t even work with this commander.

#13. Giada, Font of Hope

Suggested Cut:

Giada, Font of Hope is best in a pure angels deck, but it’s a good creature, especially if you draw your more castable angels. Giada is solid, and you need something to do early anyways. I’ll take out Voice of All, an unexciting angel as a 2/2 with protection from one color.

#14. Angel of the Ruins

Suggested Cut:

A staple in EDH and perfect for this deck, this 7-mana angel enters and destroys two relevant permanents. It’s also excellent to have landcyclers in a deck with greedy mana requirements. To make room for it, let’s take out Congregate, a pure lifegain spell.

#15. Angel of Serenity

Suggested Cut:

Raising up our curve a little bit, we’ll take out a 2-mana creature to play a powerful 7-mana angel. Angel of Serenity was a midrange Constructed staple in the 2013-2015 era, and it offers disruption or more value. It’s nice to mess up people’s +1/+1 counter synergies, or to get back something you’ve lost. Boros Guildmage is just bad, and none of its abilities help here.

#16. Karmic Guide

Suggested Cut:

Karmic Guide is a mix of a 5-mana angel and reanimation, something that a deck with a lot of 5-7 mana creatures enjoys. I’m taking out Evincar's Justice, a card that’s just bad as a repeatable 7-mana sweeper.

#17. Aurelia, the Law Above

Suggested Cut:

You can set up some battalion attacks with Aurelia, the Law Above, though not if you sneak it into play with Kaalia. You’ll also get some cards when your opponents make a wide attack as well. Avatar of Slaughter is just expensive with no real synergies in this deck.

#18. Swiftfoot Boots

Suggested Cut:

Swiftfoot Boots is excellent in Commander decks that need to protect their commander and give it haste. One of EDH’s better plays is to have one of these in play, cast your commander, and immediately equip the boots and attack. Righteous Cause could be good if we had any lifegain synergies, so that’s out.

#19. Utter End

Suggested Cut:

Utter End is one of the most flexible answers in EDH, exiling any nonland permanent for just 4 mana. The cycle of Vow auras was made to be removal spells that incentivize people to fight amongst themselves, but I’m taking these out of the deck. It could be nice if there were any goad synergies or something like that. Vow of Malice is the first to go.

#20. Anguished Unmaking

Suggested Cut:

Another very flexible removal spell, Anguished Unmaking is a way to add more clean and flexible answers. It’s one of the most played WB spells in EDH overall, and the life loss shouldn’t be a problem in most cases. Vow of Lightning is the second Vow I’ll cut to make room for it.

#21. Chaos Warp

Suggested Cut:

Finally, the last vow card is taken out, and I get to slide in a good, catch-all answer in Chaos Warp. It’s a cheap and serviceable card, and Vow of Duty is dismissed.

#22. Blasphemous Act

Suggested Cut:

A sweeper for a sweeper, Earthquake usually isn’t that great, while Blasphemous Act is a Commander staple. You'll consistently kill all creatures and spend as little as 2-3 mana.

#23. Windcrag Siege

Suggested Cut:

Windcrag Siege is a nice way to double your commander’s attack trigger. It won’t be great every time, but you can also double other potent attack triggers, like the one on Drakuseth, Maw of Flames. Pyrohemia in this deck is just a cool reprint of an old card.

#24. Crackling Doom

Suggested Cut:

Let’s run a good edict card in Crackling Doom and remove a bad one in Syphon Flesh. We don’t have a good use for the 2/2 zombies in this deck, and we’re trading a 5-mana sorcery for a 3-mana instant.

#25. Night’s Whisper

Suggested Cut:

The most boring exchange, here I’m adding more raw card draw, which this deck lacks. We don’t have the budget to run expensive demons that draw our entire deck, so let’s compensate a bit with a cheap staple in Night's Whisper. I don’t see the point of giving everybody a 5/5 dragon token with Death by Dragons, and there isn’t even that much synergy with tokens or dragons on the battlefield.

The Final Deck and New Cards

This is the final decklist, after the many changes. I’ve done 24 1-for-1 changes plus the mana base revamping. And all of this is on a budget, so no individual card I’m adding is that expensive. Note that I didn’t get rid of all the bad cards, or else we’d be discussing some 15 additional changes here.

The second decklist below includes just the new cards. You can buy all of them with a single click of the shopping cart button.

Commanding Conclusion

Kaalia of the Vast | Illustration by Scott M. Fischer

So, I’ve transformed a bad precon with a great commander into a much more playable brew. Good dragons and angels are printed in every set, and they tend to be excellent cards. The bad news is, most of them cost a pretty penny, so I’ve tried to get cheaper ones here, but you can dig up some $20-40 dragons and angels to tune the deck up further.

I’d say this is a Bracket 2 Commander deck, and it’d need more powerful cards to get into Bracket 3, especially given that your commander could be heavily targeted in a game. Precons nowadays have a much higher card quality right out of the box and need very little optimization to compete in Bracket 3, for example.

Another way to play this commander is to focus on a certain creature type, like dragons or angels, considering that these have better typal support. Or, you use can cards like Isshin, Two Heavens as One to focus on strong combat triggers.

What do you think about this precon update? Let me know what you think in the comments section below, or let’s discuss it over in the Draftsim Discord. For more Magic tips and tricks, check out our YouTube channel, The Daily Upkeep.

Until next time, safe flying!

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