Quick Draw Upgrade Guide: 18 Easy Changes You Can Make

Last updated on April 18, 2024

Guttersnipe | Illustration by Mathias Kollros

The Quick Draw Commander precon from the Outlaws of Thunder Junction MTG set is an absolutely awesome way for someone new to the Izzet life in Commander to dip their toes in the electrified water… wait, that doesn’t sound right at all. It has a ton of the key Izzet cards you need and plays well out of the box. But a bit of focus will help you take the deck to the next level.

If you’re already an Izzet mage, you’re likely looking at this Outlaws of Thunder Junction deck for some high-value reprints you might not already have as well as some of the cool new cards. But be sure to check it out before you buy. I am an admitted Izzet addict and already owned most of this deck, which WotC sent straight down the strike zone for the new players out there.

A word of caution before we dip into that zappy water: Stella Lee, Wild Card is kind of bonkers-cracked, nearly-cEDH-strong in a certain style of deck. It goes infinite with cards that can untap it if you’ve cast enough spells to enable their latter ability. You just keep targeting Stella with the copies.

But if you just want to polish up the precon for a quick turnaround, I think you’ll be happy with what you see below!

Deck Overview

Sleight of Hand | Illustration by Scott Murphy

Izzet decks want to cast spells. A lot of spells. So they’ll need card draw. Stella Lee, Wild Card wants a volume of spells more than most Izzet commanders. It really wants you casting at least two spells every turn, and sometimes three. Okay, so you get to do a lot of game actions. How do you win?

Good question! Some Izzet decks win with a big storm combo turn. Some win with repeated direct damage triggers and burn. Some decks do a prowess-style approach, pumping and protecting a few creatures that get swole, which works well with a greater than usual number of control cards in those decks. But the most common way to win is probably swarming the board with creature tokens from spell triggers.

The Quick Draw deck has all of these themes out of the box, which means you have a lot of powerful things going on but some of that classic precon lack of focus.

Strengths and Weaknesses

You sort of need to be all-in on one approach in a spells deck to maximize your chances to win. And the deck’s scattered focus on that front is a weakness.

But a strength is that it leans more heavily on the creature token theme, which is good for a lot of reasons.

First, it’s the easiest Izzet wincon to play with for new players. You get to do a simple thing, flood the board, while you’re casting splashy card draw and removal spells without doing the storm calculations, which can feel more like math homework than a card game.

Second, it’s harder to get caught up in the trap of having the wrong mix of cards in hand, as sometimes happens in combo decks and prowess decks.

And third, this is really what synergizes most readily with your commander.

The other strength of the deck is that is has some reasonably powerful wincons you can access.

So let’s improve on what works by culling the other themes out of the deck. You can then use those cards for some other builds or other decks. And because the deck is already pitched that direction, we can make this deck an LGS machine without making too many changes.

Note that we’re keeping the best damage maker, Guttersnipe, and adding one more that does 2 damage to hedge our bets. That seems more efficient than similar cards that do 1 damage only, like the Electrostatic Field that ships with the deck. It’s a bit more of a backup plan.

Stormcarved Coast

Suggested Cut: Temple of the False God

Let this be your reminder to fix the land situation in this deck. WOTC was able to squeeze in so many good spells and creatures by skimping on the lands. There are 27 (!?) basic lands in here! So bring on the Steam Vents, Training Center, etc. up to your budget level. Also, MDFC lands like Silundi Vision / Silundi Isle.

Sleight of Hand

Suggested Cut: Propaganda

Making it harder for creatures to attack with Propaganda seems weird in a deck that looks to spew blockers onto the battlefield. So let’s grab an efficient cantrip!

Warlord’s Fury

Suggested Cut: Winged Boots

Flying and Ward isn’t enough to protect a good creature. But giving the team first strike is awesome in an Izzet tokens deck.

Poppet Stitcher / Poppet Factory

Suggested Cut: Smoldering Stagecoach

This vehicle just seems too slow for what we’re doing here. I like the flavor, almost like the Stagecoach is full of fireworks that are popping off, but to make our deck pop off we need more tokens, so we’re dropping in Poppet Stitcher / Poppet Factory. Sure, it makes decayed zombies, but in a deck like this flipping it is pretty incidental, and it improves all of our tokens while shielding our Stitcher from the inevitable board wipe.

Consider

Suggested Cut: Cursed Mirror

Cursed Mirror is busted, so plop it in another deck. But we have so many 3-drop mana rocks in this deck, and we want card draw and spells, so this one goes. And we need more cantrips! Each spell is a trigger, so we need to dig, dig, dig.

The Locust God

Suggested Cut: Tezzeret's Gambit

We don’t have a ton of reasons to proliferate and 3-mana sorceries that draw cards aren’t going to cut it in this deck. But like Niv-Mizzet, Parun, which is already in the precon, The Locust God can take over the game on its own once you get your card draw engine going.

Electrodominance

Suggested Cut: Rousing Refrain

A burst of big mana every few turns doesn’t help us much in this deck, but we are a bit light on removal, so Electrodominance can help us in a pinch while also enabling double spelling.

Transcendent Message

Suggested Cut: Finale of Revelation

Making use of all the creatures to grab a lot of cards is perfect. Transcendent Message is an instant, which helps reduce the chances of a blowout. So put the Finale in a deck that can use it better. The four blue pips is tough, so only use this if you have a decent mana base.

Remand

Suggested Cut: Curse of the Swine

A board wipe that needs heavy mana and leaves things to block your tokens is super bad in this deck! A piece of interaction with card draw is always useful. Stella Lee, Wild Card might sometimes even want you to Remand your own spell to hit their tap trigger. That’s almost always a horrible idea, but I’ve have had to use this card in that way at least once, and it’s nice to have the option.

Ojer Pakpatiq, Deepest Epoch / Temple of Cyclical Time

Suggested Cut: Think Twice

5 mana to draw two cards isn’t good enough, but Ojer Pakpatiq, Deepest Epoch / Temple of Cyclical Time gives you a lot of value while being pretty resistant to removal.

Capsize

Suggested Cut: Baral's Expertise

You need a lot of fiddly things to be right in your hand and on the battlefield for Baral's Expertise to work. But Capsize is a classic for a reason. A 3-mana bounce spell is rough, but once you can pay the buyback it’s super annoying and keeps generating tokens.

Whispers of the Muse

Suggested Cut: Deep Analysis

Worst case, Whispers of the Muse is an instant-speed cantrip. Best case, it’s a spell and card draw machine. You don’t want to be in the game mode where you’re buying this back, sure, but I’ve been there a number of times, and it always feels good to have it.

Chrome Host Seedshark

Suggested Cut: Pteramander

I love Chrome Host Seedshark across formats. What it really adds to a deck like this is that the tokens can just live as noncreatures for as long as you like, which gives a bit of insulation against board wipes, which are your primary doom. Pteramander has no real purpose outside of 60-card tempo decks, and even then, its time has largely passed.

Skullclamp

Suggested Cut: Kaza, Roil Chaser

Kaza, Roil Chaser needs more wizards, and even then I’m unconvinced. But Skullclamp draws a boat of cards with tokens, so we gotta do it!

Firemind’s Research

Suggested Cut: Bloodthirsty Adversary

Firemind's Research is kind of fiddly and it’s usually a card I cut when push comes to shove in Izzet decks, but if you’re drawing enough cards it can really start to do the thing you want. A little removal when you need it, a little player damage maybe, and emergency card draw when you’re desperate.

Fiery Inscription

Suggested Cut: Electrostatic Field

If we’re going to do the damage plan, even in miniature, we need to make sure it can make a real impact, and Fiery Inscription is a better card while also being harder to interact with.

Saheeli, Sublime Artificer

Suggested Cut: Storm-Kiln Artist

I know Storm-Kiln Artist is broken, but not here. A 4-drop that makes Treasures is fine enough but doesn’t synergize with the rest of our deck. And Saheeli, Sublime Artificer is the final token-making machine we need.

Fierce Guardianship

Suggested Cut: Crackling Spellslinger

Crackling Spellslinger goes in another deck, where it will be good. Free spells are especially nice in a deck that cares about spell volume. I know Fierce Guardianship is expensive, so sub in whatever cheap counterspell you like. What I wanted to do here is to suggest that we might need more countermagic in this deck. So if you need to carve off a few token makers and a few card draw spells to stop the board wipes in your meta, you can. I tend to prefer card draw volume to Izzet control cards, as the board wipes hurt other players as well, and they may not have the card draw velocity you have to get the engines going again. Still, it’s a question of balance, and Talrand, Sky Summoner players are infamous for playing their commander and a deck of counterspells, so it’s a viable option.

Wrap Up

Fierce Guardianship | Illustration by Randy Vargas

If you want to do a bit more fiddling, cards that ping opponents for dropping token creatures are an interesting addition to a deck like this. It’s a push and pull for the limited number of creatures you can fit in a deck that needs a critical mass of spells. My way of thinking is that Talrand, Sky Summoner always does work in a deck like this, but Impact Tremors, Witty Roastmaster, and Purphoros, God of the Forge only do work if you have another token-making creature out, and that just seems too fiddly and fragile. Those cards work best when you have a more secure means of making tokens.

And there are plenty of other ways to build the deck. A bunch of counterspells or bounce spells, etc. If you’re new to Izzet in EDH, try out some options. This deck has a lot of good stuff and can provide support for many directions.

Happy brewing, and stop by the Draftsim Discord to let us know what you end up slinging!