MTG Thunder Junction: How to upgrade Desert Bloom Commander Deck

Upgrade the Desert Bloom MTG deck from Outlaws of Thunder Junction to its full potential and you’ll have more mana than you know what to do with. 

Outlaws of Thunder Junction is launching with four powerful, ready-to-play pre-con decks, and Desert Bloom can easily be upgraded to pack a real punch in Commander games. 

This deck foregrounds land strategies, using the new Yuma, Proud Protector as its main Commander or Kirri, Talented Sprout as the alt choice. We’ll walk you which cards you’re better off cutting from this deck, and which are the best upgrades to slot in their place. 

Must-haves: Azusa, Lost but Seeking & Entish Restoration

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Azusa, Lost but Seeking 

Any deck relying on green mana that wants to field as many lands as possible as quickly as possible has no reason not to include Azusa. This card has such a low mana value and can allow you to accelerate dramatically far ahead of other players at the table within the first few turns of play. Whatever you have to cut to make room for Azusa, Lost but Seeking, we promise it’s worth it. 

Entish Restoration 

Both sending a card directly to the grave and fetching out a maximum of three basics, this Instant does most everything you could want to advance the deck’s gameplan for just 2G (two generic mana and a green.) You’ll always be thankful to draw Entish Restoration, especially in the early-mid game. 

Budget cards to upgrade your deck

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Some of the best cards you can add in on a budget, these cards are cheap and pull their weight all the same. 

Tireless Provisioner 

While mana will rarely be an issue in this deck, Tireless Provisioner makes it all too easy to afford your biggest plays or stock up on lifegain for when you need it most, thanks to your abundance of Landfall triggers. 

Zuran Orb 

A lifesaver that doubles as an easy way to get your lands into the grave. Zuran Orb’s cost of 0 makes it an easy proposition for this deck. You’ll be thankful for the extra life when another player overextends, thinking they can finish you off, only to leave themselves wide open thanks to the orb. 

Felidar Retreat 

A potent landfall card that can create token Creatures or buff up all of your existing forces. The versatility and potential number of bodies this thing can throw out make it an easy sell for Desert Bloom. 

Wayward Swordtooth 

The City’s Blessing is incredibly easy to gain in a deck with this much land ramp and token generation to boot. With the blessing gained, you’ve got a 5/5 for 2G that allows you to add an extra land to the field each turn, which is a bargain any way you slice it. 

Swords to Plowshares 

It may be generic removal, but that’s something Desert Bloom could do with a little more of. Any deck running white mana should at least consider it. 

Premium cards to upgrade your deck

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These cards are on the pricier side, but they work exceptionally well with Desert Bloom. 

Elvish Reclaimer 

This card will often be a 3/4 Creature for a single green mana, making for a great early-game blocker. Beyond that, though, its real use is its ability to sacrifice land and search for a replacement. While most land searchers will specify ‘basic land’, Elvish Reclaimer does not, giving you easy access to your best unique land cards. 

Conduit of Worlds 

The blanket ability to play lands from your grave is obviously of great use to this deck, but so too is Conduit of Worlds’ ability to get back your best permanents that left the field too soon. 

Jetmir, Nexus of Revels 

While Jetmir might sometimes be situational, thanks to Yuma it’s surprisingly easy to get out enough tokens to meet all of this card’s requirements. When this crime boss hits the field, your unassuming tokens will suddenly become a marauding force capable of dealing enough damage to wipe out opponents in a single turn. 

Moraug, Fury of Akoum 

A true menace in any landfall deck that can afford him. Moraug lets you use Landfall to add additional combat phases again and again. What’s more, your Creatures’ power will progressively increase with each time they attack. This card will quickly build up aggressive momentum that other players will struggle to stand up to. 

Cards to cut

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There are few outright misses in this pre-con, but some cards can easily be swapped to make room for more deserving picks. 

Krosan Verge 

While the eventual choice of a land to search for is handy, this card requires too hefty a mana investment and is too slow for its eventual payoff. 

Angel of the Ruins 

Plainscycling can be useful in a pinch, and Angel of the Ruins’ removal can definitely work well, the card has a very high Mana Value and is an awkward fit here. Overall this card is a better fit in a deck that cares more about Artifacts. 

Unholy Heat 

Unholy Heat has the potential to do a good chunk of burn damage for a very low mana cost, but it doesn’t fully sync up with Yuma’s gameplan. While this deck has no problem getting lands into the grave, the rest of this card’s setup is too much of a pain to recommend keeping it. 

Scaretiller 

For four generic mana, you simply have more efficient ways of getting lands out from your hand or the grave than this. 

Descend upon the Sinful 

While the exile getting around indestructible is nice, there are board wipes for a cost of six with more flexibility or a better additional payoff than this. 

Skullwinder 

There’s nothing all that wrong here; it’s just a little slow for what you’re trying to accomplish, and giving an opponent back their best resource from the grave can really sting. 

Angel of Indemnity 

If you’re a real fan of lifelink, consider keeping it, but it doesn’t otherwise make a big enough impact compared to its cost. 

Genesis Hydra 

While the thought of getting two powerful Creatures for the price of one is appealing, casting this card can too often devolve into a lottery of hoping to hit a good permanent and coming up short. The expense and inconsistency make it an easy choice for removal. 

Elvish Rejuvenator 

This card adding a land onto the battlefield is all well and good, but the risk of not hitting anything combined with the remaining cards being shuffled back into the deck rather than going to the grave adds up to too much of a downside. 

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