Hey, good start at using/upgrading the precon on a budget, nice Sword of Feast and Famine. Some improvements to consider for gameplay is getting more value especially draw from gaining or using life such as Greed. Pay 4 mana to get Greed on the battlefield then it's repeatable draw a card for 1 mana + 2 life as many times as you want.

Some cards that are in the precon to consider adding:

• Stinging Study --> Vampire Scrivener
• Keen Duelist --> Dromoka Captain
• Orzhov Signet --> Blinking Spirit
• Inkshield --> Wedding Security
• Caves of Koilos --> Infantry Veteran
• Knight of the White Orchid --> Unholy Officiant
• Cunning Rhetoric --> Gideon's Avenger

Usually if a card in the precon is more expensive price then others then it's a good card that's worth an extra look and a playest. You're pretty safe to include all the expensive price cards in a precon in your upgraded version. Stinging Study is instant draw five cards for 5 mana + 5 life which is a good return and uses extra life your gaining to draw cards.

Keen Duelist can be repeatable draw using life for no additional mana cost. Yes, opponent also gets to draw, but that's a price you have to pay because of lower budget. Inkshield is powerful effect to protect yourself from combat and potentially create a ton of fliers. Orzhov Signet can do a lot more for gameplay than many creatures here because it can help to cast Liesa.

A nice guide for casual Commander deck building is to include at least 10 ramp sources and at least 10 draw sources. I would include more of each, but start with 10. More ramp and draw can be examples of quality filler cards and that's where you should consider starting for upgrades.

If you're interested I offer more advice in another comment. Would you like more advice?

Good luck with your deck.

multimedia great feedback! All of those cards were on the maybe list for me for sure. The deck was feeling a little creature heavy.

There are a few mechanics I would like to keep though. I am using Gideon's Avenger and the Vampire Scrivener to counter up and give them life link with one of the 3 enchants I have for that. Makes them good blockers or attackers and a tempting removal burn to keep Liesa out longer. They fit in line with the punishment theme of Liesa. If I had something that did both, that would be better. If Liesa is out, each combo costs me 4 life. It is a side road I need to consider if I can get my Loyal Unicorn out and haven't found my Victory's Herald .

Also, it pains me to let go of my infi-chump blocker. Blinking Spirit is one of my favorite cards for watching peoples heads explode, it probably should have been blue, really. But I can see the sense in getting rid of a recasting creature in a Liesa deck. Good call.

What do you think of this:

• Stinging Study --> Restless Bloodseeker  ^Flip keep Vampire Scrivener
• Keen Duelist --> Dromoka Captain
• Orzhov Signet --> Infantry Veteran
• Inkshield --> Wedding Security
• Knight of the White Orchid --> Unholy Officiant
• Cunning Rhetoric --> Brilliant Halo keep Gideon's Avenger
• Greed --> Blinking Spirit

I appreciate the help! Cheers!

Hey, you're welcome. Nice, those are good changes to make :)

Think bigger when it comes to your gameplan and card quality? Gideon's Avenger and Vampire Scrivener are low power level creatures who need other cards to make them good and to fit with the deck's strategy. Their game impact is very low. Vampire Scrivener being a five drop 2/2 flier is worse because it doesn't do anything for five mana. Which is not good when you have other five drops like Liesa, Stinging Study, Liesa, Forgotten Archangel, casting + equipping Sword of Feast and Famine, etc. can impact the game for five mana right away.

Your best attacker and life gaining is Liesa since she has flying, lifelink and she's your Commander meaning she does Commander damage. If you need a blocker then give Liesa vigilance which is what Loyal Unicorn does and it's a good card to keep for this reason. I don't think attacking with lots of creatures or building creatures to be attackers should be your game plan here. Liesa as attacker yes, but instead the creatures you play should support the life gaining strategy for value, draw, protect Liesa, make Liesa a better attacker, be sacrificed to keep Leisa alive, etc. Creatures with lifelink are preferred since if they get to attack they might gain life, but think of that as a bonus.

Liesa, Forgotten Archangel is your second best attacker/life gaining and her other abilities are excellent. Markov Purifier is a good example of a quality budget support creature with Liesa since he can be repeatable draw and if you get to attack with him then he might gain life, but you really play him because of his repeatable draw not because he may do combat damage to gain life.

You have a lot of budget filler creatures here who you don't need to play because they aren't helping gameplay enough to take up a deck spot. As a lesson in Commander deck building try to limit to only quality creatures here. This is not about adding/upgrading creatures, except a few that are in the precon, but instead about choosing only the quality creatures you're currently playing.

What we are looking for in creatures is how they interact or support with the deck strategy. If they're good enough support keep them, but if not then cut them. Even budget filler creatures such as Infantry Veteran can be quality, Veteran is not quality.

This list I've made below is not a knock on your deck building, you're using cards you have available to you, that's great and everyone has this same start. This advice is to how to improve the cards that you play to fill in the rest of the deck spots to have a full deck. Filler cards can also be quality, but you first have to know which cards are not as good as others so that you can improve them within budget.

• Soul Warden: repeatable life gain.
• Keen Duelist: repeatable draw using life.
• Knight of the White Orchid: ramp.
• Tithe Drinker: repeatable life gain from extort, lifelink.
• Markov Purifier: repeatable draw, lifelink.
• Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose: repeatable opponent drain, source of lifelink for all creatures you control.
• Windborn Muse: defense.
• Loyal Unicorn: defense.
• Liesa, Forgotten Archangel: second best attacker, repeatable creature recursion, opponent disruption, lifelink.
• Deathbringer Liege: defense and repeatable removal.
• Necropolis Regent: third best attacker, make Liesa a better attacker.

I have reduced the creature base down to 11 of the quality creatures your currently playing. We are looking for good impact from creatures to make when they are played the first turn which means they have some kind of helpful abilities. Less high end creatures because both Liesa are your best high end creatures who are five drops.

If you're still interested I can continue with advice in another comment. Shall I continue?

multimedia thank you again for the in depth review. I think I have slimmed the deck down as much as I can with the cards I have. I would like to find more graveyard to battlefield cards. I would ditch 5 of creatures and one or two lifelink enchants for some more of that action. Anything that gets cards to the battlefield without casting feels like a must in this deck. Any suggestions regarding that strategy?

Obviously i am missing the Hunger of the Ancient One / Exquisite Blood and Sanguine Bond combos. I could go out and buy them but I am trying to keep it casual. Sticking to cracking packs.

Of course, I would love to hear your thoughts on any other strategies that would work well in this deck. Thank you again!

One more thing multimedia , what other removal spells do you think fit well in this deck. I realized today that I have 3. My favorite opponent just picked up a No Mercy to drop in front of my small army of fliers and made me reevaluate my contingency strategies. I can pop in an Afterlife or a Disenchant , but it would be nice to have something that does both. Whatcha think?

Hey, if you want to stop No Mercy then consider Cathar Commando? It's a budget creature so it can be reanimated or recurred with Liesa, Forgotten Archangel as well as other ways which I will mention in my next comment :)

If your getting Jumpstart packs there's several cards to look for other than Exquisite Blood:

• Reanimate
• Witch of the Moors
• Phyrexian Reclamation
• Sheoldred, Whispering One
• Blood Artist
• Selfless Savior
• Speaker of the Heavens
• Phyrexian Tower
• Drana, Liberator of Malakir

I believe in using my money getting singles to build my decks not on $5 packs, but if you enjoy cracking Jumpstart packs look for these cards. Selfless Savior and Blood Artist are uncommons, you might have these cards.

If you're interested in Exquisite Blood then maybe you want to make your deck more combo? I don't think Exquisite is worth $18 since with $18 you can make several upgrades not just one card. For $18 you can make close to 20 card upgrades. Even if you're playing casual having a combo to win the game is helpful. Just don't combo off right away, let the game build up, have fun and then boom.

• Vizkopa Guildmage
• Children of Korlis
• Bond of Agony
• Tainted Sigil
• Mischievous Poltergeist/Wall of Blood
• Revival / Revenge(Revenge)

There's no budget alternative card for Exquisite Blood, but you can mimic the outcome of what the Blood combo does with budget cards. By making yourself lose a lot of life and then gaining the life you lost right back.

• Vizkopa Guildmage + Children of Korlis + Bond of Agony

Vizkopa Guildmage's ability is like Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose/Sanguine Bond except it's more powerful because it affects each opponent all at once not just one opponent. It however costs three mana to have the effect until end of turn. The combo is to cast a spell or activate an effect to lose a lot of life such as Bond of Agony where you can control how much life you lose which then makes each opponent lose that same amount of life. When you lose the life then sac either Children of Korlis or Tainted Sigil to gain all that life back. This then triggers Guildmage to make each opponent lose that same amount of life again, most likely killing each of your opponents for having 0 life and you win the game.

Children of Korlis is a good card for gaining life because it looks at all life you lose for the entire turn. You can gain a lot at one time after a big attack from opponent doing combat damage to you or a small amount, you choose. It's a one drop creature who can be reanimated or recurred to repeat this effect, great with Liesa, Forgotten Archangel. Outside the combo if you're paying a lot of life for draw such as with Greed then Children can help to gain that life back.

In my last comment I mentioned you can get quality from filler creature cards you play with Infantry Veteran as example of not quality. Children of Korlis and Selfless Savior are examples of quality budget one drops. Mischievous Poltergeist/Wall of Blood's ability can be paid as much as you want, each time losing 1 life, but it's not a good card outside the combo. I suggested it because it's a creature who can be easily reanimated or recurred which can be helpful to more easily combo or repeat the combo. If I was playing this combo I would play it for that reason.

I'll continue with more advice in another comment later.

Excellent suggestions. I will keep my eyes peeled for these. All of them are in my wishlist now.

What would be your strategy for selecting cards if you started this commander fresh (aside from / in addition to the cards above)? What makes a card good or bad for this deck?