Mishra's Burnished Banner precon upgrade guide

Thirty-six noncreature artifacts are legal targets for Mishra's combat trigger, and only one card in the box pays you for the copy leaving, whatever it copied.

Mishra, Eminent One makes a token copy of a noncreature artifact you control at the beginning of your combat. The token is a 4/4 Construct artifact creature with haste, and it's sacrificed at the next end step. I'll call it the Warform. The box has 30 noncreature artifact spells and six artifact lands to copy, plus six artifact creatures that can't be copied. The token enters the battlefield, so the enters abilities of the original trigger when the Warform does, and a Warform of a mana rock can tap for mana the turn it appears.

What the box lacks is a reason to be glad the Warform turned up. Oni-Cult Anvil makes a 1/1 Construct when artifacts leave on your turn, and it's the only one of the 99 that pays you for the Warform leaving, whichever artifact it copied. Farid, Enterprising Salvager and Mirrorworks both check for nontoken artifacts, so the Warform never sets them off. Eight cards sacrifice an artifact as a cost, so spending the token is covered. Most of the eight swaps go after that gap. Two more findings sit behind it: 12 of its 37 lands always come in tapped, and nothing in the box counters a spell.

What are the best Mishra's Burnished Banner upgrades?

The artifact payoffs come first, then the interaction, then the lands. Prices are October 2026 market prices at the cheapest released printing.

1. Reckless Fireweaver ($0.40). Whenever an artifact enters under your control it deals 1 damage to each opponent. Every Warform is an artifact entering, and so is every Servo, Construct and Myr the box makes.
2. Disciple of the Vault ($1.12). Whenever an artifact is put into a graveyard from the battlefield you may have target opponent lose 1 life. The Warform is sacrificed every turn you make one, and that's a trigger.
3. Foundry Inspector ($0.26). Artifact spells you cast cost {1} less, and 31 other cards in the upgraded list are artifact spells.
4. Vandalblast ($1.72). Destroy target artifact you don't control, or pay {4}{R} to destroy each one. Your own artifacts are safe from it.
5. Counterspell ($2.21). Counter target spell, for {U}{U}. It's the first counterspell in the deck.
6. Watery Grave ($9.56), Steam Vents ($9.77) and Blood Crypt ($9.34). Three lands that enter untapped for 2 life, argued in the mana section. They're $28.67 of the $34.38 total, so they're the part to buy last.

What a Warform is worth, artifact by artifact

The copy takes everything printed on the original except its name, power, toughness and types. Scryfall's ruling on Mishra says the original's enters abilities trigger for the copy, and the original has to be on the battlefield first, so these are the cards worth casting once and copying forever.

Spine of Ish Sah costs seven. Its Warform costs nothing, and when it enters Spine's trigger destroys target permanent, in the beginning of combat step before blockers are declared. That's a removal spell every turn after the seven is paid.

Three cards in the box trigger on entering and again when they're put into a graveyard. Ichor Wellspring draws a card each time, Mycosynth Wellspring puts a basic land into your hand each time, and Servo Schematic makes a 1/1 Servo each time. A Warform of any of them pays twice, once on arrival and once when the end step sacrifices it. Prophetic Prism draws once on entering and also fixes colors. Idol of Oblivion can tap to draw if you created a token this turn, which Mishra's trigger satisfies by itself.

Sol Ring's Warform taps for {C}{C} with haste, and Dreamstone Hedron's taps for {C}{C}{C}. Mana empties between steps, so tap them in the second main phase. The Hedron has a second use. Pay {3}, tap it and sacrifice it, and a token that was about to die draws three cards.

Strionic Resonator is the oddest piece. Mishra's trigger is a triggered ability you control, so Resonator copies it for {2}, and Lithoform Engine does the same for {2}. A copy may choose a new target. Pay for both and one combat gives you three Warforms for four mana, and each is free to copy a different artifact.

Two cheap creatures and an artifact discount that turn the exit into damage

Put Reckless Fireweaver, Disciple of the Vault and Oni-Cult Anvil on the table and trace one ordinary turn. The Warform enters, so Fireweaver deals 1 damage to each opponent. At the end step it's sacrificed. Disciple makes one opponent lose 1, and Oni-Cult Anvil makes a Construct because an artifact left on your turn, so Fireweaver pings every opponent again. Each opponent takes 2 before anyone has attacked, and one of them loses a third point. Copy Servo Schematic and each opponent takes 4, because both Servos are artifacts entering too.

The Warform is still a 4/4 with haste, so it can attack first. After combat it can go to Fain, the Broker for a 2/1 flier, or to Oni-Cult Anvil for 1 damage to each opponent and 1 life for you.

Foundry Inspector is the quiet one. It makes 31 artifact spells cost {1} less, so Sol Ring costs nothing, a Signet or Mind Stone costs {1} and Dreamstone Hedron costs five. It does nothing for the Warform, which is never cast. It takes the slot Metalwork Colossus leaves.

Three shocklands that speed the mana and leave the colors alone

The box has 12 lands that always enter tapped, and the three Temples are the easiest to replace. Temple of Deceit, Temple of Epiphany and Temple of Malice each enter tapped for a scry 1, and each makes two of Mishra's three colors. Watery Grave, Steam Vents and Blood Crypt make the same pairs and enter untapped if you pay 2 life. I'd rather pay the life than lose the turn, and the swap takes always-tapped lands from 12 to 9.

It doesn't touch the colors. Black stays at 26 sources, red at 25 and blue at 25, and the pip odds don't move either. The four cards that print {B}{B} are Bedevil, Herald of Anguish, Terisiare's Devastation and Geth, Lord of the Vault, and on the play they have a 74.2% chance of having it by turn 3. Blue's {U}{U} check sits at 71.8% on the play, and Counterspell is the second card that asks for it, after Muzzio, Visionary Architect. Fixing that would take more than three lands, so I haven't pretended these do it.

All three shocklands are reprinted in Star Trek on 13 November 2026, which may bring the $28.67 down. They're the one part of this list I'd wait on.

I left out Xander's Lounge ($13.94), which makes all three colors but enters tapped, and Urza's Saga ($34.95), which makes only colorless mana in a deck that's already short on double pips.

A counterspell, a one-sided artifact sweep, and three Game Changers I left out

The box answers a single threat six ways: Feed the Swarm, Abrade, Bedevil, Chaos Warp, Executioner's Capsule and Spine of Ish Sah. It has three sweepers in Blasphemous Act, Terisiare's Devastation and Oblivion Stone, and all three can hit your own board. What it has no answer to is a spell on the stack, or a table full of someone else's artifacts.

Counterspell fills the first gap. It asks for {U}{U} on the turn you want it, and the odds of having that by turn 3 on the play are 71.8% with 25 blue sources. Vandalblast fills the second. Overloaded for {4}{R} it destroys every artifact you don't control and none of yours.

Three cards a reader will ask about are all Game Changers, and one of them lifts the bracket floor from 1 to 3. Cyclonic Rift ($29.77) is the one I'd miss most. Rhystic Study ($65.98) and Mana Vault ($91.59) are the others. Counterspell is the Bracket 1 answer, and none of the eight adds is a Game Changer.

Five artifacts that go, and the one I'm least sure about

Metalwork Colossus costs 11, and its discount counts only noncreature artifacts, so the Warform and the other artifact creatures give it nothing. It can return from the graveyard by sacrificing two artifacts, and a Warform is always about to be one, which is the best case for it. It still has to be cast once, and Foundry Inspector takes its slot.

Wondrous Crucible costs seven for ward {2} on your permanents and a random free spell from your graveyard at the end step. That's a fair effect for a deck with nothing else to do with seven mana, and this deck has Spine of Ish Sah.

Trading Post costs four, and every ability on it costs {1} and a tap, so it does one thing a turn. Sacrificing an artifact to draw is a fine use of a Warform, but seven other cards already sacrifice an artifact as a cost: Herald of Anguish, Fain, Audacious Reshapers, Slobad, Farid, Oni-Cult Anvil and Smelting Vat.

Nihil Spellbomb exiles a graveyard for one mana, and the card it draws costs {B} more. A Warform of it would do the same. Nothing in this deck wants a graveyard exiled, and Disciple of the Vault is a one-mana card that does something every turn.

Mirrorworks costs five, and every copy it makes costs {2} more. It only triggers on nontoken artifacts, so the Warform never sets it off and neither does a Servo. It's the cut I'm least sure of, because copying a rock you cast is a real thing and the deck has plenty of them.

Why Spine of Ish Sah, the Hellkite and two sacrifice outlets stay

Spine of Ish Sah costs seven, which is the reason it looks like a cut. It's also the best card to copy, and the case for copying it is the second section of this page. Blast-Furnace Hellkite costs nine, but it has artifact offering, and a Warform has its original's mana cost. Sacrifice a Warform of Spine of Ish Sah, which has {7} in its cost, and the Hellkite costs {R}{R}. Sacrifice one of Dreamstone Hedron and it costs {1}{R}{R}. Per the ruling on offering, generic mana in the sacrificed permanent's cost reduces generic mana in the spell's.

Fain, the Broker and Farid, Enterprising Salvager cost three and do little until something is sacrificed to them. They stay as sacrifice outlets, and a Warform is a free thing to feed them. Fain turns it into a 2/1 flier, and Farid's {1}{R} puts a counter on himself, goads a creature, or rummages. Brudiclad, Telchor Engineer costs six and stays because its Myr is an artifact entering, which Reckless Fireweaver counts every combat.

With all eight in, average mana value falls from 3.71 to 3.40. Cards costing six or more go from 12 to 10, and always-tapped lands go from 12 to 9. The Warform loses four targets, noncreature artifacts going from 36 to 32, and they were the four I rated the weakest copies. Total artifacts go from 42 to 38. The bracket floor stays at 1. The box's market total moves from $148.15 to $168.54, with the eight adds costing $34.38 at their cheapest printings.

The upgraded decklist

Mishra and the 99 with all eight swaps made, sorted by card type. Hovering any name shows the card.

Load into the deck builder Copy decklist Playtest the upgraded deck

“Load into the deck builder” opens this list in your account, pinned to the printings the box shipped, ready to edit or save. “Copy decklist” gives you plain text for Moxfield, Archidekt or Arena, with no account needed.

FAQ

Which artifact should Mishra copy at combat?

Spine of Ish Sah when there's a permanent worth destroying, because the copy's enters trigger destroys target permanent before blockers are declared. Otherwise pick a card that triggers twice. Ichor Wellspring draws when the copy enters and again when it's sacrificed, Mycosynth Wellspring puts two basic lands in your hand, and Servo Schematic makes two Servos. Sol Ring is the pick when you want mana, since the copy has haste and taps for {C}{C} straight away.

Do the Warform's arrival and exit trigger Reckless Fireweaver and Disciple of the Vault?

Yes to both. The Warform is an artifact entering under your control, so Reckless Fireweaver deals 1 damage to each opponent. When it's sacrificed at the end step it's an artifact put into a graveyard, so Disciple of the Vault lets you make one opponent lose 1 life. With Oni-Cult Anvil out, the sacrifice also makes a 1/1 Construct, and that Construct is one more artifact entering.

Can Strionic Resonator or Lithoform Engine copy Mishra's trigger?

Yes. Both copy a triggered ability you control, and Mishra's combat trigger is one. Each costs {2} and a tap, and a copy may choose a new target, so four mana turns one trigger into three Warforms. Each of the three may copy a different noncreature artifact.

How much do the Mishra's Burnished Banner upgrades cost?

The eight adds cost $34.38 at the cheapest released printing in October 2026. Three shocklands are $28.67 of that and the other five cards are $5.71 together. All three shocklands are reprinted in Star Trek on 13 November 2026, so that part of the total may fall.

Why isn't Cyclonic Rift in the list?

Cyclonic Rift returns a nonland permanent you don't control to its owner's hand, or every one of them for {6}{U}, and it's a Game Changer. One Game Changer lifts the bracket floor from 1 to 3, and Cyclonic Rift also costs $29.77. Counterspell at $2.21 keeps the deck at the floor it ships with.

Do the three shocklands fix the black mana?

No. Each one replaces a Temple that made the same two colors, so black stays at 26 sources, red at 25 and blue at 25. What changes is speed, with always-tapped lands going from 12 to 9. The four cards that print {B}{B} still have a 74.2% chance of having it by turn 3 on the play.