Ruthless Regiment precon upgrade guide

Twenty-nine of the 33 creatures in this box are Humans, and a third of its lands enter tapped.

Jirina Kudro gives every other Human you control +2/+0, tokens included, so a 1/1 Human token attacks as a 3/1. The box has the bodies for that, and only Silvar, Cavalry Pegasus, Dearly Departed and Titan of Eternal Fire aren't Humans. It's thinner on engine. Six cards make Human tokens: Trynn, Thraben Doomsayer, Increasing Devotion, Call the Coppercoats, General's Enforcer and Bastion of Remembrance. Two cards pay out when a Human arrives, Thalia's Lieutenant and Vigilante Justice. Molten Echoes copies nontoken creatures only, and Dearly Departed does its work from the graveyard.

The mana is the other half. Twelve of the 36 lands always enter tapped, and 40 of the 63 spells cost three or less. Thirteen swaps fix both for $15.20.

What are the best Ruthless Regiment upgrades?

Ranked by how much each one adds to a Human swarm. Each price is the lowest for any released printing as of October 2026, and sometimes that's a promo.

1. Adeline, Resplendent Cathar ($2.51). Whenever you attack, she makes a 1/1 Human token tapped and attacking for each opponent. In a four-player game that's three tokens a turn, each one a 3/1 under Jirina. Her own power is the number of creatures you control. She's reprinted in The List on 9 November, which could move her price.
2. Cathars' Crusade ($4.82). Whenever a creature you control enters, every creature you control gets a +1/+1 counter. It's the dearest add, and it improves every token maker in the box.
3. Impact Tremors ($2.68). One damage to each opponent for every creature that enters under your control, for two mana.
4. Hero of Bladehold ($0.61). He attacks with battle cry and makes two 1/1 Soldier tokens tapped and attacking. He's a Human himself, so Jirina turns him into a 5/4. His tokens are Soldiers and get nothing from her.
5. Swords to Plowshares ($0.88) and Path to Exile ($0.64). Exile a creature for {W}. The cheapest removal spell in the box costs two.
6. Five dual lands that mostly arrive untapped ($1.68 for all of them): Caves of Koilos, Sulfurous Springs, Clifftop Retreat, Isolated Chapel and Dragonskull Summit take the places of the five tapped ones that go.

The other two adds are Champion of the Parish and Talisman of Indulgence, and they're argued in the cut list beside the cards they replace.

Three opponents, one Adeline attack: three tokens, three pings, three counters

The box makes Human tokens and then does almost nothing when they arrive, which is the first thing the adds fix. Take one attack in a four-player game with Adeline, Cathars' Crusade and Impact Tremors in play. Adeline's trigger makes three Human tokens, one per opponent. Impact Tremors triggers three times and each opponent takes 3. Cathars' Crusade triggers three times too, and each trigger puts a counter on every creature you control, so everything you have, the three new tokens included, ends up three counters bigger. A token is a 1/1 with +2/+0 from Jirina and three counters. That's a 6/4 that's already attacking.

Hero of Bladehold does the same in smaller numbers: two Soldier tokens a turn, so two pings per opponent and two counters on everything. Order his two attack triggers so the token ability resolves first, and the tokens get his battle cry bonus as well.

Two things don't work, and both are worth knowing before you build around tokens. A token that enters attacking was never declared as an attacker, so it doesn't count toward the three attackers Windbrisk Heights asks for. And Mentor of the Meek, the usual draw engine for a token deck, does nothing here. It triggers for a creature with power 2 or less, checked as the creature enters, and Jirina's +2/+0 is already counted by then. Every Human token is a 3/1, so the Mentor sits silent for the very creatures you bought it for. It costs $0.18, which makes it an easy mistake.

Four cards ask for a creature type, and one of them shouldn't hear "Human"

Species Specialist, Molten Echoes and Unclaimed Territory all do their best work with Human. The Specialist can draw a card whenever a creature of that type dies, tokens and opponents' Humans included. Molten Echoes copies a nontoken Human as it enters, with haste, and exiles the copy at the next end step, so a Thalia's Lieutenant hands out its counters a second time. Unclaimed Territory taps for any colour to cast a Human creature spell, which covers 28 of the 32 creatures in the 99 and Jirina as well. The four non-Humans pay with ordinary mana, so Silvar, Cavalry Pegasus, Dearly Departed and Titan of Eternal Fire are the only creatures it can't help cast.

Riders of Gavony is the exception. It gives your Humans protection from creatures of the type you name, so naming Human protects them from Human creatures, which matters only if the table is full of them. Name what the table is playing, whether that's Elves or Zombies or Dragons.

A third of the lands enter tapped, and forty spells cost three or less

This is the one place the box works against its own curve. Seven of the twelve tapped lands earn their slot. Windbrisk Heights hides a card you play for free once you've attacked with three creatures, which takes three of the deck's 32. Boros Garrison, Orzhov Basilica and Rakdos Carnarium tap for two mana. Nomad Outpost makes all three colours, Myriad Landscape fetches two basics later, and Path of Ancestry makes any of the deck's colours and scries when that mana casts a Human or a Soldier.

The five that go are Bojuka Bog, Spinerock Knoll, Wind-Scarred Crag, Bloodfell Caves and Scoured Barrens. Bojuka Bog exiles one player's graveyard, which is a card for a particular opponent's deck. Spinerock Knoll wants 7 damage dealt in a single turn, a much taller order than Windbrisk Heights' three attackers, and a deck can only afford so many lands that arrive tapped. The three taplands that gain a life are just taplands.

Their replacements are Caves of Koilos and Sulfurous Springs, which never enter tapped and deal 1 damage to you when you tap them for colour, and three check lands that come in untapped when you control the right basic type. The box has 8 Plains, 4 Mountains and 4 Swamps, so Clifftop Retreat and Isolated Chapel have 12 basics each to find. Dragonskull Summit has the fewest, 4 Swamps and 4 Mountains plus Smoldering Marsh, which carries both types. After the swaps 25 lands are untapped, 4 are conditional and 7 always enter tapped, against 23, 1 and 12 in the box.

Three shocklands would do the same job for more: Sacred Foundry ($10.31), Godless Shrine ($8.64) and Blood Crypt ($8.55), which is $27.50 against $0.85 for the three check lands. A shockland can always enter untapped for 2 life, a check land is tapped when you hold no matching basic, and with 12 matching basics that difference is small. All three are reprinted in Star Trek on 13 November, so their prices may drop.

White is the colour to watch. Black sources go from 23 to 25, thanks to Sulfurous Springs and the Talisman. Red goes from 24 to 25, through the Talisman. White goes from 26 to 27, through Caves of Koilos. But 13 spells now want WW by turn three where 11 did, because Adeline, Hero of Bladehold and Cathars' Crusade all cost it and only Citywide Bust left, and 27 sources deliver a turn-three WW about 76% of the time on the play, up from 74%.

Thirteen out, and Citywide Bust is the one that hurts the deck

Citywide Bust destroys every creature with toughness 4 or more. Seven creatures in the box have that, and they're all yours: Frontier Warmonger, Odric, Adriana, Magus of the Disk, Titan Hunter, Dearly Departed and Titan of Eternal Fire. Adeline and Hero of Bladehold are toughness 4 as well, and each counter from Cathars' Crusade moves another creature closer. The sweeper is aimed at the wrong table. Path to Exile takes the slot.

Titan Hunter is a 4/5 for five that deals 4 damage to a player at their end step if no creature died that turn, and the ruling is clear that your own end step counts. In response you can pay {1}{B} and sacrifice a creature, which gains 4 life and stops the damage. Cathars' Crusade takes the five-drop slot. Magus of the Wheel sacrifices itself so that each player discards a hand and draws seven. In this pod that's seven new cards for each of three opponents, to refill one hand. Champion of the Parish takes that slot. It's a one-drop Human that grows every time another Human arrives, and the deck has 27 other Humans, plus every token.

Martial Impetus and Parasitic Impetus are two of the three goad Auras in the box. Both are built to go on someone else's creature, neither adds a body or a trigger to the swarm, and an Aura is lost when its creature dies. Shiny Impetus stays because it makes a Treasure when the goaded creature attacks, and a Treasure fixes any colour. Sanctuary Blade costs two and then {3} to equip for +2/+0 and protection from a colour on a Human that Jirina has already pumped, and Talisman of Indulgence takes its slot at the same two mana. Ramp goes from 7 to 8.

Devout Chaplain taps itself and two other untapped Humans to exile an artifact or enchantment, which is three bodies for an answer to two card types. Captivating Crew asks {3}{R} every turn at sorcery speed to borrow one creature. Swords to Plowshares answers a creature for {W} on either turn, and that's the answer the box lacks at the low end.

Gear that makes cards, and sweepers with an off switch

Skullclamp and Heirloom Blade look like single-creature attachments in a go-wide deck, and in this one they're engines. Skullclamp gives +1/-1 for {1}, so it kills a 1-toughness Human token at once and draws two cards, and Jirina's +2/+0 doesn't touch toughness. With Species Specialist naming Human, Xathrid Necromancer, Zulaport Cutthroat and Bastion of Remembrance out, that one token also draws a third card, makes a Zombie and drains each opponent for 2. Heirloom Blade is +3/+1 for an equip of {1}, and when the creature dies you reveal until you hit a creature that shares a type and put it in your hand. In a deck with 28 Humans, a dying Human finds another Human, and so does a dying token.

Cleansing Nova and Magus of the Disk are the other two sweepers, and the box carries their off switch. Flawless Maneuver is free while you control a commander and makes your creatures indestructible until end of turn. Cast it with the sweeper on the stack and your board lives while theirs doesn't. It saves creatures and nothing else, so Magus of the Disk, which also destroys artifacts and enchantments, takes out your own Skullclamp, Cathars' Crusade and Impact Tremors. The box has one Maneuver, and Jirina must be on the battlefield to make it free.

The other keeps are the two largest bodies. Titan of Eternal Fire gives each Human {R}, {T}: 1 damage to any target, and Dearly Departed is a 5/5 flier for six that gives each Human a +1/+1 counter on entering once it's in your graveyard. Cavalry Pegasus isn't a Human, but when it attacks every attacking Human gains flying, which is what a 3-power token wants.

The upgraded decklist

The full list after the thirteen swaps. Hover a card name to see it.

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“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 — no account needed.

FAQ

Does Jirina's +2/+0 apply to the tokens from Increasing Devotion?

Yes. Jirina gives every other Human you control +2/+0, and Increasing Devotion makes Human tokens, so its five 1/1s arrive as five 3/1s. Cast from the graveyard with flashback for {7}{W}{W}, it makes ten. The Soldier tokens from Hero of Bladehold are not Humans and get nothing from her.

Why not Mentor of the Meek, the usual token-draw card?

Because of Jirina. Mentor of the Meek only triggers for a creature with power 2 or less, and it checks that as the creature enters, with continuous effects like Jirina's +2/+0 already counted. Every Human token in this deck enters as a 3/1, so Mentor stays quiet for exactly the creatures you wanted it to pay for.

Can I run Cleansing Nova without losing my own board?

Yes, if you hold Flawless Maneuver. It costs nothing while you control a commander, and it makes your creatures indestructible until end of turn, so you cast it with Cleansing Nova or Magus of the Disk on the stack and everything of yours survives. Jirina has to be on the battlefield, and the box has one copy.

How much do the thirteen swaps cost?

$15.20 in total at the cheapest released printing of each card, in October 2026. Five of the adds are lands and cost $1.68 between them. None of the thirteen is a Game Changer, so the swaps leave the box's bracket floor where it was.

Why isn't Anointed Procession in the list?

It costs $63.93, more than four times the whole thirteen-card list, and the list works without it. It is the best card I left out: it doubles every token you make, so Adeline's three tokens become six and Increasing Devotion makes ten. It isn't a Game Changer either, so it's a purchase for later and not a bracket decision.

What type should the choose-a-type cards name?

Human for Species Specialist, Molten Echoes and Unclaimed Territory. Riders of Gavony is the exception. It gives your Humans protection from creatures of the type you name, so name the type the table is playing, and name Human only against a Human deck.