Counterpunch precon upgrade guide

Ghave spends {1} at a time, which makes the box's fourteen spells at six mana or more the wrong cards and a token doubler the right one.

Of the 60 spells that aren't the commander, 34 cost two or three mana, fourteen cost six or more, and only eight sit in between. Ghave, Guru of Spores is the wrong commander for that shape. He enters with five +1/+1 counters, and both of his abilities cost {1}: one removes a counter from any creature you control to make a 1/1 Saproling, the other sacrifices a creature to put a counter on a target creature. He wants a little mana spare every turn he's out, and the top of the curve takes all of it. Four of the fourteen are the first cards I cut: Symbiotic Wurm, Celestial Force and Chorus of the Conclave at eight mana, and Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter at seven.

The payoff side is thin too. The box has six ways to make Saprolings (Ghave, Selesnya Guildmage, Selesnya Evangel, Fists of Ironwood, Necrogenesis and Death Mutation) and three cards that reward a small body showing up or dying: Sigil Captain, Aura Shards and Skullclamp. Four spells draw cards at all: Harmonize, Skullclamp, Yavimaya Elder and Footbottom Feast. The twelve swaps add more of both, and the biggest is a card that makes Ghave's two abilities grow what they make instead of trading evenly.

Colour is the third finding. Black, green and white sources come to 20, 22 and 20, and ten of the 39 lands always enter tapped. {B}{B} by turn three on the play is 58% in the box, {G}{G} is 63.9% and {W}{W} is 58%. Every price here is the lowest October 2026 market price among released printings, and the cheapest one is sometimes a promo.

What are the best Counterpunch upgrades?

Twelve swaps for $63.88 in total. Ranked by what each one does for Ghave:

1. Doubling Season ($29.98). It doubles tokens and counters, which are the only two things Ghave deals in. Argued in the Doubling Season section.
2. Mentor of the Meek ($0.16). Every Saproling Ghave makes can draw a card for {1}. The box has four spells that draw.
3. Corpsejack Menace ($0.37) and Winding Constrictor ($0.45). Both add to every counter Ghave puts on a creature, and both change how many counters Ghave enters with.
4. Cathars' Crusade ($4.13). Each time a creature enters, all of your creatures get a +1/+1 counter, so each Saproling returns more counters than it cost.
5. Blood Artist ($2.68). The box has nothing that turns a sacrifice into life loss, and this does it for every creature that dies.
6. Phyrexian Arena ($2.54) and Ranger Class ($0.41). Two more sources of cards, covered with the other draw.
7. Arcane Signet ($0.38). It replaces Darksteel Ingot a mana cheaper.
8. Overgrown Tomb ($7.79), Godless Shrine ($8.21) and Temple Garden ($6.78). Three untapped duals for three cycling lands, and the mana section explains why. They're $22.78 together and the ones to buy last.

Doubling Season turns an even trade into growth

Ghave's two abilities cancel. Pay {1}, sacrifice a Saproling and put a counter on Ghave. Pay {1}, remove that counter and make a Saproling. Two mana later you're exactly where you started. Doubling Season changes both halves of that. The sacrifice puts two counters on, and removing one counter makes two Saprolings. One pass costs {2} and leaves you one Saproling and one counter ahead of where you began. It isn't free, since every pass costs the {2}, but it's the first time the commander's two abilities add up to something.

Doubling Season also doubles what Ghave enters with. The rulings say it affects permanents that enter with counters, so Ghave arrives with ten counters when the Season is already out. Corpsejack Menace does the same for +1/+1 counters alone, and Winding Constrictor adds one more. Both cost under $0.50, so they're the version of this plan you can have without paying $29.98, and they stack with the Season if you draw it. Cast whichever you hold before Ghave.

Cathars' Crusade is the other engine. Ghave removes one counter to make a Saproling, and then Crusade gives a counter to each creature you control, the new Saproling included. With two creatures that's two counters back for one spent, and the count climbs with the size of the board. The ordering matters with Sigil Captain, which only works on a creature that is still 1/1 when its trigger resolves. Put Sigil Captain's trigger on the stack last so it resolves first, or Crusade makes the Saproling 2/2 and the Captain does nothing.

The cards that pay on every Saproling, and three I left out

Mentor of the Meek triggers whenever another creature with power 2 or less enters under your control, and you may pay {1} to draw. That turns Ghave's first ability into a draw spell at {2} a card: {1} to remove the counter and make the Saproling, {1} to draw. Each Saproling is its own trigger, so Doubling Season's second token is a second chance to draw.

Blood Artist makes a target player lose 1 life and gains you 1 whenever it or any other creature dies. Every sacrifice to Ghave is a death, and so is every creature Hour of Reckoning destroys, because the rulings say Blood Artist triggers for each creature that dies at the same time as it. The box wins in combat, and this gives it a way to finish a game when the board is locked.

Phyrexian Arena costs {1}{B}{B} and draws a card each upkeep for 1 life. Ranger Class costs {1}{G} and makes a 2/2 Wolf on entering, which also pays out Mentor and Aura Shards. Level 2 costs {1}{G} and level 3 costs {3}{G} more, and at level 3 you can cast creature spells off the top of your library. Arena is a flat extra card a turn, and Ranger Class is a cheap body that turns into card advantage late.

Parallel Lives ($28.18) doubles tokens only. Doubling Season does that and counters for $29.98, and Ghave needs both. Anointed Procession ($54.11) is the same effect as Parallel Lives for nearly twice the price. Neither is a Game Changer, so price alone is why they're skipped. Zulaport Cutthroat ($1.29) is the cheaper Blood Artist and only drains when your own creatures die. It's next in line for a slot. I took Blood Artist over it because Artist also drains when opposing creatures die, as they do after Hour of Reckoning.

Three cycling lands become three shock lands

Barren Moor, Secluded Steppe and Tranquil Thicket enter tapped, tap for one colour and cycle for one coloured mana. In their place go Overgrown Tomb (black or green), Godless Shrine (white or black) and Temple Garden (green or white), each untapped if you pay 2 life. Black goes from 20 sources to 21, green from 22 to 23 and white from 20 to 21. Always-tapped lands drop from ten to seven. {B}{B} by turn three moves from 58% to 61%, {G}{G} from 63.9% to 66.7% and {W}{W} from 58% to 61%.

The cost is the cycling. A 39-land deck is where I'd normally want it. Ghave spends spare mana at {1} a Saproling, though, so a flood hurts this deck less than it hurts most. Arcane Signet replaces Darksteel Ingot. Both tap for any of the three colours, the Signet through Ghave's colour identity, and the Signet costs two to the Ingot's three. The Ingot is indestructible and the Signet isn't, and I'd take the mana a turn sooner.

That's still short. A 90% chance of {B}{B}, {G}{G} or {W}{W} by turn three takes 36 sources of that colour, and the list has 21, 23 and 21. I'd rather say that than call three colours fixed. All three shock lands are reprinted in Star Trek on 13 November 2026, so their $22.78 may fall.

The cards I kept: Karador, the Equipment and Aura Shards

Karador, Ghost Chieftain costs {5}{W}{B}{G} and gets {1} cheaper for each creature card in your graveyard. Tokens aren't cards, so Saprolings don't count. Ghave's sacrifices of nontoken creatures do, and once a few of them are in the yard Karador gets cheap, and each turn you may cast one creature spell from the graveyard. Death Mutation is the other eight-drop that stays. It destroys a nonblack creature and makes Saprolings equal to that creature's mana value, so it answers a threat and builds the board in one card.

Skullclamp gives +1/-1, so a 1/1 Saproling wearing it dies the moment it's equipped and draws two cards for an equip cost of {1}. It's the cheapest card advantage in the box for a deck that makes 1/1s. Lightning Greaves equips for {0} and gives haste and shroud. Shroud on Ghave means his own ability can't target him, so the counters go on another creature while he's wearing them.

Aura Shards costs {1}{G}{W}. It's the only Game Changer in the box, and the only reason the list reads Bracket 3: without it the list has no Game Changer and the floor drops to Bracket 1. It only answers artifacts and enchantments, which is why a normal builder cuts it. It also triggers on every creature that enters under your control, tokens included, and the destroy is optional. Every Saproling is another chance at an opposing Rhystic Study or Sol Ring. I keep it. In a Bracket 2 pod, it's the one card to swap out, and the other eleven swaps stay as they are.

Four big creatures, three Vows and Spike Feeder come out

Celestial Force costs {5}{W}{W}{W} and gains you 3 life at the beginning of each upkeep. That's every player's upkeep, so you gain 12 over a full round of a four-player pod. It's the only thing it does. Chorus of the Conclave costs {4}{G}{G}{W}{W} and makes creature spells you cast bigger for as much extra mana as you pay. Saprolings aren't cast, so Ghave's tokens never touch it. Vish Kal, Blood Arbiter costs {4}{W}{B}{B} and is the best of the four: flying, lifelink and a free sacrifice outlet that grows it by the sacrificed creature's power. Seven mana with two black pips is a lot when the commander costs five and the deck is short of black.

Symbiotic Wurm is the close call. Eight mana for a 7/7 is poor, but sacrifice it to Ghave for {1} and you get seven 1/1 Insects for nine mana in all. Hornet Queen already does the same job at seven: it enters with four flying deathtouch Insects, five bodies in all. The box keeps the cheaper one.

Vow of Malice, Vow of Wildness and Vow of Duty are three-mana Auras that give one creature +2/+2 (+3/+3 for Wildness) and intimidate, trample or vigilance. They also stop it attacking you or your planeswalkers. In a deck that goes wide, one buffed body that dies to the first removal spell is the weakest card to draw. Spike Feeder is a 2/2 for three with two counters. Each one gains 2 life, or moves onto another creature for {2}. Ghave already turns counters into Saprolings for {1}.

What the twelve swaps change

The deck stays at 39 lands, 26 of them basic. Average mana value falls from 3.77 to 3.47. Spells costing six or more go from 14 to 10, spells at four or five go from 8 to 11, and two-drops go from 16 to 20. Creatures go from 27 to 26 and legendary creatures from five to three. The bracket floor stays at 3 on Aura Shards alone.

The upgraded decklist

Ghave and the 99 with all twelve 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

What bracket is the Counterpunch precon?

Bracket 3 as the box ships, and one card sets that: Aura Shards is the only Game Changer in the 100. Take it out and the list has none, so the floor falls to Bracket 1. I added no Game Changers, which leaves the upgraded floor where the box's is. The floor is built from Game Changers, mass land denial, extra turns and tutors, and Aura Shards is the only entry in any of them. Ghave with Doubling Season or Cathars' Crusade on the table grows faster than the box does, so a Bracket 2 pod should hear that before the game.

Can Ghave and Doubling Season make infinite Saprolings?

Not on their own. Sacrificing a Saproling to Ghave puts two counters on a creature under Doubling Season, and removing one counter makes two Saprolings, but each of those steps costs {1}. A full pass costs {2} and leaves you one Saproling and one counter ahead. It isn't a combo, because you spend mana on every pass and the growth is limited by how much you have.

Does Mentor of the Meek draw a card for every Saproling?

It triggers for each one, and you pay {1} each time to draw. Saprolings are 1/1, and the trigger looks at power 2 or less as the creature enters, so Insects, Snakes and 2/2 Wolves count too. A Mentor trigger that resolves lets you pay {1} once, so two Saprolings from Doubling Season are two triggers and two payments.

How much do the Counterpunch upgrades cost?

$63.88 for twelve cards at the cheapest released printing of each, a price that can be a promo. Doubling Season is $29.98 of that, and the three shock lands are $22.78 together. The other eight cards come to $11.12. Overgrown Tomb, Godless Shrine and Temple Garden are all reprinted in Star Trek on 13 November 2026, so the lands may cost less by then.

Does Hour of Reckoning kill my Saprolings?

No. It destroys all nontoken creatures, so your tokens survive. It also has convoke, and tapping a Saproling pays for {1} of its cost. A green Saproling can't pay for the {W}{W}{W} part, so you still need three white mana. Blood Artist triggers for each creature that dies in the sweep.

Which creatures should Ghave sacrifice first?

Saprolings, then anything that leaves value behind. Yavimaya Elder puts up to two basic lands into your hand when it dies, and Penumbra Spider leaves a 2/4 reach token, so sacrificing either to Ghave for {1} gets you a counter and its death effect. Sakura-Tribe Elder is the exception. Its land search is its own sacrifice ability and not a death trigger, so sacrifice it to that ability, not to Ghave.