Heavenly Inferno precon upgrade guide

Twenty-one of the box's other 28 creatures are Angels, Demons or Dragons, so Kaalia always has a target. These swaps go to the mana and the card draw, where the box is thin.

Kaalia of the Vast costs {1}{R}{W}{B} and is a 2/2 flier that does nothing until she attacks. The box handles the half of the plan you can count by hand: 21 of its 28 other creatures are an Angel, a Demon or a Dragon (11 Angels, 6 Dragons, 5 Demons, with Malfegor in two of those groups), and 19 of those 21 have toughness 3 or more. What it doesn't handle is getting her cast. White has 18 sources in the stock list, 10 of the 38 lands enter tapped, and the draw is Syphon Mind, the cycling on Akroma's Vengeance and three cycling lands.

Twelve swaps work on that for $6.01 at the cheapest released printing as of October 2026 (which can be a promo). Five are mana rocks, four draw cards and three are untapped dual lands, and the nine spells they replace are three Auras, two life-gain cards, a removal spell, a combat trick, a Guildmage and an eight-drop.

What are the best Heavenly Inferno upgrades?

Buy and play them in this order:

1. Arcane Signet ($0.38): for two mana it makes any of the three colours in Kaalia's identity, so it adds a source of red, white and black at once.
2. Dragonskull Summit ($0.44), Isolated Chapel ($0.24) and Clifftop Retreat ($0.23): three dual lands that enter untapped once you control a land with either of their two types, which in a deck with 24 basics is nearly every game.
3. Talisman of Indulgence ($0.45), Talisman of Conviction ($0.35) and Talisman of Hierarchy ($0.46): one for each pair of Kaalia's colours. They tap for colourless for free, or for a colour at the price of 1 damage to you.
4. Phyrexian Arena ($2.54): a draw every upkeep for 1 life, in a deck that wants cards in hand to cheat out.
5. Night's Whisper ($0.22), Sign in Blood ($0.27) and Read the Bones ($0.19): three cheap spells that each draw two cards.
6. Mind Stone ($0.24): a colourless rock that turns into a card late. It's last because the box already has five.

What Kaalia's trigger skips

A creature Kaalia puts onto the battlefield is never cast, so any enter ability that says "if you cast it from your hand" does nothing. Two of the box's biggest Demons are written that way. Reiver Demon destroys all nonartifact, nonblack creatures when cast, which would take out eight of this deck's 11 Angels and half its Dragons. Dread Cacodemon destroys every creature your opponents control and taps yours, for ten mana. Dropped by Kaalia, the first is a 6/6 flier and the second an 8/8, and neither sweeps anything. The Cacodemon's ruling says so directly.

I'm keeping both, because a free 6/6 flier that doesn't kill your own board is a good result, and a hard-cast Reiver Demon is a real sweeper for the turns when you're behind and Kaalia is gone. But I wouldn't count either as removal when I add up what the deck does.

Attack triggers get skipped as well. The ruling on Kaalia says a creature that enters attacking was never declared as an attacker, so "whenever this creature attacks" doesn't fire. That's why Hellkite Charger ($0.99) isn't an add. It's a 5/5 flying haste Dragon, and its extra combat costs another seven mana on top of the six to cast it, and only happens if it attacks the ordinary way. Utvara Hellkite has the same problem, since it triggers on a Dragon attacking.

Triggers that fire when a creature enters do work. Angel of Despair destroys a target permanent the moment it lands. Archangel of Strife asks each player to choose war or peace. Bladewing the Risen returns a Dragon from your graveyard. And Malfegor makes you discard what's left in your hand, which is not optional, and each opponent sacrifices a creature for each card you discarded. The time to drop it is when your hand is nearly empty, or full of cards you don't mind losing.

Eighteen white sources behind a commander that costs one of each

The calculator counts rocks as sources. Stock, the box has 21 black, 20 red and 18 white, which gives a single-pip spell at turn two 86.3%, 84.8% and 81.2% on the play, against the 24 sources that reach 90%. The double-pip spells are further off: 61% for black by turn three, 58% for red and 51.5% for white. White has the most to lose, because the double-white check covers twelve spells, nine of them costing {W}{W} outright, including Serra Angel, Angelic Arbiter and Archangel of Strife.

After the swaps the deck has 24 black, 24 red and 23 white. That's 90.1%, 90.1% and 89% for a single pip by turn two, and 69.4%, 69.4% and 66.7% for two pips by turn three. White is still one source short of the 24 line and the double pips are still well short of 36, so this isn't a solved mana base.

Three lands leave and three arrive. Barren Moor and Bojuka Bog are tapped lands that make black, and Forgotten Cave is a tapped land that makes red. Dragonskull Summit, Isolated Chapel and Clifftop Retreat replace them. Always-tapped lands go from 10 to 7, and each of the three new lands makes two colours where each cut land made one.

One cost: the three new lands have no basic land types. Duergar Hedge-Mage and Gwyllion Hedge-Mage count Mountains, Plains and Swamps, so a shockland would help them where these don't. With 24 basics in the deck I don't think it matters much.

The three Mardu shocklands come in untapped if you pay 2 life: Sacred Foundry ($10.08), Blood Crypt ($9.35) and Godless Shrine ($8.21). That's $27.64, more than four times the whole list above, for lands that would replace ones that already enter untapped in most games. If you do spend it, Sacred Foundry and Godless Shrine go first, because they make white. Star Trek releases on 13 November 2026 with all three in it, so those prices are the ones I'd expect to move. None of the cards I weighed against the swaps is a Game Changer.

Nine spells leave, and a few that look cuttable stay

The three Vows, Vow of Duty, Vow of Malice and Vow of Lightning, cost three each for +2/+2 and a keyword on one creature, plus a clause that stops that creature attacking you. On your own creature the clause does nothing and one removal spell takes both cards. On an opponent's, it makes their creature bigger. Neither is what a deck built around a flier and 21 big targets wants to be doing.

Righteous Cause is five mana for 1 life whenever any creature attacks, yours or an opponent's. Congregate is four mana for 2 life per creature on the battlefield, and the deck's own damage sweepers keep that board small.

Return to Dust exiles one artifact or enchantment, or two if you cast it in your main phase, for {2}{W}{W} in the colour the deck is shortest on. The box also has Orim's Thunder, Mortify, Duergar Hedge-Mage and Akroma's Vengeance, which between them cover most of the same job.

Bathe in Light gives protection from a colour to the target creature and to every other creature that shares a colour with it. The ruling confirms that includes your own. It lasts a turn.

Boros Guildmage is a 2/2 that gives haste for {1}{R} and first strike for {1}{W}. Haste for Kaalia is a real job, but Lightning Greaves does it for nothing, and the Guildmage is a 2/2 that the deck's own Evincar's Justice kills.

Avatar of Slaughter is eight mana for an 8/8 that gives every creature double strike and makes them all attack each combat. It's an Avatar, so Kaalia can't drop it, and it puts the same pressure on your own creatures as on theirs.

Lightning Greaves helps one creature at a time, which is a poor trade in a go-wide deck. Kaalia isn't a go-wide commander. She's one creature the whole plan depends on, and Greaves gives her haste and shroud for six mana in total on the turn she lands.

Oni of Wild Places is a 6/5 haste Demon for six that returns a red creature you control to hand at each upkeep. Kaalia is red, so you could be made to bounce her, but you can choose the Oni itself or Malfegor instead. Either one is back in your hand as a fresh target for her trigger.

Syphon Flesh costs five and each other player sacrifices a creature, but you make a 2/2 Zombie for each creature sacrificed. In a four-player pod that's up to three bodies for one card. Mother of Runes stays because she is the box's other protection for Kaalia, giving her protection from the colour of a removal spell, though she can only do it once she's lost her summoning sickness.

The damage sweepers stay too: Evincar's Justice, Sulfurous Blast, Earthquake, Pyrohemia and Cleansing Beam. They look wrong beside 21 creature targets until you check the toughness. Sixteen of the 21 have toughness 4 or more, and 18 fly, which Earthquake doesn't touch. The cost falls on the small creatures. Kaalia is a 2/2, so a 2-damage sweeper kills her, and so does Sulfurous Blast at either size. Keep that in mind before you cast one while she's on the table.

The upgraded decklist

Hover any name for the card. The list is the upgraded 100, with the nine spells and three lands above gone.

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 creatures can Kaalia put onto the battlefield in Heavenly Inferno?

Twenty-one of the 26 other creatures in the upgraded list. Eleven are Angels, six are Dragons and five are Demons, with Malfegor counted as both a Demon and a Dragon. The five she can't use are Mother of Runes, Orzhov Guildmage, Gwyllion Hedge-Mage, Duergar Hedge-Mage and Anger. Eighteen of the 21 fly.

Does Reiver Demon destroy the board when Kaalia puts it onto the battlefield?

No. Reiver Demon only destroys all nonartifact, nonblack creatures if you cast it from your hand, and Kaalia puts it onto the battlefield without casting it. You get a 6/6 flier and your own Angels and Dragons live. Dread Cacodemon works the same way: its one-sided sweep needs a hard cast, which costs ten mana.

What do the Heavenly Inferno upgrades cost?

Twelve cards for $6.01 at the cheapest released printing as of October 2026, which can be a promo. Phyrexian Arena at $2.54 is the dearest. Nothing else is over $0.50. Adding the three Mardu shocklands I left out would cost another $27.64, and a Star Trek reprint on 13 November 2026 may move those prices.

Should I keep the cycling lands in Heavenly Inferno?

Keep Secluded Steppe and cut Barren Moor and Forgotten Cave. All three enter tapped and cycle for one mana of their colour, but white is the colour the box is shortest on, so the white one stays. The three untapped duals take their slots, and each enters untapped once you control a land with one of its two types.

Is the upgraded Heavenly Inferno still a low bracket?

The floor stays at Bracket 1. Nothing I added is a Game Changer, and the one tutor in the 100 is Diabolic Tutor. A floor only says what the list can't be, so run it through the bracket checker and talk to your table before you assume it sits at the bottom.

Why does Lightning Greaves stay in a deck with this many creatures?

It has one job that matters, which is giving Kaalia haste so she can attack the turn she lands. Kaalia costs four, Greaves is two to cast and equip costs nothing, so the whole sequence is six mana. It also gives her shroud, which stops targeted removal but not a damage sweeper.