Animated Army precon.

How it plays.

Core game plan

Spend the first turns on ramp: Sol Ring, the Signets, Sakura-Tribe Elder, Rampant Growth, Farseek, and Cultivate build toward a turn-three Bello. Once he is down, every four-plus-mana rock and enchantment you cast is a hasty 4/4 the turn it lands, so sequencing flips: Thran Dynamo, Hedron Archive, and Gilded Lotus are threats that also pay for the next threat. Get your triggers set before the flood, because Warstorm Surge turns each animated arrival into 4 damage at any target and Garruk's Uprising turns it into a card. The engines stack fast: Sunbird's Invocation and Rain of Riches cascade into free spells, Outpost Siege and Big Score keep the hand full, and Bello's own draw trigger pays you for every hit that connects. Wildsear, Scouring Maw gives all thirteen enchantments cascade from hand if you would rather chain spells than animate them. Your sweepers are one-sided by design: Blasphemous Act and Starstorm cast on your turn wipe blockers while the indestructible animated board survives. Close with a damage multiplier, since Gratuitous Violence, Unnatural Growth, or Berserkers' Onslaught pushes a board of 4/4s straight through a table. The one rule to remember is that the animation only works during your turn: your rocks and enchantments cannot block, so plan defense around real creatures and your removal.

Key cards

• Bello, Bard of the Brambles. The whole deck. During your turn he makes every non-Equipment artifact and non-Aura enchantment with mana value 4 or greater a 4/4 Elemental with indestructible, haste, and a draw-on-damage trigger. Fourteen rocks and thirteen enchantments mean he usually animates three or more attackers the turn after he resolves.
• Wildsear, Scouring Maw. The alternate face commander and the backup plan in the 99. A 6/6 trampler that gives your enchantment spells cast from hand cascade, so every Siege, Surge, and Uprising brings a free spell with it.
• Warstorm Surge. Turns every animated arrival into a Lightning Bolt and a half. With Bello out, each 4+ MV artifact or enchantment you cast enters as a 4/4 and immediately deals 4 to any target, clearing blockers or finishing players without combat.
• Garruk's Uprising. Trample for the team plus a card whenever a power-4-or-greater creature enters, which includes every permanent Bello animates on arrival. It makes the deck's damage evasive and keeps the hand stocked at once.
• Sunbird's Invocation. Every spell from hand digs its mana value deep and casts something free from what it finds. In a deck full of five- and six-drops it routinely doubles your spell count, and at mana value 6 it attacks as a 4/4 too.
• Esika's Chariot. Two Cats on entry, and its attack trigger copies any token you control. Under Bello it attacks without being crewed, so it snowballs Treasures, Hamsters, or Cats every combat while adding a 4/4 body.
• Bootleggers' Stash. Every land becomes a Treasure factory, converting spare lands into a burst of mana for a huge Ghalta, a leveled Alchemist's Talent, or simply three spells in one turn. At mana value 6 it also joins the attack.
• Kodama of the East Tree. Every other permanent that enters lets you put a cheaper permanent from your hand onto the battlefield. Lands chain into rocks, rocks into enchantments, and a single big turn can empty your hand onto the table.

Combos and synergies

• No infinite combos in the stock list: Animated Army is a Bracket 2 precon with no infinite loops as built. The power is layered synergy: animated permanents, enter-the-battlefield payoffs, and damage multipliers.
• Bello plus Warstorm Surge and Garruk's Uprising: With Bello out, any 4+ MV artifact or enchantment you cast on your turn enters as a 4/4 creature. Warstorm Surge makes it deal 4 damage anywhere and Garruk's Uprising draws a card, so every rock and enchantment becomes a burn spell that replaces itself.
• One-sided Blasphemous Act: Your animated permanents are indestructible during your turn. Cast Blasphemous Act or a big Starstorm before combat: opposing boards die, your Elementals do not, and you swing into an empty table. Your regular creatures do go down with it, so time it around them.

Mulligan

Lines and sequencing

• Turns one and two: land plus a rock or dork (Sol Ring, Signets, Talisman, Sakura-Tribe Elder), setting up Bello on turn three.
• Turn three: Bello. From here every 4+ MV rock or enchantment is a hasty 4/4 the turn it lands, so keep casting mana into the board.
• Get Warstorm Surge or Garruk's Uprising down before the rest of your four-drops so each cast pays out damage or cards on arrival.
• Attack freely with animated permanents on your turn: they are indestructible in combat and each hit on a player draws a card.
• Hold Blasphemous Act or Starstorm for a turn you want to attack, sweeping blockers while the animated board survives.
• Close with a multiplier: Gratuitous Violence, Unnatural Growth, or Berserkers' Onslaught turns a board of 4/4s lethal in one combat.

Pilot difficulty

Beginner. Ramp, cast Bello, turn your rocks and enchantments sideways. The only real tracking is which permanents have mana value 4 or greater and remembering they are only creatures, and only indestructible, during your own turn, so they never block.