Avengers Assemble Upgrade Guide: 7 Swaps for About $10

This Avengers Assemble upgrade guide starts from the official Wizards of the Coast decklist for the red-white-blue Marvel Commander precon, spends about $10 on seven swaps, and settles the argument players keep having about Herald's Horn.

TL;DR: Avengers Assemble is a Hero-tribal precon led by Captain America, Team Leader. Seven swaps (the seven cards fewest EDHREC lists keep, replaced with Agent Phil Coulson, Captain America, Wings of Freedom, Captain America, Super-Soldier, Avengers Assemble!, Path to Exile, Daredevil and Hawkeye, Trick Shot) cost $10.36 at Scryfall's October 9 prices and raise the Hero count from 26 to 27. Keep Herald's Horn: it is ramp that discounts 25 of your 26 Heroes, not the card-draw engine its text suggests.

Key Takeaways

• The stock 99 cards sit within one card of EDHREC's averaged list in every card type, so this precon needs targeted swaps, not a rebuild.
• Seven swaps cost $10.36 in total and move white from 27 to 32 colored mana symbols, so one Mountain becomes a Plains.
• Herald's Horn looks at a Hero on top of your library 26.3% of the time per upkeep, which is about one extra card by turn 7 at best.
• Horn's discount matters more than its draw: 25 of the 26 Heroes in the 99 have generic mana in their cost, and it stacks with Director Nick Fury.
• The upgrade keeps Herald's Horn, Director Nick Fury and Avengers Tower, the three cards that make Heroes cheaper or easier to find.

What Is the Avengers Assemble Precon? (quick answer)

Avengers Assemble is the red-white-blue deck among the four Marvel Super Heroes Commander precons that Wizards of the Coast released on June 26, 2026. Its commander is Captain America, Team Leader msc-5msc-5Shop on TCGplayer, and the 99 cards around him are mostly Heroes. Wizards ships it as a 100-card deck with a foil face commander, 99 non-foil cards and 10 Bird // Treasure tokens.

Wizards' blurb for the deck opens "Assemble your own team of Heroes with Captain America, Team Leader," and adds that Director Nick Fury msc-81msc-81Shop on TCGplayer "will keep your hand stocked with Heroes." Both promises hold up in the card text, which the next two sections check.

Captain America, Team Leader and the Hero Engine

Captain America, Team Leader costs {R}{W}{U}. Whenever another Hero enters under your control, it gains vigilance and haste until end of turn, and you put a +1/+1 counter on that Hero and a +1/+1 counter on Captain America. Every Hero you cast therefore does three jobs at once: it can attack right away, it arrives bigger, and it grows your commander.

Captain America, Team Leader, the face commander of the Avengers Assemble deck. Card image: Wizards of the Coast, via Scryfall.

The rest of the deck is built to feed that trigger. Director Nick Fury costs {U}{R}{W}, makes Hero spells you cast cost {1} less, and whenever you attack lets you look at the top four cards of your library for a Hero to put into your hand. Avengers Tower msh-260msh-260Shop on TCGplayer, one of the stock lands, taps for mana that can only pay for Hero spells, and for {4} and a tap it digs three cards deep for another Hero. Those three pieces, the commander, Fury and the Tower, are why this deck wants Heroes by the handful and why the upgrade below keeps the Hero count at 26 or higher.

What Is Actually in the Box?

Counted from the Wizards decklist, the 100 cards break into 38 lands (22 nonbasic and 16 basic), 30 creatures including the commander, 14 noncreature artifacts, 7 instants, 6 sorceries and 5 enchantments. Of the 62 nonland cards, 27 are Heroes counting the commander, so 26 sit in the 99 and the other 3 creatures are not Heroes.

Image: BaseMTG chart. Source: Wizards of the Coast decklist and Scryfall mana values (October 9, 2026).

The curve is low and wide: 36 of the 62 nonland cards cost two or three mana, and the average mana value is 3.35. EDHREC's averaged list for this commander (99 cards besides the commander) runs 37 lands, 30 creatures, 13 artifacts, 8 instants, 5 sorceries and 6 enchantments. The stock 99 has 38 lands, 29 creatures, 14 artifacts, 7 instants, 6 sorceries and 5 enchantments, one card off in every category. That is why the swaps below replace individual weak cards instead of changing the shape.

GODEEPER: The green-white Marvel precon built around Vibranium tokens needs a different upgrade order than a Hero deck. Wakanda Forever Precon Upgrade Guide: Marvel Commander →

Herald's Horn: Ramp, Card Draw, or Dead Weight?

Herald's Horn msc-287msc-287Shop on TCGplayer costs {3}, and as it enters you choose a creature type. Creature spells you cast of that type cost {1} less. At the beginning of your upkeep you look at the top card of your library and, if it is a creature card of the chosen type, you may put it into your hand. It lists at $5.82 on Scryfall, one of the priciest cards in the box, and an r/EDH thread titled "Herald's Horn in Captain America, Team Leader?" turned into a long argument about whether it belongs in the deck.

Three facts settle most of that argument. First, Wizards' ruling on Herald's Horn says it "reduces only generic mana in a spell's cost." Captain America costs {R}{W}{U}, so the Horn does nothing for him, but 25 of the 26 Heroes in the 99 have generic mana in their cost. Only Director Nick Fury, at {U}{R}{W}, gets no discount. Second, the discounts stack: with Fury on the battlefield, a Hero such as Iron Man, Armored Avenger msc-33msc-33Shop on TCGplayer at {3}{U} costs {1}{U} to cast. Third, if you do not take the top card you put it back, and you draw it in your draw step, so the look costs you nothing.

The card-draw half is where players disagree, and the math is short. The 99 cards other than your commander include 26 Heroes, so each upkeep look finds one 26 times in 99, or 26.3%. Before you have seen those cards, each look is equally likely to be any of the 99, so, ignoring scry and shuffle effects, the expected number of extra cards is the number of upkeeps after you cast the Horn times 26/99.

Image: BaseMTG chart. Model: expected hits = upkeeps after casting times 26/99 (October 9, 2026).

Cast on turn 3, the Horn nets about 1.05 extra cards by turn 7. Cast on turn 5, as one commenter suggested, it nets about 0.53. After the swaps below the Hero count in the 99 rises to 27, which lifts each look to 27.3%. That is not a card-draw engine, and the Reddit commenters who called it one were right to doubt it. It is also not why you play it.

Step-by-Step: Seven Swaps for About $10

The table pairs each cut with its replacement. "EDHREC" is the share of EDHREC's Captain America, Team Leader decks that run the card as of October 9, 2026. Treat those numbers with some care: most of those decks began as this precon, so a high figure also reflects people not swapping cards out. The cuts are the seven cards at the bottom of that list, and the adds are the best-played cards that fit the Hero count.

The seven additions cost $10.36 at Scryfall's October 9 prices. The seven cuts were worth $1.45 together, so they will not fund the swap.

1. Cut the seven cards the fewest lists keep. Speed, Young Avenger has the lowest inclusion of any card in the deck at 16.4%, and Love on the Battlefield, Hero's Blade and Tome of Legends are the weakest of the nonHero cards. Cut all seven in one sitting. Four of them are Heroes and five of the adds are Heroes, so the Hero count in the 99 rises from 26 to 27 and both the commander trigger and the Horn get a little better.

2. Add the white Hero engines. Agent Phil Coulson msh-4msh-4Shop on TCGplayer has vigilance and taps to put a +1/+1 counter on each other Hero you control, so he can attack and still tap afterwards. Captain America, Wings of Freedom msh-10msh-10Shop on TCGplayer has flying, first strike and ward {1}, and gives each other Hero +X/+X when he attacks, where X is his toughness. He is a 3/1, so X starts at 1, and the commander's counter on entry plus Phil's taps are what make it matter. Captain America, Super-Soldier msh-9msh-9Shop on TCGplayer enters with a shield counter, which gives you and your other Heroes hexproof while it lasts.

3. Add Avengers Assemble! msh-6msh-6Shop on TCGplayer It has flash, gives Heroes you control +2/+2, and draws you a card at the beginning of each end step if you attacked with a Hero or a Hero entered under your control that turn. Because the trigger checks every end step, a flashed-in Hero on an opponent's turn can pay for it too. It replaces Love on the Battlefield, the card with the second-lowest inclusion rate in the deck.

4. Add Path to Exile frc-30frc-30Shop on TCGplayer and Daredevil. Path to Exile is a one-mana instant that exiles a target creature, and the box already has Swords to Plowshares frc-37frc-37Shop on TCGplayer, so the second copy of cheap spot removal costs $0.64. Daredevil, Man Without Fear msh-213msh-213Shop on TCGplayer has vigilance and haste, lets you look at the top card of your library at any time, and when you attack you may exile that card and play it this turn, with +2/+1 to Daredevil if it was a Hero.

5. Swap Hawkeye for the better Hawkeye. Hawkeye, Trick Shot msc-506msc-506Shop on TCGplayer costs {3}{R}, has reach and first strike, and whenever he or another Hero enters under your control it deals damage equal to the number of Heroes you control to any target. With 27 Heroes in the 99 he scales without any help, and at $4.08 he is the most expensive card in the package.

6. Move one Mountain to a Plains. Counting colored mana symbols in the nonland cards, the swaps shift the deck from 27 white, 23 blue and 17 red to 32 white, 21 blue and 16 red. The box ships 6 Plains, 5 Islands and 5 Mountains, so replace a Mountain with a Plains and play 7, 5 and 4. This is an editorial call based on the symbol counts, not a tested result.

7. Keep Herald's Horn and name Hero. The seven swaps leave the Horn in the 99. Name Hero as its creature type, because the ruling says that with no chosen type no spells cost less at all, and treat the upkeep trigger as a bonus.

Four of the seven adds: Agent Phil Coulson, Captain America, Wings of Freedom, Captain America, Super-Soldier and Avengers Assemble! Card images: Wizards of the Coast, via Scryfall.

The Upgraded 100-Card List

This is the full list after the seven swaps and the Mountain-to-Plains change. Cards shown with a card chip, here or earlier in the guide, link to their page in the BaseMTG card database.

• Commander: Captain America, Team Leader.
• Creatures (30 besides the commander): Agent Phil Coulson, Ant-Man, Elusive Avenger msc-73msc-73Shop on TCGplayer, Bastion Protector mic-80mic-80Shop on TCGplayer, Black Widow, Agile Avenger msc-77msc-77Shop on TCGplayer, Captain America, Living Legend msh-210msh-210Shop on TCGplayer, Captain America, Super-Soldier, Captain America, Wings of Freedom, Captain Marvel, Apex Avenger msc-78msc-78Shop on TCGplayer, Daredevil, Man Without Fear, Director Nick Fury, Falcon and Redwing msc-14msc-14Shop on TCGplayer, Firebird, Blazing Ranger msc-50msc-50Shop on TCGplayer, Hawkeye, Trick Shot, Hercules, Olympian Hero msc-16msc-16Shop on TCGplayer, Iron Man, Armored Avenger, Jarvis, Earth's Mightiest Butler msc-34msc-34Shop on TCGplayer, Jocasta, Automaton Avenger msc-108msc-108Shop on TCGplayer, Metallic Mimic msc-203msc-203Shop on TCGplayer, Photon, Mighty Marvel msc-58msc-58Shop on TCGplayer, Professor Hulk msc-37msc-37Shop on TCGplayer, Quicksilver, Speedster msc-91msc-91Shop on TCGplayer, Rescue, Pepper Potts msc-755msc-755Shop on TCGplayer, Scarlet Witch, Chaotic Avenger msc-93msc-93Shop on TCGplayer, Shang-Chi and the Ten Rings msc-94msc-94Shop on TCGplayer, She-Hulk, Wallbreaker msc-60msc-60Shop on TCGplayer, The Wasp, Winsome Avenger msc-39msc-39Shop on TCGplayer, Thor, Asgard's Avenger msc-756msc-756Shop on TCGplayer, Vision, Synthezoid Avenger msc-119msc-119Shop on TCGplayer, War Machine, Avenging Arsenal msc-63msc-63Shop on TCGplayer, Winter Soldier, Reborn Avenger msc-27msc-27Shop on TCGplayer.
• Artifacts (12): Arcane Signet frc-20frc-20Shop on TCGplayer, Avengers Quinjet msc-102msc-102Shop on TCGplayer, Door of Destinies msc-198msc-198Shop on TCGplayer, Fellwar Stone frc-57frc-57Shop on TCGplayer, Herald's Horn, Hulkbuster Armor msc-107msc-107Shop on TCGplayer, Relic of Legends msc-209msc-209Shop on TCGplayer, Sol Ring frc-21frc-21Shop on TCGplayer, Talisman of Conviction msc-217msc-217Shop on TCGplayer, Talisman of Creativity frc-61frc-61Shop on TCGplayer, Talisman of Progress frc-64frc-64Shop on TCGplayer, Thought Vessel msc-222msc-222Shop on TCGplayer.
• Instants (8): Arcane Denial msc-147msc-147Shop on TCGplayer, Destroy Evil msc-128msc-128Shop on TCGplayer, Heroic Return msc-17msc-17Shop on TCGplayer, Heroic Sacrifice msc-18msc-18Shop on TCGplayer, Make Your Move msc-137msc-137Shop on TCGplayer, Methods of the Mighty msc-21msc-21Shop on TCGplayer, Path to Exile, Swords to Plowshares.
• Sorceries (6): Austere Command msc-121msc-121Shop on TCGplayer, Avenge msc-11msc-11Shop on TCGplayer, Dismantling Wave msc-129msc-129Shop on TCGplayer, Raise the Palisade msc-278msc-278Shop on TCGplayer, Rip Apart msc-187msc-187Shop on TCGplayer, West Coast Expansion msc-40msc-40Shop on TCGplayer.
• Enchantments (5): Avengers Assemble!, Folk Hero msc-132msc-132Shop on TCGplayer, Gift of Immortality msc-134msc-134Shop on TCGplayer, Kindred Discovery msc-150msc-150Shop on TCGplayer, Reconnaissance Mission msc-153msc-153Shop on TCGplayer.
• Nonbasic lands (22): Avengers Tower, Clifftop Retreat frc-67frc-67Shop on TCGplayer, Coastal Peak msc-232msc-232Shop on TCGplayer, Command Tower frc-22frc-22Shop on TCGplayer, Exotic Orchard frc-70frc-70Shop on TCGplayer, Frostboil Snarl msc-246msc-246Shop on TCGplayer, Furycalm Snarl msc-247msc-247Shop on TCGplayer, Glacial Fortress frc-73frc-73Shop on TCGplayer, Glittering Massif msc-249msc-249Shop on TCGplayer, Irrigated Farmland msc-251msc-251Shop on TCGplayer, Mystic Monastery msc-253msc-253Shop on TCGplayer, Path of Ancestry frc-77frc-77Shop on TCGplayer, Plaza of Heroes msc-255msc-255Shop on TCGplayer, Port Town msc-256msc-256Shop on TCGplayer, Prairie Stream frc-79frc-79Shop on TCGplayer, Radiant Summit frc-80frc-80Shop on TCGplayer, Scavenger Grounds msc-263msc-263Shop on TCGplayer, Scorched Geyser msc-264msc-264Shop on TCGplayer, Secluded Courtyard msc-265msc-265Shop on TCGplayer, Spectator Seating msc-268msc-268Shop on TCGplayer, Sulfur Falls frc-84frc-84Shop on TCGplayer, Unclaimed Territory mic-187mic-187Shop on TCGplayer.
• Basic lands (16): 7 Plains, 5 Island, 4 Mountain.

Tips for Playing the Deck

Name Hero, then count your Hero spells. Horn, Director Nick Fury and Avengers Tower all pay off Hero spells only, so hold a non-Hero artifact or removal spell back when you can cast a Hero instead. The commander's trigger rewards the same habit.

Attack with Fury on the board. Director Nick Fury looks at four cards whenever you attack, which is a much bigger window than the Horn's one card at upkeep. Getting him out early and attacking with anything is the deck's best source of Heroes.

Use the end-step draw on both turns. Avengers Assemble! checks the beginning of each end step, so flash it in at the end of an opponent's turn only if a Hero entered under your control that turn. Cast it main phase when you plan to attack with a Hero anyway.

Do not spend Path to Exile early on a small threat. It hands the controller a basic land, which matters in multiplayer. Keep it for the creature that is about to end the game.

*Video: The Command Zone's full deck reveal and upgrade of Avengers Assemble, the video Wizards embeds on its official Marvel Super Heroes decklist page.*

What Players Are Saying About Herald's Horn

The debate in the r/EDH thread posted June 22, 2026 comes down to whether the Horn is draw or ramp, and both camps put numbers on it. One commenter worked out the same odds as the chart above:

"So 26/99 of your cards actually fit the Herald's Horn criteria, and thus we can expect to draw a card with it once every four turns." (u/kestral287 on r/EDH)

Another commenter argued the card should be judged as a mana rock, not as card draw:

"You should think of it the same as putting in a 3 mana mana rock with gravy on top." (u/PandaXD001 on r/EDH)

The two views are compatible. One Hero every four turns is thin card draw, and a repeatable {1} discount on 25 of 26 Heroes is genuine ramp, which is the case the swaps above leave intact.

Our Take: Keep the Horn, Swap Seven Low-Play Cards

Based on the card texts and counts above, the deck's weakness is not its mana. It is a handful of low-impact cards in slots that should hold Heroes or interaction, and seven cheap swaps fix that without touching the shape EDHREC's averaged list shows. We would keep Herald's Horn because the {1} discount reaches 25 of 26 Heroes and stacks with Director Nick Fury, and we would stop expecting it to draw cards. This is arithmetic from the printed text, not goldfishing or playtest data, and a table that kills creatures quickly will value the cheaper mana rocks in the box more than we do.

GODEEPER: The blue-black-red Marvel precon keeps a Connive and life-drain shell and is Bracket 2 as printed. Doom Prevails Precon Upgrade Guide: Stay in Bracket 2 →

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Avengers Assemble precon good? It is a coherent Hero deck whose shape is within one card per type of EDHREC's averaged list. Its weak spots are a handful of low-play cards, which seven swaps costing $10.36 at October 9 prices replace with better Heroes, one flash enchantment, and cheap removal.

What colors is the Avengers Assemble Commander deck? Red, white and blue. Wizards lists it as Red-White-Blue, and the commander, Captain America, Team Leader, costs {R}{W}{U}. The box ships 16 basic lands: 6 Plains, 5 Islands and 5 Mountains. After the swaps in this guide, 7 Plains, 5 Islands and 4 Mountains fit the heavier white symbol count better.

Is Herald's Horn good in the Avengers Assemble deck? It is decent ramp and weak card draw. It reduces only generic mana, so it discounts 25 of the 26 Heroes in the 99 but not the {R}{W}{U} commander. Its upkeep look finds a Hero 26.3% of the time, about one extra card by turn 7 if cast on turn 3.

Can Herald's Horn and Director Nick Fury be used together? Yes. Fury makes Hero spells you cast cost {1} less and the Horn, with Hero chosen, does the same, so a Hero with generic mana in its cost can be {2} cheaper in total. The Horn's ruling says it reduces only generic mana, so colored costs stay as printed.

Who is the commander of the Avengers Assemble deck? Captain America, Team Leader, a Legendary Creature costing {R}{W}{U}. Whenever another Hero enters under your control it gains vigilance and haste until end of turn, and you put a +1/+1 counter on that Hero and one on Captain America. Wizards ships it as the foil face commander.

How many Heroes are in the Avengers Assemble precon? The 100-card list has 27 Heroes counting the commander, so 26 sit in the 99. The other 3 creatures are not Heroes. After the seven swaps in this guide the 99 hold 27 Heroes, because five Heroes come in and four go out.

Related Reading

• MTG Commander Deck Guide: Building, Budget, and cEDH: the full Commander deckbuilding rules this precon fits into.
• MTG Color Identity: Hybrid, Phyrexian and Reminder Text: check which symbols count toward the commander's red-white-blue identity before adding cards.
• Budget Commander Decks Under $50: Tribal Synergy Wins: another tribal build for players who want a second cheap deck.
• Multiverse Reforged Precon Upgrades: 6 First Swaps (2026): another precon upgrade guide built on the printed list's counts.

References

• Official Wizards of the Coast Marvel Super Heroes Commander decklist announcement
• Scryfall card page and rulings for Herald's Horn
• EDHREC: Captain America, Team Leader (Commander)
• r/EDH: Herald's Horn in Captain America, Team Leader?
• The Command Zone: "Avengers Assemble" Full Deck Reveal + Upgrade (YouTube)