Table of Contents
This deck wants you to untap, draw cards, and combo off — and that’s just your upkeep.
Welcome aboard Counter Intelligence, the Jeskai precon from Edge of Eternities. We’re going budget again: 10 upgrades for under £10, and not a single boring staple in sight.
product::magic-the-gathering-edge-of-eternities-counter-intelligence-commander-deck
Counter Intelligence is the Jeskai ({W}, {U}, {R}) precon from Edge of Eternities. Think of it as the robotic sibling to World Shaper — except instead of farming lands, we’re farming counters.
This guide, as always, sticks to a tight budget: 10 upgrades for under £10 total. Prices fluctuate, so I’ve aimed for affordable hidden gems that won’t spike overnight.
If you're into untapping, combo potential, and playing a commander that basically says "please break me," you're in the right place. Let’s dive in.
The Commanders
Face Commander: Kilo, Apogee Mind
The face of the deck is Kilo, Apogee Mind.
https://scryfall.com/card/eoc/3/kilo-apogee-mind
Kilo is deceptively simple on paper, but mechanically? There’s a lot going on. Proliferate is already a powerful keyword — just ask anyone who’s played the Final Fantasy Counter Blitz deck. But what makes Kilo stand out from other proliferate commanders is how she does it: every time she becomes tapped.
That opens the door to multiple triggers per turn, and trust me, it can get silly fast.
There’s also a dirty version of this deck: Poison. You know the drill — land one [[Prologue to Phyresis]] early, then start proliferating like a maniac. With few ways to remove poison counters, opponents are suddenly on a ticking clock they can’t disarm. It’s effective… but also incredibly salty. I won’t be covering that line here — we’re keeping this upgrade guide a bit more civilised.
Alt Commander: Inspirit, Flagship Vessel
The alternative commander is Inspirit, Flagship Vessel.
https://scryfall.com/card/eoc/2/inspirit-flagship-vessel
Thanks to the new rules from Edge of Eternities, Legendary Vehicles and Spacecrafts can now be your Commander. It makes for some pretty funny flavour — [[Shorikai, Genesis Engine]] is now technically a commander who drives itself. That said, your spacecrafts still needs a power and toughness box to be legal, so cards like [[The Eternity Elevator]] sadly don’t make the cut.
As the name suggests, Inspirit works best at the helm of a fleet. It hands out charge counters to other Spacecraft, letting them help Station Inspirit in return. Alternatively, you can pile +1/+1 counters onto creatures to achieve the same effect. Hit 8+ charge and Inspirit starts handing out hexproof and indestructible like party favours.
Still, I’ll be focusing on Kilo for this guide — her play pattern is unique and explosive, and there’s a lot of untapped potential (pun intended).
Let’s jump into the upgrades.
Budget Upgrades
Upgrade 1 & 2
IN: Freed from the Real + Fatestitcher
https://scryfall.com/card/sok/38/freed-from-the-real
https://scryfall.com/card/ala/43/fatestitcher
Let’s kick things off with a theme you’ll see pop up again: ways to untap [[Kilo, Apogee Mind]] and squeeze every drop out of those proliferate triggers.
Fatestitcher is a classic untapper that also brings some utility. It costs more upfront and requires a turn before you can use it (unless you’re unearthing it), but it can target any permanent. That means you can tap down an annoying attacker, mess with mana, or disable artifacts in a pinch. It’s even seen competitive play in Modern combo decks with [[Jeskai Ascendancy]].
[[Freed from the Real]] is a clean, repeatable way to untap Kilo. It’s also part of infinite mana combos in other decks, and while that’s not the focus here, the repeatable proliferate value is enough. Its cousin, [[Pemmin’s Aura]], offers more flexibility and built-in protection, but it costs {1}{U}{U}, which is harder to cast in a 3-colour deck on a budget. Freed is simpler, cheaper, and effective.
Both of these cards also give you the option to tap Kilo in the first place if needed — a nice bonus when you’re struggling to find ways to enable her.
OUT: Lonely Sandbar + Secluded Steppe
https://scryfall.com/card/eoc/166/lonely-sandbar
https://scryfall.com/card/eoc/177/secluded-steppe
Wizards has bumped the land count again — which makes sense for World Shaper, but not so much for this lower-curve, spell-heavy deck. So let’s trim the fat.
Lonely Sandbar and Secluded Steppe are part of the mono-colour cycle lands. Sure, they cycle when flooded — but they come in tapped, which slows us down. They’re not fetchable, not dual-coloured, and don’t offer enough upside.
If you’re running lands that enter tapped, they better do something great — like be searchable or provide real utility. These don’t. Cutting them helps tighten your curve and avoid early-game stumbles.
This deck averages around 3 mana (excluding lands), so we can afford to be leaner. Let’s make room for cards that actively help our gameplan.
Upgrade 3
IN: Unwinding Clock
https://scryfall.com/card/nph/164/unwinding-clock
Unwinding Clock is definitely on the pricier side for a budget build — but it's one of those cards that can absolutely turbocharge your gameplan.
The synergy here is obvious: untapping all your artifacts on each opponent’s turn means you can tap [[Kilo, Apogee Mind]] every single turn cycle. While Station itself is limited to sorcery speed (so no Station spam), this still enables multiple proliferate triggers, more value, and efficient use of activated abilities.
It also plays really well with other artifact-based utility cards, like [[Steel Overseer]] or [[Lux Cannon]], letting you get repeated use out of them across turns. If you’re leaning into the artifact support baked into this precon, Unwinding Clock is a standout piece.
OUT: Mountain
https://scryfall.com/card/eoe/273/mountain
Time to trim one of the basics. Cutting a single Mountain helps balance out the colour distribution after adding more blue-heavy support cards. 37 lands is still perfectly fine for this deck — and honestly, it’s probably a little high for the curve we’re working with.
Wizards has gone back to overloading precons with land again. It used to be more balanced, but we’re back to “just in case” territory. So, time to shave off a few — and this Mountain is first on the chopping block.
Upgrade 4
IN: Mirran Spy
https://scryfall.com/card/mbs/26/mirran-spy
Mirran Spy is the first abusable untapper I’m adding to the deck. What makes it so good is that it’s repeatable — and with the right support, you can go infinite.
If you have a free way to tap [[Kilo, Apogee Mind]] — like with [[Paradise Mantle]] — and a loopable artifact spell like [[Sensei’s Divining Top]] or bounce from [[Hullbreaker Horror]], you’re off to the races. Cast artifact, untap Kilo, tap her again, proliferate — rinse and repeat.
This combo potential can be game-ending, especially in a +1/+1 counter shell. If infinite proliferate doesn’t outright win you the game, it sets up an incredibly explosive next turn.
OUT: Cyberdrive Awakener
https://scryfall.com/card/eoc/69/cyberdrive-awakener
I love Cyberdrive Awakener. If you squint hard enough, it’s like a blue [[Craterhoof Behemoth]].
It’s a flashy finisher — but this deck doesn’t really support it. Without a pile of noncreature artifact tokens like Clues or Treasures, it just doesn't hit as hard. The deck has only around 24 viable targets, including artifact lands, which is far from optimal.
Cyberdrive works best in decks that can flood the board with incidental artifacts and then swing in as a surprise lethal. Here, it’s more of a shiny distraction than a win condition. So it’s getting cut.
Upgrade 5
IN: Unctus, Grand Metatect
https://scryfall.com/card/one/75/unctus-grand-metatect
We’ve added ways to tap and untap — now it’s time to add something to profit from all that tapping.
Unctus, Grand Metatect lets you loot (draw a card, then discard a card) whenever a blue creature becomes tapped. That’s not quite card draw, but it’s fantastic filtering — especially in a deck like this where we’ll be tapping [[Kilo, Apogee Mind]] multiple times per turn.
Unctus also acts as a lord for artifact creatures, giving them +1/+1. That covers a large chunk of this deck. And if something isn’t a blue artifact? No problem — Unctus can turn it into one, granting both the stat boost and the loot trigger. Value engine and team-wide anthem in one.
OUT: Wake the Past
https://scryfall.com/card/eoc/128/wake-the-past
Wake the Past sounds exciting — a mass artifact reanimator with haste — but at 7 mana, you really want this to win the game when it resolves. In this deck, it often won’t.
It’s fine as a board wipe recovery tool, and if you’re regularly losing a lot of artifacts, you might consider keeping it. But with the rise of exile-based sweepers like [[Farewell]], you can’t rely on your graveyard being safe. Plus, if I’m spending 7 mana, I’d rather it be for something proactive or game-ending.
If you want a similar effect with more flexibility, [[Dance of the Manse]] is a better pick. Wake the Past just doesn’t do enough here — so it’s out.
Upgrade 6
IN: Relic of Legends
https://scryfall.com/card/dmu/236/relic-of-legends
OUT: Empowered Autogenerator
https://scryfall.com/card/eoc/135/empowered-autogenerator
I’m swapping out Empowered Autogenerator for Relic of Legends, and the reason is simple: tempo and synergy.
Yes, Autogenerator looks appealing in a proliferate deck — it scales with time and benefits from charge counter doubling. But it’s also clunky. It costs 4 mana, enters tapped, and doesn’t give you anything until your next turn. By the time it starts producing value, you're already a turn behind — and that assumes you’re even getting charge counters onto it consistently.
Relic of Legends, on the other hand, is cheaper at 3 mana, taps for mana immediately, and — most importantly — gives us a free way to tap [[Kilo, Apogee Mind]]. That’s massive. Being able to proliferate for free while ramping? That’s exactly what we want in this deck.
Unless you’re running huge X spells or have major mana sinks (this deck doesn’t), you’ll get more value — and more plays — out of Relic of Legends every time.
Upgrade 7
IN: Aura of Dominion
https://scryfall.com/card/chk/51/aura-of-dominion
Normally I steer clear of dedicated combo cards in budget upgrades — but Aura of Dominion is just too good here to ignore.
Even without a combo, it’s strong: for {1} mana, you can tap [[Kilo, Apogee Mind]] to untap itself, triggering proliferate each time. It’s a simple engine that gets you consistent value.
But here’s where things get spicy. Add in something like [[Pentad Prism]], and you’ve got a full-blown infinite proliferate combo. You proliferate to add a charge counter to [[Pentad Prism]], then remove that counter for {1}, which pays for Aura of Dominion. Rinse and repeat.
Another great enabler is [[Crystalline Crawler]] — swap charge counters for +1/+1 counters and you can still generate the loop, while also potentially generating infinite mana or infinitely huge creatures depending on your setup.
OUT: Golem Foundry
https://scryfall.com/card/eoc/138/golem-foundry
Golem Foundry, while cute, just doesn’t cut it by comparison. Yes, it can combo off with infinite casts to generate an army of 3/3 Golems. But outside of that setup, it’s slow and underwhelming — requiring three artifacts per token, and needing time to build up even with proliferate.
It’s a win-more piece. Aura of Dominion is a win-now engine.
Upgrade 8
IN: Clock of Omens
https://scryfall.com/card/5dn/110/clock-of-omens
Clock of Omens gives us a mana-free way to untap [[Kilo, Apogee Mind]], letting us replicate some of the power of [[Aura of Dominion]] without needing blue mana. It trades cost for board presence — instead of spending mana, you just need another untapped artifact to fuel the loop. Tap Kilo and one other artifact to untap Kilo, and proliferate again.
You can run it fairly, but if you're feeling spicy, Clock of Omens has combo potential too. While this deck doesn't include the pieces yet, something like [[Animation Module]] can easily push it into infinite proliferate territory, especially if you’ve got mana to burn. All it takes is a reliable way to make artifact tokens on proliferate and you're off to the races.
OUT: Titan Forge
https://scryfall.com/card/eoc/146/titan-forge
I’m cutting Titan Forge for a similar reason as [[Golem Foundry]] — too slow, too clunky. While the payoff is big (a 9/9 is nothing to scoff at), getting there is cumbersome. You need to tap it each time to add counters, which makes proliferating them less efficient. And while the body is large, it lacks evasion — it’ll get chump blocked all day.
Titan Forge is fine in a Bracket 2 build where power is more moderate, but if you want to push into Bracket 3 or higher, it just takes too many steps and isn’t impactful fast enough.
Upgrade 9
IN: Vigean Graftmage
https://scryfall.com/card/mm2/68/vigean-graftmage
Vigean Graftmage is a sneaky little enabler that fits this deck surprisingly well. Originally, Graft was designed so you’d move counters from the creature onto others as they enter the battlefield. With only two counters, Graftmage was usually a one-and-done — maybe two, if you didn’t mind it dying.
But in a deck like this, where proliferate is king, you can keep refreshing the counters and effectively give a +1/+1 counter to every creature you play. Then, of course, you proliferate them all into monsters.
The untap ability is a bit mana-intensive, but it's still solid for helping you double up on [[Kilo, Apogee Mind]] triggers. And the Graft effect itself adds sneaky utility.
There are other graft options if you want to lean in:
[[Novijen Sages]] gives you a card draw outlet.
[[Cytoplast Manipulator]] lets you do very rude things — like stealing creatures after grafting onto them (yes, even your opponents’).
OUT: Gavel of the Righteous
https://scryfall.com/card/eoc/55/gavel-of-the-righteous
I’m cutting Gavel of the Righteous. It’s a strong equipment that can turn one creature into a huge threat, especially with all the extra counters flying around — so I don’t blame anyone for keeping it in.
But for the direction I’m pushing this build, it doesn’t quite fit. This deck wants to combo off, not go tall and swing once. I’d rather spend that mana and effort assembling a machine that taps and untaps Kilo endlessly. When Kilo’s your engine, you’re not trying to win with one giant creature — you’re trying to go off and overwhelm the table.
Upgrade 10
IN: Dreamtide Whale
https://scryfall.com/card/mh3/59/dreamtide-whale
Closing out the upgrades with a big fish — or rather, a big whale. Dreamtide Whale is just a cheap, chunky body that quietly supports our gameplan. It’s not flashy, but it does exactly what this deck wants: proliferate for free.
The best part? It doesn’t just trigger off your spells — it triggers whenever any player casts two or more spells each turn. In a game of Commander, that’s going to happen a lot. So what you get is a solid blocker that steadily builds value throughout the game.
Sometimes, the best upgrades are the simplest ones.
OUT: Soul-Guide Lantern
https://scryfall.com/card/eoc/143/soul-guide-lantern
I’m cutting Soul-Guide Lantern for the opposite reason — it doesn’t really do anything this deck wants. Sure, graveyard hate is important in some metas, and yes, it’s a cheap artifact that technically synergises with artifact-matters cards. But it’s a meta call, not a main-deck staple.
If you were running [[Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain]] or something similar, maybe you’d get some card draw out of it. But in this list, it’s mostly dead weight. I suspect it was included as a counter to [[World Shaper]] — the graveyard-focused precon — more than for synergy.
If you still want graveyard hate, [[Scavenger Grounds]] would’ve been a better choice — it's a land, doesn’t take up a spell slot, and it’s never truly dead. As is, Soul-Guide Lantern just doesn’t make the cut.
Non-budget Upgrades
Looking for even more upgrades? Try these 10 cards that didn't meet our budget requirement, but synergise with this deck:
https://scryfall.com/card/cma/236/thousand-year-elixir
https://scryfall.com/card/ala/60/tezzeret-the-seeker
https://scryfall.com/card/aer/181/walking-ballista
https://scryfall.com/card/som/35/inexorable-tide
https://scryfall.com/card/tmp/304/puppet-strings
https://scryfall.com/card/war/52/flux-channeler
https://scryfall.com/card/mh1/75/urza-lord-high-artificer
https://scryfall.com/card/eoe/2/tezzeret-cruel-captain
https://scryfall.com/card/moc/15/filigree-vector
https://scryfall.com/card/m3c/6/cayth-famed-mechanist
Final Thoughts
Counter Intelligence is a fairly tame precon — and that’s not a bad thing. Not every deck needs to blast off into Bracket 3 territory straight out of the box. What it does have is a solid shell with real potential, especially if you’re willing to refine it and steer it in a focused direction.
One route I haven’t touched on here is Superfriends — the Planeswalker deck. With so many proliferate effects, it’s a natural fit. But most good Planeswalkers are outside the budget for this guide, which is why I’ve skipped them. That said, the archetype works — just ask [[Atraxa, Praetors' Voice]], the former queen of proliferate.
Just a word of warning: Planeswalkers attract a lot of hate. People will swing at them like they owe rent. Whether it’s because they’re non-player targets or because of the sheer value they generate, don’t expect them to stick around without some serious support.
I’ve also seen some lists running [[The Millennium Calendar]], but I think that’s a bit of a trap. Proliferate only adds one counter — it doesn’t double them. You’ll be here until the heat death of the universe waiting to hit 1,000. Sure, if you’ve gone infinite, it’ll work — but by that point there are much faster, cleaner win conditions. [[Darksteel Reactor]], which is already in the deck, is a much more realistic alt-win if you want one. 20 counters is a lot more manageable than 1,000.
However you decide to shape Counter Intelligence, good luck — and have fun doing it. I’ll catch you in the next upgrade guide!
If you're picking up any Edge of Eternities products, booster boxes, commander decks or anything Magic: The Gathering we’ve got you covered here at Gathering Games.
