Breaking Quandrix Unlimited With Just $10
Quandrix Unlimited is a Commander precon with one of the strongest face commanders I've seen in recent memory, held in check by a pretty chill 99. Let's check it out and show you how to break it!
You can find the previous upgrade guides here:
Quandrix Unlimited is a Blue/Green deck focused on X Spells and +1/+1 Counters, merging both concepts seamlessly: the deck is all about casting X spells, usually ones that involve +1/+1 counters like Fractal Harness since Quandrix is all about Fractals! But there's also other types of X spells too, like drawing cards off Commander's Insight. The rest of the deck supports these two themes, increasing the power of our X spells with cards like Unbound Flourishing or tossing extra +1/+1 counters on stuff with Benevolent Hydra. But the best support card in the deck is, of course, the face commander, Zimone, Infinite Analyst!
I've been noticing a lot of people are sleeping on Zimone, Infinite Analyst, but to me, she's easily the most powerful face commander out of all the new precons, and I daresay one of the strongest I've seen in over a decade of doing these precon reviews. Now to be clear, I think nearly all the new Strixhaven face commanders are extremely strong and pushed; they're all amazing value engines that further the deck's game plan while also drawing cards, the only exception being Rootha, Mastering the Moment. But I think Zimone is on another level because she isn't merely a great ramp engine for the deck, she's an absolutely busted one. It's really not that hard to load her up on +1/+1 counters and then start jamming a vast array of game-winning X spells, drawing half your library with Pull from Tomorrow or turning all your creatures into base 20/20's with Biomass Mutation.
I think Zimone's potential is incredibly high, higher than all the other face commanders from this set, but the relatively tame selection of X spells in the 99 holds her back from simply pubstomping tables. And that's a good thing since nobody wants lopsided games! But also if you're here looking for upgrades then you want to see the silly broken stuff this deck can do, so that is what I'll provide!
First, let's look at the stock list and see what we're working with:
Quandrix Unlimited is all about X Spells and +1/+1 Counters, but how well supported are these themes? Let's look at the ratios:
For X Spells Theme I count:
- 31 X Spells, including two cards that cast X spells (Striding Shotcaller)
- 8 X Spell support cards, pretty much all of them are incredibly powerful too, like Owlin Spiralmancer
Lots of X Spells, not that many support pieces, but they're all bangers!
For +1/+1 Counters:
- 28 cards that either put +1/+1 counters on themselves (Hydroid Krasis) or put counters on other creatures (Silkguard)
- 17 cards that reward you for having +1/+1 counters, a mix of giving you extra counters (Hardened Scales), buffing creatures with counters on them (Nev, the Practical Dean), or rewarding you for having lots of counters on the creature (Steelbane Hydra)
The high numbers are expected because +1/+1 Counters might be the single most used and supported mechanic in the entire game. Not gonna check, but I would bet on it since +1/+1 counters show up in nearly every set.
Now how do the two themes overlap? Pretty well, actually! There's a whopping 20 cards that add +1/+1 counters when casting X Spells, that's a huge amount of overlap!
Quandrix Unlimited is extremely focused on its two themes and does a fantastic job merging the two together. Also, unlike some of the other precons in this set, there are no cards that are super narrow payoffs or anything. The focus here is admirable!
The Good
What really blew me away about this precon is just how juiced the X Spell support cards are. There are only 8 in the entire deck, but stuff like Unbound Flourishing and Owlin Spiralmancer are absolutely cracked, and even the more "chill" payoffs like Brass Infiniscope are still incredible.
Obviously, Zimone, Infinite Analyst is the best and most important part of the deck. The amount of mana she can produce is wild, and the fact that she doesn't need to tap means she can actually attack and double as a finisher if you give her evasion. She's comparable to two other very strong X Spell commanders, Magus Lucea Kane and Zaxara, the Exemplary, and while all three are incredibly powerful with their own strengths and weaknesses, I actually think Zimone might be the most busted of the bunch: she lacks access to a third color or gets extra value from her X Spells like the others do, but who cares when she's letting you cast Finale of Devastation where X = Everyone's Dead? And she costs 1 less mana to boot!
The Counters theme is nice too. It adds some flavor to the X Spell nonsense we're doing. I actually love the idea of Fractals, and I kinda wish that was the primary focus of the deck instead. It's far less optimal but has more personality, at least to me.
The Bad
Honestly, the only thing that rustles my jimmies looking at the stock list is the fact that we're running only 37 lands, which is on the low end, barely any land ramp, and whoever designed the deck had the audacity to include Temple of the False God?! Look, I'm a Temple believer, but it's a mathematical fact that Temple becomes better the more lands your deck runs. I did a whole article on this! Same thing with Eureka Moment and Zimone, Quandrix Prodigy, these cards are only ramping you if you have lands to put into play!
That rant aside, the rest of the deck is quite solid.
The only thing that really needs improvement is the choice of X Spells. All the stuff here is quite tame. There are some great cards like Open the Way, some subpar ones like Entrancing Melody, but there's a serious omission of the ultra-powerful haymaker X spells, the game-enders, the good stuff! There's no Finale of Devastation, no Doppelgang, no Aggressive Biomancy! Okay, to be fair, Biomancy sucks in this deck since most of our creatures are 0/0s, but you get my point! Where are our haymakers, Wizards?!
And look, I know why those big haymakers aren't here: because they'd stomp the table too hard. You can't exactly shove a bunch of game-ending X Spells in the precon when Zimone, Infinite Analyst is the commander. But since we're upgrading the deck, we absolutely can!
Add These For $10
I've heard feedback from the latest precon upgrades that some of you want me to bring back a budget or suggest fewer cards. Very well!
To show you just how cracked this deck can be, let's keep things simple with an upgrade path using only $10! If you think this is too little to make a big impact, I'm excited to say you are mistaken! Check it out:
$10 Budget Adds
Zimone, Infinite Analyst ramp is incredibly powerful, but it's limited to the first X spell each turn, and a lot of the best X spells are sorcery-speed. So let's get around that restriction by giving our spells flash:
- Final-Word Phantom for just 3 mana all our spells now have flash, and it even has flash itself, yes it's only at end step but who cares
- Ride the Avalanche this card is absolutely incredible here, it gives our next spell flash and then we get to load up on +1/+1 counters on Zimone? Yes please!
Next, let's include some scarier X spells to close out games:
- Doppelgang look I'm not a fan of Simic but even I can't help but grin like an idiot when this is cast for X=5+
- Mass Manipulation usually when you cast this, either your opponents immediately have to wipe the board or you're going to win
- Drown in Dreams is a flexible draw spell but can double up as a win condition later in the game, especially with that mill!
Two more amazing X spells, they don't win games but they are still huge pickups:
- Here Comes a New Hero! nice draw and clones the best thing on the table, seems deece!
- Pest Infestation mass disenchant that leaves you with a ton of bodies, I like!
I'm adding two more cards that can load Zimone up with +1/+1 counters so we can start casting spells with absurd discounts:
- Repulsive Mutation protects, adds counters, instant!
- Strength of the Tajuru adds counters, potentially on our entire team, also instant!
Since Zimone is so busted, we should take extra care to protect her and the rest of our big beefy creatures:
- March of Swirling Mist is just a great card in general but even better here, it also can be used to phase out opposing creatures
- Inspiring Call protects our board but also draws some cards! neat!
- Spectral Denial we even get an extra discount from all our creatures naturally being huge
And since we're a +1/+1 Counter deck too, a bit more fantastic synergy cards:
- Gyre Sage, Incubation Druid some of the best ramp options in the deck, very easy to get extra counters on them too
- Wave Goodbye when did this card get so cheap?! It's a one-sided wipe in this deck for four mana, can't ask for more!
Last change, I'm adding 6 basic lands into the list. So many bad land choices here, and 37 is too few. 3 Forest, 3 Islands.
Here's all the cards I recommend adding:
Cut These
The cuts are pretty simple: some cards are fine-ish, but we can replace them for more powerful synergy options, so out goes stuff like Guardian Augmenter. Then out goes the weakest X spells for strong options. And finally, there are some lands that I consider worse than basics, so I cut them for basics.
Upgraded List
Here's how the deck looks with the swaps made:
Further Upgrades
$10 not enough for you, eh, Mr. Moneybags? Alright, here's some more upgrades:
The best X spell you can add has to be Finale of Devastation. Tutor, but most importantly a crazy good finisher. It's obscenely expensive though!
After that, the remaining good X spells I'd add would be: Wan Shi Tong, Librarian, Sporocyst, Rampaging Yao Guai, Tyrant Guard, Change of Plans, maaaaybe Mathemagics, and finally Walking Ballista but only if you plan on combo things with it.
There are actually two more great X spell support cards I'm eyeing: Nexos is an awesome mana doubler, and Geometer's Arthropod is fantastic draw + card selection too. Both can come down turn 2!
+1/+1 Counter upgrades is a massive rabbit hole that I don't have time to fully delve into, but the one card that sticks out to me is Terrasymbiosis, it's absurd amounts of draw for 3 mana, though at this point the deck has so much draw we're probably risking decking out.
After that, just generic upgrades, you know the stuff, better lands, Fierce Guardianship, yadayada.
Four Down, One To Go!
Witherbloom is the last one, should be out in like two days! Thanks for reading!
