Animated Army Precon Upgrade Guide: Bello, Bard of the Brambles
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Animated Army
- Commander
- Bello, Bard of the Brambles
- Colors
- Red, Green
- Released
- 2 August 2024
- Card value
- ≈ $106.81
- Key cards
- Alchemist’s Talent, Rain of Riches, Lotus Cobra
Bello, Bard of the Brambles turns every non-Equipment artifact and non-Aura enchantment you control with mana value 4 or more into a 4/4 Elemental with indestructible and haste during your turn, and each one draws a card when it deals combat damage to a player. The precon has the right idea but spends too many slots on ordinary creatures. These swaps add bigger noncreature threats and anthems that care about all those Elementals.
Below you’ll find the full interactive decklist, what the deck does well, where it struggles and our recommended upgrades, split into budget ($2.98), mid-range ($15.32), premium ($29.52). Start with the cheapest swaps and work your way up.
The decklist
Commander (1)
Creatures (21)
- 1Brightcap Badger$2.07
- 1Burnished Hart$0.30
- 1Etali, Primal Storm$0.58
- 1Evercoat Ursine$0.42
- 1Garruk’s Packleader$0.32
- 1Ghalta, Primal Hunger$1.36
- 1Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma$3.62
- 1Grothama, All-Devouring$0.34
- 1Grumgully, the Generous$0.30
- 1Kodama of the East Tree$3.85
- 1Llanowar Loamspeaker$0.29
- 1Lotus Cobra$6.68
- 1Prosperous Bandit$0.32
- 1Pyreswipe Hawk$0.25
- 1Rampaging Baloths$0.35
- 1Sakura-Tribe Elder$0.30
- 1Teapot Slinger$0.27
- 1Tendershoot Dryad$1.87
- 1Trailtracker Scout$0.37
- 1Wandertale Mentor$0.22
- 1Wildsear, Scouring Maw
Planeswalkers (1)
- 1Domri, Anarch of Bolas$0.54
Instants (5)
- 1Abrade$0.25
- 1Beast Within$1.24
- 1Big Score$1.19
- 1Chaos Warp$0.76
- 1Starstorm$0.34
Sorceries (7)
- 1Blasphemous Act$1.16
- 1Cultivate$0.80
- 1Decimate$0.34
- 1Explore$0.37
- 1Farseek$1.54
- 1Harmonize$0.30
- 1Rampant Growth$0.45
Artifacts (14)
- 1Arcane Signet$0.87
- 1Bootleggers’ Stash$0.38
- 1Esika’s Chariot$0.40
- 1Fellwar Stone$1.56
- 1Gilded Lotus$1.20
- 1Gruul Signet$0.49
- 1Hedron Archive$0.36
- 1Mind Stone$0.35
- 1Rolling Hamsphere$0.31
- 1Sol Ring$2.10
- 1Spine of Ish Sah$0.32
- 1Talisman of Impulse$0.44
- 1Thought Vessel$3.23
- 1Thran Dynamo$4.63
Enchantments (13)
- 1Alchemist’s Talent$16.88
- 1Berserkers’ Onslaught$0.53
- 1Garruk’s Uprising$0.61
- 1Gratuitous Violence$1.13
- 1Greater Good$3.69
- 1Outpost Siege$0.30
- 1Path of Discovery$0.25
- 1Primeval Bounty$0.38
- 1Rain of Riches$7.33
- 1Sunbird’s Invocation$0.33
- 1Thickest in the Thicket$0.45
- 1Unnatural Growth$4.10
- 1Warstorm Surge$1.29
Lands (38)
- 1Cinder Glade$0.31
- 1Command Tower$0.30
- 1Copperline Gorge$0.79
- 1Evolving Wilds$0.39
- 1Exotic Orchard$0.35
- 5Forest$0.24
- 5Forest$0.18
- 1Forgotten Cave$0.29
- 1Game Trail$0.32
- 1Gruul Turf$0.28
- 1Karplusan Forest$1.29
- 1Mossfire Valley$0.30
- 1Mosswort Bridge$0.41
- 4Mountain$0.21
- 4Mountain$0.23
- 1Path of Ancestry$0.35
- 1Raging Ravine$0.21
- 1Reliquary Tower$5.48
- 1Rootbound Crag$0.38
- 1Sheltered Thicket$0.26
- 1Temple of Abandon$0.27
- 1Terramorphic Expanse$0.33
- 1Tranquil Thicket$0.29
- 1Wooded Ridgeline$0.32
Hover a card to see it (tap on mobile). Prices are for the precon printing, via Scryfall.
What the deck does well
- Bello turns ramp rocks and value enchantments into indestructible attackers that draw cards when they connect.
- Rolling Hamsphere, Pyreswipe Hawk and Goreclaw all reward big attackers, and the swaps below keep them.
- Strong staples like Esika’s Chariot, Beast Within, Chaos Warp and Blasphemous Act come in the box.
Where it struggles
- Too many creatures like Rampaging Baloths and Evercoat Ursine do nothing with Bello’s ability.
- Expend cards like Trailtracker Scout and Teapot Slinger pull the deck toward a second, weaker plan.
- Grothama, Etali and Burnished Hart are clunky cards that compete with the real payoffs.
Recommended upgrades
Pick a budget tab. Every row tells you which card to take out and what to put in.
Cheap swaps (under $2 each) that fix the biggest problems first.
| Cut | Add | From | Why | Buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Evercoat Ursine | Dreamstone Hedron | $0.17 €0.12 | Taps for three mana and, at mana value six, Bello animates it into an attacker. | TCGplayer · Cardmarket |
| Trailtracker Scout | Cultivator’s Caravan | $0.19 €0.15 | Fixes mana and, at five mana value, Bello turns it into an indestructible attacker. | TCGplayer · Cardmarket |
| Etali, Primal Storm | Sandwurm Convergence | $0.32 €0.29 | Makes a 5/5 every turn, stops fliers, and becomes a 4/4 attacker. | TCGplayer · Cardmarket |
| Fellwar Stone | Ur-Golem’s Eye | $0.34 €0.11 | Trades a two-mana rock for one that ramps by two and attacks as a 4/4. | TCGplayer · Cardmarket |
| Grumgully, the Generous | Mana Reflection | $1.96 €1.03 | Doubles your mana and becomes a 4/4 on your turn, while Grumgully only boosts creatures that enter, which animated permanents never do. | TCGplayer · Cardmarket |
| Total | $2.98 | |||
Stronger synergy pieces and better interaction ($2–$8 each).
| Cut | Add | From | Why | Buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Big Score | Nature’s Lore | $2.23 €2.15 | Cheap ramp that fetches a dual typed land faster than a clunky treasure spell. | TCGplayer · Cardmarket |
| Wandertale Mentor | Vanquisher’s Banner | $2.67 €4.48 | Naming Elemental gives every animated permanent +1/+1, and the Banner itself attacks as a 4/4. | TCGplayer · Cardmarket |
| Prosperous Bandit | Zendikar Resurgent | $2.73 €2.06 | Adds an extra mana whenever you tap a land and draws a card on creature spells, and at mana value seven it attacks as a 4/4. | TCGplayer · Cardmarket |
| Burnished Hart | Forsaken Monument | $3.39 €2.87 | Animated artifacts are colorless creatures, so they get +2/+2, and the Monument adds extra colorless mana while attacking itself. | TCGplayer · Cardmarket |
| Brightcap Badger | The Mightstone and Weakstone | $4.30 €3.15 | A five-mana artifact that draws two or kills a creature on entry, ramps artifact spells, and attacks as a 4/4 under Bello. | TCGplayer · Cardmarket |
| Total | $15.32 | |||
Premium upgrades. None of these are on the official Game Changers list, so the deck stays friendly for most casual tables.
| Cut | Add | From | Why | Buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teapot Slinger | Fiery Emancipation | $8.01 €4.89 | Triples damage from your animated 4/4s, and at mana value six Bello turns it into an attacker too. | TCGplayer · Cardmarket |
| Grothama, All-Devouring | Eldrazi Monument | $8.96 €5.15 | Gives every creature +1/+1, flying and indestructible and is animated by Bello itself, though it asks you to sacrifice a creature each upkeep. | TCGplayer · Cardmarket |
| Rampaging Baloths | Coat of Arms | $12.55 €8.64 | Every animated permanent is an Elemental, so Coat of Arms pumps the whole army at once. | TCGplayer · Cardmarket |
| Total | $29.52 | |||
Where to buy the precon
Don’t own the deck yet? Find Animated Army on TCGplayer or on Cardmarket.
Verdict
Animated Army is a fun, sturdy precon once it commits to Bello’s noncreature army. Prioritize 4+ mana artifacts and Elemental-wide boosts and the deck hits much harder.
