commander · Chishiro, the Shattered Blade
Upgrades Unleashed (NEO).
A Gruul modified-creatures deck from Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, led by Chishiro, the Shattered Blade, create Spirit tokens whenever you play Auras or Equipment, then pump every modified creature at end of turn for a snowballing army.
The Commander
Upgrades Unleashed is the Gruul modification deck from Neon Dynasty Commander and Chishiro builds the engine simply: every time an Aura or Equipment enters under your control, you create a 2/2 Spirit token with menace. At the beginning of your end step, every modified creature you control gets a +1/+1 counter. Modified means equipped, enchanted with an Aura you control, or already carrying +1/+1 counters, so nearly every creature in the deck qualifies.
Chishiro, the Shattered Blade converts your equipment and aura package into a free token army while simultaneously growing your entire board at end of turn. Play an equipment, get a 2/2. Equip it, the target gets a counter at end of turn. Next turn, that creature is modified, so Chishiro pumps it again. The board scales exponentially rather than linearly.
Key Cards
Hardened Scales
If one or more +1/+1 counters would be placed on a creature you control, place that many plus one instead. Chishiro adds one counter to every modified creature at end of turn, and with Hardened Scales that's two per creature. In a board with five modified creatures, that's ten counters a turn cycle instead of five. Hardened Scales compounds every other counter source in the deck and must be removed immediately or the board grows beyond combat.
Rancor
Gives a creature +2/+0 and trample, and when the enchanted creature dies, Rancor returns to your hand. In this deck, Rancor does two things: it modifies a creature to trigger Chishiro's end-step counter and it generates a Chishiro Spirit token each time you recast it. Because Rancor keeps coming back, you repeatedly trigger Chishiro's Aura-enters ability every time a creature dies, giving you an endless stream of 2/2 menace tokens at minimal cost.
Blackblade Reforged
Gives +1/+1 for each land you control, plus legendary landwalk. In the late game with nine or ten lands in play, this adds +9/+9 to whatever creature it equips. Attach it to Chishiro for a 13/13 commander threat that now becomes equipped and modified, triggering its own counter at end of turn. Blackblade Reforged creates a voltron win condition that bypasses the wide-board gameplan entirely.
Bear Umbra
Enchant a creature with +2/+2 and untap all your lands when it attacks. It also has totem armor: if the enchanted creature would be destroyed, remove Bear Umbra instead. In Chishiro's deck, Bear Umbra modifies the target for Chishiro's counter trigger, makes a Spirit token on entry, and then refunds all your mana the moment you attack. Cast a large spell after combat with the untapped lands. The totem armor clause makes the enchanted creature extremely hard to remove.
Rishkar's Expertise
Draw cards equal to the greatest power among your creatures, then cast a spell with mana value five or less for free. In a deck where Chishiro's end-step counters have been running for four or five turns, your biggest creature often has six to eight power. Drawing eight cards and casting a free Blackblade Reforged off the same spell in one main phase is the kind of turn that ends games. Rishkar's Expertise is the deck's mid-game refueling spike.
How to Play
Establish early creatures and start equipping and enchanting them by turns three and four. Each Aura or Equipment entering hands you a Spirit token from Chishiro, so favor the spells that modify the most creatures for the least mana. Hardened Scales and Chishiro's end-step counters compound quickly, and after three turns of pumping even your Spirit tokens hit hard. The two win conditions are separate: go wide with a board of modified creatures all getting +1/+1 per turn, or go tall with Blackblade Reforged on a creature that already has twelve counters. Bear Umbra's attack trigger refunds mana for the kill spell, and Rishkar's Expertise in the mid-game draws enough cards to find whichever path is available.
