The Fantastic Four has four commanders, and you choose which to cast. Mister Fantastic ({2}{U}) draws a card at the beginning of combat if you have cast a noncreature spell this turn. Invisible Woman ({2}{W}) makes a 0/3 Wall with defender and reach in the same situation, and The Thing ({5}{G}) puts four +1/+1 counters on himself. Human Torch ({3}{R}) gains flying, double strike and haste. Each also has an ability that costs {R}{G}{W}{U}. A deck of noncreature spells fuels every one of them.
The precon already leans that way, with Valeria Richards, Crystal, Cosmic Crucible and Whirlwind of Thought. Each swap below pairs a cut with an add, and every card is scored with the same numbers the Oracle uses to build decks: synergy and inclusion from the deck data, plus lift, which shows how much more often a card turns up in these decks than in decks that could play it. The four commanders each have their own deck page, so we pooled all four, weighting each by its deck count. A deck that lists more than one of them may be counted more than once, and with only a few thousand lists in total, treat the numbers as a strong hint rather than a settled answer.
Looking for the unmodified list first? Read the The Fantastic Four precon guide.
What is holding the deck back
Noncreature spells power all four commanders
Every commander triggers off the first noncreature spell you cast each turn, and the precon is already full of them. That is why only two cards need to go.
Two cards almost nobody plays
Negative Zone Portal and Dragon Man, Reformed Robot are each in about 15% of lists and score 12 in the Oracle, the lowest of any nonland card in the precon.
No way to protect counters or draw off combat
Ripples of Potential proliferates, which grows The Thing's counters, and phases your permanents out. Tamiyo, Field Researcher draws a card whenever the creatures she targets deal combat damage.
The 2 swaps
Each pair shows the numbers for the card coming out and the card going in. Click a card image to zoom.
Negative Zone Portal is a two-mana artifact that exiles cards from opponents' graveyards for {2} and a tap, and is sacrificed on a lost coin flip once it has four creature cards. It scores 12 in the Oracle, the lowest of any nonland card in the precon, and is in about 15% of lists.
Ripples of Potential is a two-mana instant that proliferates, then lets you phase out any number of permanents that got a counter this way. It is in 44% of lists. It grows The Thing's counters and can phase out your team in response to a wrath.
Dragon Man, Reformed Robot is a flying artifact creature for {2}{W}{U} whose power is the greatest mana value among your noncreature permanents and noncreature cards in your graveyard. It scores 12 in the Oracle and is in about 15% of lists.
Tamiyo, Field Researcher is a planeswalker for {1}{G}{W}{U}. Her +1 chooses up to two creatures, and whenever either deals combat damage until your next turn you draw a card, and her -2 taps up to two nonland permanents so they stay tapped. She is in 43% of lists and costs about $2.
The full swap list
Cut
- Negative Zone Portal
- Dragon Man, Reformed Robot
Add
- Ripples of Potential
- Tamiyo, Field Researcher
What to keep
These cards are doing the deck's heavy lifting. Do not cut them.
- Valeria Richards, Precocious$0.71
The top-scoring card in the precon. Makes noncreature spells cost {1} less and draws a card on your first noncreature spell each turn. - Crystal, Inhuman Princess$0.44
Taps for any of your four colors, and deals damage to each opponent whenever you cast a noncreature spell. - Cosmic Crucible$0.39
Adds four mana at the beginning of your first main phase, and copies a noncreature spell once each turn. - Whirlwind of Thought$0.25
Draws a card whenever you cast a noncreature spell. - Invisible Force Field$0.36
An instant that gives up to four permanents indestructible, and rebounds for a second use.
If you want to spend more
These are strong but sit outside a budget upgrade. Prices are the cheapest paper printing.
- Human Torch, Johnny Storm$0.19
A 2/2 flying Hero that pings an opponent whenever you draw a card while you control another Hero. About a quarter of lists play him, but he does not clearly beat the cards he would replace. - Invisible Woman, Sue Storm$0.22
A lifelink Hero that makes a 0/4 Wall whenever you put counters on your other Heroes. Another card about a quarter of lists play. - Doubling Season$30.08
Doubles every token and counter you make, which suits The Thing and the Wall tokens. It costs more than a budget upgrade should.
The Fantastic Four is a noncreature-spell deck that already suits all four commanders, so the data asks for little. Cut the two cards almost nobody plays for a proliferate spell and a planeswalker that draws cards. These two swaps cost about $7 in total, and the list will grow as more Fantastic Four decks are built.
Want a full 100-card list built around Mister Fantastic from today's data?
Build with The Oracle →Frequently asked questions
What are the best upgrades for the The Fantastic Four precon?
Using data from 5,124 Fantastic Four decks, the highest-scoring additions are Ripples of Potential (for Negative Zone Portal) and Tamiyo, Field Researcher (for Dragon Man, Reformed Robot). The full list has 2 swaps, each scored with synergy, inclusion and lift.
How much does it cost to upgrade The Fantastic Four?
All 2 swaps cost about $7.26 at the cheapest paper printings (TCGplayer market prices via Scryfall, 2026-10-27). If you want to spend more, the guide also covers Human Torch, Johnny Storm ($0.19), Invisible Woman, Sue Storm ($0.22) and Doubling Season ($30.08).
What should I cut from The Fantastic Four?
The weakest cards for this commander are Negative Zone Portal and Dragon Man, Reformed Robot. The guide explains the reason for every cut, and swaps each one for a card that scores higher.
Which cards should I keep in The Fantastic Four?
Keep Valeria Richards, Precocious, Crystal, Inhuman Princess, Cosmic Crucible, Whirlwind of Thought and Invisible Force Field. These are the cards doing the deck's heavy lifting.
What does Fantastic Four do?
The Fantastic Four has four commanders, and you choose which to cast. Mister Fantastic ({2}{U}) draws a card at the beginning of combat if you have cast a noncreature spell this turn. Invisible Woman ({2}{W}) makes a 0/3 Wall with defender and reach in the same situation, and The Thing ({5}{G}) puts four +1/+1 counters on himself. Human Torch ({3}{R}) gains flying, double strike and haste. Each also has an ability that costs {R}{G}{W}{U}. A deck of noncreature spells fuels every one of them.
More Marvel Super Heroes Commander upgrade guides
How the numbers work
Inclusion is the share of Fantastic Four decks (5,124 of them when this was written, 2026-10-27) that play the card. Synergy is how much more often they play it than other decks in the same colours. Oracle score is synergy × 0.6 plus inclusion × 0.4, the same blend The Oracle uses to rank cards for a deck. Lift compares how often the card appears in these decks with how often it could, capped at 8× here; it is shown for context and does not change the score.
Two cautions. Players who run the precon unmodified count as Fantastic Four decks, which flatters every card the precon contains. Lift is very high for some cards here because the deck is new and few other decks play them, so use lift to compare cards, not to judge one in isolation. Prices are the cheapest non-foil paper printing on TCGplayer (via Scryfall), in USD, and move daily.