Prosper, Tome-Bound costs {2}{B}{R} and is a 1/4 Legendary Tiefling Warlock with deathtouch. At the beginning of your end step you exile the top card of your library, and until the end of your next turn you may play that card. Whenever you play a card from exile you create a Treasure token. Every turn is an extra card and a Treasure, and the exiled cards are cards you only get to play if you have the mana.
The precon already has the impulse draw and the Treasure payoffs, including Wild-Magic Sorcerer, Marionette Master, Light Up the Stage, Grim Hireling and Etali. 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 Prosper decks, plus lift, which shows how much more often a card turns up in Prosper decks than in decks that could play it.
Looking for the unmodified list first? Read the Planar Portal precon guide.
What is holding the deck back
Not enough cheap exile-and-play creatures
Laelia, Chandra, Wrenn's Resolve and Decadent Dragon exile cards you may play and grow or make Treasures as they do. They are among the top-scoring cards the precon leaves out.
Artifact payoffs for the Treasure tokens
Reckless Fireweaver, Ingenious Artillerist, Crime Novelist and Smaug reward you for every artifact that enters, and Prosper makes a Treasure on every card played from exile.
Cards outside the lists
Danse Macabre, Phthisis, Bag of Devouring, Ebony Fly, Fiendlash, Orazca Relic, Unstable Obelisk, Chittering Witch, Dark-Dweller Oracle, Death Tyrant, Lorcan and Loyal Apprentice are not cards Prosper decks usually play.
The 12 swaps
Each pair shows the numbers for the card coming out and the card going in. Click a card image to zoom.
Danse Macabre is a five-mana sorcery where each player sacrifices a nontoken creature and you roll a d20 to return it. It is not a card Prosper decks usually play.
Laelia, the Blade Reforged is a 2/2 Legendary Spirit Warrior for {2}{R} with haste. Whenever it attacks you exile the top card of your library and may play it this turn, and whenever cards are put into exile from your library or graveyard it gets a +1/+1 counter. A three-drop that grows and feeds Prosper with every card you play from exile, and the highest-scoring card the precon leaves out.
Phthisis is a seven-mana sorcery that destroys a creature and drains its owner, with suspend. It is not a card Prosper decks usually play.
Chandra, Torch of Defiance is a {2}{R}{R} planeswalker. Its first +1 exiles the top card of your library and lets you cast it, or deals 2 damage to each opponent if you don't, its other +1 adds {R}{R}, its -3 deals 4 damage to target creature and its -7 gives you an emblem that deals 5 damage when you cast a spell. A four-mana planeswalker that exiles a card and ramps.
Bag of Devouring is a one-mana artifact that exiles your sacrificed creatures and artifacts and can draw cards. It is not a card Prosper decks usually play.
Deadly Dispute costs {1}{B}, with an additional cost of sacrificing an artifact or creature. You draw two cards and create a Treasure token. An instant that turns a Treasure into two cards and a new Treasure.
Ebony Fly is a two-mana artifact that enters tapped and can become an X/X flyer. It is not a card Prosper decks usually play.
Reckless Fireweaver is a 1/3 Human Artificer for {1}{R}. Whenever an artifact you control enters, it deals 1 damage to each opponent. A two-drop that pings for every Treasure Prosper makes.
Fiendlash is a two-mana Equipment that gives +2/+0 and reach. It is not a card Prosper decks usually play.
Crime Novelist is a 1/3 Goblin Bard for {2}{R}. Whenever you sacrifice an artifact, it gets a +1/+1 counter and you add {R}. A three-drop that pays you for every Treasure you sacrifice.
Orazca Relic is a three-mana rock that can draw a card with the city's blessing. It is not a card Prosper decks usually play.
Ingenious Artillerist is a 3/1 Human Artificer for {2}{R}. Whenever one or more artifacts you control enter, it deals that much damage to each opponent. A three-drop that deals damage for each Treasure that enters.
Unstable Obelisk is a three-mana rock that can destroy a permanent for {7}. It is not a card Prosper decks usually play.
Wrenn's Resolve costs {1}{R}. You exile the top two cards of your library and may play them until the end of your next turn. A two-mana sorcery that exiles two cards to play, each of which makes a Treasure with Prosper.
Chittering Witch is a four-mana 2/2 that makes Rats and lets you sacrifice creatures for -2/-2. It is not a card Prosper decks usually play.
Mayhem Devil is a 3/3 Devil for {1}{B}{R}. Whenever a player sacrifices a permanent it deals 1 damage to any target. A three-drop in exactly the commander's colors that pings for every Treasure you sacrifice.
Dark-Dweller Oracle is a two-mana 2/2 that sacrifices creatures to exile and play the top card. It is not a card Prosper decks usually play.
Decadent Dragon is a 4/4 flying, trample Dragon for {2}{R}{R}. Whenever it attacks you create a Treasure token, and its adventure, Expensive Taste, costs {2}{B} and exiles the top two cards of an opponent's library so you may play them. A four-drop that makes Treasure and steals cards.
Death Tyrant is a five-mana 4/6 with menace that makes Zombies when attackers die. It is not a card Prosper decks usually play.
Mirkwood Bats is a 2/3 flying Bat for {3}{B}. Whenever you create or sacrifice a token, each opponent loses 1 life. A four-drop that drains for every Treasure you make and every Treasure you spend.
Lorcan, Warlock Collector is a seven-mana 6/6 flyer that reanimates opponents' dead creatures for life. It is not a card Prosper decks usually play.
Smaug, Wicked Worm is a 5/5 flying Legendary Dragon for {3}{B}{R}. When it enters you create X tapped Treasures, where X is the number of artifacts your opponents control, and whenever you cast a spell with mana from a Treasure you draw a card and lose 1 life. A five-drop that turns every Treasure into a card.
Loyal Apprentice is a two-mana 2/1 haste creature whose Thopter needs your commander on the battlefield. It is not a card Prosper decks usually play.
Nadier's Nightblade is a 1/3 Elf Warrior for {2}{B}. Whenever a token you control leaves the battlefield, each opponent loses 1 life and you gain 1 life. A three-drop that drains whenever you spend a Treasure.
The full swap list
Cut
- Danse Macabre
- Phthisis
- Bag of Devouring
- Ebony Fly
- Fiendlash
- Orazca Relic
- Unstable Obelisk
- Chittering Witch
- Dark-Dweller Oracle
- Death Tyrant
- Lorcan, Warlock Collector
- Loyal Apprentice
Add
- Laelia, the Blade Reforged
- Chandra, Torch of Defiance
- Deadly Dispute
- Reckless Fireweaver
- Crime Novelist
- Ingenious Artillerist
- Wrenn's Resolve
- Mayhem Devil
- Decadent Dragon
- Mirkwood Bats
- Smaug, Wicked Worm
- Nadier's Nightblade
What to keep
These cards are doing the deck's heavy lifting. Do not cut them.
- Wild-Magic Sorcerer$5.87
Played in 71% of Prosper decks. Gives the first spell you cast from exile each turn cascade. - Marionette Master$1.89
Played in 70% of Prosper decks. Drains for each artifact that dies, which includes spent Treasures. - Light Up the Stage$0.30
Played in 68% of Prosper decks. Exiles two cards to play, for {R} if an opponent lost life this turn. - Grim Hireling$10.27
Played in 62% of Prosper decks. Makes two Treasures when your creatures connect and turns them into removal. - Etali, Primal Storm$0.44
Played in 60% of Prosper decks. Casts free spells from the top of every library whenever it attacks.
If you want to spend more
These are strong but sit outside a budget upgrade. Prices are the cheapest paper printing.
- Dauthi Voidwalker$4.42
A two-mana creature with shadow that exiles cards going to opponents' graveyards and lets you play one. It costs more than a budget upgrade should. - Valki, God of Lies$3.04
A two-mana creature that exiles a creature card from an opponent's hand and can become a copy of it. It costs more than a budget upgrade should.
Planar Portal already has the impulse draw, the Treasure payoffs and the sweepers. The upgrade is cheap creatures that exile cards and punish Treasures, in place of cards that Prosper decks leave out. These twelve swaps cost about $13 in total.
Want a full 100-card list built around Prosper, Tome-Bound from today's data?
Build with The Oracle →Frequently asked questions
What are the best upgrades for the Planar Portal precon?
Using data from 14,383 Prosper decks, the highest-scoring additions are Laelia, the Blade Reforged (for Danse Macabre), Reckless Fireweaver (for Ebony Fly) and Nadier's Nightblade (for Loyal Apprentice). The full list has 12 swaps, each scored with synergy, inclusion and lift.
How much does it cost to upgrade Planar Portal?
All 12 swaps cost about $12.76 at the cheapest paper printings (TCGplayer market prices via Scryfall, 2026-10-28). If you want to spend more, the guide also covers Dauthi Voidwalker ($4.42) and Valki, God of Lies ($3.04).
What should I cut from Planar Portal?
The weakest cards for this commander are Danse Macabre, Phthisis and Bag of Devouring. The guide explains the reason for every cut, and swaps each one for a card that scores higher.
Which cards should I keep in Planar Portal?
Keep Wild-Magic Sorcerer, Marionette Master, Light Up the Stage, Grim Hireling and Etali, Primal Storm. These are the cards doing the deck's heavy lifting.
What does Prosper do?
Prosper, Tome-Bound costs {2}{B}{R} and is a 1/4 Legendary Tiefling Warlock with deathtouch. At the beginning of your end step you exile the top card of your library, and until the end of your next turn you may play that card. Whenever you play a card from exile you create a Treasure token. Every turn is an extra card and a Treasure, and the exiled cards are cards you only get to play if you have the mana.
More Adventures in the Forgotten Realms Commander upgrade guides
How the numbers work
Inclusion is the share of Prosper, Tome-Bound decks (14,383 of them when this was written, 2026-10-28) 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 Prosper decks, which flatters every card the precon contains. Lift is high for many exile and Treasure cards because few decks play them outside a Treasure deck, so use lift to compare cards, not to judge one in isolation. A card the commander's decks do not usually play counts as 0 in the average score. Prices are the cheapest non-foil paper printing on TCGplayer (via Scryfall), in USD, and move daily.