T'Challa, the Black Panther costs {1}{G}{W}. Whenever he enters or attacks you create a tapped Vibranium token, an indestructible artifact that taps for {C} for artifact spells, and whenever you cast an artifact spell with mana value 4 or greater he gets two +1/+1 counters.
The precon already has the artifacts, equipment and mana to do that, including Thran Dynamo, Shuri's Fabricator and Panther Robot. 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 T'Challa decks, plus lift, which shows how much more often a card turns up in T'Challa decks than in decks that could play it. The precon is close to what players build, so this guide has five swaps, not ten.
Looking for the unmodified list first? Read the Wakanda Forever precon guide.
What is holding the deck back
Too few cards that count artifacts
Bronze Guardian, Foundry Inspector and Thousand Moons Smithy all get better with every artifact on the table, and the precon leaves all three out.
Cards that reward tokens the deck rarely makes
Divine Visitation replaces creature tokens with 4/4 Angels, but T'Challa's Vibranium tokens are artifacts, not creatures. Few of the deck's cards create creature tokens.
Plain draw instead of artifact draw
Harmonize draws three cards. Mystic Forge lets you cast artifact spells from the top of your library, which does the same thing every turn in a deck built from artifacts.
The 6 swaps
Each pair shows the numbers for the card coming out and the card going in. Click a card image to zoom.
Fleecemane Lion is a 3/3 for {G}{W} that gets hexproof and indestructible after a {3}{G}{W} monstrosity activation. It does nothing for the artifact plan and is played in about one T'Challa deck in seven.
Bronze Guardian is an artifact creature for {4}{W} with double strike and ward {2}, and its power equals the number of artifacts you control. Your other artifacts have ward {2} too, so it protects Thran Dynamo and the Vibranium tokens, and it casts as an artifact spell with mana value 4 or greater for T'Challa.
Divine Visitation replaces creature tokens with 4/4 flying Angels. The deck makes few creature tokens, so it does little, and it is played in about one T'Challa deck in six.
Jhoira's Familiar is a 2/2 flying artifact creature for {4}. Historic spells you cast, meaning artifacts, legendaries and Sagas, cost {1} less. In a deck where most spells are artifacts or legendary Heroes, it discounts most of what you cast.
Harmonize draws three cards for four mana and nothing else.
Mystic Forge costs {4}: you may look at the top card of your library at any time, and you may cast artifact spells and colorless spells from the top of it. With this many artifacts in the deck, the top card is often a spell you can cast without drawing it.
Loyal Guardian is a 4/4 trampler for {4}{G} whose lieutenant ability only works if you control your commander.
Thousand Moons Smithy costs {2}{W}{W} and is a modal double-faced card: when it enters you create a Gnome Soldier artifact creature token whose size is the number of artifacts and creatures you control, and you can transform it into a land that makes more Gnomes. It is an artifact spell with mana value 4 for T'Challa, and a land that creates bodies.
Queen Mother Ramonda is a 3/5 for {3}{W}{W} that makes you the monarch and stops creatures with power 2 or less from attacking you. The monarch is hard to hold, and the deck already has several monarch cards: Palace Jailer, Nakia and Throne of the High City.
Foundry Inspector is a 3/2 artifact creature for {3} that makes your artifact spells cost {1} less. It is a cheap artifact that makes every other artifact cheaper, so T'Challa can get his counters sooner.
Palace Jailer is a 2/2 for {2}{W}{W} that makes you the monarch and exiles a creature until an opponent becomes the monarch. It is played in about one T'Challa deck in five, and it is hard to keep the crown in a multiplayer game.
Chimil, the Inner Sun is a six-mana legendary artifact. Your spells can't be countered, and at the beginning of your end step you discover 5. It is a mana value 6 artifact spell, so T'Challa gets two counters when you cast it, and every turn it casts a free spell.
The full swap list
Cut
- Fleecemane Lion
- Divine Visitation
- Harmonize
- Loyal Guardian
- Queen Mother Ramonda
- Palace Jailer
Add
- Bronze Guardian
- Jhoira's Familiar
- Mystic Forge
- Thousand Moons Smithy
- Foundry Inspector
- Chimil, the Inner Sun
What to keep
These cards are doing the deck's heavy lifting. Do not cut them.
- Thran Dynamo$2.05
Played in 85% of T'Challa decks. Taps for three colorless mana, which pays for most of your artifacts. - Hammer of Nazahn$3.62
Printed as Black Panther's Claws in this deck. It attaches itself and every other Equipment that enters, and gives +2/+0 and indestructible. - Vibranium Strike Gauntlets$0.48
A flash Equipment that attaches when it enters and gives +3/+0 and trample. - Panther Robot$1.09
Affinity for artifacts makes a ten-mana reach trampler cost a handful of mana in this deck. - Shuri's Fabricator$0.26
Creates two tapped Vibranium tokens when it enters, which is mana for your artifacts and an artifact spell with mana value 4 for T'Challa.
If you want to spend more
These are strong but sit outside a budget upgrade. Prices are the cheapest paper printing.
- Cosmic Cube$6.92
A five-mana artifact with ward {2} that finds spells whenever you attack. Strong, but it costs more than a budget upgrade should. - Genji Glove$7.62
Gives double strike and untaps the creature in the first combat, for a very strong extra combat. - Brightglass Gearhulk$4.65
A first strike trampler that searches for up to two artifact, creature or enchantment cards when it enters.
Wakanda Forever is one of the closest precons to what players actually build with its commander. Six swaps make it a little more artifact-focused: cards that count artifacts, a cheaper way to cast them, and a way to cast them from the top of the library. These six swaps cost about $16 in total.
Want a full 100-card list built around T'Challa, the Black Panther from today's data?
Build with The Oracle →Frequently asked questions
What are the best upgrades for the Wakanda Forever precon?
Using data from 4,765 T'Challa decks, the highest-scoring additions are Chimil, the Inner Sun (for Palace Jailer), Bronze Guardian (for Fleecemane Lion) and Jhoira's Familiar (for Divine Visitation). The full list has 6 swaps, each scored with synergy, inclusion and lift.
How much does it cost to upgrade Wakanda Forever?
All 6 swaps cost about $15.77 at the cheapest paper printings (TCGplayer market prices via Scryfall, 2026-10-27). If you want to spend more, the guide also covers Cosmic Cube ($6.92), Genji Glove ($7.62) and Brightglass Gearhulk ($4.65).
What should I cut from Wakanda Forever?
The weakest cards for this commander are Fleecemane Lion, Divine Visitation and Palace Jailer. The guide explains the reason for every cut, and swaps each one for a card that scores higher.
Which cards should I keep in Wakanda Forever?
Keep Thran Dynamo, Hammer of Nazahn, Vibranium Strike Gauntlets, Panther Robot and Shuri's Fabricator. These are the cards doing the deck's heavy lifting.
What does T'Challa do?
T'Challa, the Black Panther costs {1}{G}{W}. Whenever he enters or attacks you create a tapped Vibranium token, an indestructible artifact that taps for {C} for artifact spells, and whenever you cast an artifact spell with mana value 4 or greater he gets two +1/+1 counters.
More Marvel Super Heroes Commander upgrade guides
How the numbers work
Inclusion is the share of T'Challa, the Black Panther decks (4,765 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 T'Challa decks, which flatters every card the precon contains. Lift is high for nearly every card here because the artifacts are rarely played outside artifact decks, 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.