Last updated on January 17, 2023
Witherbloom Command | Illustration by Dmitry Burmak
Commander, also unofficially known as Elder Dragon Highlander or EDH for short, has been around as a fan-made format almost since the beginning of MTG itself. However, this year will be the 10th anniversary since Wizards of the Coast officially started selling retail products specifically targeted towards the Commander play style.
In 2011 the first set of Commander preconstructed decks hit the shelves. It consisted of five 3-colored decks with one main commander and another two optional commanders. Each deck had 100 cards including its commander, following the singleton rule of the format.
But 10 years is a long time, and since then WotC has released an amazing total of 48 Commander precons, plus an entire set dedicated to Commander staples and new cards for the format. So, with this huge history of products, there’s one simple question that would plague anyone: which of these precons is worth buying?
This is the question that, hopefully, I’ll manage to answer today, taking into consideration the needs of different types of players.
Best Precons for New Commander Players
Overwhelmed Apprentice | Illustration by Jason Rainville
In my opinion, this is where the vast majority of EDH products shine the brightest. Most if not all of these decks are great to just pull out of the box, sit with some friends or at your local game store, and start playing.
Some of these decks can be a bit more complicated to get the hang of, though. Commander is a format that can feel very different when it comes to strategies and understanding how to play when compared to the other formats. That being said, here are some decks that anyone with basic understanding of how to play MTG can get into without too many complications.
Undead Unleashed
Undead Unleashed is a Dimir zombie tribal deck from Wizards of the Coast that released alongside Innistrad: Midnight Hunt, and quickly became one of the most popular precon Commander decks ever. The deck’s commander, Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver, is a zombie warrior that gives you a 2/2 decayed zombie whenever one of your non-decayed zombies dies. This helps maximize the value you get from sacrificing creatures, which is something zombie strategies are great at.
The deck’s overall strategy is simple, too. There isn’t much depth beyond playing your zombie creatures and then overwhelming your opponents with either sheer number of creatures or powerful game-ending spells like Dark Salvation.
There aren’t any big-ticket cards that you can resell to make your money back, but the deck’s value sits around the $60 mark, which is 50% more than MSRP.
- 100-card ready-to-play Innistrad: Midnight Hunt Commander deck
- Deck includes 2 traditional foils + 98 nonfoil cards
- 1 foil-etched Display Commander
- 10 double-sided tokens + life tracker and deck box
- Introduces 15 MTG cards not found in the main set
Spirit Squadron
Spirit Squadron is an Azorius commander deck that hit the shelves with the release of Innistrad: Crimson Vow, and can be picked up for just below MSRP. In addition to maintaining its affordable price point, the deck has a pretty basic playstyle that new players can pick up on quickly.
Its commander, Millicent, Restless Revenant is a legendary spirit that costs less for each spirit you control. Additionally, whenever it or a nontoken spirit you control does damage to a player, you get to create a 1/1 flying spirit! Combat strategies are the simplest for new players to follow along with, and they’ll feel like they’re getting away with something when their board is flooded with tokens. That’s exactly what we want when trying to get our friends addicted to Magic, too!
- 100-card ready-to-play Innistrad: Crimson Vow Commander deck
- Deck includes 2 traditional foils plus 98 nonfoil cards
- 1 foil-etched Display Commander
- 10 double-sided tokens plus life tracker and deck box
- Introduces 15 MTG cards not found in the main set
Best Budget Precon Decks
Commander precons have a very wide range of prices, going from considerably cheap to very expensive depending on the set and the cards they include. In this case we’ll look at some of the more affordable ones so you can try out new Commander strategies without having to dip too much into your savings.
Land’s Wrath
With Zendikar Rising came two new Commander precons with a low cost and surprisingly fun to play decks. The one we’re interested with in this case is helmed by Obuun, Mul Daya Ancestor.
Through online retailers, you can find this deck for under 20 bucks, almost half of the price of some other Commander precons. And what’s even better, the quality of the deck as a right-out-of-the-box playable deck isn’t any lower in the slightest. This landfall-centric deck may not be the strongest out of the 63 precons, but it’s a completely viable and fun to play deck for a really low price.
Some of this deck’s highlight cards are:
- BATTLE YOUR FRIENDS. Commander is a different way to play Magic: The Gathering. It's all about legendary creatures, big plays, and battling your friends in epic multiplayer games.
- 100-CARD READY-TO-PLAY DECK. Designed as an introduction to Commander, this deck is ready-to-play right out of the box, without sacrificing the richness and depth that made Magic iconic.
- THREE CARDS PRINTED FOR THE FIRST TIME. This Commander deck debuts three cards, plus it's loaded with reprints to kickstart your Commander experience.
- EXPLORE ZENDIKAR. On Zendikar, danger is the norm: wild terrain, cunning predators, and "the Roil"—violent ripples of change—all make life precarious and full of adventure.
- CONTENTS: 1 ready-to-play deck of 99 Magic: The Gathering cards, 1 foil commander card with alternate art, 10 tokens, 1 reference card, 1 deck box (can hold 100 sleeved cards), 1 life tracker
Phantom Premonition
Kaldheim arrived following in tow with the pleasant surprise that were the low-cost Zendikar Commander decks, bringing two new decks of its own. In this particular case, Phantom Premonition is an Azorius deck with a focus on the new foretell mechanic for about $17. This even gives you a small temporal advantage over some of the other precons since you’re gonna be sitting down to play with a completely new mechanic that will allow you to catch your opponents by surprise.
The deck also includes eight new designed-for-Commander cards meant to synergize with this deck in particular, which is about five more than the previous Zendikar and Commander Legends precons without an increase in the price. What’s more, it brings some amazing reprints like Mulldrifter and Brago, King Eternal with it.
Some of this deck’s highlight cards are:
- 100-card ready-to-play KHM Commander deck
- 1 foil Commander card
- 8 Viking-inspired Magic cards make their debut
- 10 double-sided tokens + life tracker and deck box
- Create a horde of spirits to do your bidding!
Reap the Tides
Even though both Commander Legends decks stand come in somewhere under $20, this Simic ramp and lands-matter deck manages to stand taller than its Boros counterpart. If we’re being honest, neither of them are among the best when it comes to Commander precons, but Reap the Tides is a deck that’s incredibly fun to play. Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait sets the land-centric tone of the deck really well, and from there it’s all a race to play an assortment of big and mean monsters to crush your opponents.
Even with some really fun cards in the deck like Avenger of Zendikar or Stormtide Leviathan, this deck needs a few interventions. Its greatest and very ironic weakness is its mana base, which has a bit too many lands that enter the battlefield tapped.
Some of this deck’s highlight cards are:
- BATTLE YOUR FRIENDS. Commander is a different way to play Magic: The Gathering. It's all about legendary creatures, big plays, and battling your friends in epic multiplayer games.
- 100-CARD READY-TO-PLAY DECK. Designed as an introduction to Commander, this MTG deck is ready-to-play right out of the box, without sacrificing the richness and depth that made Magic iconic.
- GATHER THE STORM. Summon the strength of Aesi, call forth a torrent of extra cards and lands, and sweep your opponents away.
- THREE CARDS PRINTED FOR THE FIRST TIME. This Commander deck debuts three cards, plus it's loaded with reprints to kickstart your Commander experience.
- CONTENTS: 1 ready-to-play deck of 99 Magic: The Gathering cards, 1 legendary foil commander card, 10 tokens, 1 deck box (can hold 100 sleeved cards), 1 life tracker
What if I Have a Bigger Budget? Best Pricier Precons
Sometimes budget can be a problem, but other times you simply have no issues spending as much as you want on a fun or powerful deck. Let’s see some decks that may be a little more expensive.
Arcane Maelstrom
One of the decks that strays furthest from the Ikoria set mechanics is also one of its most interesting ones. Led by Kalamax, the Stormsire, this instants-matter deck plays to cast the most instants to overwhelm your opponent.
This set of precons also brought a total of 17 new cards for Commander with each deck, and at the cost of about $40, the value of a lot of its singles is something to keep in mind when you consider cards like Deflecting Swat. All in all, the power level of this deck is pretty high, and when added up to the amazing number of new Commander cards and the great singles, it makes the deck’s price worth it.
Some of this deck’s highlight cards are:
- Xyris, the Writhing Storm
- Deflecting Swat
- Haldan, Avid Arcanist
- Pako, Arcane Retriever
- Etali, Primal Storm
- Choose from three fierce Commanders from Ikoria Lair of Behemoths (IKO) to lead your deck to victory—four legendary creatures including two that share a magical bond and can command your deck together
- Commander is a Magic The Gathering (MTG) multiplayer format where alliances are formed friends are betrayed and grudges are repaid with a vengeance
- Turn the tide of any battle with the Arcane Maelstrom deck—copy spells with Kalamax the Stormsire draw cards when you do damage with Xyris the Writhing Storm or exile your opponents’ resources and cast them yourself with Haldan Avid Arcanist and Pako Arcane Retriever
- Arcane Maelstrom is one of five Commander Decks from Ikoria Lair of Behemoths (IKO) Each includes exclusive cards tailored to that deck—pick your favorite mechanics and dive in to battle!
- Battle your way through the plane of Ikoria with monster-themed mechanics that grow your creatures build your bond and crush your opponents
Entropic Uprising
Older decks can be a little harder to find nowadays and that causes their price to shoot up, but some of them are still worth it even with the highly inflated prices. This particular 4-colored deck is an ode to some of the weirdest things you can do in MTG, which is to build a chaos deck. Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder gives cascade to all the spells you play each turn after he’s dealt combat damage to your opponent, which at some point will inevitably end up in a storm of random spells to enter the battlefield all in one turn and cause a huge mess.
Another added value to this deck is the two partner commanders that come with it, Vial Smasher the Fierce and Thrasios, Triton Hero. The former is a great commander in and of itself for chaos decks, while Thrasios has managed to become an EDH staple over time.
Some of this deck’s highlight cards are:
- Cruel Entertainment
- Vial Smasher the Fierce
- Thrasios, Triton Hero
- Kydele, Chosen of Kruphix
- Grave Upheaval
Stalwart Unity
As an amazing polar opposite to the previous deck and coming from the same set, Stalwart Unity is another delve into original and interesting strategies. In this case, the chosen strategy is group hug, which gives both you and your opponent advantages and grants you a stronger place at the table. This deck is ideal for multiplayer games because of its mechanics, and it’s a great way to break matches away from the too-usual power displays that Commander tends to turn into.
With all this said, having a clear and strong win condition can be hard with this deck. Your commander(s), Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis, are great for political play but they’re not strong enough to be a real threat when it comes to damage. You’ll have to make sure that your battlefield has some of the stronger creatures like Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs in play and ready to strike when the time comes to end your last opponent.
Some of this deck’s highlight cards are:
- Zedruu the Greathearted
- Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa
- Ludevic, Necro-Alchemist
- Kraum, Ludevic’s Opus
- Realm Seekers
- Magic the Gathering 2016 Commander STALWART UNITY Deck
Best Precon Decks for Value
Section updated by Jeff D
While Wizards’ precons have become more focused and fun over the years, their value tends to fluctuate as they get older. More recent releases with unique cards or exciting alternate art are typically much more valuable than others. Let’s take a look at the top three!
Urza’s Iron Alliance & Mishra’s Burnished Banner
The Brothers’ War Commander precons are both artifact-heavy decks that feature some of Magic’s most memorable and menacing war criminal brothers. Luckily their mother taught them well enough that they can share this spot in the ranking. Each deck has a special treatment: every card is printed with the “retro” border, even cards that are too new to have received this treatment originally.
Both Urza’s Iron Alliance and Mishra’s Burnished Banner include over $100 worth of singles. That’s a huge value, and we know these printings will only increase in price as we move farther away from their release date. Besides the value added by the retro frames, these decks include a handful of unique cards that have yet to be reprinted in another set, making them valuable staples for EDH.
In addition to legendary creatures Mishra, Eminent One and Ashnod the Uncaring, Burnished Banner also gave us some new Commander cards that’ll see play far into the future, plus reprints of staples with the old border. They include:
- Blast-Furnace Hellkite
- Emry, Lurker of the Loch
- Lithoform Engine
- Expressive Iteration
- Reliquary Tower
- Contains Retro-Frame 100-card The Brothers’ War Commander Deck - Mishra's Burnished Banner (Blue-Black-Red)
- Every card in the deck is Retro-Frame, with 2 Traditional Foil Retro-Frame Legendary cards + 98 Nonfoil Retro-Frame cards
- 2-card Collector Booster Sample Pack—contains 1 special treatment card of rarity Rare or higher and at least 1 Traditional Foil Retro-Frame Artifact card
- Accessories - 1 Traditional Foil Display Commander, 10 double-sided tokens, life tracker, and deck box
- Extract every bit of advantage by sacrificing artifacts with the ruthless artificer, Mishra.Ready-to-play deck introduces 10 MTG cards not found in the BRO main set
Urza, on the other hand, brings his own host of new cards and retro-frame reprints:
- Contains Retro-Frame 100-card The Brothers’ War Commander Deck - Urza's Iron Alliance (White-Blue-Black)
- Every card in the deck is Retro-Frame, with 2 Traditional Foil Retro-Frame Legendary cards + 98 Nonfoil Retro-Frame cards
- 2-card Collector Booster Sample Pack - contains 1 special treatment card of rarity Rare or higher and at least 1 Traditional Foil Retro-Frame Artifact card
- Accessories - 1 Traditional Foil Display Commander, 10 double-sided tokens, life tracker, and deck box
- Construct an army of artifact creatures with the legendary master artificer, Urza.Ready-to-play deck introduces 10 MTG cards not found in the BRO main set
Necron Dynasties
Magic’s foray into the world of Warhammer 40,000 culminated in the release of four special Commander decks chock-full of unique Universes Beyond cards. Necron Dynasties is an investment in much the same way The Brothers’ War Commander decks are.
While you’ll be hard pressed to find it at its retail price, the non-foil deck alone contains over $100 of value. If you’ve been lucky enough to score the premium foil version, you’re looking at $350 in surge foils. As Universes Beyond cards, the Warhammer 40k Decks will be highly coveted by collectors and players for years to come.
Foil versions of the mechanically unique cards are our priciest, including:
A final note about the Warhammer decks: these decks were notorious for selling out immediately. If you aren’t looking to be gouged to death by the resale price, I recommend buying the entire set through Amazon. Go ahead and sit on those sealed copies for a year or two and you’ll have a return on your investment in no time.
- 100-card ready-to-play Warhammer 40,000 Commander Deck— Necron Dynasties
- Black Deck—contains 2 legendary traditional foil cards plus 98 nonfoil cards
- Every card features Warhammer-themed art—including 42 cards that are new to Magic
- 1 foil-etched Display Commander
- 10 double-sided tokens, 1 life tracker, and 1 deck box
Draconic Rage
Despite being the face commander, Vrondiss, Rage of Ancients isn’t the most valuable card in its own deck, not by a long shot. That glory belongs to Klauth, Unrivaled Ancient. Klauth is the real star behind Draconic Rage, ramping you by leaps and bounds each combat, working in beautiful tandem with Savage Ventmaw.
This aggressive deck includes all the staples you’d need for the beginnings of a dragon tribal deck to boot, many of which haven’t received more than a handful of printings.
Some notable cards from Draconic Rage include:
- Klauth, Unrivaled Ancient
- Kindred Summons
- Anger
- Maddening Hex
- Dragonborn Champion
- Beast Within (hey, we all need one!)
- 100-card ready-to-play Adventures in the Forgotten Realms (AFR) Commander deck
- Deck includes 2 traditional foils plus 98 nonfoil cards
- 1 foil etched Display Commander
- 10 double-sided tokens plus life tracker and deck box
- Reduced-plastic packaging
Best Precon Decks for Competitive EDH
The hard truth here is that regular EDH and competitive EDH (or cEDH) are two completely different worlds. Regular EDH tends to be more wonky and fun-oriented with decks that play weird strategies or are simply an excuse to use cards in your collection that you thought had no use at all. cEDH on the other hand is a lot less forgiving and focuses on infinite combos and dealing with opponents as quickly and effectively as possible.
If you were to enter a competitive Commander tournament with a precon deck, your chances of winning would be extremely low. That being said, there are still a variety of decks that can hold their ground pretty well against competitive decks. Some might even become competitive themselves with some upgrades and tweaks.
Adaptive Enchantment
There’s one clear factor that makes this deck strong and competitive, and that’s the fact that it’s cohesive and focused. A lot of the EDH precons tend to be all over the place, with various cards playing into different strategies which makes them lose some synergies. In this case we have a Commander 2018 deck that runs around enchantments and enchanting creatures, with possible commanders Estrid, the Masked, Kestia, the Cultivator, and Tuvasa the Sunlit all very clearly working with that goal in mind.
The deck comes with an interesting assortment of enchantments like Bear Umbra, Finest Hour, Sigil of the Empty Throne, and many others. What’s even better is that it doesn’t lose track of having strong win conditions. Creatures like Hydra Omnivore and Arixmethes, Slumbering Isle mean you’re sure to have some late-game punch to finish your opponent and win the match.
Some of this deck’s highlight cards are:
- Tuvasa the Sunlit
- Arixmethes, Slumbering Isle
- Bruna, Light of Alabaster
- Bear Umbra
- Estrid’s Invocation
Plunder the Graves
At this point, I think it’s safe to say that graveyard recursion is one of Commander’s staple strategies. to fill its own graveyard and then rise it all up and crush your opponent with an undead army.
The decklist includes some universal must-haves for graveyard decks like Kessig Cagebreakers and Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord. It’s helmed by the amazing Meren of Clan Nel Toth who will make sure your creatures never stay dead.
Like every other precon, this one could use some upgrades. The original build still has enough power to hold itself against some very strong decks, though. Having a myriad of ways to bring back your creatures to the battlefield over and over again is always an advantage.
Some of this deck’s highlight cards are:
- Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest
- Eldrazi Monument
- Scourge of Nel Toth
- Wretched Confluence
- Kessing Cagebreakers
Breed Lethality
Where to even start with Atraxa, Praetors’ Voice? This is probably one of the most threatening commanders in any of the precons. As a creature it’s incredibly strong for only four mana, which would already make it an incredible part of the 99 in any deck that plays its four colors. Add her simple but incredibly effective skill, proliferating every turn, and you’re set.
Atraxa’s precon in particular uses this strategy to play with +1/+1 counters and that already makes it a huge threat when combined with some of the cards in the deck like Reyhan, Last of the Abzan and Cathars’ Crusade. If an army of ever-growing creatures that can stand against some really strong decks is your thing, Atraxa, Praetors’ Voice is really fun to upgrade. Its ability makes it an amazing commander for planeswalker decks, too.
So not only are you getting an already functional and strong deck, you’re also getting an ideal Commander for even stronger decks.
Some of this deck’s highlight cards are:
- Reyhan, Last of the Abzan
- Sublime Exhalation
- Ishai, Ojutai Dragonspeaker
- Ikra Shidiqi, the Usurper
- Deepglow Skate
The More the Merrier: The Best Bundled Decks
Maybe you want to expand your MTG Commander collection, you have a friend who’s really into Commander and you need to buy them a gift, or you want to grab a single product that’ll allow you to play a full game of EDH with your friends. Well, that’s what these bundles are for.
You can grab one of them for yourself and keep all the decks or share the cost with some friends and get into a match right away.
Commander Anthology
This first attempt at a proper Commander bundle by Wizards of the Coast had its missteps, but it was a great start all in all. The box contains four life-counter spinners and four of the precon Commander decks with new special boxes.
In this bundle you’ll find the decks:
- Heavenly Inferno, from Commander 2011. With Kaalia of the Vast at its head this deck uses dragons, demons, and angels to obliterate your opponent in waves of aerial attacks.
- Evasive Maneuvers, from Commander 2013. Derevi, Empyrial Tactician leads a small army of flying or otherwise evasive creatures, with a light control theme to ensure your advantage in the game.
- Guided by Nature, from Commander 2014. A very solid elf tribal deck helmed by Freyalise, Llanowar’s Fury that fills the battlefield with as many elves as possible.
- Plunder the Graves, from Commander 2015. I already talked about this one since I included it in my top picks for the competitive precons, so that should tell you all you need to know.
Commander Anthology: Volume 2
With the first Commander Anthology being pretty well liked by players, a Volume 2 was eventually released. It was definitely another step in the right direction.
This bundle also includes four decks from four different years, and both the power levels and the single-card values of these decks make the pack completely worth it.
This anthology includes:
- Devour for Power, from the Commander 2011 set. One of the most sought-after decks from the original Commander precon set, The Mimeoplasm’s deck is an all-time fan favorite of the format.
- Built From Scratch, from the Commander 2014 set. Daretti, Scrap Savant by himself makes this deck worth it, being an amazing card for artifact decks both as a commander and as part of the 99.
- Wade Into Battle, from the Commander 2015 set. I’ve mentioned Kalemne, Disciple of Iroas’ deck as good value with cards that can go as high as $44.99, so it’s a great addition to the bundle.
- Breed Lethality, from the Commander 2016 set. Again, as with Plunder the Graves in the previous bundle, this is another deck I included for the more competitive options. The presence of Atraxa, Praetors’ Voice itself in the bundle is already a huge point in favor of it.
- Commander Anthology Volume II collects four sought-after and long-out-of-print Commander series decks in one deluxe package!
- Each anthology set contains four 100-card decks, including 13 foil commanders!!
- The four decks coming back are "Devour for Power" (helmed by The Mimeoplasm), "Built from Scratch" (the Daretti, Scrap Savant deck), "Wade into Battle" (with Kalemne, Disciple of Iroas leading the charge), and "Breed Lethality" (with everyone's favorite proliferator, Atraxa, Praetors' Voice).
- Includes Atraxa!! This set is hot!
- Release Date: June 08, 2018
The Zendikar Rising Commander Decks
This bundle is possibly one of the most pleasant surprises to come out of the last few Commander products. The two Zendikar Rising Commander decks are usually sold in a bundle, which costs less than any individual Commander 2020 deck.
Both of the decks are really good and have interesting strategies, one being a rogue tribal with Anowon, the Ruin Thief at its head, and the other being the landfall-centric Land’s Wrath which I included for the budget decks section.
So if you want to have two game-ready decks and still stay on a budget, this bundle is the best way to go about that.
- Join Jace, Nariri, Nissa and more in Zendikar; a dangerous world of lethal risks where brave adventurers in the Edlrazi aftermath delve into ancient ruins in search of priceless rewards!
- Return to Zendikar where the plane is Rising with danger and treasure.
- Each Commander deck has 100 cards (including 3 all-new cards), 10 double-side tokens, 1 insert, 1 life tracker, 1 deck box. This listing includes both decks.
Looking for somewhere to store all your Commander decks? We’ve got an article right here!
Wrap Up
Tale’s End | Illustration by Randy Vargas
When all is said and done, I think there are a lot of things to consider when going for a Commander precon. Whatever you choose will be decided by what you’re looking for, and I might even encourage you to build your own deck around your favorite Commander from scratch.
My personal favorite of all these decks is still . It mixes a pretty high power level with good value cards and a straightforward strategy that’s easy to carry out. I’m also a big sucker (I’m not sorry for the terrible pun) for vampire tribal decks, so that also influenced my choice.
What are you guys’ favorite Commander precons? Feel free to comment your favorite non-precon commanders, too! Hopefully someday we’ll have Commander added to Arena, so be sure to familiarize yourself with Arena Tutor for when that day comes!
That’s all from me for today, so see you next time!
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2 Comments
Hi, I see that this was updated on 11/23/21, but I don’t see listed any of the Precons released after Kaldheim (Comannder 2021/Strixhaven, Adventures in Forgotten Realms, Innistrad:Midnight Hunt, and Innistrad:Crimson Vow).
Were those considered but just didn’t make the cut for this list, or are those still to-be-evaluated/added? Thanks so much!
We review these articles periodically to make sure they’re still relevant. I believe the last couple precons haven’t been considered, but the others have. We’ll update the publish date when we do a full re-review.
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