Meren of Clan Nel Toth | Illustration by Mark Winters
Though Commander precons have a (well-earned) reputation as dodgy given the questionable construction of many decks, they’re one of my favorite products. I like to look at them, take them apart, and learn from their flaws so my deckbuilding becomes stronger.
But these are still playable products, and it’s worth considering which of them are the most powerful, interesting, or fun to play out of the box, and we need to know if there’s any value in them. With that in mind, I’m reviewing Golgari () precons today!
What Are Golgari Commander Precons?
Winter, Cynical Opportunist | Illustration by Andrey Kuzinskiy
Golgari () Commander precons are sealed products that contain a complete, ready-to-play Commander deck with 100 cards (a commander and 99 in the library) with a green-black or Golgari color identity. Golgari decks often dip into graveyard and sacrifice synergies, though a few prominent creature types like squirrels and elves are commonly built in Golgari.
I’ll evaluate these decks on their performance out of the box and consider which of the potential commanders should be in your command zone when you play it. I’ll also consider any notable cards, either because of value or because they’ve meaningfully added to Commander or Magic as a whole.
#5. Elven Empire
Elven Empire is an elf typal deck that came out alongside Kaldheim, with the commander Lathril, Blade of the Elves.
Deck Themes
The deck focuses primarily on elves, with an under-supported sacrifice theme that weakens the whole—alongside other prominent issues.
Commanders
The deck has four potential commanders: Lathril, the partner pair of Miara, Thorn of the Glade with Numa, Joraga Chieftain, Rhys the Exiled, and Abomination of Llanowar.
We can immediately discount Abomination of Llanowar; a vanilla beater provides little value, and this isn’t even a good list for it.
Miara, Thorn of the Glade and Numa, Joraga Chieftain could be okay in a more token-oriented elf build, which this isn’t. Skip them.
Rhys the Exiled exists in a similar space to the partner pair; this could be all right if you went really hard into sacrifice themes, but Elven Empire doesn’t, so it should stay well away from the command zone.
Lathril, Blade of the Elves is the clear choice, and not just because the other options are weak. This has become the de facto elf commander for a reason: It floods the board with tokens, which many typal and elf payoffs reward, and it offers a meaningful win condition with its burn.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Most precons have curve issues, but Elven Empire has it particularly bad because elves as an archetype are defined by their ability to flood the board with small, value-oriented creatures to snowball the game—hence the nickname “elfball”. Three creatures with a mana value less than 3 isn’t just shoddy deck building; it suggests a fundamental lack of understanding of the elf archetype. Toss in a miserably under-supported sacrifice theme with clunky cards like Moldervine Reclamation, despite a lack of sacrifice fodder because you have no cheap creatures, and this precon struggles to participate in a game of Magic, let alone win one.
Notable Cards
We must again shout out Lathril, Blade of the Elves as a powerhouse, one of the most popular elf commanders and Golgari commanders in general. The deck also has Pact of the Serpent, a powerful card draw spell any typal deck would be happy to play.
And that’s kind of it; the curve issues exclude many of the best elf payoffs, like Priest of Titania, Birchlore Rangers, and Wirewood Symbiote. With this lack of great reprints and a bad out-of-the-box experience in mind, you should just skip this precon.
- 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
- Lead an army of elves to absolute victory.
#4. Plunder the Graves
Plunder the Graves is one of very few Commander precons to have received two separate printings: One was its original release as part of the Commander 2015 lineup, and it was reprinted as part of the first Commander Anthology. It’s a sacrifice-reanimator deck led by Meren of Clan Nel Toth.
Deck Themes
Plunder the Graves is a graveyard-centric deck that focuses on sacrifice synergies, with a sprinkling of reanimator. It also has a decent pool of self-mill cards to support Meren.
Commanders
Besides the face commander, Meren, Plunder the Graves has two Golgari legends that could lead it: Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord and Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest.
Mazirek, Krual Death Priest is a fine payoff for all your sacrifice synergies, except it asks you to play a more aggressive curve than you currently have, so it’s best left in the 99.
Jarad, Golgari Lich Lord diverges from Meren and Mazirek by acting as a sacrifice outlet rather than a payoff, and it benefits handsomely from all the self-mill. But many of your sacrifice outlets sacrifice themselves, like Sakura-Tribe Elder and Viridian Zealot, so it isn’t necessary.
Meren of Clan Nel Toth is the clear winner as both a payoff for your sacrifice cards and an enabler for the reanimator plan since it resurrects your big creatures with enough time. It also offers a stream of unparalleled value compared to the other options.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Poor curves are a common weakness of precons, but Plunder the Grave has it especially bad, with a massive stack of cards that cost 5+ and a meager seven ramp spells to support them. With nearly as many 5-drops as 2-drops, you can expect some clunky draws.
The deck also suffers from being… just a little vanilla. The deck’s age shows in its top-end, with cards like Verdant Force and Spider Spawning that aren’t bad, per se, but pale in comparison to modern threats.
But this isn’t to say the deck is all weakness! Another common flaw among precons are messy synergies, but this one is incredibly concise, with abundant synergies to draw on. If your cards don’t care about sacrificing themselves or other cards, they put creatures in the graveyard or care about having a stocked graveyard. When Plunder the Grave doesn’t trip over its mana curve, it comes out swinging with a sleek, synergistic gameplan.
Notable Cards
The most notable card by far is Meren of Clan Nel Toth itself, which has long reigned as one of the most popular Golgari commanders. It’s a perfect encapsulation of everything the color pair wants to do: Sacrifice creature, get cards from the graveyard, and grind your opponents into oblivion.
Commander 2015 introduced the Confluence cycle, and Plunder the Grave got Wretched Confluence, an exceptionally strong instant that draws three cards at worst.
We also have some great reprints. Sakura-Tribe Elder and Eternal Witness are excellent green staples, Skullclamp is one of the most busted draw spells ever printed, and most sacrifice decks enjoy Eldrazi Monument and Butcher of Malakir as top end.
#3. Witherbloom Witchcraft
Witherbloom Witchcraft is a lifegain deck from Commander 2021, with Willowdusk, Essence Seer serving as commander.
Deck Themes
Witherbloom Witchcraft focuses quite comfortably on lifegain, with a few strange sacrifice cards like Moldervine Reclamation that poke their heads up (seriously, why does Wizards keep putting this in precons?).
Commanders
This deck has four potential commanders: Willowdusk, Dina, Soul Steeper, Gyome, Master Chef, and Sapling of Colfenor.
We can safely discount Dina, Soul Steeper as a signpost uncommon that won’t rise above its post unless you put effort into using it as a combo piece, either through an infinite sacrifice loop or by gaining infinite life.
Gyome, Master Chef is a fun food commander, but this deck doesn’t come close to having enough Food support to warrant playing it.
Sapling of Colfenor is a strong card that’s hard to remove, and the combination of lifegain and card draw makes it a perfectly reasonable choice as your commander. It’s not what I’d play, but I respect it.
Willowdusk, Essence Seer looks great because lifegain decks always need stout payoffs to make up for how gaining life is a low-impact game action on its own. Spreading +1/+1 counters across the team is exactly the kind of impact I want, and access to it every game salvages some of the weaker lifegain cards.
Strengths and Weaknesses
This deck suffers from poor card quality. It has many lifegain cards that are either low-impact, like Sun Droplet and Vampire Nighthawk, or over-costed, like Paradise Plume and Epicure of Blood, which drags the curve up and lowers the overall power level.
But woven in there are some of the stronger lifegain payoffs, like Sanguine Bond, Ezzaroot Channeler, and Blossoming Bogbeast. It's a solid start to a good deck.
Notable Cards
Pest Infestation is one of the strongest artifact/enchantment removal spells and token producers, and it has become a Cube staple.
Some of green’s best lifegain payoffs were introduced to Magic through this deck, including Blossoming Bogbeast, Ezzaroot Channeler, and Trudge Garden.
Yedora, Grave Gardener is a combo engine that goes infinite with plenty of cards.
The deck also has Sanguine Bond as a notable reprint.
- 100-card ready-to-play STX Commander deck (2 foil, 98 nonfoil cards)
- 1 foil etched Display Commander
- 10 double-sided tokens + life tracker and deck box
- 17 Magic cards make their debut
- Reduced-plastic packaging
#2. Death Toll
Death Toll takes us down a delirious path in Duskmourn with our guide, Winter, Cynical Opportunist.
Deck Themes
Death Toll focuses on the graveyard as a self-mill deck that uses delirium as a payoff for flooding the graveyard with cards.
Commanders
Here we have five possible commanders: Winter, Old Stickfingers, Ishkanah, Grafwidow, Grist, the Hunger Tide, and Rendmaw, Creaking Nest.
Old Stickfingers is a pretty effective self-mill card, but it lacks the wow factor I want from my commander.
Ishkanah, Grafwidow suffers from a lack of spider support in the 99. It’s best suited to its current role as a supporting threat.
Rendmaw, Creaking Nest is a fantastic commander, and it’s perfectly reasonable to run. You could build around it more, but it plays just as well as Winter.
Winter, Cynical Opportunist uses the graveyard as a resource to reanimate some large creatures, which provides ample pressure. I like that it both utilizes and sets up the graveyard; it makes it a very compact, efficient card. Winter or Rendmaw are perfectly appropriate choices; go with your gut.
The static ability on Grist, the Hunger Tide allows it to be your commander if you'd like, though Grist in the command zone is far less appealing unless you're digging into some sort of insect strategy.
Strengths and Weaknesses
This deck’s biggest weakness lies in card quality. It looks like the designers had about 80% of a good deck, then ran out of ideas and dug around the bulk bin. Cards like Gnarlwood Dryad, Obsessive Skinner, Moldgraf Millipede, and Crawling Sensation were barely playable in their respective Limited formats, let alone Commander. The deck could also use a few more high-impact creatures for Winter to reanimate since the finality counter prevents you from looping cards like Hornet Queen.
That said, it’s a solid curve topped by genuinely threatening cards. All your planeswalkers and grindy enchantments like Demonic Covenant and Into the Pit give you tools to play a long game, and I can see a quick finish coming at the hands of Demolisher Spawn. This looks reasonable, and it becomes good if you replace the Draft chaff.
Notable Cards
Rendmaw, Creaking Nest is a notably cool commander, largely because few others reward you for playing cards with multiple types like this.
Ursine Monstrosity has become a Cube staple as a hyper-aggressive threat that benefits from being in a 1v1 environment.
Demolisher Spawn provides self-mill decks with an impactful finisher, while Convert to Slime and Deluge of Doom add powerful removal spells to the format that are particularly well-suited to Golgari () decks.
And we have some great reprints! Reanimate is a multiformat staple that belongs in every black EDH deck, Stitcher's Supplier and Cemetery Tampering are great ways to fill the graveyard, and Grist, the Hunger Tide has a ton of use cases. If you like graveyard decks, this is a reasonable start.
- DO WHAT IT TAKES TO SURVIVE—Send your cold dead cards into the graveyard, the return your heavy hitters from the great beyond and rise victorious.
- 2 FOIL BORDERLESS COMMANDERS—Every Duskmourn: House of Horror Commander Deck includes 2 Traditional Foil Legendary Creature cards featuring spine-tingling Borderless art
- 10 ARCHENEMY SCHEMES—Archenemy pits a team of three against one player who draws from an extra deck of powerful and nefarious schemes. Each Duskmourn Commander deck introduces 10 terrifying schemes to make the table tremble.
- INTRODUCES 10 COMMANDER CARDS— Each deck introduces fresh horrors to Magic: The Gathering with 10 never-before-seen Commander cards
- CONTENTS—1 ready-to-play Death Toll Duskmourn: House of Horror Commander Deck (100 cards), 10 Archenemy cards, a 2-card Collector Booster Sample Pack, 10 double-sided tokens, and 1 deck box
#1. Squirreled Away
Squirreled Away takes to the trees with a squirrel- and token-themed Commander deck that came out alongside Bloomburrow, with Hazel of the Rootbloom in the driver’s seat.
Deck Themes
Squirreled Away goes for a triple theme with squirrels, tokens, and sacrifice, but it all works out because squirrels are defined by their relation to token production and sacrifice outlets. It also has a mild Food theme to match with the Bloomburrow cards. It all works very well!
Commanders
This deck has four potential commanders. In addition to Hazel, you can play Chatterfang, Squirrel General, The Odd Acorn Gang, and Beledros Witherbloom.
Beledros Witherbloom is quite powerful as a token generator and a mana doubler, but it lacks the synergy to be exciting in this deck.
The Odd Acorn Gang gives you a strong reason to go all-in on your squirrels with powerful pump and card draw abilities, but it’s simply weaker than the remaining options.
Hazel of the Rootbloom offers an incredible mana advantage, especially considering it can tap Food, Treasure, and other noncreature tokens you can create with ease. The token copying also makes it quite powerful… but it’s far from the best choice.
What else could be the ideal commander but Chatterfang, Squirrel General? It isn’t at its best in this deck without Pitiless Plunderer, but it’s one of the best token doublers in the game and has the squirrel archetype in a death grip. It’s the clear choice.
Strengths and Weaknesses
The deck has quite a few questionable cards. Even in a dedicated sacrifice deck, Moldervine Reclamation is miserably slow; Maskwood Nexus belongs in almost no EDH decks; the removal should be better than Putrefy in the 2020s.
But those subpar cards are overshadowed by a well-built, synergistic deck with a clear gameplan. You have some of the best cards in the archetype, like Chatterfang, Skullclamp, and Zulaport Cutthroat, and they’re complemented by excellent removal like Windgrace's Judgment and Casualties of War. And is that a reasonable curve I see?
Notable Cards
In terms of new cards, Squirreled Away isn’t all that impressive. Hazel of the Rootbloom is genuinely a strong token payoff, and Scurry of Squirrels is a ton of fun. But most of the notable cards came in the form of reprints.
The deck has a fat pile of Golgari staples for Commander, including but not limited to Chatterfang, Zulaport Cutthroat, Toski, Bearer of Secrets, and Tireless Provisioner.
We also have more general staples, like Academy Manufactor, Skullclamp, and Idol of Oblivion. This deck has plenty to offer a burgeoning Golgari player in terms of value and staples.
- TINY TAILS, BIG ADVENTURE—Put your best paw forward and enter the world of Bloomburrow. Battle your friends with armies of adorable critters and prove that bravery comes in all sizes.
- SQUIRRELS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN—Stock up on tokens, then spend your hoard to clean house with an army of squirrels
- EPIC MULTIPLAYER BATTLES—Commander is a multiplayer way to play Magic, an epic, free-for-all battle full of strategic plays and social intrigue
- INTRODUCES 10 COMMANDER CARDS—This deck introduces 10 never-before-seen Commander cards to Magic: The Gathering, including 3 foil cards (one of which is Borderless.)
- CONTENTS—1 ready-to-play Squirreled Away Bloomburrow Commander Deck, a 2-card Collector Booster Sample Pack, 10 double-sided tokens, and 1 deck box
Commanding Conclusion
Willowdusk, Essence Seer | Illustration by Jesper Ejsing
Though there aren’t many Golgari () Commander precons, the ones we have offer a range of different strategies and synergies. If only their power didn’t range just as widely… but what can you do? There are at least some playable ones, and a lot of value in some!
Which Golgari precon is your favorite? Which are you mostly likely to pick up, either to play or scrap for parts? Let me know in the comments below or on the Draftsim Discord!
Stay safe, and thanks for reading!
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