Arjun, the Shifting Flame | Illustration by Willian Murai
In this day and age, we expect WotC to release Commander precons throughout the year, usually 2-4 tied to big set releases. But it wasn’t that long ago when we’d get one main set of precons every year. Commander 2015 introduced the first Izzet precon, and since then, the color combination has picked up five more EDH precons, some of which are really good.
While Izzet ()’s classic theme is casting instants and sorceries, or noncreature spells in general, these Commander precons add a little spice to these themes, or even do their own thing. Let’s look at all of the Izzet precons and what they bring to the table.
What Are Izzet Commander Precons?
Mizzix of the Izmagnus | Illustration by Cliff Childs
An Izzet Commander precon is a preconstructed 100-card Commander deck with a blue-red color identity. These are designed to be playable right out of the box, and often introduce new cards to Magic. Blue-red decks are almost always spellslinger or artifact decks of some sort, with the occasional variation to these themes.
#6. Seize Control
Seize Control is the Commander 2015 Izzet precon, with Mizzix of the Izmagnus as the main commander.
Deck Themes
Commander 2015 introduced experience counters, which players get by triggering their commanders. Mizzix of the Izmagnus asks you to keep casting progressively more expensive instants and sorceries, so you want to cast spells that cost 1, 2, 3, and so on. Of course, if you cast a 7-mana spell, you’ll still only go from 2 to 3 experience counters, so you might want to save them for later in the game, when your 3-mana spells can’t add experience counters.
Commanders
Mizzix of the Izmagnus is the main star of Seize Control and makes your instants and sorceries cheaper as you gain experience counters. Having this effect right from the command zone is very powerful, kind of like building your own super-juiced Goblin Electromancer.
Arjun, the Shifting Flame and Melek, Izzet Paragon are the supporting cast, adding benefits to casting spells. It’s weird that you have many effects in this deck like Arjun that allow you to discard and draw, or replace your hand, but no incentives for drawing cards (barring Psychosis Crawler).
Strengths and Weaknesses
This deck has solid spells in blue and red, but it tries too hard to have expensive spells to keep giving experience counters to Mizzix. It’s a mix of benefiting from the cost reduction while trying to continue casting higher mana value cards to keep adding more experience counters that sometimes don’t add up to anything meaninful. A card like Mindsplice Apparatus would help here, lowering the cost of the spells naturally.
One of the main weaknesses of this deck is that many of the cards don’t hold up anymore, as powerful as they might have been 10 years ago. The mana base is horrible, from a time when WotC didn’t put that many rare dual land reprints in precons, with the “premium” duals being things like outdated scry lands.
Notable Cards
Mizzix's Mastery and Mystic Confluence are Cubeable rares.
- Magic the Gathering - Commander 2013 - Mind Seize Deck
#5. Exquisite Invention
No products found.Exquisite Invention is the blue and red Commander 2018 precon, with Saheeli, the Gifted at the helm.
Deck Themes
No products found. is all about artifacts, which is the most prominent Izzet theme besides instants and sorceries (but note the intersection with noncreature spells and prowess). You want a ton of small artifacts or artifact tokens to pave the way for casting the more expensive artifact spells, some of which have affinity or improvise. Suddenly, that 9-mana Inkwell Leviathan can be cast for 4-5 mana, and we’re in business.
Commanders
Saheeli, the Gifted runs the show, and it’s quite competent for an artifact commander. Giving any spell affinity for artifacts is strong, and if you don’t want to cast anything, you can make a 1/1 Servo token. Considering that some cards from this deck already have improvise, giving them affinity reduces their casting cost even further. Brudiclad, Telchor Engineer is an alternative and very interesting commander if you build around it, making every token you control into a copy of another token you control. Building around this means you’ll want more cards like Echo Storm and Saheeli's Artistry. Tawnos, Urza's Apprentice adds some value here and there with cards like Duplicant.
Strengths and Weaknesses
The nicest thing about this deck is the way you can deploy, copy, and manipulate your artifacts. Unwinding Clock is huge with your artifact ramp and cards like Prototype Portal. But hey, your opponents can have Vandalblast or Farewell. The deck has some card draw and ways to recover from sweepers, like Thirst for Knowledge or light counterspells.
I’d rather not complain about the mana this time, but it could be better. And yes, I’ve checked, Silverbluff Bridge wasn’t released yet. Another issue is keeping your commander alive, since it’s a planeswalker that can be attacked by everyone else.
Notable Cards
Brudiclad, Telchor Engineer is a staple token commander. Retrofitter Foundry is an artifact staple, and Saheeli's Directive is interesting as a red Genesis Wave.
No products found.
#4. Prismari Performance
Prismari Performance is the Commander 2021 Izzet precon, helmed by Zaffai, Thunder Conductor.
Deck Themes
Zaffai, Thunder Conductor is the face commander, and like the Prismari in Strixhaven, this card cares about casting instants and sorceries, ideally with MV 5 or greater. Each time you cast a 5 MV instant or sorcery, you create a sizable 4/4 elemental token. It even ups the game by giving you incentives to cast spells with MV 10 or greater—which won’t happen often, unless you’re casting X-spells with a high amount of mana invested into them (or Apex of Power). Casting and copying Seething Song generates a lot of mana plus some magecraft triggers, and I expect any turn you channel all that mana into an X-spell to be pretty nice.
Commanders
Zaffai, Thunder Conductor is the main commander, and the precon is mostly built around it. Veyran, Voice of Duality offers a distinctly different plan, focusing on doubling triggers from cards like Young Pyromancer, Guttersnipe, and of course, Zaffai, Thunder Conductor.
Strengths and Weaknesses
This deck is poised to take full advantage of Zaffai by having many ways to cast expensive spells, such as Rousing Refrain, and ways to copy them, like Pyromancer's Goggles. Delve spells work very well here, giving you more gas and the benefits from your commander.
I get it’s more of a big spells UR deck, but I miss some of the classic spellslinger creatures that give you a mana discount like Goblin Electromancer or Baral, Chief of Compliance.
Also, many of the lands like the deserts and Memorial to Genius look a little out of place, occupying spaces where there should be true Izzet lands.
Notable Cards
Veyran, Voice of Duality is regarded as one of the best Izzet commanders, and it’s powerful to build around it with lots of prowess and magecraft. This Commander deck also introduces novel ways to cast multiple spells a turn, like Creative Technique and Reinterpret.
- 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
#3. Draconic Dissent
Draconic Dissent is the Izzet Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur's Gate precon, commanded by Firkraag, Cunning Instigator.
Deck Themes
Draconic Dissent focuses on the goad mechanic and goading creatures your opponents control. Firkraag, Cunning Instigator is the enabler and payoff for this strategy. While you’re goading creatures with your other cards, Firkraag pays you off, and it can even get into the red zone to goad more creatures. You’ll want to see them fighting each other while your commander laughs over this utter chaos.
Commanders
Firkraag, Cunning Instigator is the commander that makes the deck tick. You’re forcing your opponents to attack each other via the goad mechanic, and if one of your opponents deals combat damage to another player this way, you draw a card and Firkraag grows. Firkraag attacks to deal damage and goad more creatures. The deck has other dragons you can use to do this as well.
Baeloth Barrityl, Entertainer + Clan Crafter is a combination of commander and background that goads their creatures while rewarding you with Treasure you can spend to grow Baeloth Barrityl, thus goading more creatures.
Finally, Rowan Kenrith + Will Kenrith can be an interesting commander pair that makes the deck more political and lets you interfere more in the game, such as by helping a player in need or hitting the leading player. All around, I’d go with Firkraag and use the other options as ways to strengthen what you’re doing.
Strengths and Weaknesses
The best part about this deck is that many cards work together to goad their creatures and create chaotic situations, which directly benefits your commander. But as happens with many Commander precons, we have different themes conflicting with each other. You have dragons to hit them and goad their creatures, but also cards that goad and some goad payoffs. That can be clunky at times, seeing as dragons are expensive, and even if you land them, you may have your commander killed and lose the potential benefits.
As such, while tinkering with the deck, you may want to maximize one of the themes, or remove some of the more expensive cards for cheaper dragons, or maybe changelings. If you go with dragons, you probably need more ramp. Finally, why 24 basics, WotC? Even some tapped dual lands would help here.
Notable Cards
Astral Dragon is a huge threat that creates two Clones of a card that are also 3/3 flying dragons. Spectacular Showdown is a spectacular way to make an opponent with a nice board destroy other players. Finally, Bothersome Quasit is a nice spellslinger card, and a way to goad multiple creatures at once, as well as to take advantage of that.
- 100-card ready-to-play Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur’s Gate Commander deck—Draconic Dissent
- 2-card Collector Booster Sample Pack
- Blue-Red deck—includes 3 traditional foils plus 97 nonfoil cards
- 1 foil-etched Display Commander, 10 double-sided tokens plus life tracker and deck box
- Introduces 10 MTG cards not found in the main CLB set
#2. Heads I Win, Tails You Lose
This Secret Lair Commander deck is named Heads I Win, Tails You Lose. It’s a coin-flipping themed deck with the partners Okaun, Eye of Chaos and Zndrsplt, Eye of Wisdom as commanders.
Deck Themes
The theme of the deck is, of course, coin-flipping, which ties together with Izzet chaotic nature. Let us decide everything on the luck of the coin flip. Zndrsplt, Eye of Wisdom and Okaun, Eye of Chaos are partners that provide coin flips and benefit from them in different ways; put them together and you’ll be all set. Many cards in this deck already ask you to flip coins, so your commanders thrive passively from those as well.
Commanders
Okaun, Eye of Chaos and Zndrsplt, Eye of Wisdom are the main partner commanders. Zndrsplt draws you cards if you’re winning coin flips, while Okaun doubles its power to hit hard. The brains and the muscle, if you will. This decklist also features Sakashima of a Thousand Faces and Krark, the Thumbless as a well-established cEDH partner pair, and when you copy Krark with Sakashima, your odds of winning coin flips go way up. Finally, there’s Yusri, Fortune's Flame, a card that you’ll probably use to flip more coins, though not as a payoff.
Strengths and Weaknesses
The deck has solid ways to take advantage of coin-flipping. Whether with Boompile, Planar Chaos, or Mirror March, the coins will flip. You can even win via Chance Encounter this way.
The decklist has plenty of powerful staples, like Counterspell, Vandalblast, and Gamble.
The mana’s also great, and even has a Training Center reprint. The main weakness of the deck? Coin-flipping, ironically. If you don’t mind the gamble, the deck’s excellent, but sometimes the flips won’t go your way at all.
Notable Cards
The deck has some valuable reprints, like Commander's Plate, Shadowspear, and Training Center.
#1. Quick Draw
Quick Draw, from Outlaws of Thunder Junction Commander, is our final Izzet precon, with Stella Lee, Wild Card as its commander.
Deck Themes
Outlaws of Thunder Junction gave blue-red the theme of casting two spells a turn. This can be done via the plot mechanic, where you take a turn off to charge and unload your spells in the next turn. Note that your double-spell payoffs count any spells, not just instants and sorceries, as you’d expect from these kinds of decks.
Commanders
Stella Lee, Wild Card is the main commander, and the legend you want to build around. It gives you an impulse draw if you cast two spells a turn, and a free copy effect when you cast the third spell—only instants and sorceries here on the copy, though.
There are many ways to set this up, such as with plot, or with the good old blue cantrips and red rummage effects. Veyran, Voice of Duality is another legend you can build around, doubling the triggers from Archmage Emeritus or Murmuring Mystic.
Strengths and Weaknesses
This deck is considered the best Izzet precon because it’s so powerful and coherent right out of the box, and it doesn’t take that much to turn it into a cEDH deck.
Stella Lee, Wild Card is a wonderful commander, giving you incentives to cast multiple spells a turn, and the turn you go Opt into Ponder into a third copied spell feels very powerful.
Cards like Lock and Load or Treasure Cruise help you reload when you cast a bunch of stuff to do it again next turn, and you can copy them for max benefits. Many of the cards you’d expect from a competent spellslinger deck are here out of the box, and the deck offers you a good frame to evolve. As for weaknesses, there’s some nitpicking with the mana base, but it’s already very functional. The deck also suffers from weaker cards like Radical Idea that could be replaced.
Notable Cards
Stella Lee, Wild Card has more than 10k EDH decklists on EDHREC, firmly in the top five Izzet commanders. Winged Boots is an interesting and cheap way to give evasion and protection to creatures in blue. Thunderclap Drake takes Goblin Electromancer to the next level.
- HERE COMES A SHOWDOWN THROWDOWN—Become the quickest draw in Thunder Junction, casting multiple spells per turn, and duel your friends with a Blue-Red deck that’s ready-to-play right out of the box
- 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 2 foil Legendary Creature cards (one of which is Borderless!)
- COLLECT SPECIAL TREATMENT CARDS—Each deck also comes with a 2-card Collector Booster Sample Pack containing 2 alt-border cards from the Outlaws of Thunder Junction set, including 1 Rare or Mythic Rare and at least 1 Traditional Foil card
- CONTENTS—1 ready-to-play Quick Draw Outlaws of Thunder Junction Commander Deck, a 2-card Collector Booster Sample Pack, 10 double-sided tokens, 1 life tracker, and 1 deck box
Commanding Conclusion
Veyran, Voice of Duality | Illustration by Mathias Kollros
Izzet as a color pair cares much more about their noncreature spells and their combos than about their creatures getting into the red zone. Izzet precons, however, do a great job of not always being about casting many instants and sorceries, or going full prowess on your opponents. These are pretty diverse decks, ranging from goad to coin-flip. What do you think about the Izzet precon decks, guys? Are you running any of these with different commanders? Let me know everything in the comments section below or over in our Draftsim Discord.
Thanks for reading, and stay safe!
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