The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Commander Decks: Are They Worth It?

Last updated on November 29, 2023

Bygone Marvels | Illustration by Constantin Marin

The Lost Caverns of Ixalan (LCI} has an interesting development story because it wasn’t originally going to use the Ixalan setting at all. It began development as a set exploring the “underground civilization” genre, and later adopted the plane of Ixalan as a backdrop. In other words, Ixalan was being used to flavor what was originally its own separate world.

Ask anyone what comes to mind first when they think of Ixalan, and 90% of them will tell you one of the creature factions (the other 10% will say Colossal Dreadmaw). Vampires, merfolk, dinosaurs, and pirates were the frontrunners in the original Ixalan block, but LCI uses them more as a supporting cast for its exploration and spelunking themes instead of having them as the main focus. However, WotC knew players would expect support for their favorite Ixalan factions. Enter Lost Caverns of Ixalan Commander (LCC).

What Are the Lost Caverns of Ixalan Commander Decks?

Wrathful Raptors | Illustration by April Prime

Lost Caverns of Ixalan Commander includes four Commander precons, each focused on one of the main Ixalan factions. That means this product line-up is a full batch of typal precons, though they do incorporate mechanics and themes from the main set. Typal decks tend to be narrow but popular with casual Commander players, and this set is significantly less complex than others we’ve received this year (Doctor Who, Commander Masters come to mind). Not dumbed down, but simple and beginner-friendly with plenty to appeal to the enfranchised crowd.

Before we get into specifics, I want to emphasize that these are strict typal decks. That should be obvious, but it means you’re buying a deck full of hyper-specific cards that don’t translate well outside of their intended precon or strategy. If you buy a pirate deck, you’re going to get a bunch of cards that are good in pirate decks, and few that are worth playing elsewhere. There are still plenty of new staples and awesome reprints to pick up here, just don’t be surprised if you disassemble your dino precon and don’t have an immediate home for most of the cards in that deck.

Each LCC precon includes the following:

• 100 total cards
• 10 New-to-Magic cards (each deck has 10 distinct new cards)
• 2 foils: A display commander and an alternate commander
• A single, 2-card Collector Booster Sample Pack (sealed product only)
• 1 non-tournament legal, foil-etched display commander
• 10 Double-sided tokens
• 1 Life Counter and Deck Box to immediately forget about

Ahoy Mateys

Commander, Theme, and Strategy

Arghhh! ‘Tis a pirate deck, me hearties. Look, I already got my pirate puns out in my upgrade guide for Ahoy Mateys , so let’s keep it professional, eh? This here’s a pirate deck, what did you expect? It plays pirates, it attacks with pirates, and sometimes, if you’re really lucky, the pirates will do things with your other pirates. It’s an aggro deck that either runs opponents over or leaves you swabbing the poopdeck. Sorry, couldn’t resist.

Your captain is Admiral Brass, Unsinkable, which showcases the new finality counters we can expect to see in sets moving forward. It’s an excellent typal payoff and gives players an alternative to Admiral Beckett Brass, though I’ll leave it up to your which version you prefer. The alternate commander is Don Andres, the Renegade, which incentivizes you to play your opponents’ spells. I’m sure they’ll love that. I think Andres is really cool, but the precon is only half-committed to this theft theme, so I think it’s better built as their own deck instead of being used as the commander here.

The strategy is very simple: Play pirates and attack or don’t play pirates and lose. I’d say that’s not a very exciting gameplan, but it’s perfect for new players if they’re just getting their Commander toes wet. Part of the fun is trying to find workarounds to the finality counters put on your creatures with Admiral Brass, Unsinkable. In fact, a good portion of my upgrade guide is dedicated to circumventing the finality counter downside.

Notable Cards: Reprints and $$

Here’s where I’m going to give these decks a ton of praise. These decks have excellent reprint selection and value, especially considering these are your standard $35-$50 precons. However, that comes with two disclaimers.

First, I can’t speak about the price of the new-to-Magic cards, because I’m still working with unrealistically high presale prices at the time of writing. Wayta, Trainer Prodigy is around $15 right now; check back in two weeks and let me know how that price held up.

Second, typal cards tend to be very popular in the Commander crowd, sometimes even in the Constructed metas (looking at you, merfolk). That means some of these cards might maintain a high price, or even increase over time. That’s especially true of generic typal payoffs, which can slot into more decks. With that out of the way, I’ll stick with what I know and work off of reprints only for each deck’s value section.

Ahoy Mateys includes five cards on the high end of the $2-$5 range, two cards in the $5-$10 range, and most notably Black Market Connections, a format staple hovering around $25. That’s incredible, with Timestream Navigator and Pitiless Plunderer as other standouts here. It’s also worth noting that the majority of the value here is tied to generically powerful cards instead of pirate-specific payoffs. Add in the expected value of the 10 new cards and a handful of $1-$2 rares and you’re absolutely getting your money’s worth. What else would you expect from the faction that loves Treasure?

I typically like to highlight a few new cards from each precon, but I don’t think Ahoy Mateys has the most exciting additions to Commander. There’s The Indomitable as a new, recursive Coastal Piracy effect, as well as Broadside Bombardiers and Skeleton Crew, which feel like synergy pieces for non-pirate related decks.

Evacuation, Black Market Connections, and Wayfarer's Bauble received new art in this deck (Bauble’s also present in the Blood Rites deck).

The Verdict

I’m going to say something very similar for most of these decks, but your enjoyment of this product comes down to one of two factors: Either you’re buying it for the excellent reprint value and bolstering your collection, or you just enjoy the thought of playing with a pirate-themed deck. If neither of those apply to you, this won’t appeal to you, and the same goes for any of the other. However, if there’s even a hint of a swashbuckler in you, this is a great pick-up that’ll give you your money’s worth. I’d say that’s a steal. Too on the nose? Alright, moving along!

Magic: The Gathering The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Commander Deck - Ahoy Mateys (100-Card Deck, 2-Card Collector Booster Sample Pack + Accessories)

• IT’S OKAY TO GO A LITTLE OVERBOARD—Put Pirates in the graveyard and bring them back bigger with the unsinkable Admirable Brass
• INTRODUCES 10 COMMANDER CARDS—This deck introduces 10 never-before-seen Commander cards to Magic: The Gathering
• COLLECT SPECIAL TREATMENT CARDS—Each deck also comes with a 2-card Collector Booster Sample Pack containing 2 alt-border cards from the The Lost Caverns of Ixalan set, including 1 Rare or Mythic Rare and at least 1 Traditional Foil card
• EPIC MULTIPLAYER BATTLES—Commander is a multiplayer way to play Magic, an epic, free-for-all battle full of strategic plays and social intrigue
• JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF IXALAN—Explore the cavernous depths beneath Ixalan in a race to the hidden core. Will you uncover treasure and glory, or will your adventure spell certain doom?

$39.45

Buy on Amazon

Blood Rites

Commander, Theme, and Strategy

Ah vampires, the creature type that keeps Edgar Markov in the $100 range. Of Ixalan’s four main factions, vampires are the only one that’s already been at the forefront of its own Commander deck before. Twice in fact, with Commander 2017’s Vampiric Bloodlust and Crimson Vow Commander’s Vampiric Bloodline. Blood Rites follows in their footsteps, though a non-red color identity is something interesting that only Ixalan can claim for its vampires.

Bartolome del Presidio

Clavileño, First of the Blessedis your lead bloodsucker, showing off this faction’s demon tie-in from the main set (I’m not a lore guy, so I’m not sure what that’s all about). This is a fairly straightforward aristocrats-style deck, complete with all your typical Blood Artist impressionists (Falkenrath Noble and Cruel Celebrant), sac outlets with Yahenni, Undying Partisan or Bartolome del Presidio, and more.

Carmen, Cruel Skymarcher, the deck’s alternative commander, offers recursion and has the potential to hit hard. Carmen’s a payoff while Clavileño’s an enabler, and they both feel like they’d make sense at the helm. There’s also a number of other Boros () legendary vampires here that you could sub in as the commander if you so choose.

This deck has the most strategic depth of the LCC line-up. Whereas the other three decks are laser-focused on building up a board and jamming with creatures of a singular type, Blood Rites doesn’t really even need to engage in combat to get the job done. It’s more interested in producing sac fodder and letting a few Blood Artist effects do the work for you.

Notable Cards: Reprints and $$

This deck is another big winner for reprint equity. You’re looking at seven cards in the $2-$5 range, three cards that are all just shy of $10 each, and actual factual Exquisite Blood, a card that currently sells for roughly $30. Boom, that’s the price of the deck and then some! Granted, more than half of these reprints are vampire-specific payoffs, but I always underestimate just how popular vampire decks are in the community.

Charismatic Conqueror steals the newcomer show, as a new 2-drop that’s got the cEDH crowd buzzing. It’s a staxy card that’s easy to play around, but slows opponents down significantly. From the Rubble is a generic typal payoff that should see play across multiple decks, and Master of Dark Rites provides the type of mana acceleration that makes me wonder if it has any 60-card Constructed applications.

Kindred Boon, Return to Dust, Bloodghast, Bloodline Necromancer, Mind Stone, and Tainted Field all received new art in this deck.

The Verdict

If you’re a creature of the night there’s plenty to love here. I’ll venture a guess and say vampires are the most popular type of the four featured in these precons, and there are plenty of new and returning vamps to make this worth a purchase. If you already have a vampire deck, you’ll get some awesome upgrades, and you’ve got plenty of support to shape the deck up how you wish if this is your first time vamping it up. The reprints are phenomenal, but I’m going to dock Blood Rites some points for being the third vampire precon, whereas the rest are all the first of their kind. Uniqueness counts for something in a sea full of endless Commander precons.

Magic: The Gathering The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Commander Deck - Blood Rites (100-Card Deck, 2-Card Collector Booster Sample Pack + Accessories)

• PREY AT THE ALTAR—Spawn Vampire minions and sacrifice them to be reborn as flying Vampire Demons ready to sink their teeth into your opponents
• INTRODUCES 10 COMMANDER CARDS—This deck introduces 10 never-before-seen Commander cards to Magic: The Gathering
• COLLECT SPECIAL TREATMENT CARDS—Each deck also comes with a 2-card Collector Booster Sample Pack containing 2 alt-border cards from the The Lost Caverns of Ixalan set, including 1 Rare or Mythic Rare and at least 1 Traditional Foil card
• EPIC MULTIPLAYER BATTLES—Commander is a multiplayer way to play Magic, an epic, free-for-all battle full of strategic plays and social intrigue
• JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF IXALAN—Explore the cavernous depths beneath Ixalan in a race to the hidden core. Will you uncover treasure and glory, or will your adventure spell certain doom?

$47.99

Buy on Amazon

Explorers of the Deep

Commander, Theme, and Strategy

Merfolk lovers sound off! We’ve had merfolk commanders in the past, but never an actual merfolk-themed Commander deck. Explorers of the Deep dives below Ixalan’s surface to put everyone’s favorite fish-people front and center with a mechanic tie-in to LCI’s explore/Map token mechanics. I found the explore theme to be minor at best, but it plays into the +1/+1 counter synergies that are also emphasized here.

Hakbal of the Surging Soul will be your underwater guide for this deck. It’ll give you a strong merfolk payoff and a good card-advantage engine in the command zone. I’m not convinced it’ll supplant Kumena, Tyrant of Orazca as the go-to best merfolk commander, but I’m sure wherever you see one, you’re bound to see the other (Kumena’s actually in the precon!). The alternate commander is Xolatoyac, the Smiling Flood, which is slightly off-theme here, but it has already captured the hearts of many (I mean, look at that smile).

The strategy is simple: Play merfolk and use +1/+1 counter effects to pump them up. It’s nothing that exploratory for a merfolk deck, and I wish they’d leaned just a little more into the explore ability here. There’s an unnecessary amount of +1/+1 counter support, but that means your counter decks will get some generally good cards if you’re just planning on scrapping the deck. It has the same strength/weakness as Ahoy Mateys as the deck only has one primary play pattern, however, merfolk have substantially more existing support cards than pirates.

Notable Cards: Reprints and $$

We’re 3-for-3 on decks with great reprint value. This deck yields seven cards in the $2-$5 range, five between $5-$10, and another big hitter with Branching Evolution currently going for around $17. This, to me, is what it used to feel like buying precons in the early days of Commander; you usually expected a chase card in each precon. It’s worth noting that these reprints include a healthy mix of merfolk-specific payoffs and generically good cards (Metallic Mimic, Thassa, God of the Sea).

Ripples of Potential is probably the single most important new card in the entire series. People love proliferating, people love phasing their board out, and this does both at a reasonable cost. It’s also great for superfriends decks, allowing you to protect planeswalkers while bumping up their loyalty. Wave Goodbye and Tributary Instructor both have generic +1/+1 counter abilities, and I’ve heard some buzz over Singer of Swift Rivers for Constructed (I’m not qualified enough to weigh in). Deeproot Historian also has a fun call-out for the seven druid-lovers out there.

Aetherize, Merfolk Sovereign, Sage of Fables, Stonybrook Banneret, and Branching Evolution all received new art in this deck.

The Verdict

My honest opinion is that this is the least exciting of the precons, though I think it excels in enough categories to still be worthwhile. This is the first merfolk precon, but merfolk decks aren’t exactly fresh and exciting, and they didn’t commit very hard to the explore tie-in to make it feel distinct enough from the merfolk decks that have been swimming around for years now. I also don’t get too jazzed for +1/+1 counter decks, though I know those strategies have plenty of supporters out there. You’re still looking at an excellent Commander precon here, just one that’s not, ironically, exploring too much new territory.

We've also got a full guide to upgrading the deck!

Magic: The Gathering The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Commander Deck - Explorers of The Deep (100-Card Deck, 2-Card Collector Booster Sample Pack + Accessories)

• NO FISHY BUSINESS—Explore the depths for lands and buff your army of Merfolk to change the tide of battle!
• INTRODUCES 10 COMMANDER CARDS—This deck introduces 10 never-before-seen Commander cards to Magic: The Gathering
• COLLECT SPECIAL TREATMENT CARDS—Each deck also comes with a 2-card Collector Booster Sample Pack containing 2 alt-border cards from the The Lost Caverns of Ixalan set, including 1 Rare or Mythic Rare and at least 1 Traditional Foil card
• EPIC MULTIPLAYER BATTLES—Commander is a multiplayer way to play Magic, an epic, free-for-all battle full of strategic plays and social intrigue
• JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF IXALAN—Explore the cavernous depths beneath Ixalan in a race to the hidden core. Will you uncover treasure and glory, or will your adventure spell certain doom?

$39.64

Buy on Amazon

Veloci-Ramp-Tor

Commander, Theme, and Strategy

10/10 for the most eye-rolling deck name since Painbow. If it wasn’t already clear, Veloci-Ramp-Tor is a dinosaur ramp deck. That description encompasses about 95% of what this deck will be doing. Play some ramp, play some dinosaurs, and then stompy stompy stompy. It’s maybe a little too simple of a strategy for some players, but I’m not sure what else you’re expecting from a dinosaur precon. Here’s a litmus test for whether or not you should consider this deck: Do you like Jurassic Park? If the answer was “yes,” or “I saw it once when I was little and I the dinosaurs,” then yeah, this deck’s for you. Just don’t expect a lot of complexity here.

The main commander Pantlaza, Sun-Favored[/card highlights the totally new and definitely-not-cascadey “

I do want to take a moment to praise the alternate commander here. Wayta, Trainer Prodigy encourages you to fight your own creatures. It’s a clear nod to the enrage mechanic, which was mechanically linked to dinos from Ixalan and Rivals of Ixalan, but there are tons of cool and interesting uses for an ability like this. You ever have a Brash Taunter fight a Boros Reckoner? It feels like this most unique legendary creature to come out of LCC, even though it’s not an explicit typal payoff.

Oh, the strategy for the deck? I dunno, just play some dinosaurs and be happy.

Notable Cards: Reprints and $$

That’s what we call a clean sweep! I was completely prepared for a “whomp whomp” moment, but no, Veloci-Ramp-Tor got us in the door with its name and stuck the landing on reprints. We’re looking at eight cards in the $2-$5 range, two on the low end of the $5-$10 range, and three $10+ reprints. Apex Altisaur, Chandra's Ignition, and Akroma's Will are all high-value reprints that see plenty of play in Commander.

Let me take a moment to mention something that’s consistent across all four decks. Each precon delivers on reprint value, but virtually none of this value comes in the form of lands. We’re back to generic, unexciting manabases, which is a shame after we saw some improvements with the Doctor Who manabases. That’s a small point of contention for me, and I wish Commander precons would go just a little further out of their way to reprint exciting, higher-end lands in these decks. Would it kill us to get a Jetmir's Garden in the Naya () precon? Still, can’t do too much complaining, LCC absolutely killed it in the reprint department.

I already gushed about Wayta, Trainer Prodigy, but I also want to highlight Bronzebeak Foragers as a solid disruption creature similar to Grasp of Fate, as well as Progenitor's Icon, a new mana rock that generically slots into just about any typal deck.

Cultivate, Descendants' Path, Explore, Farseek, Thundering Spineback, Rhythm of the Wild, Canopy Vista, and Clifftop Retreat all received new art in this deck.

The Verdict

I mean, it’s dinosaurs. If you like big bumbling death-lizards or tiny t-rex hands make you giggle, this is probably worth the pickup. It has the same caveat as Ahoy Mateys though: Dinosaurs and pirates don’t have as large a backlog of support as vampires and merfolk. They don’t show up in premier sets as often either, so there’s only so much support moving forwards and backwards. I personally find the art of Magic’s dinosaurs to blend together and feel a little “samey,” but if that’s not a problem for you there’s just as much to love here as there was in Jurassic Park. Let’s not talk about the sequels though.

Magic: The Gathering The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Commander Deck - Veloci-ramp-tor (100-Card Deck, 2-Card Collector Booster Sample Pack + Accessories)

• LEAVE A BIG FOOTPRINT—Play extra lands and unleash dino devastation to leave your opposition facing extinction
• INTRODUCES 10 COMMANDER CARDS—This deck introduces 10 never-before-seen Commander cards to Magic: The Gathering
• COLLECT SPECIAL TREATMENT CARDS—Each deck also comes with a 2-card Collector Booster Sample Pack containing 2 alt-border cards from the The Lost Caverns of Ixalan set, including 1 Rare or Mythic Rare and at least 1 Traditional Foil card
• EPIC MULTIPLAYER BATTLES—Commander is a multiplayer way to play Magic, an epic, free-for-all battle full of strategic plays and social intrigue
• JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF IXALAN—Explore the cavernous depths beneath Ixalan in a race to the hidden core. Will you uncover treasure and glory, or will your adventure spell certain doom?

$84.94

Buy on Amazon

The Best Lost Caverns of Ixalan Commander Deck

For Value

Can I award this to the entire line-up? This might be the first time in memory there’s been a precon line-up of 4 decks where every single deck felt like it had great reprint value. I’ll land on Blood Rites for my value pick, not just because Exquisite Blood is a literal $30 card, but also because it backs that up with a number of other cards creeping towards the $10 mark. This category’s close, just know that no matter which deck(s) you purchase, you’re getting your money’s worth.

For Competitive EDH

As usual, precons are rarely geared for high-end competitive play, and that’s especially true of typal decks which don’t really pan out in cEDH. I wouldn’t recommend showing up with one of these decks to a cEDH tournament, but if you’re looking to scrap them for parts, Ahoy Mateys is your best bet for competitive staples. Black Market Connections is a huge pick-up, Malcolm, Keen-Eyed Navigator is a known cEDH contender, and the deck has a couple notable combo enablers like Pitiless Plunderer and Timestream Navigator. Plus Dockside Extortionist is a pirate, so, you know….

For Fun

This category’s a little more subjective than normal because each faction has its own set of fans and haters, but I’m going with Veloci-Ramp-Tor on this one. Cascade… er, I mean discover, is a fun mechanic for Commander, dinosaurs are imposing, stompy creatures, and Wayta, Trainer Prodigy is a surprise hit of an alternate commander that begs to be built around in different shells. The rest of the decks are fun enough, with pirates coming in as a close second for novelty reasons, and vampires/merfolk tying for third place since we’ve already seen them in action for 30 years now. Why yes, I did enjoy the first Jurassic Park movie. Why do you ask?

Commanding Conclusion

Clifftop Retreat | Illustration by Constantin Marin

That’s a wrap on Lost Caverns of Ixalan Commander. Funnily enough, now that I’m at the end of this piece, it actually feels like there’s a little bit of a disconnect between the main LCC set and the accompanying Commander precons. The spelunking, cave-exploration, underground civilization setting of the main set isn’t really present in the precons, but a return to Ixalan still demanded a “check-in” with the factions players expect to see there. I’m not sure relegating the majority of the typal elements to the Commander decks was the most elegant solution, but I really can’t complain given how good these decks seem.

Most Fun

Best for cEDH

Best Value

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Magic: The Gathering The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Commander Deck - Veloci-ramp-tor (100-Card Deck, 2-Card Collector Booster Sample Pack + Accessories)

Magic: The Gathering The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Commander Deck - Ahoy Mateys (100-Card Deck, 2-Card Collector Booster Sample Pack + Accessories)

Magic: The Gathering The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Commander Deck - Blood Rites (100-Card Deck, 2-Card Collector Booster Sample Pack + Accessories)

Magic: The Gathering The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Commander Deck - Explorers of The Deep (100-Card Deck, 2-Card Collector Booster Sample Pack + Accessories)

$84.94

$39.45

$47.99

$39.64

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-

-

Buy on Amazon

Buy on Amazon

Buy on Amazon

Buy on Amazon

Most Fun

Magic: The Gathering The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Commander Deck - Veloci-ramp-tor (100-Card Deck, 2-Card Collector Booster Sample Pack + Accessories)

$84.94

-

Buy on Amazon

Best for cEDH

Magic: The Gathering The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Commander Deck - Ahoy Mateys (100-Card Deck, 2-Card Collector Booster Sample Pack + Accessories)

$39.45

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Buy on Amazon

Best Value

Magic: The Gathering The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Commander Deck - Blood Rites (100-Card Deck, 2-Card Collector Booster Sample Pack + Accessories)

$47.99

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Buy on Amazon

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Magic: The Gathering The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Commander Deck - Explorers of The Deep (100-Card Deck, 2-Card Collector Booster Sample Pack + Accessories)

$39.64

Buy on Amazon

If you’re a typal lover with an affinity for any of these creature types, or if you’re looking for a good starting point for a typal deck, I highly recommend picking up whichever one of these decks appeals to you most. If you’re a “typal’s just not my thing” kinda player, no worries! 2024’s right around the corner, and that probably means 30+ new Commander precons in your future. It’s ok to give your wallet a rest and skip out on a precon line-up that doesn’t appeal to you.

Of course, I have to know what you all are thinking! Do you have a favorite among these decks? Did you already have a deck dedicated to the faction you went with, or is this your first time exploring a typal deck? Let me know in the comments below or over in the Draftsim Discord.

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