All 44 Tribal Commander Precons in Magic Ranked

Trevor Galvin 1 minute ago Commander, MTG Decks, MTG Products

Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver | Illustration by Chris Rallis

Hello planeswalkers!! Or should I say, hello, my human tribal members? Nope. Too weird. But what isn’t weird is that the most popular format also often runs with one of the most popular archetypes. Commander precons are widely anticipated with the release of new sets, and they often come with tribal/typal builds that fit the set's theme.

Today we will review all the typal Commander precons up through Reality Fracture. We’ll briefly (because there are many of them) break down each precon deck’s possible commanders and themes.

Let’s see which tribes are the best and which bring the most flavor!

Table of Contents show

What Are Tribal Commander Precons?

Éowyn, Shieldmaiden | Illustration by Craig Elliott

Tribal Commander precons are preconstructed, Commander-legal decks with a main strategy focused on a single or few creature types.

Tribal or typal themes in deck construction generally center around a creature type or types as the main way to gain advantages and create interactions. Typal strategies often combo, pump, ramp, and rely on having as many of the same creature type as possible.

#44. Feline Ferocity – Commander 2017

Precon Commanders

Deck Theme

Can you imagine how destructive your house cat might be with some equipment like Behemoth Sledge? Cats in Magic are quite a popular typal theme, but this is a precon that isn’t quite sure of itself. Cats are great at going wide, and Arahbo, Roar of the World provides huge upside for Voltron strategies with its eminence and attack trigger abilities. So, this precon wants to go wide and tall? Feline Ferocity is a nice precon, especially for new players, but it lacks the laser focus that makes many typal decks succeed.

#43. Vampiric Bloodline – Innistrad Crimson Vow Commander

Vampiric Bloodline Crimson Vow Commander Precon

Precon Commanders

Deck Theme

Unlike a precon like Vampiric Bloodlust, Vampiric Bloodline wants to go tall rather than wide. The aim isn’t to get as many vampires onto the battlefield as you can, but rather to cheat some massive ones like Vampiric Dragon or Timothar, Baron of Bats out. Strefan, Maurer Progenitor can do this quite easily with Blood token sacrifices. Cheating big plays into the game is great, but typal decks often play much better going wide.

#42. Growing Threat – March of the Machine Commander

Precon Commanders

Deck Theme

With their attempted takeover of the universe, we were bound to get a Phyrexian typal deck in the mix. This Orzhov Commander precon looks to benefit from Phyrexian and artifact synergies, while it also pumps creatures with counters and proliferation. You can incubate an army and proliferate your Incubator tokens until you want to unleash your horde. At times Growing Threat can feel chunky and slow, but the theme is top-notch!

#41. Draconic Destruction – 2022 Starter Commander

Precon Commanders

Atarka, World Render

Deck Theme

Draconic Destruction is a straightforward precon, so much so that it only has one commander. Atarka, World Render leads the deck and optimizes its theme: Ramp up to your massive dragons and crush your opponents. With mana dorks and cost reducers, you can play your dragons like Drakuseth, Maw of Flames and Foe-Razer Regent, and give them double strike with Atarka.

#40. Arcane Wizardry – Commander 2017

Precon Commanders

Deck Theme

Here we go, a typal and spellslinger Commander precon. What creature type could pull this off? Well, wizards, of course. Arcane Wizardry focuses on the powerful ETB triggers of wizards like Archaeomancer and also triggers from wizards when casting spells, like from Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind. This precon has a ton of value in copying hasty versions of your wizards through Inalla, Archmage Ritualist, or casting spells again from your graveyard with Kess, Dissident Mage.

#39. Ruthless Regiment – Commander 2020 / Ikoria Commander

Precon Commanders

Deck Theme

Under the command of Jirina Kudro, Ruthless Regiment can flood the board with humans and buff them for massive combat swings. You can sacrifice your small human creatures for advantages through cards like Xathrid Necromancer and Silvar, Devourer of the Free.

#38. Sneak Attack – Zendikar Rising Commander

Precon Commanders

Deck Theme

These rogues swing fast and steal what they can. Sneak Attack is a Dimir rogue typal deck that plays aggressively with benefits from said attacks. The main commander, Anowon, the Ruin Thief, turns your rogue combat damage into mill for opponents. If you can’t kill opponents outright, steal their graveyard components with cards like Endless Obedience and Sepulchral Primordial. The speed and subthemes of mill and theft make this a tricky deck for opponents to counter.

#37. Grave Danger – 2022 Starter Commander

Precon Commanders

Deck Theme

Some decks are fast, some are controlling, and some, like Grave Danger, just grind it out through persistence and slight value gains. This zombie typal precon can win in the long game through reanimation and casting zombies or creating zombie tokens in mass. The Dimir commander Gisa and Geralf can bring back a killer zombie like Overseer of the Damned each turn to grind through opponents.

#36. Heavenly Inferno – Commander 2011

Precon Commanders

Deck Theme

Rule the skies with this Mardu Commander precon that focuses on angels, demons, and dragons. All three creature types are mana-intensive and require mana ramp or a way to cheat them onto the battlefield. The main strategy for Heavenly Inferno runs through Kaalia of the Vast cheating in massive creatures like Oros, the Avenger to great effect.

#35. Guided by Nature – Commander 2014

Precon Commanders

Deck Theme

Guided by Nature is the archetypal elf tribal precon for new MTG players who want to learn how powerful typal strategies can be. You get mana effects from elves like Priest of Titania, lord effects from elves like Imperious Perfect, and a fair bit of token generation. Elves are quite strong, and this novice-friendly precon is a great example.

#34. Elven Council – The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth Commander

Precon Commanders

Deck Theme

This Elven Council knows how to delay and incentivize adversaries, buying time to develop itself nicely. This Simic elf precon looks to politick as your strategies develop. With voting abilities like will of the council from Galadriel, Elven-Queen, you gain advantages and manipulate other players into changing their decision patterns. Mind games aside, the classic elf-theme of ramping mana into massive endgame spells is alive and well in this Commander precon.

#33. Turtle Power! – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Commander

Precon Commanders

Deck Theme

Who doesn’t love the flavor and theme of a mutants, ninjas, and turtles typal build? The beloved characters can partner up in a large variety of ways to build Turtle Power! This 5-color Commander precon supports the three creature types well and pumps them up with +1/+1 counters. Many paths to choose for these Mutant Ninja Turtles; have fun!

Just as a note, not every partner combination is legal for all the colors of the deck, but if you partner any of them with Leonardo, the Balance, you’re good to go!

#32. Spirit Squadron – Innistrad Crimson Vow Commander

Precon Commanders

Deck Theme

Flying decks make it that much harder for opponents to respond to a growing army. With spirit token generators like Donal, Herald of Wings and the commander Millicent, Restless Revenant, you can go wide and even respond quickly after board wipes. With Spirit Squadron‘s themes of flickering and tapping opponents’ creatures, this deck often swings hard over the top of opponents’ defenses.

#31. Raining Cats and Dogs – Secret Lair

Precon Commanders

Deck Theme

Can’t pick between the always adorable cat or dog typal? Then adopt this lovable commander, Rin and Seri, Inseparable. This Raining Cats and Dogs Secret Lair deck has the fun of creating a cat token when you cast a dog spell and creating a dog token when you cast a cat spell. The aim is to make a ton of tokens in both creature types and play lord-like synergies like Pack Leader and Feline Sovereign.

#30. Mutant Menace – Fallout

Precon Commanders

Deck Theme

Very apt to the Fallout franchise, these mutants thrive off radiation. The three-pronged themes of Mutant Menace give rad counters to yourself and other players, get +1/+1 counters, and use graveyard and proliferate interactions to boost all your benefits. The engine of the deck works through The Wise Mothman, but it also relies on great synergies from cards like Hancock, Ghoulish Mayor, Nightkin Ambusher, Agent Frank Horrigan, and Radstorm.

#29. Mind Flayarrrs – Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur’s Gate

Precon Commanders

Deck Theme

There’s nothing horrific about this Dimir Commander precon. Led by Captain N'ghathrod, your horror creatures can turn into mill and possibly reanimation triggers when they deal combat damage to a player. Mill strategies have to be quite strong to work in Commander, thought you may just want to steal cards from opponents' graveyards. With a wide board of horrors, especially from Zellix, Sanity Flayer, Mind Flayaaars turns mill into a bomb reanimation engine.

#28. Doom Prevails – Marvel Super Heroes Commander

Precon Commanders

Deck Theme

If we have the Avengers, we also need their nemeses, right? Doctor Doom, King of Latveria heads this villain-typal Doom Prevails precon with villain synergies and a great life drain ability. This deck has some villain lords, but it thrives by pumping creatures through conniving and dealing damage by discarding lands. The result is great card draw, effective board presence, and a way to utilize resources from multiple zones.

#27. Angels: They’re Just Like Us but Cooler and with Wings – Secret Lair

Precon Commanders

Deck Theme

With by far the best name for a Commander precon, this mono-white angel tribal precon is all about the most glorious creature type. There are a ton of lifegain synergies throughout this precon, and the elusive flying mechanic makes even some simple creature plays potentially dangerous.

In a mono-color Commander deck, there are usually many options for the commander spot, but this deck is meant to be led by either Gisela, the Broken Blade or Bruna, the Fading Light. Once you have both on the battlefield, you can meld them into the deadly Brisela, Voice of Nightmares.

#26. Draconic Rage – Adventures in the Forgotten Realms Commander

Precon Commanders

Deck Theme

If you’re going to have a Dungeons & Dragons set, you have to have some dragons, right? This Gruul dragon typal precon has a plethora of strategies to accentuate your dragons. Ramp up and play many and massive dragon creatures, especially if you roll with the alternative commander Klauth, Unrivaled Ancient. Draconic Rage also has interesting dice-rolling and self-damage strategies, both driven by the main commander, Vrondiss, Rage of Ancients.

#25. Undead Unleashed – Innistrad Midnight Hunt Commander

Precon Commanders

Deck Theme

Undead Unleashed is a great name and descriptor of this Commander precon. This Dimir zombie typal deck utilizes an efficient aristocrat/reanimation combo, while you go wide with zombies. Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver brings backup token creatures for your combat and sacrifice interactions. There’s something so satisfying about sacrificing a creature like Fleshbag Marauder to an effect like Cleaver Skaab, bringing back that creature with a card like Liliana, Death's Majesty, and getting a Zombie token all in a few interactions.

#24. Most Wanted – Outlaws of Thunder Junction Commander

Precon Commanders

Deck Theme

Similar to Party Time, Most Wanted doesn’t focus on just one creature type, but a group of them. This group of outlaws includes assassins, mercenaries, pirates, rogues, and warlocks. Assembling a large group of outlaws will bring many solid synergies like Graywater's Fixer and aggression with cards like Dead Before Sunrise. The real advantages come from Treasure token creation, especially from the main commander Olivia, Opulent Outlaw. Use these tokens for solid ramp, or turn them into aggressive creatures through the alternative commander, Vihaan, Goldwaker.

#23. Draconic Domination – Commander 2017

Draconic Domination Commander 2017 Precon

Precon Commanders

Deck Theme

Bring the pain from above with Draconic Domination. This all-color Commander precon focuses on huge dragon payoffs and synergies. To get to these massive plays like Tyrant's Familiar, this deck runs a good amount of ramp and dragon cost reduction cards like Dragonspeaker Shaman. Access to all of the colors and massive endgame plays make this precon a solid choice even against newer options.

#22. Elven Empire – Kaldheim Commander

Kaldheim Commander product - Elven Empire

Precon Commanders

Deck Theme

With a strong commander and a highly focused typal strategy, Elven Empire is widely considered a great precon. The Golgari () color identity gives this deck access to a ton of great elves like Ruthless Winnower and Dwynen, Gilt-Leaf Daen. The synergies flow in this deck, and none more than the token creation and life drain potential of Lathril, Blade of the Elves.

#21. Fae Dominion – Wilds of Eldraine Commander

Precon Commanders

Deck Theme

Fae Dominion is a relatively straightforward play with its strategies. You want to play faeries and play at instant speed to leave open casting disrupting spells. You can see this in the two most widely used commanders, Tegwyll and Alela. Tegwyll, Duke of Splendor has a lord effect and card draw trigger for faeries dying. Alela, Cunning Conqueror creates an army of faerie tokens when you cast spells on opponents’ turns. A combination of these strategies makes for a tricky, fast, and deceptively good precon.

#20. Ahoy Mateys – The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Commander

Precon Commanders

Deck Theme

With a theme straight out of Pirates of the Caribbean, Ahoy Mateys is all about pirates, coming back from the dead, and plundering. As one of the most thematically forward decks of the bunch, this Grixis precon () gains a ton of value from building a large crew of pirates, creating advantages through Treasure tokens, and stealing what you can from opponents. You can win a lot of games through recursion like Admiral Brass, Unsinkable, and disrupting/stealing opponents’ strategies like Admiral Beckett Brass. Same character, two great values, all in one deck.

#19. Draconic Dissent – Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur’s Gate

Precon Commanders

Deck Theme

The dragons may not even be the main theme of Draconic Dissent, but they add a ton of value on top of the main strategy. The goal here, especially with a commander like Firkraag, Cunning Instigator, is to goad opponents and develop a dragon army while attacks are directed elsewhere. Building a great draconic army around dragons like Niv-Mizzet, Parun and pumping Firkraag while your opponents attack each other is a winning strategy.

#18. Blood Rites – The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Commander

Precon Commanders

Deck Theme

In true vampiric form, Blood Rites is about fury, sacrifice, and draining life. As with many typal decks, it's all about getting a ton of the same creature type (vampires) onto the board. What makes this precon good are the great benefits for attacking often. You have death triggers from cards like Blood Artist, and more importantly, the big token generation from death triggers through the commander, Clavileño, First of the Blessed. Add sacrificing for value, and your attacks plus death triggers should overwhelm opponents.

#17. Eternal Might – Aetherdrift Commander

Precon Commanders

Deck Theme

Reanimation and zombies is just a theme that works on every level. This Esper Commander precon takes looting and discarding and benefits from both ends. Drawing cards sets up reliable plays and can trigger payoffs with Eternal Might‘s commander, Temmet, Naktamun's Will. Discarding cards, especially through looting, sets up a graveyard ripe for reanimation. You can even use it to great effect with cards like Hashaton, Scarab's Fist. Using every decision and mechanic as a benefit and interaction leads to great results.

#16. Avengers Assemble – Marvel Super Heroes Commander

Precon Commanders

Deck Theme

It wouldn’t be Marvel without some heroes. This Jeskai Commander precon has a ton of heroes and so many ways to support the creature type. You can focus on pumping your heroes with +1/+1 counters, change the speed of the game with flash plays, or build advantages through cost reduction and card draw. Captain America, Team Leader focuses on the aggression, but if you’re more of a control and resources player, you can also choose Director Nick Fury to lead Avengers Assemble.

#15. Cavalry Charge – March of the Machine Commander

Precon Commanders

Deck Theme

These gallant knights charge in aggressively with a lot of support behind them. In a nice reversal of color strategies, this Esper deck is quite aggressive with attack triggers, recursion, and looting. Sidar Jabari of Zhalfir is by far the commander you want leading this cavalry, as it provides card draw even from the command zone. Board presence, card draw, and recursion make Cavalry Charge quite reliable and powerful.

#14. Sliver Swarm – Commander Masters

Precon Commanders

Deck Theme

Slivers are the ultimate typal creature, giving all slivers strength with each different sliver you play. The aim of Sliver Swarm is to stack killer benefits from slivers like Constricting Sliver and Shifting Sliver onto all of your sliver creatures and tokens. The commander, Sliver Gravemother, creates huge burst plays by giving your slivers in the graveyard encore. Get rid of the legend rule, and you can create some devastating swings against multiple opponents.

#13. Vampiric Bloodlust – Commander 2017

Precon Commanders

Deck Theme

Don’t make Magic too complicated. Cast cheap vampires, create tokens alongside them, pump them up, and swing hard. Vampiric Bloodlust is a pretty straightforward vampire typal deck that benefits greatly from a ton of creatures on the battlefield. This is aided by creating vampire tokens even when Edgar Markov is in the command zone. You can also go for the subthemes of lifegain with Licia, Sanguine Tribune, or politicking with Mathas, Fiend Seeker.

#12. Squirreled Away – Bloomburrow Commander

Bloomburrow Commander Deck Squirreled Away (Black-Green)

Precon Commanders

Deck Theme

Squirreled Away rewards squirreling away as many tokens and squirrels as possible. Hazel of the Rootbloom generates more mana with the more Food, Pest, Treasure, and Squirrel tokens you can generate (and even doubles up on some squirrel tokens each turn). This precon has a glut of good alternative commanders in Chatterfang, Squirrel General and The Odd Acorn Gang. It's a fantastic example of going wide and using typal effects to overcome opponents.

#11. Riders of Rohan – The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth Commander

Precon Commanders

Deck Theme

With an aggressive playstyle, token generation, and the monarch mechanic as a strong subtheme, Riders of Rohan packs a mighty punch. Éowyn, Shieldmaiden is a human typal go-wide machine, and Aragorn, King of Gondor brings the monarch advantage. Charge in and show your opponents that the realm of men is not over!

#10. Graveyard Overdrive – Modern Horizons III

Precon Commanders

Deck Theme

Most self-mill and graveyard builds don’t fall into the category of typal decks. But with Disa the Restless and an army of lhurgoyf creatures, the typal benefits of Graveyard Overdrive reveal themselves. The aim is to fill your graveyard and make absolutely massive creatures through the star stats of cards like Pyrogoyf and Barrowgoyf. Disa then creates an even bigger army through tokens and cheating lhurgoyfs from your library. The flow and utilization of mill effects make this an effective precon.

#9. Eldrazi Incursion – Modern Horizons III

Precon Commanders

Deck Theme

Eldrazi Incursion supports the Eldrazi with its 5-color, colorless-matters theme. This gives you access to a ton of value with Eldrazi like Titans' Vanguard and spells like Garruk's Uprising. The devoid mechanic still allows you to trigger colorless effects like Forsaken Monument. It’s hard to go wrong with the spell copying of Ulalek, Fused Atrocity, or the experience counters of Azlask, the Swelling Scourge.

#8. Party Time – Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur’s Gate

Precon Commanders

Deck Theme

Not a singular kind of typal deck, Party Time generates huge payoffs from a full party, which includes a cleric, rogue, warrior, and wizard. With cheap midrange creatures of all four types, changeling creatures, and a lot of recursion, a full party should be quite attainable. You can turn this into large counters payoffs with the main commander Nalia de'Arnise, Treasure tokens with the alternate commander Burakos, Party Leader, or even with a support card like Squad Commander. It’s time to party!

#7. Explorers of the Deep – The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Commander

Precon Commanders

Deck Theme

A ton of possible commanders make this Simic () merfolk typal precon so diverse in fantastic ways. As the name implies, Explorers of the Deep focuses on exploring. With a board full of merfolk, you can get a ton of mana in your hand or grow your creatures with +1/+1 counters. This strategy is accentuated when attacking with the main commander, Hakbal of the Surging Soul. With so many options for the command zone and a fantastic synergy, there is “deep” value here.

#6. Veloci-Ramp-Tor – The Lost Caverns of Ixalan Commander

Precon Commanders

Deck Theme

The top typal precons are often about ramp into massive drops, and Veloci-Ramp-Tor lives up to that in name and gameplay. Mana dorks, cheating dinosaurs onto the battlefield (discover), and massive typal interactions among dinosaurs make this deck beloved and effective. Pantlaza, Sun-Favored brings the pressure with a massive creature advantage in its discover ability. There’s even an enrage subtheme that can take this already packed deck and add even more value and interactions on top.

#5. Temur Roar – Tarkir: Dragonstorm Commander

Precon Commanders

Deck Theme

Dragon typal is such a popular theme and build, but this is the top option. Temur Roar uses the plentiful mana ramp from Temur colors () and turns that into massive dragon plays. The dragon theme also fits so well with ferocious that you can take advantage of multiple benefits each turn. Ureni is a massive cheat for dragons, while Eshki focuses on the power 4 or greater theme. Either way, this deck ramps and triggers like crazy!

#4. Goblin Storm – Secret Lair

Precon Commanders

Deck Theme

Goblin Storm is an accurate name! This Commander precon is all about leveraging goblin tactics and spellslinging. You can overwhelm opponents with massive goblin armies and throw some direct damage over the top. This mono-red precon can be quite effective with either the main commander, Zada, Hedron Grinder as a spell multiplier, or Krenko, Mob Boss as a goblin mass token creator. The speed and reliability of goblin typal makes this deck top tier.

#3. Dance of the Elements – Lorwyn Eclipsed Commander

Precon Commanders

Deck Theme

This dance focuses on playing elementals cheaply, sacrificing them, and getting those enters triggers again with some recursion. The aim of the deck should be to get a ton of mana ramp and let your elemental ETB triggers take over a game. There are a good number of cards with evoke, like Endurance, that you can get out cheaply and sacrifice after their ETB triggers, creating a token copy from the commander Ashling, the Limitless. With great elemental cards and great alternative commanders, Dance of Elements can pack a ton of punches with few upgrades needed.

#2. Everyone’s Invited! – Secret Lair

Everyone's Invited Secret Lair Commander Deck

Precon Commanders

Deck Theme

Nicknamed “tribal-tribal”, this 5-color deck gives you so many lord and typal effects with an army of changeling creatures. The main commander, Morophon, the Boundless, gives a lord effect and cost reduction to the creature type of your choice. This will benefit the hordes of changelings like Universal Automaton and Moritte of the Frost, which you can also enhance with typal cards like Brenard, Ginger Sculptor and Risen Reef. The variation and reliability in developing a great board presence bring Everyone’s Invited! to the top of the list.

#1. Eldrazi Unbound – Commander Masters

Precon Commanders

Deck Theme

This colorless Commander precon focuses on huge mana ramp, big spells, and of course, Eldrazi cascading and removal effects. Zhulodok, Void Gorger gives all your 7+ mana spells double cascade to tremendous effect. This deck doesn’t go off unless you get your mana artifacts out and start to cast massive bomb spells and creatures. Eldrazi Unbound is #1 because of its reliable mana ramp and huge payoffs like Rise of the Eldrazi, It That Betrays, and the alternate commander, Kozilek, the Great Distortion.

Commanding Conclusion

Hakbal of the Surging Soul | Illustration by Tyler Walpole

With nearly 200 official Commander precons released, and many more to come, you're allowed to be overwhelmed at times. I hope this breakdown of tribal precons gives you a bit of relief and knowledge if you want to rock your favorite creature type. Whether you’re a seasoned player looking to upgrade, or a new player looking for a good deck to start with, tribal Commander precons can fit the bill.

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Trevor Galvin

Trevor Galvin played Magic as a rowdy middle schooler in the early 2000s, then took a long break before rejoining the battle in 2017. He loves playing Limited and also plays Standard to grind for those coins. He currently lives in Japan and plays MTG Arena every day.