Science! Upgrade Guide: 20 Easy Changes You Can Make

Last updated on March 19, 2024

Perception Bobblehead | Illustration by Marina Ortega Lorente

The Science! Commander deck seemed the most hyped from the beginning, amongst energy counter fans and Fallout fans alike. But energy has always struggled with Commander-sized payoffs, and this deck doesn’t quite get there. Cards like Liberty Prime, Recharged are genuine threats, but the overall reaction to the decklist seems to be that it’s… fine.

Well, we need to change that. We need to find a way to make this deck work while we wait for what we hope will be big energy payoffs in Modern Horizons 3. So I propose an experiment. That’s Science! right? Read on to discover my hypothesis. I’ll test it when I get the deck, but any good experimental result needs replication, so perhaps that’s where you come in?

Deck Overview

Decoction Module | Illustration by Aaron Miller

Science! is a bit more like Science? More than most Commander precons these days, this Fallout deck, helmed by Dr. Madison Li is trying to do wayyyyy too many things. Perhaps they’ve been tinkering in the lab too long. As her character says in Fallout 4: “You'd think being surrounded by cutting edge laboratory equipment and some of the greatest minds the world's ever known would be enough. Only problem is the lack of transparency. I don't think we get the full story on everything that occurs down here.”

We’ve got the return of energy counters, which gets a cheer from everyone who wasn’t traumatized by Kaladesh Standard. We’ve got artifact creatures. We’ve got Mystic Forge and Panharmonicon. And we’ve got a stack of legendary creatures which all want to do different things. So how do we win?

Strengths and Weaknesses

Well, aside from lack of focus, the individual elements in those too-small packages are kind of cool. I can see a great version of this deck where you swap out the energy cards and just lean into Jeskai cheap artifacts, a lot of decent ones you likely have from Lost Caverns of Ixalan. But you’d probably be better off blinging out Tetzin, Gnome Champion if that’s your goal.

So instead, we’re going to lean into the energy theme and see if we can do the thing. The trouble with energy in Jeskailand is that there aren’t really enough payoffs, even if we swap in a pile of Kaladesh block cards. But while we wait for the second return of energy in Modern Horizons 3, when there will surely be some kind of busted MH-style payoff, we’re going to finally lean on the Bobbleheads.

“Sorry, what?” you might say about those uncommon 3-mana mana rocks. You may have noted that I cut those from my upgrade guides for each of the other three Fallout precons. All according to plan. Dr. Madison Li needs us, the player character to help them find and finish their mission. And we come packed with Bobbleheads we’ve grabbed along the way. Since Li rewards us for casting those, we’ll give it a go. There’s some cracked things they can do if you have seven, the key being the Luck Bobblehead that can make so much Treasure and perhaps win us the game.

That gives us a different look at what we’re doing. The energy cards are going to gum up the board and feint some kind of outcome while we stall for Bobblehead victory. It will be risky. It will be glorious. It will give you the feels of the game when you went against the odds, like meeting the Mirelurk Queen. And it will lose hard to Vandalblast.

So let’s see if we can make this dream functional. Spoiler alert, yes we can!

Agility Bobblehead

Suggested Cut: Crush Contraband

Agility Bobblehead is a wincon if you make it to the end. Crush Contraband is a card that makes me sad to play.

Charisma Bobblehead

Suggested Cut: One with the Machine

Mediocre sorcery-speed card draw loses out to the dream with Charisma Bobblehead, though we’re definitely in desperation mode if we’re leaning into its effect.

Luck Bobblehead

Suggested Cut: Austere Command

I don’t buy board wipes in this deck, but Luck Bobblehead is the Bobblehead nuts, if that’s possible.

Perception Bobblehead

Suggested Cut: Expert-Level Safe

See, I told you our Bobblehead dream was genius. Perception Bobblehead finds us the other Bobbleheads once we start getting critical mass.

Strength Bobblehead

Suggested Cut: Thirst for Knowledge

We don’t have artifacts to discard in this deck, so Strength Bobblehead rounds out the team. I don’t know if I buy the +1/+1 counters idea on this, but sure. Remember, in the meantime these are mana rocks, so we’re at least ramping.

As a note before we go on, there are plenty of ways you can try to protect your artifacts, like with Teferi's Protection and cards like Retract, but I just don’t think keeping this dream alive is worth all the card space for that stuff.

So let’s assume we don’t get there with this plan. What’s next?

Decoction Module

Suggested Cut: Overencumbered

Decoction Module not only goes psuedo-infinite with our next two cards, it also does so with the existing Panharmonicon and some of the aether creatures we’re going to add. There are so many pieces that work in this space, but all of them synergize with our commander and creatures, even if we don’t get all the pieces. This card’s also just good at making energy.

Overencumbered is a great card, but I don’t think making one enemy while asking them to cast Farewell is reasonable in this deck. Slot it somewhere else for (non)fun and profit. It makes me a bit sad, since it’s the best flavor win of the set, I think.

Fabrication Module

Suggested Cut: Nerd Rage

Part two with Fabrication Module. And we’re cutting a series of flavor wins from the deck that are better off elsewhere.

Animation Module

Suggested Cut: Vault 13: Dweller's Journey

Animation Module is part three. It’s probably the scariest of the Modules for opponents to see, so don’t throw this down until you can do cool things with it.

Whirler Virtuoso

Suggested Cut: Unexpected Windfall

We need tokens, energy, etc. Whirler Virtuoso does that, and it also sounds like a person I might meet in Fallout. It also contributes to your above combos if you want to make it happen.

Gonti’s Aether Heart

Suggested Cut: Loyal Apprentice

Gonti's Aether Heart and our previous card get there with Decoction Module. The Heart also goes bonkers with Mechanized Production, which is conveniently already in the deck. You should enchant something besides the Heart since that’s legendary, but this is free energy every turn.

Also note how much stuff we just added that the Mystic Forge can help pump out.

Aethergeode Miner

Suggested Cut: Nuka-Cola Vending Machine

Aethergeode Miner does a lot of combo work with the cards above and is also just value in a deck like this.

Aetherstorm Roc

Suggested Cut: Red Death, Shipwrecker

Red Death, Shipwrecker is ready to serve in your goad deck. Aetherstorm Roc is ready to combo off and just be a good reason to care about energy.

Aether Hub

Suggested Cut: Island

They clearly didn’t put anything that sounds like Kaladesh in the deck, but you should. Aether Hub is awesome in energy decks.

Inventors’ Fair

Suggested Cut:

Inventors' Fair is another great land for us. It can pick up awesome combo pieces. Or Bobbleheads. I swear that’s gonna work!

Let this also be your reminder to fix the manabase with better dual lands and such.

Aethersphere Harvester

Suggested Cut: James, Wandering Dad

Storywise, this will be hard on Dr. Li, but for us, we need a card that synergizes, and Aethersphere Harvester is amazing in a deck that makes energy.

Aetherworks Marvel

Suggested Cut: C.A.M.P.

Normally, you want Aetherworks Marvel in a deck with huge beaters. You have some big cards, but not a Colossus. Still, you’ll likely generate enough energy that this will be worth digging with. And it’ll be the ultimate Vaultdweller flex to tap this to find a Bobblehead. There’s a scene in Scanners where a dude’s head explodes, if you get my drift.

Aethertide Whale

Suggested Cut: Solemn Simulacrum

Sad Robot is just too sad for us, but Aethertide Whale gives us something annoying to do with a lot of energy to keep us alive long enough to start the Bobble-geddon.

Lightning Runner

Suggested Cut: Shaun, Father of Synths

Shaun is out, but a normal threat like Lightning Runner is in. This can win games with its extra combat phases.

Electrostatic Pummeler

Suggested Cut: Bottle-Cap Blast

And Electrostatic Pummeler is even better at winning games.

Era of Innovation

Suggested Cut: Steel Overseer

In a deck like this, I’d keep Era of Innovation on the field as long as possible to build us energy reserves.

Commanding Conclusion

Lightning Runner | Illustration by Raymond Swanland

There’s plenty to do if you hate the Bobblehead plan. You can drop a few more good energy cards like Aether Swooper or even Harnessed Lightning. You can drop Krark-Clan Ironworks and Ashnod's Altar for extra degeneracy. You can double up effects to pump incomplete combos with Strionic Resonator, Unwinding Clock, and Lithoform Engine. Those last three also slap with Bobbleheads, so you can go a little lighter on creatures if you want those.

I know some of you haters out there are gonna need to see this work to believe it. I get that. But I think this is a great way to give a deck full of mana rocks a shot at greatness while also really doubling down on the Fallout IP. To be honest, I’m not sure there’s a good enough set of payoffs for an energy deck yet, and I’m not sure artifact players really want to go Jeskai, so for me, this seems the most interesting way to make this deck work if, like me, you’ve got one on order.

Let us know what you think in the comments or on Discord, especially if you get the Bobblehead plan working in this or any other deck. The world needs to know!