Hi everyone! 2023 was an exciting year for Magic players, as we got a pretty stunning variety of sets throughout the months. While there was definitely some mixed reception from set-to-set, it’s safe to say that there were a lot of really awesome additions to the game that we’ve gotten to play around with. Sticking with their recent support plan for Commander, there have been a heck of a lot of precon decks added to the game. We’ve done a fair bit of review work on some of these, so it’s safe to say we’ve had a good look at most of them. We’re going to list some of our favorites here, so feel free to keep an eye out for any that you might want to pick up while they’re still reasonably accessible!
These are in no particular order and are not looked at based on any one particular factor, but there is a general trend in that most of the decks this year are a solid step up in construction from previous years. To avoid too much repetition: the lands, mana rocks, and removal/interaction has improved across the board. While there is still some room for improvement, the decks are much more playable right out of the box than they have been before, and personally I (Loxi) believe that is quite an improvement for introducing new players to the game, as deckbuilding for EDH can be a bit daunting at first.
Loxi – Lost Caverns of Ixalan: Explorers of the Deep
First up, I think this deck highlights perfectly what I’m excited about regarding recent precons. This deck has a clear theme and even the cards that are off theme (which is a common talking point of preconstructed decks, as some cards are clearly just injected into the deck due to colors) have a purpose and usable role, albeit a niche one. Some of the new cards are great in the deck but also a great addition to other Merfolk typal decks, and giving reprints to popular typings is always a warm welcome. It might not be anything groundbreakingly new, but it’s a deck that can really hold it’s own as-is but also has room to grow. Check out our upgrade article on the deck here.
Loxi – Tales from Middle-earth: Food and Fellowship
I need to make something clear: before this deck, I was a Food non-believer. While previously it had been a theme supported throughout exactly like one set, there were still plenty of people that got some solid play out of commanders like Gyome, Master Chef, but I was a true doubter. I thought those decks required way too much work for the payoff and that food was just a lackluster mechanic. After this deck hit shelves, I quickly realized that it only needed a little bit more support to get rolling. This deck can make a serious value engine that is really tough to stop if you don’t have a hand full of answers, and it provides plenty of threats to actually close out games. It also is a great case of using a set mechanic in a way that doesn’t feel parasitic – even if you play this deck years down the line, the “Ring Tempts You” mechanic will still feel relevant and quite powerful here. This was easily my most underrated deck of the year. Check out our upgrade article on the deck here.
Loxi – March of the Machine: Growing Threat
Phyrexians date back to the earliest days of magic history, but they were always a creature typing that lacked any real synergy or support. With the coming of the Phyrexians in All Will Be One, they started to pump the gas on some new creatures that could really pull their weight as commanders, but they still lacked a distinct flavor to tie them together. Growing Threat brought some unique flavor for them to the table while holding true to the classic counters and proliferate tactics that past Phyrexians favored, making it pretty compatible with a lot of fun cards from Magic’s past while allowing you to play with all the new toys for the typing. The one major downside is that Phyrexians aren’t necessarily creatures that will get printed regularly, so we’ll have to keep an eye out for future additions for this deck. Overall, it’s still a great pick since it has a pretty unique playstyle and brings a new type of deck to play that previously didn’t exist. Check out our upgrade article on the deck here.
FromTheShire – Lost Caverns of Ixalan: Veloci-Ramp-Tor
Dinosaurs first made their official appearance in the original Ixalan set but this return set is the first time we got a dedicated precon, and boy is it a winner. The deck is very good right out of the box between the excellent mechanics of the commander choices, and it really hums with cards from the original set added in. Creature based precons can suffer from the individual creatures being kind of weak and needing to draw your synergy pieces to be on even footing, not this deck though. Your Dinos are going to be sizeable threats even in a vacuum, and once you start stapling on their abilities, chaining them together, and getting repeated free value off of your commander, the whole table is in danger. Sometimes you just want to repeatedly slam the biggest threat at the table and dare your opponents to answer it or die, knowing full well there’s another Ghalta, Primal Hunger level threat right behind it. An absolute ton of fun, check out our upgrade article on the deck here.
FromTheShire – Tales from Middle-earth: The Hosts of Mordor
Okay full disclosure, I’m cheating a little bit with this one. While I do like this deck out of the box, I like it even better as a starter for a Sauron, the Dark Lord deck. The precon includes most of what you want for lands, ramp, and LoTR synergy pieces, and you can have a perfectly playable deck with simply swapping out the commander. There’s plenty of pieces of support for being tempted by The Ring which can be a problem with these niche mechanics, and I would be surprised if we don’t get even more support once Middle-earth is revisited. Amass is still a very new mechanic that we’re only just beginning to explore, and that holds promise down the road as new sets allow us to amass new Army types and add additional support for them. Saruman, the White Hand from the deck also gives some support for Orcs and Goblins, which we will also hopefully be seeing more for. For our own BPhillipYorks take on a Saruman deck, check out our upgrade article on the deck here.
