Magic the Gathering’s Commander format has been met with overwhelming popularity by the players and represents a great multiplayer alternative to the Standard format of the game. With that said, the larger 100-card deck size requires a larger collection, to begin with, if you plan to build your Commander deck from scratch. That’s where Precon decks come in. As the name implies, these decks are preconstructed and packaged to let you get into the game out of the box. With 48 Precon Commander decks released, there is quite a variety, and their power strength varies. This guide will present the 10 best options for MtG Precon Commander decks.
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Magic the Gathering — The best Precon Commander decks
10. Spirit Squadron
This deck represents a great entry point for new or inexperienced players. The strategy for playing it is pretty simple and revolves around swarming the board with token creatures in the form of 1/1 flying spirits. Building off of that, the deck’s commander Millicent, Restless Revenant, is a legendary spirit that gets a discount of 1 for every spirit that you control. In addition, its ability lets it convert damage into more spirit tokens, so you’ll be commanding a ghost army in no time with this deck.
9. Undead Unleashed
Released with Innistrad: Midnight Haunt set, this zombie deck is another good entry point for beginners. This deck lets you play a different flavor of horde strategy with the commander Wilhelt, the Rotcleaver, who’s a zombie warrior that essentially resurrects your non-decayed zombies into 2/2 decayed zombie tokens whenever they die. That means that this deck can quickly overwhelm opponents with the sheer number of zombies and also has a side-strat that revolves around sacrificing your creatures to get even more zombies on the board.
8. Draconic Domination
This Precon deck was released with the Commander 2017 cycle of decks that focused on the tribal theme. What’s uniquely interesting about this deck is that it’s the only five-color deck in the format. Your commander is The Ur-Dragon, who can reduce the mana cost for all your dragons, even off-board, so if you love dragons and want to play a lot of them during the game, this deck has got you covered. Otherwise, you’d have to pay a premium in mana to get that many winged lizards out.
7. Arcane Maelstrom
If slinging spells is more in your wheelhouse, consider this instants-heavy Precon deck. This deck’s strat revolves around overwhelming your opponent through the constant pressure of your instant spells. It’s led by Godzilla-inspired Kalamax, the Stormspire, who not only lets you copy your instant spells when tapped but also grows stronger with each of those copies to boot. Moreover, this Precon, in particular, is famous for bringing some nasty new singles at the time, such as Deflecting Swat, that plenty of other Commander decks may want.
6. Entropic Uprising
Stepping away from the norm and entering the weird, this older Precon deck uses four colors, making it a Chaos deck. If you enjoy causing random mayhem on the board and don’t shy away from weird and unusual effects, then this deck is perfect for you, if you can find it. Leading the weird is Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder, who can cascade all spells you play after he’s dealt combat damage in that turn. That can result in a torrent of crazy random spellcasting in a single turn following the ensuing chaos.
5. Guided by Nature
The first deck on our list that’s led by a Planeswalker, this oldie is a mono-green deck with a strong Elf tribal theme. It was released with the 2014 Commander set. The Planeswalker leading the charge in this deck is Freyalise, Llanowar’s Fury, who provides a lot of targeted control in this otherwise swarmy deck. Playing up the control aspect of the deck is also a good number of specialist Elves, as well as ways to get extra mana and cards to keep the deck going into mid and late-game.
4. Prismari Performance
Coming out of Strixhaven and the Commander 2021 set, this Red and Blue deck is a flashy, solid, and balanced choice for any player. The deck’s Commander is Zaffai, Thunder Conductor is the star of the show, letting you not only scry when casting instants but also granting you potent effects depending on the mana cost of the scried card. The deck is the definition of the “more than the sum of its parts” trope, relying on combining its effects to reach maximum potential. In terms of playstyle, it’s a great fit for players who enjoy spell-slinging their way to victory.
3. Planar Portal
The theme of this potent deck hails from the Forgotten Realms. The main theme of the deck is to use card advantage and excess mana gained from ramping up to slowly cascade into victory. Prosper, Tome-Bound is the commander of this particular deck. He lets you exile the top card from your library and then cast it as normal, thereby building you a Treasure token to ramp with. It’s a deck that requires a bit of combo knowledge to pilot, but you can reap great rewards by playing it well.
2. Breed Lethality
This odd four-color Precon deck relies heavily on the tutoring Partner mechanic. The deck’s commander Atraxa, Praetor’s Voice, is an absolute powerhouse that can singlehandedly carry games for you. In keeping with Atraxa’s special ability to manipulate counters, this deck as a whole likes to play around with counters of all sorts around the table, letting you set up situations to your benefit. This Precon is an extremely well-rounded deck for anyone looking to get into the Commander format.
1. Vampiric Bloodlust
Another tribal deck on our list, this one focuses around Vampires. It was released with the Commander 2017 set, and leverages powerful Vampire cards to beat down your opponents. Leading by example, the deck’s Commander is the Vampire Knight Edgar Markov, who is not only a strong creature on his own (thanks to Haste and First Strike) but can also provide your board with 1/1 Vampire tokens, as well as buffing your strong Vampire cards when he attacks. The decks’ instants provide extra utility and control to give you a good balance of strategy and sheer vampiric power.
