Okay, I lied. I actually own closer to 30 commander decks but saying that out loud hurts my wallet a little. Commander, the singleton Magic: The Gathering format where you build 100 card decks around a single legendary creature called your 'commander', is perhaps my favourite format.
However, part of the problem with it is that it can get quite expensive. I regularly show up to tables where players play single cards worth more than my entire deck. This is why one of my very favorite things to do with the format is play with budget and/or preconstructed decks. When choreographed, I've found most tables have a good deck to match you. This Cyber Monday, there are a few great deals on precons that are both strong enough to rock up to most tables and cheap enough to not spoil the love you can find in an otherwise fantastic little card game.
Quick Links
- 1. Graveyard Overdrive | $34.99 at Best Buy
- 2. Creative Energy | $34.99 at Best Buy
- 3. Five-deck bundle | $138.99 at Amazon
Graveyard Overdrive
Modern Horizons 3, the set that this deck comes from, is one of the most premium Magic: The Gathering sets of the last few years, and the MSRP reflects that. The two Modern Horizons 3 decks we've highlighted are the least popular of the 4 from this set but this is still a great deck that can hold up even at tables with custom-constructed decks.
Being black, red, and green, this deck is all based on sending your own cards to the graveyard, and then pulling them back out to swarm your enemies.
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The commander card here is Disa the Restless, who can pull Lhurgoyf creature cards out of your graveyard and put them straight onto the field. This all sounds good but the reason why this deck is a little less popular is it doesn't have as many Lhurgoyf creatures as one might hope.
This means you have a clear upgrade path in front of you if you fancy putting a few more bucks into the deck but it's capable by itself, and a lot of fun once it gets going.
Creative Energy
Creative Energy is a solid deck all based on creating and using energy, with a sub-theme of creating artifacts and taking down your enemies in choreographed attacks. If you like the idea of storing energy and firing it in a kamehameha-like blast at your enemies, Creative Energy might be the deck for you.
It's important to note that these decks are premium sets so $35 is very reasonable for cards of this quality and price point. The decklist for Creative Energy has a few pretty pricey cards like Akroma's Will and Farewell, which are potential staples of their respective mana bases. You generally won't get your money back in selling these cards as singles but they are more than worth the cost of them on sale.
Satya, Aetherflux Genius, the face commander of this set copies creatures when he attacks and attacking creates energy. You can then use this energy to further build your board out. If your enemies don't watch your board state carefully, you can build up an insurmountable force and take the win in one fell swoop.
March of the Machines commanders
Buying 5 decks at once is a great way to get a saving, if you want that many decks, but this Cyber Monday deal is a saving on a saving, getting $250 worth of decks for just shy of $140. The black/white deck is a Phyrexian (Magic: the Gathering's demons) cat deck that is about summoning Phyrexians, letting them die in combat, and proliferating counters to kill your foes.
Following this up is the black/white/blue deck that is all about summoning knights and taking down your enemies with a regal army.
After this is the green/white/red set based on the backup mechanic, where this attacks with multiple creatures to give attack bonuses. Alone, this falters but together, it is strong.
Second last is the white/red/blue deck, using creatures to make your spells much cheaper.
Finally, the red/blue/green deck is a stompy green deck that uses artifact creatures to build a board presence and overrun the piddly creatures of the rest of the table.
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If you want to give your older gaming PC an early Christmas present, I've got the perfect system upgrade for you for less than $370
Here's the Cyber Monday monitor deal I would be buying, if I wasn't an inveterate MMO player and had already spent over $142 on access to catboys and Xal'atath this year
