I’m very excited to see what is in these decks! Obviously, there are some I like more than others just like everyone else, but let me know which you’re looking most forward to in the comments!

Today I’m going to go over the new cards from each new March of the Machine Commander Precon deck, give a few thoughts on the lists in general, and splat some cards in there that might make some decent upgrades. However I won’t be covering the new planes cards in this article.

 

Deck: Call for Backup

This deck largely focused on gaining +1/+1 counters, sharing abilities, and crushing your opponents into a fine paste. Pretty Naya stuff going on with this deck, but the backup ability does offer some flexibility and with a whopping 40 creatures to target with that ability, we are sure to get something done with this deck.

 

Bright-Palm, Soul Awakener

The first card to review is the face commander Bright-Palm, Soul Awakener. This legend costs 1RGW with a 4/3 body, which is a good rate. Its first ability is a new one called Backup (1), which gives a +1/+1 counter to a creature when it enters the battlefield. If you target another creature with this ability and not Bright-Palm, that other creature then gains the second part of this card until end of turn.

The second ability reads that whenever this creature attacks, double the number of +1/+1 counters on target creature. That creature can’t be blocked by creatures with power 2 or less this turn. So here we get to potentially double up counters on something twice if we give Bright-Palm haste and the counter to another creature, and some evasion against chump blockers. Pretty good for leading a crush into an opponent’s defenses.

 

Shalai and Hallar

For our secondary commander we have Shalai and Hallar, a commander that costs 1RGW for a 3/3 body with flying and vigilance. Again, a good rate on the creature here. Its only other ability is that whenever one or more +1/+1 counters are put on a creature you control, Shalai and Hallar deals that much damage to target opponent.

While Bright Palm focuses on buffing your creatures for combat, Shalai and Hallar instead deals direct damage to an opponent when you add +1/+1 counters to creatures you control, turning some into “burn spells”. Cathars’ Crusade could be even more ridiculous here, and as you add counters to cards like Ashling the Pilgrim or Sunscorched Regent, things could get scary fast. Of course paired with Brightpalm, it gets even scarier.

There is some combo potential here too. Heliod, the Sun Crowned makes Shalai and Hallar an instant table knockout without being interacted with as long as you can start damaging an opponent with the team up Legend after giving it lifelink with Heliod. Just don’t do it to your friends.

 

Conclave Sledge-Captain

Another newly printed card for this precon is Conclave Sledge-Captain, dropping at 5 and Green. It has Backup 1 three times, so you can target three different creatures, and then they gain trample and whenever those creatures deal combat damage to a player, put that many +1/+1 counters on this creature. Maybe this deck should be called tear down because that’s a lot of potential. At 6 mana you should be able to get something through to trigger it, especially with the other cards in this deck helping with buffs and the evasion from Conclave Seldge-Captain.

 

Death-Greeter’s Champion

Our next card is Death-Greeter’s Champion. It's 2 and Red for a 2/1 with Dash 3R, Backup 1, and Double Strike. The Dash ability here really makes the card better than mediocre and into good territory. You never have to attack with it, you get the Backup ETB, and it gets bounced back to your hand to be reused. As I’ve stated before, these shared abilities are going to get out of hand, and adding Double Strike to Trample will certainly cause someone distress.

 

Emergent Woodwurm

Emergent Woodwurm is our next card, and sits a 6 and Green for a 4/4 body. That is not a great cost, so let’s continue on. It does have Backup 3, so it can be a 7/7 if you want it to, but let’s look at the ability it gets to share if we don’t. Whenever this creature attacks, look at the top X cards of your library, where X is its power. You may put a permanent card with mana value X or less from them onto the battlefield. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order.

There’s the meat of it. You get to grab something off the top and put it directly into play, depending on this or another creature’s power. With the balancing act in play with the 4/4 body, it all makes sense. +1/+1 counter strategies are very good, and I can see this card digging deep. The fact that the Backup ability gets around the need for haste is also well represented here since the ability itself is an ETB. You can get immediate value by targeting another creature and swinging away.

 

Guardian Scalelord

Guardian Scalelord is up next, and costs 4 and White for 3/4 flying dragon. It also has Backup 1, and it can share the following ability. Whenever this creature attacks, return target nonland permanent card with mana value X or less from your graveyard to the battlefield, where X is this creature’s power.

Sun Titan-esque effects have been coming around more and more, and this isn’t a slouch in that department. The ability being dependent on the power of the cards just makes this scalable, and I’m sure there is an infinite attack combo in there somewhere that helps get around fog effects.

 

Ichor Elixir

Ichor Elixir is bubbling up. It is a 4 mana artifact that says if you would roll one or more planar dice, instead roll that many planar dice plus one and ignore one. It can also tap to add two colorless mana to your mana pool.

Not much to say about this one. Getting a better Sisay’s Ring but in most cases a worse Hedron Archive is fine. Pull this one out if you don’t want to play Planechase and add something else. Otherwise it is serviceable.

 

Mirror-Style Master

Mirror-Style Master stands upon the snow covered peaks of probably Kamigawa with at 4 and Red Red with another backup 1. Their ability reads that whenever this creature attacks, for each attacking modified creature you control, create a tapped and attacking token that’s a copy of that creature. Exile those tokens at end of combat.

There are a few things to unpack here. First is that this could be a huge surprise attack if you can give this creature haste and put that counter on another creature to share the ability with Backup. Another thing is that it cares about modified creatures. This means anything that has a +1/+1 counter, equipment or aura attached to it. That makes it better in a larger swathe of decks like Chisiro, the Shattered Blade. Lastly, those tokens don’t last long as they are exiled at the end of combat, which means no death triggers unless you sacrifice them yourself.

 

Path of the Pyromancer

We continue down the list by following the Path of the Pyromancer, a sorcery for 4 and Red. It says to discard all the cards in your hand, then add R for each card discarded this way, and then draw that many cards plus one. I really like this effect on a wheel type card, as it lets you recover and rewards more risky behavior which is very much in Red’s, erhm, wheelhouse, by tempting you to discard more cards for more mana.

It has a second effect however in the new Will of the Planeswalkers. Starting with you, each player votes for planeswalk or chaos. If planeswalk gets more votes, you planeswalk (by flipping over a new card from the planar deck for Planechase). If chaos gets more votes or is tied, chaos ensues.

I think this card will be fine to use outside of the Planechase variant of commander, so I see Will of the Planeswalkers as just added fun.

 

Uncivil Unrest

Lastly for the Call for Backup deck we have Uncivil Unrest. It is an enchantment that costs 4 and Red, and gives your nontoken creatures riot. Not bad and something I had hoped they’d expand on with this deck, especially as a synergistic haste source for the creatures within. It then says if a creature we control with a +1/+1 counter on it would deal damage to a permanent or player, it deals double the damage instead. With that we come full circle on the description of this deck: It can hit like a truck.

 

Thoughts On Call For Backup:

The decklist itself has a lot of old standbys, but I can’t help but think this could have been pushed a little more. I haven’t played with the deck yet, and evasion seems to be in good amount, but the deck isn’t doing anything novel. Still, it will be effective and might be a good place to start as a commander player and modify as you go. They also tried adding a lot of Red +1/+1 counters matter cards, which I applaud them for. Red usually doesn’t get anything in those regards.

I suggest adding some removal to the deck as it seems somewhat lacking.

Creature based decks are still very weak to mass removal. Boros Charm and Heroic Intervention might find a home alongside the Inspiring Call in this deck. Protecting your creatures from being destroyed by targeted removal is also a priority. Shalai, Voice of Plenty works great here.

As far as crushing power goes, Vigor will add some extra benefit to your combat step as any damage dealt to your creatures is just transformed into counters for your creatures. Halana and Alena, Partners and Leinore, Autumn Sovereign might also be good includes just to add counters and get some value. If you really want to push that damage, the tried and true Xenagos, God of Revels makes your forces tower over any opposition and Duskshell Crawler and Kodama of the West Tree helps you run over them. Of course, we can’t forget Vorinclex, Monstrous Raider here either to push those counters through the roof.

 

Deck: Cavalry Charge

The second deck we have is an Esper (WUB) Knight focused deck. As with all decks focused on a creature type, we want a large number of the creatures and things that support that type. By and large, this precon does not disappoint in that department.

 

Sidar Jabari of Zhalfir

The face commander of the deck is a legendary (of course) Human Knight Sidar Jabari of Zhalfir for 1WUB with a 4/3 body with flying and first strike. Notable on this commander is the return of Eminence, which is usually looked down upon at commander tables as too much free value. Here though I think we have a winning version. It says that whenever you attack with one or more knights, if Sidar Jabari of Zhalfir is in the command zone or on the battlefield, draw a card, then discard a card. When we look at that ability, we aren’t even up a card at the end and we don’t get a freebie because we have to commit to an attack with a specific creature type! This is a good, limited Eminence ability in my opinion.

It doesn’t stop there though. His second ability means that you want him in the thick of battle or at least on the table. It reads that whenever Sidar Jabari deals combat damage to a player, return target knight creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield. So, when he attacks, his own Eminence triggers, you get some card selection, pitch a knight to the yard and probably hit someone because he has flying. Then when you do, you get that knight you pitched for the deep discount of free! I have to say I’m really loving the design of this commander.

 

Elenda and Azor

The secondary commander is the teaming up of Elenda and Azor (I didn’t see this coming!). This 6 drop is a 3WUB Vampire Knight Sphynx with a 6/6 body, flying and ward 2. The first ability reads when you attack with this creature, you may pay XWUB. If you do, draw X cards. Not too bad, but four mana for one card is a tad high. At least it is repeatable on a protected evasive creature.

The second ability reads at the beginning of EACH end step, you may pay 4 life. If you do, create a number of 1/1 black vampire knight creature tokens with lifelink equal to the number of cards you’ve drawn this turn. I think this ability here is the main event on the card. We won't always be able to attack, but we can always draw some more cards with Rhystic Study, Mystic Remora, Esper Sentinel, Painful Truths, etc. For the precon deck it works very well with the commander and a number of other cards in the deck, plus those tokens are knight tokens.

 

Exsanguinator Cavalry

That is a cool name to say aloud. I recommend you try it.

Anyway, I really like menace on my creatures and this one is no slouch. It also has lifelink to complement the evasion and a 2/3 body for just 2 and Black. It goes on to say that whenever a knight you control deals combat damage to a player, put a +1/+1 counter on the creature and create a Blood token.

Okay, we have an evasive knight who helps to pump knights that get through. Pretty good for a 3 drop eh? Why it makes the blood token is probably the discard it can provide, but I’m sure it will be a fine addition to Strefan, Maurer Progenitor and Anje, Maid of Dishonor decks everywhere as well.

 

Xerex Strobe-Knight

While not a part of the commander set of cards, I did want to take a section to mention Xerex Strobe-Knight. It does make us knight tokens if we cast 2 or more spells in the turn and is a knight itself with flying and vigilance, even if it doesn’t contribute much else to the deck besides a look at a mysterious plane. Still, this might find a home in a deck built around flash and it does count towards our creature count with a relevant typing.

 

Herald of Hoofbeats

Herald of Hoofbeats and memories right here! This is a Blue Knight for 3 and Blue for a 3/3 body. Its ability is Horsemanship, and it gives other knights you control Horsemanship!

This is the finisher to the deck when you can swarm your opponents and end their plans. For those that don’t know, only creatures with Horsemanship can block a creature with the ability. This card essentially makes every knight you have unblockable unless an opponent has a creature with Horsemanship. Really, just a chef’s kiss include here on flavor and utility.

Vodalina Wave-Knight

We have another new and Blue knight in Vodalian Wave-Knight. It’s a 2WU creature with a 3/3 body and only one ability which reads that whenever you draw a card, put a +1/+1 counter on each other Merfolk and Knight you control.

Here is one of the anthem or lord effects for the deck, and synergises well with the commander since we draw on the attack plus the normal draw we get for the turn. This card will eat removal, I guarantee it, and it deserves that respect and more.

It might go to work in a Merfolk deck someday as well, but we’ll have to wait to see if we return or Lorwyn for more White and Blue merfolk I think, but it could find a home in current lists and Bant lists as well for that creature type.

Maybe someday they will give it Seahorsemanship? I’ll see myself out…

 

Locthwain Lancer

Riding up next we have Locthwain Lancer, a 5 drop at 4 and Black with Meance and a 5/5 body. Their ability reads whenever a nontoken knight you control dies, each opponent loses 1 life and you draw a card. Nothing like mass removal insurance with upside! Essentially this card lets you recover from a wipe while hurting your opponents. There is a slight downside in that it doesn’t count tokens, but they are probably fodder anyway.

Remember that the draw is not optional.

 

Path of the Enigma

We start into our spells section with Path of Enigma. This card is a Sorcery for 4 and U, and simply states that a target player draws 4 cards. It however also has Will of the Planeswalkers, which allows everyone to vote, starting with you, to vote for Planeswalk or Chaos. If planeswalk wins the vote, you then use the planar deck and switch plane cards, or if chaos ties or gets more votes, chaos ensues on the plane you’re on.

This one isn’t as good in my opinion as Path of the Pyromancer, largely owing to the sorcery speed. The most intriguing part of this card to me is the reference to probably Kasmina who was largely absent from the March of the Machine story or some other cabal of wizards.

 

Conjurer’s Mantle

What is a knight without armor? Conjurer’s Mantel somewhat ironically hails from Kamigawa based on its art, and is a White equipment for 1 and White with equip 1. The equipped creature gets +1/+1 and has Vigilance, and whenever equipped creature attacks, look at the top six cards of your library. You may reveal a card that shares a creature type with that creature (the equipped creature) from among them and put it into your hand. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order.

Six cards deep seems to be a thing in this set, but that just means you are probably not going to whiff hard on the effect, which I think we can all be thankful for. This little equipment seems fine in dedicated creature-typed decks like this one and Warriors, Angels, Soldiers and possibly even Archers if that’s your jam. It being only White means it is limited to what decks can use it, but I think that’s fine considering the general support it offers the color it’s in.

 

Ichor Elixir

I covered this card above in the Call for Backup Deck. If you want to play with planar cards, keep it in. If you aren’t, an easy card to remove.

 

Chivalric Alliance

We have some new card advantage in White with this enchantment. Chivalric Alliance costs 1 and White, and says whenever you attack with two or more creatures, draw a card. For 2 and discarding a card, we can create a 2/2 White and Blue knight creature token with vigilance.

So, this card can feed itself and lends some support to some other cards in the deck like Vodalian Wave-Knight. It’s a fine card, but it won’t beat out things like Esper Senintel unless you are attacking a bunch anyway, which in this deck you probably are. In more aggressive decks, this will make a fine additional draw source and pitch fodder to the graveyard for some commanders, like Sidar Jabari of Zhalfir himself.

 

Thoughts on Cavalry Charge:

I think this deck out of the box is going to perform fine. It has a large smattering of knights including Knight Exemplar, Syr Konrad the Grim and Ethersworn Adjudicator, and a number of good reprinted creature-type synergy cards like Knight’s Charge and Vanquisher’s Banner. So far these decks are looking to be fairly well put together out of the box, even if the land counts seem a tad high. Vault of the Archangel might be a good land to add.

I might add a bit more recursion. We have some, but depending on the commander and the few other sources we have probably isn’t going to be enough. Likewise, a few more ways to close the game. We have some hitters in Herald of Hoofbeats and Corpse Knight if you work in a combo, but I think Arkoma’s Will would make a fine addition to the deck. Knights tend to be grounded, so using Akroma’s Will can get you over the top.

 

Deck: Growing Threat

Our third deck from March of the Machine is Growing Threat, a deck based around Phyrexians, artifacts, and the mechanic Incubate (think of them like eggs). This deck is White and Black and revolves around tokens, sacrifice and proliferation.

 

Brimaz, Blight of Oreskos

Our fearsome face commander for this deck is Brimaz, Blight of Oreskos (poor Brimaz). This legend costs 2WB and has a 3/4 body. His abilities are whenever you cast a Phyrexian creature or artifact creature spell, incubate X, where X is that spell’s mana value. So, if you wanted to cast a Blightsteel Colossus, you’d get an incubation token with 12 +1/+1 counters on it. Each incubation token you make has “2: transform this artifact”. It then becomes a 0/0 Phyrexian creature and you can attack and block as normal (summoning sickness applies). Remember, the incubation side of the token is not a creature, it is only an artifact.

It’s a fairly powerful ability, even without my giant-sized example. Though it doesn’t outright give a free creature, it mostly does, especially ones that can dodge a board wipe and other removal outside of Vandalblast effects.

His second ability says at the beginning of EACH end step, if a Phyrexian died under your control this turn, proliferate. This could get out of hand if you sacrifice a Phyrexian every turn. Something like Skrelv’s Hive and a sacrifice outlet like Phyrexian Ghoul can at least put you ahead. Your creatures, and possibly poison, might force the issue of compleation on your opponents.

 

Moira and Teshar

The secondary commander for this deck is Moira and Teshar, and I’d like to take a minute to mourn Moira and Teshar. … Okay, now that is out of the way, let’s look at this team up. They cost 3WB to drop to the table and have a 4/5 body with flying. Their ability states whenever you cast a historic spell, return target nonland permanent card from your graveyard to the battlefield. It gains haste. Exile it at the beginning of the next end step. If it would leave the battlefield, exile it instead of putting it anywhere else.

This ability isn’t too bad, though the exiling could be tough over time. Its ability is flexible though, and gets back a permanent for a turn. Planeswalkers are a primary example here with the proliferation in the deck, but even a clutch permanent of another type might be all you need for victory. Unfortunately, you can’t blink your permanents to keep them around.

 

Filigree Vector

Our third new card for this deck is Filigree Vector. This card is a White artifact that costs 3 and White for a 1/1 body. That’s fairly small, so the abilities must be awesome. Let’s read. The card says that when Filigree Vector enters the battlefield, put a +1/+1 counter on each of any number of target creatures and charge counters on each of any number of target artifacts. That’s a nice throwback to the charge counters of Mirrodin block and various other cards from throughout Magic’s history.

Its second ability reads 1, tap sacrifice another artifact: Proliferate. Here we have more support for the incubation tokens made by the face commander and just a generally good proliferator. You can’t sacrifice Phyrexians to this effect unless they are artifacts though. Luckily those incubation tokens will make excellent fodder.

 

Vulpine Harvester

Next comes Vulpine Harvester. A 3/3 for 3 and White, its sole ability reads whenever one or more Phyrexians you control attack, return target artifact card from your graveyard to the battlefield if its mana value is less than or equal to their total power.

Now this is something I haven’t seen almost ever, and I don’t think I’ve seen it in recursion. This card allows you to recur an artifact based on the power of ALL the attacking Phyrexians you control. That’s pretty darn good! It’s limited to triggering Phyrexians which is fine in this deck. I don’t know if most want to face off against this running around in the wild getting any old thing back with just any critters (although I’m sure most would want to use it themselves).

 

Blight Titan

The fifth card is Blight Titan, a 4 Black Black cost creature with a 6/6 body and deathtouch that makes me wonder about the titan cycle from earlier core sets. Its second ability is also very titan-cycle-esque, stating that whenever Blight Titan enters the battlefield or attacks, mill two cards, then incubate X, where X is the number of creature cards in your graveyard.

So, this guy will usually bring a buddy to play alongside with, and then just keep making buddies that get bigger. Not too shabby. Remember incubation tokens aren’t creatures, they have to be transformed, which can dodge most removal and board wipes. Whatever threat this presents only grows the longer it stays alive.

 

Darksteel Splicer

Our sixth card is a splicer, a kind of sub-Phyrexian that specializes in Golem creatures. It’s been a while since we’ve seen one, so let’s take a look.

It says whenever Darksteel Splicer or another nontoken Phyrexian enters the battlefield under your control, create X 3/3 colorless Phyrexian Golem artifact creature tokens, where X is the number of opponents you have.

Its next ability simply states the Golems you control have indestructible. Well, General Ferrous Rokiric would like a word.

I also want to note that all other Splicers have been errata'd to be Phyrexians.

 

Excise the Imperfect

Now onto our seventh card and to the spells with Excise the Imperfect. A 1WW instant removal spell that says exile target nonland permanent. Its controller incubates X, where X is its mana value.

Pretty solid removal and a decent trade. I wouldn’t fear the incubation tokens or the Phyrexians they become with this card. They don’t come with evasion built in, eat some mana from opponents resources to flip, and can be chumped all day. Exiling a nonland permanent at 3 mana value at instant speed is just about all the upside you need. In rare scenarios, you might even want to exile something you control to get the token.

 

Path of the Schemer

Path of the Schemer, featuring the low-laying Tezzeret, is a sorcery for 4 and Black. It says each player mills two cards. Then you put a creature card from a graveyard onto the battlefield under your control. It’s an artifact in addition to its other types.

Okay, not bad. Reminds me of Extract from Darkness, but more splashable. Of course, there is also Will of the Planeswalkers to consider. This ability says that starting with you each player votes for Planeswalk or chaos. The resulting vote has that effect when using a planar deck for Planechase. Planeswalk has to get the most votes, chaos can get the most or tie.

All in all, it’s an okay card that can work in many decks. The Red one is still my fave so far.

 

Bitterthorn, Nissa’s Animus

Sword of the Animist with legs, basically. It being costed at 3 mana and 3 to equip makes it slower than Sword BUT it starts equipped to a germ token, which makes it faster initially because you don’t have to take time to make that first equip. Overall, I love Sword of the Animist, and I think this will easily find a home in many decks.

 

Ichor Elixir

The last card is Ichor Elixir, but I’ve covered that twice now.

 

Thoughts on Growing Threat:

The deck seems very capable of what it wants to do, though I think getting it going at a fast pace takes Brimaz on the field. I think a lot of the cards can stand on their own though and with 33 creatures total you shouldn’t be short on a supply of bodies. This deck doesn’t focus on Toxic, Infect or Poison, but it has enough proliferation from the commander zone that you might consider a card here and there. Skithiryx the Blight Dragon might be a good inclusion, or perhaps Ria Ivor, Bane of Bladehold to support a more go wide approach.

 

Deck: Divine Convocation

Our fourth deck is a Jeskai convoke centric deck. I have to admit I’m a bit skeptical of this deck. There aren’t many convoke cards I’d consider good in White to add here. Luckily we are getting a batch of Blue and Red ones with March of the Machines, and since White is or was the secondary convoke color, I’m going to keep my mind open. Let’s dive in.

 

Kasla, the Broken Halo

Our face commander for this deck is Kasla, the Broken Halo, a 6 drop for 3 URW with flying, vigilance and haste with a 5/4 body. Alright, so the cost is okay, but many cards do more at that cost so let’s keep going.

Her first ability is convoke, which means we can tap creatures we control to help cast her. That makes things a whole lot better. She could potentially be free, though realistically we’re looking at 4 drop if we play her when first able excluding ramp we might get. Still, this gets us a commander tax discount, so nothing to stare down our noses at.

Skipping over the keywords I mentioned before to the third ability, the card states whenever you cast another spell that has convoke, scry 2, and then draw a card. This is definitely something we need to sift through the deck and continue to get value. Even with the new convoke cards, we need to hit them to remain viable as a strategy. Let’s move on and take a look at the other new cards in the deck.

 

Saint Traft and Rem Karolus

Our secondary commander is Saint Traft and Rem Karolus, a team up for URW with a 3/4 body. Hard to get down without fixing, but the abilities might be worth it.

Their first ability is a bit, but it says whenever Saint Traft and Rem Karolus becomes tapped (say, through convoke or attacking), create a 1/1 red Human creature token if this is the first time this ability has resolved this turn. If it’s the second time, create a 1/1 blue Spirit creature token with flying. If it’s the third time, create a 4/4 white Angel creature token with flying.

Okay, so the first resolution gives a 1/1 red human, second a 1/1 blue flying spirit, and the third a white 4/4 flying angel. Let’s move on.

Their second ability says that whenever we cast a spell with convoke, they get to untap. Well, that’s pretty straight forward. Tapping them and untapping them through other means are always on the table as well, like crewing a vehicle or using cards like Intruder Alarm or Augusta, Dean of Order.

Again it points to the deck needing a good mass of convoke spells, so let’s hope they are in there. I’d say we need somewhere around 20-25 to be viable, and have the convoke spell actually be well costed and effective. On to the rest of the new cards.

 

Mistmeadow Vanisher

Lorwyn gets its first new cards in a very long time in these sets, and Mistmeadow Vanisher pays homage to Mistmeadow Witch. The card itself costs 2 and either White or Blue, another homage to Lorwyn/Sahdowmoor, and says whenever Mistmeadow Vanisher becomes tapped, exile up to one target nonland, nontoken permanent. Return that card to the battlefield under its owner’s control at the beginning of the next end step.

Unfortunately it can’t tap itself, but there are of course ways like attacking or paying for those convoke costs. Cards that have additional costs like Collective Effort also work. It’s too bad that it doesn’t bring it immediately back, since that would be better for us, but it is serviceable besides.

 

Wildfire Awakener

This is a very interesting card that could potentially be a win condition on its own. It is a 3/2 with the cost of X1RW. It has convoke, which can be used to pay towards the X in its cost, and its ability reads that when Wildfire Awakener enters the battlefield, create X 1/1 red Elemental creature tokens with “Whenever this creature becomes tapped, it deals 1 damage to target player”.

Not bad at all, though it depends on how much you can put into or convoke into X. It also depends on how the game plays out, but this does just about what you want to do with this deck outside of giving you creatures that act as color fixing since they’re only Red.

 

Nesting Dovehawk

Our next card is Nesting Dovehawk. This card is a 2/2 flyer for 3 and White. Its first ability says that at the beginning of combat on your turn, populate. Assuming we have a good token in play, that gives us a defender if it doesn’t have haste and another creature for convoke.

Its next ability reads whenever a creature token enters the battlefield under your control, put a +1/+1 counter on Nesting Dovehawk. Another straightforward ability. Make tokens, and this gets bigger.

I think the real use for this is of course the populate triggers, especially if we can get a decent variety of tokens on the field. The card itself seems like a needed but somewhat redundant effect outside of this deck for regular token strategis, but probably much needed one in this precon.

 

Joyful Stormsculptor

A quick mention here about Joyful Stormsculptor. The card itself is from the main set, but this deck needs convoke abilities so I wanted to highlight it. When it comes into play, you create 2 1/1 blue and red Elemental creature tokens. It also says that whenever you cast a spell that has convoke, this card deals 1 damage to each opponent and each battle they protect. This deck has a slight “tap:burn for 1” bent to it I can appreciate.

 

Flockchaser Phantom

Our next card is a 5/5 flying, vigilant creature for 4WU, but luckily it has convoke as well. Whenever it attacks, the next spell we cast this turn has convoke. This card is one of the cards to use with our face commander Kasla. It can give our next spell convoke as long as we attack, no combat damage required. This means a card like Reconnaissance works wonders in tandem with Flockchaser Phantom (and most other cards in the deck if we want to convoke). The body itself with its keyword abilities is well priced if we get a small discount as well.

 

Path of the Ghosthunter

This is the first in the cycle of cards with Will of the Planeswalkers that doesn’t cost 5 mana. Its cost is X, 1 and White for a sorcery that reads “Create X 1/1 white spirit creature tokens with flying”. It of course has Will of the Planeswalkers and states the same as the last three. Each player votes starting with you, and if Planeswalk gets the most votes, change the card on top of the planar deck. If chaos ties or gets the most, chaos ensues on whatever plane you’re on.

This one is okay. It doesn’t have convoke so I think it being Instant might not have been too bad, but I’m far from a game designer and balancer. Red is still taking it home for me, though this is my second place of the cycle so far in my opinion.

 

Wand of the Worldsoul

Now this is the ‘add convoke to thing’ I had hoped the deck would have! Well, okay I had hope for a static effect, but this is pretty darn good regardless.

Wand of the Worldsoul is an artifact for 2 and White that enters the battlefield tapped. It can be tapped to add a single White mana, or tapped to give your next spell you cast this turn convoke. I have to say that this simple card is absolutely perfect in where they situated it as a mana rock in White. Nothing really to say about this other than token decks will love it more than this deck will, and while I don’t think it will be expensive, I’d keep an eye out to add it to your collection if you like tokens and have a White/X deck with them.

In this precon deck it’s obviously a great card and I’m here for it.

 

Deluxe Dragster

We are going to skip over Ichor Elixir from now on and go straight to the next card, which here happens to be Deluxe Dragster. It is a 4/3 Blue vehicle for 4 and Blue. It can’t be blocked except by vehicles (automobileship?) and whenever Deluxe Dragster deals combat damage to a player, you may cast target instant or sorcery card from that player’s graveyard without paying its mana cost. If that spell would be put into a graveyard, exile it instead.

This is a basic steal-a-spell from a graveyard effect we’ve been seeing in Blue on and off for a while now. The built in evasion is very nice, with an almost guaranteed hit against just about any player unless they are playing Shorikai Genesis Engine, Greasefang Okiba Boss or on the rare occasion King Macar the Gold-Crused. Speaking of, the crew cost is only 2.

I do kinda wish Deluxe Dragster had convoke, though.

 

Thoughts On Divine Convocation:

Looking through the decklist I can see an admirable attempt at a convoke strategy. While I don’t think it will be all that consistent with only 16 (17 with Kasla) convoke cards that come in the deck, I do think it will work out more times than not. Kasla should help with that as the game goes along, and other cards in the deck like Skullclamp will help dig for cards.

There are cards you can add from the main set March of the Machines, including City on Fire which would be a fantastic card in here with all the Red tokens the deck makes and ping damage it does to players. You can also add more cards to support tokens or even a few more token producers like Halo Fountain or Court of Grace for tokens and card draw. The Parhelion II may also be a good addition to the deck.

I’m going to add the disclaimer here that I haven’t played with the deck yet, and hope I’m wrong about its consistency. Kasla’s art is too epic to not be on a table top and we shouldn’t write off a commander before it sees use. Anyone who remembers Lord Windgrace knows what I mean.

 

Deck: Tinker Time

Our last deck today is the precon Tinker Time, led by our adorable gremlin buddy Gimbal. The deck he leads focuses on artifact creature tokens, how many you have and what you can do with all that glorious technology.

 

Gimbal, Gremlin Prodigy

Our buddy Gimbal is a 4/4 Gremlin Artificer for 2GUR that gives your artifact creatures trample. Cool, I guess? Most creatures that are artifacts that I want to have trample have trample. Let’s move on.

His second ability says that at the beginning of your end step, create a 0/0 red Gremlin artifact creature token. Put +1/+1 counters on it, where X is the number of differently named artifact tokens you control. Now this is a bit quirky. To make better, faster, stronger Gremlin tokens, you need a variety of other artifact tokens with different names. Good thing this is a three colored deck!

Many cards in the deck already help this diversity along. Feldon of the Third Path, Sharding Sphinx and Tireless Tracker all come to mind and are included within the deck. Let’s see what new cards can help Gimbal out.

Before we move on, I just want to mention that for some reason (like design) this isn’t an energy commander. … Okay, I’m done pouting.

 

Rashmi and Ragavan

So, I am a fan of both of these cards individually, so this is an interesting and special treat for me. This team up is 1GUR for a 2/4 body. It only has one ability and it is a lengthy one. It reads “Whenever you cast your first spell during each of your turns, exile the top card of target opponent’s library and create a treasure token. Then you may cast the exiled card without paying its mana cost if it’s a spell with mana value less than the number of artifacts you control. If you don’t cast it this way, you may cast it this turn.

Okay, so that is a long winded explanation of this: When you cast your first spell on your turn, exile the top card of target opponent’s library. Get a treasure. You may cast it for free if you control more artifacts than its mana value. If not, you may cast it with your own mana.

So there are a few things to take away from this. First, it only triggers on your turn, so no flash or instant shenanigans like with Rashmi, Eternities Crafter. Second, you only get to exile off one deck and it isn’t your own, so top deck manipulation also doesn’t matter for yourself. Third, to cast it for free you need more artifacts than the cost of the spell and fourth, if you don’t, you can only cast it with your own mana, which is usually Green, Blue and Red. There is no clause that says you can cast it as though it were any color of mana. Better keep a Fellwar Stone and Exotic Orchard handy.

The card is interesting, but I think it is also slightly hamstrung and wordy. It is a cool take on a stealing deck where Etali, Primal Storm and Lonis, Cryptozoologist would find a home (some of Lonis’ cards would be at home in there too), but in this deck it provides some treasure tokens for Gimbal, color fixing and can probably cast some really big stuff if you get lucky. On the bright side, it doesn’t have to attack for the effect, which is always a plus.

 

Hedron Detonator

Our next card is Hedron Detonator, a 2/3 for 2 and Red Goblin Artificer. It says whenever an artifact enters the battlefield under your control, Hedron Detonator deals 1 damage to target opponent. Cool, an Impact Tremors lite for artifacts.

It then says tap, sacrifice two artifacts: exile the top card of your library. You may play that card this turn. I always liked ‘play’ instead of ‘cast’. Sometimes I do want my lands.

A good and decent card, but nothing to write home about out of this deck or something else that makes infinite treasure, food, clues, etc. The burn will be good where it goes.

 

Pain Distributor

Pain Distributor is our next card, and it is a card I really like. The 2/3 devil costs 2 and Red to cast, and has Menace. Its first ability reads that whenever a player cast their first spell each turn, they create a treasure token. A nice group hug effect that doesn’t immediately power something out.

The second ability reads whenever an artifact an opponent controls is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, Pain Distributor deals 1 damage to that player. This is a nice group slug effect that plays off the group hug effect. I love group shrug effects!

So as long as people can cast spells, this provides mana to them for more, but punishes them for using it, plus a nice upside to incidental destruction to other artifacts. I think this one is more meta dependent if you want some big damage over time with other cards like Mayhem Devil, but it’s a fine card for many a deck at a more casual table.

 

Cutthroat Negotiator

Our fifth card for the deck brings us our only Parley in Cutthroat Negotiator. It’s a 4/3 Orc Pirate for 2UR with Parley. Whenever it attacks, each player reveals the top cards of their library. For each nonland card revealed this way, you create a tapped treasure token. Then each player draws a card.

Another group shrug card! This card reminds me a lot of Selvala, Explorer Returned. However this card is in other colors with an equally valid type line these days. It has to attack to get the benefit, but gaining a card and three mana is worth it most of the time, plus info on your opponents and the politics that can follow is worth some risk.

 

Sandsteppe War Riders

A human warrior is up next in Sandsteppe War Riders. It is a 4/4 for 3 and Green with trample. Its other ability says at the beginning of the combat on your turn, bolster X, where X is the number of differently named artifact tokens you control. This means we put X +1/+1 counters on our lowest toughness creature equal to our differently named artifact tokens.

Um… It’s okay? I’m not too keen on it. With Gimbal out it does some work, but it scales up and down and without a board state it’s kind of middling. Still, this deck doesn’t seem like the kind to have nothing on the field, and at the minimum it is a 4/4 with trample for 4 mana.

 

Schema Thief

The seventh card is Schema Thief, a 3/3 flying creature for 3 and Blue. It has whenever Schema Thief deals combat damage to a player, create a token that’s a copy of target artifact that player controls.

Now this is something I had wondered about. Red can make artifacts, Green can make tokens, and blue can clone to make tokens if needed. Here, I have found what I have hoped would be in here; just a way to do that! It’s well costed for the size, has evasion, is a Rogue and can make you more Sol Rings when it hits. What’s not to like?

 

Path of the Animist

Our last card in the cycle of Wills is Path of the Animist. This one also costs less than 5, being 3 and Green to cast. It is also a sorcery and says search your library for up to two basic land cards, put them onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle.

It’s Explosive Vegetation with Will of the Planeswalkers stapled on. Again, if you plan on using the planar cards, then keep it in. If not, there is better ramp most of the time at 4 mana.

The Path of the Pyromancer wins this for me hands down on this cycle with Path of the Ghosthunter being a close second.

 

Dance with Calamity

Our last card to review is Dance with Calamity, an 8 mana sorcery for 7 and Red. It says shuffle your library. As many times as you choose, you may exile the top card of your library. If the total mana value of the cards exiled this way is 13 or less, you may cast any number of spells from among them without paying their mana costs.

This is essentially a Red version of Aminatou’s Augury in my head. On the face of it, it’s worse than Augury, but that depends on what deck this might go into. In the precon we’re talking about, it is the most expensive card in mana value. At a minimum you’re getting two cards for your investment here, and the potential upside for 5 “free” mana is nice. I’m unsure when you might stop exiling cards and what happens if you keep going and you go over, but I’ll let the judges figure that out.

Another interesting thing is, if I’m understanding this right, you don’t have to cast the cards either. You can just keep going and exile your whole deck! That works with many alternate win conditions in Blue like Laboratory Maniac and Thassa’s Oracle. Better get either into hand first though.

 

Thoughts On Tinker Time:

Looking through the deck I think it might start slow but gear up real quick with the right draws. A quick skim over the types of artifacts tokens it can produce lends itself to Gimbal making 4/4s fairly easily, and it only goes up from there. 4/4s are nothing to take lightly either, especially when the commander gives them trample as a static effect.

I would add some more card draw and more that isn’t dependent on artifacts. Shimmer Dragon comes with the deck which is great, but I think we need some other instances like Garruk’s Uprising. It’s a great Green card draw enchantment that gives you a bit of back up when Gimbal isn’t there and will trigger off tokens and non tokens, which some Green draw won’t do.

I’d also streamline the removal package and add some more. Being the token deck at the table we can forgo most of the mass removal ourselves unless it’s one sided like Mizzium Mortars or Cyclonic Rift. We definitely don’t want to lose our tokens. Otherwise we need broader removal that hits more things. Klauth’s Will is a Gruul version of Heliod’s Intervention in my eyes, but has the added benefit of doing both modes if you want it to if you control your commander. Likewise, Beast Within is just a good card that can hit anything, including lands.

Gimbal I think will be a lynchpin in the early game to get some token generation going and move on to the next part of the plan, which is building an army to crush your opponents. This deck can’t easily protect its board presence easily, so keeping back some resources to rebuild going forward is going to be something to keep in mind.

 

Thoughts On The Commander Set Overall :

I think the set is a fine example of what an on-board to Commander might be. Some of the decks are more complicated than others but generally I think the decks are all going to work.

The main problem I have with commander precons (outside of their largely dismal land bases) is that the decks they’ve made to go alongside sets often make you want to buy cards from that set they are partnered with. Obvious business decision, but that makes decks with specific mechanics like Mutate or Toxic wait years for new cards, if ever. Fans of those decks wont get a lot of changes over that time and those designs fall by the wayside. It’s a bit sad.

These decks on the other hand, outside of Growing Threat which still has some room to pull from, are more likely to get cards added from various sets as we go along. Knights are a popular tribe and +1/+1 counter strategies have always been around in seemingly every other set. Convoke might be a bump in the road, but token generation for both it and the Tinker Time won’t be going anywhere anytime soon. Best of all, most of those cards aren’t being released in the new set so much as already exist.

Generally, this is a fine batch of Commander decks, with some hits and misses like most batches. Being tied to the set as they are these days, at least this one feels more like older sets where you got an okay divergence in themes.

There does seem to be some overlap though. There is a lot of aggression built into the decks. While I’m all about combat myself, there didn’t seem to be much room for other kinds of strategies and therefore player preference.

At least as far as the secondary commanders go, they support their decks but do offer a different approach if you want to build around them that I think is divergent enough excluding Shalai and Hallar. Perhaps in those we find the rest of the variety for other players.

This is all my own opinion though, and you can let me know yours in the comment section below. Are you getting any of these decks and which ones? Which do you think will be the best or have the best potential? Whatever your answers, I hope your next Commander games are enjoyable and glorious!