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I started playing Magic: The Gathering in 2023, nudged into it by a combination of Lord of the Rings and a desire for something to play with friends. It became a game we learned together, playing Commander as a group of four, then five, then all the way up to eight and more.
It’s become a hobby I love, and as a result, I’ve got around 45 Commander decks. Precons, upgrades, entirely hand-picked ones — I’ve got just about any color combo and playstyle sorted. And yet, I’m eager to get hold of the upcoming Foundations precons. Here’s why.
Bundle (Five Decks)
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If you’re new to Magic, Foundations debuted in 2024 as a way to lay a new, well, foundation for the standard format.
Its cards are made up of neat reprints and some classic staples, all rolled into a set that doesn’t cycle out as regularly. In fact, it’ll still be legal until 2029, but what about Commander?
Magic’s most popular format, Commander, has a deluge of precons launching every year. This year alone (we’re only in August), we’ve had twelve across four sets, and we have more to come (more on those in a moment). I’m keeping a keen eye out just in case anything is worth adding to my “Most Powerful MTG Precon” list right here on IGN.
The trouble is that, outside of arguably the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles deck, ‘Turtle Power’, we’ve not had that many that are easy to get to grips with for new players. No mono-colored decks, mechanics like Blight, Connive, and more, and an increasing price point for Universes Beyond decks in particular have made it tough to introduce someone to the format.
Thankfully, Foundations is getting its own set of Commander precons, and not a moment too soon.
Mono Madness
There are a few reasons I’m particularly excited for these new decks, and none of them have to do with the cards included. Each deck is $30, and there’s one for each color, so you can pick up all 500 cards for $150.
We’re not expecting pricey reprints, surprising art treatments, or anything like that, but they should be an ideal starting point for new players — or for those of us looking to share the Commander format with friends or family.
Calling All Angels is a mono-white Angels typal deck, helmed by Giada, Font of Hope. Reign of Dragons is a mono-red Dragon deck starring Lathliss, Dragon Queen, while Tramplesaurus Rex will ramp quickly to bring out big dinosaurs like its Commander, Ghalta, Primal Hunger.
Then there’s Ghoulcaller Gisa, who helms the mono-black zombie/sacrifice deck Wretched Ranks, and finally, Sai, Master Thopterist, whose mono-blue deck, Keen Engineering, is all about artifacts.
These are all well-worn playstyles, but the point here is the cohesion rather than the competitiveness. These decks are easy to hand to a friend over the holidays and say “let’s play a game”, while also giving them a little bit of guidance towards their preferred playstyle.
Starter Decks for Commander are not a new notion, but they’ve not been printed in so long that there’s a wild disparity in price. The Draconic Destruction deck from 2022 that kicked off my collection has surged to double what I paid for it and then some.
In fact, for the price it would cost now, you could buy the mono-green and mono-red Foundations decks and smash them together to allow for big, stompy dinosaurs flanked by flying dragons. Would it gel perfectly? Unlikely, but it’s a good start to learning how to smooth out a deckbuilding process.
Am I about to spend $150 on a bunch of decks full of cards I already have? Almost certainly, but if it ends with me giving one of the decks to my brother-in-law, or getting my Dad to sit down at the table, then it’s been worth it.
Top 12 Best MTG Commander Decks
Lloyd Coombes is an experienced freelancer in tech, gaming and fitness seen at Polygon, Eurogamer, Macworld, TechRadar and many more. He’s a big fan of Magic: The Gathering and other collectible card games, much to his wife’s dismay.
