Starter Commander Decks 2022 Predictions
Chief: Remember when they did those cheaper Commander decks for Kaldheim, Zendikar Rising, and Commander Legends? Those were awesome.
Exxaxl: And made Cosmic Intervention with it? Good times.
Chief: Yeah, I still haven’t stopped talking about that card even after all this time. It looks like these Starter Commander Decks (SCD) will be the new take on that idea, although the commanders are all reprints from past sets. I’d assume that the decks themselves consist of entirely reprints as well, so this could be an opportunity to get some good reprint value!
Exxaxl: We actually know very little about these precons at the time of writing. We could speculate about valuable reprints and cards we want to see all we want—we don’t know the direction WOTC wants to take these decks in. If these starter decks need to be a success with seasoned players as well, having them have decent reprint value makes a lot of sense.
Chief: It makes a lot more sense for us to approach this from the perspective of discussing what we’d like to see from these decks. I know that a lot of people are skeptical of them, but I really think that they have a lot of potential if they manage to make them fun and easy to play. Reprint value is just icing on the cake.
Exxaxl: Can I hijack the article floor for a little bit in regards to that?
Chief: It’s all yours. Just clean up when you’re done.
Exxaxl: I want these decks to succeed. There currently is too much of a entry barrier to get started in EDH—and Magic as a whole—as a brand new player. Having to spend 55 dollars on this precon to start playing can be quite a monetary barrier for someone who’s not sure they’re going to like the game to begin with. All of their friends who might not already be playing Magic but are potentially interested will need to buy a deck as well.
Outside of the Magic Arena Starter Kits, there is no cheap entry-level product to play as-is out of the box. This role used to be filled by the Planeswalker Decks. Pioneer Challenger Decks are the same price as Commander precons, Jumpstart has an element of randomness tied into what you open which newer players might not enjoy, and piecing together a functional 60-card list out of booster packs also is neither cheap nor easy for a brand new player.
When these decks were first announced, a lot of people had a lot of complaints, even though we still know nothing about them outside of the face commanders. A vocal minority of people had already decided they were going to dislike these decks, regardless of what was actually in them and all we saw at that point were the face commanders. They were called everything from ‘Baby’s First Commander Decks’ to ‘Draft Chaff Precons’ online.
The gatekeeper mentality some people bring to this game explains why some people just play Magic at home on their own instead of having a fun time at the local game store (LGS). People often forget what it was like to be 12 years old and have 10 dollars be your entire month’s worth of money you can afford to spend on ‘fun’. I teach the younger generation of MTG players at my LGS how to play once a month. Due to a lack of an entry-level product being readily available, a lot of them simply keep playing their 4- to 5-color ‘10 Booster Packs Pick-up’ decks for several months because there is no other alternative within their means.
I’m definitely one of the people that feels like too much product is coming out and it’s getting hard to keep up with all of it, but a low price, low difficulty, functional deck you can unpack and play as-is should be a thing close to any TCG should offer. I’ll end my monologue there—at least now we get to add the Format Philosophy category to the article, I guess.
Chief: I hear you. I’m hoping that these decks play well out of the box and that they offer a balanced experience that new players can enjoy. It would be a big disappointment if there isn’t much thought into making sure that they’re both fun and functional right out of the box.
We’ve decided to approach our predictions in a way that allows us to talk about things that we’d like to see in this product, because we simply don’t know enough about it to make highly educated guesses. Okay, lets go!
Chief: Let’s take just a moment to talk about some things that relate to all 5 decks before we move on to predicting things about each deck individually.
Exxaxl: It’d be a big surprise if these didn’t all come with a Sol Ring, Commander’s Sphere, and Command Tower. Then again, stranger things have happened.
Chief: I’ll be disappointed if they don’t include the respective Talismans in these decks. These have been hampered by uneven reprints. In fact, Talisman of Progress went 19 years before it saw a reprint. That’s crazy. Arcane Signet is also a no-brainer, but it is occasionally absent from Commander precons. Including these cards would go a long way towards establishing a good ramp package that will help new players have fun games.
The product shots for these decks say that they include 1 legendary Foil Etched card. We’re going to assume that each of these decks has at least 1 possible alternate commander in the 99. Hopefully this turns out to be accurate!
First Flight
Commander: Isperia, Supreme Judge (Original printing: Return to Ravnica)
Exxaxl: I’m hoping for Medomai the Ageless as an alternate commander—and before everyone gets upset about mentioning extra turns in precons, Sneak Attack (Zendikar Rising Commander) and Mystic Intellect (Commander 2019) came with extra turn cards. We’ve only seen Medomai printed once in the original Theros set and it’d be nice to see newer players figure out how to handle extra turns, especially if the deck isn’t particularly fast or too controlling.
Chief: I’m gonna predict the return of Inniaz, the Gale Force. She was one of the Jumpstart commanders. Aside from the obvious synergy with a deck built around Azorius flyers, I think that the way that she shuffles things around the table is interesting and can lead to some fun situations. This may even convince them to reprint Homeward Path in some of these decks. We haven’t seen it in years.
Exxaxl: There are always cards that you just know that they’ll reprint in a certain precon. They almost have to be there. You know, cards like Empyrean Eagle and Talrand, Sky Summoner. This would be his 13th printing in 10 years at this point, if you were wondering.
Chief: I mean, you’ve got to assume that Zetalpa, Primal Dawn is gonna come back for its 9th reprint in 5 years. They really seem to love that card. I’m also expecting to see Windborn Muse because it’s made a lot of appearances in the past and has some general synergy with Isperia’s tendency to discourage people from attacking you.
Grave Danger
Commander: Gisa and Geralf (Originally printing: Eldritch Moon)
Exxaxl: Dimir precon! Woo! Blue and black, before you attack, hold that thought while I respond on the stack. Banishing Knack and tap my zombie token to send your commander back…to your hand.
Chief: Are you done? 🤦
Exxaxl: Yes.
Chief: Okay, so it definitely feels like the secondary commander here would be Grimgrin, Corpse-Born. While there are a few other possible options, they feel less likely due to power level or complexity than everybody’s favorite giant killer zombie. Grimgrin would also fit with the flavor of Gisa and Geralf as the face commanders.
Exxaxl: While I would like to see The Scarab God make an appearance I’m relatively certain that won’t be the case. Grimgrin makes a lot of sense here. Is this the first time we both agree on a specific card prediction without having one of us swap over to an alternative?
A quick note from Chief: I actually checked when I was editing the article. This really is the first time that we’ve agreed like this since we started writing prediction pieces.
Chief: I feel like we almost have to see Rooftop Storm in a zombie deck, right? It even mentions Geralf in the flavor text! Beyond that, Fleshbag Marauder has been a frequent reprint that I’d expect to see again here. Casting this creature every turn with the commander will probably get old fast, so that could wind up being a reason that it doesn’t make the cut.
Exxaxl: We got Rooftop Storm in the Undead Unleashed precon from Midnight Hunt, so I’m not too sure about that. A run-of-the-mill uncommon like Lord of the Accursed would make a lot of sense, even though we’ve seen that reprinted quite often at this point. Necroduality would be neat, but seems quite strong to put in a starter deck.
Chaos Incarnate
Kardur, Doomscourge (Originally printing: Kaldheim)
Exxaxl: The deck is called Chaos Incarnate, so I don’t quite know what to expect here. Assuming they focus more on goad and less on cards like Warp World or Possibility Storm, Karazikar, the Eye Tyrant would be nice to see again. I feel that card didn’t really have a true home in the Planar Portal precon, while it would fit nicely here.
Chief: Did someone say chaos? I’m thinking that this deck would be an ideal place to bring back Blim, Comedic Genius. Since you’ll be goading creatures your opponents control anyway, why not give them a few more toys to help them smack each other? This card can be a bit frustrating to play against, but that probably won’t manifest in a precon environment.
Exxaxl: Blim is one of those cards that often reminds me that playing games online with webcams is not the ‘regular’ way to play Magic. Here’s to hoping that we get virtual tabletops with animated cards and effects at some point in the future. I want to floop the pig.
Chief: Insurrection is a classic win condition for decks like this one. I can definitely see it being one of the main bombs in this precon, because it’s only as strong as what your opponents are playing. Disrupt Decorum also feels like a card that makes for a chaotic multiplayer experience.
Exxaxl: My ‘easy’ guesses are Bloodthirsty Blade and WOTC’s pick of Vow of Lightning/Malice/Torment and/or Parasitic/Shiny Impetus. We’ve seen these in Commander-focused products before and they synergize very well with what Kardur is trying to do.
Draconic Destruction
Commander: Atarka, World Render (Original printing: Fate Reforged)
Exxaxl: It sounds like a lazy prediction, but Dragonlord Atarka makes a lot of sense. Other options in regards to Gruul dragons matter legendary creatures seem quite limited, and the fact Vrondiss, Rage of Ancients and Klauth, Unrivaled Ancient were both in a precon not too long ago likely means they won’t show up either.
Chief: Yeah, I agree with you. Vrondiss also feels like you’d be forced to add dice-rolling to the precon. Honestly, Thrakkus the Butcher could make for a pretty cool alternate commander, but I wonder if he’s simply too new to be a feasible option. There really aren’t many Gruul dragon commanders out there.
Exxaxl: You can’t make an Atarka precon without slotting in the most dragony dragon in all of MTG which is Drakuseth, Maw of Flames, right? Steel Hellkite seems to be a card they like to put in precons often.
Chief: I can’t imagine that they’d pass on Savage Ventmaw in a deck like this one. Dragons need a lot of mana to do their thing. This would also be an excellent place to reprint Dragonborn Champion as a reliable source of card draw that’s also totally on-theme.
Exxaxl: Dragonborn Champion should have been a legendary! Maybe one day. Gavin Verhey said as much in our Forgotten Realms Commander AMA:
“Dragonborn Champion - if that’s a card you like, let me know - I think it’s totally a thing that we could do more of in the future. Often, our mantra is - this isn’t in every single case, but in many cases it is - let’s make the non-legendary version first, and if people like it, maybe we’ll make the legendary version.”
Token Triumph
Emmara, Soul of Accord (Original printing: Guilds of Ravnica)
Chief: I think that Rhys the Redeemed would be an amazing alternate commander for this deck. He has a very cool design, but he might create board states that are too complex for newer players by doubling all of your tokens. It’s definitely possible that he winds up being too explosive.
Exxaxl: ‘Here is your new precon and here is your second deck, which are tokens’. Trostani Discordant would actually be a decent way to fight back against the Kardur precon. Knowing decks get tested against other decks that release at the same time, it wouldn’t be bad to have a Homeward Path effect in the command zone.
Chief: I’d really like to see Springleaf Drum and other ways to tap Trostani in this deck in order to help produce tokens without sending her into battle. I don’t think that they would put Doubling Season in a deck like this one, but maybe it’s time for that overdue Anointed Procession reprint.
Exxaxl: I think it’s too early to see Halo Fountain printed again and it’s probably too easy to get the win in a starter deck that pumps out tons of tokens, and I don’t think Triumph of the Hordes is a card that Wizards will put in a starter deck, so I’ll predict Divine Visitation and Mirror Entity as easy includes for this deck.
Chief: I’m looking forward to learning more about these decks. I hope that they play really well together and create a lot of fun games that make new Commander players want to stick around and keep playing.
Exxaxl: I hope these starter decks are strong enough to where we can check them for Battlecruiser as-is. I really want to find out more about what's in them and how they’re going to be different from regular Commander precons.
This concludes our predictions for Starter Commander Decks. These 5 precons are scheduled for release on December 2nd, with more information about them to be announced in the near future. What did you think of our predictions? Do you have your own predictions for DMU? Let us know on Twitter! We’d love to hear from you.
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