Is It Worth It To Buy An Ikoria Commander 2020 Deck? | Magic: The Gathering

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[@TolarianCommunityCollege]

What is your favorite planeswalker up to during this time of social distancing? I off my own answers here: would really mean a lot. It's here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qqKrZGeBd82Hm9E PLEASE CHECK IT OUT

[@dark_raveen92]

Kiora seems to be my go to during this fun quarentine.

[@nerdzilla1355]

Tolarian Community College Lilliana, dreadhorde general is a bomb! I got a stained glass version in a Secret Lair so, thanks for paying for my secret lair Wizards!

[@nathanfriedman7367]

Party Jace or Ashiok, Dream Render. Oddly enough, I am a Mardu palyer.

[@CKG-hh2bw]

liliana is my girl

[@sandwichboy1268]

Jace has got to be my #1. My Phenax mill deck would be incomplete without a handful of Jace's backing him up.

[@johncreekpaum4998]

Yet another reason I love my LGS. Price I paid for my deck? $40. Price everyone paid for their deck? $40. I preordered, but someone in front of me in line asking for the Timeless Wisdom precon? Yep, $40. Absolutely love my LGS.

[@Areinu]

Yup, my LGS also keeps single price for all precons, and it's 40$ (approx, different currency, but it costs the same as last year). For preorders they gave out those arena codes they also give for preordering prerelease kits, and if someone buys all 5 they toss in mystery booster.

[@TheSeriousShowURL]

My LGS is scaling the prices, the better decks cost over sixty bucks :(

[@robbnoble1509]

I dont buy from LGSs that sell current sealed product by market value. I dont play there, i dont support them. Especially when they charge market value when it is higher than retail price, but not when it is lower.

[@PinkSparklyGamer]

Jeez, where I live, even retail stores scalp the prices on sealed product. Buying a box costs about $120. It makes "always buy singles" even more true

[@Dreamersgate]

i guess i am really lucky my LGS has a deal preorder all 5 and save 30+ dollars so basically one free

[@emt0072]

Great review. My local Game Store, Gamers Sanctuary of Flint Mi, is selling them for 39.99. Because they said it wouldn't be fair to sell them for more during the crisis. They are good people there.

[@erikjansen6911]

that was my lgs during my semester abroad. great place, great people

[@timme2108]

my lgs has everything for 39.99 as well. Except the one with Fierce Guardianship (Timeless Wisdom). That one is 47.99... They know their player base I guess...

[@sigma6840]

How is their stock and do they have a web presence. I'll order from a place like that that does right by it's customer base!

[@kimirikscreations]

Just don't drink the tap water if you visit!

[@sigma6840]

@@timme2108 mine has Timeless Widsom marked at $80 friggin bucks...80! Jesus. I remember getting a 60 card starter deck (albeit an absolute trash heap) for 10 bucks...10!......man have wizards gotten greedy...it's insane.

[@DailyPlayedInvestments]

The passive aggressive attack on secret layer fetch lands was awesome professor

[@del132]

I don't know if "Secret Layer" was a typo or on purpose, but I like it.

[@DailyPlayedInvestments]

DoctorBarbarian on accident lol stupid auto correct

[@MasterDoctorBenji]

I think from here until the end of time he must burn the secret lair fetches once a month.

[@DailyPlayedInvestments]

Benjamin Saunders i will agree 100% to that

[@DailyPlayedInvestments]

What do you say professor 1 time a month you give em the old razzle dazzle jab at the overpriced secret lair fetches

[@thatoneguyshawn]

"Slightly curled to perfection, as all things should be" -Thanos, head of quality control, foil division

[@ashenwuss1651]

"The less people that own these cards of high value, the better the future comes."

[@SomeYouTubeTraveler]

"Curling is... inevitable."

[@thatoneguyshawn]

Keep the thanos themed responses coming haha I'm dying here

[@mr.mammuthusafricanavus8299]

Thanos the intern on Companion play testing to MaRo: Perfectly balanced, as all things should be :P

[@Yuzuki1337]

"I used the foiling process to destroy the foiling process"

[@mikes7423]

7:00 I'm surprised you didn't mention the complete lack of the new triomes that were not included as part of the manabase for these decks.

[@benjyskutch-freedman6839]

I have a very hard time understanding why they did this. Seriously, all these precons are in the wedge colors and set in Ikoria, but they didn't include the new Ikoria Triome lands. WTF, Wizards?

[@Sarpro72]

It’s particularly disgusting because you can tell they are trying to make them ridiculously expensive on purpose.

[@trashpanda8871]

@@benjyskutch-freedman6839 It's so that they get to sell twice the amount of product this way.

[@316malica]

Even more egregious that that they put the shitty ones from Khans instead. The triomes have a PERFECT home in commander, they can tap for all your decks colors, can be fetched early, and if drawn late can be cycled for another card. The fact that the jeskai one is missing from the cycling deck is worse since ALL the cycling lands are there except the respective triome.

[@Yellow_Magpie]

Yeah, there's loads of little decisions that encourage you to both purchase the precons while also chasing singles and/or boxes from the main set. I can't say I expect differently, the development team is rewarded for teetering the line between established player satisfaction, new player encouragement and spread of sales for corporate. They've become incredibly nuanced and good at it whereas in the first examples of the product from the golden era, the design team came from a more 'one off' and 'unique', arguably more altruistic design perspective that facilitated decisions no longer possible considering the now established regularity, popularity and purpose of the product.

[@sawfty691]

Just got back into magic, went to a local shop and they were selling these for $55-90... I was shocked and left the store without a pre-con, went to Target and found 4/5 at MSRP. It's a shame a customer has to leave their local shop and go to a big box store to find a pre-con they can afford.

[@_GandalfTheGrey_]

Seriously...why don’t local shops just keep msrp? I like to support local stores but come on now.

[@tristendodder6392]

@@_GandalfTheGrey_ It's because two of the cards are worth roughly 50 dollars so they'd be losing money selling it at msrp.

[@dierare]

​@@tristendodder6392 they aren't losing money because they bought them for less than msrp in the first place. they would make less money than they would by opening the pre-cons and selling everything seperately, but satisfying customers with good deals makes them come back. it's maximizing short term profit over customer satisfaction and that can ruin your profits in the long run.

[@steel5315]

Hi, future person here, that's the normal price now. Hearing that brand new commander precons used to be $35 almost gave me a heart attack.

[@monkeybench]

Hot take Every pre-con should come with an Amulet of Vigor because of all of the tapped lands. I will die on this hill.

[@only1sn1not1taken]

Honestly, yeah. If they are going to push the tap lands so much. And with 11 of the lands in the cycling deck being cycling lands that enter tapped (in addition to other tapped lands) it would have been very nice in that deck. But I guess that does swing the pacing of a precon VERY heavily due to a single card hitting the board early.

[@simoncss1]

So I 👍 your hot take here. Though the simpler answer will b of course good untapped multi-color lands instead of the usual ETB tapped, gain 1 life options. Maybe, as Prof suggested, the Battlebond duals or WotC could treat us even better & place the “enemy-color” versions here. Granted, I did still find the general feel of land base much improved with more Odyssey, Zendikar & Amonkhet rare duals, “pain-lands” over the earlier years of Guildgates & other analogous tapped duals with not even 1 life thrown in. BUT another personal feel is that (invoking the Pleasant Kenobi in us) Hasbro/WotC are COWARDS for not just reprinting “fetch-lands”, Ravnica “shocks”, Shadowmoor/Eventide “filter-lands”, even Triomes into Commander decks. COWARDS! Cuz it ain’t burn them even fraction of penny more to print really good rare lands vs a dumpster tapped common. & I do, die on this hill!

[@slannstarmaster6555]

Yeah

[@stevenh3154]

You have my flag

[@trowawayacc]

Yes i aprove.

[@goransekulic3671]

I'm just a collector of fine and nice MTG cards, but these look lovely! I am trying to decide between Jeskai and Mardu, but...gee prof! Thank you very much! :) Regardless, I'd like a cool Esper deck. Don't really think that little girl was cool. I'd want something closer to cyberpunk like Tezzeret or like that. Given that Tyrell Corp is Esper(for real), wouldn't it be nice to have something that captures the feel of BR in a deck?

[@RyleOswald]

Wow, Professor! I have to say, I'm super impressed by the quality of this review. Between the sharp editing, well-articulated points, and overall passion, I think this marks a new era of reviews for you. I think it's the way you capitalized on mounting momentum in the video; each point seems to cascade into the next, making for an extremely compelling view. I've always liked your videos, mind you, and I appreciate your optimism just as much as your cutting moments. I just wanted to let you know that between this and your last deck box review, your efforts in this review really came through even brighter than your usual professionalism. Thank you for always reminding me why I love this game. May you and yours continue to flourish in these interesting times.

[@skylerclyne6542]

I’m very new to MTG (my SO still has to help me out a bit more than I’d like to admit) and I’m so glad I’ve found The Professor and TCC, I can tell that there’s some idiosyncrasies that I don’t quite understand yet but I really appreciate the care and tact with which he talks about it.

[@alexbiersner3350]

This is what you get from TCC and the Prof. He's very knowledgeable on MtG and will always be there to help us out. He even has some nice deck techs

[@snakeyman5560]

Its... meh... I like Zaxara and Snekusar and I might just buy the Kalamax deck seeing as I was going to build Snekusar anyway.

[@budgetdeckmastermtg2144]

Just a note: we should also be getting 2 more precon decks with Commander Legends, for a total of 9 this year

[@BigDamnVanguard]

We're actually getting four more, two with Zendikar too, but those four are all new commanders/reprints, no other new cards. Which is fine.

[@TolarianCommunityCollege]

dear god.

[@aidennoir597]

Just keep in mind the smaller Commander releases are replacing Planeswalker decks so... keep expectations tempered.

[@nathanfriedman7367]

@@TolarianCommunityCollege I remember back when Arcane Maelstrom was $35 dollars on Amazon. That was a day ago.

[@matteobagni1235]

Wrong year to get back to mtg 🙄

[@moonlight2870]

The deck bos fits 100 sleeved cards, just remove the plastic tray

[@SmugLookingBarrel]

Okay, the "free with commander" cycle really annoys me. Fierce Guardianship goes in *every* blue commander deck. Just all of them. Flawless Maneuver and Deadly Rollick are close too. I don't want wizards to print cards that go in every single commander deck.

[@BoredOCM]

I agree with this line of thought, maybe the cycle should have been the spell cost was reduced instead of free with the commander in play. The thing I fear is with this cycle being as powerful as it is, what's in Commander Legends (or whatever the commander "draft" set later this year is called.) that will make people buy boxes/crack packs when they can get guaranteed value in the Commander and Brawl precons?

[@Astupid13NAme]

I rather have these broken cards than a damn reprinted garbage rare

[@anlize3422]

Well, the cycle itself feels like an auto-include in all the colors. The blue one is just that more powerful, card doing stuff for free is hard to pass.

[@aesirloki4833]

And will they ever see an impactful reprint..? Probably never

[@sulaimanhyatt-butt1453]

@@BoredOCM yeah i have the same fear as well for commander legends and even other standard sets such as zendikar rising and core set 2021 (themed teferi, oh fml😒) the power creep only gets worse and potentially we would end up with possibly over half every commander deck running the same cards with minimal variance l, which would only be what the commander is it and basic strategy and the rest of the deck full of these new cards we have and will be getting later this year.

[@keblob6294]

If the product had been printed on demand, the set would have been 5 boxes of Jeskai one. Most store in my area sell them at MSRP except a deck that definitely doesn't have high demand because of a free counterspell

[@florianw116]

I agree. Only 2 of those decks should've been Ikoria themed. One "monster" deck, probably Otrimi, and one "human" deck, probably Jirina Kudro.

[@TolarianCommunityCollege]

That would have been fun.

[@jemm113]

I'd say that if this HAD to be this year's main commander precon release it could have been 3 with cycling since that has very little proper commander support, but even then cycling could have been relegated to a normal main release that had 1 or 2 of the new commanders be from Ikoria (maybe a 3rd boros colored in the 99) and only a splash of Ikoria cards and let the rest be different flavors (like from other planes that featured cycling heavily like Amonkhet, OH GOD they screwed an opportunity for a new Amonkhet commander, DAMMIT!)

[@latroyw4650]

Ya but one of the other themed of that set is monsters working with humans. My fav one but even wotc ignores it :(

[@AxolotldelaAnimacion]

I think that feeling of beeing way too similar would be washed out if wizards decides to release commander decks for each expansion. Yes, they would be similar within each other, but looking at the big picture, at the end of the year, we would end up with lots of new legends, from each new expansion and (hopefully) lots of reprints.

[@porgy29]

I would have been fine with the face card of each deck being from Ikoria but each deck having at least one commander that is clearly outside of Ikoria. Yes the theme was "Ikoria" but in previous sets each deck usually had at least one commander that was off theme.

[@UkuleleProductions]

I am realy disappointed by this video. I went into this, feeling like "OMG Ikoria Commander is so AWESOME", because everything if've seen from it, was. At the same time I feel like this is a general thing with Ikoria. We get so exciting new abilities like Mutate, Companian and Keyword-Counters, and everyone is just whining about it. You don't even spend 1 second and look at what awesome gameplay is possible with that. All you can think of is "Oh I have to learn new rules - no Magic is ruined". I realy hate this about the Magic Comunity. Why does every change has to be bad? I also think it is very nice, that this product has the shared theme of Ikoria. I can't get enough of this plane for once, but I also think that one product line should be connected through more then the name. If you wanna play with vastly different commanders, you can play with different decks from diffrent years. And last but not least, I am so incredeble dissapointed by the fact, that you didn't put the current situation into your grade. Wizzards was totaly open about not beeing able to print all the decks right now. Why do you critizies them for that? Should they open the factories even though it is forbidden by the governments right now? It is not their fault an thoe it shouldn't impact your grade.

[@UkuleleProductions]

Oh - and what I forgot: How incredebly terrible it is, that Wizzards gives us more Commanderdecks each year - how dare they try to give us products we enjoy!

[@OkWizard]

I'm still mad that the plane with big monsters has no Naya influence/commanders

[@humanwreckage4563]

It IS a wedge plane, not a shard plane.

[@Charsiupao]

All the more fun to construct a deck yourself with whichever Commander you think would be best! :)

[@OkWizard]

@@Charsiupao I was just hoping for more Naya options. Look at what is out there right now. Not a lot :/

[@14Chrysler300sAWD]

@@OkWizard naya giants is quite fun, and crystalline giant is a fun gimiky card

[@DRKLCNS1]

there's plenty of stuff IN red green and white that works great in Naya. Quartzwood Crasher is a fantastic trample card and all the big Trample monsters now become much more threatening

[@UkuleleProductions]

I'm a little bit confused, that you didn't mention, that Wizzards annouced they have problem with printing enough Commander Decks, due to the current crises. No wonder so many stores only got 50% of the usual - the rest will come, after the factories could print the rest.

[@FableErrejeDMR]

i been thinking they should stop to make commander "decks" and just make commander collections, its really hard to balance a commander deck they need a good theme, and a secondary theme for the alternative commanders, put some cards to pump up the theme and reprints, also some cards for the secondary theme, get reprints, get cards outside of the themes and make it a "plyable" deck and anyway almost anybody play these just outside of the box and if they do it will be just a couple of times at least in my playgroups, they could just make a commander collection put the card they want and dont worry if the collection can play for its own, i see this product like this but making anyway but the "decks" just keep the product on a fraction of what could be

[@megabubfish]

I think the professor really hit the nail on the head with his explanation of why these decks feel the same. I've been saying since their reveal that tying them to the current plane, much as I love it, is far too redundant. I would love to see them revisit the concept later on, perhaps focusing on the plane as the theme as opposed to the mechanics. Sitting down with an Ikoria deck across from Dominaria, Ravnica, and Innistrad sounds much more exciting.

[@EpicGamerz01]

Personally how I thought they should do them is make the commander decks a fourth-quarter product and then have the decks flavored around the sets that came out that year. That way you still get the renewed flavor of the sets that came out this year but also it can act as a sort of Time-capsule for the year. Maybe you add in one Commander deck that references older sets so there’s a chance that, if you don’t like the new sets, you might be more inclined to the older-themed deck

[@uS0ra]

more thematic/flavour tied decks would be great, thats what made the 2017 ones so cool

[@jasonbolding3481]

I think having 5 decks is a problem too. If it was just a monster precon and a human they coukd had really kept the feel more contrasting. Almost like the old vs. Series

[@nikkis.2066]

This is why these will perhaps be on the lower list of Precon Commander Decks. 2011, 2016 & 2017 are my top favs, with 2015, 2018, 2019 following them. With these Precons, I personally only into Arcane Maelstrom, Symbiotic Swarm and maybe Ruthless Regiment. I'm sure I'll enjoy all of them, I love Commander and always grab each Deck (never know what may surprise you) but there is 100% a lack of excitement with these VS previous years, mostly due to the homogenized feel between them. Another is that I feel MTG itself is just bloated with too much product and having two HUGE pieces being thematically the exact same (imo) kinda wears out the welcome a bit faster.

[@joestutzke4511]

The real problem with this is Supply and Demand and paired with a pandemic that affects everyone. Supporting an LGS is what allows you to play the game in person and they have to price in the fact that a customer can come in buy out all the product and then relist on eBay or TCGPlayer for double the price purchased. I see too many post of MTG players #humblebrag they bought out Walmart's entire section and go on to resale it back, thus becoming a competitor of the LGS. That is just the way it is, support if you want or not. Supply/Demand is always in play. Also, WOTC can never reprint enough of these products to push product prices down fast enough. We want a collectible game with value so yes prices should steadily rise over over time, even spike due to popular demand. Your $80 commander card going to $2 would make you just as unhappy, do not kid yourself. Another thing is this is based only on a US market perspective. If you operate a store overseas these things are extremely limited and cost more than what a US Retailer pays. Again, Supply/Demand always at play.

[@andymahoney1776]

Hell yeah, I've been waiting for this review!

[@acevn-trulo5917]

Me to sponge block

[@weirdmusicmixmaster]

I kinda would be cool with 2 new commander precons per set showcasing thecnewcmechanics and some fun reprints. I eould like the "main" yearly drop to be more varied though. Biggest issue im having this year is the single deck carrying a treasure hunt card again especially with two of the other decks having that color.

[@TheOneBehindSpace]

Just got home with 2 of the new commander decks and was thinking "I wonder if the Professor has uploaded a video on these yet" Perfect timing! :D

[@williamzhang153]

Well? Do you regret your purchase?

[@316malica]

SAME. I grabbed the Jeskai and the Temur one. Which ones did you get?

[@jankspanking8836]

@@316malica Madru and Mutate

[@seasnek7024]

Same just picked up mine today and checked my subscription page

[@fate3071]

I walked home with all 5 tonight and I didn't even know there was a shortage

[@Lastjustice]

I was looking make a mutate deck, so I was going pick up Enhanced Evolution first. I wanna make a sultai deck as I don't have one of that identity yet, so felt like a fun deck to try out. I will pick up all 5 likely over the course of the year as they are availible at local walmarts or whatever store I see them at. I'm in no rush and won't get suckered into paying extra for something I know will end up on shelves with time.

[@randommindz6782]

14:20 It just dawned on me an alternative marketing idea WotC could've done for Commander: 1 deck - Ikoria 1 deck - Throne of Eldraine 1 deck - Theros beyond death 1 deck - this year's zendikar 1 deck - mystery box???

[@TheKaijudist]

That's a very cool idea. A celebration of the year

[@kjubon8888]

this would be soo much cooler

[@billymack1778]

i really like this idea

[@seanfinley2069]

That would result in cooler decks, but I think they want multiple decks with each set. The ability to choose your favorite is a definite motivator when buying these things.

[@peternordstrom9991]

i bought the 3 timeless wisdom decks walmart put on the shelf today.. it was like 11am i was like wtf how did no one else buy these? i think they are all really good and plan to buy full sets when they reprint them in a few months or so.

[@youresodumb6574]

I’m glad I bought the Jeskai one early. The prices have jumped up so much since then.

[@Samst0n]

That counterspell really is the whole reason

[@fiarusgaming3420]

@@Samst0n yep. Spent $50 on one just for the counterspell and I don't even care haha. It's the most powerful card I've ever seen.

[@Trivedi_Tuesdays]

Chase Alford that’s still a good price, since fierce is gonna win many games

[@fiarusgaming3420]

@@Trivedi_Tuesdays Yeah, and it's Canadian, so it's like $35 American haha.

[@gavinli1368]

Siiiggggh. I hope I can get a Jeskai one for a reasonable price. I don’t even care that much about the counterspell, I just think it looks fun. Jeskai cares about spells and drawing cards? Sign me up!

[@aggressiva242]

Is it worth to buy Magic decks at all in times of Corona? Let me thiiiink. No. Our play group stopped playing magic since 2 vor 3 months,this sucks. Sure its nice to have all precons as a collector,but i have no space anymore in my flat for cards.

[@heavenlyevan]

Also, Commander Legends will have two Commander decks as well, so that's 9 this year. Damn.

[@HjorturPwns]

I believe he included those in his "7 precons this year" statement. 5 from Ikoria and 2 from commander legends

[@CosmicConical]

Since when were there going to be commander decks with commander legends? I don't remember that from the announcement, and I watched it recently

[@HjorturPwns]

@@skykur holy shit, you're right! It is 9.

[@Arcdemon44]

Have to agree with the video, even though I got all five for 149.99 which is a great deal.

[@josephs.4813]

Slightly curled to perfection 👌🏻

[@shelbyfleshood5172]

"Financial value is not the purposes of this product, it's meant to be played with." Couldn't you say that about all Magic cards?

[@raze956]

there are also alot of cards that are clearly targetet at collectors, like full art fetchlands for example. if you just want to play with fetches you can "just" get the basic ones, no need to pay a huge premium for no gameplay effect.

[@clanechelon]

This is a product to help new player get into commander or help players on a budge hence the argument that financial value is not the purpose. Sure you can claim this for all magic cards, but I can point out the master set and collector edition that appeals mostly to collectors and people that are looking to invest in their collections. It wouldn't be fair to put a massive chunk of reprints in the commander decks as collectors would buy out the market for said reprints. I strongly believe this is why they came up with a draft set for commanders where they can adress the needed reprints *finders crossed*

[@jamescalvert4471]

Less so for premium foil singles, than for a deck where the entire product is meant to be playable by itself.

[@ollo_yt]

No, because magic is a TRADING card game.

[@bobby45825]

@@ollo_yt Can't trade in Arena, so that's not entirely true.

[@SomeYouTubeTraveler]

I used to buy a full set at once. Now I can't afford to get even 1. Not that I'd have anyone to play with anyway. :-(

[@FridgeEating]

If you can cobble together some way to hang your phone over your table, you can use the phone as a webcam on your computer to stream your board. It's easy and while it's not ideal, it can be a lot of fun to play over Discord or whatnot.

[@SomeYouTubeTraveler]

@@FridgeEating Maybe I can give that a shot!

[@albertzhou1504]

I'll play with you friend

[@jessicalepins1433]

Or you can play on xmage or cokatrice, it's completely free and you can play commander with your friends or strangers on the servers.

[@joshj4818]

I got 3 at 36.99 an 2 for 41 not too bad

[@matthiasweaver7810]

"My grade is for a couple of dollars above MSRP" Do you mean the logical definition or the Secret Lair Ultimate Edition definition?

[@williamsimkulet7832]

13:50 - 5 decks per year; not 4. I realize they've cut it to 4 of late... but that's really hurt the product. .... but yeah, I'm very disappointed to see Ikoria's cards... have Ikoria's expansion. Shamefully lazy.

[@lancejburns]

It's actually 9 precons this year. 5 with Ikoria, 2 with Zendikar, and 2 with Commander Legends.

[@closedsocket]

They were up briefly for 34.99 each on Amazon last night. Had to grab them at that price. Good hunting everyone.

[@cameronwise-maas5610]

I got mine for $40NZD each, which is like $25 us each. Bought 2 sets. Do I win?

[@laynegrey2003]

They're back down to about $38 each last I checked, but they won't ship for a while.

[@Thomas-hl2fz]

i found all 5 of these for 144 dollars sold together. Its on amazon.

[@Redfoxe]

I still hope one day that we get a new Commander anthology, i want a reprint of the Edgar Markov deck :(

[@peewee130946]

Redfoxe no commander anthology is way to expensive to be a meaningful reprint

[@Baby_boodle]

I found that it blurred together for me a lot too. And having the commander previews as the same time as set previews all while having a 5th deck was overwhelming, and I completely forgot what cards even interested me just weeks ago. I've been so exhausted in general too in the midst of the pandemic. Ultimately I have so little interest in these commander decks compared to the previous ones by a whole lot.

[@Will_Morand]

We’re actually getting 9 new decks this year, with 2 decks tied to Commander Legends. Anyone remember Commander Legends? No? Oh, new Secret Lair again, okay. Wait, what were we talking about? Right, Core Set 2022.

[@jdonvance]

They could print Commander decks with each Standard release, but if they do, they shouldn't do more than two per expansion. This will avoid planar fatigue/identity issues, but of course then the product would end up sharing/fighting for space with Duel Decks AND Planeswalker Decks at the same time.

[@jdonvance]

I know, but just like Secret Lair is the new From the Vault and Mystery Boosters are the new Modern Masters, Challenger Decks are the new(ish) Duel Decks (for now). Duel Decks was just a cleaner reference since they're meant to be played against one another. (Although since Commander decks should play well with all of Commander the same way Challenger decks should play well in Standard, there is more basis for comparison than I thought. Challenger decks just cater to different audiences than Commander decks, so they aren't actually clashing as much.)

[@josephswan7254]

I think that the free-if-you-have-your-commander spells were a mistake. It feels like an artificial way to put value into these decks, and I don’t like how they become instant must-plays.

[@joe.5103]

Agreed, also the decks with bad versions feel like they’re considerably worse buys.

[@prodicalking]

I didn't even wait. The second I saw the push notification I stopped what I was doing to watch this. @_@

[@AyeegaJim]

Same

[@jamesoakley9333]

Same here

[@mattstatton4189]

The fact that they are all on the same plane is actually my favorite part. I'm excited to see more of Ikoria and can't wait to see more from other planes. Hopefully they are still doing it be the time we get back to Tarkier.

[@chaz_808]

These decks are great! Especially due to the fact that the store where I go to buy all my magic cards (my lgs is 30 mins drive away) had 20% off on magic cards so i got my deck for $48 aud (30 USD). Of course i chose the one with dinosaur cat tokens.

[@Stroggoii]

Be real, how many of these cards survive into your optimal iteration of the deck? That's why we don't have these for other formats.

[@NightOfCrystals]

Exactly. I think I have bought 9 precons over the past 3 years since I got back into the game, and of all of those, there are only 2 commander decks I am playing that *originated* in the precons, not to mention that they only contain 8-10 cards from the precon tops. I think from now on, I’m never buying a precon again (last thing I bought was the brawl decks for various reasons) but just the singles I think are cool/want to build around.

[@soratsukihana2662]

I hope they make decks like these from time to time again. I really like the Theme but also like, that they revisit all different planes during the precons all the other years. Im really in love with having so many Decks this year and getting all new commanders. Of course its this time more obvious that they have many perfect power up cards for this Decks in the main set to sell both, but i dont really mind. I just hope that they dont make to many broken cards like fierce guardianship. I dont really like the cards u almost have to play being expensive and hard to get...

[@jemm113]

I feel if they do set-themed commander precons again, it should be limited to 1-2 per-plane and have the normal set be like before with a wider range of deck themes and locals. I'm not even mad at having more precons in a year. What I do hate is sets of 5 (due to expense) and having so many products at such high quantity so close to eachother for release. By limiting precons to 1-2 a set it becomes much more affordable to pick them up alongside cards/boosters/boxes/pre-release kits for said new set.

[@soratsukihana2662]

But i can understand that the colours make most cense in 5er groups ^^"

[@DevilsRose321]

Hey Professor, I’m currently thinking of building a Nekusar commander deck and have some pieces of the deck. I was wondering if you could do a deck tech of recommendations for a Nekusar deck for both new and casual players. Also, keep up the good work with your videos

[@thatoneguyshawn]

Forced fruition is one I'm wanting to slot in, psychic possession/teferis puzzle box allows you to get past the downside of puzzle box. A few ways to make everyone draw cards at instant speed (temple bell or there's a couple lands that do it as well) are handy both as political "I can help" tools and sneaking in extra damage when you need to. I love my nekusar deck and I kept it relatively budget (only 10 cards in my deck broke $5 when i put it together, most were under $2) as a way of restricting power level, so it doesn't have to be budget but can still pack a punch when done right. Mirrormade to copy your extra draw artifacts/enchantments and spark double to double up (pun intended) on nekusar's "drawan extra card"/"whenever an opponent draws a card" triggers should both be readily available as they are standard rares that I don't believe are seeing much play. I would also recommend ramp that you can cash in for draws late game (mind stone/commander's sphere) since getting nekusar out early can help you draw into gas, but he's a huge lightning rod for removal (at least in my meta) but there are times when I've had a million mana and the extra card for my windfall effects would be nice. Something to consider is cost reducers. Goblin electromagnet rereducing your spells cost by 1 can "generate" more than a sol ring if you're casting multiple spells in a turn, if that makes sense My current struggle is needing better fixing (due to my laughable mana base haha) and needing more creatures to handle my meta

[@DevilsRose321]

Shawn Rupe thanks for the recommendations. A card I might put in is a thousand year storm with the amount of wheel effect spells I can copy. Maybe you should look into that as well

[@slashtehflygon1722]

"The commander player with 12 decks" I feel called out.

[@ramensobatv]

I got the mardu human tribal deck. Planning on inserting a ton of win cons here. I thought of mixing molten echoes with anointed procession + fiend hunter, infinite hasty tokens. Imma also add a surprise godo + helm. Imma also put teyza orzhov + darkest hour because of bastion and zulaport being already on the deck. This deck has a lot of potential.

[@pinballwitch5256]

i firmly believe that wizard's focus on commander so heavily is a detriment to the format, to the products, and to magic as a whole. i wish commander products would return to being every few year, instead of probably with every non-core set, plus the "draft innovation set." casual magic has all but disappeared in any form that isn't commander and brawl for the arena player sadly.

[@Jude_R_]

Thank you for doing this because I want to buy 2 of these Commander precon

[@flametitan100]

I assume as more decks get into circulation, the value of the cards will drop closer to MSRP, but that's still a pretty decent value.

[@volfgang1393]

Lol I paid $90 for timeless wisdom. (CAD) and I did win against my brother's enhanced evolution, and my dads symbiotic swarm. Timeless wisdom is really good at doing a lot of minor things every turn that eventually add up to being insane, and the partner commanders are very strong. enhanced evolution appears to be the most fun, and can get massive creatures to mutate with the commander, (who gives them trample) do a lot of commander damage, and get all your mutatable monsters from the graveyard back into your hand with every attack. He's super irritating. Would've proved difficult had I not been countering his spells and goaded his creatures to attack my dad. Eventually killed him off with fliers. Symbiotic swarm took a while to get going, but once it did his commander became a 45/45 flying, vigilance, hexproof, lifelink, haste, deathtouch, but by that time my shark rider had allready done around 20 damage to him, and I had 14 cat dinosaurs on the field from my commander, so I defeated him with a swarm of cats. I would definitely say any of these are better than most commander decks released over the last 3 years.

[@kevinlachance669]

You have to take the reprint value for how much it cost before they announced it. Locus God was like 15 bucks so if they didn't print it again it would still be 15 right now.

[@danacoleman4007]

Great point!

[@CKG-hh2bw]

i feel like when i go to amazon and searching for my mutate deck i was like this is not msrp it just straight card value not commander value because they just want value instead of msrp

[@safersephiroth943]

"Its a horrible cycle" In reference to a card in a cycling deck. YYYYYAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

[@ghostanbu1099]

Glad to see Arcane Signet being reprinted here hope to see it continue with every PreCon.

[@Matthew-by2xx]

Every year these get more expensive, and every year I'm less likely to buy one.

[@jacobclements3652]

Totally agree I used to buy one every year but they are getting more expensive and less good

[@CyricD]

Good review. My LGS opened a few days ago, and with Ikoria today they were doing great business. They're only allowed four people in at once (small store) and there was a line to get in.

[@SeraphRyan]

I got really lucky, all my stuff shipped last couple days, at the price I bought them in march. $150 for all 5 commander decks, and $180 per box for my 3 collector boxes. I realize how lucky I got too.

[@PinkSparklyGamer]

I wish wotc was more willing to reprint sealed product. Not enough commander decks? Boom, now you have more. Anthologies got you down? Have some more of them. I think most people who buy these things would rather have them be accessible than contain cards that are artificially inflated to massive price points. I'm reminded of when I used to play poker on and shaymin ex was 50$+ because they didn't print enough of an in-demand set, so they reprinted the whole set, long after the initial release. I think that's why mystery boosters were so successful, and if wizards prints more product that's in demand they'd actually make MORE money from selling MORE product.

[@9sharps]

It does kind of seem like an advertisement for Ikoria. It was really cool to see all characters coming to life, because plane didn't matter. Xantcha and Atraxa and Gerad and Arixmethes. It's cool to try out new mechanics, but it's even better to see creative renditions of new and old characters

[@fenrisulf1r]

Professor didn't comment on whether or not this product came with an Arena code to unlock the cards in Arena. I think the Eldraine Brawl decks did, if I remember correctly. If they are testing the waters of tying brawl/commander decks to specific planes/sets, why would they sometimes give Arena codes, and sometimes not give Arena codes? Even if EDH isn't a format you can play in Arena, Brawl certainly is, and they could have given us an Arena code with these products so that we can pare down the decks to make them Brawl playable and to be able to actually play them during this time of quarantine. Shouldn't they be creating more parity between the card game and the Arena game during this time of quarantine? What a misplay by Wizards and I'm surprised that the prof didn't call them out for it.

[@softnick9]

Hey man, having a hard days because of debts with all this thing about the virus...I enjoy the value videos so seeing the notification about this one made me have a good time, thanks, appreciate your work

[@andyik9009]

Maybe i'm just a mindless consumer. But i personally don't mind the land bases in these decks, even though they contain many tapped lands. People were complaining about the lands in the ur-dragon precon. But i've played that deck many times and never felt like i had to change the lands. The lands in the deck let me play a 5 color deck and i can always play all the cards that are in my hand. Maybe it comes at a cost of having to wait a turn to play them... But commander can be ''battlecruiser'' magic. Where someone can get ahead real early, but we still get to turn 12 to play our huge dragons, serpent, eldrazi and demons. I love this format i have cEDH decks and decks that are a lot worse than the precons. But the precons never dissapointed me. They are fun to play out of the box and are great to just pick up and play with friends. Commander is the only magic format i play, since i just love to sit around the table with 2-4 of my friends and have a great day.

[@matthews4427]

I was lucky to order them over a month ago, so the average cost of each deck (including sales tax) was $36.73

[@DimT670]

I could and I didn't and now I can't find the cycling deck :(

[@XakariahFox]

Jump ahead to 2023 and Enhanced Evolution still has a value of around 105 dollars, however that is mostly to do with Deadly Rollick being a 40 dollar card now lmao.

[@ashwhite2308]

I got them for $30 dollars each with a prerelease deal at my local lgs

[@gerardcipriano2202]

Which preconstructed decks do you recommend the most picked from all precon decks up to this day? Me and my two Friends are looking foroward to get into magic starting with precon Commander,you covered all the precons but in separate videos...It would be nice if u do a top list for all the precons Commander decks :3

[@timc0212]

I loved the fact that these tied in to Ikoria. It makes it feel like they’re all tied into the narrative of beasts battling beasts, and humans and the like

[@Millus1987]

Me too. I like the fact that the partner commanders are a pair of human bonder+tamed monster, especially if we compare with the c16 partners who are "some random dude+some random dude".

[@dalecowles3406]

Sorry professor but I just have given up on local game stores I go in and they jack up the price on stuff like this one place had a commander anthology 1 it was triple in price my aunt told me just to save up for it I told her I’m not paying no $300 sumthing dollars for 4 commander deck which I can get 3 of them for cheaper online. I had gone in one day for the commander anthology 2 it had only been maybe a mouth and it was close to the $300 range and the commander anthology 1 which was still up there was closer to $500. Like u said professor if u can’t get it at ur local game store or get it at a lower price there what can u do but to go to evil wal-mart or neutral target. Or even yet online tbh if I can get it cheaper with shipping and handling included cool I rather do that ya there is a wait but oh well as long as it’s cheaper. If not well u know.

[@SFTortoise]

I don't think the 'A-' grade is honest. Especially with the critisism you gave. By the the way you were talking about them, I thought it was going to be a B' or C+... but I guess you are about twist endings?

[@peewee130946]

I feel so gross that timeless wisdom is double the price

[@jeannebouwman1970]

1 card almost makes up the entire price of the deck

[@lolmeister9764]

The shortage is manufactured by WOTC and its disappointing because I'm just trying to get into Commander.

[@redstonepro5412]

i think more commander precons tied to sets are ok, you can just buy the ones you like noone forces you to buy every precon

[@jamespooh2]

Same. They just need to do one or two per set and still make the major commander set completely separate form this idea

[@redstonepro5412]

@@jamespooh2 yes, and they should print staples like teferis protection in more than one precon they dont need to print it in every precon, but if they would reprint commandercards in every precon they fit in., they would not be that expensive for example the human precon could have had a teferis protection and the abzanprecon a toxic deluge

[@Layjus123]

The mutate commander's ability is a big let down bring boring and overly simple. It could have been something better like: whenever another nontoken nonhuman creature enters the battlefield under your control, you may choose a creature card with mutate in your graveyard. If you do, mutate the chosen creature onto that creature.

[@coreysierchio4650]

Prof said "Good Night!" Guess it's time to go to sleep even though it's only 4pm.

[@Shinigami00Azael]

Wow! Ruthless Regiment in 2nd place in prof video? Nice! I decided that I will buy it long time ago and then heard every commander channel and their mother laughing at it and I was worried :(Did you play with multiple commanders or only Irina?)

[@peterbillings3276]

Hm. “Worth it” at MSRP, huh? ...what about all 5 for under $100? :D (due to age and Cyber Monday)

[@YawgmothWasRight]

Thank you Professor, I've been waiting soooo long for this review, finally it's here !! May the gods of the topdeck bless you !

[@provalone]

Yo, I run guildgates, tap lands in moderation are just fine, fightme Pro bro. But seriously, great vid. As a pool builder, I pre order commander decks every year from my lgs and usually pull them apart right away. However, I do not have the funds to buy this many decks per year, and I really wish they wouldn't up the number like this.

[@MTGUnpacked]

Pre-ordered these from my LGS for $34.98 each, so total under $200 with tax. Unfortunately all but one box was damaged in the sealed case. Not a fan of this ridiculously oversized packaging!

[@bleed2blue1]

39,99 dollars!!!! really to buy them in europe i have to pay around a 100 €

[@RyuHero]

Holy crappppp! This was everything ive wanted in a review! A++! You answered all my questions in a concise, entertaining, and timely manor. You just gained a subscriber! Thanks teach!

[@DubWubby]

"Increased" to 5 decks. I remember when that was the norm!

[@darklordtera]

Probably the most honest views on magic cards is from this channel more people should support you. 🤘

[@Shiptonio]

Im probably just gonna buy them at Walmart of Target. LGS has them marked up sadly.

[@MorosSilverwing]

oh to look back and hear 7 precons being the max of a year.

[@piginmud9745]

Deadly rolik is now 42$ more than the whole deck msrp

[@TheDarksweeney]

@17:25 - True Story: When Fact or Fiction was first released in Invasion, every control player had 4 in their deck. I was playing mono-red w/ burn, & remembered an ignored rare Blood Oath from Mercadian Masque. Look it up. I ran 4 of them main deck. In a tournament at the legendary NYC Neutral Ground, I played in the first round against a very skilled & respected control player (Eric K) with this card for first time. He had his MTG posse & other spectators looking on. Game 1 he goes first. EK: Turn 1 Island; Me Turn 1 Mountain. Same thing for the next couple turns. Turn 4 I play Mountain, then at my EOT he casts Fact or Fiction. I give him all 5 cards (3 instants, 2 others). After FoF resolves, I cast Blood Oath. His eyebrow goes up, and he reads the card. I name instants. After a pause, he scoops without showing me his hand, and everyone starts laughing. Game 2, same turns as the first game. Once again, after he casts FoF end of my turn 4, I give him 5 cards. Everyone watching starts laughing again. Did I have the Oath, or was I bluffing? He bins the 5 cards. Applause abound. My day was made. So in short, I know a guy who was given 5 cards from Fact or Fiction TWICE.

[@robertsharp1511]

I just purchased all 5 for msrp in 2021. so....

[@jameswatson6009]

One thing about all of the precons being set on the same plane (which I actually like a bit more than having them spread across planes) is that there's more room to dive deeper into the mechanics of a set, which lets people build around a certain new mechanic that they really like better. I haven't seen the whole decklists for these, but the easiest thing to talk about in regards to this is mutate. While I don't know if WotC did in this series of precons, since mutate is a 100% new mechanic, having a precon that is full of mutate cards in addition to whatever is in the main set makes it much easier to *actually* play a mutate themed commander deck, instead of having like 10 mutate creatures and then 89 filler cards that don't fit the theme very well. This also applies to the returning mechanics, though to a lesser degree since there's already a lot of cycling matters cards for example, the cycling precon (or other similarly returning mechanics) still has the opportunity to give more commander playable cyclers/payoffs. I think that overall I value the increased room in mechanical exploration more than the possibility of same-y feelings across the decks. Other than that, this was a fantastic video, and I can't wait to keep seeing more!

[@darksteelmenace595]

I gotta say I love the new Commanders in these. It feels like you have cool options this time. The last two Commander Precons had very lackluster alternatives with only very few exceptions

[@City-wj3qv]

usual 4? no just no. Sit down u got an F on this one Professor

[@eskimoprime09]

What gets me the most is the number of people I've heard of that buy out entire stocks of these decks for the sole intent of reselling them at a higher price. There is one person in my town that really went to both Walmarts and the one Target, and bought out all of their commander decks, as well as asking the store employees if there were any more in back, which he bought all of those as well. Probably cost him a few thousand dollars, but he is likely then going to turn right around and sell all of those for an extreme markup. And since the actual card shops got their allocation sliced by over half, the only two of us that are still open after the government shut us down for over a month only have a couple sets to sell. It's all bullshit and I'm pretty pissed. Like, I get it there's not really much you can do to stop people from buying things at the price you set it at, but there needs to be enough product to discourage this. If enough product is actually printed so that people can actually buy it at "msrp," then people can't really mark these up. Wizards supposedly doesn't even make profit off the secondary market, so they have no reason to short print things. Supposedly. And to extend that, as Prof said, DO NOT PAY THESE MARKUPS! The people that singlehandedly bought out entire stocks to make a profit, we need to dig them into the ground. Don't let them get away with this. The more they do, the more likely they will do it in the future. We as the general MTG community need to make a statement that this IS NOT OKAY. And to the stores that put their own markups: shame on you. You got the product from your distributor at roughly $20-24 each, and you can still sell these at $40 and still make your 70% standard profit. There is no reason to match these artificial markups.