The face commanders from the MTG Lost Caverns of Ixalan EDH decks have been revealed and, surprisingly, there are four of them with this release instead of the usual two. That’s because each one is a tribal deck focused on a specific creature type. You’ve probably already guessed it, those are: Merfolk, Pirates, Dinosaurs, and Vampires.
Those are the MTG creature types that the first two Ixalan sets were built around, and they’re less of a focus for Lost Caverns of Ixalan. So to give these lovely creatures their due, Magic: The Gathering has popped them into the commander decks. Check out the four new MTG commanders below:
MTG Lost Caverns of Ixalan Dinosaur deck
The first MTG Commander deck we’re talking about here is the Dinosaur deck ‘Veloci-Ramp-Tor’, which suggests you’ll “play extra lands” and advertises “dino devastation”. This deck is led by the Legendary Dinosaur: Pantlaza, Sun-Favored.
Pantlaza uses the new Discover mechanic, which is a lot like the MTG Cascade keyword. When a dinosaur enters the battlefield or your control (or Pantlaza herself ETBs) you exile cards from the top of your library until you hit a nonland card with mana cost equal to or less than that creature’s toughness. You then – crucially – get to decide whether you want to play that card without paying for it, or place it into your hand.
Expect a fair few MTG mana ramp cards in this precon, and to cheat out some awesome dinosaurs.
MTG Lost Caverns of Ixalan Vampire deck
Then there’s Blood Rites, led by Clavileno, First of the Blessed, which is seemingly all about sacrificing vampires to make demons. When you attack, Clavinelo turns one of your attacking vampires into a Demon, and gives them a permanent ability. When they die, you’ll draw a card and get a 4/3 flying demon.
MTG Lost Caverns of Ixalan Pirate deck
The pirate deck, Ahoy Mateys, has an unusual theme for the type: it plays with the graveyard. With Admiral Brass, Unsinkable you’ll throw pirates into your graveyard, then bring them back stronger. This new Admirable Brass card lets you return a pirate from the dead in each of your combats, and they come back as a 4/4.
MTG Lost Caverns of Ixalan Merfolk deck
Finally, we have the Merfolk deck Explorers of the Deep, which seems to be the most ‘classic’ of the decks – though its commander is no less powerful for it. Hakbal of the Surging Soul makes all your Merfolk explore every turn. That’s pretty great in itself, but the Merfolk Scout also comes with a little bit of card draw and ramp built in.
There’ve been several reveals alongside the commander decks – like this Jurassic World card that makes Colossal Dreadmaws. Don’t miss the MTG Fallout cards that were shown off last week, and check out our MTG release schedule guide for all upcoming Magic releases.