MTG Commander precon decks (short for preconstructed decks) are a great place to turn when you’re just starting out in the Commander format, still learning the ropes. There are tons of different options available, and for a fairly affordable price you’re guaranteed a well-balanced deck with a strong strategy that you can just sit down and play with right away – although you should sleeve your cards first if you don’t want to attract horrified glances.
We recommend you always start off with an MTG precon before learning how to build a Commander deck. You can then upgrade your first precon over time and get a feel for the deckbuilding process. But precons aren’t only for newbies, they’re equally fun for established players too, especially if you choose one of the more powerful decks on offer. To help with that, we’ve put together this list to show off the best MTG Commander precon decks currently available.
You’ll notice that most of the MTG Commander precons we recommend came out some time in the past five years. There are two reasons for this, and neither are recency bias. The first is that the power level of precon decks has increased in latter years. The second is that the number of precons released each year has grown – we now get at least a couple with every MTG set.
The good news is that modern precons are easier to get hold of than the old stuff. That means the strongest Commander decks can be found at cheaper prices.
- 11. Elven Empire
- 10. Cavalry Charge
- 9. Vampiric Bloodlust
- 8. Urza’s Iron Alliance
- 7. Reap the Tides
- 6. Veloci-Ramp-Tor
- 5. Necron Dynasties
- 4. Mutant Menace
- 3. Tyranid Swarm
- 2. Party Time
- 1. Food and Fellowship
11. Elven Empire
Kaldheim brought an interesting take on MTG Elves, and along with it, the fourth most popular MTG commander ever printed. Lathril, Blade of the Elves. The Elven Empire deck has a little bit of everything an elf deck needs: some lords, some ramp, some token makers. Unchanged, straight out the box, it’s a little weaker than many of the other decks on this list, but there are umpteen cards you could slot in to upgrade it.
10. Cavalry Charge
The whopping five Commander decks released alongside MTG March of the Machine were pretty hit and miss, but Cavalry Charge was a certified banger. This tribal deck, built around the Knights MTG creature type, brought back the Eminence ability, meaning you didn’t even need to play your Commander to start generating value from him.
With the ability to loot for better card selection, and return frightening knights to the battlefield at startling speed, Cavalry Charge is an aggressive, powerful deck, and a really unusual strategy for this MTG color combination.
9. Vampiric Bloodlust
Speaking of Eminence, the Commander 2017 precon decks can stand proud and tall alongside more modern decks, in large part thanks to the raw power of this ability. Edgar Markov ranks among the most powerful and popular commanders of all time because he’s able to pop out a ton of vampire tokens from the command zone.
Vampiric Bloodlust is an EDH deck running the ever-popular Aristocrats strategy. It’s a very expensive deck right now, thanks to Edgar’s price, and the inclusion of format all-star Teferi’s Protection. If you want a cheaper take on an MTG Vampire precon, the recently released Blood Rites is pretty solid, but it doesn’t hold up to the Bloodlust.
8. Urza’s Iron Alliance
Urza’s Iron Alliance is a deceptively powerful MTG precon Commander deck. The ability to spit out tokens seems quite innocuous, but Urza is able to make such gigantic tokens with such efficiency that it gets dangerous very quickly.
The affinity discount for Urza is also great, negating the problem of an expensive commander and making single target removal far less worrisome. And with artifact lands keeping your artifact count really high, even when the board gets wiped, it doesn’t take long before you’re spitting out 10/10s.
7. Reap the Tides
One of the most sought after precon decks, Reap the Tides is classic Simic, with the face commander featuring both MTG mana ramp and MTG card draw. The deck is full of gigantic sea monsters, and it has the ramp to be able to play them in good time. It’s another deck that’s easy to upgrade: with such a generically powerful face commander, you can take this pile of cards in any direction you like.
6. Veloci-Ramp-Tor
Lost Caverns of Ixalan, the final main set of 2023, really marked a sea change in the way precon Commander decks were designed. All four are extremely solid out of the box – each one built to a clear gameplan, with almost no obvious cards you should cut.
Of the four, Veloci-Ramp-Tor just about clinches the top spot, though it’s very close: Explorers of the Deep is also fantastic. This deck has a clear, simple game plan. You cheat out the biggest and best MTG dinosaurs and smash everyone else to little bits. The card quality is high, and the deck is very easy to upgrade.
At the end of the day, when you’re getting a free, massive dinosaur every turn it’s hard not to win games.
5. Necron Dynasties
Thematic and powerful, Necron Dynasties was the most sought after of the Warhammer 40k decks. Themed around artifacts and graveyard shenanigans, this deck is full of unique cards that give it a high skill ceiling. It’s fair to say that it’s easy to play but hard to master. Necron Dynasties also has lots of colorless cards that slot nicely into other builds, if you can bear to break up your Universes Beyond precons.
4. Mutant Menace
The Mutant Menace deck is stretched around several different themes – from milling to +1/+1 counters to reanimation. And yet it doesn’t feel unfocused, partly because of the engine that is the Wise Mothman, which really works to tie the deck together. Able to swiftly build up a board of beefy creatures, ping opponents with burn damage, or take to the skies and kill with a few good hits with a commander, this deck has all sorts of roads to victory.
The only problem with Mutant Menace is that its gameplay is so unsubtle. A lot of Commander games are won by going under the radar only to steal the game out of nowhere, but this moth buzzes about loud and proud. There’s no hiding it when you’re throwing Rads and +1/+1 counters around willy-nilly. You’re also likely to attract a lot of aggro even if you’re not running away with the game. Some people just hate it when you mill their cards.
3. Tyranid Swarm
The MTG Warhammer 40k deck Tyranid Swarm is a really fun and powerful precon Commander deck, full of ramp and X-cost creatures that can get ridiculously large given the opportunity. The Universes Beyond decks like this one all feature lots of brand new cards, which leads to an awesome, synergistic package.
The secret of getting the most mileage out of Tyranid Swarm is that the default commander, The Swarmlord, is not your best commander option. Presumably, someone decided (correctly) that a big alien bug was more recognisable and marketable for the Warhammer 40k Tyranids than the OC Genestealer Cults character Magus Lucea Kane, but the deck seems clearly built around the Magus, who can copy all of your deadly ravenous creatures.
2. Party Time
Party Time is another precon deck tuned to perfection. It’s full of powerful EDH staples, some of which saw their first printings in this deck. For instance, Black Market Connections is an instant classic, while Deep Gnome Terramancer is a fantastic source of White mana ramp.
Tweaking this deck is really fun, as building for Party means you have four different creature types to play around with. An added bonus: Party Time has a few MTG Changeling cards that can slot into virtually any tribal deck.
1. Food and Fellowship
When MTG Lord of the Rings was first announced, who didn’t want a Commander deck led by the trusty hobbit duo of Sam and Frodo? Food and Fellowship shows that the Eldraine Food mechanic is no joke. This whimsical deck has a real mean streak. It gains tons of life and drains your opponents to death. Like all the Lord of the Rings decks, this one had incredible reprint value and lots of powerful new cards.
For more MTG content, check out our guide to the most expensive MTG cards. You can also find out what sets are coming out next with our up-to-date MTG release schedule.