The first spoilers for Wilds of Eldraine are here, and they include the MTG commanders from its precon Commander decks. The Wilds of Eldraine Commanders are Tegwyll, Duke of Splendor – a somewhat generic faerie tribal leader – and Ellivere of the Wild Court, who makes use of the set’s new Role enchantment tokens.
Tegwyll is all about faeries, an extremely popular creature type in Magic: The Gathering. Like many creature type ‘lords’, he provides a buff to power and toughness, but he also draws you cards when your faeries die, encouraging you to find ways to sacrifice the critters you no longer need. We’re relieved not to see a ‘this ability triggers only once each turn’ on this card. He leads the Fae Dominion deck, which the box states is about ‘summoning flocks of faeries’ and ‘playing tricks’.
Meanwhile, Ellivere of the Wild Court leads a deck called Virtue and Valor, which is about ‘buffing your creatures’ and ‘crushing your foes’. At first we thought this would be one of the umpteen +1/+1 counter commanders, but instead it’s all about enchantments. Specifically, the deck is focused on creating Role token enchantments – a new mechanic introduced in Wilds of Eldraine.
Ellivere herself creates Virtuous enchantments, giving creatures +1/+1 for each enchantment you control – a potentially massive buff. She also draws you cards when enchanted creatures deal damage, encouraging you to give your creatures a role then send them in to fight.
The alternate commanders for these decks are perhaps more interesting than the leaders themselves. One is a new Alela card. Alela, Cunning Conqueror makes faeries when you play a card on an opponent’s turn (encouraging tricksy plays) and goads creatures when your faeries connect. Meanwhile Gylwain, Casting Director will give all your creatures roles when they ETB – a wonderful bit of flavor. Both creatures work very well in their respective archetypes.
Expect to see the full decklists late in spoiler season, between August 22 – August 23. Check out our MTG 2023 release schedule guide for more details, and don’t miss our look at the Wilds of Eldraine draft archetypes. You could also visit our MTG Arena codes guide to pick up some free packs.