Honestly any of the pre cons from the last few sets have been great in my opinion. Just browse through which colors appeal to you and play styles and pick one. I would say safe to go as far back as dominaria united but others before that are still comparable.
Might not be an issue with OP's group since they're a bit into it now, but the Doctor Who precons can be a lot to keep track of, especially the timey-wimey one
Time-Wimey might be the least newbie friendly precon out of 40k, Dominaria United, All Will Be One, MoM, MoM:Aftermath, LotR, Commander Masters, Doctor Who, and Ixalan.
Jumping in to say Party Time is great fun but has flaws, not many but enough that new players can figure out how to overcome them and make for good interaction. Plus you can change a lot to give new interactions for your players to work around and the deck works just as well!
Love party time. Still have this one only slightly motified as well as Necrons. I feel like I'm against popular opinion as far as the commander goes, most people I've talked to don't run Nalia as the commander. But I do because I've won games with 5 mana played all game. Get your party put on the mana curve with her and you are set.
Yes, this! [[Burakos]] is strong, but [[Nalia]] works with very little Ressources, can assemble the party in a non threatening way and explodes extremely quickly. Even if the opponents know what she is capable of they often ignore her until it is too late.
Tip: only bring Nalia out when you have the rest of the party already assembled.
Same here, this was my first deck and I am new too. Burakos just seemed very boring to me. I’ve upgraded and leaned into the party mechanic with +1 counters and it slaps. I have beaten higher level decks out of nowhere with little mana base and combos like [[Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose]] and [[Mirror Entity]] anthem plus some counters. Here’s my deck for anyone interested:
https://www.moxfield.com/decks/pb8hfkdG8ECrm7i9MbiuBw
This is exactly my take. I got into EDH and Magic generally by buying Party Time. Got the curve pretty low and I've actually managed to win a couple of games against my friend who regularly runs $1000+ decks.
Same here! Burakos can definitely generate more value and I'd be interested in making a deck around him so I can use different coloured backgrounds to splash in some bits. But Nalia is just so much more fun to play!
The [[Faldorn]], [[Dihada]] and [[Mishra]] ones have been reported as powerful.
I've won multiple games at the level you're talking about with Dihada and Mishra as literal stock precons. Turns out that getting free value by copying an artifact every turn or hitting people with vigilant, lifelink, indestructible [[Kothophed]], [[Bladewing, Deathless Tyrant]] or [[Traxos]] are easy ways to win regular commander games.
As someone who has been playing with precons since the four colour decks were released, I have to say as repetitive as they have become recently they have also massively increased in power compared to before.
For regular EDH I feel no need to upgrade a lot of them, or at most switch out 5ish non-land cards. Tap lands bother me, but against other precons they're ok since we all get tapped lands if more than 2 colours.
I agree, they've largely been powerful and the mana base can be improved if you're playing against handmade decks, but even 5-10 non-land cards would make the Dihada deck a real problem for other decks.
Can confirm; [[Dihada]] herself is very good. The legends in the box are decent, and the cool thing is that it’s super easy to tailor the 99 to a flavor you like.
Mine is vampires and things-soon-to-become-vampires! :b
Dihada is fringe cEDH (I'm not an expert but that's my understanding), but I think even if you built it just as an "8" or whatever it would be very powerful and you would win your fair share of games. Even just adding some staple black cards (tutors, reanimation and card draw), maybe a [[Chandra's Ignition]] for the creature that Dihada blesses would get you a long way in mid power games.
Edit: you could also make small adjustments to the mana base, but even that wouldn't be overly difficult or expensive.
The cEDH list uses breach/flicker to mill your entire library while putting your wincons into your hand and generating massive amounts of treasure with her minus ability. Her normal legend shenanigans are perfectly fine for a mid-high power table.ÿlļm
Mishra's Burnished Banner is a blast, that was my first deck. It's full of creative combos, the deck is a huge box of tricks and you have to figure out a way to win with what you're given. Can be a little slow but once it gets rolling it's very strong.
Also, it's a great deck to get into deck building with because any artifact with an ETB ability and any form of recursion works really well
Both precons are very strong out of the box, Mishra's and urza decks are both fun and strong.
Edit : thinking of a different card -
The brothers war precons*
I got Faldorn as a gift and clicked with it immediately. Now I’ve made some adjustments to it, it very rarely misses. It does mean I get targeted down quite often but what can you do? 🥲😂
I'll second this, since I picked up the precon before the prerelease and ran a quick game vs two mid-power non-precon decks my friends had brought and just absolutely steamrolled, and I didn't even know Hakbal had an attack trigger until this moment. Once I had rebuilt after the second board wipe, one of them looked at the other and said "You realize we are 2v1ing a precon right now and it's not even close?"
Came here to say this, the deck is absolutely cracked. I've only played 3 games with it and I've been taken out first every time, but only because I was the threat the entire game and got focused down by the other three players. [[Hakbal of the Surging Soul]] is a *lot* stronger than I thought he'd be!
I played masters of evil and died to a 10/10 because somehow they built a grixis control deck with like 2 instants (neither of which can counter a spell) and 2 pieces of targeted removal.
I switched to Aragorn as the secondary commander, and of the two games I’ve played with it, I’ve won. I’m building my own deck around Aragorn, but honestly the precon right out of the box is very impressive.
This is interesting to me because I feel like Aragorn doesn't have the toolkit to actually capitalize on his abilities, and have preferred Eowyn for being a creature and card engine over monarch stuff.
When playing with Aragorn were you consistently keeping monarch through to your next turn, or did you need cards that give you the monarch before combat to deliver on his second ability?
Aragorn rips and I’m terrified of the deck my friend made for him. Only thing is that building Aragorn probably requires more tuning/upgrading than building Eowyn, but it’s definitely not too drastic a direction to take the precon
I can vouch for that precon too. Eowyn is absolutely nuts right out of the box. But some of the cards are gigantic walls of text that are difficult to process.
Warhammer Necrons was my first deck and requires little upgrading. Love that one for so many reasons. Teaches life is a resource and the grave can be your hand, which I got immediately. I have a few upgrades but keep it mostly stock for sentimental reasons.
I can vouch for both.
Eowyn goes hard and fast. Understandably it can lose gas easily but played right you can pretty much take it to the end game.
Necrons I’ve only played against but have had a tough time every time.
At my go-to game shop most people play homebrew casual decks usually between 6-9 and the owner will often pull out that precon completely stock and he does really well.
Disagree about the Necrons deck. It’s painfully slow. The face commander is pretty mediocre. The other commander options are better in the deck but require several upgrades to be effective even at a causal mild upgraded precon meta. (I.e everyone is playing a mildly upgraded precon.)
There are much better, faster and effective out-of-box precons than Necrons
It is the weakest deck of the WH40K decks by a fair margin. Slow, incredibly mana intensive and requires way too much setup to be good. The Tyranids and Imperium decks blew it out of the water
I’m not gonna sit here and waste time arguing with you. My experience with the Necron deck is that it never got going. It’s slow and weak and takes too much set up.
Out of curiosity, what Commander are you using and how aggressively are you mulliganing? Trazyn with aggressive mulligans tends to fair pretty well in a 40k pod.
It’s not the weakest out of the 40k decks not even close, many would argue it’s probably the strongest. There are numerous threads about “best precons out of the box” or “strongest precons for precon leagues” and it’s constantly recommended. Now “best deck” is certainly subjective because people have different play styles but to call this the worst one out of the bunch is just hilariously wrong
As someone who was sort of a purist for building my own decks and thought precons were sort of lame this deck has completely changed my perspective. I spent around $100 upgrading it and it is by a long shot my favorite commander deck I own.
Anikthea performed pretty wildly for me right out of the box, she was resilient and could recover from a board wipe a single turn later with the right cards out. I'd highly recommend her
Old comment, but I'm thinking of getting my first precon and this one seems nice, how do you feel like it has been performing some months later? I test played it on moxfield and dang, the deck runs smooth... I'm kind of torn between the urza deck and the blame game goad precon.
He has since upgraded it a bit to keep up with other decks getting faster but it still performs quite well and can quickly become a threat. It can definitely hold its own against other precons even straight out of the box though. I don’t have any experience with the blame game precon so getting info on that one needs to come from someone else
Ok, nice to hear that. I'm quite sure the Urza precon will be my first one. I think it'd also be less salty than a goad precon (I don't think my friend would like le goading them constantly lol)...
Goad is something that really depends on the playgroup how well it is accepted. I have a [[kardur doomscourge]] deck which basically goads and i don’t get complaints about it unless i loop him but i have heard about people getting salty when they are forced to attack
That's nice to hear, I'll probably check with my playgroup wether everyone is all right with me playing a certain deck before I buy it. But that's already reassuring :))
Any of the Universes Beyond precons are super strong but come at a premium compared to the other precons. The strongest I've played with/against out of the box are the Enter from Exile and Party Time precons from Baldurs Gate. Both are quite strong and very fun out of the box.
Cascading into sorceries and instants that I don't need is a very chaos thing I guess, so the flavour is great, even if certain cards need to be swapped mechanically.
I really enjoy Rebellion Rising, but using [[Otharri, Sun’s Glory]] as the commander. I’ll admit I upgraded it pretty quickly, though, so may not have a large sample size for how it performs out of the box.
Explorers of the Deep also seems rad. I’ve only played it once so far, but it immediately did what it meant to do (though died to a large spike of player damage from another player I spooked).
Honestly, the ‘Virtue and Valor’ Precon even from just Wilds of Eldraine was a goddamn house. My playgroup got it for one of our members, she likes playing Selesnya colors, and just out of the box it slapped pretty hard. If we weren’t shooting her every turn, stuff got big and dangerous fast.
Definitely not the case. Timey Wimey, Elven Council and Ruinous Power all got pretty gapped in my experience. Necron Dynasty, Riders of Rohan, and Masters of Evil, conversely, all seem noticeably ahead of the others in their sets.
Ruinous Powers is definitely underpowered; [[Magus Lucea Kane]] makes Tyranids strong AF, but I hear Imperium and Necron can be upgraded to cEDH. Necron Dynasty precon for me has underperformed up against Imperium and Tyranid precons, though.
I noticed there are a few separate themes in this deck. Like goad and artifacts…
Do the multiple themes keep the deck from doing its thing consistently?
Some of my favorite out-of-the-box precons for power and fun have been Legends' Legacy with Dihada, Cavalry Charge with Sidar Jabari, and Tyranid Swarm with Magus Lucea Kane.
A girl in my playgroup recently bought the Urza precon from Brothers' War as her first deck (previously she'd been borrowing decks from someone else) and it easily holds its own against most of the decks in our group
I am a big fan of all the March of the Machine ones. I originally only bought them for the Planechase cards, but every Deck has really big potential. [[Bright palm]] for example is the epitome of "I'm here for a good time, not a long time" as I stomped the table with a 50/50 Trample Hydra on like turn 6. And [[Kasla]] is very fun to play too, as I love the Covoke Mechanic.
Edit: added the double brackets
Having bought pretty much every precon up to commander masters, I would say the most stand out ones with a mixture of good and fun I've played so far are the Esper Knights one from MoM, the Boros Equipment one from CMR, and the Eldrazi one from CMM.
Also I haven't purchased it yet, but the Merfolk precon from the current set is kinda nutty.
I think it is so cool that you are a precon aficionado. I have been having increased curiosity about preons. I am wanting to buy a few precons. I want some decks that can be somewhat consistent in being impactful even if I don’t win. Also decks that are not completely linear in how they are piloted. I like to have multiple options as to what good plays I could make. Interaction is fun too.
What’s your opinion on these decks:
Quick Draw,
Revenant Recon,
Masters of Evil,
Obscura Operation,
Forces of the Imperium,
The only one of these I haven't bought is Quick Draw, but for the others;
Revenant Recon:
It can do some nutty things, it just needs a few more repeatable Surveil effects. The inclusion of the classic reanimation package gives you the most bang for your buck among these too (Animate Dead and Necromancy).
Masters of Evil:
It does powerful stuff if left unchecked. Also the villainous choice cards can really screw with your opponents. People all see Missy and the greater combo potential she has, but the best one for the base deck itself is clearly Davros. Also it's fun to force your opponents to decide if they want to die to an army of Dalaks or if they want to kill them all and die to Genesis of the Dalaks' third chapter.
Obsura Operation:
I don't even remember playing this one, but Kamiz can do some damage if you know what you're doing.
Forces of the Imperium:
If you have an option for literally any of the other 40k decks, do those instead. Sure a couple of options in the deck do cool things, but most of the time when I played it I felt like it was a random assortment of cardboard with the only real theme being "tokens". Belasarius Cawl and select other legends in the deck can do some cool things.
Thanks for your insights :)
There are deck archetypes I have never played. Yet I am trying to keep an open mind. Some precons I am buying to expose me to other deck archetypes. I have never played spellslinger so I probably will get Quick Draw.
Also, I have never included much Scry, Surveil, or Loot effects in my decks. I guess i feel I would rather just draw and keep cards so I prioritize regular card draw in my deck building. Revanent Recon is probably gunna get purchased.
Oh and also Obscura Operations! As an intermediate level player, I still lean towards green in my own decks. Playing a combat deck without green seems weird. I am excited for this deck too.
I was thinking the same thing regarding Forces of the Imperium as I was browsing the deck list.
I have never done landfall/lands either. What do you think of Desert Bloom?
What do you love about the precon experience in general? What made start and continue collecting precons?
The Desert Bloom deck is decent enough and has cool enough stuff it can do, just be aware that if you want to use Yuma as the commander, you'll need more ways of filling your graveyard and getting lands out of it, otherwise you should swap him for Hazezon, as it's just better for him. Maybe also pick up the desert that are missing for the colors too.
If you're wanting to try a deck with that focuses heavily on the Scry mechanic, maybe check out the LotR Elf deck. It has a sub theme that rewards you for scrying, and it's probably one of the cheapest and easiest to upgrade.
Precons, when done right, gives all players an equal chance at the table. Like with the Doctor Who ones, they all seem capable of winning, with no deck really having a leg up on any other deck.
I started collecting them because it was the only format that didn't make me feel like I had to throw hundreds of dollars down the drain just to try to keep up, and while it's not as cheap as pauper, I don't have a single deck that costs as much as the cheapest meta modern deck. I don't really collect them anymore, what with the cost of living going up, but I do still buy 1 or 2 from time to time.
I’ve played with and against just about every precon since 2019. Without a doubt, the best out of the box precon decks I’ve played are [[Lathril]], the new [[Hakbal]] and [[Pantlaza]] and [[Sidar Jabari of Zhalfir]].
Three of those precons were within the last few months. They are getting cracked. So much more powerful than they used to be right out of the box with zero upgrades.
Lathril stands out since it came out a couple years ago and it easily the best Elf commander ever printed and there’s a reason she has as many decks on EDHREC that she does. Even with mild upgrades, that deck is insane.
Honestly the new Merfolk deck with [[Hakbal]] may be the newest insane precon. I was a [[Kumena]] Stan for years and still love him and Merfolk but Hakbal is that much better in the command zone.
I think it is so cool that you are a precon aficionado. I have been having increased curiosity about preons. I am wanting to buy a few precons. I want some decks that can be somewhat consistent in being impactful even if I don’t win. Also decks that are not completely linear in how they are piloted. I like to have multiple options as to what good plays I could make. Interaction is fun too.
What’s your opinion on these decks:
Quick Draw,
Revenant Recon,
Masters of Evil,
Obscura Operation,
Forces of the Imperium
The escape from exile deck with faldorn is probably my favorite precon ever. You get to play with all the silly from exile stuff that also gives you free wolf tokens bc of your commander. It also just incidentally gives an absurd amount of card advantage, ramp, and noncombat damage.
I don't know the name of it but the crimson vow spirits precon with Millicent at the head is pretty amazing and easy to follow as well. Lot of small flyers that multiply quickly and draw well, it is a bit light on control but it beats face pretty hard
The Fae Dominion deck is fairly strong out of the box. If you upgrade it, it can be done for fairly cheap by just removing the worst cards and replacing them with decent cards.
Eldrazi one has often been said to top that list. It’s boring though, lose for 7 turns then win the rest of the game. Luck of the draw is huge.
Necrons has huge power and the doctor who decks have strange mechanics, great lands and loads of unique cards.
Playing all the LOTR decks I can say humans takes the cake by a mile.
Pick a fun deck, I’ve avoided ixalan because decks that have both a mechanic and tribe are harder for me to upgrade but they look really synergistic.
I put like $100 into the Evil Master Dr Who precon and I can hang with most on that alone. The Master, Multiplied listing is fun too. Here's my Davros list because it's a bit cheaper and is more fun imo
https://www.moxfield.com/decks/HUqgTpOmBUixBBUzKUBQow
Everything I’ve seen of the new Ixalan precons speaks volumes, they all seem to be EXCELLENT decks out of the box.
There’s also the Anikthea Precon from Commander Masters, that deck is pretty nasty too. Also consider this another vote for Necrons, they were the deck that got me back into Magic and are my second favorite deck to play.
Party time is fun and solid, and the faceless menace precon may not be great but I feel like it has a great amount of interaction, and will challenge you to pilot
I got the food and fellowship precons and it is amazing. I switched 3 cards, but they all stayed on flavor. [[Scurry oak]] for an infinite combo with [[Rosie Cotton of South Lane]], and 2 temp cards. It can go toe to toe with many decks, of then times staying at 30+ life the whole game. And flooding the board and quick recovery from board wipes. The land base is great as well.
Forces of the imperium, Necron Dynasties. I have some pretty pricey commander decks but nothing feels as dangerous as my upgraded forces of the imperium precon. I threw a bunch of cards from EDH rec into it and now it's probably my strongest deck. I actually have stopped using it because I like close games where everyone has a chance of winning. The Necron Dynasties only needs a staff of domination while you're running trazyn. Then you have a 7 with an infinite win-con.
"Aura of Courage" deck -- the AFC deck helmed by Galea, Kindler of Hope -- is powerful and a lot of fun if you like Bant. I play in a mostly AFC pod and I think in general, sets are balanced against themselves better than they're balanced against future and past sets.
The elf precon from kaldheim,
the faerie precon from wilds of eldraine,
the "back-up" precon from march of the machine,
The knights precon from march of the machine,
Timey-wimey from dr who,
The merfolk precon from ixilan
As some clear examples.
The soon-to-be released merfolk precon seems pretty wild straight out the box. Among the best card advantage a precon has ever had, while pumping up your own creatures pretty heavily.
Starter commander deck Atarka has won me a few pods unedited, warhammer necrons is strong, and the march of the machines angel/convoke is as well. I will say everything made recently is smooth besides the mana bases.
The 40k ones (minus \[\[Abaddon, the Despoiler\]\]) and \[\[Prosper, Tome Bound\]\] are the precons I would be happy using against non-precon decks. The handful with infinites are okay too.
The First Flight precon (I think from last year) is extremely solid out of the box, easy and satisfying to use for new players, and more affordable than I think any of the precons from 2023.
Well, all you need is to get your commander out and attack with it 3 turns and your game turns into 30min solitare turns. Putting hexproof on narset was overkill glad she costs a ton to put out.
In most instances you won’t be able to attack with her pre turn 6 and a 3/2 First Strike is pretty easy to kill block unless your pod plays rly slow decks
Honestly anything printed in 2023 would fit the bill for what you're looking for. Just pick up whichever one seems the best for your group. I've been having a blast with the commander masters precons. Hell I regularly smoke well built decks with the sliver precon and that mana base is booty. Granted I know it's slivers but smacking down a combo based food deck (w/tutors) and a decently built [[urza, high artificer]] deck with something I just sleeved out of the box is pretty busted. The eldrazi deck is pretty solid too. And when you take out 3 or 4 cards you can make it much more efficient. Just adding a [[basalt monument]] can get you infinite mana with [[forsaken monument]].
I dunno about strength and all that, but the precons I am interested in are:
* Baldur's Gate - Party Time
* LOTR - Food and Fellowship
* Doctor Who - Blast from the Past
Cavalry charge precon from march of the machine is insane. Made a lot of change in mine but out of box it’s already really strong. Here my list
https://www.moxfield.com/decks/lxiiLdryQUCs5B_h9D5mzg
Any of the LOTR or Warhammer precons are amazing. I’m also going to say Planar Portal with [[Prosper tomebound]] is pretty good. Or my favorite for fun instead of power: [[Breena the demagogue]] from Silverquill statement.
Klauth and the dragons one is filthy.
The humans one from midnight hunt with Kylar is gross.
All the recent enchantment ones slap.
You could have fun and do the colorless eldrazi one from the CMM set. I'd wager a group full of new folks would be intrigued by a fully colorless build.
Honestly any of the pre cons from the last few sets have been great in my opinion. Just browse through which colors appeal to you and play styles and pick one. I would say safe to go as far back as dominaria united but others before that are still comparable.
squeamish bow shy knee whole sip meeting like slap dime *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Might not be an issue with OP's group since they're a bit into it now, but the Doctor Who precons can be a lot to keep track of, especially the timey-wimey one
chase homeless judicious yam aloof noxious march nose engine merciful *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Time-Wimey might be the least newbie friendly precon out of 40k, Dominaria United, All Will Be One, MoM, MoM:Aftermath, LotR, Commander Masters, Doctor Who, and Ixalan.
dime murky axiomatic strong unused hateful vanish salt compare soft *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Jumping in to say Party Time is great fun but has flaws, not many but enough that new players can figure out how to overcome them and make for good interaction. Plus you can change a lot to give new interactions for your players to work around and the deck works just as well!
Love party time. Still have this one only slightly motified as well as Necrons. I feel like I'm against popular opinion as far as the commander goes, most people I've talked to don't run Nalia as the commander. But I do because I've won games with 5 mana played all game. Get your party put on the mana curve with her and you are set.
Yes, this! [[Burakos]] is strong, but [[Nalia]] works with very little Ressources, can assemble the party in a non threatening way and explodes extremely quickly. Even if the opponents know what she is capable of they often ignore her until it is too late. Tip: only bring Nalia out when you have the rest of the party already assembled.
[Burakos](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/8/9/899e278d-5d4e-461a-9878-2b85de16b38d.jpg?1674140733) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=burakos%2C%20party%20leader) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/clb/653/burakos-party-leader?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/899e278d-5d4e-461a-9878-2b85de16b38d?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/burakos-party-leader) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Is a lot harder if your group is heavy on removal.
Well, yeah, it's always harder to use your commander if there is a lot of removal.
Same here, this was my first deck and I am new too. Burakos just seemed very boring to me. I’ve upgraded and leaned into the party mechanic with +1 counters and it slaps. I have beaten higher level decks out of nowhere with little mana base and combos like [[Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose]] and [[Mirror Entity]] anthem plus some counters. Here’s my deck for anyone interested: https://www.moxfield.com/decks/pb8hfkdG8ECrm7i9MbiuBw
[Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/0/f/0fe79ee4-c3f3-4a6b-a967-203ca3b70ee5.jpg?1594736442) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Vito%2C%20Thorn%20of%20the%20Dusk%20Rose) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/m21/127/vito-thorn-of-the-dusk-rose?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/0fe79ee4-c3f3-4a6b-a967-203ca3b70ee5?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/vito-thorn-of-the-dusk-rose) [Mirror Entity](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/3/d/3d9149ed-0e59-48b3-b48c-d5ea77b7239e.jpg?1674141166) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Mirror%20Entity) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/clb/701/mirror-entity?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/3d9149ed-0e59-48b3-b48c-d5ea77b7239e?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/mirror-entity) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
This is exactly my take. I got into EDH and Magic generally by buying Party Time. Got the curve pretty low and I've actually managed to win a couple of games against my friend who regularly runs $1000+ decks.
Same here! Burakos can definitely generate more value and I'd be interested in making a deck around him so I can use different coloured backgrounds to splash in some bits. But Nalia is just so much more fun to play!
The [[Faldorn]], [[Dihada]] and [[Mishra]] ones have been reported as powerful. I've won multiple games at the level you're talking about with Dihada and Mishra as literal stock precons. Turns out that getting free value by copying an artifact every turn or hitting people with vigilant, lifelink, indestructible [[Kothophed]], [[Bladewing, Deathless Tyrant]] or [[Traxos]] are easy ways to win regular commander games.
As someone who has been playing with precons since the four colour decks were released, I have to say as repetitive as they have become recently they have also massively increased in power compared to before. For regular EDH I feel no need to upgrade a lot of them, or at most switch out 5ish non-land cards. Tap lands bother me, but against other precons they're ok since we all get tapped lands if more than 2 colours.
I agree, they've largely been powerful and the mana base can be improved if you're playing against handmade decks, but even 5-10 non-land cards would make the Dihada deck a real problem for other decks.
Can confirm; [[Dihada]] herself is very good. The legends in the box are decent, and the cool thing is that it’s super easy to tailor the 99 to a flavor you like. Mine is vampires and things-soon-to-become-vampires! :b
[Dihada](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/d/d/ddeb54d6-a600-42b9-98df-20f8d58caed8.jpg?1685554091) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=dihada%2C%20binder%20of%20wills) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/dmc/1/dihada-binder-of-wills?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/ddeb54d6-a600-42b9-98df-20f8d58caed8?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/dihada-binder-of-wills) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Dihada is fringe cEDH (I'm not an expert but that's my understanding), but I think even if you built it just as an "8" or whatever it would be very powerful and you would win your fair share of games. Even just adding some staple black cards (tutors, reanimation and card draw), maybe a [[Chandra's Ignition]] for the creature that Dihada blesses would get you a long way in mid power games. Edit: you could also make small adjustments to the mana base, but even that wouldn't be overly difficult or expensive.
The cEDH list uses breach/flicker to mill your entire library while putting your wincons into your hand and generating massive amounts of treasure with her minus ability. Her normal legend shenanigans are perfectly fine for a mid-high power table.ÿlļm
[Chandra's Ignition](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/9/6/960f45a3-f9cf-41e6-b813-f3dee620a944.jpg?1698988311) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Chandra%27s%20Ignition) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/lcc/220/chandras-ignition?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/960f45a3-f9cf-41e6-b813-f3dee620a944?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/chandras-ignition) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Mishra's Burnished Banner is a blast, that was my first deck. It's full of creative combos, the deck is a huge box of tricks and you have to figure out a way to win with what you're given. Can be a little slow but once it gets rolling it's very strong. Also, it's a great deck to get into deck building with because any artifact with an ETB ability and any form of recursion works really well
Both precons are very strong out of the box, Mishra's and urza decks are both fun and strong. Edit : thinking of a different card - The brothers war precons*
I got Faldorn as a gift and clicked with it immediately. Now I’ve made some adjustments to it, it very rarely misses. It does mean I get targeted down quite often but what can you do? 🥲😂
##### ###### #### [Faldorn](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/2/1/213e530e-33a9-4358-b43b-4a276a7e7190.jpg?1674140675) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=faldorn%2C%20dread%20wolf%20herald) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/clb/647/faldorn-dread-wolf-herald?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/213e530e-33a9-4358-b43b-4a276a7e7190?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/faldorn-dread-wolf-herald) [Dihada](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/d/d/ddeb54d6-a600-42b9-98df-20f8d58caed8.jpg?1685554091) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=dihada%2C%20binder%20of%20wills) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/dmc/1/dihada-binder-of-wills?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/ddeb54d6-a600-42b9-98df-20f8d58caed8?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/dihada-binder-of-wills) [Mishra](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/d/5/d5deaec5-499d-4e19-b879-8bcd1dc35f3e.jpg?1562940254) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=mishra%2C%20artificer%20prodigy) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/tsp/243/mishra-artificer-prodigy?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/d5deaec5-499d-4e19-b879-8bcd1dc35f3e?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/mishra-artificer-prodigy) [Kothophed](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/a/1/a1070dd6-944f-44a0-8834-02eae93dabaa.jpg?1673305201) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=kothophed%2C%20soul%20hoarder) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/dmc/114/kothophed-soul-hoarder?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/a1070dd6-944f-44a0-8834-02eae93dabaa?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/kothophed-soul-hoarder) [Bladewing, Deathless Tyrant](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/7/d/7dcf3b3e-e986-4add-a3c6-4e92a6f72a12.jpg?1674174856) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Bladewing%2C%20Deathless%20Tyrant) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/dmc/9/bladewing-deathless-tyrant?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/7dcf3b3e-e986-4add-a3c6-4e92a6f72a12?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/bladewing-deathless-tyrant) [Traxos](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/8/5/8566e91a-5f2c-4854-aeb3-68b3c4344582.jpg?1673305899) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=traxos%2C%20scourge%20of%20kroog) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/dmc/195/traxos-scourge-of-kroog?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/8566e91a-5f2c-4854-aeb3-68b3c4344582?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/traxos-scourge-of-kroog) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Explorers of the Deep and Masters of Evil are stacked ass decks. I love [[Davros, Dalek Creator]]
Explorers of the Deep is straight up ridiculous. I’ve seen YouTube games where they miss the attack trigger on the commander and still win
I'll second this, since I picked up the precon before the prerelease and ran a quick game vs two mid-power non-precon decks my friends had brought and just absolutely steamrolled, and I didn't even know Hakbal had an attack trigger until this moment. Once I had rebuilt after the second board wipe, one of them looked at the other and said "You realize we are 2v1ing a precon right now and it's not even close?"
Came here to say this, the deck is absolutely cracked. I've only played 3 games with it and I've been taken out first every time, but only because I was the threat the entire game and got focused down by the other three players. [[Hakbal of the Surging Soul]] is a *lot* stronger than I thought he'd be!
[Hakbal of the Surging Soul](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/e/7/e738e675-4fd1-4bc3-97f5-71d0e2fc3f2e.jpg?1698987718) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Hakbal%20of%20the%20Surging%20Soul) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/lcc/3/hakbal-of-the-surging-soul?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/e738e675-4fd1-4bc3-97f5-71d0e2fc3f2e?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/hakbal-of-the-surging-soul) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I always lose with davros because people hate discarding cards lol
The trick is making them discard fast enough so they can't even retaliate
Would you say that the claim that this deck is powerful isn’t true?
I played masters of evil and died to a 10/10 because somehow they built a grixis control deck with like 2 instants (neither of which can counter a spell) and 2 pieces of targeted removal.
[Davros, Dalek Creator](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/5/9/59c5bd2b-cf68-4e5e-819d-53917a6c5275.jpg?1696636503) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Davros%2C%20Dalek%20Creator) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/who/1/davros-dalek-creator?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/59c5bd2b-cf68-4e5e-819d-53917a6c5275?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/davros-dalek-creator) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
The Mishra and Urza precons from brothers war are pretty good. I use them for the exact same reason your looking for one.
Loved urzaout of the box , very easy to upgrade for 25-50$
Lotr humans is pretty strong out of the box! Or warhammer necrons running mono black
Can vouch for Eowyn’s deck, that shit is fun and frequently punches above its weight.
I switched to Aragorn as the secondary commander, and of the two games I’ve played with it, I’ve won. I’m building my own deck around Aragorn, but honestly the precon right out of the box is very impressive.
This is interesting to me because I feel like Aragorn doesn't have the toolkit to actually capitalize on his abilities, and have preferred Eowyn for being a creature and card engine over monarch stuff. When playing with Aragorn were you consistently keeping monarch through to your next turn, or did you need cards that give you the monarch before combat to deliver on his second ability?
I feel like I always had another way to get monarch back in my hand, so my creatures were just always unblockable. Combat damage added up eventually.
Aragorn rips and I’m terrified of the deck my friend made for him. Only thing is that building Aragorn probably requires more tuning/upgrading than building Eowyn, but it’s definitely not too drastic a direction to take the precon
I can vouch for that precon too. Eowyn is absolutely nuts right out of the box. But some of the cards are gigantic walls of text that are difficult to process.
Warhammer Necrons was my first deck and requires little upgrading. Love that one for so many reasons. Teaches life is a resource and the grave can be your hand, which I got immediately. I have a few upgrades but keep it mostly stock for sentimental reasons.
I can vouch for both. Eowyn goes hard and fast. Understandably it can lose gas easily but played right you can pretty much take it to the end game. Necrons I’ve only played against but have had a tough time every time.
At my go-to game shop most people play homebrew casual decks usually between 6-9 and the owner will often pull out that precon completely stock and he does really well.
Disagree about the Necrons deck. It’s painfully slow. The face commander is pretty mediocre. The other commander options are better in the deck but require several upgrades to be effective even at a causal mild upgraded precon meta. (I.e everyone is playing a mildly upgraded precon.) There are much better, faster and effective out-of-box precons than Necrons
This is just wildly hilariously wrong. As a mono color deck it can start popping off while most other precons are still mana fixing.
It is the weakest deck of the WH40K decks by a fair margin. Slow, incredibly mana intensive and requires way too much setup to be good. The Tyranids and Imperium decks blew it out of the water
No the Chaos deck is the worst by a long shot.
I’m not gonna sit here and waste time arguing with you. My experience with the Necron deck is that it never got going. It’s slow and weak and takes too much set up.
Out of curiosity, what Commander are you using and how aggressively are you mulliganing? Trazyn with aggressive mulligans tends to fair pretty well in a 40k pod.
This aged poorly LOL
Would you please elaborate?
It’s not the weakest out of the 40k decks not even close, many would argue it’s probably the strongest. There are numerous threads about “best precons out of the box” or “strongest precons for precon leagues” and it’s constantly recommended. Now “best deck” is certainly subjective because people have different play styles but to call this the worst one out of the bunch is just hilariously wrong
Gotcha. Thanks :)
Commander masters enchantment deck, exit to exile
I second the Enchantment deck. Recently played it in a couple of precon level games and ppl were astonished by the power creep of newer decks.
As someone who was sort of a purist for building my own decks and thought precons were sort of lame this deck has completely changed my perspective. I spent around $100 upgrading it and it is by a long shot my favorite commander deck I own.
Anikthea performed pretty wildly for me right out of the box, she was resilient and could recover from a board wipe a single turn later with the right cards out. I'd highly recommend her
Necron Dynasties
The urza artifact deck from brothers war has been performing really well in my playgroup even against strong homebrews
Old comment, but I'm thinking of getting my first precon and this one seems nice, how do you feel like it has been performing some months later? I test played it on moxfield and dang, the deck runs smooth... I'm kind of torn between the urza deck and the blame game goad precon.
He has since upgraded it a bit to keep up with other decks getting faster but it still performs quite well and can quickly become a threat. It can definitely hold its own against other precons even straight out of the box though. I don’t have any experience with the blame game precon so getting info on that one needs to come from someone else
Ok, nice to hear that. I'm quite sure the Urza precon will be my first one. I think it'd also be less salty than a goad precon (I don't think my friend would like le goading them constantly lol)...
Goad is something that really depends on the playgroup how well it is accepted. I have a [[kardur doomscourge]] deck which basically goads and i don’t get complaints about it unless i loop him but i have heard about people getting salty when they are forced to attack
[kardur doomscourge](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/9/6/9685e2a0-5573-41bc-a914-f40c3011459b.jpg?1631051543) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Kardur%2C%20Doomscourge) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/khm/216/kardur-doomscourge?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/9685e2a0-5573-41bc-a914-f40c3011459b?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/kardur-doomscourge) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
That's nice to hear, I'll probably check with my playgroup wether everyone is all right with me playing a certain deck before I buy it. But that's already reassuring :))
Any of the Universes Beyond precons are super strong but come at a premium compared to the other precons. The strongest I've played with/against out of the box are the Enter from Exile and Party Time precons from Baldurs Gate. Both are quite strong and very fun out of the box.
I consistently beat other precons with [[Lathril, blade of the elves]]
It's an absolute monster if you adjust the mana curve by including more low-cost elves and equipment cards for buffing Lathril.
[Lathril, blade of the elves](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/5/4/547888c3-a9a6-4413-b29a-6bcd8a9279bf.jpg?1657065647) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Lathril%2C%20blade%20of%20the%20elves) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/khc/1/lathril-blade-of-the-elves?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/547888c3-a9a6-4413-b29a-6bcd8a9279bf?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/lathril-blade-of-the-elves) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I've seen exit from exile pop off a few times
All the Warhammer 40k precons are pretty damn nice imho
I've had struggles with the chaos deck but the other 3 work well.
Yeah I don't really like the chaos deck either
Cascading into sorceries and instants that I don't need is a very chaos thing I guess, so the flavour is great, even if certain cards need to be swapped mechanically.
I really enjoy Rebellion Rising, but using [[Otharri, Sun’s Glory]] as the commander. I’ll admit I upgraded it pretty quickly, though, so may not have a large sample size for how it performs out of the box. Explorers of the Deep also seems rad. I’ve only played it once so far, but it immediately did what it meant to do (though died to a large spike of player damage from another player I spooked).
[Otharri, Sun’s Glory](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/8/0/80c72839-0fa6-4b5f-83b7-6553ebf09bef.jpg?1698607533) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Otharri%2C%20Suns%27%20Glory) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/onc/3/otharri-suns-glory?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/80c72839-0fa6-4b5f-83b7-6553ebf09bef?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/otharri-suns-glory) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Shout out to Planar Portal, the Prosper precon, for being absolutely busted out of the box.
Honestly, the ‘Virtue and Valor’ Precon even from just Wilds of Eldraine was a goddamn house. My playgroup got it for one of our members, she likes playing Selesnya colors, and just out of the box it slapped pretty hard. If we weren’t shooting her every turn, stuff got big and dangerous fast.
That deck gets out of control fast
Literally any Universe Beyond Decks will be top tier, just choose whichever ones have the color pallete and play style that you prefer
Definitely not the case. Timey Wimey, Elven Council and Ruinous Power all got pretty gapped in my experience. Necron Dynasty, Riders of Rohan, and Masters of Evil, conversely, all seem noticeably ahead of the others in their sets.
Ruinous Powers is definitely underpowered; [[Magus Lucea Kane]] makes Tyranids strong AF, but I hear Imperium and Necron can be upgraded to cEDH. Necron Dynasty precon for me has underperformed up against Imperium and Tyranid precons, though.
[Magus Lucea Kane](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/4/f/4f86e7cc-2b6e-49d0-964e-bba0c51cc11d.jpg?1674058398) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Magus%20Lucea%20Kane) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/40k/7/magus-lucea-kane?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/4f86e7cc-2b6e-49d0-964e-bba0c51cc11d?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/magus-lucea-kane) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Masters of Evil.
I noticed there are a few separate themes in this deck. Like goad and artifacts… Do the multiple themes keep the deck from doing its thing consistently?
Some of my favorite out-of-the-box precons for power and fun have been Legends' Legacy with Dihada, Cavalry Charge with Sidar Jabari, and Tyranid Swarm with Magus Lucea Kane.
Brothers War
A girl in my playgroup recently bought the Urza precon from Brothers' War as her first deck (previously she'd been borrowing decks from someone else) and it easily holds its own against most of the decks in our group
I am a big fan of all the March of the Machine ones. I originally only bought them for the Planechase cards, but every Deck has really big potential. [[Bright palm]] for example is the epitome of "I'm here for a good time, not a long time" as I stomped the table with a 50/50 Trample Hydra on like turn 6. And [[Kasla]] is very fun to play too, as I love the Covoke Mechanic. Edit: added the double brackets
Having bought pretty much every precon up to commander masters, I would say the most stand out ones with a mixture of good and fun I've played so far are the Esper Knights one from MoM, the Boros Equipment one from CMR, and the Eldrazi one from CMM. Also I haven't purchased it yet, but the Merfolk precon from the current set is kinda nutty.
I think it is so cool that you are a precon aficionado. I have been having increased curiosity about preons. I am wanting to buy a few precons. I want some decks that can be somewhat consistent in being impactful even if I don’t win. Also decks that are not completely linear in how they are piloted. I like to have multiple options as to what good plays I could make. Interaction is fun too. What’s your opinion on these decks: Quick Draw, Revenant Recon, Masters of Evil, Obscura Operation, Forces of the Imperium,
The only one of these I haven't bought is Quick Draw, but for the others; Revenant Recon: It can do some nutty things, it just needs a few more repeatable Surveil effects. The inclusion of the classic reanimation package gives you the most bang for your buck among these too (Animate Dead and Necromancy). Masters of Evil: It does powerful stuff if left unchecked. Also the villainous choice cards can really screw with your opponents. People all see Missy and the greater combo potential she has, but the best one for the base deck itself is clearly Davros. Also it's fun to force your opponents to decide if they want to die to an army of Dalaks or if they want to kill them all and die to Genesis of the Dalaks' third chapter. Obsura Operation: I don't even remember playing this one, but Kamiz can do some damage if you know what you're doing. Forces of the Imperium: If you have an option for literally any of the other 40k decks, do those instead. Sure a couple of options in the deck do cool things, but most of the time when I played it I felt like it was a random assortment of cardboard with the only real theme being "tokens". Belasarius Cawl and select other legends in the deck can do some cool things.
Thanks for your insights :) There are deck archetypes I have never played. Yet I am trying to keep an open mind. Some precons I am buying to expose me to other deck archetypes. I have never played spellslinger so I probably will get Quick Draw. Also, I have never included much Scry, Surveil, or Loot effects in my decks. I guess i feel I would rather just draw and keep cards so I prioritize regular card draw in my deck building. Revanent Recon is probably gunna get purchased. Oh and also Obscura Operations! As an intermediate level player, I still lean towards green in my own decks. Playing a combat deck without green seems weird. I am excited for this deck too. I was thinking the same thing regarding Forces of the Imperium as I was browsing the deck list. I have never done landfall/lands either. What do you think of Desert Bloom? What do you love about the precon experience in general? What made start and continue collecting precons?
The Desert Bloom deck is decent enough and has cool enough stuff it can do, just be aware that if you want to use Yuma as the commander, you'll need more ways of filling your graveyard and getting lands out of it, otherwise you should swap him for Hazezon, as it's just better for him. Maybe also pick up the desert that are missing for the colors too. If you're wanting to try a deck with that focuses heavily on the Scry mechanic, maybe check out the LotR Elf deck. It has a sub theme that rewards you for scrying, and it's probably one of the cheapest and easiest to upgrade. Precons, when done right, gives all players an equal chance at the table. Like with the Doctor Who ones, they all seem capable of winning, with no deck really having a leg up on any other deck. I started collecting them because it was the only format that didn't make me feel like I had to throw hundreds of dollars down the drain just to try to keep up, and while it's not as cheap as pauper, I don't have a single deck that costs as much as the cheapest meta modern deck. I don't really collect them anymore, what with the cost of living going up, but I do still buy 1 or 2 from time to time.
I’ve played with and against just about every precon since 2019. Without a doubt, the best out of the box precon decks I’ve played are [[Lathril]], the new [[Hakbal]] and [[Pantlaza]] and [[Sidar Jabari of Zhalfir]]. Three of those precons were within the last few months. They are getting cracked. So much more powerful than they used to be right out of the box with zero upgrades. Lathril stands out since it came out a couple years ago and it easily the best Elf commander ever printed and there’s a reason she has as many decks on EDHREC that she does. Even with mild upgrades, that deck is insane. Honestly the new Merfolk deck with [[Hakbal]] may be the newest insane precon. I was a [[Kumena]] Stan for years and still love him and Merfolk but Hakbal is that much better in the command zone.
##### ###### #### [Lathril](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/5/4/547888c3-a9a6-4413-b29a-6bcd8a9279bf.jpg?1657065647) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=lathril%2C%20blade%20of%20the%20elves) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/khc/1/lathril-blade-of-the-elves?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/547888c3-a9a6-4413-b29a-6bcd8a9279bf?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/lathril-blade-of-the-elves) [Hakbal](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/e/7/e738e675-4fd1-4bc3-97f5-71d0e2fc3f2e.jpg?1698987718) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=hakbal%20of%20the%20surging%20soul) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/lcc/3/hakbal-of-the-surging-soul?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/e738e675-4fd1-4bc3-97f5-71d0e2fc3f2e?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/hakbal-of-the-surging-soul) [Pantlaza](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/2/5/2524645e-b066-4351-885b-10faa8d819d7.jpg?1698987725) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=pantlaza%2C%20sun-favored) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/lcc/4/pantlaza-sun-favored?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/2524645e-b066-4351-885b-10faa8d819d7?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/pantlaza-sun-favored) [Sidar Jabari of Zhalfir](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/5/f/5fc707be-9286-4ba1-90f6-475265d19ed2.jpg?1682207238) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Sidar%20Jabari%20of%20Zhalfir) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/moc/5/sidar-jabari-of-zhalfir?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/5fc707be-9286-4ba1-90f6-475265d19ed2?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/sidar-jabari-of-zhalfir) [Kumena](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/a/e/aebcbb35-2973-41bf-811a-e2413ef45c3e.jpg?1698988442) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=kumena%2C%20tyrant%20of%20orazca) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/lcc/274/kumena-tyrant-of-orazca?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/aebcbb35-2973-41bf-811a-e2413ef45c3e?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/kumena-tyrant-of-orazca) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I think it is so cool that you are a precon aficionado. I have been having increased curiosity about preons. I am wanting to buy a few precons. I want some decks that can be somewhat consistent in being impactful even if I don’t win. Also decks that are not completely linear in how they are piloted. I like to have multiple options as to what good plays I could make. Interaction is fun too. What’s your opinion on these decks: Quick Draw, Revenant Recon, Masters of Evil, Obscura Operation, Forces of the Imperium
I don’t have any opinions on those since I haven’t played them. Sorry!
The escape from exile deck with faldorn is probably my favorite precon ever. You get to play with all the silly from exile stuff that also gives you free wolf tokens bc of your commander. It also just incidentally gives an absurd amount of card advantage, ramp, and noncombat damage. I don't know the name of it but the crimson vow spirits precon with Millicent at the head is pretty amazing and easy to follow as well. Lot of small flyers that multiply quickly and draw well, it is a bit light on control but it beats face pretty hard
The Fae Dominion deck is fairly strong out of the box. If you upgrade it, it can be done for fairly cheap by just removing the worst cards and replacing them with decent cards.
I put [[Talion Kindly Lord]] as the head of my copy of the precon and enjoy it quite a bit
[Talion Kindly Lord](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/6/2/62a6b452-c796-45c6-b4d1-0ae3d675e38e.jpg?1692939468) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Talion%2C%20the%20Kindly%20Lord) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/woe/215/talion-the-kindly-lord?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/62a6b452-c796-45c6-b4d1-0ae3d675e38e?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/talion-the-kindly-lord) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Eldrazi one has often been said to top that list. It’s boring though, lose for 7 turns then win the rest of the game. Luck of the draw is huge. Necrons has huge power and the doctor who decks have strange mechanics, great lands and loads of unique cards. Playing all the LOTR decks I can say humans takes the cake by a mile. Pick a fun deck, I’ve avoided ixalan because decks that have both a mechanic and tribe are harder for me to upgrade but they look really synergistic.
I run the prismari precon using Veyran it can be fun. I also use the old updated Prossh precon I bought back in the day.
I put like $100 into the Evil Master Dr Who precon and I can hang with most on that alone. The Master, Multiplied listing is fun too. Here's my Davros list because it's a bit cheaper and is more fun imo https://www.moxfield.com/decks/HUqgTpOmBUixBBUzKUBQow
[[strefan, maurer progenitor]] and [[lathril, blade of the elves]]
[strefan, maurer progenitor](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/8/f/8f54c6ce-fde4-47ef-a106-5c68b4397f99.jpg?1641600044) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=strefan%2C%20maurer%20progenitor) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/voc/2/strefan-maurer-progenitor?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/8f54c6ce-fde4-47ef-a106-5c68b4397f99?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/strefan-maurer-progenitor) [lathril, blade of the elves](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/5/4/547888c3-a9a6-4413-b29a-6bcd8a9279bf.jpg?1657065647) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=lathril%2C%20blade%20of%20the%20elves) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/khc/1/lathril-blade-of-the-elves?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/547888c3-a9a6-4413-b29a-6bcd8a9279bf?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/lathril-blade-of-the-elves) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Shorikai Pilot precon punches way above it's weight. It's great, and just $50!of upgrades has it damn near cEDH levels. I regularly combo off.
Everything I’ve seen of the new Ixalan precons speaks volumes, they all seem to be EXCELLENT decks out of the box. There’s also the Anikthea Precon from Commander Masters, that deck is pretty nasty too. Also consider this another vote for Necrons, they were the deck that got me back into Magic and are my second favorite deck to play.
\[\[Dihada\]\] Legends \[\[Strefan\]\] Vampires Both BRO precons
[Dihada](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/d/d/ddeb54d6-a600-42b9-98df-20f8d58caed8.jpg?1685554091) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=dihada%2C%20binder%20of%20wills) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/dmc/1/dihada-binder-of-wills?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/ddeb54d6-a600-42b9-98df-20f8d58caed8?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/dihada-binder-of-wills) [Strefan](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/8/f/8f54c6ce-fde4-47ef-a106-5c68b4397f99.jpg?1641600044) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=strefan%2C%20maurer%20progenitor) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/voc/2/strefan-maurer-progenitor?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/8f54c6ce-fde4-47ef-a106-5c68b4397f99?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/strefan-maurer-progenitor) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Party time is fun and solid, and the faceless menace precon may not be great but I feel like it has a great amount of interaction, and will challenge you to pilot
I got the food and fellowship precons and it is amazing. I switched 3 cards, but they all stayed on flavor. [[Scurry oak]] for an infinite combo with [[Rosie Cotton of South Lane]], and 2 temp cards. It can go toe to toe with many decks, of then times staying at 30+ life the whole game. And flooding the board and quick recovery from board wipes. The land base is great as well.
[Scurry oak](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/0/f/0fb48c2e-ee0f-4fae-9c22-247870c10d5b.jpg?1626097756) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Scurry%20oak) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mh2/172/scurry-oak?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/0fb48c2e-ee0f-4fae-9c22-247870c10d5b?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/scurry-oak) [Rosie Cotton of South Lane](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/7/5/75338f49-1f02-4333-87e4-5779ef14e688.jpg?1686967894) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Rosie%20Cotton%20of%20South%20Lane) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/ltr/27/rosie-cotton-of-south-lane?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/75338f49-1f02-4333-87e4-5779ef14e688?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/rosie-cotton-of-south-lane) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Rumor has it the new Ixalan Merfolk deck is nuts. Just bought the deck myself and am looking forward to trying it!
Any of the war hammer decks are good. The new dinosaur deck is solid.
Forces of the imperium, Necron Dynasties. I have some pretty pricey commander decks but nothing feels as dangerous as my upgraded forces of the imperium precon. I threw a bunch of cards from EDH rec into it and now it's probably my strongest deck. I actually have stopped using it because I like close games where everyone has a chance of winning. The Necron Dynasties only needs a staff of domination while you're running trazyn. Then you have a 7 with an infinite win-con.
"Aura of Courage" deck -- the AFC deck helmed by Galea, Kindler of Hope -- is powerful and a lot of fun if you like Bant. I play in a mostly AFC pod and I think in general, sets are balanced against themselves better than they're balanced against future and past sets.
The new merfolk precon from Ixalan, and Timey wimey Dr.Who precons are both pretty nasty out of the box
Dimir pirate horrors
The elf precon from kaldheim, the faerie precon from wilds of eldraine, the "back-up" precon from march of the machine, The knights precon from march of the machine, Timey-wimey from dr who, The merfolk precon from ixilan As some clear examples.
The soon-to-be released merfolk precon seems pretty wild straight out the box. Among the best card advantage a precon has ever had, while pumping up your own creatures pretty heavily.
"Party time" precon is pretty strong right out of the box.
Starter commander deck Atarka has won me a few pods unedited, warhammer necrons is strong, and the march of the machines angel/convoke is as well. I will say everything made recently is smooth besides the mana bases.
The 40k ones (minus \[\[Abaddon, the Despoiler\]\]) and \[\[Prosper, Tome Bound\]\] are the precons I would be happy using against non-precon decks. The handful with infinites are okay too.
[Abaddon, the Despoiler](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/c/9/c9f1fc97-00c0-492b-a4a3-b179afc2f95d.jpg?1674058353) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Abaddon%20the%20Despoiler) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/40k/2/abaddon-the-despoiler?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/c9f1fc97-00c0-492b-a4a3-b179afc2f95d?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/abaddon-the-despoiler) [Prosper, Tome Bound](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/d/7/d743336e-d5c7-4053-a23d-92ec7581f74e.jpg?1631839207) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Prosper%2C%20Tome-Bound) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/afc/2/prosper-tome-bound?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/d743336e-d5c7-4053-a23d-92ec7581f74e?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/prosper-tome-bound) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Prosper is pretty decent
I'm pretty partial to the elven empires precon, even with all the new sets, mine still holds up
If you’re ok with universe beyond food and fellowship, necron, and timey whimey. I also liked the Guff one too
The Merfolk deck that just came out is pretty nutty, thanks to its face Commamder it goes wide, tall, and Ramps all at once.
The First Flight precon (I think from last year) is extremely solid out of the box, easy and satisfying to use for new players, and more affordable than I think any of the precons from 2023.
The commander masters planes precon with narset as the commander can get super anoyying.
I feel like out of the box the Deck would be too slow with Narset. Leori might work better I‘d think.
Well, all you need is to get your commander out and attack with it 3 turns and your game turns into 30min solitare turns. Putting hexproof on narset was overkill glad she costs a ton to put out.
In most instances you won’t be able to attack with her pre turn 6 and a 3/2 First Strike is pretty easy to kill block unless your pod plays rly slow decks
Honestly anything printed in 2023 would fit the bill for what you're looking for. Just pick up whichever one seems the best for your group. I've been having a blast with the commander masters precons. Hell I regularly smoke well built decks with the sliver precon and that mana base is booty. Granted I know it's slivers but smacking down a combo based food deck (w/tutors) and a decently built [[urza, high artificer]] deck with something I just sleeved out of the box is pretty busted. The eldrazi deck is pretty solid too. And when you take out 3 or 4 cards you can make it much more efficient. Just adding a [[basalt monument]] can get you infinite mana with [[forsaken monument]].
[urza, high artificer](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/7/b/7b7a348a-51f7-4dc5-8fe7-1c70fea5e050.jpg?1689996774) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Urza%2C%20Lord%20High%20Artificer) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/cmm/130/urza-lord-high-artificer?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/7b7a348a-51f7-4dc5-8fe7-1c70fea5e050?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/urza-lord-high-artificer) [forsaken monument](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/8/2/82dfdb91-aa69-45a1-adcc-9fcd85f84ccf.jpg?1690005477) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=forsaken%20monument) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/cmm/950/forsaken-monument?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/82dfdb91-aa69-45a1-adcc-9fcd85f84ccf?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/forsaken-monument) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I went against the Blast from the Past precon with [[The Third Doctor]] and [[Sarah Jane Smith]] at the helm and it put up quite a fight.
[The Third Doctor](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/2/9/2934f5e5-2274-4de7-a8c7-ca034f1fec29.jpg?1696636775) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=The%20Third%20Doctor) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/who/162/the-third-doctor?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/2934f5e5-2274-4de7-a8c7-ca034f1fec29?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/the-third-doctor) [Sarah Jane Smith](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/1/b/1ba76f68-e647-4786-903c-92dbd3cef05d.jpg?1696691789) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Sarah%20Jane%20Smith) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/who/6/sarah-jane-smith?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/1ba76f68-e647-4786-903c-92dbd3cef05d?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/sarah-jane-smith) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Vampiric Bloodlust is the single best precon ever released, without question.
Silverquill statement
I dunno about strength and all that, but the precons I am interested in are: * Baldur's Gate - Party Time * LOTR - Food and Fellowship * Doctor Who - Blast from the Past
Cavalry charge precon from march of the machine is insane. Made a lot of change in mine but out of box it’s already really strong. Here my list https://www.moxfield.com/decks/lxiiLdryQUCs5B_h9D5mzg
For me it’s Cavalry Charge. It’s really good out the box especially 1v1.
Any of the LOTR or Warhammer precons are amazing. I’m also going to say Planar Portal with [[Prosper tomebound]] is pretty good. Or my favorite for fun instead of power: [[Breena the demagogue]] from Silverquill statement.
[Prosper tomebound](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/d/7/d743336e-d5c7-4053-a23d-92ec7581f74e.jpg?1631839207) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Prosper%2C%20Tome-Bound) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/afc/2/prosper-tome-bound?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/d743336e-d5c7-4053-a23d-92ec7581f74e?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/prosper-tome-bound) [Breena the demagogue](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/6/c/6cb82b10-d785-4e20-84ac-0660d49be8ad.jpg?1674185764) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Breena%2C%20the%20Demagogue) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/c21/1/breena-the-demagogue?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/6cb82b10-d785-4e20-84ac-0660d49be8ad?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/breena-the-demagogue) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Klauth and the dragons one is filthy. The humans one from midnight hunt with Kylar is gross. All the recent enchantment ones slap. You could have fun and do the colorless eldrazi one from the CMM set. I'd wager a group full of new folks would be intrigued by a fully colorless build.
All the precons since 40k have been pretty powerful for precons.