New Horizons: Commander Masters Decks

The four preconstructed decks releasing with Commander Masters mark the first, and hopefully the last, time an EDH deck is released alongside this type of product. 

If that first sentence was anything to go by, then my opinion on these decks should be clear.

They are currently highly overpriced, with not enough meaningful reprints included to attract significant attention. The current pricing is already showing a significant reduction in trended prices for all the decks.  

Setting pricing aside, the decks are also lacking thematic attractiveness, with the Eldrazi Unbound deck being the worst offender. It contains only ten Eldrazi cards, with only one of the “titans” being reprinted. The Slivers deck is missing Sliver Hive, which has caused the price of the card to skyrocket due to its importance for fixing. 

Discussing the missing cards and what should have been included could be an extensive topic. However, beyond suggesting potential upgrades for these lists, there is no point in dwelling on it further.

Out With the Old 

Each of the decks contains only 10 new cards, leaving us with 90 reprints to contemplate.

Looking over the complete lists, the included reprints typically fall into the bulk classification of cards. There aren't many cards here that have caught my attention, nor is there anything justifying the purchase. The hypothesis of at least one notable reprint per deck, as seen in the LOTR release, is not recurring here. Each deck has at least one card that is more memorable than the rest. However, this doesn't leave much to say about the other 89 cards, which feel subpar in contrast to the underlying power creep in casual settings. 

$3.50 $3.99

$6.00 $6.49

Among the reprints that stood out to me, there's Lightning Greaves, a card that has been practically reprinted with every EDH precon release. Despite that, it still holds an average price of about $7 across its many versions. Moving on to more specific picks, we have Sliver Hivelord at $4 and The Chain Veil at $7, both of which are super-specific cards that fit into only one type of deck. Notably, The Chain Veil is also seeing play in Pioneer currently, with Nykthos Ramp enabling Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner to untap Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx an additional time. Lastly, we have Dryad of the Ilysian Grove at $11.5, but for more information on why it's good, you should read Jason's article from last week.

In With the New 

Let's move on to the new and exciting cards included in the decks. First on the chopping block are the face commanders. In terms of monetary value and playability, there isn't much sensation here. Both the planeswalker and enchantment deck face cards are run-of-the-mill and don't really attract attention. However, the opposite is true for the Eldrazi and Sliver commanders. 

Starting with Zhulodok, Void Gorger, Cascade has always been a powerful mechanic, with competitive decks still utilizing the Cascade triggers with Suspend cards in Modern. However, limitations in mana cost and colorless spells are callous obstacles to overcome. There are currently 109 colorless cards with a cost of seven or higher that could be played here. The obvious picks are the Eldrazi titans, as other cards from that list are relics of the past. 

Lastly, we have the Sliver Gravemother, arguably the strongest Sliver Commander, with the ability to recur Slivers from the graveyard with Encore and compound their effects.

These cards set a new standard for what a creature typal commander can and should be able to do.

For Those Who Wait 

From the playables and outside of the hype that Rise of the Eldrazi is having, there are two more cards that I’m considering attractive pickups. Composer of Spring joins the ever-increasing number of enchantress-like cards. Its ability to ramp in the early game and start cheating out creatures in the mid to late game makes versatility important here. The lack of limitations in color identity is also greatly helpful, as the vast majority of enchantment-based EDH decks are green in one form or another. 

$6.15 $6.99

$8.48 $8.99

Darksteel Monolith is the next inclusion in the new balance cycle of doing something once per turn. In this case, it strikes me as a powered down version of One with the Multiverse, a similarly costly enchantment with a wider range of possibilities. What puts Darksteel Monolith ahead of the enchantment is the fact that, like many artifacts, you are more likely to fine-tune your deck to not pay the full retail cost. Using the effects of Master Transmuter or Trash for Treasure enables us to quickly benefit from Darksteel Monolith without a high investment. Regarding the pricing of both of these cards, I would suspect that once the decks stop circulating as much, there will be a slow uptrend in both.

Conclusion 

The decks included in the Commander Masters release are premium, but lack sufficient value. It’s advisable to avoid them until their price becomes more manageable. As for the face cards within these decks, if you wish to utilize them without incurring significant costs on individual cards, a more affordable option is to acquire sturdy display cards. While these cards cannot be used in tournament play, it's important to note that the vast majority of Commander players don’t participate in such competitive events.

Personally, I’d recommend giving the decks and singles some time to stabilize and find their place, or lack thereof, in the metagame. Fluctuations in price will likely become more distinguishable in the upcoming weeks. Hopefully we won't see another Commander release like this in the foreseeable future.  

In the next edition of New Horizons, we'll retell stories from Wilds of Eldraine.

Check out these articles:

A Penny Saved, An Exchange Earned by Ryan Cole

Dinos and Merfolk and Pirates, Oh My! (Also Vampires) by Adam Berg

Modern Times - Pro Tour: LOTR by Corey Williams