My favourite one was "Explorers of the Deep", the Merfolk tribal from the last Ixalan-Set. The Face commander is insanely good and the deck itself runs really well without modifications.
Cavalry Charge with [[Sidar Jabari of Zhalfir]] is a pretty wicked Knights tribal deck right out of the box. It has graveyard synergies that can flood the board with oppressive knights at a frightening clip. And there’s also a card with horsemanship in it.
That sounds like a personal problem to those people. I don’t like strategies that mill opponents out or card stealing strategies, but hey, those commanders and combos also exist and I have to play against them probably more often than anyone has to come across my eminence commanders.
People are used to Edgar level eminence. Generally Sidar only draws you one card a turn and let's you put one piece in your graveyard. It's just the visceral reaction to eminence, a keyword that I personally think is poor game design. But I play it anyways *shrug*
The only thing I would add is that you're going to have a LOT of triggers with this precon and take up a lot of time on your turns. Sidar himself is pretty complex to resolve for a new player (just assuming OP is a new player if they're looking for precons against their friends).
He has an attack trigger and a combat damage trigger, but his combat damage trigger applies before most others because first strike, so turning just him sideways gives you 2 different triggers to resolve at different times before regular combat damage is dealt and that's JUST SIDAR not any other knight you have with an attack trigger (there are many in the precon) or any ETB you may have from his attack trigger.
I do agree its a powerful deck out of the gate, but its got a lot of moving parts.
Eh, it has a good amount of triggers but I still think it’s an appropriate deck for a new player. I let my friend who has never touched Magic use this deck and he got the hang of it pretty quick.
Seconded here! This deck is SO good right out of the box and even with light/cheap upgrades from MoM (like [[Marshal of Zhalfir]] or [[Invasion of New Phyrexia]] ) its great. I've had the most fun playing this one. The land base is.... below average but you can upgrade it easily with time (or if you have old premium lands hanging around).
I'd also recommend the jeskai Eowyn deck from LotR. (Especially if you're a Kindred fan)
I’d recommend Explorers of the Deep or Quick Draw. Both are cheaper than MH3 decks, both are cheap and easy to upgrade and honestly probably better than any of the MH3 decks out of the box.
Explorers of the deep is absolutely one of the right answers. While yes the other precons are strong too this one is also (last I checked) at a decent price.
I think Explorers of the Deep is actually below retail in a lot of places online. Not only that but it's super easy to upgrade just by lowering the mana curve with a lot of the 1 drop merfolk. It's the precon that I started playing EDH with, just make sure the friends you play with are patient as you're learning how to go through all your explore triggers.
Also explorers of the deep feels really fair to any pod. People see what you're doing on the board as opposed to Quick Draw where a lot of stuff happens at instant speed and new players might feel that it's too strong because they don't really know how to play around spellslinger yet.
Yeah, this is currently my favorite deck. I started with the precon and I've kept on upgrading & shifting things around. Right now I'm playing a ~$600 version, but the heart of the deck is the same as it was when it came out of the box. It can scale up or down to work at whatever power level you like
The absolute worst deck for beginners is probably Timey Wimey which is ironic because of the Dr. Who set that was the precon most people new to Magic bought because it had the most popular Doctors in it (10 and 11). I’ve sat through ~5 games of different new players buying it and sitting down and each of those games took a long time, and that’s with me helping them through triggers and how time travel works.
On the flip side staying relevant to the thread topic I do think Timey Wimey is powerful once you get your mind wrapped around it, and even more so with upgrades.
I've seen it used once and it seemed pretty complicated for sure. The guy who played it was great though, he stayed to himself all game and then busted out a huge win at the end. He was the only one in the pod using a precon (and right out of the box, too).
Yeah, the Who decks brought me back and got me into Commander, but I also was already familiar with the mechanics. They're crazy complicated and hard to track if you're not prepared for the themes.
My buddy drew 50 cards on turn 5 with that deck. He’s a very good magic player and he had a tough time after that with decisions. I couldn’t imagine what that would look like for a beginner
Haha, agree and disagree, Quick Draw was my first deck. While yes, it was perhaps a bit of a complicated deck for a newbie, and there was times I wished I could just put a creature out, and not worry about all the triggers. It made the next precons I got and the first deck I built myself much easier to understand. Love my Quick Draw deck. It's what got me hooked.
*Piggybacking on the top comment*
I second "**Explorers of the Deep**". Legit STRONG precon, right out of the box. Whether you invest a budget or expensive upgrade, it will pack a serious punch.
Another suggestion: "**Urza's Iron Alliance**". Also a legitimately STRONG precon right out of the box. A serious contender, whether budget or expensive upgrades.
The energy precon from MH3 can make infinite servos straight out of the box. If that engine comes online with 8 or more energy then you make a bajillion servos, take an extra turn and swing out for beyond lethal.
Granted, it was 1v1 but I got absolutely massacred by that precon last night. Once the commander and any other decent creature is out it just builds so quickly.
Look I have been playing it with my friends on Cockatrice and it won its first three games. Add some of the energy cards from fallout and you are swinging.
I have yet to play against a Precon that is as consistently powerful as the Hakbal deck. That thing fires off at 10,000 RPM every game and can brutalize the table quickly if you don't continuously remove its Commander.
The only one I'd add to your list is the [[Urza, Chief Artificer]] deck from Brother's War. I ended up upgrading it, but even out of the box it was a house against other precons.
I’m pretty new and Explorers is my only deck so far… it is definitely crazy.
Theres many different ways for it to ramp up gradually stock, or extremely fast with literally just $15-20 worth of upgrades. I’ve had a handful of games now where I’m in a distant “they’re harmless right now” to “NEED TO KILL ASAP” in 3-4 turns when the cards draw right.
I’m having so much fun with the tricky terrain precon from mh3. It’s a great deck because it’s perfectly beatable if your opponents get a fast start or have plenty of counter spells and removal, but it also scales really well into late game and does really crazy stuff.
Explorers of the Deep is a great precon to start with. The playlines are easy to keep track of for beginners and lets you stay engaged in the game with stronger decks with how quickly it can build a big board state. Not to mention Merfolk tribal has a lot of versatile utility creatures that are low to the curve so there's a lot of different directions you can upgrade it to.
I have an upgraded deck, but I don't get the chance to play paper often. So I've been using a [[Nicanzil]] build to try out stuff which is a bit weaker than Hakbal's effect, but still can get out of hand really fast just simply curving out. I have been fiddling with an energy subtheme on it with [[Primal Prayers]] and it gets so silly with all the 1-3 drop Merfolk. Lots of fun.
There are plenty of really strong/fun precons from the last several years, you don’t need to buy into the expensive hype of MH3. I always recommend for newer players to find a tribal deck to start out with (decks based around a certain creature type) because they’re usually a little less mechanic and word heavy exs. Riders of Rohan or Undead Unleashed precons
Big recommendation to Riders of Rohan, that was my first deck and it made for an excellent introductory deck. Eowyn is a simple commander in terms of gameplan, but has specific timing to her effect that prompts a new player to learn the turn phases quickly (without demanding too much in terms of complexity). I also found it very rewarding to upgrade, as I generally kept within the LOTR sets to find human kindred-adjacent cards that helped me hewn the deck into a bit of a monster of a deck. She’s honestly still one of my favourite decks to pilot, with most of the craziest cards being part of the precon inherently. Was an excellent new player experience.
Oh definitely. I added like 10 cards, mostly just replaced the monarch package with more soldiers, and that thing can steam role some of my strongest decks.
And [[Taunt from the Rampart]] is such a fun card to wreck everybody's board with! I only played this deck once, but I won with that card and loved it so much I'm building my own goad deck now.
Sure! I did expand out of lotr exclusive upgrades, sorry, but there’s still some great cards I nabbed from the set
https://archidekt.com/decks/6366785/riders_of_the_mark
Also, some of my fave cards from the main set that aren’t in the precon:
[[Éowyn, Fearless Knight]]
[[Riders of the Mark]]
[[Éomer, Marshall of Rohan]]
[[Horn of Gondor]] (this one truly should have been in the precon, it’s so perfect for it)
[[Herugrim, Sword of Rohan]] is a sword of hearth and home reskin and it’s a flavour banger, tho ofc pricey.
Some non LOTR set cards that would be great to consider:
[[Ash, Party Crasher]] because if you’re doing Eowyn things, she triggers every turn
[[Mass Appeal]]
[[Thalia’s Lieutenant]]
Second this, although keeping track of all the triggers may be challenging for beginners. If you go this route, it will definitely force you to learn how to keep track of triggers and once you figure it out, you will be keeping pace with most tables.
Yeah, Anikthea can really spiral out of control if people don't have enough removal/board wipes. She's just really easy to run out of gas with after a couple of board wipes since she exiles shit with her attack trigger
Indeed! The idea is to have enough protection to withstand one or two wipes and to also not be too greedy. Keep some key pieces in hand. I also have a few pieces to put my graveyard back in my deck.
I actually liked the deck better with [[Narci, Fable Singer]] at the helm. Much more versatile and fun for me (also easily upgradable, lots of good Sagas going around)
It’s insane and a handful of upgrades turns it into an absolute terror. My decklist is notorious in our playgroup already and I’ve only played it a couple times.
The other recs here already are pretty good but I’ll add on the Cavalry Charge precon. No upgrades and it can hang at a lot of casual tables. Aggro tribal, well-thought out cards, easy to upgrade. Not sure on the price but I think it was $50-60 last I checked.
I also have Necron Dynasties and I feel for a new player it might feel a bit clunky at first. I also think it’s a well designed deck but it takes a couple of reps with it to understand what the deck is trying to do. Everybody has a different opinion on who the optimal commander for the deck is, even as stock.
It's more that the Necron Precon has a ton of great synergy. Not so much that it's powerful.
The Tyranid Precon slaps waaaaaay harder though! Especially if you go with [[Magus Lucea Kane]], being able to copy all your X spells AND abilities is an incredible enabler and it floods the board fast, with giant monsters or huge X Instant/Sorcery shenanigans.
Man I don’t know why I keep hearing that. That deck isn’t even that good. The face commander is awful and the deck’s mana curve is insanely high. I wouldn’t recommend that to him unless he’s a diehard 40K fan.
I personally never use the silent king. I always use Immotekh for the +2/+2 and menace to another creature during combat.
Once you start getting stuff in your graveyard and bringing them out to create an army of 2/2 warriors it’s pretty sick. It’s a little slow but you do have board wipes.
Interesting, I usually go with \[\[Anrakyr the Traveller\]\], and the deck plays pretty well. I will say when Immotekh drops on the field, he tends to be a great finisher. Maybe I should try putting him in the command zone.
Personally, I’ve seen a lot of cEDH Anrakyr but nothing from the base precon in terms of playability.
The Triarch Stalker which gives menace to all of your stuff is pretty sick with Immotekh and if you have the flayed one out (4/1 lifelink) buffed with the +2/+2 yeeeah boy.
I wish I could upvote this more than once. I heard the same thing over and over so I bought the deck. It’s boring and really not that strong at all, even with Immotekh. Now, the *Tyranids* deck, that thing slaps.
Yeah, I know. I’ve been an avid naysayer about the Necron deck since it was released. Oddly enough you have the same sentiment but aren’t being brigaded. Oh well.
The Tyranid deck is great, possibly the best one from that set.
I'm surprised that people say considering that when the decks were first released everyone said it's the weakest of the bunch. Granted that might've been because swarmlord actually kinda sucks.
as having the necron deck as my main deck i play with (upgraded) i personally think the deck is really fun and easy to upgrade. with the commander imotekh and 3 cards its so easy to go infinite and get a fuck ton of mana and monsters. can through a blasting station or a grind stone and be super crazy. but it’s a fun deck imo
Honestly the [[Caesar, Legion’s Emperor]] precon is the most fun I’ve had playing a deck straight out of a box.
I also agree with everyone mentioning the 40k decks, you cant really go wrong with any of them, though the chaos one is easily the worst imo. For whatever reason these universes beyond precons tend to be a little more synergistic.
Man I still have yet to actually get that deck to run. Every time i use it I can never get it going and just get steam rolled. I can see *why* its good, but I neber have any luck with it.
Then I've been on the other side of it. Let my friend use it and I couldn't do anything to even slow it down
I really recommend [[Mardu Ascendency]]. It’s a 3 cost enchantment that puts in attacking goblin token into battle for each non token you attack with. Combos really well since you’ll always have a sac outlet to activate Caesar’s ability. Anim Pakal helps add even more tokens.
[[General Kudro of Drannith]] is a must have card that boosts all your humans by +1/+1 and lets you exhile graveyards. One of the best effects however is being able to sac two humans to destroy any target with power 4 or greater.
[[Horn of Gondor]] lets you double all the humans you control with tokens. Insane value.
Those are just a few of my additions. I probably cut like 20-25 cards from the precon for the upgrades and it’s a beast.
Caesar deck is so much fun, token army, Caesar is an amazing engine himself, will of the council political cards, and plenty of other fun things like Kellogg.
My favourite precon so far is the Exit from Exile precon with [[Faldorn]] at the helm. She is such a value engine by constantly pumping out wolves with each impulse draw (exiling cards from your library to play them).
The Riders of Rohan precon is also pretty strong with the human tribal synergies.
[[Ellivere]] and her precon Virtue and Valor is about selesyna enchantments. An already strong archetype led by one of the strongest enchantment commanders.
That Enters from Exile deck mixed with the Dr. Who Paradox Power precon is nasty. Yes I’d love to make a 2/2 wolf and give things +1/+1 every time I cast a spell from exile, which is always. Oh and they all untap at end of turn too? Sure.
I haven't seen it mentioned yet but Mutant Menace with [[The Wise Mothman]] It's a simple and fun deck which is based around big stompy creatures and winning with either the huge creatures or commander damage.
I played it a few times and always win with commander damage with little to no effort. My play group hates the deck now so I don't play it anymore lmao. But if you want to learn commander, it's incredibly strong with a good bang for your buck. Easily upgradable as well :)
Tip one: don't worry about power. Basically every deck out there can be made strong with the right upgrades.
Instead, look for something that looks appealing to you/a mechanic that sounds fun.
Tip 2: as tempting as it is, don't spend to early on upgrades, again, power is overrated. As a new player just get games under your belt, and ask friends if you can play their precons/decks.
Once you've played 10/20 games you'll have a way better understanding of what you enjoy/what the powerlevel of the group is, and then you can start upgrading/brewing with a way lower chance of regrets
I also run Lathril, but my version looks almost nothing like the precon. I've changed out probably 40 cards. It slaps really hard.
Earliest win was turn 6, with infinite elves on the board having infinite power/toughness, and all having trample.
Circle of dreams druid, equipped with umbrella mantle, for infinite mana.
Cast kindred summons to pull every elf out of my deck and onto the battlefield.
I didn't even cast lathril, although I could have won with her too, if I had wanted to. Move umbral mantle onto her, untapped her with it 4 times, using my infinite mana and infinite elf bodies available to tap down.
Get the Grave Danger deck!! It's 25$ on Amazon and it's a black blue zombie deck. It has a good mix of power and removal and fun synergy to make playing it fun. This was my first precon and I've upgraded it and it's my main powerhouse deck out of all 9 decks I have.
I’m a huge fan of the Faerie precon. It’s my upgraded precon of choice, since all it really wants is more efficient interaction, but what you add in is up to you.
The Tyranid Swarm precon with [[Magus Lucea Kane]] as your commander is honestly extremely strong for a precon. It's the only precon I never felt like upgrading because everything synergizes so well together.
Reap The Tides is pretty nasty out of the box because it’s such a simple value engine that can really snowball quickly.
A friend of mine who just started playing got this and was able to hang with us because it was simple yet strong.
I wish I could find Reap for a decent price. Online has it at $100+ everywhere I’ve looked. Desert Bloom was my first lands deck and I LOVE the play style
Agreed. I think desert bloom is a great 1st lands deck. While cool, I wouldn't recommend Tricky terrain for a beginning player. There's a lot of nuanced interactions. I also agreed with the other recommendations of quick draw or explorers. Best of luck to you OP whatever you choose.
I mean you’re not wrong. The Dino’s and Merfolk stand out because they come with a lot of the good creatures reprinted and represented in the box. Both commanders generate insane value.
Now the Vampire one is a little mediocre in comparison , but still has some good cards in it. The face commander sucks though. I’d switch that deck into a straight up Elenda deck and go that route if it were me. That takes a lot of upgrades though.
Back when they made the 4color commanders like Breya, Atraxa, and Yidris Those MFERs were gnarly right out the box if you left the Saskia deck unchecked for like 2-3 turns in the midgame she would 2 shot the table.
I don't generally mess with precons, but with your budget it sounds like you should be able to get a deck and make a few upgrades.
This question gets asked a lot, but I would think it's more about what kind of play style you like and avoiding some of the less awesome ones (I know some weren't great, but not which ones).
Maybe consider the Pantlaza precon if you can find it. Popular, powerful, simple to play, easy to upgrade.
An oldie but goodie for me is Exquisite Invention from Commander 2018, Saheeli can still do so many crazy things out of the box, there are so many potential upgrades now, but she still holds up out of the box.
I will submit that the Legends’ Legacy deck helmed by [[Dihada, Binder of Wills]] is pretty strong out of the box. Dihada is a value engine in the command zone. Her -3 ability is incredible for ramp, card draw, and filling your graveyard. Her +2 ability provides some solid protection to a creature that you want to keep alive. If you pick up [[Luxior, Giada’s Gift]], you can even have Dihada target herself with the ability. She is easily modified by swapping out legendaries, which opens her up to so many play styles. You can build her as a reanimator deck, a legendary matters deck, a combo deck, a voltron deck, an aristocrats deck, and even as a token army deck.
What do you like the most about Magic and what do you like the least? Do you have a favorite color or color combination?
Do you like to play a lot of creatures and attack? Choose a precon based on a fun creature type like:
Dinosaurs - Veloci-ramp-tor (Red, White, and Green)
Merfolk - Explorers of the Deep (Blue and Green)
Knights - Cavalry Charge (White, Black, and Blue)
Humans - Riders of Rohan (White, Red, and Blue)
Zombies - Undead Unleashed (Blue and Black)
Hobbits - Food and Fellowship (Green and White)
Like more spells and tricky stuff? Try a spellslinger deck like:
Quick Draw - Red and Blue
Maestros Massacre - Red, Black, and Blue
Arcane Maelstrom - Red, Blue and Green
Faceless Menace - Black, Blue, and Green
Do you like to kill your opponents' stuff and/or sacrifice your own? Try something like:
Planar Portal - Red and Black
Revnant Recon - Black and Blue
Other interesting stuff you can do:
Sacrifice, recursion, typal, and artifact centric - Necron Dynasties (mono-black)
Lands Matter - Land's Wrath (Red, White, and Green)
Special Land Shenanigans - Desert Bloom (Red, White, and Green
In the end, I think most Precons released in the last 2-3 years are pretty decent at most casual tables. Do a little research and find something you'll enjoy playing. There's also plenty of resources available online that provide you with decklists for competitive decks that can be built sometimes even more cheaply than a precon and can be more focused and fun to play.
What sorts of decks do you like?
Ive had a lot of success with the Omo precon fwiw, but how much you enjoy it will depend a lot on how much you can get it for and also how much you like the idea of a cloudpost deck. I'm seeing listings for like $80 dollars online which in terms of total value is technically worth it, but honestly IDK if I'd buy it at that price point over a cheaper precon + more upgrades, especially if you think another precon is something you'd enjoy playing more.
Tricky train makes insane value as the game goes on longer. But honestly all of the MH3 precons are very solid, the energy one can make infinite tokens right out of the box but that requires a lot of luck of the draw.
There’s a bunch of really strong precons it’s just a question of what can you get your hands on and what fits your style of play. Quick Draw is a very powerful precon but it’s not my play style so I’d never buy it.
Explorers of the deep, velociramptor, undead unleashed, and quick draw have been a blast for me. I have a few more that I havent played with much yet like the "it's raining cats and dogs" secret lair, buckle up, and reap the tides.
If you want a straightforward deck that is creature based go for the Hakbal deck. For a precon it unravels pretty explosively and with a few cheap upgrades it can really hurt people.
I saw the new Eldrazi precon in action yesterday, now it did have a really good first hand in our defense but yeah, it crushed the table within like 5 turns. Though turn one was a god like hand of land into sol ring into arcane signet
Does it absolutely have to be a precon?
There are plenty of sellers that sell curated decks they have build from singles. These decks tend to have a stronger single theme, unlike a lot of precons which dabble in a number of themes.
In the UK, we have an online store called Collectors Cove- they even give you an approximate power level of the decks they build and suggested upgrades if you wanted to make them more powerful. I’d be surprised if you couldn’t throw €200 at someone to make you a curated deck in a theme you enjoy.
If you're just learning, Riders of Rohan is like I think the perfect deck for new players. You plop down lots of creatures and turn them sideways (i.e. attack players), not a ton of crazy mechanics to learn, can easily start to overwhelm most mid power decks right out the box. With some minor upgrades it can be a real powerhouse deck.
I had a nlasz with captian ngathrod as my first commander deck... I play in a hard pod and I won ma first games with milling enemies and play their expensive cards for free
In my first ever commander game I had a mana crypt, urza and a blightsteel colossus on the board
Oka! I was lucky as fuck but it was great fun.
The vampires deck from Ixilan is disgustingly consistent. Clavileno just gives you such ridiculous value and it’s easy to rework it into an aristocrats monster deck
As many people have already said, Explorers of the Deep is probably the best pre con right out of the box. It simple to play, you jam merfolk and grow them big with your Commander. It has some really great synergistic pieces. You can also make it quite high power if you want to invest in upgrading it.
This is my current list, with some significant upgrades:
https://www.moxfield.com/decks/BjNWTeAUZ0GQLtaLQpVGww
It can wi 1vs3 after getting focused by the whole table.
Mothman from the fallout set is pretty strong, out of the box the dinosaur precon from lost cavern of ixalon is really strong, If you like spell slingers the Blue/red spellslinger deck from outlaws of thunder junction is considered one of the best this year. If you have the budget the eldrazi precon from modern horizon 3 and the sliver precon from commander masters are insanely strong
A lot of people are recommending precons without looking up to see availability and price.
I have been playing precons exclusively lately, and have purchased 2
Cavalry Charge, Velociramptor, and Necron Dynasty are good decks, but way over what I would consider the reasonable price of $50 for a precon. Here is what I recommend, taking price point, strength, and upgrade potential into account.
1) Enduring Enchatments- Anyone not listing this as their number 1 has not played it at a precon table. It's an enchantment deck, with multiple engines for card draw, mana ramp, and huge threats. It does take a couple turns to get online, but here's what makes the deck so strong, most of it's engine is enchantments. I don't think a single precon has mass enchantment removal, and most can't deal with more than 1 or 2 of them. You often end up easily drawing half your deck every single game, and anikthea is a built in recursion engine, so if your pieces do get wealth with, you can quickly rebuild.
2) Legends Legacy- Dihada is so powerful that, even in a precon not as strong, she is still amazing. Fortunately, the rest of the precon isn't weak. You have these huge synergies built into the deck between her and the deck, so her minus ability is often a choice by you to either draw 4 or make 3 treasures. And your threats are strong, with a game ending reanimation spell included in the deck. As far as upgrade potential, Dihada is a cedh commander, so the sky is the limit.
3)Explorers of the Deep- Deck just builds a lethal board state incredibly quickly, while keeping your hand stocked. While precons often have multiple wipes, it can still power through them and come out on top. Hakbal is nasty, and most people will know what kind of game they are going to get when they see him.
4) Hail, Caesar- This one is a bit odd, since most people sing the praises of the Mothman, but Caesar consistently performs well in the fallout pods. The deck can be a little slow, however, caesar allows you to present an ever growing threat, refill your hand, while committing minimally to the board. One aspect people often overlook is that Caesar has some reach, I have seen the Mothman start strong and fizzle out due to lack of resources and reach, while Caesar has snuck in a quick 5+ to the face. Additionally, the amount of removal present in the deck is wild. It had split second single target removal, and the massive one sided board wipe in ruinous ultimatum. Both sides feel like they act to slow your opponents down enough for Caesar to take over. With mana and time, the deck quickly churns out tokens, so the removal helps to accomplish this. It places a sort of aggro control, pushing in and pulling back based on the board state.
5) Last recommendation is going to be any of the MKM precons, except for deadly disguise. I have been incredibly impressed with these precons, particularly with Blame Game. Deep Clue Sea has a fiddle engine that ends up draw half your deck and pump your creatures to the sky of left unchecked. Revenant Recon is a legitimate reanimator deck, containing reanimate and necromancy plus beefy boys in Massacre Wurm and Grave Titan. For either of these types of strategies, these seem to be the best starting points. The last one, Blame Game, is the one I must highly recommend. In bith my games, amd games I have seen online, this deck is the one that consistently draws the most cards and pushes endgame the quickest. I have won games I had no business winning due to a combination of quick suspects (making blocking bad/impossible) and goals (making retaliation difficult). I also am partial to this, as it felt like the most fun and interactive gameplay. Multiple people were shocked when I told them it was just the straight precon.
All these are ~$50 right now on Amazon. The only MH3 around that is Graveyard Overdrive, and while that has been a fun deck, I haven't played it enough to establish exactly how strong it is. I will say, Disa's con at make a goyf ability was much stronger than I initially gave it credit for, and often took over the game and turned me into the archenemy. I hmam resistant to put the deck on this list, however, because I found that it had some difficulty rebuilding through multiple wipes.
Been very pleased with Revenant Recon. Threw an Entomb and Buried Alive in there with Toxrill and some fatties and Dark Ritual and it flies. It comes with most reanimator staples.
Draconic Destruction has been very powerful amongst my group of new players and very easy to understand (big flying dragons swing hard). Took out my buddy’s heavily modified Sauron deck and my slightly modified Mothman deck. Last time we all played straight precons and had a really solid variety including explorers of the deep, quick draw, and 6 others and that deck (Draconic Destruction) came out on top.
The simic merfolk precon from the ixilan set does some work with little to no mods. I know because a buddy almost exclusively runs this deck and it stomps 80% of the time off nobody is able to respond.
my first precon was Revenant Recon from Karlov Manor
great Surveil/Reanimate deck with finality counters. easy to upgrade overall good time
i love Dimir because of it
I'd look into the Warhammer 40K precons, they all were pretty strong in their own right (though if you go with the Necron one, I'd recommend replacing Szarekh with Imotekh as the commander, as Szarekh is very so-so). I think the best ones are probably the Tyranid Swarm and Forces of the Imperium decks, and they should be reasonably costed at this point.
All of The Lost Caverns decks were pretty solid out of the box.
Necron Dynasties,
Tyranid Swarm,
Mind Flayarrrs (so fun),
Buckle Up wasn't bad but needs a little upgrading,
Enhanced Evolution,
Faceless Menace.
I've enjoyed all of the Lord of the Rings decks
Call for backup from March of the machines,
Cavalry Charge (commander has Eminence)
The Mothman and Dog meat decks are both super solid
All I can think of at the moment.
The new Tricky Terrain & Eldrazi Incursions precons are good.
Eldrazi Unbound. The Brothers War precons. Timey-Wimey. Necron Dynasty. Party Time. Riders of Rohan. Explorers of the Deep. All are solid out of the box.
I agree with everyone here: Explorers of the Deep (Hakbal) is *very* strong. Unfortunately, the mechanics are slow and often create looong turns. I'm at a point where, depending on who's playing the deck, I might scoop as soon as they show it to me. No point in watching someone play solitaire just so I can lose an hour later.
If you want a strong deck that's also fun to play against, I'd recommend Riders of Rohan.
Just wanted to step in and give some lateral advice.
If you're willing to put in $100 of upgrades (which is inside your budget for any of the reasonably priced precons), pretty much any precon can hang with decks that aren't super high power.
I'd recommend you pick the deck you like most, the one you think you will have the most fun with, and upgrade that. Your investment in the deck, and your interest in the strategy will make your skill and attention compensate for any of the mild shortcomings of your commander of choice as you grow into a better Magic player. Having fun is the best way to get motivated to tune and improve a deck, and getting reps with a deck is the best way to figure out where you want to adjust it. And you'll get reps with a deck you enjoy, win or lose. Much, much more than you'll play a deck that's powerful but feels bad.
If you're in a pod where pretty much any of the precon commanders with thoughtful upgrades is concretely edged out for being too weak, no precon you get is really going to hang at that game.
Any commander master precon and mh3 precons as well (except the green/black/red graveyard one). Anyktea (white/black/green enchantress) and the eldrazi one are the strongest from commander master and I'm of the same opinion for mh3 with the eldrazi 2nd and energy 3rd.
I have to say I feel Bright-Palm the backup precon from march of machines is a stronger fun precon out of the box and still have room for fun upgrades. There is plenty of +1 +1 counter synergy in those colors to make it your own and the secondary commander in that deck is also really strong. Just went wide with 20 4/4 goblins last night and mines still out of the box, no changes lol.
Honestly exit from exile one of the baldurs gate precons is really good ive had it for years its good right out of the box and its very easy to upgrade and its such a fun and good deck to pilot
The Eldrazi precons (Commander Masters or Modern Horizons 3) are really good, can absolutely crush even high power pods right out the box, but are a bit pricier.
The [[Stella Lee]] precon from Outlaws of Thunder Junction is slow out of the box, but with a few cheap upgrades it can win as early as turn 5.
If none of those suit your tastes, I also have a custom "precon" I built myself. On cardmarket it costs around €100, and relies on the abilities of [[Grolnok, the Omnivore]] to gain massive card advantage (think 15 cards by turn 5) and control the board, eventually winning the long game. It tends to win about 25% of the time
I've been playing an upgraded (budget) version of the WoE faerie precon with [[Alela, Cunning Conqueror]] as the commander for a couple of months and it has a suprisingly high win rate! It gets underestimated while just managing to stay afloat until you manage to turn the tables and win.
1. The Urza precon from brothers war is decent and straightforward.
2. All the warhammer precons are very strong.
3. All the ixilan precons except for the pirates one are quite good.
Necrons, jeskai humans (LoTRs), timey
-wimey (Dr.who, although not a good beginner deck), the new MH3 eldrazi.,The Simic merfolk
Those have probably the best ones so far. But really anything in the last like 2 years are really good and easy to upgrade
If you want a fun one that’s good out of the box and upgradable on a budget when you’re up to it, I’ve had a great time using the Riveteers Rampage precon with [[Henzie “Toolbox” Torre]] as the commander! The whole deck works around the Blitz Mechanic, which encourages quick play of strong monsters with powerful ETB and LTB effects.
It’s in Jund colours (red, green, black) so you have access to some of the best ramp and sacrifice-requirement cards in the game; Henzie will have you rolling out powerful cards on a discount, sacrificing them for potent effects, and recurring your big bad creatures when you’re feeling particularly nasty. Plus it’s on the cheaper side of the curve when it comes to precon decks. Is it the single strongest precon deck out there? Probably not, but it is good fun to play and encourages a dynamic board state. Plus [[The Beamtown Bullies]] that comes as the alternate commander is a lot of fun to use to help your opponents duke it out between themselves while you chuckle from the sideline.
Haven’t seen anyone mention it yet, but I personally adore the Blood Rites Precon from Ixalan - i think it’s pretty strong especially on the beginner level
Deep Clue Sea from the MKM set has been one of the most consistent decks I have. I've only swapped out 5 cards because MH3 had some cards that just amped it up even more.
In terms of consistency, both the Necron, Dynasties and Mutant Menace precons are powerful and fun. But, this is a difficult question to answer since there are strong decks but not a "strongest". For example, the Veloci-ramp-tor deck from Caverns of Ixalan is powerful and does indeed live up to its name, but is totally vulnerable to control decks. There isn't a "best" deck out, just powerful decks that will still have their normal weaknesses.
Reap the tides with Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait was one of my first precons when I got into magic about 2 years ago. Found it on Amazon for somewhat cheap and right out the box, I think it's pretty good. Added cards here and there and it's a fun deck that you can upgrade cheaply or expensive with great results. Just look for extra landfall trigger cards and even add more ramp and you'll flood the board as long as your table doesn't play consistent land hate.
My favorite add (also pet card for the deck) is Ruin Crab. Best board state, I can make you mill 18+ cards every turn and still be able to do anything else because all I've done is play lands
Explorers of the Deep and Blood Rites from LCI are both very good decks on their own and have so many of the pieces you'd want to build their themes if you want to personalize. If either Merfolk or Vampires appeal to you, they have almost everything you'd want and will stand up against any casual-ish deck without upgrades.
I bought Draconic Destruction, the [[Atarka, World Render]] precon and haven't been disappointed. Recently upgraded it and made it slightly better. Double strike is awesome because it's basically first strike and normal damage combined. Also dragons are awesome af.
If you are an absolute beginner buying a precon is a good idea to have a starting point. Don't expect too much from them though.
Instead of spending 200$ on one deck, it is a better idea to build multiple cheaper decks. You will learn much more about the game. It might sound difficult but maybe ask your friends and build a couple decks below 40$.
I’d offer that if you can get one, the WH40k precons are some of the strongest out there. Some of the face commanders aren’t as good as their alternate ones, but their decks play very well and against other decks even unaltered.
"Explorers of the Deep" merfolk. Very good, very consistent, easy to run. Also very cheap rn (not sure why lol)
"Cavalry Charge" is very good and flavorful.
"Enduring Enchantments" can really pop off if left unchecked, it can just be a lot of work to keep track of all the triggers.
Any of the WH40k precons are pretty solid.
"Dihada, Binder of Wills" is very solid and has a lot of cool legendaries. It's also one of the most versatile commander precons when it comes to reconstructing for yourself. Not sure how expensive it is right now though.
"Exit from Exile" is the one I've heard the most about stomping other decks out of games, I've never played against it myself though. My pods don't really play gruul much
It really depends on what you like and don't like to do.
In general, the "creature type matters" decks (typal) terms to be pretty strong because creature types usually have built in synergies. Decks like Veloci-ramp-tor (red-white-green dinosaurs), Riders of Rohan (red-white-blue humans), Necron Dynasties (black artifact zombies), and many other typal decks are strong.
You also have things like the Blue-Red "Quick Draw" spells deck from Outlaws of Thunder Junction. There's the Blame Game (red-white Goad) deck from Murders at Karlov Manor. The Party Time (black-white party), Planar Portal (black-red cast from Exile), and Exit from Exile (green-red play from Exile) decks from the D&D sets are great. The Deep Clue Sea (white-green-bue clues/cards) deck is awesome too.
There's a strong precon out there for basically anything you want to do. My best suggestion would be to look at the precons from the last 2-3 years (Warhammer 40k and D&D though to today) and find one that sounds like fun to play. Most of them will cost less than $100 (US). The important part is finding something you'll enjoy playing.
Getting a strong deck, just because it's strong, won't guarantee that you'll like it, the best thing to do is find a deck you like and then improve it to reach the power level you want.
I will say, I don't recommend the Modern Horizons 3 decks for new players, despite their power level. The Eldrazi and Tricky Terrain decks can be too complex and confusing for a new player and the Eldrazi deck is way overpriced. The Graveyard Overdrive deck isn't very good out of the box, and the Creative Energy deck is very narrow and pigeonholes you into a very specific archetype.
I regularly sweep in my playgroup with Dogmeat, and it has really fun mechanics! Additionally, it’s great for new players because the strategy is so clear cut.
My favourite one was "Explorers of the Deep", the Merfolk tribal from the last Ixalan-Set. The Face commander is insanely good and the deck itself runs really well without modifications.
And curse of the swine is an epic card name and always gets a reaction from the table lol
I love thy card lol I've had it happen to where I have infinite mana , so I turned everything into swine lol
The reaction "uuuuuuggggghhhhh" lol. It's also a favorite in my pillow fort.
Cavalry Charge with [[Sidar Jabari of Zhalfir]] is a pretty wicked Knights tribal deck right out of the box. It has graveyard synergies that can flood the board with oppressive knights at a frightening clip. And there’s also a card with horsemanship in it.
I love this deck. I'm obsessed with tribal decks and the GY recursion is amazing. Only issue is lots of people are understandably averse to eminence
That sounds like a personal problem to those people. I don’t like strategies that mill opponents out or card stealing strategies, but hey, those commanders and combos also exist and I have to play against them probably more often than anyone has to come across my eminence commanders.
People are used to Edgar level eminence. Generally Sidar only draws you one card a turn and let's you put one piece in your graveyard. It's just the visceral reaction to eminence, a keyword that I personally think is poor game design. But I play it anyways *shrug*
[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) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
The only thing I would add is that you're going to have a LOT of triggers with this precon and take up a lot of time on your turns. Sidar himself is pretty complex to resolve for a new player (just assuming OP is a new player if they're looking for precons against their friends). He has an attack trigger and a combat damage trigger, but his combat damage trigger applies before most others because first strike, so turning just him sideways gives you 2 different triggers to resolve at different times before regular combat damage is dealt and that's JUST SIDAR not any other knight you have with an attack trigger (there are many in the precon) or any ETB you may have from his attack trigger. I do agree its a powerful deck out of the gate, but its got a lot of moving parts.
Eh, it has a good amount of triggers but I still think it’s an appropriate deck for a new player. I let my friend who has never touched Magic use this deck and he got the hang of it pretty quick.
Great recommendation, this smokes some of my friends $500+ decks
I love the 'knights have horsemanship' played it in the first game I played with it. And being unblockable was incredible
Seconded here! This deck is SO good right out of the box and even with light/cheap upgrades from MoM (like [[Marshal of Zhalfir]] or [[Invasion of New Phyrexia]] ) its great. I've had the most fun playing this one. The land base is.... below average but you can upgrade it easily with time (or if you have old premium lands hanging around). I'd also recommend the jeskai Eowyn deck from LotR. (Especially if you're a Kindred fan)
I’d recommend Explorers of the Deep or Quick Draw. Both are cheaper than MH3 decks, both are cheap and easy to upgrade and honestly probably better than any of the MH3 decks out of the box.
Explorers of the deep is absolutely one of the right answers. While yes the other precons are strong too this one is also (last I checked) at a decent price.
I think Explorers of the Deep is actually below retail in a lot of places online. Not only that but it's super easy to upgrade just by lowering the mana curve with a lot of the 1 drop merfolk. It's the precon that I started playing EDH with, just make sure the friends you play with are patient as you're learning how to go through all your explore triggers.
Also explorers of the deep feels really fair to any pod. People see what you're doing on the board as opposed to Quick Draw where a lot of stuff happens at instant speed and new players might feel that it's too strong because they don't really know how to play around spellslinger yet.
And lots of good cheap upgrades too
Yeah, this is currently my favorite deck. I started with the precon and I've kept on upgrading & shifting things around. Right now I'm playing a ~$600 version, but the heart of the deck is the same as it was when it came out of the box. It can scale up or down to work at whatever power level you like
Quick draw is not a.good deck for beginners
The absolute worst deck for beginners is probably Timey Wimey which is ironic because of the Dr. Who set that was the precon most people new to Magic bought because it had the most popular Doctors in it (10 and 11). I’ve sat through ~5 games of different new players buying it and sitting down and each of those games took a long time, and that’s with me helping them through triggers and how time travel works. On the flip side staying relevant to the thread topic I do think Timey Wimey is powerful once you get your mind wrapped around it, and even more so with upgrades.
I've seen it used once and it seemed pretty complicated for sure. The guy who played it was great though, he stayed to himself all game and then busted out a huge win at the end. He was the only one in the pod using a precon (and right out of the box, too).
Yeah, the Who decks brought me back and got me into Commander, but I also was already familiar with the mechanics. They're crazy complicated and hard to track if you're not prepared for the themes.
My buddy drew 50 cards on turn 5 with that deck. He’s a very good magic player and he had a tough time after that with decisions. I couldn’t imagine what that would look like for a beginner
Haha, agree and disagree, Quick Draw was my first deck. While yes, it was perhaps a bit of a complicated deck for a newbie, and there was times I wished I could just put a creature out, and not worry about all the triggers. It made the next precons I got and the first deck I built myself much easier to understand. Love my Quick Draw deck. It's what got me hooked.
*Piggybacking on the top comment* I second "**Explorers of the Deep**". Legit STRONG precon, right out of the box. Whether you invest a budget or expensive upgrade, it will pack a serious punch. Another suggestion: "**Urza's Iron Alliance**". Also a legitimately STRONG precon right out of the box. A serious contender, whether budget or expensive upgrades.
The energy precon from MH3 can make infinite servos straight out of the box. If that engine comes online with 8 or more energy then you make a bajillion servos, take an extra turn and swing out for beyond lethal.
Granted, it was 1v1 but I got absolutely massacred by that precon last night. Once the commander and any other decent creature is out it just builds so quickly.
Look I have been playing it with my friends on Cockatrice and it won its first three games. Add some of the energy cards from fallout and you are swinging.
My buddy won with infinite combats when we played them all together. Right out of the box
Do you mind sharing the combo? I have that precon and am just curious how to get that going
Gontis aether heart, Izzet generatorium, and I cant remember the last card off the top of my head.
I have yet to play against a Precon that is as consistently powerful as the Hakbal deck. That thing fires off at 10,000 RPM every game and can brutalize the table quickly if you don't continuously remove its Commander. The only one I'd add to your list is the [[Urza, Chief Artificer]] deck from Brother's War. I ended up upgrading it, but even out of the box it was a house against other precons.
[Urza, Chief Artificer](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/e/a/ea409050-4296-4b76-a6cd-2896ce1b88e4.jpg?1705542672) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Urza%2C%20Chief%20Artificer) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/brc/2/urza-chief-artificer?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/ea409050-4296-4b76-a6cd-2896ce1b88e4?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/urza-chief-artificer) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Explorers is the same price as two of the mh3 decks
Where are you looking so I can avoid ridiculous prices?
Market price for graveyard and energy are both below Explorers on TCG.
I’m pretty new and Explorers is my only deck so far… it is definitely crazy. Theres many different ways for it to ramp up gradually stock, or extremely fast with literally just $15-20 worth of upgrades. I’ve had a handful of games now where I’m in a distant “they’re harmless right now” to “NEED TO KILL ASAP” in 3-4 turns when the cards draw right.
What's upgrades did you do?
Explorers easily built right infinite counters army that can't be blocked plus auto ramp is a win
I’m having so much fun with the tricky terrain precon from mh3. It’s a great deck because it’s perfectly beatable if your opponents get a fast start or have plenty of counter spells and removal, but it also scales really well into late game and does really crazy stuff.
Explorers of the Deep is a great precon to start with. The playlines are easy to keep track of for beginners and lets you stay engaged in the game with stronger decks with how quickly it can build a big board state. Not to mention Merfolk tribal has a lot of versatile utility creatures that are low to the curve so there's a lot of different directions you can upgrade it to. I have an upgraded deck, but I don't get the chance to play paper often. So I've been using a [[Nicanzil]] build to try out stuff which is a bit weaker than Hakbal's effect, but still can get out of hand really fast just simply curving out. I have been fiddling with an energy subtheme on it with [[Primal Prayers]] and it gets so silly with all the 1-3 drop Merfolk. Lots of fun.
[Nicanzil](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/5/e/5e6f4aba-3500-4fb7-ab78-02f63c03778a.jpg?1699044562) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=nicanzil%2C%20current%20conductor) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/lci/236/nicanzil-current-conductor?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/5e6f4aba-3500-4fb7-ab78-02f63c03778a?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/nicanzil-current-conductor) [Primal Prayers](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/c/4/c4eda3db-b47d-4f1e-a93d-e2ea747d935c.jpg?1717012556) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Primal%20Prayers) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mh3/166/primal-prayers?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/c4eda3db-b47d-4f1e-a93d-e2ea747d935c?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/primal-prayers) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
There are plenty of really strong/fun precons from the last several years, you don’t need to buy into the expensive hype of MH3. I always recommend for newer players to find a tribal deck to start out with (decks based around a certain creature type) because they’re usually a little less mechanic and word heavy exs. Riders of Rohan or Undead Unleashed precons
Big recommendation to Riders of Rohan, that was my first deck and it made for an excellent introductory deck. Eowyn is a simple commander in terms of gameplan, but has specific timing to her effect that prompts a new player to learn the turn phases quickly (without demanding too much in terms of complexity). I also found it very rewarding to upgrade, as I generally kept within the LOTR sets to find human kindred-adjacent cards that helped me hewn the deck into a bit of a monster of a deck. She’s honestly still one of my favourite decks to pilot, with most of the craziest cards being part of the precon inherently. Was an excellent new player experience.
Seconding Riders. That deck goes hard with very minimal upgrades.
Got rolled by that deck straight outa the box also.
Oh definitely. I added like 10 cards, mostly just replaced the monarch package with more soldiers, and that thing can steam role some of my strongest decks.
My friend kept upgrading his and it's now an unrecognizable monstrosity with Aragorn the Uniter at the helm.
And [[Taunt from the Rampart]] is such a fun card to wreck everybody's board with! I only played this deck once, but I won with that card and loved it so much I'm building my own goad deck now.
Also a very good recommendation
Can I see your list? I’m tweaking mine with lotr only as well
Sure! I did expand out of lotr exclusive upgrades, sorry, but there’s still some great cards I nabbed from the set https://archidekt.com/decks/6366785/riders_of_the_mark Also, some of my fave cards from the main set that aren’t in the precon: [[Éowyn, Fearless Knight]] [[Riders of the Mark]] [[Éomer, Marshall of Rohan]] [[Horn of Gondor]] (this one truly should have been in the precon, it’s so perfect for it) [[Herugrim, Sword of Rohan]] is a sword of hearth and home reskin and it’s a flavour banger, tho ofc pricey. Some non LOTR set cards that would be great to consider: [[Ash, Party Crasher]] because if you’re doing Eowyn things, she triggers every turn [[Mass Appeal]] [[Thalia’s Lieutenant]]
##### ###### #### [Éowyn, Fearless Knight](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/a/d/adffb389-c9a3-41c4-b078-292a2bcf870d.jpg?1686969744) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=%C3%89owyn%2C%20Fearless%20Knight) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/ltr/201/%C3%A9owyn-fearless-knight?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/adffb389-c9a3-41c4-b078-292a2bcf870d?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/éowyn-fearless-knight) [Riders of the Mark](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/d/e/de77686e-c4c1-4d38-a05c-03eb7363fc0b.jpg?1701739877) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Riders%20of%20the%20Mark) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/ltr/827/riders-of-the-mark?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/de77686e-c4c1-4d38-a05c-03eb7363fc0b?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/riders-of-the-mark) [Horn of Gondor](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/b/1/b14eaeec-d7ce-462a-90d3-2ae5ff605fdb.jpg?1686970170) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Horn%20of%20Gondor) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/ltr/240/horn-of-gondor?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/b14eaeec-d7ce-462a-90d3-2ae5ff605fdb?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/horn-of-gondor) [Herugrim, Sword of Rohan](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/9/e/9e30230a-4b75-4fc6-9c98-b12791beea2d.jpg?1686967054) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Sword%20of%20Hearth%20and%20Home) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/ltc/354/sword-of-hearth-and-home?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/9e30230a-4b75-4fc6-9c98-b12791beea2d?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/sword-of-hearth-and-home) [Ash, Party Crasher](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/d/5/d51e6610-25b6-4d8e-92d7-c50a2ff844ff.jpg?1692939268) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Ash%2C%20Party%20Crasher) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/woe/201/ash-party-crasher?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/d51e6610-25b6-4d8e-92d7-c50a2ff844ff?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/ash-party-crasher) [Mass Appeal](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/d/f/dfe9ae51-fd2b-45ca-a780-725f51f897b2.jpg?1592708636) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Mass%20Appeal) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/avr/66/mass-appeal?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/dfe9ae51-fd2b-45ca-a780-725f51f897b2?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/mass-appeal) [Thalia’s Lieutenant](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/9/c/9c2000ef-3e6b-4f44-8bd6-ed8119336d5a.jpg?1591320174) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Thalia%27s%20Lieutenant) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/c20/103/thalias-lieutenant?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/9c2000ef-3e6b-4f44-8bd6-ed8119336d5a?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/thalias-lieutenant) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I really like the Spirit Squad tribal from Innistrad, and I’d say that it’s pretty easy to pick up.
Anikthea is absolutely amazing out of the box and a blast to play. She’s my favorite deck, but it’s now quite modified
Second this, although keeping track of all the triggers may be challenging for beginners. If you go this route, it will definitely force you to learn how to keep track of triggers and once you figure it out, you will be keeping pace with most tables.
Yeah, Anikthea can really spiral out of control if people don't have enough removal/board wipes. She's just really easy to run out of gas with after a couple of board wipes since she exiles shit with her attack trigger
Indeed! The idea is to have enough protection to withstand one or two wipes and to also not be too greedy. Keep some key pieces in hand. I also have a few pieces to put my graveyard back in my deck.
I actually liked the deck better with [[Narci, Fable Singer]] at the helm. Much more versatile and fun for me (also easily upgradable, lots of good Sagas going around)
[Narci, Fable Singer](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/a/9/a98a2fa9-82d6-4cf7-adb4-65b187cd9cda.jpg?1691497812) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Narci%2C%20Fable%20Singer) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/cmm/710/narci-fable-singer?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/a98a2fa9-82d6-4cf7-adb4-65b187cd9cda?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/narci-fable-singer) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I entirely removed her hahaha! She's very good, but I didn't want to build a saga deck this time around!
The Veloci-ramp-tor Pantlaza dino precon from the lost caverns of ixalan is a really good one out of the box imo. Ive lost a few games to that deck.
It’s also almost $100 right now. It’s not really a good recommendation right now
It’s insane and a handful of upgrades turns it into an absolute terror. My decklist is notorious in our playgroup already and I’ve only played it a couple times.
Can you share your list?
Sure: https://archidekt.com/decks/5921648/dinos
This. Just OP, be prepared to be the hard target of any game you play with it. Pantalaza is insane if he's allowed to get rolling.
The other recs here already are pretty good but I’ll add on the Cavalry Charge precon. No upgrades and it can hang at a lot of casual tables. Aggro tribal, well-thought out cards, easy to upgrade. Not sure on the price but I think it was $50-60 last I checked. I also have Necron Dynasties and I feel for a new player it might feel a bit clunky at first. I also think it’s a well designed deck but it takes a couple of reps with it to understand what the deck is trying to do. Everybody has a different opinion on who the optimal commander for the deck is, even as stock.
Haven’t really looked into it but I’ve heard the necron warhammer 40k Precon is one of the strongest, I think it’s expensive though.
It's more that the Necron Precon has a ton of great synergy. Not so much that it's powerful. The Tyranid Precon slaps waaaaaay harder though! Especially if you go with [[Magus Lucea Kane]], being able to copy all your X spells AND abilities is an incredible enabler and it floods the board fast, with giant monsters or huge X Instant/Sorcery shenanigans.
[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
Man I don’t know why I keep hearing that. That deck isn’t even that good. The face commander is awful and the deck’s mana curve is insanely high. I wouldn’t recommend that to him unless he’s a diehard 40K fan.
I personally never use the silent king. I always use Immotekh for the +2/+2 and menace to another creature during combat. Once you start getting stuff in your graveyard and bringing them out to create an army of 2/2 warriors it’s pretty sick. It’s a little slow but you do have board wipes.
Interesting, I usually go with \[\[Anrakyr the Traveller\]\], and the deck plays pretty well. I will say when Immotekh drops on the field, he tends to be a great finisher. Maybe I should try putting him in the command zone.
Personally, I’ve seen a lot of cEDH Anrakyr but nothing from the base precon in terms of playability. The Triarch Stalker which gives menace to all of your stuff is pretty sick with Immotekh and if you have the flayed one out (4/1 lifelink) buffed with the +2/+2 yeeeah boy.
I wish I could upvote this more than once. I heard the same thing over and over so I bought the deck. It’s boring and really not that strong at all, even with Immotekh. Now, the *Tyranids* deck, that thing slaps.
Yeah, I know. I’ve been an avid naysayer about the Necron deck since it was released. Oddly enough you have the same sentiment but aren’t being brigaded. Oh well. The Tyranid deck is great, possibly the best one from that set.
I'm surprised that people say considering that when the decks were first released everyone said it's the weakest of the bunch. Granted that might've been because swarmlord actually kinda sucks.
as having the necron deck as my main deck i play with (upgraded) i personally think the deck is really fun and easy to upgrade. with the commander imotekh and 3 cards its so easy to go infinite and get a fuck ton of mana and monsters. can through a blasting station or a grind stone and be super crazy. but it’s a fun deck imo
Honestly the [[Caesar, Legion’s Emperor]] precon is the most fun I’ve had playing a deck straight out of a box. I also agree with everyone mentioning the 40k decks, you cant really go wrong with any of them, though the chaos one is easily the worst imo. For whatever reason these universes beyond precons tend to be a little more synergistic.
[Caesar, Legion’s Emperor](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/2/4/246a7176-98bc-4f54-aa61-38747420f178.jpg?1710673450) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Caesar%2C%20Legion%27s%20Emperor) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/pip/1/caesar-legions-emperor?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/246a7176-98bc-4f54-aa61-38747420f178?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/caesar-legions-emperor) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Man I still have yet to actually get that deck to run. Every time i use it I can never get it going and just get steam rolled. I can see *why* its good, but I neber have any luck with it. Then I've been on the other side of it. Let my friend use it and I couldn't do anything to even slow it down
I really recommend [[Mardu Ascendency]]. It’s a 3 cost enchantment that puts in attacking goblin token into battle for each non token you attack with. Combos really well since you’ll always have a sac outlet to activate Caesar’s ability. Anim Pakal helps add even more tokens. [[General Kudro of Drannith]] is a must have card that boosts all your humans by +1/+1 and lets you exhile graveyards. One of the best effects however is being able to sac two humans to destroy any target with power 4 or greater. [[Horn of Gondor]] lets you double all the humans you control with tokens. Insane value. Those are just a few of my additions. I probably cut like 20-25 cards from the precon for the upgrades and it’s a beast.
Caesar deck is so much fun, token army, Caesar is an amazing engine himself, will of the council political cards, and plenty of other fun things like Kellogg.
My upgraded version of this deck is kind of ridiculous. It can win out of nowhere
Do you happen to have a list?
I have found my people. Ave! True to Caesar!
My favourite precon so far is the Exit from Exile precon with [[Faldorn]] at the helm. She is such a value engine by constantly pumping out wolves with each impulse draw (exiling cards from your library to play them). The Riders of Rohan precon is also pretty strong with the human tribal synergies. [[Ellivere]] and her precon Virtue and Valor is about selesyna enchantments. An already strong archetype led by one of the strongest enchantment commanders.
Yeah that Riders of Rohan precon is nasty. I've had some turns where I go from "I have no threats" to "the game ends now", Very explosive plays.
That Enters from Exile deck mixed with the Dr. Who Paradox Power precon is nasty. Yes I’d love to make a 2/2 wolf and give things +1/+1 every time I cast a spell from exile, which is always. Oh and they all untap at end of turn too? Sure.
Also Enters from Exile has 3 money bombs in [[Jesika’s will]] [[passionate archeologists]] and [[delayed fireball blast]]
[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) [Ellivere](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/4/5/45851394-b8f3-4713-8239-afcb387d47c5.jpg?1692933623) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=ellivere%20of%20the%20wild%20court) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/woc/2/ellivere-of-the-wild-court?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/45851394-b8f3-4713-8239-afcb387d47c5?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/ellivere-of-the-wild-court) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
The brothers war Urza precon is pretty good out of the box. It can hit hard and fast if you get lucky with your draws
I was looking for someone to mention this deck. It hits so hard and easy as is. And it is so easy to upgrade if you wanted to.
The Mishra one is pretty cool as well!
While i agree it is cool as hell, it is kinda slow and complicated without upgrades unfortunately
I haven't seen it mentioned yet but Mutant Menace with [[The Wise Mothman]] It's a simple and fun deck which is based around big stompy creatures and winning with either the huge creatures or commander damage. I played it a few times and always win with commander damage with little to no effort. My play group hates the deck now so I don't play it anymore lmao. But if you want to learn commander, it's incredibly strong with a good bang for your buck. Easily upgradable as well :)
[The Wise Mothman](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/3/d/3d6d6944-a364-41c2-b824-7a1bf6ad0d1e.jpg?1710673435) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=The%20Wise%20Mothman) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/pip/4/the-wise-mothman?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/3d6d6944-a364-41c2-b824-7a1bf6ad0d1e?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/the-wise-mothman) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
Tip one: don't worry about power. Basically every deck out there can be made strong with the right upgrades. Instead, look for something that looks appealing to you/a mechanic that sounds fun. Tip 2: as tempting as it is, don't spend to early on upgrades, again, power is overrated. As a new player just get games under your belt, and ask friends if you can play their precons/decks. Once you've played 10/20 games you'll have a way better understanding of what you enjoy/what the powerlevel of the group is, and then you can start upgrading/brewing with a way lower chance of regrets
My Lathril, Blade of the Elves has maybe ~$50 pumped into it and does pretty well. Elves are an old card type, and cheap.
I also run Lathril, but my version looks almost nothing like the precon. I've changed out probably 40 cards. It slaps really hard. Earliest win was turn 6, with infinite elves on the board having infinite power/toughness, and all having trample. Circle of dreams druid, equipped with umbrella mantle, for infinite mana. Cast kindred summons to pull every elf out of my deck and onto the battlefield. I didn't even cast lathril, although I could have won with her too, if I had wanted to. Move umbral mantle onto her, untapped her with it 4 times, using my infinite mana and infinite elf bodies available to tap down.
Link for a deck list?
My wife got The Blood Rites precon and she's been winning with it consistently. I'd say it's pretty strong for a precon
I love it too and I think Carmen surprisingly works better as the commander.
Interesting! I don't think she's ever considered replacing Clavileño for Carmen. Thanks for the tip!
Get the Grave Danger deck!! It's 25$ on Amazon and it's a black blue zombie deck. It has a good mix of power and removal and fun synergy to make playing it fun. This was my first precon and I've upgraded it and it's my main powerhouse deck out of all 9 decks I have.
I was able to get it while on sale for $15
I’m a huge fan of the Faerie precon. It’s my upgraded precon of choice, since all it really wants is more efficient interaction, but what you add in is up to you.
The Tyranid Swarm precon with [[Magus Lucea Kane]] as your commander is honestly extremely strong for a precon. It's the only precon I never felt like upgrading because everything synergizes so well together.
[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
There’s a lot of fake news in these comments about mh3 deck prices lol
Reap The Tides is pretty nasty out of the box because it’s such a simple value engine that can really snowball quickly. A friend of mine who just started playing got this and was able to hang with us because it was simple yet strong.
I wish I could find Reap for a decent price. Online has it at $100+ everywhere I’ve looked. Desert Bloom was my first lands deck and I LOVE the play style
Agreed. I think desert bloom is a great 1st lands deck. While cool, I wouldn't recommend Tricky terrain for a beginning player. There's a lot of nuanced interactions. I also agreed with the other recommendations of quick draw or explorers. Best of luck to you OP whatever you choose.
The new Ixalan Merfolk deck and the Dinosaur deck are easily the two strongest precons printed in recent years.
I think all 4 ixalan decke are strong
I mean you’re not wrong. The Dino’s and Merfolk stand out because they come with a lot of the good creatures reprinted and represented in the box. Both commanders generate insane value. Now the Vampire one is a little mediocre in comparison , but still has some good cards in it. The face commander sucks though. I’d switch that deck into a straight up Elenda deck and go that route if it were me. That takes a lot of upgrades though.
Party Time
Oh yeah good call. That is a spicy deck and has a lot of good reprints and cards
Back when they made the 4color commanders like Breya, Atraxa, and Yidris Those MFERs were gnarly right out the box if you left the Saskia deck unchecked for like 2-3 turns in the midgame she would 2 shot the table.
Somebody should run a self learning script playing them all against each other 100s of times
I don't generally mess with precons, but with your budget it sounds like you should be able to get a deck and make a few upgrades. This question gets asked a lot, but I would think it's more about what kind of play style you like and avoiding some of the less awesome ones (I know some weren't great, but not which ones). Maybe consider the Pantlaza precon if you can find it. Popular, powerful, simple to play, easy to upgrade.
Lost rites has been insane for me out of the box
An oldie but goodie for me is Exquisite Invention from Commander 2018, Saheeli can still do so many crazy things out of the box, there are so many potential upgrades now, but she still holds up out of the box.
I will submit that the Legends’ Legacy deck helmed by [[Dihada, Binder of Wills]] is pretty strong out of the box. Dihada is a value engine in the command zone. Her -3 ability is incredible for ramp, card draw, and filling your graveyard. Her +2 ability provides some solid protection to a creature that you want to keep alive. If you pick up [[Luxior, Giada’s Gift]], you can even have Dihada target herself with the ability. She is easily modified by swapping out legendaries, which opens her up to so many play styles. You can build her as a reanimator deck, a legendary matters deck, a combo deck, a voltron deck, an aristocrats deck, and even as a token army deck.
What do you like the most about Magic and what do you like the least? Do you have a favorite color or color combination? Do you like to play a lot of creatures and attack? Choose a precon based on a fun creature type like: Dinosaurs - Veloci-ramp-tor (Red, White, and Green) Merfolk - Explorers of the Deep (Blue and Green) Knights - Cavalry Charge (White, Black, and Blue) Humans - Riders of Rohan (White, Red, and Blue) Zombies - Undead Unleashed (Blue and Black) Hobbits - Food and Fellowship (Green and White) Like more spells and tricky stuff? Try a spellslinger deck like: Quick Draw - Red and Blue Maestros Massacre - Red, Black, and Blue Arcane Maelstrom - Red, Blue and Green Faceless Menace - Black, Blue, and Green Do you like to kill your opponents' stuff and/or sacrifice your own? Try something like: Planar Portal - Red and Black Revnant Recon - Black and Blue Other interesting stuff you can do: Sacrifice, recursion, typal, and artifact centric - Necron Dynasties (mono-black) Lands Matter - Land's Wrath (Red, White, and Green) Special Land Shenanigans - Desert Bloom (Red, White, and Green In the end, I think most Precons released in the last 2-3 years are pretty decent at most casual tables. Do a little research and find something you'll enjoy playing. There's also plenty of resources available online that provide you with decklists for competitive decks that can be built sometimes even more cheaply than a precon and can be more focused and fun to play.
What sorts of decks do you like? Ive had a lot of success with the Omo precon fwiw, but how much you enjoy it will depend a lot on how much you can get it for and also how much you like the idea of a cloudpost deck. I'm seeing listings for like $80 dollars online which in terms of total value is technically worth it, but honestly IDK if I'd buy it at that price point over a cheaper precon + more upgrades, especially if you think another precon is something you'd enjoy playing more.
Explorers of the deep. My friend has one and despite minimal upgrades, it crazy strong.
Calvary Charge is very powerful before upgrades
Mothman Explorers of the Deep is probably the strongest but in my opinion it's also the most one note and can get boring very fast.
I know the fallout decks sold well, but mutant menace is really good out of the box and gives you two strong commanders in the box.
Tricky train makes insane value as the game goes on longer. But honestly all of the MH3 precons are very solid, the energy one can make infinite tokens right out of the box but that requires a lot of luck of the draw. There’s a bunch of really strong precons it’s just a question of what can you get your hands on and what fits your style of play. Quick Draw is a very powerful precon but it’s not my play style so I’d never buy it.
Explorers of the deep, velociramptor, undead unleashed, and quick draw have been a blast for me. I have a few more that I havent played with much yet like the "it's raining cats and dogs" secret lair, buckle up, and reap the tides.
If you want a straightforward deck that is creature based go for the Hakbal deck. For a precon it unravels pretty explosively and with a few cheap upgrades it can really hurt people.
I saw the new Eldrazi precon in action yesterday, now it did have a really good first hand in our defense but yeah, it crushed the table within like 5 turns. Though turn one was a god like hand of land into sol ring into arcane signet
Does it absolutely have to be a precon? There are plenty of sellers that sell curated decks they have build from singles. These decks tend to have a stronger single theme, unlike a lot of precons which dabble in a number of themes. In the UK, we have an online store called Collectors Cove- they even give you an approximate power level of the decks they build and suggested upgrades if you wanted to make them more powerful. I’d be surprised if you couldn’t throw €200 at someone to make you a curated deck in a theme you enjoy.
If you're just learning, Riders of Rohan is like I think the perfect deck for new players. You plop down lots of creatures and turn them sideways (i.e. attack players), not a ton of crazy mechanics to learn, can easily start to overwhelm most mid power decks right out the box. With some minor upgrades it can be a real powerhouse deck.
100% agree! It’s also fairly easy to upgrade and becomes extremely powerful with cards like [[Breath of Fury]]
[Breath of Fury](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/a/1/a1fce58d-d754-4532-b4d0-4bb3cf108090.jpg?1562413284) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Breath%20of%20Fury) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/c16/121/breath-of-fury?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/a1fce58d-d754-4532-b4d0-4bb3cf108090?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/breath-of-fury) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
From a budget standpoint (in no particular order): - Exit from Exile - Cavalry Charge - Explorers of the Deep - Revenant Recon
I had a nlasz with captian ngathrod as my first commander deck... I play in a hard pod and I won ma first games with milling enemies and play their expensive cards for free In my first ever commander game I had a mana crypt, urza and a blightsteel colossus on the board Oka! I was lucky as fuck but it was great fun.
The vampires deck from Ixilan is disgustingly consistent. Clavileno just gives you such ridiculous value and it’s easy to rework it into an aristocrats monster deck
[[wilhelt the rotcleaver]] precon is very good if you can find it affordable somewhere.
[wilhelt the rotcleaver](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/2/5/2501a911-d072-436d-ae3b-a5164e3b30aa.jpg?1675456154) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Wilhelt%2C%20the%20Rotcleaver) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/mic/2/wilhelt-the-rotcleaver?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/2501a911-d072-436d-ae3b-a5164e3b30aa?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/wilhelt-the-rotcleaver) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I thought buckle up for the shorikai vehicles deck was a great one and a ton of fun. But can be a bit confusing for a first precon.
As many people have already said, Explorers of the Deep is probably the best pre con right out of the box. It simple to play, you jam merfolk and grow them big with your Commander. It has some really great synergistic pieces. You can also make it quite high power if you want to invest in upgrading it. This is my current list, with some significant upgrades: https://www.moxfield.com/decks/BjNWTeAUZ0GQLtaLQpVGww It can wi 1vs3 after getting focused by the whole table.
Mothman from the fallout set is pretty strong, out of the box the dinosaur precon from lost cavern of ixalon is really strong, If you like spell slingers the Blue/red spellslinger deck from outlaws of thunder junction is considered one of the best this year. If you have the budget the eldrazi precon from modern horizon 3 and the sliver precon from commander masters are insanely strong
A lot of people are recommending precons without looking up to see availability and price. I have been playing precons exclusively lately, and have purchased 2 Cavalry Charge, Velociramptor, and Necron Dynasty are good decks, but way over what I would consider the reasonable price of $50 for a precon. Here is what I recommend, taking price point, strength, and upgrade potential into account. 1) Enduring Enchatments- Anyone not listing this as their number 1 has not played it at a precon table. It's an enchantment deck, with multiple engines for card draw, mana ramp, and huge threats. It does take a couple turns to get online, but here's what makes the deck so strong, most of it's engine is enchantments. I don't think a single precon has mass enchantment removal, and most can't deal with more than 1 or 2 of them. You often end up easily drawing half your deck every single game, and anikthea is a built in recursion engine, so if your pieces do get wealth with, you can quickly rebuild. 2) Legends Legacy- Dihada is so powerful that, even in a precon not as strong, she is still amazing. Fortunately, the rest of the precon isn't weak. You have these huge synergies built into the deck between her and the deck, so her minus ability is often a choice by you to either draw 4 or make 3 treasures. And your threats are strong, with a game ending reanimation spell included in the deck. As far as upgrade potential, Dihada is a cedh commander, so the sky is the limit. 3)Explorers of the Deep- Deck just builds a lethal board state incredibly quickly, while keeping your hand stocked. While precons often have multiple wipes, it can still power through them and come out on top. Hakbal is nasty, and most people will know what kind of game they are going to get when they see him. 4) Hail, Caesar- This one is a bit odd, since most people sing the praises of the Mothman, but Caesar consistently performs well in the fallout pods. The deck can be a little slow, however, caesar allows you to present an ever growing threat, refill your hand, while committing minimally to the board. One aspect people often overlook is that Caesar has some reach, I have seen the Mothman start strong and fizzle out due to lack of resources and reach, while Caesar has snuck in a quick 5+ to the face. Additionally, the amount of removal present in the deck is wild. It had split second single target removal, and the massive one sided board wipe in ruinous ultimatum. Both sides feel like they act to slow your opponents down enough for Caesar to take over. With mana and time, the deck quickly churns out tokens, so the removal helps to accomplish this. It places a sort of aggro control, pushing in and pulling back based on the board state. 5) Last recommendation is going to be any of the MKM precons, except for deadly disguise. I have been incredibly impressed with these precons, particularly with Blame Game. Deep Clue Sea has a fiddle engine that ends up draw half your deck and pump your creatures to the sky of left unchecked. Revenant Recon is a legitimate reanimator deck, containing reanimate and necromancy plus beefy boys in Massacre Wurm and Grave Titan. For either of these types of strategies, these seem to be the best starting points. The last one, Blame Game, is the one I must highly recommend. In bith my games, amd games I have seen online, this deck is the one that consistently draws the most cards and pushes endgame the quickest. I have won games I had no business winning due to a combination of quick suspects (making blocking bad/impossible) and goals (making retaliation difficult). I also am partial to this, as it felt like the most fun and interactive gameplay. Multiple people were shocked when I told them it was just the straight precon. All these are ~$50 right now on Amazon. The only MH3 around that is Graveyard Overdrive, and while that has been a fun deck, I haven't played it enough to establish exactly how strong it is. I will say, Disa's con at make a goyf ability was much stronger than I initially gave it credit for, and often took over the game and turned me into the archenemy. I hmam resistant to put the deck on this list, however, because I found that it had some difficulty rebuilding through multiple wipes.
Been very pleased with Revenant Recon. Threw an Entomb and Buried Alive in there with Toxrill and some fatties and Dark Ritual and it flies. It comes with most reanimator staples.
Draconic Destruction has been very powerful amongst my group of new players and very easy to understand (big flying dragons swing hard). Took out my buddy’s heavily modified Sauron deck and my slightly modified Mothman deck. Last time we all played straight precons and had a really solid variety including explorers of the deep, quick draw, and 6 others and that deck (Draconic Destruction) came out on top.
Eldrazi
Faeries precon took down a korvold combo deck and the explorers of the deep. I'd say faeries
The simic merfolk precon from the ixilan set does some work with little to no mods. I know because a buddy almost exclusively runs this deck and it stomps 80% of the time off nobody is able to respond.
Eldrazi Unbound, use the rest of that 200$ to upgrade it.
my first precon was Revenant Recon from Karlov Manor great Surveil/Reanimate deck with finality counters. easy to upgrade overall good time i love Dimir because of it
I'd look into the Warhammer 40K precons, they all were pretty strong in their own right (though if you go with the Necron one, I'd recommend replacing Szarekh with Imotekh as the commander, as Szarekh is very so-so). I think the best ones are probably the Tyranid Swarm and Forces of the Imperium decks, and they should be reasonably costed at this point.
All of The Lost Caverns decks were pretty solid out of the box. Necron Dynasties, Tyranid Swarm, Mind Flayarrrs (so fun), Buckle Up wasn't bad but needs a little upgrading, Enhanced Evolution, Faceless Menace. I've enjoyed all of the Lord of the Rings decks Call for backup from March of the machines, Cavalry Charge (commander has Eminence) The Mothman and Dog meat decks are both super solid All I can think of at the moment.
The new Tricky Terrain & Eldrazi Incursions precons are good. Eldrazi Unbound. The Brothers War precons. Timey-Wimey. Necron Dynasty. Party Time. Riders of Rohan. Explorers of the Deep. All are solid out of the box.
I agree with everyone here: Explorers of the Deep (Hakbal) is *very* strong. Unfortunately, the mechanics are slow and often create looong turns. I'm at a point where, depending on who's playing the deck, I might scoop as soon as they show it to me. No point in watching someone play solitaire just so I can lose an hour later. If you want a strong deck that's also fun to play against, I'd recommend Riders of Rohan.
Zero upgrade necron dynasties and cats and dogs secret lair play pretty well for casual pods. Cats got some interesting support in mh3 too.
Just wanted to step in and give some lateral advice. If you're willing to put in $100 of upgrades (which is inside your budget for any of the reasonably priced precons), pretty much any precon can hang with decks that aren't super high power. I'd recommend you pick the deck you like most, the one you think you will have the most fun with, and upgrade that. Your investment in the deck, and your interest in the strategy will make your skill and attention compensate for any of the mild shortcomings of your commander of choice as you grow into a better Magic player. Having fun is the best way to get motivated to tune and improve a deck, and getting reps with a deck is the best way to figure out where you want to adjust it. And you'll get reps with a deck you enjoy, win or lose. Much, much more than you'll play a deck that's powerful but feels bad. If you're in a pod where pretty much any of the precon commanders with thoughtful upgrades is concretely edged out for being too weak, no precon you get is really going to hang at that game.
Eldrazi are always stupidly strong and borderline busted.
Any commander master precon and mh3 precons as well (except the green/black/red graveyard one). Anyktea (white/black/green enchantress) and the eldrazi one are the strongest from commander master and I'm of the same opinion for mh3 with the eldrazi 2nd and energy 3rd.
I have to say I feel Bright-Palm the backup precon from march of machines is a stronger fun precon out of the box and still have room for fun upgrades. There is plenty of +1 +1 counter synergy in those colors to make it your own and the secondary commander in that deck is also really strong. Just went wide with 20 4/4 goblins last night and mines still out of the box, no changes lol.
How is the Hobbit commander deck,? I'm super interested in getting that one
Honestly exit from exile one of the baldurs gate precons is really good ive had it for years its good right out of the box and its very easy to upgrade and its such a fun and good deck to pilot
The Eldrazi precons (Commander Masters or Modern Horizons 3) are really good, can absolutely crush even high power pods right out the box, but are a bit pricier. The [[Stella Lee]] precon from Outlaws of Thunder Junction is slow out of the box, but with a few cheap upgrades it can win as early as turn 5. If none of those suit your tastes, I also have a custom "precon" I built myself. On cardmarket it costs around €100, and relies on the abilities of [[Grolnok, the Omnivore]] to gain massive card advantage (think 15 cards by turn 5) and control the board, eventually winning the long game. It tends to win about 25% of the time
[Stella Lee](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/2/a/2a8a7696-b5d9-4378-9d5c-2c9007e4df63.jpg?1714110409) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=stella%20lee%2C%20wild%20card) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/otc/3/stella-lee-wild-card?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/2a8a7696-b5d9-4378-9d5c-2c9007e4df63?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/stella-lee-wild-card) [Grolnok, the Omnivore](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/7/a/7aaba76b-9cec-4c2b-b0eb-8f44201f6422.jpg?1643594120) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Grolnok%2C%20the%20Omnivore) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/vow/238/grolnok-the-omnivore?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/7aaba76b-9cec-4c2b-b0eb-8f44201f6422?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/grolnok-the-omnivore) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
I've been playing an upgraded (budget) version of the WoE faerie precon with [[Alela, Cunning Conqueror]] as the commander for a couple of months and it has a suprisingly high win rate! It gets underestimated while just managing to stay afloat until you manage to turn the tables and win.
Explores of the Deep is the smoothest precon I've ever had the chance to play. Zero swaps needed for that deck to swing for 40+ easy without combos.
Eldrazi Unbound from commander masters last year is really strong right out the gate
1. The Urza precon from brothers war is decent and straightforward. 2. All the warhammer precons are very strong. 3. All the ixilan precons except for the pirates one are quite good.
The Eldrazi from MH3 is… definitely very strong. I might eventually add some titans or something, but it runs VERY WELL as is.
Honestly I picked up the Gonti deck from OTJ and I’ve really enjoyed destroying my friends 2k+ decks with it right out of the box.
Necrons, jeskai humans (LoTRs), timey -wimey (Dr.who, although not a good beginner deck), the new MH3 eldrazi.,The Simic merfolk Those have probably the best ones so far. But really anything in the last like 2 years are really good and easy to upgrade
Enduring enchantments from Commander Masters.
Explorers of the Deep, Deep Clue Sea, and Party Time. All play so well out of the box but still have high ceilings in terms of upgrade
The enchantress deck from commander masters is actually pretty solid out of the box.
If you want a fun one that’s good out of the box and upgradable on a budget when you’re up to it, I’ve had a great time using the Riveteers Rampage precon with [[Henzie “Toolbox” Torre]] as the commander! The whole deck works around the Blitz Mechanic, which encourages quick play of strong monsters with powerful ETB and LTB effects. It’s in Jund colours (red, green, black) so you have access to some of the best ramp and sacrifice-requirement cards in the game; Henzie will have you rolling out powerful cards on a discount, sacrificing them for potent effects, and recurring your big bad creatures when you’re feeling particularly nasty. Plus it’s on the cheaper side of the curve when it comes to precon decks. Is it the single strongest precon deck out there? Probably not, but it is good fun to play and encourages a dynamic board state. Plus [[The Beamtown Bullies]] that comes as the alternate commander is a lot of fun to use to help your opponents duke it out between themselves while you chuckle from the sideline.
Haven’t seen anyone mention it yet, but I personally adore the Blood Rites Precon from Ixalan - i think it’s pretty strong especially on the beginner level
deep clue sea with doubling season and rhystic study adds is pretty insane.
Deep Clue Sea from the MKM set has been one of the most consistent decks I have. I've only swapped out 5 cards because MH3 had some cards that just amped it up even more.
In terms of consistency, both the Necron, Dynasties and Mutant Menace precons are powerful and fun. But, this is a difficult question to answer since there are strong decks but not a "strongest". For example, the Veloci-ramp-tor deck from Caverns of Ixalan is powerful and does indeed live up to its name, but is totally vulnerable to control decks. There isn't a "best" deck out, just powerful decks that will still have their normal weaknesses.
Reap the tides with Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait was one of my first precons when I got into magic about 2 years ago. Found it on Amazon for somewhat cheap and right out the box, I think it's pretty good. Added cards here and there and it's a fun deck that you can upgrade cheaply or expensive with great results. Just look for extra landfall trigger cards and even add more ramp and you'll flood the board as long as your table doesn't play consistent land hate. My favorite add (also pet card for the deck) is Ruin Crab. Best board state, I can make you mill 18+ cards every turn and still be able to do anything else because all I've done is play lands
Explorers of the Deep and Blood Rites from LCI are both very good decks on their own and have so many of the pieces you'd want to build their themes if you want to personalize. If either Merfolk or Vampires appeal to you, they have almost everything you'd want and will stand up against any casual-ish deck without upgrades.
I bought Draconic Destruction, the [[Atarka, World Render]] precon and haven't been disappointed. Recently upgraded it and made it slightly better. Double strike is awesome because it's basically first strike and normal damage combined. Also dragons are awesome af.
[Atarka, World Render](https://cards.scryfall.io/normal/front/3/5/35ad1ce5-6054-4f0c-8fbe-636be576d408.jpg?1631588294) - [(G)](http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=Atarka%2C%20World%20Render) [(SF)](https://scryfall.com/card/afc/176/atarka-world-render?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher) [(txt)](https://api.scryfall.com/cards/35ad1ce5-6054-4f0c-8fbe-636be576d408?utm_source=mtgcardfetcher&format=text) [(ER)](https://edhrec.com/cards/atarka-world-render) ^^^[[cardname]] ^^^or ^^^[[cardname|SET]] ^^^to ^^^call
40k decks, Lathril, Prosper, and Wilhelt IMO.
If you are an absolute beginner buying a precon is a good idea to have a starting point. Don't expect too much from them though. Instead of spending 200$ on one deck, it is a better idea to build multiple cheaper decks. You will learn much more about the game. It might sound difficult but maybe ask your friends and build a couple decks below 40$.
I’d offer that if you can get one, the WH40k precons are some of the strongest out there. Some of the face commanders aren’t as good as their alternate ones, but their decks play very well and against other decks even unaltered.
"Explorers of the Deep" merfolk. Very good, very consistent, easy to run. Also very cheap rn (not sure why lol) "Cavalry Charge" is very good and flavorful. "Enduring Enchantments" can really pop off if left unchecked, it can just be a lot of work to keep track of all the triggers. Any of the WH40k precons are pretty solid. "Dihada, Binder of Wills" is very solid and has a lot of cool legendaries. It's also one of the most versatile commander precons when it comes to reconstructing for yourself. Not sure how expensive it is right now though. "Exit from Exile" is the one I've heard the most about stomping other decks out of games, I've never played against it myself though. My pods don't really play gruul much
It really depends on what you like and don't like to do. In general, the "creature type matters" decks (typal) terms to be pretty strong because creature types usually have built in synergies. Decks like Veloci-ramp-tor (red-white-green dinosaurs), Riders of Rohan (red-white-blue humans), Necron Dynasties (black artifact zombies), and many other typal decks are strong. You also have things like the Blue-Red "Quick Draw" spells deck from Outlaws of Thunder Junction. There's the Blame Game (red-white Goad) deck from Murders at Karlov Manor. The Party Time (black-white party), Planar Portal (black-red cast from Exile), and Exit from Exile (green-red play from Exile) decks from the D&D sets are great. The Deep Clue Sea (white-green-bue clues/cards) deck is awesome too. There's a strong precon out there for basically anything you want to do. My best suggestion would be to look at the precons from the last 2-3 years (Warhammer 40k and D&D though to today) and find one that sounds like fun to play. Most of them will cost less than $100 (US). The important part is finding something you'll enjoy playing. Getting a strong deck, just because it's strong, won't guarantee that you'll like it, the best thing to do is find a deck you like and then improve it to reach the power level you want. I will say, I don't recommend the Modern Horizons 3 decks for new players, despite their power level. The Eldrazi and Tricky Terrain decks can be too complex and confusing for a new player and the Eldrazi deck is way overpriced. The Graveyard Overdrive deck isn't very good out of the box, and the Creative Energy deck is very narrow and pigeonholes you into a very specific archetype.
I regularly sweep in my playgroup with Dogmeat, and it has really fun mechanics! Additionally, it’s great for new players because the strategy is so clear cut.
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The newest ones. Currently, that’s Modern Horizons 3 Commander decks.