Bizarre Upgrades Fix Terrible MTG Fallout Precon

Mutant Menace is a deck dripping with radiation, mutants and +1/+1 counters. At first glance, this appeared to be one of the more simple decks to pilot. Cast The Wise Mothman The Wise Mothman Flying
Whenever The Wise Mothman enters or attacks, each player gets a rad counter.
Whenever one or more nonland cards are milled, put a +1/+1 counter on each of up to X target creatures, where X is the number of nonland cards milled this way. , distribute Rad Counters to the board and grow a massive mutant army to victory.

Playing the deck, however, was quite a bit different than that. As is the case in most Commander pre-cons a deck can lack a certain amount of focus. Here, it’s not entirely because of the mill theme and the randomness that can occur because of that, it’s also based on tempo and a self defeating mechanic (more on this later).

Mutant Menace forces you to commit to a line of play that might not necessarily do anything or could be very powerful, but it has no mechanic to help you make that decision. First, we’ll talk about how the deck plays and then move on to where changes could be made to preserve the deck’s theme but also make it function just a bit better.

Why I Prefer this guy

The Master, Transcedent has a very direct plan. Find the player with the best creatures, mill them, and use those creatures to win. Simple. Compare this to Mothman where you need to hit non-land cards, also keep Rad high, and play your own creatures to boost. Oh, and Mothman has to attack to keep this going. Overall it can make for a slow plan. Not so for The Master. Hit excellent creatures with huge ETB effects and sometimes you proceed to win step.

The stock deck has elements that work with each Commander, but there are several effects that are at odds with one another. Let me explain.

…Better Than Cultivate?

The presence of Rad and Ramp forces a difficult choice upon the player piloting Mutant Menace. Do you get your Rad Counter engine off the ground, or start ramping as soon as possible?

Glowing One Glowing One Deathtouch
Whenever this creature deals combat damage to a player, they get four rad counters.
Whenever a player mills a nonland card, you gain 1 life. is certainly worse than Cultivate Cultivate Search your library for up to two basic land cards, reveal those cards, put one onto the battlefield tapped and the other into your hand, then shuffle. . There’s also Infesting Radroach Infesting Radroach Flying
This creature can't block.
Whenever this creature deals combat damage to a player, they get that many rad counters.
Whenever an opponent mills a nonland card, if this creature is in your graveyard, you may return it to your hand. and Vexing Radgull Vexing Radgull Flying
Whenever this creature deals combat damage to a player, that player gets two rad counters if they don't have any rad counters. Otherwise, proliferate. (Choose any number of permanents and/or players, then give each another counter of each kind already there.) alongside Rampant Growth Rampant Growth Search your library for a basic land card, put that card onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle. and Farseek Farseek Search your library for a Plains, Island, Swamp, or Mountain card, put it onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle. . All of these cards want to hit the battlefield as quickly as possible, and its tough to know which choice is the correct one.

The problem is that there is far more uncertainty in playing a creature that must deal combat damage to get an effect than simply ramping. But the later you hold off on playing an early, small creature that must attack for value, the lower its value. Well, the deck also has Sol Ring Sol Ring {T}: Add {C}{C}. and other mana rocks as well.

Waiting to cast The Master does not change its effectiveness. In fact, it’s probably better later with additional mill pieces in play. Mothman, however, wants to get into play ASAP. It gives Rad to everyone and it needs to attack to continue. But on top of this, the deck also has cards like Hardened Scales Hardened Scales If one or more +1/+1 counters would be put on a creature you control, that many plus one +1/+1 counters are put on it instead. , Winding Constrictor Winding Constrictor If one or more counters would be put on an artifact or creature you control, that many plus one of each of those kinds of counters are put on that permanent instead.
If you would get one or more counters, you get that many plus one of each of those kinds of counters instead. and Branching Evolution Branching Evolution If one or more +1/+1 counters would be put on a creature you control, twice that many +1/+1 counters are put on that creature instead. that also want to be down before you do anything else so you get extra value.

Every Choice is Wrong

As you can see, there are several effects all vying for your early mana. The problem is you don’t know if you need to increase Rad first, or get more +1/+1 counters. If you do either of those, you miss ramping. Additionally, if you hit one or two lands right away on the mill triggers, nothing happens. It may have been because many pods I played in were trying the Fallout precons, but my results were poor. Mothman was generating a single +1/+1 counter, not per turn, per round. Unlucky, I guess, but it happened in more than one game.

The fact remains. The choice between playing acceleration, an early attacker, or a +1/+1 value piece yields hard to quantify results. I felt that forcing the deck into a more focused play pattern reduced cognitive dissonance, analysis paralysis, and regret. This pre-game decision made all future choices significantly easier. For fans of the Mothman I salute you but, for me, The Master is where it’s at.

Dream Scenarios

I never got to do something busted like Feral Ghoul Feral Ghoul Menace
Whenever another creature you control dies, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature.
When this creature dies, each opponent gets a number of rad counters equal to its power. , or Bloatfly Swarm Bloatfly Swarm Flying
This creature enters with five +1/+1 counters on it.
If damage would be dealt to this creature while it has a +1/+1 counter on it, prevent that damage, remove that many +1/+1 counters from it, then give each player a rad counter for each +1/+1 counter removed this way. armed with a Power Fist Power Fist Equipped creature has trample and "Whenever this creature deals combat damage to a player, put that many +1/+1 counters on it."
Equip {2} . Likewise, I never had a Vault 12: The Necropolis Vault 12: The Necropolis (As this Saga enters and after your draw step, add a lore counter. Sacrifice after III.)
I — Each player gets three rad counters.
II — Create X 2/2 black Zombie Mutant creature tokens, where X is the total number of rad counters among players.
III — Put two +1/+1 counters on each creature you control that's a Zombie or Mutant. generate a gazillion Zombie Mutants or cast a massive Nuclear Fallout Nuclear Fallout Each creature gets twice -X/-X until end of turn. Each player gets X rad counters. . My games with Mutant Menace revolved around having multiple three drops in hand and Mothman generating very little value. The potential is there, but at the same time, Mutant Menace can victimize itself with self mill. This is another thing that using The Master fixes.

One card that did prove its worth, though, was Watchful Radstag Watchful Radstag Evolve (Whenever a creature you control enters, if that creature has greater power or toughness than this creature, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature.)
Whenever this creature evolves, create a token that's a copy of it. . This is a one card combo. It easily gets completely out of control and does not need help doing so. In fact, you might think that cards like Hardened scales helps the Radstag. But unfortunately it’s a little bit of a nonbo. Why?

Well, your first Radstag will be a 2/2. It will turn into a 3/3 when it evolves, and then you’ll make another 2/2 copy. But if you have a Scales effect in play, it would become a 4/4. A 4/4 is simply harder to evolve than a 3/3. It’s way better to get two evolve triggers off a creature than one. Most of the time, though, an army of Radstags was extremely easy to amass. They clogged up the ground long enough for The Wise Mothman to do its thing. Of course, as mentioned, you sort of don’t want to put the counters Mothman generates on your Stags.

Read More: Top Five Most Broken MTG Modern Decks of All Time

Poor Protection

Furthermore while Mutant Menace has both Inspiring Call Inspiring Call Draw a card for each creature you control with a +1/+1 counter on it. Those creatures gain indestructible until end of turn. (Damage and effects that say "destroy" don't destroy them.) and Mutational Advantage Mutational Advantage Permanents you control with counters on them gain hexproof and indestructible until end of turn. Prevent all damage that would be dealt to those permanents this turn. Proliferate. (Choose any number of permanents and/or players, then give each another counter of each kind already there.) as protection effects, they simply didn’t work. First, they are conditional. Saving just one creature that has a counter on it isn’t very good, so hopefully your Mothman doled out enough counters to protect everything. Next, paying three mana to do so can be difficult. The deck is full of four and higher cost cards so keeping three mana open is a significant drain. The fact that neither commander enters the battlefield with protection up is a bit of a deck construction failure. Cathedral Acolyte Cathedral Acolyte Each creature you control with a counter on it has ward {1}. (Whenever it becomes the target of a spell or ability an opponent controls, counter it unless that player pays {1}.)
{T}: Put a +1/+1 counter on target creature that entered this turn. is in the deck but, again, consider the intense fight for priority of your early spells.

Consider These Cuts

Lumbering Megasloth Lumbering Megasloth This spell costs {1} less to cast for each counter among players and permanents.
Trample
This creature enters tapped. , Biomass Mutation Biomass Mutation Creatures you control have base power and toughness X/X until end of turn. , Recon Craft Theta Recon Craft Theta Flying
When this Vehicle enters, create a 0/0 blue Alien creature token. Put a +1/+1 counter on it.
Whenever this Vehicle attacks, proliferate. (Choose any number of permanents and/or players, then give each another counter of each kind already there.)
Crew 2 , Nuka-Nuke Launcher Nuka-Nuke Launcher Equipped creature gets +3/+0 and has intimidate. (It can't be blocked except by artifact creatures and/or creatures that share a color with it.)
Whenever equipped creature attacks, until the end of defending player's next turn, that player gets two rad counters whenever they cast a spell.
Equip {3} , Corpsejack Menace Corpsejack Menace If one or more +1/+1 counters would be put on a creature you control, twice that many +1/+1 counters are put on it instead. , Harold and Bob, First Numens Harold and Bob, First Numens Reach, vigilance
When Harold and Bob dies, if it was a creature, return it to the battlefield. It's an Aura enchantment with enchant Forest you control and "Enchanted Forest has '{T}: Add three mana of any one color. You get two rad counters.'" Harold and Bob loses all other abilities. , Radstorm Radstorm Storm (When you cast this spell, copy it for each spell cast before it this turn.)
Proliferate. (Choose any number of permanents and/or players, then give each another counter of each kind already there.) .

Much like Scrappy Survivors, Mutant Menance is not unplayable or particularly low power. The real issue is that each theme and sub-theme are related but not completely synergistic. For example, using creatures that give Rad on combat damage. These seems like a slam dunk idea for either commander until it hits a table. If your deck’s game plan relies heavily on a 2/2 or flyer 1/1 to function, prepare to be a bit disappointed when it doesn’t exactly work. Radstorm is another card that is clearly amazing but not for this deck because it will be dreadfully difficult to get more than, say, storm two.

What can be Done?

It’s time to revamp Mutant Menace by turning it up to 11 with mill and theft. Unwinding Clock Unwinding Clock Untap all artifacts you control during each other player's untap step. and Clock of Omens Clock of Omens Tap two untapped artifacts you control: Untap target artifact. are going to allow you to untap The Master multiple times per turn to steal to your heart’s content. Grindclock Grindclock {T}: Put a charge counter on this artifact.
{T}: Target player mills X cards, where X is the number of charge counters on this artifact. works with the proliferate theme, untaps and mills.

Instill Energy Instill Energy Enchant creature
Enchanted creature can attack as though it had haste.
{0}: Untap enchanted creature. Activate only during your turn and only once each turn. gives you both haste and an additional activation every turn for The Master. At only one mana it’s an absolute steal. Voltaic Key Voltaic Key {1}, {T}: Untap target artifact. and Manifold Key Manifold Key {1}, {T}: Untap another target artifact.
{3}, {T}: Target creature can't be blocked this turn. are additional cheap untap effects with big synergy.

Instead of expensive, three mana, conditional spells, the unbiquitous Swiftfoot Boots Swiftfoot Boots Equipped creature has hexproof and haste. (It can't be the target of spells or abilities your opponents control. It can attack and {T} no matter when it came under your control.)
Equip {1} ({1}: Attach to target creature you control. Equip only as a sorcery.) and Lightning Greaves Lightning Greaves Equipped creature has haste and shroud. (It can't be the target of spells or abilities.)
Equip {0} increase your artifact count and help protect The Master. You don’t have to keep mana open and you do not have to make these hit the table until everything else is set up.

The deck can pull off a heck of a turn with Legolas’s Quick Reflexes Legolas’s Quick Reflexes Split second (As long as this spell is on the stack, players can't cast spells or activate abilities that aren't mana abilities.)
Untap target creature. Until end of turn, it gains reach, hexproof, and "Whenever this creature becomes tapped, it deals damage equal to its power to up to one target creature." . In combination with multiple untap effects it allows you to remove just about anything while simultaneously stealing. At one mana and with Split Second this card should be completely unexpected for the deck but looks wildly effective.

Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis You can't spend mana to cast this spell.
Convoke, delve (Each creature you tap while casting this spell pays for {1} or one mana of that creature's color. Each card you exile from your graveyard pays for {1}.)
You may cast this card from your graveyard.
Trample with Altar of Dementia Altar of Dementia Sacrifice a creature: Target player mills cards equal to the sacrificed creature's power. gives you a massive mill booster and works well with Watchful Radstag Watchful Radstag Evolve (Whenever a creature you control enters, if that creature has greater power or toughness than this creature, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature.)
Whenever this creature evolves, create a token that's a copy of it. to evolve over and over again which can let you re-cast Hogaak many times.

Finally, if you’re looking for another combo enabler you can consider the classic Basalt Monolith Basalt Monolith This artifact doesn't untap during your untap step.
{T}: Add {C}{C}{C}.
{3}: Untap this artifact. plus Mesmeric Orb Mesmeric Orb Whenever a permanent becomes untapped, that permanent's controller mills a card. combo for infinite self mill. The Mesmeric Orb, though, is one of the strongest mill cards around and it’s only two colorless mana so it interferes with your early turns less than virtually any other card. This card has spiked heavily in recent days, so it could be a bigger financial investment than you expect.

The Beauty Behind the Beast

How many mono-blue creatures have Vigilance? Pre-2023 it’s a handful. When I see a card like Mirelurk Queen Mirelurk Queen Vigilance
When this creature enters, target player gets two rad counters.
Whenever one or more nonland cards are milled, draw a card, then put a +1/+1 counter on this creature. This ability triggers only once each turn. I can recognize it’s not a powerful card. That said, it is a unique one and it deserves its time in the sun.

I’m going to build around The Master, another unique card, but utilize as much of the deck as possible and even keep the +1/+1 counters sub-theme on top of that. The play experience this deck will generate will be completely different than a relatively standard evolve, proliferate, +1/+1 counters deck, even though many of those cards remain. Heck, I’m even going to keep The Wise Mothman because it generates Rad. It may have come down to a string of bad luck, but for me Mutant Menace performed the worst of all the Fallout decks. That being said, there’s clearly a lot of design space to explore and I am choosing to take the deck into a heavy mill and theft theme.

Read More: Go-Wide Fallout Commander Precon is the Best by Far