There is little doubt that Commander is the most popular MTG format by far. Outside of MTG Arena, Commander is the most affordable, accessible, and diverse format. This has made preconstructed Commander decks an incredibly lucrative product for MTG players and Wizards of the Coast.
For players, preconstructed Commander decks offer a great play experience and entry point into the format. On top of this, these decks often offer a decent amount of value, with enticing reprints to draw in players. Universes Beyond Commander decks have also been a welcome recent innovation, facilitating new crossovers and mechanics.
While each of the above has been a great boon to players, Wizards of the Coast has been reaping the rewards. Throughout recent years, preconstructed Commander decks have been selling like hotcakes. This is especially true for the Universes Beyond Commander decks, which have been the cream of the crop.
Following their release, the Warhammer 40,000 Commander decks quickly became the most popular Commander decks ever. That was until recently at least, as it now appears that a new quartet of Commander decks has taken the crown.
Fallout Claims the Crown
According to MTG Head Designer, Mark Rosewater, the Universes Beyond Fallout Commander decks are now the most popular reconstructed MTG decks. This informative tidbit was revealed in a recent episode of Rosewater’s Drive to Work podcast. During episode #1154, Rosewater simply stated “Now Fallout is the best-selling Commander decks of all time.”
According to Rosewater, Fallout took this title from the Warhammer 40,000 Commander decks, released in October 2022. Considering Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks lauded the Fallout deck’s success in a recent earnings call, this success shouldn’t be surprising. That being said, many MTG players were taken aback by this set’s remarkable performance.
For starters, many players on social media were surprised that the Warhammer 40,000 Commander decks still held the title. Given the unprecedented success of The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth, it was expected that this set’s Precons would have claimed the crown. As popular as this set was, it seems the Warhammer audience is, or rather was, particularly fervent.
On top of this curious detail, others were surprised that Fallout, of all MTG sets, was the one to break records. While the IP is undoubtedly popular, the decks themselves aren’t that spectacular. As fun as they might be to play, they’re hardly the most powerful decks in existence. Compared to the Warhammer and Tales of Middle-earth decks, in fact, they’re pretty meh.
If you’re looking to win, Necron Dynasties and The Hosts of Mordor are some of the best Commander decks around. Offering fantastic cards and synergy throughout, the strength of these decks undoubtedly helped fuel their sales success. As we now know, this clearly isn’t enough to make the decks unbeatably popular.
The Perfect Storm
Considering the intense competition, the Fallout Commander decks obviously got a lot right to earn its new title. King amongst these, for MTG players at least, is the fantastic flavor seen across the cards. Fallout is a franchise positively oozing with flavor and lore, and Wizards really made the most of it.
Taking the best bits from each Fallout game, the Commander decks have something to offer any fan of the franchise. On top of this, the flavor and mechanics of Fallout are well-represented in the deck’s gameplay. This creates an incredibly cohesive experience, which Rosewater lauds as a “Winning recipe.”
“There’s something really exciting about taking the mechanics of Magic and applying them to other flavors and other properties. That has proven to be a winning recipe.”
Mark Rosewater
On top of this fundamental positive, the Fallout Commander decks had something no other Universes Beyond set has had: relevance. As popular as Warhammer and The Lord of the Rings are, they didn’t have an accompanying timely release. Shortly after the Fallout Commander decks were released, Amazon debuted the Fallout TV show.
Taking the world by storm, the Fallout TV show revitalized interest in the already popular franchise. Games that had been waning in popularity suddenly became fan favorites with huge player counts once again. Given their current title, the same surge in demand likely happened in MTG to the Fallout Commander decks too.
As if this wasn’t enough on its own, MTG is just more popular now. Thanks to boundary-pushing sets like Tales of Middle-earth, Magic has come a long way in two years. Thanks to this, it shouldn’t be the biggest surprise that the Warhammer 40,000 decks have eventually lost their crown.
The Soon-To-Be Most Successful
While the Fallout Commander decks are the most popular Commander decks for now, it probably won’t stay that way forever. Not only is MTG bound to get more popular in the future, but 2025 has some hugely anticipated Universes Beyond sets. With both Final Fantasy and Marvel sets releasing in 2025, Fallout may not wear the Commander deck crown for long.
Despite the growing interest in these sets, it’s worth keeping in mind they’re not just Commander decks. While this will likely help them sell well overall, it does give other avenues to players, collectors, and fans alike. In comparison, if you wanted to play with the Fallout MTG cards, the Commander decks were the only opinion, outside of Collector Boosters.
Given the hype already forming around the 2025 Universes Beyond sets, there’s definitely the potential for them to be record-breakers. Whether or not they’ll meet expectations to blow past them, however, remains to be seen. Without a single spoiler for either set or much in the way of details, we just have to wait and see what the future holds.
Read More: Two-Player Commander Announced to Receive Massive Support
