MTG Fallout Commander Science! Deck Review and Upgrade Guide

Rounding out the new Fallout decks is Science! which brings back the Energy Reserve Energy Reserve (Place your energy counters in this area.) resource. Out of the four decks this one offers the most complex game plan and has quite a few moving parts. However, complexity does not necessarily mean it’s hard to play. The deck offers two distinct choices for how you can upgrade it. Let’s take a look at both commanders, review some of the best cards and how they play, then finally make some recommendations moving forward.

The Good Doctor

The face commander for Science! does pretty much everything. An easy Energy generator, a Haste enabler, card draw and recursion are all welcome here. That’s a surface level read of the card. When you play the deck, though, you see it is a little lacking. Science! has plenty of cards that make energy but it has far fewer ways to use that energy to end the game. Paying five energy to return an artifact from your graveyard might be your best play but it almost never will be. The deck features a lot of recursion on top of that which costs no energy. Giving a single creature Haste can be helpful but is never game ending. Drawing an extra card, at three energy, might be necessary but is not a bargain.

That being said, your best energy based win condition that isn’t a commander option boils down to Brotherhood Scribe Brotherhood Scribe Metalcraft — {T}: You get {E} (an energy counter). Activate only if you control three or more artifacts.
Whenever you get one or more {E} during your turn, creatures you control get +1/+1 until end of turn. and Automated Assembly Line Automated Assembly Line Whenever one or more artifact creatures you control deal combat damage to a player, you get {E} (an energy counter).
Pay {E}{E}{E}: Create a tapped 3/3 colorless Robot artifact creature token. . These two cards work on their own and do not care about Dr. Li at all. In fact, one of the only cards in the deck that burns off excessive energy is Assaultron Dominator Assaultron Dominator When this creature enters, you get {E}{E} (two energy counters).
Whenever an artifact creature you control attacks, you may pay {E}. If you do, put your choice of a +1/+1, first strike, or trample counter on that creature. which also works well with the Scribe and Assembly Line. In terms of non-energy based win-cons, Mechanized Production Mechanized Production Enchant artifact you control
At the beginning of your upkeep, create a token that's a copy of enchanted artifact. Then if you control eight or more artifacts with the same name as one another, you win the game. only cares about energy in relation to Automated Assembly Line. This combo naturally happening is simply too rare to realistically value. Meanwhile Sentinel Sarah Lyons Sentinel Sarah Lyons Haste
As long as an artifact entered the battlefield under your control this turn, creatures you control get +2/+2.
Battalion — Whenever Sentinel Sarah Lyons and at least two other creatures attack, Sentinel Sarah Lyons deals damage equal to the number of artifacts you control to target player. cares about how wide your board is which, from an energy perspective, only relates to Assembly Line.

Not Worth it, Stock

After playing with the Dr. in charge, getting a little more energy did not make much of a difference. It was a “win more” proposition. Even though it did have some ability to loop cards like Behemoth of Vault 0 Behemoth of Vault 0 Trample
When this creature enters, you get {E}{E}{E}{E} (four energy counters).
When this creature dies, you may pay an amount of {E} equal to target nonland permanent's mana value. When you do, destroy that permanent. to deal with any problem, it simply did not have enough gas to close out games. There is an alternate idea included though.

Truth, Justice, Liberty

Now, this is an easy win-con! Attack someone three times – it already has Haste and Trample! For two energy and an artifact, it draws a card. That’s less than three energy. The deck is full of things you can feed to Liberty Prime, Recharged Liberty Prime, Recharged Vigilance, trample, haste
Whenever Liberty Prime attacks or blocks, sacrifice it unless you pay {E}{E} (two energy counters).
{2}, {T}, Sacrifice an artifact: You get {E}{E} and draw a card. . Solemn Simulacrum Solemn Simulacrum When this creature enters, you may search your library for a basic land card, put that card onto the battlefield tapped, then shuffle.
When this creature dies, you may draw a card. , Follow Him Follow Him {T}: Add {C}{C}. Spend this mana only to activate abilities. and Nuka-Cola Vending Machine Nuka-Cola Vending Machine {1}, {T}: Create a Food token. (It's an artifact with "{2}, {T}, Sacrifice this token: You gain 3 life.")
Whenever you sacrifice a Food, create a tapped Treasure token. (It's an artifact with "{T}, Sacrifice this token: Add one mana of any color.") give you plenty of fuel that comes with extra bonuses. Nerd Rage Nerd Rage Enchant creature
When this Aura enters, draw two cards.
Enchanted creature has "You have no maximum hand size" and "Whenever this creature attacks, if you have ten or more cards in hand, it gets +10/+10 until end of turn." and Shaun, Father of Synths Shaun, Father of Synths Whenever you attack, you may create a tapped and attacking token that's a copy of target attacking legendary creature you control other than Shaun, except it's not legendary and it's a Synth artifact creature in addition to its other types.
When Shaun leaves the battlefield, exile all Synth tokens you control. can generate a lethal amount of damage extremely quickly. Curie, Emergent Intelligence Curie, Emergent Intelligence Whenever Curie deals combat damage to a player, draw cards equal to its base power.
{1}{U}, Exile another nontoken artifact creature you control: Curie becomes a copy of the exiled creature, except it has "Whenever this creature deals combat damage to a player, draw cards equal to its base power." gives you the ability to “save” Liberty Prime via the exile mechanic and then attack and draw eight cards!

I felt significantly more empowered having a monstrous 8/8. Attacking players was easier than trying to construct a value engine that won. Using Liberty Prime also makes many of the cards in the deck significantly more powerful. For example One with the Machine One with the Machine Draw cards equal to the greatest mana value among artifacts you control. becomes an easy draw five instead of a draw three or four simply because you have easy access to your commander.

If your commander dies, you should not be afraid to put it into the graveyard thanks to all the recursion. In particular, Elder Owyn Lyons Elder Owyn Lyons Artifacts you control have ward {1}. (Whenever an artifact you control becomes the target of a spell or ability an opponent controls, counter it unless that player pays {1}.)
When Elder Owyn Lyons enters or dies, return target artifact card from your graveyard to your hand. gets Liberty back and gives it just a bit of protection with Ward One. Electrosiphon Electrosiphon Counter target spell. You get an amount of {E} (energy counters) equal to its mana value. is a catch all counter spell, but here it protects Liberty from anything. Paladin Danse, Steel Maverick Paladin Danse, Steel Maverick Vigilance, lifelink
Exile Paladin Danse: Each creature you control that's an artifact or Human gains indestructible until end of turn. can save Liberty as well. No plan is completely fool proof. You’ll lose your Commander to something. That said, you can easily get it back in Science! With Haste and Trample you are right back to finishing off a player every other turn.

The Verdict

Many players look at a deck like Science! and see the Energy mechanic. They then want to go all in on that idea. Furthermore, there are many go wide and infinite strategies that can be assembled as you upgrade the deck. There’s nothing wrong with that at all. But if you look at a card like Vault 112: Sadistic Simulation Vault 112: Sadistic Simulation (As this Saga enters and after your draw step, add a lore counter. Sacrifice after III.)
I, II — Tap up to one target creature and put a stun counter on it. You get {E}{E} (two energy counters).
III — Pay any amount of {E}. If you paid one or more {E} this way, shuffle your library, then exile that many cards from the top. You may play one of those cards without paying its mana cost. , you see there are two parts to it.

First, you can tap down something and get two energy. You get to do that twice. Twice is two safe Liberty Prime attacks, Energy paid for in advance. That’s enough to probably finish out one player. The final chapter ability can dig for an answer or another way to win like an extra combat step card. I like the synergy of this card in each chapter, not just as an energy accumulator into a combo piece. Other players will see it differently. Big energy cards like Aetherworks Marvel Aetherworks Marvel Whenever a permanent you control is put into a graveyard, you get {E} (an energy counter).
{T}, Pay six {E}: Look at the top six cards of your library. You may cast a spell from among them without paying its mana cost. Put the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order. and Gonti’s Aether Heart Gonti’s Aether Heart Whenever Gonti's Aether Heart or another artifact you control enters, you get {E}{E} (two energy counters).
Pay eight {E}, Exile Gonti's Aether Heart: Take an extra turn after this one. are sure to be included there. Tomayto, tomahto as they say. I am building a killer robot deck with a side plan of going wide and my upgrades reflect that.

What Comes Out

Cards that only focus on energy generation, don’t go wide, or are a bit too costly are probably coming out. Brotherhood Vertibird Brotherhood Vertibird Flying
Brotherhood Vertibird's power is equal to the number of artifacts you control.
Crew 2 (Tap any number of creatures you control with total power 2 or greater: This Vehicle becomes an artifact creature until end of turn.) , The Motherlode, Excavator The Motherlode, Excavator When The Motherlode enters, choose target opponent. You get an amount of {E} (energy counters) equal to the number of nonbasic lands that player controls.
Whenever The Motherlode attacks, you may pay {E}{E}{E}{E}. When you do, destroy target nonbasic land defending player controls, and creatures that player controls without flying can't block this turn. , Nick Valentine, Synth Eradicator Synth Eradicator Haste
Whenever this creature attacks, exile the top card of your library. You may get {E}{E} (two energy counters). If you don't, you may play that card this turn.
{T}, Pay {E}{E}{E}: This creature deals 3 damage to any target. , C.A.M.P., Endurance Bobblehead and The Prydwen, Steel Flashship are all safe removes for what I’m doing while keeping the deck mostly stock. From this point, how much of the original deck you want to keep impacts further decisions.

All the Free Spells

Because you’re in red, white and blue, you have the perfect colors for some excellent free spells. Flawless Maneuver Flawless Maneuver If you control a commander, you may cast this spell without paying its mana cost.
Creatures you control gain indestructible until end of turn. can easily protect both your entire board and Liberty Prime and for no mana at all. On top of that the card is not very expensive. Now, if your budget allows it, you can also consider the ultra powerful Deflecting Swat Deflecting Swat If you control a commander, you may cast this spell without paying its mana cost.
You may choose new targets for target spell or ability. and Fierce Guardianship Fierce Guardianship If you control a commander, you may cast this spell without paying its mana cost.
Counter target noncreature spell. . All of these cards give you outs that might normally stop your plan cold. They are simply the best cards this deck can run for this kind of strategy.

Double Damage

Next up, Double Strike cards. Pick your poison here, there is a lot to choose from.

Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion is a relatively free include as a land. Lizard Blades, Two-Handed Axe and Embercleave Embercleave Flash
This spell costs {1} less to cast for each attacking creature you control.
When Embercleave enters, attach it to target creature you control.
Equipped creature gets +1/+1 and has double strike and trample.
Equip {3} are easy includes as they are all multi-purpose and artifacts. Onward // Victory is the best single use spell because it gives you a six mana, one card combo to delete a player.

After that, you have a lot of options with plusses and minuses. Assault Strobe is simply the lowest amount of mana to get Double Strike for one turn and sometimes it’s the right card for the job. Other times you would rather have the flexibility of a card like Spectacular Showdown Spectacular Showdown Put a double strike counter on target creature, then goad each creature that had a double strike counter put on it this way. (Until your next turn, those creatures attack each combat if able and attack a player other than you if able.)
Overload {4}{R}{R}{R} (You may cast this spell for its overload cost. If you do, change "target" in its text to "each.") which really can do a lot if you have the mana.

Quad Damage

The next best way to end games is extra attack steps. If Liberty already has Double Strike, you can easily get rid of two players on the same turn. Lightning Runner is probably the most thematic and on-point card to get this done, perfectly using up all of your stored energy to end the game. Next is Seize the Day Seize the Day Untap target creature. After this main phase, there is an additional combat phase followed by an additional main phase.
Flashback {2}{R} (You may cast this card from your graveyard for its flashback cost. Then exile it.) which is another one card combo provided you have the mana.

A Few Good Options

There are a couple of cards that just seem good here being thematic and also highly synergistic. Bronze Guardian is a back up way to win, can quickly deal huge damage, and has synergy with Dr. Li for Trample and Whirler Rogue Whirler Rogue When this creature enters, create two 1/1 colorless Thopter artifact creature tokens with flying.
Tap two untapped artifacts you control: Target creature can't be blocked this turn. to make it unblockable. On top of all that, you get ward two on virtually everything. Cyberdrive Awakener Cyberdrive Awakener Flying
Other artifact creatures you control have flying.
When this creature enters, each noncreature artifact you control becomes a 4/4 artifact creature until end of turn. gives you a go even wider strategy while also giving Liberty flying and seems like a decent singular addition.

Additionally, Aether Hub is a beyond automatic include. I had to check the deck multiple times to make sure it was not already there. What is up with Wizards not including Sliver lands in Sliver decks and Energy lands in Energy decks?

Wrapping Up

Science! offered a unique game play experience and delivered on a pre-con using Energy. With the face commander Dr. Li, though, the deck struggles a little with winning unless it hits a few, key cards. One solution? Use the alternate commander instead to deliver excessive amounts of freedom, and damage, Robot style. Pivoting the deck to one centered around combat instead of combos is not something everyone else is doing, and I highly value unique takes on Magic, so that is what works for me. But if you are going to build an Energy based combo deck, Dr. Li is clearly the best Commander made to date for that concept and many of the cards in Science! are excellent includes. Overall Science! delivers excellent value no matter how you’re going to play it and features cards that have big potential in many archetypes.