New MTG Starter Commander Precons With Multiple $14 Reprints Are an Incredible Deal

Commander players have a lot to look forward to on October 2nd. Not only are the Reality Fracture main set and Multiverse Reforged precons releasing, but players can also get their hands on five new Foundations Commander decks! These starter decks are perfect for newer players, and even come packed with a surprising number of valuable reprints.

While the reprint values of these decks are incredible-looking, especially for their $30 MSRP, it’s important to remember that reprint values will likely fall once these decks are released.

Tramplesaurus Rex

For total reprint value, Tramplesaurus Rex offers the biggest bang for your buck. This precon, like the rest of the bunch, has an MSRP of $29.99. Yet, according to MTGGoldfish, this mono-green deck led by Ghalta, Primal Hunger Ghalta, Primal Hunger This spell costs {X} less to cast, where X is the total power of creatures you control.
Trample (This creature can deal excess combat damage to the player or planeswalker it's attacking.) is valued at $159.22.

A good chunk of this value comes from a few notable reprints. The priciest of the bunch, Surrak and Goreclaw Surrak and Goreclaw Trample
Other creatures you control have trample.
Whenever another nontoken creature you control enters, put a +1/+1 counter on it. It gains haste until end of turn. , is actually the most expensive card from any precon at nearly $22. While it does see a good portion of Commander play, mostly in the 99, its hefty price tag primarily stems from its scarcity. Initially appeared in the scarce March of the Machine Jumpstart product, this card’s price could plummet following this reprint.

Beyond Surrak and Goreclaw, some other Commander all-stars in Tramplesaurus Rex also hold strong value despite multiple reprints. Witch’s Clinic Witch’s Clinic {T}: Add {C}.
{2}, {T}: Target commander gains lifelink until end of turn. is a good example, appearing in multiple previous precons. As a colorless utility land that fits into nearly every Commander deck, its demand remains high, and so does its $14 value.

Similarly, Birds of Paradise Birds of Paradise Flying
{T}: Add one mana of any color. , the iconic mana dork appearing in over 1.3 million Commander decks according to EDHREC, sits at over $10 due to its continuous demand. Once you factor in plenty of other $5+ reprint staples like Beast Whisperer Beast Whisperer Whenever you cast a creature spell, draw a card. and Arachnogenesis Arachnogenesis Create X 1/2 green Spider creature tokens with reach, where X is the number of creatures attacking you. Prevent all combat damage that would be dealt this turn by non-Spider creatures. , it’s easy to see why this precon is an awesome starter deck.

Wretched Ranks

Led by Ghoulcaller Gisa Ghoulcaller Gisa {B}, {T}, Sacrifice another creature: Create X 2/2 black Zombie creature tokens, where X is the sacrificed creature's power. , the Wretched Ranks Zombie typal deck features plenty of noteworthy payoffs, like the card draw engine Graveborn Muse Graveborn Muse At the beginning of your upkeep, you draw X cards and you lose X life, where X is the number of Zombies you control. . Aside from its appearance on The List, this is the first reprint the $12 powerhouse has received since Tenth Edition, making it a welcome inclusion.

Undead Warchief Undead Warchief Zombie spells you cast cost {1} less to cast.
Zombie creatures you control get +2/+1. is in a similar boat, with no non-List reprint since Planechase debuted 17 years ago. With a precon printing finally on the way, perhaps this Zombie megalord will finally be available for under its current $14 price tag.

As it turns out, the thematic bangers don’t stop there, as the $9 Lord of the Undead Lord of the Undead Other Zombie creatures get +1/+1.
{1}{B}, {T}: Return target Zombie card from your graveyard to your hand. and Ayara, First of Locthwain Ayara, First of Locthwain Whenever Ayara or another black creature you control enters, each opponent loses 1 life and you gain 1 life.
{T}, Sacrifice another black creature: Draw a card. are both getting reprinted, too. With token makers like Endless Ranks of the Dead Endless Ranks of the Dead At the beginning of your upkeep, create X 2/2 black Zombie creature tokens, where X is half the number of Zombies you control, rounded down. and Diregraf Colossus Diregraf Colossus This creature enters with a +1/+1 counter on it for each Zombie card in your graveyard.
Whenever you cast a Zombie spell, create a tapped 2/2 black Zombie creature token. , these go-wide payoffs make the deck look surprisingly strong for a starter precon. Altogether, this deck reportedly features $130.26 worth of reprints, making it the second-highest-value precon.

Reign of Dragons

While Reign of Dragons takes a step back in overall value, it still has plenty of solid reprints that make the product worth buying. Utvara Hellkite Utvara Hellkite Flying
Whenever a Dragon you control attacks, create a 6/6 red Dragon creature token with flying. certainly fits the mold, and at $13.50, covering nearly half the deck’s MSRP by itself!

Then, in the $8-$9 range, both Chandra’s Ignition Chandra’s Ignition Target creature you control deals damage equal to its power to each other creature and each opponent. and Breath Weapon Breath Weapon Breath Weapon deals 2 damage to each non-Dragon creature. appear as strong board wipes. The latter is a particularly impactful reprint, since it remains one of the best sideboard options in Pauper.

While these three cards are the heaviest hitters, plenty of cards above $5, like War Room War Room {T}: Add {C}.
{3}, {T}, Pay life equal to the number of colors in your commanders' color identity: Draw a card. and Herald’s Horn Herald’s Horn As this artifact enters, choose a creature type.
Creature spells you cast of the chosen type cost {1} less to cast.
At the beginning of your upkeep, look at the top card of your library. If it's a creature card of the chosen type, you may reveal it and put it into your hand. , see tons of EDH play. Altogether, this deck reportedly holds a total reprint value of $122.14.

Keen Engineering

Unsurprisingly, as a deck with Sai, Master Thopterist Sai, Master Thopterist Whenever you cast an artifact spell, create a 1/1 colorless Thopter artifact creature token with flying.
{1}{U}, Sacrifice two artifacts: Draw a card. as the Commander of choice, the Keen Engineering precon incorporates a boatload of artifacts. The priciest of them is Misleading Signpost Misleading Signpost Flash
When this artifact enters during the declare attackers step, you may reselect which player or permanent target attacking creature is attacking. (It can't attack its controller or their permanents.)
{T}: Add {U}. , a super unique mana rock originally printed in Wilds of Eldraine Commander. The upside of getting to redirect an attacker away from you and potentially to its death is quite high, and it’s nice to see this tool finally get its first reprint.

Given the sheer volume of artifacts this deck features to fully maximize Sai, it’s no surprise that other artifact payoffs like Vedalken Archmage Vedalken Archmage Whenever you cast an artifact spell, draw a card. also make a splash. Appearing in only Mirrodin and Jumpstart, this Wizard is well-deserving of a reprint.

Sadly, these are the only reprints above the $8 mark, but there are still some other solid Commander staples to look forward to. Both Scrawling Crawler Scrawling Crawler At the beginning of your upkeep, each player draws a card.
Whenever an opponent draws a card, that player loses 1 life. and Forsaken Monument Forsaken Monument Colorless creatures you control get +2/+2.
Whenever you tap a permanent for {C}, add an additional {C}.
Whenever you cast a colorless spell, you gain 2 life. sit above $6, seeing play in 224,000 and 163,000 decks, respectively. All in all, this deck reportedly offers $115.70 of reprint value, which isn’t shabby.

Calling All Angels

Finally, we have the Calling All Angels deck, which, as the name suggests, is an Angel Typal shell. Despite having the lowest reprint value of the bunch, there were still some elite inclusions, with the strongest being Norn’s Choirmaster Norn’s Choirmaster Flying, first strike
Whenever a commander you control enters or attacks, proliferate. (Choose any number of permanents and/or players, then give each another counter of each kind already there.) valued at $11. Ironically, this card actually fits better in decks with a more dedicated counters theme, like Atraxa, Praetor’s Voice Atraxa, Praetor’s Voice Flying, vigilance, deathtouch, lifelink
At the beginning of your end step, proliferate. (Choose any number of permanents and/or players, then give each another counter of each kind already there.) , but it still has merit here alongside cards like Youthful Valkyrie Youthful Valkyrie Flying
Whenever another Angel you control enters, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature. .

All that being said, Wizards certainly didn’t hold back on the elite Angel payoffs, as indicated by cards like Starnheim Aspirant Starnheim Aspirant Angel spells you cast cost {2} less to cast. , which sits at nearly $9. This tool makes it much easier to cast beefy Angels like Reya Dawnbringer Reya Dawnbringer Flying
At the beginning of your upkeep, you may return target creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield. or Herald of Eternal Dawn Herald of Eternal Dawn Flash (You may cast this spell any time you could cast an instant.)
Flying
You can't lose the game and your opponents can't win the game. ahead of schedule, further enabling the $5 Righteous Valkyrie Righteous Valkyrie Flying
Whenever another Angel or Cleric you control enters, you gain life equal to that creature's toughness.
As long as you have at least 7 life more than your starting life total, creatures you control get +2/+2. .

With a reported total value of $113.70, this deck is still well worth picking up. In fact, many players seem hyped for this release, noting the gorgeous new art of the Commander, Giada, Font of Hope Giada, Font of Hope Flying, vigilance
Each other Angel you control enters with an additional +1/+1 counter on it for each Angel you already control.
{T}: Add {W}. Spend this mana only to cast an Angel spell. .

Ultimately, while these products are clearly geared towards newer players, the combination of good reprint value and solid decklists has helped these precons make a good first impression. If you’re interested in grabbing these precons, the official release of these decks lines up with Reality Fracture’s release on October 2nd.

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