It’s no secret that precons are immensely popular in MTG. Preconstructed Commander decks, in particular, are everywhere nowadays and are always exciting when released. Not only do these decks make regular appearances at FNM Commander nights, but they cause insane price spikes too.
Sadly, while preconstructed Commander decks have long been proving their worth, this is the only format getting any love. Wizards hasn’t printed any competitively focused precons in over two years now. That doesn’t mean that all hope is lost, however, as recent strides have been made on MTG Arena.
Following the latest update to MTG Arena today, the client’s precons are in the best place they’ve ever been. Admittedly, there are still problems keeping things from being perfect, but Standard legal precons are now so nearly almost good. With just a few small tweaks and one major change, we could be in a new golden age for competitive MTG.
New World Championship Decks
Yesterday, Wizards of the Coast announced that new World Championship Decks are coming to MTG. Given we haven’t seen this product in 20 years this may sound like colossal news at first. Sadly, the reality of the situation isn’t nearly as impressive, as these decks are only coming to MTG Arena.
Technically, six new World Championship-inspired precons are coming to MTG Arena today. Only two of these decks, however, are the newly classified “Champion Decks.” As the name implies, these Dimir Demons and Golgari Midrange decks use the exact tournament-topping lists from Magic World Championship 30.
Theoretically, these decks were already accessible since you could simply import the decklists and craft them yourself. As Wizards states, however, now can avoid spending your “precious wildcards” and just spend your precious gems instead. As usual, the price of these decks should be prorated, so you shouldn’t have to overspend.
That being said, these Champion Decks surely aren’t going to be cheap. Javier Dominguez’s Dimir Demons deck, for instance, uses 34 rares and two mythics, which will require a lot of gems. Notably, when purchasing this deck, you won’t be getting any sideboard cards, so you’ll realistically be stuck to best-of-one.
Despite this issue, and the overall price of Champion Decks on MTG Arena, this is undoubtedly a good move. Giving MTG Arena players more options about how to spend their gems is no bad thing. These decks are genuinely competitive too, so it’s not like you’d be wasting your money. Saying that, however, the meta has now moved thanks to the release of MTG Foundations.
You’re Too Slow
While MTG players will always complain about costs, the speed at which Champion decks are released is the real issue. Magic World Championship 30 concluded on October 27th, so it’s been a touch over three weeks since then. While development does take time, taking a decklist and putting it on Arena with no changes seems like a simple process.
Beyond the delay being annoying, it can massively impact the strength of once-powerful decks. Dimir Demons may have won Magic World Championship 30, but now that MTG Foundations is out, it could be significantly weaker. While this may not be the biggest problem in the world, it’s not a great look for a supposedly World Championship-level product.
Thankfully, Wizards of the Coast is aware of this issue, so it might not be a problem forever. Speaking on Reddit, WotC_Jay stated Wizards is “looking to bring [the delay] down as much as we can.” Exactly how long it will take to see results is unclear, but this is nonetheless promising news.
“Decreasing the time it takes us to get decks into the game and available to players is definitely something we’ll be working on. We know that the delay here makes these less fun, and we’re looking to bring it down as much as we can”
WotC_Jay
Should Wizards be able to reduce the delay, players who buy Champion Decks should have more time to properly enjoy them. In 2025, this issue is going to be even more pressing thanks to the volume of sets being released. With six Standard-legal sets lining the release calendar, the format might be in an almost constant state of flux.
While time is certainly one issue, the quantity of Champion decks being released is also a concern. The Magic World Championships only happen once a year, after all, so getting two decks per year is hardly perfect. Thankfully, there are plenty more Magic events happening all the time around the world. How many winning lists are worthy of the title of being a “Champion Deck” however, is a difficult question.
Papers Please
Given Wizards is already working on speeding things up, hopefully, all should be well on MTG Arena. Even if the client’s preconstructed decks aren’t to everyone’s tastes, they should exist rather than not. Having more options about how to spend your money or rather gems, is no bad thing, after all.
Looking ahead, we can only hope that Wizards takes some of their MTG Arena learnings and applies them to paper. As mentioned earlier, we haven’t had new competitive-focused paper precons in over two years now. While the Challenger Decks of old weren’t exactly perfect, Wizards could make them a lot better.
Technically, there’s nothing stopping Wizards from printing black-bordered Champion decks on paper. The only question would be their price, but that’s admittedly a difficult question to answer. Looking online, Javier Dominguez’s Dimir Demons deck costs around $330, which obviously isn’t cheap.
While you’re getting good cards for your money, Wizards hypothetically selling a precon for $300 wouldn’t be an amazing look. It’s especially not helpful that other competitive Standard decks are significantly cheaper. It didn’t win Worlds, but this viable Mono Red deck only costs around $163.
Obviously, in an ideal world, Wizards could sell black-bordered World Championship decks for a fixed $50 price. Realistically, this would cause havoc to the MTG financial markets, potentially ruining lucrative reprint equity. While this may be a good thing for players, Wizards is a business at the end of the day.
Thinking about this from a business perspective then, Wizards could sell different tiers of deck. A paired-down low-tier option, like Challenger decks, could have a $50 price tag. This deck could be decent, sure, but ultimately designed to be upgraded. Alongside this potential product, Wizards could also sell $300 tournament-ready decks for players who want them.
The Harsh Reality
Sadly, while selling multiple different products at different prices might seem smart, Wizards knows what they’re doing. Wizards have even tried some of this before, as Challenger decks sold for between $30 and $50. Despite this enticing price tag, the product wasn’t a roaring success by any means. Overall poor sales have stopped Wizards from making new Challenger decks in recent years for good reason.
In theory, there’s nothing stopping Wizards from trying again, especially if Champion Decks on MTG Arena are a success. That said, physical cards have printing and distribution costs, so even experiments can be costly. As a result, I wouldn’t expect to see Challenger decks or World Championship decks return anytime soon.
While this may be disappointing, there’s still a lot to love about Standard going forward. MTG Foundations has just released, mixing up the meta and providing new staples for myriad archetypes. Beyond 2024, there’s obviously a whole lot going on in 2025, with six Standard legal sets releasing. Should all these go to plan, we may get a golden age of Standard, even without new precons.
