With all the new releases shown off yesterday, one particular MTG product seemed to fly under the radar. Only getting a passing mention during yesterday’s announcement, the new Commander Starter decks actually offer a ton of value… for the right price. Fortunately, some excellent prices currently available allow you to get as much as 300% value for your money. Here is a look at the Commander Starter Decks coming out on December 2nd!
Draconic Destruction
Of the five Commander Starter Decks, Draconic Destruction has the most value! For just $24 on Amazon, you get $74 in value, according to MTGgoldfish! Unlike some of the other valuable Commander decks in this product cycle, value is pretty split up amongst a few $4-10 dollar reprints available in this product. As insinuated by the deck name and Commander, Dragon fans should be extremely excited about this product, as that is the theme for the deck.
A significant reason for this deck’s secondary market value is the recent Dragon focus found in Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur’s Gate. The most valuable card in the deck, for example, is part of a two-card kill combo with a Mythic from that set. Dragon Tempest is an incredible enchantment that allows your Double-Striking Dragons, thanks to your Commander, to attack instantly. It can also turn your Dragons into additional pieces of removal when needed.
Other valuable reprints in this Commander deck, aside from the usual staples like Sol Ring, include Vandalblast, Elemental Bond, Thundermaw Hellkite, Scourge of Valkas, Runehorn Hellkite, and Haven of the Spirit Dragon.
Token Triumph
This Selesnya deck features the fan-favorite Emmara, Soul Accord, a two-mana Legendary Creature capable of creating tokens at an insane rate. As what may be made evident by the name and Commander, this deck cares a lot about creating tokens.
This particular deck gets a bit of a boost value-wise by a rare reprint: Citanul’s Hierophants. This card only has one printing at the moment and can turn all of your creatures into Llanowar Elves (in the sense that they can tap for green mana)! This can quickly allow you to ramp into an incredibly powerful spell, like Craterhoof Behemoth, and end the game in a flash. Just make sure you leave enough creatures untapped to attack with. Like all of the decks here, you can find the Token Triumph deck on Amazon for just $24.
While MTG Goldfish has the value for this deck at $63, do keep in mind that the Hierophants are seeing a huge drop in price due to being reprinted. This should put the expected value at about $55. Besides the usual Commander staples, Token Triumph also has some other strong reprints like Ajani, Caller of the Pride, and Curse of Bounty.
Chaos Incarnate
In terms of value, there is a two-way tie for third place. Chaos Incarnate has about a $58 value, which is still fantastic for these Commander decks’ $24 price tag. Chaos Incarnate is a Rakdos deck that cares about as it reads- creating as much chaos as possible! Kardur, Doomscourage is basically a Goad creature that Goads everything your opponents control on entry. This tried-and-true Rakdos strategy should give new players a good taste of what these colors offer!
Value for this Commander deck is split up amongst a lot of $2 reprints. Archfiend of Depravity is a card that sticks out a bit in this regard. This five-mana creature can keep decks that go wide in check by limiting players’ creature-based resources. That said, even if someone manages to go wide, you can Goad all their creatures with your Commander anyway!
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First Flight
The traditional Azorius flyers archetype returns with the First Flight Commander Starter Deck! This diehard Flying synergy, besides being quite a popular archetype among casual EDH players, should serve as an easily upgradeable deck for those who already dabble in the archetype. While the Commander is a little untraditional, Isperia should ensure that you can get some consistent draw as long as you’re under fire. This can incentivize you to attack with your flying horde since you want players to swing back – as long as it won’t kill you.
The reprints that boast the most value in this deck are a few Commander favorites. Talisman of Progress gives a taste of the series of Talismans commonly used in Commander and has a surprising price tag of about $4 attached to it. Sphinx’s Revelation and Swords of Plowshares can also be found here. In this brilliant demonstration of an age-old archetype, you can expect about $58 in value, like the Chaos Incarnate Commander deck.
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Grave Danger
Grave Danger comes in last place in terms of value. That said, it is still worth its while at an expected value of $48 – two times more than the Amazon price.
This deck cares a lot about Zombies. As such, while this is the worst value of the set, it is also one of the most upgradeable decks of the bunch. There are a LOT of powerful Zombie synergies in Dimir colors. As such, this is relatively easy to turn into a powerhouse with the right cards.
Even though this deck has the worst overall value, it does have one of the best reprints offered. Liliana, Untouched by Death is a popular Planeswalker because of strong it is in a Zombie deck. Having an Ultimate ability that can be activated at any time that functions as a Yawgmoth’s Will (a card banned in Commander) for Zombies is an absolutely absurd ability to fall back on. This card is currently retailing for about $7.
What do You Think?
While the prices as of the writing of this article are quite good for the Commander Starter Decks, I don’t expect them to stick around. As these start circulating around the MTG community, I would also assume that the expected value of these will drop a bit. That said, these decks’ value is so high compared to the price that, even if they do drop, you will likely still be getting a good deal. Hopefully, you manage to pick these up for a good price!
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