Zedruu the GreatheartedZedruu the Greathearted | Art by Mark Zug

This week, we return to our Commander Remastered series, where we take old precons and rework them to be more in line with the ones we get today. This time, we're focusing on our first Jeskai () precon in Political Puppets, featuring our first three ever commanders to grace this color combination.

However, in contrast to the other precons from the original release, this one takes a different approach to a game. What is that, precisely?

Zedruu the GOAT

Our precon for the week, Political Puppets, is very much a Group Hug/Politics deck. Designed to interact with your opponents, making deals and helping others out until you take over the game after biding enough time.

Like Aristocrats, this is way out of my wheelhouse. Personally, I don't make deals and prefer to pummel some life totals instead. That said, I cannot ignore that the precon was designed with Zedruu the GreatheartedZedruu the Greathearted in mind, so we, too, will assume she's our commander for this week.

I will note that she's notorious for donating some nasty stuff, like Steel GolemSteel Golem and Pyromancer's SwathPyromancer's Swath, but we're not doing that here. Instead, we're going to stay true to the precon's theme, and work from there.

Rules Redux

For a quick refresher, and for those new readers who may be wondering, the following rules are the foundations by which I remake these precons:

1. The value of the deck cannot exceed $120. This will apply to the reprints only, which gets to my first personal quirk.
2. Every card unique to the original precon stays in the deck. All those new cards that get released with precons remain in the list.
3. The land package should closely reflect what we get in precons these days (and, in my humble opinion, they're actually pretty good).
4. For at least until 2020, we're not tied to a particular set, so we're free to choose whatever we want. You can be assured I have ideas for 2020 and beyond, though.
5. Universes Beyond cards are not added. No exceptions, unless they have a in-universe variant.

With that out of the way, let's barter some deals, shall we? Lest we end up being like a bunch of Droning BureaucratsDroning Bureaucrats.

Political Puppets: The Original Precon Deck List

Surveying the Courts

Back when I returned to playing the game with the precons, I remember giving the least attention to this deck, and I remember why: That mana base, of all the ones I've seen with precons, is the worst. No question, it's the worst one out there.

On one hand, the lands back then were not of great quality compared to now, but my personal strike against this deck is the land count. Thirty-four lands is a bad, bad place to be, unless you're looking for a much higher Bracket. However, we're sticking with Bracket 2, so that number needs to go higher.

In addition, we have a banned card in Trade SecretsTrade Secrets, so that gets chopped. Secondly, we have quite an array of small, weak effects that don't really impact the game. Cards like Breath of DarigaazBreath of Darigaaz are too weak for use these days. Unless, that is, you're running a dedicated Kicker list.

So, if we're going to upgrade this deck, we'll need to really crank those gears and make this precon stronger.

Navigating Harsh Realities

Remastering Political Puppets took some ugly turns, as you'll see in a moment. A lot of the key pieces for Zedruu became too expensive to add, let alone keep in the deck. While we hit our goal of approximately $120, this was a scenario where I wound up adding to the initial amount before cutting it down.

One of the key offenders this time around is FlusterstormFlusterstorm, which sees more play in 60-card formats than Commander. It's one of the most expensive cards in the remastered version, yet one I also couldn't remove because of the rules.

However, the doom and gloom above doesn't mean this precon was a lost cause. The mana base is much more refined, and the land count increased to a safer number. What we couldn't keep or acquire led to some rather creative additions, like Djinn of Infinite DeceitsDjinn of Infinite Deceits.

We also sport a few alternative win-cons like TriskaidekaphileTriskaidekaphile, and ways to cut life totals down such as Psychosis CrawlerPsychosis Crawler. I will add that swapping lands around will mean that Zedruu will more likely get you stronger upkeep triggers. That said, try not to be "that guy" about it (same can be said about Numot, the DevastatorNumot, the Devastator).

Political Puppets Remastered Deck List

Donating Fresh Ideas

Like I said above, a lot of creative choices weaseled their way into the list. My idea was to make up for the cards that were too expensive to stick around. Coveted JewelCoveted Jewel, for example, is a fun one. It ensures opponents attack each other, and we get some advantages ourselves. Even better, if opponents can't slip through our defenses, we can use Zedruu to donate the Jewel instead.

Heavy is the head that bears the jewel, after all.

Meanwhile, cards like Shifting GriftShifting Grift and Pendant of ProsperityPendant of Prosperity ensure that our opponents will get something of ours and reap the benefits from it. That said, I must mention that Perplexing ChimeraPerplexing Chimera is not exactly an easy card for newer players to wrap their heads around. Even then, this is a precon I don't recommend to them either.

Politicking takes a lot of finessing, and unless you're some prodigal politician, it'll take some time to adjust.

Lasting Peace

While Political Puppets isn't my favorite precon, I'm sure the remastered version goes a long way towards rivaling today's precons. I'm more of a Ruhan of the FomoriRuhan of the Fomori guy, especially when he's equipped with a SunforgerSunforger (I swear! I didn't choose to attack you, it was the dice!).

Anyway, come back next week, where we give a notorious commander some compleatly new upgrades.