Images courtesy of Wizards of the Coast

Wizards of the Coast has released 145 Commander precons since the official acknowledgement of the format in 2011. Of these, there are some good ones, but there are also many that are truly great.

This article seeks to note the five best Commander precons of 2021-2025. There are so many of these precons, however, that we're only going to look at the best precons that were released in a wide-release product. That is to say, we're ignoring the Secret Lair decks (with all apologies to that one fan of Everyone's Invited).

If you're ready, let's begin!

2021: Elven Empire

Image credit: Wizards of the Coast

The first official year of the decade was a remarkably good year for Commander precons. Between Adventures in the Forgotten Realms' Planar Portal deck, the five Strixhaven precons, and a whole bunch of neat $20 precons, it was a little hard to choose.

That is, until I realized that Elven Empire was in the running. That's when this became really easy. Elven Empire, led by Lathril, Blade of the ElvesLathril, Blade of the Elves, is far and away the most consistent precon of 2021. The strength and synergy of the Elf typal strategy make it so easy for newer players to be somewhat competitive in a given pod. Between that and the suggested $20 price point, Elven Empire is so good!

You can see the Elven Empire precon's decklist here.

Notably, this deck goes really well with the Commander 2014 mono-green precon Guided by Nature, which is led by Freyalise, Llanowar's FuryFreyalise, Llanowar's Fury. That one is also (kind of) an Elf typal deck, but while it's somewhat consistent, it's meant more to showcase the better assets of mono-green than Elves per se.

Still, I'd recommend that if you want to upgrade Elven Empire with another precon and without serious budget constraints, Guided by Nature is a good step in the right direction.

Of course, the deck is great on its own. It's so great, in fact, that the fate of this precon is that stores inevitably marked up its price when they could. So, players wishing to buy it would have to flock to big-box stores like Target or Wal-Mart and pray it hadn't sold out by the time they got there.

That wasn't ideal, but it doesn't undercut the sheer relevance and viability of this precon in gameplay. If anything, it serves as a testament to how sought-after the Elven Empire deck really is.

2022: Necron Dynasties

Image credit: Wizards of the Coast

2022 was another strong year for preconstructed decks. It was the first year we got Commander precons for licensed Universes Beyond properties, but Universes Beyond wasn't yet releasing tentpole sets or the like. As such, we got a lot of precons. Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty was pretty neat, as were the precons from Streets of New Capenna.

But the best set of precons was the set from Warhammer 40,000. It's clear that Wizards of the Coast wanted Universes Beyond's offering to Magic to start off strong, and they delivered on that desire in a huge way. And, of those four precons, the best one by far was Necron Dynasties, a mono-black precon headed by Szarekh, the Silent KingSzarekh, the Silent King.

You can find the Necron Dynasties precon's decklist here.

I'm not about to wax poetic about the Necrons or their extremely expansive lore; venturing down that path leads to folly. But, when it came to this deck and others in the Warhammer 40,000 product release, Necron Dynasties had so much flavor behind it. This was one of the best combinations of flavor and gameplay mechanics that the Universes Beyond products have ever showcased in a precon.

And all that without so much as a new keyword mechanic!

A deck like Necron Dynasties has a lot of good going for it. But there's one thing aside from financial markups and the removal of MSRP that the deck needed in order to improve. That was, in a few words, swapping its commander from Szarek to Imotekh the StormlordImotekh the Stormlord. Imotekh is a better leader for this precon by miles, if only because he can flood a battlefield with Necron Warrior tokens like it's nobody's business.

But even if one didn't swap those two, much like an unmodified Elven Empire deck, Szarek can still hold his own in a pod with its designated precon.

2023: Eldrazi Unbound

Image credit: Wizards of the Coast

In 2023, Wizards printed the first colorless precon for the format, Eldrazi Unbound, with the Commander Masters set. This deck is remarkable for a variety of reasons. For instance, many of the cards included are ubiquitous, but a lot are quite specific for colorless decks. This gave the colorless identity a bit more of a... well, identity. It's neat how we can say that now about this de facto "not a color" playstyle.

The existence of Zhulodok, Void GorgerZhulodok, Void Gorger in the precon helps too. This Eldrazi behemoth was one of the better options when building a colorless deck at this time. The Eldrazi Titans can cost too much mana, and some legendary artifact creatures don't have a high enough impact on their own. Zhulodok is a fantastic balance at its mana cost of .

What's more, while six is a high cost for most decks, the ease of colorless decks to gain mana very quickly can't be understated. Zhulodok can come out as early as turn four if a player wants, with a seven-drop arriving the very next turn, if desired. Like the Eldrazi of the in-world lore, this deck is mind-boggling at times.

You can find the Eldrazi Unbound precon's decklist here.

There's a fair amount of healthy debate amongst Eldrazi players as to which of the precon Eldrazi commanders is the best. Some people say it's Ulalek, Fused AtrocityUlalek, Fused Atrocity, and some people say it's Azlask, the Swelling ScourgeAzlask, the Swelling Scourge. Still others, myself included, will be secure in the belief that Zhulodok is actually the best one of the bunch.

Sure, those other two have colors available, but that leads to executive decision dysfunction. Those are five-color decks! On the other hand, I'm more than content to use and abuse my Ingenuity EngineIngenuity Engine in Zhulodok (perhaps tapping into tech that people forgot). But I'd never have Zhulodok if not for Eldrazi Unbound.

As for improvements on the deck, I'd suggest that Wizards was pulling only a few punches with this one. I like to break down cards for decks by "meat," "potatoes," and "vegetables" as an analog to what cards do for a deck.

Vegetables are the mana sources of a deck. There's no problem here with Eldrazi Unbound, as it's one of the better mana bases for a given Commander precon. Potatoes are the cards that set up the payoff; that is, the meat. Where the deck lacks oomph is with the potatoes. You need a lot of cards that cost seven mana or more to make the deck tick. When playing it, Eldrazi Unbound felt a little light on that aspect.

Still, that's a small gripe when this deck is as strong as it truly is.

2024: Endless Punishment

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2024 gave us a bunch of interesting contenders for its best deck, but it has to go to Endless Punishment in this case. Bloomburrow's decks were fun, but they lacked the punchiness of decks in years past. Outlaws of Thunder Junction's decks were in a similar boat, but were even less hyped. And while Fallout's decks were really neat and innovative to boot, they were a little too experimental for my tastes. Modern Horizons 3 was fine but grossly overhyped for what they should have been.

The same largely goes for Duskmourn: House of Horror's Commander decks, save for this one.

Endless Punishment is a black-red "Group Slug"-style Aggro deck with a focus on mutual pain on the opponents' own turns. The deck slowly (and occasionally more swiftly than that) drains its pilot's opponents of their life total bit by bit, all while paying off for doing exactly that! What's not to love?

All of this is piloted by either the face of the deck, Valgavoth, Harrower of SoulsValgavoth, Harrower of Souls, or The Lord of PainThe Lord of Pain, a card that seems to see a bit less play in the command zone.

You can check out the Endless Punishment precon's decklist here.

This deck is a masterwork in how to take rather inexpensive cards and formulate them into something utterly beastly for your pod to work against. Its pilot can quickly find themselves the threat of the table if they're not carefully planning every move with cunning and restraint. But in the end, The House truly does always win.

I have no serious complaints about this deck. It's a strong one and it's in colors that make quick and handy use of the themes on-hand. The one thing I'll say comes down to a similar issue with Elven Empire and Necron Dynasties: mark-ups stink. Endless Punishment is still technically in circulation. But, it's still something scalpers are more than willing to mark up, and that also stinks. But for once, it might be worth it, in theory.

And while I'm actively neglecting to hype the coolness of their Archenemy schemes, I want to state that I really like Archenemy. I've written at length about the products under that umbrella, and I recommend people give that format a try as well, if they wish to. The Duskmourn precons, and not just Endless Punishment at that, provide a great experience to that end.

2025: Limit Break

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Finally, we come to 2025. 2025 is far from over, to be sure. However, we've now gotten all of the Commander decks from the set releases we're getting for this year. So, what's the best precon from this year? Naturally, it comes from the best deck from the best set release of all of Magic's history. The set? Final Fantasy. The precon? Limit Break.

This Naya () Voltron-style Aggro deck made waves with its Final Fantasy VII thematics and its serious attention to not only detail in the world but also its mechanics. We didn't need anything flashy or new, like we got from Fallout, to have an absolute ball with Limit Break. We simply needed raw, unfettered power. Seven power, to be precise, although more is always nice too.

And who better to show off the deck's raw power than its face commander, Cloud, Ex-SOLDIERCloud, Ex-SOLDIER? At the same time, the back-up legend, Tifa, Martial ArtistTifa, Martial Artist, is about as strong as Cloud for this deck. It's combat, hitting on all sevens!

You can look at the Limit Break precon's deckllist by clicking here.

The only thing I'd want to improve about Limit Break is the mana base. Three-color bases are tough, but by now, Wizards has the ideas and resources to make them good. Still, I'm not complaining that there are more copies of Fire-Lit ThicketFire-Lit Thicket now floating around because of Limit Break. That's awesome in and of itself. I just wish that, in a vacuum, the Final Fantasy Commander decks had a more comprehensive and consistent mana base overall.

Regardless of this, Limit Break goes really well with Fallout's Scrappy Survivors deck, which features the same color identity and the same overall themes as Limit Break. Mashing the two together can make a really strong amalgamated deck. This phenomenon is similar to how Science! goes so well with Creative Energy. They're like peanut butter and jelly!

Limit Break is also fantastic on its own. Therefore, it's worth mentioning here as the best Commander precon of 2025.

Conclusion

Let's immediately open the floor to you, dear readers. What would you say is the very best precon of the 2020s so far, from 2021 onwards? Sound off in the comments below!

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