Absorb Into TimeAbsorb Into Time | Art by Aurore Folny

Welcome back! Last week I gave a ranking of the top 10 Secret Lair drops tied to Universes Beyond. Today we're going over the top five set releases tied to the product line.

Now, there are a few things to take into account here: There's not as many big releases if we exclude the precon-only sets, so we're going to include them. Also, these sets tend to have Secret Lairs tied to them, so we're taking those into account as well.

Updated Criteria

Citing what I said above, I'm doing some adjustments to the requirements because the IPs I'm about to cover will be more in-depth. Here's the new list:

1. Everything about a given release must be noted. This includes main set, precons, Secret Lairs, etc.
2. A great number of commander options (and there's going to be a ton of them!). That said, quality of said commanders will be a factor, too.
3. Is the set good enough to assemble decks on its own? This is more an optional thing, and rather a "me" thing. I tend to find myself building decks strictly from a given release. This is essentially bonus points.
4. Lastly, the quality of the cards from a given release, in context of Commander (obviously).

With those out of the way, let's get in there with the sole honorable mention. It's not a scandal this time, I swear, so no need to clutch those pearls.

Honorable Mention: Fallout

We begin with one of those main releases were we only had precons - there'll be several of these. First off, this release gets bonus points for having a Dog for a commander option. I remember when these decks came out, I had to get the Dogmeat deck, strictly because I love dogs (one of them's asleep next to me as I write this). The deck was actually solid out of the box, too, which made things all the better.

The best deck of this lot is undoubtedly Mutant Menace, and also where the more interesting designs tend to be. Rad counters were new to this release, and the deck tapped into that in a myriad of ways. +1/+1 counters also had a strong presence in this precon.

Hail, Caesar, the deck helmed by Caesar, Legion's EmperorCaesar, Legion's Emperor (That'll be pronounced Kai-sar, and not like the salad, please and thank you), had some neat cards for it, but it also felt mediocre. That said, I also don't have much memory of playing with or against this deck out of the box, so take my judgment with a grain of salt.

Now, for the reason why these decks didn't make it into the top five: Science!, the Jeskai () deck helmed by Dr. Madison LiDr. Madison Li is by far one of the worst precons I've had the indignity to playing with/against. Yes, energy decks typically go in tandem with artifacts, but it felt like both themes very much clashed here. I even used the precon as a punching bag for other decks I was testing.

The Secret Lairs weren't really anything to write home about, besides fixing up your mana base, and adding some small touches to the decks, even if you were lucky to get a Mana VaultMana Vault.

#5. Warhammer 40K

Ah, yes. These decks were good fun out of the box, and against each other. However, they were also not easy to get a hold of, and the prices were sky-high, perhaps still even today. There were a number of legendary creatures here, but most were better off in the 99 of decks that needed them.

The Necron Dynasties deck was definitely the best one out of the box, though Tyranid Swarm could get especially scary. Honestly, they're on par with each other for the most part.

I said Necrons had the best precon by virtue of the deck being monocolored versus three-color. The worst part for these decks, excluding Necrons, was the mana base. We would get better lands later on, but there were a lot of lands that entered tapped, slowing games down.

Forces of the Imperium, helmed by Inquisitor GreyfaxInquisitor Greyfax, always felt mana-hungry when I played it. It was a case of saving up enough mana to get anything meaningful from the squad mechanic, and not being in green hurts it there. The backup commander, Marneus CalgarMarneus Calgar was a better fit.

The chaos deck, The Ruinous Powers was pretty fun, too, but the curve was rather high. I especially remember that precon not having Arcane SignetArcane Signet. The Secret Lairs, though, were a scattered matter: You had Blood Bowl, Fantasy Warhammer, and a 40K faction with the Orkz. Not really anything to work with.

#4. Assassin's Creed

There were a lot of cool designs in this set that often got overlooked due to its infamy. A trait akin to the notorious March of the Machine: Aftermath packs. That set had about 50 cards, whereas this release had double the number. Unfortunately, the powers that be could not alter this release in time to adhere to the backlash. Thus, this set was subjected to it as well.

However, that's not to say this set was all bad. While it does basically read "build your own five-color Ezio deck" on the surface (using cards from outside the IP because of the lack of ramp and mana base), there were some valuable tools in this set.

One of my favorite red cards, The Spear of LeonidasThe Spear of Leonidas, was printed here. This set made for a fun advent calendar, which I did last year.

#3: Doctor Who

This was absolutely a fun IP to dive into. The flavor on the cards was a home run, and the Doctor's companion mechanic enabled lots of new partner combinations.

This release also came with Planechase cards, which was a nice touch (I wasn't a Who fan while I bawled my eyes out after reading Bad Wolf BayBad Wolf Bay). The cards actually lined up with what happened in the show, and what the characters did. An absolute masterpiece flavor-wise.

While two of the Secret Lairs weren't anything to write home about, the drop that celebrated the IP's 60th anniversary was. Two new Doctors, a new villain (shame it couldn't be run in the Davros precon), a really good new companion, and a Furby with a bad temper were nice additions to the lineup. However, this drop is also the reason why this release was placed here.

The decks played well against each other, which is great to pull off the shelf. That said, this drop will eventually devolve into two decks over the long term: The villains precon, and a fusion of the other three decks helmed by The Fourteenth DoctorThe Fourteenth Doctor (which is a deck of mine, and I covered that here).

Not to say it's a bad setup, but it does limit your deck options.

#2: The Lord of the Rings

One of the best-selling sets of all-time (I'd say off the back of the 1-of-1 Ring, but I digress), this set is buoyed by the precons and its power level. It being "direct-to-Modern" does help it a bit. I also take issue with a few things with this release, but I'll get there.

While being factionalized, it never felt like we were too restricted in what to run as it was with Warhammer. We also had a second release later that year, which added some cool new tools.

However, this set was not without its misses. It had exactly one Secret Lair drop, and it was one of the worst ones ever printed. It featured cards from the main set that were already dirt cheap to acquire. The only real attraction here, besides the error on the Gríma WormtongueGríma Wormtongue, was the art.

While most of the precons all played well out of the box, the Elven Council deck did nothing and belongs on a shelf (unless you want to scrap it for parts).

The main thing, though, was the multiple versions of the same character business. I understood why it had to happen, but it bothers the deckbuilder in me, who'd rather run only one version of a given character.

#1 Final Fantasy

I know. Most people write off Rinoa, but she fast became my favorite card in the set.

Anyways, this is the part where I warn you, the reader. There's going to be a lot of gushing over this set. It'll take an entire article to even get it out of my system. So, rather than spill it all here, I'll explain in a more general sense.

First, the bonus sheet was immensely powerful, chock full of staples for the format, and even cEDH. With it, taken together with everything else, you had access to almost every color combination imaginable. The Secret Lairs were amazing in their own right, too, giving format staples. The precons all provided a nice collection of Commander essentials, so you were free to make your own decks.

Speaking of own decks, there were over 150 commander options in this release, and even I went on to assemble decks solely from this release. The Commander staples helped prop these lists up for Bracket 2 games. The main set had the lion's share of options, and that was a juiced-up set for a release that was legal for Standard.

That last point, though, was also its weakness. Being designed for Standard meant that the set's power level was lower than Lord of the Rings, but it did make up for this in having more power in the big hits. Will there be a holiday release? There are signs that point to this being imminent, but we haven't seen the details yet.

Prelude to Even More Gushing

Both this article and the previous one were fun to write up, and they also gave me a much needed break from the regular deck tech. That said, they also bought me enough time to prepare for the next article, which will perhaps be my most ambitious one yet.

Having said that, return next time when I demonstrate (and explain) why Final Fantasy is my number one pick.

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