Precon Products
Commander (EDH) forum
Posted on Nov. 24, 2015, 12:22 a.m. by Lokotor
I'm looking to pick up one or maybe two of the preconstructed commander products. I want to know what you all think the best ones to get are.
My criteria are:
Is it fun for both the person playing and the people playing with them? Is it interactive?
Is the deck complete? Does it have plays to make at all stages of the game? Can it just flat out not deal with a certain situation/play style?
Is the deck powerful enough to play with a variety of custom decks?
Can it be upgraded cheaply to fix or improve upon any of the above? (Most important)
I would like to spend in total maybe $60 tops on the deck and any upgrades that might improve it.
My goal is to be able to have something for a friend to pick up and be able to play with me and my group so they can learn the format, have fun, and not feel like they're just playing some random collection of junk.
I have played against the simic deck and it turned out to be amazing even without any changes. But when you customise it it goes crazy... A friend of mine took some cards he had in his binders and the deck was really hard to beat. He had a good amount of answers to threats and did not lose momentum.
November 24, 2015 3:48 a.m.
GeeksterPlays says... #4
The most recent green-black EDH deck using Meren as the commander is just NUTS. So powerful without any changes, can control the board via sacrifice, ramp like crazy and making hundreds of tokens, get cheap demons into play.... out of the 5 newest decks it's winning the msot consitently in my playgroup right now (and we have all 5 of them being played).
Izzet is the close second, it's not as powerful all the time but when it goes off, everyone just dies :D
November 24, 2015 6:36 a.m.
Havok.Bane says... #5
I love Ezuri, Claw of Progress I did some minor tweaks, mostly adding in a bunch of cheap creatures with 0-2 power, and then I played a game where I swung with a 40/40 Charging Badger
November 24, 2015 6:45 a.m.
For new players, I'd recommend the Ezuri deck, plus the Mizzix deck if you're going to get two. They're very different archetypes, but both are pretty straightforward (though the Mizzix one is a little tougher to pilot), decent out of the box/easy to power-up with some cheap upgrades, and packed full of the splashy Timmy plays that are a blast for new players to the format.
+1 on Chandrian's recommendation for the upgrades. Tomer Abramovici's Budget Commander series over at MTGgoldfish is great. As I type this, he's got articles up for Mizzix, Ezuri, and Meren,
November 24, 2015 7:51 a.m.
Im also open to any of the previous years products (c13/14 if you think they might be good options.
November 24, 2015 12:53 p.m.
Lokotor, then I'd totally recommend the Jeleva deck.
At the risk of sounding like an advertisement, my upgrade is here: Jeleva, a heleva good Commander (super-budget)
November 24, 2015 1:17 p.m.
the3rdH0kage says... #9
I picked the RW deck up, and it went 2-1 against a Relentless Rats deck. It's legit just Giant tribal. and it's awesome
November 24, 2015 2:46 p.m.
ComradeJim270 says... #10
My experience so far with the 
deck has been that it's decent out of the box but gets a lot better with some basic upgrades. It takes a while to get going but gets steadily more powerful as the game goes on; it needs plenty of control elements to do well so it can get to the point where it'll snowball out of control.
If you think your friends will lean more towards "turn creatures sideways" it might not be the right choice, but if someone wants to play a more durdly game (some new players do feel drawn to this playstyle) it could be ideal.
November 25, 2015 2:39 p.m. Edited.
For raw power, the 2013 decks are vastly superior, and they only cost 20$ each online. The 2014 being mono-colored made improvement for most players difficult. I would say Meren or Ezuri are the strongest out of this set. Each deck has amazing potential and can be amazing within your budget. Sometimes, I think it's easier to dumb down your decks vs. Improving theirs. It's a wonderful idea to carry spare decks. Thanks for helping to make the community better.
November 27, 2015 11:23 p.m.
Currently I'm feeling like the Swell The Host deck 
from C15 is looking like a prime candidate, so I'm glad other people seem to agree.
I Figure i can grab it for like $30 and upgrade it for another $30 easily enough.
My biggest issue is getting people around me interested in playing. they don't want to build a deck or when they have it's just been like a pile of their jank and they just sit there playing random cards that are in their colors with no goal or strategy and just lose or durdle all game. I am hoping that giving them something halfway decent will get them more interested in the game, or at the very least will make them more likely to want to play even if they don't make their own decks ever.
November 27, 2015 11:59 p.m.
Molding a small group is a challenge, but it's worth it. Make your own pile of jank and play with them, or play a more hug-centric deck. Lol. A love for the format usually starts this way. It's great for making friends too. The trick is not out classing them, but reclassing them slowly and having fun. If they start growing fond of the format, their decks will too.
Chandrian says... #2
I have only played one game against one of the commanders, the WB one, on untap. It played very well, but I think the person who made that deck added quite a lot of cards.
For the Izzet commander, I have not played against it BUT there is an article here with some comments on how to improve the deck while only spending 20 dollar.
I suggest you read it to be certain it fits the strength of your meta, but at least it's a decent starting point.
November 24, 2015 3:45 a.m.