Deckstats Forum
English-language Forums => Commander Discussion => Topic started by: Cosmic_Insight on February 12, 2021, 06:38:28 pm
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The Commander precons are supposed to be a sort of commander starter deck, with an easy-to-follow theme and obvious synergy. More experienced players often loot these decks for the one CEDH card from the deck. (Dockside Extortionist (https://cards.deckstats.net/magiccard.php?utf8=1&lng=en&card=Dockside+Extortionist), Fierce Gaurdianship) However, these play poorly against any deck with a competent mana base and som actually decent ramp. Which lands and ramp spells could Wizards put in the precons to keep them on budget and provide a cleaner palying experience?
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Pain lands would be my first choice (Sulfurous Springs (https://cards.deckstats.net/magiccard.php?utf8=1&lng=en&card=Sulfurous+Springs), Underground River (https://cards.deckstats.net/magiccard.php?utf8=1&lng=en&card=Underground+River) etc.).
In my opinion they are the best budget lands going and are perfect for EDH. The 40 starting life all but negates their downside and allows you to build a fast and flexible multi colour mana base without losing out on tempo.
They're not that expensive, but their price continues to creep up and reprinting them into the ground would really help this.
Not only that, they also show new players the value of treating life like a resource.
After that, probably check lands (Isolated chapel (https://cards.deckstats.net/magiccard.php?utf8=1&lng=en&card=Isolated+Chapel), Drowned Catacomb (https://cards.deckstats.net/magiccard.php?utf8=1&lng=en&card=Drowned+Catacomb) etc.). These are in a similar spot to painlands. Not overly powerful but a solid budget option whose prices are creeping up and could do with a reprint.
They also do a great job in teaching new players the importance of sequencing.
Completing the Tango Land cycle (Prairie Stream (https://cards.deckstats.net/magiccard.php?utf8=1&lng=en&card=Prairie+Stream), Canopy Vista (https://cards.deckstats.net/magiccard.php?utf8=1&lng=en&card=Canopy+Vista) etc.) would be my third choice. They have the basic land types so have random synergies with things like Kor Cartographer (https://cards.deckstats.net/magiccard.php?utf8=1&lng=en&card=Kor+Cartographer) or Three Visits (https://cards.deckstats.net/magiccard.php?utf8=1&lng=en&card=Three+Visits) or Farseek (https://cards.deckstats.net/magiccard.php?utf8=1&lng=en&card=Farseek) etc.
In terms of ramp, Talismans would be my go to again. They are essentially the rock equivalent of pain lands and have all the associated positives of them too, as well as having the same need for a reprint.
I made a Breya deck that had all of the available pain lands and talismans in and it runs like a dream. It hurts me quite a bit, but runs incredibly smoothly considering it's 4 colours on a budget. Those would absolutely be my personal inclusions if I were the one in charge (https://cards.deckstats.net/magiccard.php?utf8=1&lng=en&card=Charge) of making that decision.
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More experienced players often loot these decks for the one CEDH card from the deck. (Dockside Extortionist (https://cards.deckstats.net/magiccard.php?utf8=1&lng=en&card=Dockside+Extortionist), Fierce Gaurdianship)
I feel attacked.
If you haven't had a chance yet, check out WizardSpartan's landbase primer. It gives a very good summary of cost versus effectiveness for the land cycles.
I'm going to second CleanBelwas here. Pain Lands (Battlefield Forge (https://cards.deckstats.net/magiccard.php?utf8=1&lng=en&card=Battlefield+Forge)) should be the first ones you go for. After that the checklands (Dragonskull Summit (https://cards.deckstats.net/magiccard.php?utf8=1&lng=en&card=Dragonskull+Summit)) and reveal lands (Fortified Village (https://cards.deckstats.net/magiccard.php?utf8=1&lng=en&card=Fortified+Village)) are good as long as you have a decent number of basics still in the deck. If you're playing black I also recommend the tainted lands (Tainted Wood (https://cards.deckstats.net/magiccard.php?utf8=1&lng=en&card=Tainted+Wood)). And if you're running at least 12 artifacts or so Spire of Industry (https://cards.deckstats.net/magiccard.php?utf8=1&lng=en&card=Spire+of+Industry) works great.
Lastly, to answer your question more directly, WotC could put any lands of their choosing in the pre-cons, they just choose not to for various reasons.
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The pain lands are great, but only the enemy painlands have gotten semi-recent reprints in C20 and Origins. What we really need is a reprint of the allied painlands in a commander precon.
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For convenience in viewing, here it is: https://deckstats.net/decks/120669/1659958-land-primer-an-analysis-of-all
My 3 favorite cycles (assuming we are just talking about 2-3 color precons) are:
- Painlands for the same reason as CleanBelwas & Morganator. I agree with Cosmic_Insight, ally painlands are at the top of my list to get reprinted in a precon.
- I like Battlelands because they encourage you to run a lot of basics (which is easy on the wallet, obviously) without being bad lategame lands like the Reveal Lands (it's less likely you have basics in your hand to make them come in untapped) & their basic land types allow a budget player running Farseek (https://cards.deckstats.net/magiccard.php?utf8=1&lng=en&card=Farseek), Knight of the White Orchid (https://cards.deckstats.net/magiccard.php?utf8=1&lng=en&card=Knight+of+the+White+Orchid), etc. to get untapped dual lands.
- Lastly, the new MDFC lands are really growing on me, especially because they are very cheap & easy to obtain (if you regularly crack packs from the most recent sets, it's pretty likely you will have a few lying around) and always come in untapped.
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Painlands and Checklands for sure. After that Talismans though they need reprinting as they're starting to creep up a little in price.
Past that if you're in green the simple Three Visits (https://cards.deckstats.net/magiccard.php?utf8=1&lng=en&card=Three+Visits) reprint is a good starting point along with Farseek (https://cards.deckstats.net/magiccard.php?utf8=1&lng=en&card=Farseek) are good as well as mana dorks.
What I'd love to see is the Tangoland cycle completed. The slow fetches (Bad River (https://cards.deckstats.net/magiccard.php?utf8=1&lng=en&card=Bad+River)) aren't a horrible option if you're in a less competitive meta though there is only the Allied cycle, they never printed the Enemy ones.