AI Summary
5 min readThe Best Card from Every Commander Precon Ever
The Command Zone hosts Rachel Weeks, Jimmy Wong, and Josh Lee Kwai set out to do something absurd: pick the single best card from every Commander preconstructed deck ever printed, starting with the original Commander 2011 set and working all the way through the upcoming Reality Fracture precon. What emerges is not just a catalog of powerful cards, but a history of how the format's design philosophy has evolved—from the early days of Command Tower and Chaos Warp, through the era of eminence and free spells, to the modern age of Universes Beyond and hyper-specific set mechanics.
The Early Years: 2011–2014
The very first Commander precons from 2011 established patterns that would define the format. Command Tower appeared in all five decks and remains an auto-include to this day. Scavenging Ooze, originally printed in the Abzan deck Counterpunch, surprised the hosts—it feels like a card designed for competitive 60-card formats, not a casual commander product. Kaalia of the Vast, from the Mardu deck Heavenly Inferno, is still one of the most iconic commanders ever printed, despite her deck being "unplayable" out of the box because it contained cards for three different potential commanders rather than a focused strategy.
Continue reading the full summary in the app — free to try.
Read Full Summary →Free • No credit card required
Never miss an episode of The Command Zone
Get every new episode summarized in your inbox — free, ~5 minutes to read.
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
What you'll learn
- 1 (00:00) **Introduction & Ad** - Sponsor read for Alienware.
- 2 (00:43) **Kicking Off: Commander 2011 - The Very First Precons** - The hosts introduce the episode's premise: picking the best card from every precon ever printed. They start with the five decks from Commander 2011.
- 3 (13:10) **Commander 2013: The Eminence Era** - Five more precons, introducing the iconic tempt-with cycle and the first eminence commanders.
- 4 (23:24) **Commander 2014: Mono-Colored Planeswalkers** - Five mono-colored precons introducing planeswalkers as commanders.
- 5 (36:44) **Commander 2015: Experience & Confluences** - Five precons introducing the experience counter and the powerful Confluence cycle.
- 6 (45:58) **Commander 2016: Partners & Four-Color** - Five precons introducing partner commanders and four-color decks.
- 7 (55:41) **Commander Anthology** - A brief interlude discussing the reprint anthology. The hosts note they won't be picking cards from it and ask viewers which precons they would want in a new anthology.
+ Full timestamped outline available in the app
Guests on this episode
Show Notes
Teferi’s Protection, Fierce Guardianship, Toxic Deluge: Without Commander precons we wouldn’t have a ton of the format’s foremost staples. For this episode, we delved through ALL 150+ PRECONS to find you the very best new card from each one. What hidden gems are lurking in the 99s of all those boxes on your shelf? This is a long one, so grab your popcorn and your trade binders. Let’s get into it!
--------
WATCH OUR NEW GAME SHOW: KINGMAKERS
Find out who knows Commander the Best: https://youtu.be/PYdJyi1EziA
--------
BROOKLYN BEDDING:
Ready to upgrade your sleep? Brooklyn Bedding has you covered! Get 30% off sitewide when you use promo code COMMAND at https://Brooklynbedding.com
ALIENWARE:
Upgrade your gaming experience today with Alienware. Be More Alien at https://Alienware.com/gameyourway
--------
CARD KINGDOM:
The Command Zone is sponsored by Card Kingdom! If you want to receive your cards in one safe package and experience the best customer service, make sure to order your Magic cards, sealed product, accessories, and more at Card Kingdom: http://www.cardkingdom.com/command
ARCHIDEKT:
Discover, build, catalog, and playtest on Archidekt, the deck-building website that makes it easy to brew brand new lists or manage your old favorites. Go to http://www.archidekt.com/commandzone to get started today!
ULTRA PRO:
Huge thanks to Ultra PRO for sponsoring this episode! Be sure to check out their amazing APEX sleeves and super classy MANA 8 product line. If you want to keep your cards protected and support the show, visit: https://ultrapro.com/command
--------
Relevant Links:
Cards We’ll Never Stop Playing in Commander | The Command Zone 763:
https://youtu.be/Q-n3xUTbZlg?si=EaSkFs7tGiNZLhcO
Beyond the Edge of Eternities: An MTG Movie:
https://youtu.be/jclO7Mjfjq0?si=YXoxW6JX9xp6_bor
Magic Card Designer vs His Own Creations | Extra Turns 63:
https://youtu.be/6of5iD_QppM?si=vD93PRs2NALgdZFe
Game Knights Live: Clash of the Titans w/ Ashlizzlle | MagicCon Amsterdam:
https://youtu.be/zyck6jUMSWs?si=Quzrs6GPfzy7bp_Q
More from this podcast