Wednesday was a big big MtG news day for Commander players.

Some what unusual for WotC they announced their product plans for the format months in advance.

Thanks to the Command Zone I can “borrow” their summary timeline from their announcement video. Ok “borrow” implies I may have asked. And I didn’t I just took it.

As you can see the Commander goodness kicks off in April next year when we get the Commander pre-cons early. Which is nice because they will have arrived just in time for my birthday. This time around we are getting five, yes five Commander decks. Which will be themed around the Ikoria set that comes out at the same time. Not only are we getting that additional deck, but there will be 71 new Commander cards spread amongst the five decks. Plus reprints. Oh and we can buy the new Commander decks prerelease weekend. Sweet.

The third quarter of 2020 sees two more Commander pre-cons released along side the Zendikar Rising set. These will be themed around Zendikar Rising, contain three new cards each. The major difference will be the packaging. There will be no large foil Commander card, and will be packaged more like the Brawl decks (apparently). These decks will replace the Planeswalker decks for this set.

For the last two years we have had Planeswalker themed spellbooks. They have been replaced with a green themed Commander Collection. Eight reprinted cards from the history MtG for the Commander player. I believe there will be a foil and regular version of this if I heard right in the video.

Then a biggie drops in the final quarter of the year (just in time for Christmas I bet) Commander Legends. Apparently this is draft meets Commander! 70 new Legends to build with. A booster box is 20 packs, with each pack containing a foil and two legendaries.

Along side Commander Legends comes two more Commander pre-con decks. Which get the same treatment as the Zendikar Rising decks.

So it looks like WotC are targeting Commander players in 2020. Not surprising it is their most popular format.

So if my maths is correct, over the year we are getting nine new Commander pre-con decks. That sees 83 new Commander cards. Add in the 70 new Legends from the Commander set, and that rises to 153 new cards. And we are not even taking into account any obvious new Commander cards in the regular set releases or any Brawl decks (we know it’s dead). That’s a massive number of cards to add.

I like that the four pre-cons out side of the big annual Commander release are meant to be starting off points, and not part of that designed to be played against each other design of the main release.

It also nice to see that WotC want to make it easier for players, especially new ones to get their hands on Commander staples. Does that mean we will get to see some of the more expensive lands reprinted, or the likes of Cyclonic Rift? I can see the recent Brawl cards that Commander players went crazy over making it into these pre-cons. I don’t think we will see any big reprints in the decks themselves. But Commander Legends is another matter indeed.

There is no doubt that this stuff will sell. I just hope they print enough to meet demand. To make it accessible for that new player they need product on shelves, selling at the retail price. Yes I know that WotC dropped MSRP, then put up the cost to distributors, and that ripples down the supply chain to the consumer paying more at the till. But let’s assume the set pre-cons should be selling for around £30, then they should not be being sold for £50, £60,or £90 just because WotC got the demand wrong, and didn’t print enough copies. Even if that was the case, and WotC did a large print run that still didn’t meet demand, which is likely. They need a second (even third) print run hitting stores ASAP after the release date. Eliminate that window of scalping, or reduce it to the shortest period possible.

You can read the official post which has the Command Zone announcement video and previewed art HERE.

In other big MtG news. Somehow an individual got their hands on a handful of Theros Beyond Death boosters, and posted photos of the cards.

I’ve had a brief look at the photos that are circulating on line to see what new and returning mechanics there are.

If you liked Sagas from Dominaria then you will be pleased to know that they are returning in Theros Beyond Death. Have to admit they are a bit of fun to play.

The Constellation mechanic is making a return. Does this hint that enchantments will be a bigger thing in this set?

There is an Omen enchantment cycle. Which has an appropriate colour etb effect, and then a 3CMC sacrifice the card to Scry 2, and they have flash.

Escape is a new mechanic being introduced that allows you to cast a card from the graveyard. You exile four other cards from your graveyard and pay the escape cost of the card to be able to cast the card from the graveyard.

One or two of the leaked cards look sweet. But the take home is the above really.