Wow like buses, you wait for MtG content on this blog and all of a sudden three posts come along at once!

With Zendikar Rising officially releasing on Friday it meant we also got the two Commander decks that accompany this set. Ok they were meant to be out for prerelease. But a week delay these days is neither here or there.

As the back of one of the new Commander deck boxes (see image below) shows these decks differ from the annual Commander offering we get.

The first is the large version of the Commander is not in these decks. I miss them. I’m a fan of them.

The included deck box although relatively thin cardboard so won’t last forever, does allow for the decks to be sleeved. Unlike the annual Commander deck boxes. Although those are a bit more durable.

I like the addition of the life wheel. Although it could be improved so that it caters for life totals greater than 40. Once again this is not a durable item, and a short term solution. But needed for a new player to start using the deck straight away.

Naturally these new decks are built around Zendikar Rising and mechanics from the set. So Land’s Wrath is all about making use of the landfall mechanic. So naturally it has creatures that have the landfall mechanic that triggers some benefit when a land is played, it has cards for fetching lands from the library and playing extra lands on a turn, white gives the deck a couple of board wipes. And there is some playing cards from the graveyard. Which is going to be handy considering the other deck.

Sneak Attack is a rogue tribal deck. Black gives this deck it’s board wipes and removal. It’s got milling (look at the Commanders abilities for starters). Along with that it has graveyard shenanigans that allows the player to play creatures from opponents graveyards. Because this is a tribal deck there are cards that play into that.

Its obvious these two decks are designed to be played against each other. However they are also less powerful than the annual decks. Which I think is reflected in their cheaper price, and the number of new cards and reprints.

I’ve not played the decks yet, for obvious reasons. But they look good starting points for new players to the format. If they haven’t already I’m pretty sure MTGoldfish will have some sort of budget upgrade post for these decks going up soon.

I like this idea of releasing Commander decks based on a set. Although I’d like to see them release a set of 4 instead of just a couple so a group of friends can play against each other with decks at a similar level. Like the annual decks are designed for.