Is It Worth It To Buy An Edge Of Eternities Commander Deck? | A Magic: The Gathering Product Review

0:00 [Music] Many Magic the Gathering players ask the question, is it worth it to buy an Edge of Eternities Commander deck? Magic returns to its own universe kind of in Edge of Eternities and with it two brand new commander precons featuring for the first time legendary spacecraft as their face commanders. That's right. Coinciding with the recent change to commander rules that allows players to run legendary vehicles and spacecraft as their commanders, Wizards of the Coast has unsurprisingly demonstrated this change in the construction of these newest commander precons.

0:45 But how successfully do these two Edge of Eternity's precons sell this rules change? Are these spacecraft headline decks as fun to pilot as other standard set precons? and how much value is contained within each deck. Are these decks great for brand new players of interest to experience? And most importantly, financial value aside, how well are they constructed and how much fun are they to play? All these questions and more, what's in store? So, let's take a look. But before we continue, I've got big news. I've been contracted to make my very own commercial for Micro Center. That's right, a Toarian Community College crafted commercial for Micro Center. And I think I've been able to bring the class, sophistication, and dignity that

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2:16 right. You don't shop online with MicroEnter. You actually go into a MicroEnter store like a real life human person. Think of it as your local MicroEnter store. Your LMCS LMC. We We need to workshop that MicroEnter. And if you're in Santa Clara, then do I have great news for you. MicroEnter just opened up a brand new location in your backyard. Also, you live in Santa Clara, which is pretty nice because it's got Micro Center. This brand new Santa Clara location is the 29th MicroEnter opened in the US. Wow. 29. I'm going to look to go into one now for my computing and electronics needs. Damn, that is a good price. MicroEnter is also partnered with a firm, so you

3:03 can split your purchases into payments that fit your budget. A firm allows you to buy now and pay later in installments that work for you. With this and MicroEnter's great daily deals, now is the absolute best time to finally make that PC upgrade you've been thinking about. I know you've been thinking about it. It's MicroEnter. Seriously, the stores are really good and if there's one near you, they've got great prices and everything you need. So yeah, go into MicroEnter. Thank you MicroEnter for sponsoring this video. An Edge of Eternity's commander deck contains the following. one ready-to-play 100card commander deck, which itself contains one traditional foil face commander with borderless art. In both decks, this is a legendary spacecraft, as well as one traditional

3:48 foil alternate commander, also with borderless art. In both decks, this is a legendary creature. Within the rest of the deck, 10 brand new Magic card designs can be found. And also included are one collector booster sample pack, 10 double-sided tokens, and what is generously called a commander deck box. All other extras have now apparently been cut from commander precons. There is no life wheel or spinown or other life tracker. No oversized commanders or even thick cardboard backup commanders. oversized cards and plain chase cards are gone as well. And in the case of counter intelligence, there's actually only six double-sided tokens, and instead you are given four of these punch out counter cards, which I'm sure

4:36 will be very useful. As always, the collector booster sample pack serves as a first ones free style light drug hit to get you spending $240 and up on 12 packs of the real thing. But the most notable thing about these two commander decks are that they include not one but two original dual land designs. The enemy versions of both the tango and bicycle lands, the ally versions of which have been staples of commander precons for years now. The Jund precon introduces the Golgari version of both these lands, Vernal Fen and Festerin Thicket, while the Jesy precon introduces the Boros version, Radiant Summit and Glittering Massive. These new lands, both of them are a really, really

5:21 big deal for commander. Before these decks, the tango and bicycle lands were available only in ally colors. In high power commander decks, that's not a big issue since there's plenty of better duels for enemy color decks once you're okay with spending some real money. But for budget decks, the lack of these two land cycles really, really hurt. Here's why. Tango and bicycle lands have basic land types. That means you can fetch for a verdant fen or festering thicket when you forest or swamp cycle or when you crack a fetch land, be it a slow fetch like mountain valley and rocky tarpit or a real fetch land. And of course, you can put them into play off of cards like nature's lore and farsek. Before the printing of these lands, if you are playing a budget Golgari deck that can't afford shocks or surveil lands and you

6:08 want to run Nature's Lore, you'd either have to run what is effectively a guild gate in the form of haunted meer or you'd have to accept that nature's lore will only fetch you a basic forest. But now that these lands have been created and distributed via the commander precons, budget Golgari and Boros decks get higher quality duels for the rest of time. And as Gavin has explained in his own video covering this subject in more depth, before long Simic is it, and Orzovv decks will get these cards as well. In his video, Gavin confirmed that the remainder of the two cycles will be printed in the commander precons for upcoming sets. That said, while I do applaud the creation of these two pairs of lands wholeheartedly, their inclusion does not single-handedly make the two Edge of Eternity's precons worth buying.

6:55 For that, we'll need to look at several other factors. Let's start with their market prices compared to MSRP. MSRP has been a thing for commander precons again for a while now, though the impact it's had on the cost of commander precons has been hard to gauge. Generally, at least one precon per set has pre-sold for many tens of dollars more than its compatriots. Let's see if that's the case for Edge of Eternities, which have the standard set commander precon MSRP of $44.99. On the secondary market, World Shaper, the Junded Lands precon is pre-selling for what is roughly MSRP, maybe a couple bucks above, but there's no major markups here. Counter Intelligence, on the other hand, is going for about $10 above MSRP on the secondary market. And

7:42 while I don't support paying markups, a $10 markup is a lot less egregious than the most expensive precons from prior sets. What's more, you can also buy the two decks together for a pre-sale market price of about $89.90, which is actually a few cents less than double the MSRP of a single deck. In other words, if you buy both decks, you get them both for essentially MSRP. So, if you are looking to pick up both decks, know that buying them together means that at the very least you can ensure you're not paying any markups. But let's hold on a second. Why are neither of these decks marked up to High Heaven? Yes, there's only two of them, but in the last set that we got two commander decks for, Aether Drift, the Esper Zombie precon had been marked all the way up to $75, which I hope to god

8:30 none of you actually paid. Meanwhile, the only markup here is about $10 on one of the decks. What gives? Are these decks worse than other precons? Or is excitement for commander precons just diminished for some reason? It's a sad state of the secondary market that I see a pair of new commander precons that haven't been hit by egregious markups, and I immediately become suspicious. Like, what's wrong with them? Are they bad decks? Nonetheless, the lack of markups here is a real eyebrow raiser. Let's take a closer look at each of the decks. If you were to buy the singles in each deck individually for their cheapest price rather than the deck as a whole, you would have to spend $18.10 for World Shaper and $125.74

9:17 for Counter Intelligence. That's a pretty big drop off from what the singles were worth in four out of five of the Tarquier precons back during Dragon Storm's release not too long ago, but it is roughly equivalent to the total value of the Aetherdrift precons. And since Aetherdrift also only had two Commander precons, I think that makes for a fairer comparison. But of course, these are not just pre-sale prices. They are 100 card decks that have quite a lot of bulk in them, and that bulk adds up. So, what happens when we eliminate all singles that are not worth a dollar or more from each precon? Well, 26 out of the 100 cards in World Shaper are worth $1 or more, giving the deck a total non-bulk value of $83.11.

10:03 Among these are notable reprints like Morog, Fury of Akam, Oracle of Moldia. Wow. In a Commander Precon, and even Corvald, Fay, Cursed King. spicy spicy inclusions and each of which are currently selling for between $5 and $10. There are also a few pricey new card designs as well. Exploration brood ship especially provides great redundancy for the commander staple exploration and at a much lower cost. Looking at Counter Intelligence, 28 out of the 100 cards are worth $1 or more, giving that deck a total non-bulk value of $96.81. And there are several reprints in Counter Intelligence that I really appreciate. Tethal, Inquiry, Dominus,

10:49 Swanong, and Cyberdrive Awakener are all staples of blue decks in Commander that are all right around the $10 mark. Tethal is the first of the powerful Dominus cycle to see a reprint. Hopefully, we'll see a Mandra Glory Dominus reprint before too long. Dark Steel Reactor is a powerful alternate windcon for proliferate decks, though it does raise the question of did your friend who plays a tracka really need an alternate windcon really. And as for new card designs, ripple of potential is an awesome protection spell in any deck with lots of counters and permanence. Okay, so the financial value of these decks seems to be solid. It's not extraordinarily high, but it's far from terrible. Nonetheless, we're talking about cards you're supposed to play with, not stocks or

11:35 bonds. How well do these decks function as decks? How fun are they to play and how well are they built? Let's take a look. In terms of gameplay, World Shaper is a junded land sacrifice deck that aims to put a bunch of lands into play that you'll then sacrifice for value. The face commander leads you down that path with a pair of powerful land sacrifice abilities that you unlock as you add charge counters to it. The creature commander is Zerell, Genesis Shepherd, a Crucible of Worlds ability on a five- mana flyer with a second ability that grows other creatures as you enact your game plan. You can also legally run Corvald Fay Cursed King or Soul of Windgrace as your commander if you wish, but that's less exciting than running

12:20 one of the new cards. In my evaluation, this is an extremely well-designed precon. The game plan is clear, powerful, and a lot of fun to enact. The sacrifice, Landfall, and graveyard themes all blend together seamlessly, which makes for an extremely satisfying play experience. Cards like God, Eternal Bontu, and Mazerk, Cruel Death Priest, are exciting and splashy top-end cards that embody the spirit of Bracket 2 while still synergizing nicely with the rest of the deck. The early game of this deck is fairly consistent with plenty of ramp that costs three mana or less. The late game too packs plenty of heavy hitters once you've had your land sacrifice engines online. You've also got lots of interaction for permanence of all types, including one of my favorite commander cards, wind graces judgment. There are also plenty of

13:06 classic cards for each of the three archetypes this deck bridges. cards like Morog and the Gitrog monster for lands, Corvald and Mayhem Devil for sacrifice, and formless Genesis and Molani, Yavamaya's Avatar for Graveyards. There are powerful and exciting new cards, too, like Aendo Bushrazer, which is sure to be a staple of red sacrifice decks of all kinds moving forward. I also love the nod to Scoot Swarm in the form of Scouring Swarm, a 1-1 flying insect that does a similar thing to Scoot Swarm, except when you sacrifice lands instead of when you play them. All in all, this is a very powerful precon that lovers of lands and graveyards will adore. I would say though that some of the synergies are not going to be immediately obvious to new players. So, this is a precon best suited to intermediate players and anyone else who likes a bit of challenge

13:53 when they play Magic. Counter Intelligence is a Jes proliferate precon with an artifact sub theme. The face commander is in spirit flagship vessel, a three- mana spacecraft that turns out either plus1 plus1 counters or charge counters each turn and eventually protects all the artifacts on your board from most forms of removal. The other new commander option for this deck is Kylo Apogee Mind, a three mana 33 robot artificer legend with haste that proliferates whenever it becomes tapped. Unlike with world shaper, there are no additional backup commanders in this precon. The two main kinds of counters you'll be proliferating as suggested by the ability of inspirit are plus1 plus1 counters and charge counters. Charge counters are especially potent in this deck is cards like astral cornucopia and

14:39 everflowing chalice start producing a boatload of mana once you get your proliferation engines going. There are all kinds of payoffs for charge counters. From artifacts that draw cards to artifacts that interact with your opponent's board to the affforementioned mana rocks. You'll be charging up your commander spacecraft in no time and eventually growing your board larger than most opponents will be able to keep up with. The goal of this deck is to set up your board with lots of permanence with counters of various kinds, most of which will have only one or two counters to start. Then you start getting your proliferation engines online, growing your whole board of whatever counters they happen to have until you have totally outclassed any opposing board states. There are many powerful cards in this precon all up and down the curve, but Lux Cannon is particularly absurd.

15:25 Once you're proliferating regularly, it won't be hard to blow up a permanent every single turn. Many of the new cards in this deck are also very powerful. Patrolling Peacemaker is a silly and flavorful proliferation engine that scales well with the power level of the table, as the more interaction your opponents run, the bigger your board will get. Surge Conductor is another busted proliferation engine for artifact decks specifically, making it a perfect addition to this deck. This is another incredibly powerful precon. You've got great interaction, great card draw, and a powerful, consistent, and straightforward game plan. This deck is a little simpler to pilot than World Shaper, but it's still got plenty of interesting play patterns that will appeal to players of all skill levels and experiences. Honestly, this is just a great solid precon deck. If I were to

16:11 ignore financial value entirely and just compare the two decks in terms of their construction, picking one over the other becomes a very tough call. They're both really fun, really strong, and feature cohesive game plans. And both are full of exciting new designs and some really great reprints. That being said, I would rank the World Shaper deck slightly above the Counter Intelligence deck with the added caveat that Counter Intelligence is better suited for newer players. But honestly, you cannot go wrong with either choice. Now, full disclosure, I do have mixed feelings about the choice to make legendary spacecraft and vehicles legal as commanders. And dull surprise, I kind of don't like the change. Maybe I'll elaborate on why in a future video, but

16:57 taking it as a given that this rules change is the new normal moving forward, I do think these two decks do a great job of implementing the change. The spacecraft commanders are really strong and I feel splashy enough to be fun generals in your command zone, but they're also appropriately costed and I don't believe their abilities are so strong as to warp the game around them. And while Hearthall, the Jun spacecraft, might push the boundary a little bit as its card draw ability is reminiscent of the incredibly strong and contentious Shurik Eye Genesis engine. I still feel the card is more well balanced and fun. And thus, my own bias as an old man who likes to yell at clouds aside, I will admit that these decks are extremely well constructed, and their new card designs are a lot of fun to play with.

17:44 Final conclusion, both World Shaper and Counter Intelligence are very strong and well-designed precons that showcase the mechanics and game plan they've been built around. Honestly, I think these are two of the best commander precons we've seen for an in universe set in quite some time. And I might even go so far as to say these precons are on par with some of my favorite commander precons ever. The only real downside to these commander decks is the financial value, as the singles in both decks total to a price that's about $20 lower than what I like to see in a commander precon during pre-sale. But the value isn't so low as to be egregious. And as I always stress, the real thesis of Commander precons is to be excellent gameplay experiences for both new and experienced players with road maps to awesome upgrades while simultaneously

18:31 being playable right out of the box with your friends. And these commander decks accomplish that with excellence. So the grade is a solid, enthusiastic A. Honestly, this really is everything a commander precon should be. I hope very much this video has been of some help to you. You can help me out greatly just by watching another one of my videos. Or you can check out the new mini Magic the Gathering movie made by our friends over at The Command Zone. If you've ever wondered what it would be like if Space Battles were like a Game of Commander, then this is something you've got to check out if you haven't already. Links here if you click the eye or in this video's description. And remember, whether you're looking for computers, TVs, or even those cameras that aren't in phones, and perhaps some phones, check out MicroEnter. Now with a

19:16 location in Santa Clara, MicroEnter is your awesome one-stop electronics shop. They even have cool things like Magic the Gathering cards and other impulse items. That's that's a good price, but you can check it out by going into your MicroEnter today. Thank you, MicroEnter, for sponsoring this video. [Music] Next time on Shuffle Up and Play, >> we're playing Magic the Gathering and we're going to be drawing a lot of cards because we've got Nathan from DY. >> Hi, I'm Nathan from DY.

20:02 >> You would make a really cool sphinx. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. I would answer your riddles. >> Opposition agents is gay. >> Yes, to me. >> No, I just I'm not up to date on the lore. >> I've been trying this whole time. >> I thought it was Haller. >> A dream twler. >> Oh, yeah. You're having limited flashback. >> I'm just a legitimate business person. >> So, I'm going to swing with pro at Nathan. >> You're going to counter me. You can't do it in real life. >> Remove your card. >> There are such rotund animals. >> What's your deck called? >> Do I have to say it? >> You named it. More piss.