u/Comfortable_Buyer239

I opened one of the Tarkir Dragonstorm precons today. It’s my first ever precon and sealed product. I’ve never watched one getting opened before so I really didn’t know what to expect.

Honestly, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the little details. Even ripping the side tab and seeing a thematic clan tagline revealed felt cool. It reminded me of being a kid opening a yugioh starter deck and immediately deciding “yeah, this is my faction now.”

The small collector booster didn’t give me anything worth money, but I did pull a nice full art card for the clan I’m playing, so that feels great! All in all, I’m really impressed by the amount of thought they’ve put into the unboxing experience of the precons!

Just sharing my appreciation for the precons as an unboxing experience! Curious to see what others think about it!

Been playing a lot more commander lately and have been getting comfortable (and frankly, abit bored) with the typical midrange decks that accrue value over time while building a board and engine. I want to make a crashout deck that plays extremely reckless, explosive, and hyper-risky plays. [[Greven, predator captain]] comes to mind but I’m looking for something else rhat’s even more stupidly impulsive, chaotic, and self-destructive. Hoping to have games where other players may look at my actions and say “that is so stupidly risky that I won’t counterspell it just to see what happens”. Of course, I want something that still has a chance to win, at least againt stock precons if the stars align but the fun play experience is prioritized.

Looking forward to your recommendations! Something that can be built on a lower budget is also preferred, thanks!

I’ve been thinking about building a set of “back-to-basics” EDH decks where the whole point is to stick closely to a color’s most basic, iconic play pattern, but still have the deck be genuinely good and functional, not just a pile of on-theme cards.

Examples of what I mean:

- Green: ramp + big trampling creatures
Easy example: [[Goreclaw, Terror of Qal Sisma]], I already have this one built
- Black: probably aristocrats / sacrifice / death triggers
- Blue: maybe flying creatures + card draw / tempo? I’m least familiar with this color
- White: go-wide tokens / small creature synergy
- Red: haste, cheap damage, impulse draw, attacking fast

Basically, decks that feel like “this is what this color does” in the most straightforward way possible. I think it’s neat to sometimes show that basic ‘classic’ magic can still make for fun games and may even surprise other players with more modern decks!

What commanders would you recommend for this kind of project? Ideally mono-color of course, the lesser ‘newer’ keywords the better! Bonus points if the deck can be built pretty easily out of bulk or cheap staples, while still being strong enough to hang at a normal casual B2 EDH table.

I’ve been thinking about YouTube precon upgrade guides and whether they’re generally a good thing.

Obviously, they can be very useful for a newbie, especially for newer players. They explain a deck’s game plan, make upgrading less intimidating, and give people a clear place to start. As a newbie, I was very excited to YouTube precon upgrade guides, eager to “make my precon better” as i play against friends.

But I also wonder if they sometimes encourage players to copy upgrades instead of learning how to evaluate cards themselves. They can make precons feel like they need to be “fixed” immediately, and popular guides may push everyone toward the same cards.

I remember reading a post a while ago where a dad said his young daughter couldn’t upgrade her precon because some of the specific singles she needed had spiked in price after a Command Zone upgrade video. That stuck with me, because it made me wonder whether big upgrade guides can unintentionally create a kind of “recommended upgrade tax.”

I’m not trying to make a hard claim either way. I’m mostly curious where people land on this and wanted to start a discussion: how do you feel about YouTube precon upgrade guides overall?

Between Secrets of Strixhaven and Tarkir: Dragonstorm, which set did you prefer overall? Both seem to have become two of the community’s favorite in-universe sets from the past two years, so I’m curious where people land now that we’ve had some time with them. Personally, the world-building of tarkir gives it the win over Strixhaven for me!

How would you rate each set’s design, flavor, limited/play experience, Commander impact, and precons? Did one feel more memorable or better supported than the other? Curious to hear others’ perspectives.

Getting more into Magic/EDH lately and I’m trying to find good YouTube channels to follow. I’m interested in pretty much anything useful or entertaining: lore, card reveals/spoiler discussions, general MTG/Commander talk, gameplay videos, deck techs, and especially beginner-friendly content like how to upgrade precons without just rebuilding the whole deck from scratch. Who are your go-to creators, and are there any popular ones you’d avoid or take with a grain of salt?

Hi, I applied to the MSc Finance and Accounting near the end of Round 3 applications and did my interview + written assignment on the 1st of April. The portal application history still says “with department” as the most recent application history rather than the empty line or “review in progress” I see a lot of people have just before getting their decisions. Is this normal since today is the last decision date?

Is accidentally downgrading your first Commander precon while trying to “upgrade” it a common new player thing? I’m fairly new myself, so this is more of a lighthearted, self-aware question than a criticism. It seems easy to get excited and swap out the boring-but-important stuff like ramp, draw, lands, cheap interaction, or synergy pieces. Then you add cooler cards that seem stronger individually, only to realize the deck somehow runs worse than before. Have you seen this happen in your LGS, did you do it yourself, and and what are the most common “upgrades” that end up making a deck worse?

Is accidentally downgrading your first Commander precon while trying to “upgrade” it a common new player thing? I’m fairly new myself, so this is more of a lighthearted, self-aware question than a criticism. It seems easy to get excited and swap out the boring-but-important stuff like ramp, draw, lands, cheap interaction, or synergy pieces. Then you add cooler cards that seem stronger individually, only to realize the deck somehow runs worse than before. Have you seen this happen in your LGS, did you do it yourself, and and what are the most common “upgrades” that end up making a deck worse?

What’s everyone’s favorite recent-ish set to crack packs from? Mainly talking stuff that’s still pretty easy to find at an LGS, like Tarkir: Dragonstorm, Secrets of Strixhaven, Foundations, Bloomburrow, aetherdrift, etc. Not really asking about card values or monetary ROI, just which sets were the most fun to open, had the coolest cards, or gave you the most “I’m inspired to build something with this” pulls?

I get why “just buy singles” is the default advice, especially if you’re building toward a specific deck. But I’m still at the stage where I’m trying to expand my collection and actually enjoy the process, not just optimize every purchase. Commander precons and things like the Foundations Starter Collection make sense to me because they give you a useful base to build from. I also like making decks out of cards I already happen to own rather than fully netdecking, so having a random-ish card pool is part of the appeal.

Boosters are obviously the least efficient option, but opening one here and there is just fun. It gives me that childhood feeling of walking into the LGS with saved pocket money and seeing what I pull. For people who’ve played longer, how do you personally balance singles, sealed products, and occasional packs? Are there sealed products you think are genuinely good for collection-building, or is the “buy singles” rule still basically undefeated?

I get why “just buy singles” is the default advice, especially if you’re building toward a specific deck. But I’m still at the stage where I’m trying to expand my collection and actually enjoy the process, not just optimize every purchase. Commander precons and things like the Foundations Starter Collection make sense to me because they give you a useful base to build from. I also like making decks out of cards I already happen to own rather than fully netdecking, so having a random-ish card pool is part of the appeal.

Boosters are obviously the least efficient option, but opening one here and there is just fun. It gives me that childhood feeling of walking into the LGS with saved pocket money and seeing what I pull. For people who’ve played longer, how do you personally balance singles, sealed products, and occasional packs? Are there sealed products you think are genuinely good for collection-building, or is the “buy singles” rule still basically undefeated?

I’ve been playing Commander for a bit and wanted to get others’ opinion on recent precons.

A friend is preordering one of the Marvel Super Heroes precons with the plan to upgrade it over time, and that made me consider grabbing a precon myself too. I’m currently looking at precons from Tarkir: Dragonstorm, but I’m not locked in that set yet. Its main appeal thus far is definitely its aesthetics and lore.

What recent precons have been the strongest, most fun, or most worth upgrading in your experience?

I’m a newer Commander player and someone at my LGS kindly gifted me an old copy of [[Alesha, Who Smiles at Death]]. I thought the card looked really cool, especially as a Mardu graveyard/aristocrats commander, but after looking around at newer options like [[Zurgo Stormrender]] and [[Terra, Herald of Hope]], I’m wondering whether Alesha has been mostly outclassed.

More specifically, I’m curious about whether she has any unique strengths that newer Mardu commanders don’t replace? Or is she just slower and narrower than newer commanders that generate value more easily?

I’m not trying to build cEDH or anything. I’m mostly aiming for upgraded-precon / mid-power Commander, and I like decks with graveyard value, sacrifice, aristocrats, and some reactive decision-making. Currently, I have just enough budget to either purchase a bunch of singles or buy one of either Mardu precons.

Would love to hear from people who have played Alesha before: Is she still worth building, what does she do better than the newer options, and what are the biggest traps a new player should avoid when building her?