Hello! Welcome to my set review of Wilds of Eldraine Commander where I’ll be going over all the new cards in each of the Commander preconstructed decks, as well as touching on what cool reprints are in the decks!
Fae Dominion is Faerie creature deck that people have been begging for. Yes, we had Alela, Artful Provocateur’s Brawl deck which had a few Faeries and Alela herself – but that was artifact and enchantment themed and not so Faerie-focused. This deck and a creature typal deck and supports it big time. Let’s talk about all the new goodies we get in this deck and some important old goodies, too. Since a lot of these are Faerie cards, a lot of commentary will be a little redundant.
This is the face commander and it’s just very solid. A Faerie anthem and a Faerie version of Midnight Reaper in the command zone is just peachy for a Faerie typal deck. Tegwyll costs three mana which is a great rate for what you get. Straight up, nothing else to say about it. It’s solid as hell.
Alela, Artful Provocateur has become Alela, Cunning Conqueror. As much as I want to say that all she lost was white, Alela is so different in this iteration that you’ll need a whole new shell.
Artifacts and Enchantments are no longer your means of creating Faerie tokens, but rather instants and flash spells during your opponents’ turns. On top of that, getting to goad up to three creatures a combat can be pretty brutal and keep in line with the play style of control and draw-go.
I appreciate this design but it is not my kind of style of play. That said, I’d love to try a well-built version of this deck.
Mama mia! Is it time to break out Inalla, Archmage Ritualist again?
Archmage of Echoes is a Reflections of Littjara for Wizards and Faeries that also attacks as a 4/4 and has Ward 2.
What more can you ask for in a deck that is focused on either Faerie or Wizard creatures types or both? Getting a double cast on your creatures is gorgeous. I can’t say much when something is this clean and good. Great job!
An extra little treat for draw-go decks that favour playing on your opponents’ turns. Instants and flash cards can now be a cantrip from your opponents’ decks.
This card is a clear seed for the secondary precon commander Alela, Cunning Conqueror. Nymris, Oona’s Trickster decks get a good extra bit of fun. Grixis decks like Kess, Dissident Mage can probably make use of this.
That said, I’m not personally attracted to this card as a deck builder. A flying deathtoucher is a great rattlesnake to dissuade attacks on you and plays really well into the play style. Great for those players who love this kind of deck!
In this precon, Faerie Bladecrafter is the Faerie you’re hoping to get a few copies of. It pumps itself gradually and when it dies, you drain the table equal to its power. That’s pretty great! On a good turn, you can take the Bladecrafter from 2/2 to 5/5 and it’s a threat to make your opponents lose five at any moment? Yowza! Plus the face commander of this deck has a Faerie anthem on it.
This is a Faerie card but it is also a Rogue. If you can get in with it a few times, the Bladecrafter is still something to keep your eye on, but unless you’ve got a few Faerie Rogues in your Rogue deck, I probably wouldn’t consider it too hard.
A four mana Clone with Flash was originally just Stunt Double and that card was good.
Malleable Impostor is a Stunt Double that remains a Faerie Shapeshifter and keeps flying, but – and it’s a big but – it cannot become a copy of your own creatures.
This isn’t so bad when you’re copying your opponent’s Dockside Extortionist for example, but if you were hoping to have a copy of a Faerie in your Faerie deck that’s doing a lot of work for you, like Archmage of Echoes for example, you’d better hope someone else has one in play.
Stunt Double is probably the better call for flexibility. The word Malleable being on a card that has a restriction is very funny to me.
When Portal Mage was first previewed in 2017, I was in awe of how cool the effect seemed. I played it a few times in the Wizard precon and it was great when I did get to cast it and copy it.
But then I still died because you’re only moving one attacking creature.
The upside in having an impact on combat like this with Portal Mage was that you also have a blocker.
Misleading Signpost is Portal Mage on an Artifact that taps for blue mana. As much as people are making a meme of Misleading Signpost and some folks are actually considering it for their decks, we have enough data from Portal Mage to suggest that it’s extremely unlikely that this card will be making an impact.
Nettling Nuisance is a Faerie card in that it can force three of your opponents to create the 4/2 goaded Pirate at its top end only if you have three Faeries get in for combat damage…
However! Nettling Nuisance counts itself and a 3/1 flying little guy that can get in and force a 4/2 goaded creature on your opponents that also cannot block, that’s pretty solid in the right decks. Thantis, the Warweaver forced combat decks or Karazikar, the Eye Tyrant decks are another great home for Nettling Nuisance.
All of this before even touching on the fact that Nettling Nuisance is a Rogue as well! Anowon, the Ruin Thief decks are bound to have room for an evasive Rogue that forces more damage around the table.
A small concern is the creation of Pirates, specifically. Pirate decks are about to be popular again with our return to Ixalan and some decks are Pirate themed decks that key off of them entering the battlefield like Coercive Recruiter. Here’s a solution to that problem – don’t attack that player! Or even maybe don’t play the Nuisance when it could be detrimental. It can stay in your hand!
Shadow Puppeteers is a hell of a finisher in the flying deck. Whether it’s in a monoblue deck like Donal, Herald of Wings or a Thopter focused Breya, Etherium Shaper (I’m sure somebody out there has built this), Shadow Puppeteers at the top. End means that the turn it enters, your 1/1 flyers are now unexpectedly 4/4s. This isn’t Craterhoof Behemoth levels of surprise damage, but it’s still a boost in a colour that isn’t known to have that in its back pocket.
Not to mention, Tegwyll, the precon’s face commander buffs by another +1/+1, so that turns your puny 1/1s into 5/5s. You’re telling me if your friend’s bird deck that slammed a Flurry of Wings during another opponent’s big swing isn’t going to be the scariest at the table when they throw down the Puppeteers? Ain’t no way. Shadow Puppeteers is Overrun for flyers. Alela, Artful Provocateur should be enough of an example to show you just how crazy a deck can get out of hand.
The final card we review is a board wipe with some flexibility. Similarly to Rout and cards like it, Tegwyll’s Scouring has modal element to it wherein you can pay an additional cost to cast it at instant speed.
Will Tegwyll’s Scouring see play outside of this precon? I doubt it because it is a six mana wrath effect, but I will say it is absolutely perfect for its namesake. If you’ve got a board of Faeries and Tegwyll, Duke of Splendor out but an opponent is about to slam a Craterhoof Behemoth, playing the Scouring with Hoof is on the stack is great especially because Tegwyll’s about to give you a bunch of cards too. Solid in the precon, but unless you’re going hard on flying theme in a deck with black, this isn’t going anywhere else.
Important Reprints
Excellent Faeries and some solid spells get a new look and printing in this deck.
Brazen Borrower, Glen Elendra Archamage, Halo Forager, Hullbreaker Horror, Oona, Queen of the Fae, Puppeteer Clique, Rankle, Master of Pranks, Scion of Oona, Sower of Temptation, Kindred Dominance, Dig Through Time, Arcane Denial, Consider, Keep Watch, Theoretical Duplication, Thrilling Encore, Arcane Signet, Sol Ring, Dimir Signet, Fellwar Stone, Midnight Clock, Talisman of Dominance, Reflections of Littjara, Bojuka Bog, and Secluded Glen.
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