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While this set features only two preconstructed Magic: The Gathering Aetherdrift Commanders and a surprisingly limited number of vehicles, each deck offers a distinctive playstyle that complements the other.
Even if you’re familiar with the singleton format, these decks introduce a layer of complexity that makes them appealing to both seasoned and novice Aetherdrift Commander players. We’ve seen zombies before, and this marks our third dive into energy mechanics in a Commander deck this past year. However, there are some exciting new additions and reprints to keep an eye on.
If you want to pick these decks up and dominate your next game night, here’s everything you need to know about the MTG Aetherdrift preconstructed Commanders.
How to Play the Magic: The Gathering Living Energy
- Energy-focused deck
- Build energy and make powerful plays
- Consider adding Aether Refiner to boost energy production
This deck follows the energy theme we’ve seen in previous preconstructed Commander decks from MTG Modern Horizons III and MTG Fallout: Universes Beyond. If you’ve tried those, you understand how energy mechanics operate. You generate energy with foundational cards and then unleash it for impactful effects to gain a decisive advantage. Saheeli, Radiant Creator, the main Commander of Living Energy, generates energy each time you cast an artificer or an artifact spell. Additionally, during your combat phase, you can pay three energy to create a 5/5 copy of any of your permanents and sacrifice it at the end of the next turn.
This deck isn’t just about deploying big creatures to attack your opponents; it’s also about triggering additional “enter the battlefield” abilities to accumulate energy and gain an edge over your opponents. Simple artifact creatures like Solemn Simulacrum and Triplicate Titan can help you build energy while serving as excellent targets for duplication.
It’s crucial to remember that you gain energy only by casting artifacts, so methods of cheating them into play don’t work efficiently. This limits certain upgrade options. Also, keep in mind the legend rule, which discourages adding too many legendary cards unless you’re banking on specific death triggers. However, a legendary creature you should definitely consider is Brudiclad, Telchor Engineer. This card creates a blue Myr at the start of combat and can transform all your tokens into copies of a different token you control. This means you could generate tokens to copy something like Triplicate Titan, converting your entire board state into powerful creatures in one move.
Also, think about including cost-effective energy staples like Aether Refinery to multiply energy gains and consolidate that energy into one formidable creature.
Your strategy with this deck, and any upgrades you make, should be to create energy consistently, accumulate it while establishing board control, and then go all out. With enough card draw and power from those “enter the battlefield” triggers, you’ll leave your opponents scrambling to catch up, allowing you to shine in one of the top card games around.
Living Energy
This is our third energy-themed deck within just a year. It takes elements that work well with cards like Jolly Balloon Man, making them a bit more challenging to set up but much more potent when executed. Much like \”Science!\” from the Fallout Universes Beyond set, it could benefit from a few additional synergy cards; nonetheless, it serves as a solid introduction to energy mechanics and aligns perfectly with Aetherdrift’s emphasis on speed and machinery.
How to Play the Magic: The Gathering Eternal Might
In a way that is rare in recent precon releases, the alternative Commander for Eternal Might stands on equal ground with the main deck, given the right cards. Hashaton, Scarab’s Fist, a 1/3 Commander for just one white and one black, can duplicate creature cards you discard by paying three mana. If you include cards like Rhet-Tomb Mystic, which allows for drawing while cycling through your hand, you can empty your entire hand and reanimate all those cards for just three mana. Pairing this with traditional reanimation cards can let you play the same creatures multiple times.
Your primary Commander, Temmet, Naktamun’s Will, allows you to draw and discard a card each time it attacks, buffing all zombies with +1/+1 until the end of turn when you draw a card. Given that you draw at the start of every turn, having it in play essentially functions like a consistent anthem effect. In a zombie deck aimed at overwhelming opponents with sheer numbers, this combination is invaluable.
To utilize this deck effectively, you should focus on sending your cards to the graveyard, allowing you to bring them back and strike quickly. Zombie decks are susceptible to board wipes and graveyard hate, so always retain some backup power. You’ll find this deck might struggle a bit with drawing enough cards, so consider adding value cards like Graveborn Muse or even a straightforward Brainstorm. It may also be wise to replace Maskwood Nexus, which makes all your creatures become every type, with something like Diregraf Captain that strengthens your zombies. Maskwood Nexus can feel unnecessary, as a well-constructed zombie deck will mainly rely on zombie creatures.
You might also want to include Ghoulish Procession or Open the Graves, which generate zombie tokens when non-token creatures die, to help mitigate board wipes. However, since this deck has a strong focus on tokens, these may be more effective sideboard options to counter opponents who favor board wipes like Blasphemous Act. Lastly, if you find you’re losing too much life, consider adding a couple of simple lifelink enchantments to your sideboard for added sustainability.
Eternal Might serves as a mid-range aggressive deck that revolves around graveyard plays. As long as you maintain just enough power to rebuild your board and seize every opportunity to draw cards, your undead army should be more than capable of putting up a fierce fight at any game table.
Eternal Might
A straightforward archetype executed well, Eternal Might delivers a pure zombie experience from its color pool. A few additional big hitters could enhance the deck, and removing some redundancies would help, but this is one of the best zombie Commanders we’ve seen in some time. Its Egyptian theme adds even more character.
Looking for something different to play? Check out the best board games or the best adult board games.
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