(Ghalta, Primal Hunger | Art by Chase Stone)

Fresh Meat

Commander Masters release is nearly upon us. This set is crammed full of reprints from the long history of the format. If that wasn’t enough, we’re getting some fantastic new art treatments for classic characters. There’s plenty for everyone in Commander Masters, especially for the new player.

Commander preconstructed decks (precons) are the ideal way to welcome a new player into the format. These decks are simple, to the point, and are free of some of the more confusing/frustrating combo interactions that can stump newer players. These decks seek to break down that initial barrier of getting someone to actually sit at the table and give the game a try. To put it simply: it's EDH-in-a-box.

A skill that preconstructed decks don’t teach, however, is deckbuilding, or how to choose a commander that aligns with your interests. This article is going to look at some of the most accessible reprints from Commander Masters as well help you choose your very first commander based on your interests, personality, and playstyle.

If you’re an enfranchised player who just loves deckbrewing, bear with us here (and in the comments) and remember that everyone starts somewhere. This article also represents an opportunity for you. Do you have a friend who you’d love to introduce to your favorite hobby? Maybe a partner who loves board games or video games and would love Magic if Wizards could just print a specific type of precon for them? This article is for you to embrace this challenge and try building a spare deck to help someone enjoy Commander as much as you have.

White

Odric is a long and storied character from the plane of Innistrad. Before his obsession with Blood tokens, he was a master strategist and excelled in controlling combat. When a new player sits down at the table to play for the first time, you might notice they can be a little hesitant around the combat step. They can be unsure whether to attack with one creature, two, or at all for fear of blockers and potentially losing their precious creatures.

Odric allows for manipulation of the combat step, which is scary enough for any table no matter how experienced. Opponents will plead for mercy when they realize that their commander or key synergy creatures are at risk of being removed by your attacking forces. Choosing how your opponent blocks means that you can ensure Odric is pitted against a creature you can kill. Odric’s first strike can remove problematic blockers with deathtouch or key combo pieces, like a Devoted Druid.

While Odric lacks the cost reduction or card advantage we’ll see from some other commanders on this list, mastery of the combat step is no joke. This helps to keep your creatures on the battlefield longer. Choose Odric as your commander and you’ll see why might makes right. Just be sure to include some of the key card advantage pieces to shore up against some of the weaknesses of white. Cards like Cut a Deal, Your Temple Is Under Attack, and Secret Rendezvous will help you ensure you've got creatures hitting the table turn after turn.

Blue

Before the days of the Lord of the Nazgûl, there was Talrand, Sky Summoner. This card has seen many reprints over the years (and has rightfully been included in many Commander preconstructed decks), Talrand is the commander to start your friends on the path of the blue mage.

Talrand is wide open in terms of deck construction; their ability rewards you with a 2/2 Drake creature token every time you cast an instant or sorcery spell. In blue? That happens quite often. Here lies Talrand’s first strength: accessibility. If you’re struggling to build your first Commander deck, you really can't go wrong if you chose 60 random instants and sorceries from your collection. Once you’ve shuffled up your pile of Islands and the bulk spells from your LGS’ draft bin, cast Talrand and you’ll find the glue that holds this kind of deck together.

Talrand’s ability passively adds to your board presence, which is important in Commander and doubly so in blue. Blue’s strength can lie in spells that set back your opponents' board states but don’t necessarily advance your own. With Talrand, spells like Into the Roil can remove an opponent's attacking creature for a turn while letting you untap with a creature to send a bit of damage back in their direction.

Finally, evasion is key when it comes to successfully attacking in Commander. While Talrand won’t do much attacking, the fact that these tokens have flying will have you swiftly breaking through congested board states and attacking over big blockers. Combat damage, attacking, and blocking can be some of the most exciting moves for a new player to make; make them with Talrand, and you’ll be a master of the skies in no time.

Black

Now, Commander Masters is jam-packed when it comes to accessible black commanders, and this slot could just as easily have been taken up by the popular Gonti, Lord of Luxury or Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker. These commanders are both incredible and have stood the test of time, so for now let’s come out of our shell a little and look at Gorex, the Tombshell.

Gorex, like with Ghalta, Primal Hunger, comes with baked-in cost reduction: each creature card you exile from your graveyard reduces two colorless mana from Gorex’s mana value. This means Gorex can potentially cost as little as two mana. This ability can also be used to offset the commander tax you may encounter.

Gorex has a respectable power and toughness and is able to deal 10% of your opponent's starting life total with each attack. Deathtouch makes Gorex an adept attacker or blocker, and also means that damage is all the more likely to get through. Once we start attacking, Gorex becomes even more interesting.

When Gorex attacks or dies, you're able to choose a card at random exiled with Gorex and put that card into your hand. This is a great ability for EDH. It means that if someone removes Gorex, you're replacing them with a creature card you can play with instead. This allows you to stall for time before you cast Gorex again. If someone doesn’t remove Gorex, then you're rewarded with a card for every attack. Gorex provides this pseudo card-advantage, allowing you to play your creatures and block to prevent early-game damage, then use them as cost reduction and get them back to start the cycle all over again.

Gorex is the epitome of a black commander, processing bodies to become grist for the mill before spitting them out again. This commander will teach you that there is value in your graveyard, and that what’s dead may not always stay that way.

Red

Alright, you might know who's coming next. It’s Krenko, Mob Boss. A wise man once said, "There’s not a problem that can’t be solved with enough Goblins". Krenko, Mob Boss is a powerful commander, and he is the premier commander for the Goblin creature type. Krenko shares a lot of strengths with Talrand. Let's go further into why Krenko is a great choice for a newer player.

First, let's just talk about the ubiquity of Goblins. Goblins are everywhere. They're printed a ton in Magic, which means they’re often cheap (with the few exceptions of older staples that haven’t been reprinted in a while). When you’re looking at getting into EDH through the lens of a new player, this is especially important. It’s rewarding to select a commander to be the glue that holds your favorite cards in your collection together. With Krenko, all we need is a fat stack of Goblins and a direction to point them in, and here’s how we’re going to do it.

Krenko allows you to essentially double your Goblins every turn, sometimes even more if we can include ways to untap Krenko. This turns a meek pile of creatures into a snowball that builds and builds until it becomes a Goblin avalanche. Sure, your opponents can block a single 1/1 creature, but they might have trouble blocking 200 of them. Krenko allows you to stick to the board like glue with your Goblin army. Sure, you’ll lose some of your tokens to defending blockers, but that’s no matter when you’ll have twice as many next turn.

Finally, Krenko is sneaky. You might think that an army of Goblins is good for one thing: attacking. And you’d be right. Krenko, however, is also open to more indirect means of damage. Learn about burn and let your opponents fear your 200 Goblins as they avoid combat entirely with spells like Goblin Bombardment. Feel the quake of their impact destroying your opponents with Impact Tremors. Krenko isn’t above subtler means to make sure that your incoming and outgoing Goblins can’t be utilized to their full potential. He'll show you that it doesn’t matter how meek you may be, you’ll fit in a catapult all the same.

Green

In green, we get some very enticing options. The classic card Yisan, the Wanderer Bard is definitely worth considering. His powerful ability to pull a choice creature out of your deck is a great addition to anything that utilizes green. This Swiss Army Knife commander can be activated in response to a problematic permanent to get you just the right creature. For a new player, however, this could present the problem of analysis paralysis and feelings of anxiety around slow playing if they aren’t sure which creature to grab and when.

So, we're just going to smash people with Dinosaurs instead.

At first glance, Ghalta, Primal Hunger looks like a very difficult commander to put into play. A mana value of 12 is immense considering that each time your commander is removed you must pay an additional two mana. You are, however, rewarded with raw power and a simple gameplan. Ghalta wants you to do one thing and one thing only: hit your opponents in the face with a big Dinosaur. With 12 power and 12 toughness, it takes exactly two hits from Ghalta to remove a player from the game. Trample ensures that you're able to push damage through to your opponents even if they block with their smaller creatures, but that’s not necessarily Ghalta's true strength.

Ghalta comes with built-in cost reduction, costing X mana less, where X is the total power of creatures you control. This allows you to get lots of mileage out of mana creatures, like Elvish Mystic, who essentially counts for two towards Ghalta. Efficient creatures, like Steel Leaf Champion and Leatherback Baloth (who bring high power to the table for a low mana value), act as amazing cost reduction for your commander, as well as being potent attackers themselves.

Ghalta also packs resilience, as new players are likely to make mistakes, and potent commanders are more likely to be removed. This cost reduction helps you get back in the fight and stomp to your heart’s content. Anticipate removal with Bear Umbra, and evade your opponent with Canopy Cover. Ghalta can be a removal magnet, but as an opponent, just remember it’s not about whether you could, but whether you should. After all, a Dinosaur attacking your opponents is never a bad thing.

The End Step

Here, in the end step, I’d like to remind you that Magic is in a great place, and more and more people are sitting down to shuffle up and try Commander than ever before. If you were inspired by this article or you know a friend you’d love to get into Magic, I’d urge you to share this article with them. After all, playing Magic is great, and playing Magic with friends is even better.

I’d love to hear you drop some of your favorite beginner-friendly commanders in the comments; you can also chat with me on Twitter if it’s still called that by the time this article goes live. Enjoy your first steps into the multiverse with Commander Masters, and I’ll see you in the next one!

Joshua Clough

Joshua is a Medical Researcher from the UK. He's played Magic since Dragons of Tarkir and loves all things Commander, the more colours the better! When not playing Commander, he can be found insisting Jund is still a viable deck in Modern and painting tiny plastic miniatures on Twitter @PrinceofBielTan