Nahiri, the LithomancerNahiri, the Lithomancer | Art by Eric Deschamps

Heating up the Forge

Salutations, readers! This week on Precon Remastered, where we remake older precons, we arrive at a new set of precons. Starting this week, we're taking on the Commander 2014 precons, all of which are mono-colored. See, there's a beauty to having mono-color decks, and I more or less described it in an article a few weeks back.

Another feature of these precons is that this is the first time we see planeswalkers as commanders. As such, we're going to be remastering the precons with them in mind. First on our list is Nahiri, the LithomancerNahiri, the Lithomancer, who is very much an Equipment-centric commander (hint: her +1 ability goes great with SkullclampSkullclamp), but is her list more coherent, or are we looking at an identity crisis like we saw in Commander 2013?

Gathering the Tools

As always, here are our rules for remastering precons:

1. The value of the deck cannot exceed $120. This will apply to the reprints only, which gets to my first personal quirk.
2. Every card unique to the original precon stays in the deck. All those new cards that get released with precons remain in the list.
3. The land package should closely reflect what we get in precons these days (and, in my humble opinion, they're actually pretty good).
4. At least until 2020, we're not tied to a particular set, so we're free to choose whatever we want. You can be assured I have ideas for 2020 and beyond, though.
5. Universes Beyond cards are not added. No exceptions, unless they have an in-universe variant.

With that out of the way, let's take a good look at what the precon looked like originally.

The Original List

An Eye for Details

Firstly, we can say that, while the list does suffer from a split in themes, at least they're working together...somewhat. The creature lineup isn't exactly brimming with creatures that we must equip. But hey, at least we got reprints of the Medallion cycle, so that's good, right? Yes, but there aren't many ways to buff those tokens either. It seems clear that the intent is to equip the tokens with our Equipment, then proceed to pummel our opponents. That's all well and good, but Equipment decks have seriously evolved these days, and most of them don't use many tokens, if at all.

The new cards, though, are solid. Masterwork of IngenuityMasterwork of Ingenuity is an Equipment clone, turning it into whatever we want it to be. There's always the awesome but niche ComeuppanceComeuppance, which is bound to create stories at the table. In addition, Fell the MightyFell the Mighty is one of the best board wipes for a Tokens deck out there. However, most of the rest deal with making tokens in varying degrees. Also, the deck's alternate commander, Jazal GoldmaneJazal Goldmane, is one of the only ways to pump our board of tokens into something lethal, but five mana is quite an investment to make to do so.

Lastly, the card quality, as always, can be so much better. That said, the best part is that we don't have to worry about mana bases for this set of precons since we're never going to get color screwed. Again, one of the great things about mono-color decks as well as being easy on our wallets.

The Finished Product

Top-Notch Quality

The improved list still retains the Tokens subtheme, but it's been greatly reduced, mostly relegated to the new cards. On top of that, we now have better equip targets alongside a much better Equipment lineup. Working with the tokens is Bloodforged Battle-AxeBloodforged Battle-Axe, which is bound to get a ton of copies to spread around. No need to axe any questions about it.

...Are you still with me? Moving on.

While he didn't exist when this precon was released, Sram, Senior EdificerSram, Senior Edificer provides much-needed draw card, especially in a color that's notorious for lacking it (at least that was true back in the day). The same can be said about ramp, and cards like Archaeomancer's MapArchaeomancer's Map have come out since then, providing white with needed essentials.

In addition, we also get what could be one of the best Equipment (besides SkullclampSkullclamp) for her +1 ability: Colossus HammerColossus Hammer. Since the ability automatically attaches an Equipment to the token Nahiri, the LithomancerNahiri, the Lithomancer creates, it'll bypass the whopping eight mana needed to equip the Hammer.

More Thoughts

Furthermore, there are some more new additions I'd like to highlight. Both Welcoming VampireWelcoming Vampire and Tocasia's WelcomeTocasia's Welcome both work with (you guessed it) Nahiri, the LithomancerNahiri, the Lithomancer's +1 ability, letting us draw a card off the token entering. With the aforementioned SkullclampSkullclamp, we'd be drawing the equivalent of an Ancestral RecallAncestral Recall!

Meanwhile, Heavenly Blademaster is a nasty piece of work here. With the right Equipment attached, she's sure to menace our opponents while slashing their life totals in chunks. We can also achieve this with Balan, Wandering KnightBalan, Wandering Knight. The only difference is that Balan doesn't fly, so we'll have to find some other form of evasion.

I made no changes to the mana base. Expect this to be a common trend with Commander 2014, as there really isn't much to upgrade. Unless someone happens to have a bunch of Nykthos, Shrine to NyxNykthos, Shrine to Nyxes growing on trees. Not a land, but the same can be said for Throne of EldraineThrone of Eldraine, which doesn't deserve the price tag it has. Here's to it being reprinted to the ground, I hope (Nykthos is a lot more unlikely).

Lastly, we have a few more pieces of recursion. That said, the best of these is Unfinished BusinessUnfinished Business, which not only revives a creature, but attaches a load of Equipment (or Auras, if we're into that) to said creature. So, picking the right creature to recur could potentially close the game from out of nowhere.

Whited Out

Looking at both lists side by side is a way of seeing how much white (and Commander as a whole) has changed over the last 10 years at least. Also, we're almost certainly going to see the same thing reflected in the other lists as well. With the new starter precons coming out later being mono-color, it'll be interesting to compare this list with the new mono-white deck (which is confirmed to be Giada, Font of HopeGiada, Font of Hope).

In the meantime, tune in next time, where we return to our other series, Commander Makeover.