<p style="text-align: right;"><em><span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Daretti, Scrap Savant" href="#" target="_blank">Daretti, Scrap Savant</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> | Art by <a href="https://danscottart.com/">Dan Scott</a></em></p>
<h2>Entering the Junkyard</h2>
<p>Welcome to another edition of <em>Precon Remastered</em>! Here, we take older precons and polish them for the modern era. This week, we're tackling what I think is the best of the <a href="https://edhrec.com/sets/c14"><em>Commander 2014</em></a> precons. I remember this precon well, and it's one I have some fond memories of. Without further ado, the commander for this week:</p>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Daretti, Scrap Savant"></div></div>
<p>It's easy to see why <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Daretti, Scrap Savant" href="#" target="_blank">Daretti, Scrap Savant</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> is popular: he's card draw, he has a powerful emblem (assuming we get there), and the minus ability is very exploitable. From netting value to bringing back big, hulking machines (even both!), there's a lot of stuff that can be done. But first, the rules.</p>
<h3>Scrapyard Rules</h3>
<p>As always, here are our rules for remastering precons:</p>
<ol>
<li>The value of the deck cannot exceed $120. This will apply to the reprints only, which gets to my first personal quirk.</li>
<li>Every card unique to the original precon stays in the deck. All those new cards that get released with precons remain in the list.</li>
<li>The land package should closely reflect what we get in precons these days (and, in my humble opinion, they're actually pretty good).</li>
<li>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.</li>
<li>Universes Beyond cards are not added. No exceptions, unless they have an in-universe variant. Granted, this will change when we get there.</li>
</ol>
<p>With that out of the way, let's take a good look at what the precon looked like originally.</p>
<h3>The Original List</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Built from Scratch - Commander 2014" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Commander]
*1 Daretti, Scrap Savant
[/Commander]
[Creatures]
*1 Beetleback Chief
*1 Bogardan Hellkite
*1 Bosh, Iron Golem
*1 Bottle Gnomes
*1 Cathodion
*1 Dualcaster Mage
*1 Epochrasite
*1 Feldon of the Third Path
*1 Flametongue Kavu
*1 Goblin Welder
*1 Hoard-Smelter Dragon
*1 Ingot Chewer
*1 Junk Diver
*1 Myr Battlesphere
*1 Myr Retriever
*1 Myr Sire
*1 Palladium Myr
*1 Pentavus
*1 Pilgrim&#039;s Eye
*1 Solemn Simulacrum
*1 Spitebellows
*1 Steel Hellkite
*1 Tuktuk the Explorer
*1 Tyrant&#039;s Familiar
*1 Warmonger Hellkite
*1 Wurmcoil Engine
[/Creatures]
[Instants]
*1 Chaos Warp
*1 Impact Resonance
*1 Magmaquake
*1 Starstorm
*1 Volcanic Offering
*1 Word of Seizing
[/Instants]
[Sorceries]
*1 Blasphemous Act
*1 Faithless Looting
*1 Incite Rebellion
*1 Scrap Mastery
*1 Whipflare
[/Sorceries]
[Artifacts]
*1 Caged Sun
*1 Commander&#039;s Sphere
*1 Dreamstone Hedron
*1 Everflowing Chalice
*1 Fire Diamond
*1 Ichor Wellspring
*1 Jalum Tome
*1 Liquimetal Coating
*1 Loreseeker&#039;s Stone
*1 Mind Stone
*1 Mycosynth Wellspring
*1 Panic Spellbomb
*1 Pristine Talisman
*1 Ruby Medallion
*1 Sol Ring
*1 Spine of Ish Sah
*1 Swiftfoot Boots
*1 Trading Post
*1 Unstable Obelisk
*1 Wayfarer&#039;s Bauble
[/Artifacts]
[Enchantments]
*1 Bitter Feud
[/Enchantments]
[Lands]
*1 Arcane Lighthouse
*1 Buried Ruin
*1 Darksteel Citadel
*1 Dormant Volcano
*1 Flamekin Village
*1 Forgotten Cave
*1 Ghost Quarter
*1 Great Furnace
*29 Mountain
*1 Phyrexia&#039;s Core
*1 Reliquary Tower
*1 Smoldering Crater
*1 Temple of the False God
[/Lands]"></span></div>
<h3>Assessing the Scraps</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Wurmcoil Engine"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Feldon of the Third Path"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Dualcaster Mage"></div></div>
<p>The stock list is actually a good place to begin an artifact deck. While the deck does seem cohesive at first glance, there's a slight <a href="https://edhrec.com/tags/etb">ETB</a> (enters the battlefield) subtheme because of the precon's secondary commander, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Feldon of the Third Path" href="#" target="_blank">Feldon of the Third Path</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. He's useful in our 99, but he requires a more dedicated build to maximize his potential as a commander.</p>
<p>Speaking of new cards, they're rather all over the place here. We have a couple of gems, like the aforementioned Feldon and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Scrap Mastery" href="#" target="_blank">Scrap Mastery</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, we also have a few duds like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Warmonger Hellkite" href="#" target="_blank">Warmonger Hellkite</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Flamekin Village" href="#" target="_blank">Flamekin Village</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, which are better off elsewhere. Among these, though, is <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Dualcaster Mage" href="#" target="_blank">Dualcaster Mage</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. The card's notorious for enabling infinite combos with the likes of <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ghostly Flicker" href="#" target="_blank">Ghostly Flicker</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, but it's much more tame here. We're more likely going to copy an opponent's spell than our own.</p>
<p>The reprints are a mixed bag. We have some weaker cards like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Whipflare" href="#" target="_blank">Whipflare</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, but we also get some absolute cinema options like <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Wurmcoil Engine" href="#" target="_blank">Wurmcoil Engine</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> (which, at the time, caused quite a firestorm, in a good way. It was wild). A good number of them work with the theme of the deck, but as always, there's some work to do.</p>
<p>As we'll see, it won't take much to remaster this precon. A significant improvement over its predecessors, be they this year (so far), or the previous years. In fact, the price of the precon is actually under $120! It's really going to be about keeping it under the limit while improving on the card quality.</p>
<h3><em>Built from Scratch</em> Remastered</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__deck mtgh"><span class="edhrecp__deck-s" name="Built from Scratch Remastered" site="edhrec" archidekt_link="" cards="[Commander]
*1 Daretti, Scrap Savant
[/Commander]
[Artifacts]
*1 Caged Sun
*1 Collector&#039;s Vault
*1 Commander&#039;s Sphere
*1 Dreamstone Hedron
*1 Everflowing Chalice
*1 Fire Diamond
*1 Ichor Wellspring
*1 Loreseeker&#039;s Stone
*1 Mind Stone
*1 Mirage Mirror
*1 Mycosynth Wellspring
*1 Nevinyrral&#039;s Disk
*1 Ruby Medallion
*1 Sol Ring
*1 Spine of Ish Sah
*1 Swiftfoot Boots
*1 Tormod&#039;s Crypt
*1 Trading Post
*1 Unstable Obelisk
*1 Wayfarer&#039;s Bauble
[/Artifacts]
[Creatures]
*1 Anger
*1 Bosh, Iron Golem
*1 Burnished Hart
*1 Combustible Gearhulk
*1 Dualcaster Mage
*1 Duplicant
*1 Feldon of the Third Path
*1 Foundry Inspector
*1 Goblin Welder
*1 Hellkite Igniter
*1 Hoard-Smelter Dragon
*1 Junk Diver
*1 Kurkesh, Onakke Ancient
*1 Meteor Golem
*1 Myr Retriever
*1 Palladium Myr
*1 Ruin Grinder
*1 Scuttling Doom Engine
*1 Shimmer Myr
*1 Slobad, Iron Goblin
*1 Solemn Simulacrum
*1 Soul of New Phyrexia
*1 Steel Hellkite
*1 Triplicate Titan
*1 Tyrant&#039;s Familiar
*1 Warmonger Hellkite
*1 Wurmcoil Engine
[/Creatures]
[Instants]
*1 Big Score
*1 Chaos Warp
*1 Demand Answers
*1 Impact Resonance
*1 Magmaquake
*1 Starstorm
*1 Volcanic Offering
[/Instants]
[Sorceries]
*1 Blasphemous Act
*1 Cathartic Reunion
*1 Faithless Looting
*1 Incite Rebellion
*1 Scrap Mastery
*1 Trash for Treasure
[/Sorceries]
[Enchantments]
*1 Bitter Feud
*1 Pia&#039;s Revolution
[/Enchantments]
[Lands]
*1 Arcane Lighthouse
*1 Buried Ruin
*1 Darksteel Citadel
*1 Flamekin Village
*1 Forgotten Cave
*1 Great Furnace
*30 Mountain
*1 Smoldering Crater
[/Lands]"></span></div>
<h3>To a Fine Shine</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Combustible Gearhulk"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Triplicate Titan"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Kurkesh, Onakke Ancient"></div></div>
<p>As we can see in the remastered list, it's a prime example of the "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_of_Theseus">Ship of Theseus</a>" philosophy (you replace the weak cards, and add something new. Is it still a precon?). The main difference is that we've improved the card quality, including having more ways to discard cards without relying too much on our commander. Both <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Demand Answers" href="#" target="_blank">Demand Answers</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cathartic Reunion" href="#" target="_blank">Cathartic Reunion</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> will refill our hand for a negligible price. Meanwhile, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Collector&#039;s Vault" href="#" target="_blank">Collector&#039;s Vault</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> does a similar thing, but gives us a Treasure token as well.</p>
<p>We also have new ETB effects to work with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Feldon of the Third Path" href="#" target="_blank">Feldon of the Third Path</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, but this time with an artificial flair. For example, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Combustible Gearhulk" href="#" target="_blank">Combustible Gearhulk</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> either draws cards or puts new targets into the graveyard, depending on the opponent's choice. On the other hand, the lowly <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Meteor Golem" href="#" target="_blank">Meteor Golem</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> destroys something upon entry, providing redundancy with <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Spine of Ish Sah" href="#" target="_blank">Spine of Ish Sah</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>.</p>
<p>We were able to keep in all of the best cards from the precon without compromising anything. We still have our <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Wurmcoil Engine" href="#" target="_blank">Wurmcoil Engine</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Ruby Medallion" href="#" target="_blank">Ruby Medallion</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, and so on. We also get <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kurkesh, Onakke Ancient" href="#" target="_blank">Kurkesh, Onakke Ancient</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>, which doubles up every activated ability from our artifacts (except mana abilities).</p>
<h3>A Commanding Quintet</h3>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Bosh, Iron Golem"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Feldon of the Third Path"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Kurkesh, Onakke Ancient"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Daretti, Scrap Savant"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Slobad, Iron Goblin"></div></div>
<p>One of the best things about this precon is that, even with the stock list, any of the commanders actually works with the deck's game plan while providing a new experience. The remastered version is no different, except we got five options for a commander this time!</p>
<p>If we want a relaxed, easy-going game, I'll point you towards <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bosh, Iron Golem" href="#" target="_blank">Bosh, Iron Golem</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. Eight mana is a lot, but a good chunk of our artifacts are expensive, and we can easily recycle them for more flinging, especially if it's doubled.</p>
<p>Should we decide to up the ante, both <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Kurkesh, Onakke Ancient" href="#" target="_blank">Kurkesh, Onakke Ancient</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> and <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Slobad, Iron Goblin" href="#" target="_blank">Slobad, Iron Goblin</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> work well here. Like I said above, Kurkesh doubles our artifacts' activated abilities, while Slobad ramps us (potentially) for a ton.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Feldon of the Third Path" href="#" target="_blank">Feldon of the Third Path</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span> would be our second-highest-powered choice. Sure, he'll need a bit more support, especially protection, but our creature lineup ensures he'll do wonders.</p>
<p>Lastly, for our deck to be at its most cutthroat, we have <span class="edhrecp__link"><a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Daretti, Scrap Savant" href="#" target="_blank">Daretti, Scrap Savant</a><span class="edhrecp__link-image"></span></span>. While he is supposed to be the commander of choice this week by virtue of his precon, we could, you know, build a new deck from scratch. That way, all five of these options can be covered.</p>
<p>Alternatively, if you want to embrace the chaos, roll a d6 and pick the commander (Reroll on a six, mind)!</p>
<h3>Out of the Junkyard, and Towards the Setting Sun</h3>
<p>With that, that's another precon done. Next time, we'll cover the last of the mono-color decks (and eat our greens), but before that, we're due for a revisit to my other series, <em>Commander Makeover</em>, and we're going to cover a commander who's such a nasty piece of work she ended up as a Game Changer for a while. Tune in next time to see who that might be.</p>


built from scratch

Built from Scratch | Precon Remastered