Throne of EldraineThrone of Eldraine | Art by Kieran Yanner

Assembling the Foundations

Recently, we had the announcement that a set of five starter precons would be released at the same time as Reality Fracture. I was personally excited for these decks for one reason: Monocolor Commander precons are so rare.

In a timeline where five-color precons are becoming more common and two-color ones seem to be vanishingly rare (as far as I can see anyway).

In this article, I'll go over why we need more monocolor commanders, and their appeals. And, also why (treading a fine line here) I'm finding myself considering three-color commanders...what do people call five-color commanders these days? Slop? I think it was slop.

Anyways...

Prelude: The History of Mono-Color Precons

The beginning of monocolor precons can be traced back to Commander 2014, a set of precons I'll be covering very soon on Precon Remastered.

These decks belonged to an era where the new cards were great, perhaps with the occasional good reprint.

However, the reprint selection left much to be desired. These decks were a breath of fresh air in a deluge of tri-color commander precons.

Unfortunately, monocolor decks get nothing until 2022, nearly ten years later. The mono-black precon, Necron Dynasties, proved to perhaps be one of the best precons to exist.

Part of this is off the back of only having to worry about one color. It essentially was something of a miracle that this got to our laps.

Again, nothing, until what I said above. The set of mono-color precons will prove to be a nice change after an onslaught of tri-color decks (fun fact: Last year, we did not have even a dual-color precon!).

#1 Mana Bases

Mana bases are expensive. This is especially true the more colors we add to our decks. Two-color decks can get away with a precon-like mana base (side note: The Secrets of Strixhaven precons do this the best. Exemplary mana bases for budget two-color decks).

Three and more color decks don't. The best duals are expensive, like the Surveil Duals, Bond Duals, and, if you think money grows on trees, the original dual lands like TundraTundra.

With mono-color, we bypass all of that. Even the pictured cards are expensive, but we don't need them (Still run them if you have them) to make something work.

We can even get away with an all-basic mana base is we wanted to. Afterward, we can shave off basics for utility lands we'll need.

#2 More Commander Options

Ever built a deck around a theme, but your colors don't have a commander option to helm the deck? There's no Jund Exile deck that allows us to use Prosper, Tome-BoundProsper, Tome-Bound and Faldorn, Dread Wolf HeraldFaldorn, Dread Wolf Herald together in one deck.

But, hey, at least we can do a mono-red deck helmed by Plargg and NassariPlargg and Nassari. It's even better when we realize that most of the cards we want to run are in red anyway.

Chances are, a monocolor commander exists that works with a given theme. This, in turn, opens up more options for precon choices. Even if said precon has no unique cards in there.

A great argument for more monocolor precons is the overlap in archetypes for certain themes. We have lots of mono red Goblin options.

Even green has a bunch of options for the classic "Ramp & Stomp" kind of deck. This way, if a player doesn't like the main commander, they can switch up, and still work at the helm of the deck.

#3 Budget!

In tandem with the mana base section, monocolor decks tend to be more budget than their multicolor peers. While this is common knowledge among players, the point is that a monocolor precon has a much more cost-efficient upgrade path because most of the cards that would be added are easy to afford.

Note that I said most, because there are some cards that are pricier, like Esper SentinelEsper Sentinel. That said, there's still budget options for that effect, even in mono-white.

#4 More Creativity!

One of the biggest gripes some might have with three and more color decks, especially five-color, is that decks tend to end up as piles of the best stuff the game has to offer.

If you ask me, no wonder the word "slop" gets thrown around so much. It gets old and stale fast, and would ultimately get boring after a while.

In fact, some of the best cards in the format are very affordable. On top of that, there's a lot of underplayed cards in each color that get overshadowed in multicolor decks.

These require the deckbuilder to get creative to fill out the 99. Going monocolor opens the door to some very obscure cards that can shine in Commander.

#5 Ah! Fresh Air!

What I mentioned when I went over the history of monocolor precons should convince anyone why we need more (at least partially) of them.

Even 2025 saw nothing but tri-color and five-color precons. Not even a dual color precon in sight. In fact, before Secrets of Strixhaven, our last two-color precon was all the way back in Duskmourn: House of Horror.

That said, monocolor precons are even rarer, having not seen since 2022 (even then, only one), then nothing after their first appearance in 2014. Besides, who's starting to get bored of tri-color commanders?

I wouldn't be surprised if they start getting slapped together with four and five color decks in the "slop" discussion.

#6 The Greatest On-Ramp

The starter precons from 2022 were created to be entry points for players new to Commander. No surprise when we got another five decks for exactly this purpose.

However, them being monocolor gives them an advantage. They allow newer players to fully digest what each color is about.

Heck, them being easy to upgrade helps them carry on with their precon. Having more colors complicate this process, and gets more expensive because of the mana bases.

Especially with the monocolor themes presented, the direction to upgrade is very clear for a newer player.

#7 Creative Solutions

With all the strengths of monocolor decks, each color has weaknesses, showing up as we explore them. However, this is where utility colorless cards and artifacts come in.

Precons for each color teach players these weaknesses, and to look for solutions through colorless cards.

Even if new precons release with unique cards, we might see cards that help shore up weaknesses in each color.

Maybe black gets another way to deal with enchantments to complement the likes of Withering TormentWithering Torment. Maybe red gets another Chaos WarpChaos Warp effect.

Even most monocolor options have a commander option that works with artifacts, especially in blue and red.

Even if another commander appeals to you, that's ok, too. Plenty to choose from, and those colorless cards will still help with the game plan, too.

#8 Reprints!

While reprints are always something to keep an eye out for with precons, there's an added element to monocolor decks.

Certain cards, like the ones pictured above, are not easy to reprint because they tend to cater to decks that run fewer colors, especially cards centered on monocolor.

Mechanics like devotion as well. Nyx LotusNyx Lotus and the aforementioned Nykthos, Shrine to NyxNykthos, Shrine to Nyx falls into this category as well.

If you ask me, Throne of EldraineThrone of Eldraine is a card that I never knew why its price was so high, but here's hoping that'll be fixed (Nykthos, too) with the new starter precons later this year.

Of course, I'm just dreaming at this point.

...And Scene

While the foreseeable future may not see more monocolor precons (maybe we get some two-color ones as well), they provide an opportunity to help new players understand each color while giving more established players a blueprint from which to work with.

Perhaps something interesting that can divert attention from the increasing hordes of tri-color commander options.

Even taking on this article is a nice segue for my Precon Remastered series, where I'm covering the mono-color precons next (the original group, starting with Nahiri, the LithomancerNahiri, the Lithomancer).

That said, next time, I have another precon discourse subject to discuss. Come back next time to see what I have in store for all of you.