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What is a typal precon?

This month, EDHREC is doing a precon theme with some of its articles, so, as the resident typal expert, I thought it’d be interesting to review typal Precons.

It was an intriguing task…and a monumental one, as it turns out. There are almost 40 precon Commander decks that were built around a particular creature type, 20 of which have at least 30 members of that type in the deck, which is my usual threshold for considering a deck “typal”.

For the purposes of this article, the primary statistics come from searches on EDHREC. To search for typal data, go to Tags and then click on typal.

It’s worth noting that I am divorcing typal from theme here, as those are two separate search categories. As a result, Vehicles are considered a theme, so the Buckle Up precon with Shorikai will not be considered here.

I will be using certain parameters to evaluate the top ten typal precons: how iconic the type is, in general, how well the deck adheres to and supports the members of the type, and how well the commander supports the through lines of those members.

The order given is not the ranking, it’s the number of members, in descending order. The primary two statistics used are the number of creatures of the type in the precon and the popularity ranking of the creature type. The winner will be given in the conclusion.

So, without further ado, here are the top ten typal Commander precons of all time:

Sliver Swarm

How Iconic is the Type?

Slivers are just outside of the top 15 most popular creature types on EDHREC, with 7,406 decks built, primarily in all five colors.

Simple to play, impossible to master is a maxim that describes the best games, and Slivers create many of those games.

Most turns, you’re going to be casting Slivers. Each game, you’ll get a different combination of abilities, mixing and matching them to find a winning line.

How Many Members Does the Deck Have?

This precon has 44 Slivers, the most members of any typal deck. Well over two-thirds of the spells in the deck are Slivers, which is absolutely vital for a deck where the members’ individual strengths are minimal.

Slivers epitomize the phrase “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts” because the members all share their abilities with each other. 

How Well Does the Commander Support the Strategy?

Sliver GravemotherSliver Gravemother has three abilities, although not all of them are at their best in the deck. The first ability is to disregard the legend rule for Slivers.

There’s only one legendary Sliver in the 99, and, while the Gravemother does give Slivers in the grave encore, there’s only one card that the disregarding of the legend rule would apply to.

Giving Slivers in the grave encore is incredibly powerful, however.

This allows pump abilities like Bonesplitter SliverBonesplitter Sliver to stack and gives the deck…leg-like appendages when boards get wiped.

The Gravemother can also give herself encore, but that also isn’t great, as we have to put our five-color commander in the graveyard.

Elven Empire

How Iconic is the Type?

Despite being the second-most-popular creature type in Commander, per EDHREC rankings, Elfball is arguably the most recognizable deck description in the game.

Most players, in one format or another, have faced or built an Elf deck at some point, more than likely both. 23,443 decks have been tagged as starring the pointy-eared forest-dwellers, most commonly in Golgari colors, like this precon.

How Many Members Does the Deck Have?

This precon has 41 members, second-most of any typal precon deck. Statistically, roughly ⅔ of the spells cast in a given game by this deck will be Elves, making the gameplan, swarm the table with Elves, nice and simple.

This can lead to repetitive play patterns, however, as many Elves do similar things: make mana, draw cards, make bodies.

Still, the chaotic nature of a multiplayer format means that, even if playing your deck is repetitive, you can still wind up with unique games and situations.

How Well Does the Commander Support the Strategy?

Lathril, Blade of the ElvesLathril, Blade of the Elves is one of the most popular commanders in the format, ranked 12, with 32,323 decks built, over 6,000 of which are specifically generic Elfball.

It has menace, which helps it get through smaller boards, and it makes as many Elf tokens as combat damage it deals. Cheap, evasive, and swarming, Lathril is a great Elf commander.

What sets it over the top, however, is that it can tap itself and ten other Elves (even summoning sick ones) to deal 10 to each opponent and gain 10 for the controller.

The ability to win through a board stall is big for a bunch of small creatures.

Tyranid Swarm

How Iconic is the Type?

The only Universes Beyond precon on this list, much of Tyranids’ iconicness comes from the crossover appeal of Warhammer 40K. I can’t speak to their popularity in the Warhammer community, as I’ve never played Warhammer and have limited interactions with that fanbase.

In Magic, however, Tyranids are the 54th most-popular creature type, with 1,406 decks built. Considering the limited support and the fact that they’ve only been in Magic for around four years, they certainly seem to have dug their…I think they have claws?...in pretty firmly.

How Many Members Does the Deck Have?

This precon has 37 Tyranids in it, which are unique to Warhammer precon products. This uniqueness makes the deck feel like a contained environment, although it also makes it a bit tricky for more-entrenched Magic players to pick up on the play patterns.

I can’t speak to whether the Tyranids function similarly in Magic to how they function in Warhammer, but they have a range of abilities, from X spells to counters to board swarming and quite a bit in between.

The lack of mechanical consistency between members makes it a bit tough to pick up the deck and intuit how it works.

How Well Does the Commander Support the Strategy?

Considering that the Tyranids don’t seem to have a singular coherent strategy…it’s a bit tough to say if the commander supports the strategy well.

The Swarmlord gives itself a couple of +1/+1 counters for each time it’s been cast from the command zone, which seems a bit selfish for a card that’s supposed to facilitate a strategy.

It does allow us to draw a card whenever a creature with counters on it dies, which works with the 27 cards in the deck that put counters on creatures.

Dance of the Elementals

How Iconic is the Type?

Elementals are a moderately popular type, ranked 27th on EDHREC with 4,095 decks built. The plane of Lorwyn frequently provides strong support, although just about every set seems to add more and more incidental members.

Often, they are ephemeral, focused on entering or leaving the battlefield. Their artwork shows their embracing of primordial mana sources, especially nature, through the conglomeration of traits of different kinds of animals.

How Many Members Does the Deck Have?

This precon has 35 Elementals, 23 of which trigger when they or another Elemental enter, with another doubling ETB effects.

Another couple trigger when they or another Elemental leave, so the members of the deck represent the type’s temporal nature perfectly.

The effects are kind of grindy, however, and the deck has lots of high mana values and expensive abilities without necessarily having enough ramp or fixing to cast or activate those spells or abilities in a relevant timeline.

How Well Does the Commander Support the Strategy?

Ashling is a solid enabler for the somewhat greedy deck. It lets us cast our Elementals for an evoke cost of four generic mana, so we can cast them without fixing and for a few less mana.

When we sacrifice a creature, like from evoking it out, we make a copy with haste that sacrifices itself in the next end step unless we pay a mana of each color. This lets us double up on those entering/leaving triggers.

Blood Rites

How Iconic is the Type?

Vampires have been popular in society since Bram Stoker’s Dracula in 1897, reaching new heights with the Twilight series and even appearing on SpongeBob Squarepants with the Nosferatu character, itself a reference to a 1922 German Expressionist movie.

In Commander, they’re in the top five most-popular creature types, with 19,431 decks built, and Sorin and Edgar MarkovEdgar Markov are among the most-popular characters.

How Many Members Does the Deck Have?

This precon has 36 Vampires, ironically more than the Mardu Vampires typal precon, Vampiric Bloodlust, despite not having red.

As an immortal creature type, the Vampires in the deck specialize in dying and resurrecting. It makes sense that the Ixalan Vampires, modeled after the Spanish conquistadors in Central and South America, embody an Aristocrats strategy.

One of the most popular creature types pairing with one of the most popular strategies? Talk about iconic!

How Well Does the Commander Support the Strategy?

Clavileño has one ability, but it’s a doozy. First, it makes a non-Demon Vampire into a Demon when we attack. Then, that creature gains the ability to draw us a card and make a tapped 4/3 white and black Vampire Demon token with flying.

The deck already has a wealth of death triggers, and making a body when a creature dies is an incredible way to come back for a board wipe. It doesn’t even cost any mana to make the Vampire Demon!

Veloci-Ramp-Tor

How Iconic is the Type?

Like many early elementary schoolers, I was enamored with Dinosaurs growing up, and even getting scared into reverse-potty-training by seeing Jurassic Park in first grade didn’t deter my love for the giant reptilians.

Many Commander players feel the same, as Dinos are the ninth most-popular creature type in EDHREC’s data, with 14,566 decks built.

These behemoths have been popular since the original Ixalan set planted them firmly in Naya colors, and a subsequent return gave them one of the most-popular typal commanders of all time.

How Many Members Does the Deck Have?

This precon has 36 Dinosaurs, running the gamut from role-players to curve-toppers. With 19 of the Dinos costing five or more mana, including our commander, the deck is mana-hungry.

There are more than 10 ramp spells, but the members of the type costing a lot of mana and the deckslots devoted to supporting that make the deck feel a bit watered-down.

It also makes the deck a little predictable, as the goal is to survive or ramp enough to start slamming big Dinos until opponents are crushed.

How Well Does the Commander Support the Strategy?

Pantlaza has one ability, but it’s strong. When it or another Dino enters, we discover X, where X is that creature’s toughness.

Discover was introduced in the return to Ixalan, so supporting the main set’s mechanic already aids greatly in approachability. Discover is kind of like a fixed version of cascade, exiling cards from the top of the library until a nonland card with equal or lesser mana value is exiled.

Then, that card is either cast or put into the hand. Big Dinos making smaller Dinos seems flavorful and enables stampedes.

Explorers of the Deep

How Iconic is the Type?

Merfolk have been around since Magic’s beginnings, and many who grew up on Disney movies are familiar with Ariel from The Little Mermaid.

In Ixalan, the little blue fish people dipped into green with Kumena, Tyrant of OrazcaKumena, Tyrant of Orazca, who quickly became one of the more popular commanders of all time.

This precon introduced a new Merfolk commander, whose popularity would dwarf Kumena’s, at 60% inclusion in all Merfolk decks to only 15% in Kumena’s case.

Merfolk are the 14th most-popular creature type in Commander, with 7,684 decks built.

How Many Members Does the Deck Have?

This precon has 35 Merfolk, many of whom care about +1/+1 counters. While it doesn’t have Lord of AtlantisLord of Atlantis, the deck does have four lord effects and several means of making our creatures unblockable, both of which are commonly associated with Merfolk.

Since the cards give unblockability, the deck doesn’t have to devote slots to making lands into Islands, like it would with Lord of AtlantisLord of Atlantis.

Since the explore ability gives counters and the commander makes all Merfolk explore each turn, the deck can instead just run a bunch of Merfolk.

Still, the universal boosts and counters can make representing an accurate boardstate a bit tricky.

How Well Does the Commander Support the Strategy?

Hakbal makes each of our Merfolk explore at the beginning of each of our combats. To do this, we reveal the top card of our library.

If it’s a land, we draw it. If it’s a spell, we can choose to either leave it where it is or put it in the grave, putting a +1/+1 counter on the exploring creature regardless of our choice.

When Hakbal attacks, we either draw a card or put a land from our hand out, letting us either draw what was revealed from a different Merfolk’s exploration or put a land drawn from the exploration.

The way the Merfolk communicate together and support each other does a great job of expressing how they function in-universe.

Ahoy Mateys

How Iconic is the Type?

Pirates have been romanticized in the media for hundreds of years, from Treasure Island to…Muppet Treasure Island, and even to modern narratives like Our Flag Means Death.

They’re often seen as seafaring Robin Hoods, especially given how they’re depicted as helpful anarchists in One Piece.

The creature type has existed since Cloud PiratesCloud Pirates, even seeing some synergy with Coastal PiracyCoastal Piracy, but really came into their own with Ixalan planting their flag firmly in Grixis and specializing in breaking rules by stealing noncreature spells and permanents.

Pirates are right on the edge of the top 10 most popular creature types in EDH, at number 10, with 10,283 decks built.

How Many Members Does the Deck Have?

This precon has 34 Pirates in it, most of whom steal permanents from other players or cast other players’ spells.

There are also a few Pirate and Treasure token producers, as well as creatures and permanents that trigger on combat damage, referencing Coastal PiracyCoastal Piracy.

The variety of effects and the difficulty in upkeep on the changed and stolen permanents makes it a difficult deck to pick up and makes the type feel a bit disjointed, although the individual cards are flavorful and feel a bit like assembling a Pirate crew, each of whom has their own role on the ship.

How Well Does the Commander Support the Strategy?

Admiral Brass, UnsinkableAdmiral Brass, Unsinkable mills us for four when it enters, and then reanimates our Pirates as 4/4s with finality counters on them and with haste each combat.

The deck isn’t a Reanimator deck, so bringing the Pirates back, while solid at swarming the board or recovering from a board wipe, doesn’t mesh well with what Pirates do. If anything, Brass feels more like a Zombie commander.

Spirit Squadron

How Iconic is the Type?

Spirits have taken various forms in Magic, from the Kami in Kamigawa to ghosts of the fallen in Innistrad.

Several members have achieved iconic status, being played in all kinds of decks, although Spirit tokens are arguably more commonly employed than the Spirits themselves, with cards like Lingering SoulsLingering Souls swarming the board in a variety of formats.

In Commander, Spirits are the 22nd most-popular creature type, with 5,154 decks built.

How Many Members Does the Deck Have?

This precon has 38 cards that are either Spirits or make Spirit tokens, so there’s a good feeling for what the members do and are.

Most of them are small creatures that fly, some of which have controlling tempo abilities, and quite a few of whom make token Spirits that enable the deck to go wide with evasive threats.

Some even reference the ghostly nature of Innistrad Spirits, making spirits out of the bodies of the dead, paradoxically even if the dead were already Spirits.

How Well Does the Commander Support the Strategy?

Millicent, Restless RevenantMillicent, Restless Revenant is a medium-to-large flier whose cost is reduced by the number of Spirits we control. She makes 1/1 flying Spirit tokens whenever a nontoken Spirit we control deals combat damage or dies.

Only 24 cards in the deck are nontoken Spirits, so it is possible for the deck to be a bit light on them, but Millicent makes them churn out more Spirits, including using the token creation on death triggers as protection from wrath effects.

As a result, she represents the ghostly vibe pretty well, even if the deck has some flaws in its support of her abilities.

Cavalry Charge

How Iconic is the Type?

Knights have been popular in Magic since Alpha, with White KnightWhite Knight and Sleight of MindSleight of Mind being one of the first nicknamed decks I was familiar with.

"Sword and Sorcery" is a genre for a reason, and Game of Thrones is one of the most popular series of all time. King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, even Pulp Fiction delve into the internal struggles between morals and oaths.

In Magic, Knights are the 18th most-popular creature type, with 7,169 decks built.

How Many Members Does the Deck Have?

This precon has 33 Knights, which may seem a bit light, but they do have a bevy of card draw and recursion, especially from the command zone.

Only two Knights actually have first strike, which was one of the identifying traits of early Knights, but there are several cards that enable the deck to play politics and there is a vigilance subtheme, which aids with the political angle.

Those, along with the depth of card draw, helps give the deck cohesion.

How Well Does the Commander Support the Strategy?

Sidar Jabari of ZhalfirSidar Jabari of Zhalfir has first strike and flying, the former of which is iconic to Knights. He also has eminence, one of the most powerful abilities in the Commander format, triggering from the battlefield or the command zone.

Sidar’s eminence ability loots whenever we attack with one or more Knights, meaning that we can use our Knights to find each other.

He also reanimates a Knight whenever he connects with an opponent, so they can continue to honor their liege after death. If that’s not symbolic of Knights’ undying loyalty, I don’t know what is.

Conclusion

Typal strategies are one of the best ways to introduce new players to the game, whether they are new to card games, converting from a different game, or just enjoy consuming media.

The more iconic the creature type, the more straightforward the design, and the more complementary the commander, the better the deck is at doing those jobs. As a result, a clear winner emerges.

To me, the top typal Commander precon is Elven Empire, from the starter precons introduced with Kaldheim. There is a high volume of members of the type, those members do similar things, and the commander enables those things.

The deck introduces players to a powerful and consistent archetype and enables players to learn about the intricacies of Commander without having to read their own cards multiple times.

But what typal precon is YOUR favorite? And how would you rank the others?