Yesterday, teasers were shared for the upcoming Nauctis Commander decks, heralding the beginning of MagicCon Atlanta this weekend. There are four EDH precons for this set (it’s confirmed that’s the case for everything on the 2027 MTG release schedule) and while we haven’t yet seen any of their cards, from the boxes alone we know quite a lot. We can see what the commanders look like, the deck’s names, and a few hints about their playstyle.
For starters, there’s Terrors of the Abyss, a Sultai (blue/green/black) deck that looks to be all about discarding or milling big sea monsters and then resurrecting them. Graveyard strats and sea monsters are two popular archetypes, and this one combines the two. It looks to be led by an octopus warlock.
Secondly, we have Blood in the Water, and I strongly suspect this is where that promised functional reprints of Jaws, Relentless Predator will appear. It’s an Izzet (red/blue) deck featuring ‘shark attackers’ and the box says you will ‘draw blood and discard’. Presumably that’s referring to blood tokens, which let you discard and draw.
The third deck is set up to be a fan favorite – the long-awaited Bant (blue/white/green) merfolk commander is here! It’s a highly supported and highly popular tribe, and this deck seems to be leaning into the ‘tapping’ strats we’ve seen merfolk use in past sets like Lorwyn Eclipsed, with a deck that’s built around the convoke keyword.
The fourth and final deck, Seal the Deal (great name!) is to me the most intriguing at this point. It’s a Boros (red/white) deck – which feels like a fairly unusual color pair for a precon – and the box tagline says you’ll ‘trade pain for treasure’, so perhaps you pay life to make treasure tokens?
However, it also says it’s a group hug deck, so perhaps you’re giving other people the option of making treasure while getting hurt? My guess is the main commander will give each player a treasure token, while zapping them at the same time.
Noticeably, all four boxes show one humanoid sea-dwelling creature and one much larger beast. It seems likely that we’re seeing both the face and alternate commanders here, and that you can pick if you want to play the little guy or the big guy.
Another thing you might have spotted is that there are premium versions of these decks. It seems likely these are pricier versions that are all in foil.
Fingers crossed we get to see these commanders very soon, as the Nauctis first look takes place this afternoon, at 1pm EST. Let us know which one you’re most interested in over on the Wargamer Discord.
Source: Wargamer
