Magic: the Gathering creator Wizards of the Coast has revealed all the cards in the Commander decks launching alongside the new Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty Standard set. The full decklists for the two decks, named ‘Buckle Up’ and ‘Upgrades Unleashed’, were posted in an official Wizards blog post on Monday. They’ll be available in stores on February 18, the same date as the worldwide physical release of Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty.
‘Upgrades Unleashed’ is a Gruul (Red/Green) deck playing into Neon Dynasty’s new ‘Modified’ mechanic (referring to a creature with an Equipment, Aura, or counter on it). Its commander, the snake samurai Chichiro, the Shattered Blade, creates samurai tokens each time you play an Equipment or an Aura card, and can buff each modified creature with +1/+1 counters. ‘Buckle Up’, meanwhile, is an Azorius (White/Blue) deck that relies on Vehicles to win the day. It’s led by Kotori, Pilot Prodigy, a moonfolk pilot who makes Vehicles easier to activate, and can boost them with Vigilance and Lifelink.
As well as 20-21 brand new cards, the Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty Commander decks also contain plenty of reprints of existing cards, including a fair few Commander staples such as Swords to Plowshares, Command Tower, and the ever-present Sol Ring. These are always welcome, as they make it far easier to get hold of important Commander cards and drive down the price of purchasing them as ‘singles’ on the secondary market.
From the immediate response on social media, it seems that Gruul Commander players are happy to see reprints of quite pricey commons like Rythmn of the Wild and Mage Slayer, but Azorius players have got the short end of the stick somewhat, with Reddit users lamenting the absence of expensive Artifacts like Talisman of Progress.
As per Wizards’ blog post, those interested in the Upgrades Unleashed deck should be aware that, due to a printing error, the deck has two copies of the Land card Mossfire Valley. Even if you’re building your first Commander deck, you probably know that’s not allowed. You’ll have to swap it out for a different Land and use the first in another Red/Green deck.
Both the Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty Commander decks are releasing in stores on February 18, but Buckle Up and Upgrades Unleashed can also be preordered on Amazon now. The Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty set also releases on February 18, but MTG Arena players can get their hands on digital versions of the cards a week earlier, on February 10.
Want to know more about the noir-style set coming after Neon Dynasty? Here’s everything we know about Streets of New Capenna. You should also check out these spicy predictions about Magic: the Gathering in 2022.
Source: Wargamer
