You’ll have more fun with MTG Thunder Junction pre-cons playing the alt Commanders
WotCSwap out your pre-con Commanders for these interesting options found in MTG’s Outlaws of Thunder Junction decks.
MTG’s Outlaws of Thunder Junction set continues a noticeable trend in recent Commander pre-con decks. The face Commanders all do a great job, but their designs are somewhat safe when compared to the more interesting alt Commanders found in the decks.
If you want to branch out and have fun with your pre-cons, we’ll show you how to swap over to each deck’s alt Commander and recommend some key upgrades, giving you a more varied MTG experience.
Grand Larceny – Felix Five-Boots
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Gonti, Canny Acquistior heads up the standard build of the Grand Larceny deck and makes a strong impression as the most unique face Commander of these pre-cons. Felix Five-boots on the other hand (or pseudopod) is the rare alt Commander in this set that is more straightforwardly powerful than its basic Commander.
Where Gonti relies on oppressive combat presence through stealing your opponents’ spells and adding their Creatures to your ranks, Felix is an even more Creature and combat-focused Commander, thanks to its potent effect-doubling ability.
Gonti goes all-in on skimming cards from other players’ decks, with the bulk of its Creatures dealing unblockable damage or providing new ways to steal from opponents. Thankfully, this gives you a good skeleton to build around when switching over to Felix, as the alt Commander also benefits from unblockable Creatures.
The best addition you can make to a deck spotlighting Felix Five-boots is the Ohran Frostfang. Giving all your Creatures deathtouch will make blocking any of them a risky proposition for your opponents, making it all the more likely that their on-damage effects will trigger. Rogue Class is another excellent addition for Felix, granting an additional evasive boost and bringing back some of Gonti’s strengths by allowing you to steal cards.
Sword of Forge and Frontier, and Sword of Hearth and Home pair great with Felix, letting you ramp and build up a substantial mana base exceedingly quickly. Add in Creatures like Toski, Bearer of Secrets, and Cold-Eyed Selkie to keep your hand stocked to bursting with your best options.
Most Wanted – Vihaan, Goldwaker
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Olivia, Opulent Outlaw provides boosts to Thunder Junction’s new Outlaws subtype, generating Treasure tokens and boosting Creatures with +1/+1 counters to enable classic Mardu aggression.
While Vihaan, Goldwaker’s first ability also provides outlaws with combat bonuses, you’ll want to move away from outlaws as the main theme of this deck in order to get the most out of Vihaan.
Treasure is where it’s at with this dapper dwarf, as he converts all your Treasure Tokens into attackers, alchemizing value into power in the blink of an eye. Descent into Avernus, Monologue Tax, and Brass’ bounty can help you sure up your stockpile.
Pingers provide a crucial boost to this deck’s damage, chipping away at opponents again and again when Tokens are created or sacrificed. Slot in Mirkwood Bats, Reckless Fireweaver, Mayhem Devil, and Zulaport Cutthroat to really start burning through other players’ life totals.
Illustrious Wanderglyph and Tempered Steel can boost the power of your transformed Treasures, turning basic 3/3s into hard-hitting threats that opponents will have to scramble to block.
If you’ve really got the cash to spend and want to emulate Vihaan in throwing some gold around, overwhelmingly powerful red mana Treasure generators like Dockside Extortionist and Ancient Red Dragon are available to build you up a whole hoard in an instant. On a slightly smaller, yet still pricey, scale, The Reaver Cleaver is an incredible piece of Equipment for Treasure-based strategies and is well worth a look here.
If you only make one upgrade to Vihaan, make sure it’s Pitiless Plunderer. With the aid of this Pirate, any time your Treasures die while transformed – including when they’re sacrificed for mana – you get a replacement right away!
Quick Draw – Eris, Roar of the Storm
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Stella Lee, Wild Card is the Thunder Junction Pre-Con Commander with the highest power ceiling by far, enabling infinite combos and easily holding her own at cEDH tables.
If you want a Commander with a more reasonable power level, who brings something new and engaging to Izzer colors, Eris, Roar of the Storm is where it’s at.
Both Stella Lee and Eris focus on casting more than one spell each turn. But where Stella will be building up to absurd combos with the new Plot mechanic and copying spells, Eris provides immediate value by generating powerful fliers with Prowess.
As long as you’re stocking your grave by throwing out a variety of Instants and Sorceries, this Commander will remain cheap through the whole game. Opponents will despair as she gets removed and comes back almost immediately.
Not a whole lot needs changing here on the Creature side of things, thanks to Izzet staples like Niv-Mizzet, Parun. Still, adding in a copy of Balmor, Battlemage Captain can help boost your Tokens’ prowess and help them deal huge chunks of damage.
Pyretic Charge can also help boost your Creatures over the top, and Traverse Eternity pays off Eris’ huge initial mana value with ten whole cards to add to your hand. Primal Amulet is a rather costly artifact that will help reduce your spells’ cost in the early game and copy your most powerful effects as you look to close out the win.
Desert Bloom – Kirri, Talented Sprout
WotC- Price: From $4.24
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Yuma, Proud Protector is a unique land-based Commander that rewards pitching lands to the grave by generating hard-hitting Creature tokens, Kirri, Talented Sprout takes this deck in a different direction, providing boosts to Plant and Treefolk Creatures while fetching lands back from the grave to increase your mana production.
Kirri is a Commander that adds a whole lot of value, ensuring that your best options won’t stay buried for long while boosting the power of the Creature types you’ll want to be focusing on. Where Yuma’s Tokens vanish once destroyed, Kirri, Talented Sprout can bring back your non-token Creatures again and again.
You’ll want to add in Bristly Bill, Spine Sower as soon as you can get your hands on it. This is one of Thunder Junction’s best new Commander creatures and fits right into the plant theme here. With Bill’s help, even your weakest Creatures can easily become game-ending threats.
Rampant Rejuvenator is another must. It’s easy enough to build up this Creature’s power quickly, and once it dies you’ll be sitting pretty in mana for the rest of the game. Add in Conduit of Worlds to increase your graveyard-reanimating potential, and Zuran Orb as an excellent defensive tool. Finally, Worldsoul’s Rage doubles as a hugely powerful burn-finisher and land reanimator, building up your resources and taking an opponent out of the game all at once.
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