We’re finally going back to Kamigawa. Can you believe it? It’s been 17 years since the last time we’ve been there. A lot of things change in almost two decades. Back then, there was no Commander format, but nowadays, that’s the most popular MTG format, so you’ll probably be happy, because we’re also getting two Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty Commander decks.
| Deck | Theme | |
|---|---|---|
 | Buckle Up | Vehicles (unconfirmed) |
 | Upgrades Unleashed | unknown |
In this article, we’ll talk about everything we know so far about them, including:
- the decks’ names
- our predictions of themes and colors
- and more!
Let’s get right to it.
Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty Commander Decks
As we mentioned before, there will be two Neon Dynasty Commander decks. The first deck is Buckle Up and the second one is Upgrades Unleashed. You’ll soon be able to order both decks on Amazon.
Intro or Full Versions?
You probably know that Wizards released intro (or lite) Commander decks in the past. These decks had lower power level and lower price. For an example, you can take a look at Kaldheim Commander decks.
However, the vast majority of the time, WotC release fully powered Commander decks. The most recent ones were Crimson Vow Commander decks. They have higher power level, more powerful reprints, and have the standard price for Commander precons.
So, the big question is: Are Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty Commander decks intro decks or the full versions?
While it hasn’t been confirmed so far, the Neon Dynasty Commander decks will probably be fully powered. This is based on the fact that we didn’t have an intro Commander deck since Kaldheim, back in February 2021. It looks like Wizards are slowly phasing out this product.
This would mean that you can expect powerful decks with 15 exclusive new cards in each one and with exciting reprints. The new cards will be thematically tied to Kamigawa, but the reprints can be from anywhere.
Release Date
Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty Commander decks release on February 18, 2022. That’s the same day as the main set releases in paper.
Neon Dynasty Commander Deck — Contents
Each Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty Commander deck contains:
- 2 different foil commanders (the main commander, and a different commander to swap it, if you get bored with it)
- 98 regular cards
- 10 double-sided tokens
- 1 cardboard deck box (not of the best quality, we’d recommend one of the better deck boxes)
- 1 life counter
You don’t just get the foil version of your main commander. There’s also a so-called display version. It’s a slightly thicker card, and isn’t meant for competitive play. You can use it in your command zone, so you don’t accidentally shuffle it into your deck.
Buckle Up
- Theme: Vehicles tribal (unconfirmed)
- Colors: White, Blue
- Main Commander: unknown
While it’s still unconfirmed, the name Buckle Up pretty much locks in a Vehicle theme. We’ve already seen some artwork from Kamigawa with motorcycles on it, so the cat is out of the bag with this one.
Previously, the support for Vehicles was in White and Red. However, this time around the mechanic will move into White and Blue, at least in this Commander deck. Blue could definitely add some nice effects for the Vehicle tribal theme.
Currently, the only two commanders that reference Vehicles are Sram, Senior Edificer and Depala, Pilot Exemplar.
However, both of this care a lot about other things too. Sram is more known for synergies with Auras and Equipment, while Depala supports Dwarf tribal. It’ll certainly be fun to see if there’s a commander that heavily cares about the Vehicles.
Upgrades Unleashed
- Theme: Auras / Equipments / Voltron (unconfirmed)
- Colors: Red, Green
- Main Commander: unknown
Upgrades Unleashed is an interesting name. When we think about upgrades in Magic, they most often come in the form of enchantments, or more specifically Auras, like Eldrazi Conscription.
So this line of thinking would suggest that there will be a Kamigawa commander, which can play well in a Voltron shell. (Voltron is a strategy, which uses Auras and Equipment to power up a single creature, usually Commander — thanks to the Commander Damage rule.)
However, there are a couple of other possibilities, both centered around a mechanic.
The Upgrade Mechanic
However, there’s another possibility. What if there will be an actual Upgrade mechanic? Commander decks often have a focus on the set’s mechanic, and Upgrade might very well be one of the mechanics of Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty.
Furthermore, the Upgrade mechanic already exists — although not on an official card. Take a look at Weaponized Scrap one of the Test cards from the Mystery Booster.
So, this mechanic gives you an upgrade for one of your artifacts. You essentially have to exile one of your artifacts in order to get the upgraded one into play.
With some small wording changes, this mechanic could very well make it to print in Kamigawa. This wouldn’t even be the first time that a Test card mechanic became a real one. This already happened with Graveyard Dig, which predates the cleave mechanic.
The Modify Mechanic
The other, more likely option is that the deck is tied to the modify mechanic, which appeared on one of Neon Dynasty leaks. The mechanic gives you a bonus if you control a modified creature. A creature is modified if it’s equipped, enchanted or has a counter.
This mechanic would also perfectly fit the deck’s name, Upgrades Unleashed. Modify is more likely to be featured in the deck, since it has already appeared on a card from Kamigawa.
You can read more about how modified works here.
Kamigawa Commander Decklists
Since the decklists aren’t available yet, the question is when will they get published? You’ll be able to find the full decklists on February 7th, 2022.
Hopefully, they’ll have some of the reprints you’re looking to add to your decks – at least there will be a Sol Ring and a Commander player can never have too many of them.
Conclusion
That’s all about the Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty Commander precons. Once we get more information, we’ll update the article, so make sure to come back in a while. You can also share your own predictions in the comments below.
Want to explore the cards from the regular set? Check out the Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty spoilers!
If you’d like some further reading, you might be interested in the following articles: