We’re going back to Eldraine. On our first visit, we got a bunch of broken cards, and four Brawl decks. This time around, we might also get some broken cards, but that’s currently anyone’s guess. What we do know for sure is that we’re getting two Wilds of Eldraine Commander decks.
Today, we’ll share everything that we know about these two decks. That includes the four already previewed commanders and their reviews. But first, let’s take a look with the contents overview.
Contents
There will be two different Wilds of Eldraine Commander decks. Each of them contains:
- 2 foil cards (main and secondary commander)
- 98 non-foil cards (with the previous two, this makes a 100-card ready-to-play deck)
- 1 Collector Sample Pack with two cards (with alternate frame or in rainbow foil)
- 1 foil-etched Display commander (a thicker card, not for tournament play)
- 10 double-sided tokens
- 1 life tracker
- 1 cardboard deck box
- a strategy insert and a reference card
Out of the hundred cards in the deck, 10 will be brand-new cards, with the rest of the cards being reprints. Here’s a quick overview of the decks:
| Deck name | Colors | |
|---|---|---|
 | Virtue and Valor | |
 | Fae Dominion |
Let’s take a closer look at each deck. Keep in mind that we don’t know everything about them so far. What we do know for sure, are the deck’s colors, names, main and secondary commanders. Let’s take a look.
Virtue and Valor
- Theme: enchanted creatures
- Colors: white, green
- Main Commander: Ellivere of the Wild Court
Perhaps you noticed that the deck box’s redesign. Now it shows the art of main commander, and not its actual card. This way, Wizards can release decks’ images without using a placeholder for the key card.
Anyway, let’s talk about the Virtue and Valor deck. According to the box, its two themes are “buffing your creatures” and “crushing your foes”. Before the main commander was previewed, players speculated that +1/+1 counters are making yet another return. That would be somewhat disappointing, as there’s a ton of Green-White counters commanders already.
Instead, the deck rewards you for playing Auras on your creatures. Now that’s a fresher take on Green-White. So, this is going to be a great deck for you, if you like Auras.
However, that’s not all. The deck also contains some cards that utilize the new mechanic, so-called Role tokens. These are seven different predefined Aura tokens that give creatures various boosts. You can find all of them and read about Role tokens rules here.
Let’s see some example of those tokens, as we take a closer look at both the primary and the secondary commander of the deck.
Ellivere of the Wild Court – Review
For commanders, we’re more interested in the text box than in stats. Nevertheless, it’s still nice that Ellivere is a 4/4 for four mana. Those are perfectly fine stats.
The first ability triggers both when Ellivere comes into play and when it attacks. In both scenarios, you create a Virtuous Role and attach it to one of your other creatures. The strength of this effect therefore heavily depends on how good the Virtuous role is.
Here’s the great thing! Virtuous Role is arguably the strongest of all Role tokens, as it gives a creature +1/+1 for each enchantment you control. In a deck full of enchantments, this boost can be massive. Just keep in mind that a creature can only have one Role token on it at all times.
The second ability, provides you with card draw. Whenever you deal a combat damage to a player with an enchanted creature, you draw a card. If you manage to deal damage with multiple enchanted creatures, you’ll draw multiple cards. Assuming you’ve built your deck around Ellivere, that shouldn’t be too hard.
All in all, Ellivere of the Wild Court is an amazing commander, that isn’t broken. It does something unique and powerful, it’s fairly costed, gives you a deckbuilding challenge, and provides card advantage. What’s not to like about Magic’s Snow White?
Gylwain, Casting Director – Review
The secondary commander, Gylwain is quite interesting. It’s one mana cheaper, than Ellivere, and is a 2/3. It has just a single ability, so let’s hope it’s a good one.
When Gylwain, or one of your other nontoken creatures, comes into play, it receives one of the following three Role tokens:
- Royal Role (+1/+1 and ward 1)
- Sorcerer Role (+1/+1 and scry 1 when it attacks)
- Monster Role (+1/+1 and trample)
At face value, all of these give your creatures a minor boost, and an extra ability that might occasionally come in handy. This is all fine, but not particularly powerful.
That is, until you realize that Role tokens are enchantments, and you take advantage of that. For example, you can use cards like Satessan Champion and Eidolon of Blossoms to draw cards. Composer of Spring can ramp you, or perhaps allow you to put a free creature in play.
There are just so many synergies that you can go for, that we can’t list all of them here. Nevertheless, you can clearly see the potential of Gylwain.
How strong Gylwain, Casting Director will actually end up being in practice, depends on how you build around it. You can build around it in a very fair and nonthreatening way. On the other hand, you could really go for it, lean into enchantment synergies, and create a powerful deck.
Virtue and Valor: Other New Cards
Virtue and Valor Decklist
*These cards are exclusive to this deck, you can see their images above.
Best Reprints in Virtue and Valor
Here are some of the most valuable cards that got a reprint in Virtue and Valor deck. The land is a particularly nice include, as its price has been on the raise before this reprint.
Fae Dominion
- Theme: Faerie tribal, casting spells on opponents’ turns
- Colors: blue, black
- Main Commander: Tegwyll, Duke of Splendor
Tribal themes in Commander precons are always popular. That’s why it’s great to see a deck build around a tribe that didn’t get much support so far – Faeries.
They have appeared on over a hundred cards, with some of them quite iconic (Bitterblossom, Vendilion Clique). However, there aren’t many cards that rewards you for playing Fearies specifically. There are only a few Lorwyn cards, such as Scion of Oona and Spellstutter Sprite.
With Wilds of Eldraine, it’s time for Faeries to get more support, both in the main set and in this precon. It’s always fun when an under powered tribe gets more cards to help it be more viable, as it often comes with an interesting gameplay aspect.
For this deck, that seems to reflect in the deck’s secondary theme – casting spells on your opponents’ turns. The Faeries are tricky after all, so your opponents should be left guessing when and what are you going to play.
Well, at least they’ll know which commander you’re playing. Fae Dominion also gives you two options to choose from. Let’s take a look.
Tegwyll, Duke of Splendor – Review
Three mana for a 2/3 flying deathtoucher is a fine rate, especially since it comes with two additional abilities.
The first one is the typical “lord effect”, which gives all of your other Faeries +1/+1. This ability is obviously strong, when you have a deck full of Faerie creatures.
The second effect is even stronger. Whenever another one of your Faeries dies, you lose a life, and draw a card. One of the problems with tribal decks is that you really need to commit to the board. When you do, a well-timed board wipe can set you miles behind. With Tegwyll in play, you’ll at least get to draw a bunch of cards, and start rebuilding with a full hand.
While Tegwyll, Duke of Splendor isn’t particularly unique, that doesn’t mean it isn’t strong. It buffs all of your Faeries, and draws you cards. If you want to build around it in a more unorthodox way, you can go for a sacrifice subtheme. Thanks to its second ability, that’s quite viable.
Additionally, you have another option available.
Alela, Cunning Conqueror – Review
Alela is another Faerie commander, but isn’t so on the nose. Instead, it plays more into the tricky part of the Faeries. A 2/4 flying for four is fine, but ultimately nothing special. Anyway, as we said before, we’re more interested in its abilities.
The first one gives you a 1/1 Faerie token, when you cast your first spell during an opponent’s turn. If you have multiple opponents and enough cheap instants, you can make a Faerie in each opponent’s turn.
The second ability triggers when your Faerie deals combat damage to an opponent. For each player who was dealt damage, you get to goad one of their creatures. (It has to attack on its owner’s next turn a player other than you, if possible.) This effect can be quite annoying in the right scenario.
All things considered, Alela, Cunning Conqueror is probably a weaker commander for the Faerie tribal theme, compared to Tegwyll. Nevertheless, it does reward you if you build around it, and it gives Fae Dominion another direction to take. So, if you play with the precon, you have the option of changing your play style, depending on which commander you choose.
Fae Dominion: Other New Cards
Fae Dominion Decklist
*These cards are exclusive to this deck, you can see their images above.
**These cards are from the main set.
Best Reprints in Fae Dominion
Fae Dominion also isn’t lacking good reprints. Namely, there are some powerful iconic Faeries from Magic’s past.
Wilds of Eldraine Commander Decks – FAQ
Here you’ll find answers to some frequently asked questions about these precons. If you have a question that we didn’t answer, let us know in the comments, and we’ll get back to you ASAP.
There will be two different decks.
Yes, they do. Each deck comes with a 2-card Sample Collector booster pack.
There are two cards from Wilds of Eldraine set. One of the cards is rare or mythic, with special art treatment or in foil. The second one is a foil borderless uncommon.
There are two 2-color decks (Virtue and Valor: white-green, Fae Dominion: blue-black).
Since we don’t know the decklists, it’s too early to be sure. However, Wizards typically try to balance the precons that are released together. Therefore, it’s likely that the two decks will enable fun gameplay when played against one another.
The release date for Wilds of Eldraine products is September 8th, 2023.
On August 23, 2023 you’ll be able to find the full decklists in this article.
Conclusion
That’s all about the Wilds of Eldraine precons so far. Once we get more information about them, this article will get an update, so make sure to check back soon. In the meantime, you can find more about the set in our Wilds of Eldraine Spoiler article.
If these two deck’s aren’t to your liking, check the list of all Commander precons, that Wizards have released. There are over 100 of them, so you’re bound to find something that you’ll like.
Until next time, have fun, and may your real life be just as magical as the fairy-tale world of Eldraine.