Actually makes me feel like buying these things... Edit: I actually bought a few copies of the brawl faeries deck, just for copies of cards I wanted. Sold the arcane signet's & extras to make most of the value back
Prof is in a such a good mood in this video. Love to see him like that. WotC, please, continue with good products so this smile is more frequent on this channel.
Probably also worth mentioning is that these Zendikar Rising Commander decks come with a deck box that can actually fit a fully sleeved commander deck.
@@bisowa8883 It's still cool that it holds sleeved cards. Part of the reason I don't sleeve many of my decks is because I'd have to also buy new boxes that can fit them. So even if it's cardboard, being able to fit a sleeved deck is very nice!
I was so hyped with Jimmy and Josh's videos, but I still waited for the review I value the most to be sure of my purchase. Thanks Prof, you're a really valuable help every time !
Professor I must say this video is an A+. I only came here for education, I barely knew anything about these decks, but I found myself laughing out loud multiple times. Your personality really shines in this episode, and it's incredibly appreciated. Keep up the great work!!
"Commander decks can be made and sold for $20" This is the strongest statement in the video and one I'm seriously taking to heart; there exists no reason outside of greed for $40 decks to exist now that WotC has shown they can easily be half that price.
I think Commander decks can easily be made for $20 when theres no new cards, sure they are less exciting but they're very good at being an intro to edh
bullyranger That absolutely does not mean wizards of the coast should charge us double the price tag when, like the professor said, it costs them the same amount of money to print them. Sure, they have to pay for more art commisions, but whats that to a multimillion dollar company?
"The titular and now covered up Anowon." :D I agree 100%, prof. As a longtime, enfranchised player, I still bought Sneak Attack because the deck is actually pretty good and because there's good value in here. As always, I love that you keep fighting to keep prices down or, at least, to hold WoTC accountable. I've been playing for a long time (i.e., I'm old) but your focus on keeping things affordable makes younger, poorer me happy. Keep up the good fight.
I'm so happy to see the absence of oversized foils in these, especially as it means it's not the usual weird sized deckboxes to compensate for the oversized foil.
@@TheAgingAscetic Odd, what I used are Dragonshield Mattes and the box closed all the way with no room to slide around. We are still talking about the deck boxes provided with the decks the video is about, right?
@@dyciefisk2535 Either way it's still an improvement on the previous deckboxes which needed an elastic band to close if you tried to put anything sleeved in there
Want to play with your Magic cards but stuck at home? No problem! Play with your friends using your paper cards, and 100% for free! Check out my guide to Magic: The Gathering Via Webcam, including where and how to find people to play with, here: th-cam.com/video/CFwRZwqoy3A/w-d-xo.html
First of all, great review about these decks. I really enjoy this series of "Is it worth it to buy...". Your guide on Spelltable is a big contribution to the community in times of corona-quarantine, I tried it and had A LOT of fun playing vs. new decks other than my playgroup. Keep up the good work! Greetings from germany :)
Pretty much lol buy one of these for 20. Spend the next 30 to 80 just upgrading it lol. I allready have an extra oracle of mul daya sitting around for the lands wrath one lol
@@dyciefisk2535 as commander has gotten so popular, they will milk this cow even more and I think that they will release more than one "set" of commander precons per year.. so I assume we will most likely get around 10 precons per year.. and maybe even get some more this year..
I just had an argument with a friend, and if I hadn't distracted myself by watching this I probably would've been furious for hours. Thanks for your unique sense of humor Prof. Never stop causing technical difficulties.
Wizards: *printing high value decks at lower costs* Prof: HALLELUJAH WE GOT AN AMAZING PRODUCT! Wizards: oh no we made it *TOO* good... Better change that unlike the standard format
Have just started getting into commander with pre-con decks, waited to pre-order these for your video. Glad to hear they're decent just ordered them from my little LGS.
I feel like your videos have become so good over the years. Love the throw-away snide/comedic moments. Your salty-go-lucky attitude is what keeps me always coming back, and has done so for the past 5 years. Thanks, Prof.
Great video as always. Just wanna say that you're someone I look up to and respect as human being and not just because you are so wise in the ways of magic, you seem to me so wholesome and true. Keep on keeping on dude.
Get the Land‘s Wrath Deck! It‘s super fun and powerful straight out the box and I only changed 12 cards after playing 10 rounds with it and now it‘s perfect. Sneak Attack is kind of meh, but Land‘s Wrath is a must have for the ~10$ it currently costs
You forgot one of the best parts of this, the box that it comes with now is "normal" size AND can hold the entire deck single sleeved. Also the tokens if they are not sleeved.
I got the Lands wrath for my first Commander deck. And someone bought me a Booster box. So my Saturday night is booked with Coffee and undoing these packs to see what I get. Thank you for another fantastic video. Hope everyone has a great Saturday and an awesome weekend.
I wish stores around here did a two-for-one deal. The price for these is truly excellent! Around here they're more the equivalent of 27 dollars, but as the Ikoria decks cost about 55 dollars each, I'm not complaining. I'd love to see Wizards of the Coast make more decks at this quality and above in the future at the same price. I actually have a great proposition for them: cut the way-too-small deck box and the paper life counter, especially the expensive-to-print foil cards, oversized card and heck, the lands, and make sure the rest of the cards are solid, and sell the deck at half the price! Everybody wins! Okay, they should obviously have key pieces to be able to play out-of-the-box, but if I'm going to have to pay 25 dollars for cardboard, I'd prefer that very cardboard being specific cards that enhance the playing experience. I don't care about foils. I enjoy the game and want to be able to play it. A solid video, and it's nice to see I'm not the only one pleased to be able to buy two commander decks for the price of one.
LGS had a sale going on and I picked up both for about 30 bucks. I've always wanted to try out commander but can't afford those precons with nice staples and whatnot. Now I got two for a decent price!
Justin Rose it’s almost like cardboard cards are dirt cheap to print, and these hyper inflated “market prices” are just the result of artificial scarcity
@@l4l01234 shhh. Keep talking like that and the last thing you will hear is a restricted list card slicing through your windpipe, silencing you forever.
Bought the sneak attack one, it arrived today in the mail. It’s my first MTG deck. Had my partner who have played MTG a really long time look over the card list before I bought it. This video showed up in my recommendations and watching it made me feel even more pleased with my purchase.
Nurgle, you play Magic as well? Have you ever challenged the other Chaos Gods or the Emperor in Magic, or do they still play that children's card game?
@@RvBnerd618 Tzeentch got me into it actually, but the others don't play yet. I wish they did though, Tzeentch only ever plays counterspells and stax, but he counters his own spells and screams "Just as Planned! You'll See!" every time he does it, it gets very repetitive.
I see, well if I were to ever find myself in the warp and just so happen to find you, we should have a game! Hopefully ours won't be as repetitive as the changer of ways.
I was absolutely blown away with the quality and value of the Zendikar Commander decks. I had a massive amount of store credit from cracking packs and selling singles during Covid so I picked up both of them on launch and had a blast playing them right out of the box. I ended up taking Sneak Attack apart and merged it with my Phenax mill deck and made a very fun and functional Rogue mill deck for Commander. Right now I'm working on making a few changes to Lands Wrath to make a full elemental and land deck. I'm very satisfied with the overall product and recommend it to new Commander and old players alike.
I picked these up cause just from a skim of the deck list I couldn't believe all of these good cards were bundled for a mere $36 for both! Thanks for confirming my purchase wasn't a bad one :D
In WotC's defense, fewer new cards means less time designing them. And with only two decks instead of four, probably also a smaller team and/or less time spent. It's still an absolute steal, but just wanted to undercut the "it's the same cardboard" argument.
only the number of new cards vs old cards should affect that, not the total number of decks. if they made 10 precons all with the same number of new vs old cards, the amount of design effort *per deck* is approximately the same (assuming the decks are each about equal in power level), and therefore the design effort-levels would not vary much between each deck.
Honestly, I would prefer to have fewer "made specifically for commander" cards running around full stop, so full steam ahead on reprints over new cards in precons!
@@jemolk8945 Yeah I agree with this. I think having one product with a ton of new cards for commander is fine, but if they're going to have several commander products a year, they need to be heavy on reprints imo.
I got halfway through this video before cracking and jumping on TCGplayer to scoop these up. I think that shows pretty strong resolve Tbh in the face of such a glowing review. Nice job professor and WotC.... Keep doing THIS for commander decks!!!!!!
Picked up Sneak Attack purely on the fact that its in my favorite decks colors (Ninjas, so Dimir) and its got a similar playstyle. I literally did not care for card value and forgot that Notorious Throng was in there only to be pleasantly surprised! The deck works beautifully out of the box and, while it can obviously be upgraded, its a joy to play. Hardly any counterspells, just graveyard shenanigans (which i havent even had to use any of yet), unblockable spells, and powerful rogue boosting cards to help you mill your opponent out of their most valuable cards :)
The new Zendikar decks probably cost less to produce because they're reprint heavy and WoTc doesn't need to commission new art. I'm happy with the reprints 8n these I really hope WotC makes more of these in thos quality and maybe the "regular" procons can slowly fade away.
this is an interesting point. especially considering it was 17 unique commander cards in Ikoria vs only 3 in (return to return to return to return to) Zendikar! having to commission 85 new pieces of art for the 5 decks is significantly more than the 6 necessary for this release. If I thought the artists were PAID better, it would be a more compelling excuse.
@@chevysupreme Also, even in Europe (where stores got pretty much screwed over with the whole Jumpstart thing) the stores seem to be pretty much stacked up on both Set Boosters and these decks. Surprisingly, I think WotC (to my knowledge) actually did do pretty well this time. A pleasant surprise.
@ I was being facetious, just commenting on the state of 2020 mtg releases. I will say though that this being yet another product in 2020 may exacerbate the ongoing production issues for their other products.
@@ajones0916 yeah I'm really curious to see how they're going to juggle the already behind products with commander legends and probably even the first few sets from next year
I bought them, and piloted the Lands Wrath/landfall commander deck with no changes, and won our commander night against my friends hand crafted deck. They are good decks, so good to hear this comparison from Prof!
Newish to your channel but blown away by your content. No idea how in the world you have time to bring us all the details. Most of ur videos are over my head as a new casual player, but sub'd after I stumbled upon your depression video.
I’m already waiting for my Anowon deck, and I’m pretty excited. I know it’s not gonna be a tier 1 deck but it fits my playstyle perfectly. Greetings from Colombia!
The mana base seems a little more compromised than "traditional" commander decks (even though those aren't exactly great they usually include at least a couple of untapped duals whereas these just have command tower) but other than that I'm pretty impressed. IDK why WotC seems to have such a good grasp of how to build a decent out-of-the-box commander deck, but prints bull crap like Planeswalker decks and Intro Packs to introduce players to Standard. Maybe the fact that it's a singleton format helps? A big problem with 60 card introductory decks is that they rarely include play sets of important cards and that problem simply doesn't exist for Commander...
i think that new player want to play with bunch of different cards and try new things. if the decks contain only play sets, there is no room for upgrade or new ideas with the deck. i think that for new players its not about winning and best play possible but about experience.
@@martenyus That is a good point. I agree that there should be a middle ground between giving a new player a deck that has room to grow and giving someone a deck that is competitive out-of-the-box but I think the scale is tipped too far towards the earlier and not the later. From my experiences at least, new players aren't exactly having fun if they feel that their opponents deck is insurmountable no matter what they do with theirs and it reinforces the stereotype that the game is all about how much money you spend on the deck. In addition, making the deck a hodge podge of cards with no real direction certainly adds room for growth, but its not exactly a great example of how to build an exciting and functional deck. If you are going to make pre-con decks for players shouldn't they demonstrate a good model for deck-building? I think some of the key commons/uncommons of the deck should at least be in playsets to give the deck more direction/consistency without making the deck a "finished" product.
My brother just recently bought me the sneak attack version. Brought me back to when we played when we were younger. Can’t wait to play with him. Thanks for the info prof.
I disagree on the price point issue. I can imagine that the "regular" preconstructed commander decks do cost more to produce. Not to print, but to design. All the new cards that were designed needed development time from R&D.
Loved the "steamed hams" reference at the end. Thank you for these videos. Really makes me want to pick up both of these if i can find it for that price. Seems like a good deal and a great way to get friends into the game.
I would be fine if all commander precons down the line were 20 dollars, didn't include the giant pringles card, and didn't have a bunch of exclusive cards (which inevitably hurt the format and make the products get scalped).
*Professor:* "Now we know Commander decks shouldn't cost more than $20" *WotC:* "Now we know not to ever charge less than $40 or people like the Professor will whine about it"
I don't even play or buy Magic but I love these videos. Card games are so fascinating, hearing about different cardboards and prices for the same thing is crazy
I disagree on the "no reason they should be price different" Three new cards versus 17 new cards is a difference as there is more time has to go into play testing those 17 new cards on top of who designed those cards and put them in those decks. There is more than just print and the cost of these, there's people's salaries and time.
@@markozofarr oh I'm sorry I didn't know you knew the finances of a major corporation. Do some research on how much just the art cost on those new cards and come back with the answer.
I took a "Risk" and ordered the Sneak attack deck yesterday, didn't see this video until now. Professor, you make me feel my theory was a good investment, and always I am grateful for your wisdom, also the remaining $20 I would have spent on an Ikoria will go to what I would have done anyway with one. Upgrades, fixing the mana base a bit and overall performance to operate like a well maintained machine.
I just got both decks today prof, im new to the game and have never played edh, but your reviews helped me a lot, more power and keep on making good videos, love from 🇵🇭
Yeah saw this two for the box that can fit sleeved cards. Was about time WotC fixed that. I will surely used such box for my decks where the box thay made before have no use for me.
I wish we could "hold" WotC to this price, knowing full well that they can produce a quality product at half the price. But I think we all know what's going to happen. Commander Legends will come out, pricier than anything before it. And by the next round of pre-cons... the player-base will be so wrapped up in some other issue they'll lose sight of this and pay the $40 anyway. They offer a niche product... they have us all by the balls.
Awesome video Prof. The analysis, the questions, the acting, the sass, the "technical problems" bit. 10 out of 10. I'm even happier that WotC released a pretty good product. A+ Video.
The packaging... is actually comparable. Box size is like maybe 12% less material and it comes with a deck box too. You are paying less for 2/3 less foil cards.
@@machdude3366 The normal packaging is "much" more expensive because both sides of the parting "deck box" imply singular print runs. Of course at grand scale it's cents a piece, but it's cents they need to charge dollars for to get the stockholders another boat or something. The single piece top loading deck box and no oversize cards are exactly the cost cutting measures they should take to make Commander precons both good and inexpensive.
Hey dude I’m new to MTG (less than 2 weeks) and I was debating getting an Ikoria or Zendikar Commander deck and thanks to this video I got 2 Zendikar decks for the price of one! With me building a Dinosaur commander deck I effectively have 3 decks now! Thank you again for the video!
Thank you for the useful info! I am a new Magic player, just starting out. I got in to it because of the gorgeous artwork, but then discovered I actually really enjoy the game. :D
Buying anything because you're infected by FOMO is consumerism, not capitalism. This is actually bad for capitalism because it's a behavior that risks you losing your financial stability and stop consuming because you're now homeless. Same reason why the least regulated physiologically addictive drug is the one that doesn't impede your ability to keep making money.
Yeah that’s a stretch, I understood it to be that MTG players just don’t care about the price or quality of the products, they’re gonna buy it anyways lol.
@@dogehkiindogeborn5339 No, it's not. Capitalism dies if consumers don't have money whether because they're not paid enough to pay for the products and services in supply (Detroit) or because they wasted their capital in overpriced luxury shit and drained the productive industry they depend upon of sustainability (Fifth Avenue).
@@Stroggoii Thing is, capitalism committing suicide and turning into neo-feudalism is something leftists like myself keep warning will happen just due to its incredibly warped and unrealistic ideological structure. Consumerism is an outgrowth of the capitalist mantra of infinite growth, and capitalism funnels all the resources into ever-fewer hands simply by its operation; wealth under capitalism snowballs, and in a finite space with finite (not even scarce -- just finite) resources, that's going to end up taking those resources from those on the bottom to give to those on the top. This will eventually cause the collapse of capitalism and a return to feudalism, but the process is still a function of capitalism, and the things that prevent that from happening are likewise still external to capitalism itself.
Thank you for your thorough and excellent reviews! As a noob, I really need these!! I always watch and appreciate the time and effort that goes into all your videos so thank you!!
Honestly the mana bases of that entire release was scuffed. I was playing the cats and was having mana issues at 2 colors with one of them being green. What the hell was wizards thinking with those?
I played a game with these two decks with my little sister, they were a fun experience and definitely worth the money. I'm glad I preordered these from my LGS.
Wow, I can't believe these are only $20 at the same quality as previous commander decks. It's infuriating that WotC gets away with charging the exorbitant prices they do.
You are absolutely right about these, the only complaint I have about them is that my sneak attack deck came with two heirloom blades and no sygg. However as an established commander player, I enthusiastically agree that these are some of the better precon decks they have ever made, and the price only makes them 10 times better.
Funny that this video popped up in my feed I saw them at Walmart and saw the price tag my first thought was they have to be total crap but after watching this I think I’m gonna pick them up thanks proffesor
Well, Mr. Proffessorson, you are an odd fellow, but I must say, you steam a good ham.
Nice community reference.
🤣
Actually makes me feel like buying these things...
Edit: I actually bought a few copies of the brawl faeries deck, just for copies of cards I wanted. Sold the arcane signet's & extras to make most of the value back
Hoooly crap Senpai noticed me! Hey prof- that comma goes on the other side of the "but" right?
Like the one on the food token?
That "oh, that's the price for two?" bit so got me. I was literally looking at the set in my cart and was just so confused LOL
Prof is in a such a good mood in this video. Love to see him like that. WotC, please, continue with good products so this smile is more frequent on this channel.
Well that didn't last long.
Walking dead secret lair enters the chat.
HAHAHA
HAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHA
no
Yo, remember when Prof went bald for a cause? Now he has his luscious locks back! Congrats on that, sir. :) Haha
Prof should upload a new video with him bald and not mention it at all and let people speculate if he shaved or not. No one will know!
I was just thinking about that lol
Probably also worth mentioning is that these Zendikar Rising Commander decks come with a deck box that can actually fit a fully sleeved commander deck.
I was actually looking for that information, thank you! :)
Wait wHAT!? That's cool!
@@PhyreSpore paper deck box
@@bisowa8883 It's still cool that it holds sleeved cards. Part of the reason I don't sleeve many of my decks is because I'd have to also buy new boxes that can fit them. So even if it's cardboard, being able to fit a sleeved deck is very nice!
@@PhyreSpore Yeah I know, I mostly use them for dices though because they wear out quickly
I was so hyped with Jimmy and Josh's videos, but I still waited for the review I value the most to be sure of my purchase.
Thanks Prof, you're a really valuable help every time !
Jimmy and Josh are not a source of valuable information when it comes to products. They are no better than those "real people" in car commercials.
@@joshuaperrine2019 agreed. Fun to watch but they hype up every
Single thing that comes out.
Professor I must say this video is an A+. I only came here for education, I barely knew anything about these decks, but I found myself laughing out loud multiple times. Your personality really shines in this episode, and it's incredibly appreciated. Keep up the great work!!
"Commander decks can be made and sold for $20"
This is the strongest statement in the video and one I'm seriously taking to heart; there exists no reason outside of greed for $40 decks to exist now that WotC has shown they can easily be half that price.
I think Commander decks can easily be made for $20 when theres no new cards, sure they are less exciting but they're very good at being an intro to edh
I got both for $30, 15 each
The normal precons come with 20~ new cards which all need design and new artwork. I hope they keep making both in the future.
bullyranger I don’t think that justifies a 100% price increase
bullyranger That absolutely does not mean wizards of the coast should charge us double the price tag when, like the professor said, it costs them the same amount of money to print them. Sure, they have to pay for more art commisions, but whats that to a multimillion dollar company?
extra spicy today, aren't you Prof?
"The titular and now covered up Anowon." :D
I agree 100%, prof. As a longtime, enfranchised player, I still bought Sneak Attack because the deck is actually pretty good and because there's good value in here.
As always, I love that you keep fighting to keep prices down or, at least, to hold WoTC accountable. I've been playing for a long time (i.e., I'm old) but your focus on keeping things affordable makes younger, poorer me happy. Keep up the good fight.
I bought it because I had most the landfall deck deck already and almost none of the cards that made up the rogues deck.
I'm so happy to see the absence of oversized foils in these, especially as it means it's not the usual weird sized deckboxes to compensate for the oversized foil.
The deck box provided, cardboard though it may be, can hold a *sleeved* commander deck. Although just, so no double sleeved decks.
@@TheAgingAscetic Odd, what I used are Dragonshield Mattes and the box closed all the way with no room to slide around.
We are still talking about the deck boxes provided with the decks the video is about, right?
@@dyciefisk2535 Either way it's still an improvement on the previous deckboxes which needed an elastic band to close if you tried to put anything sleeved in there
@@dyciefisk2535 Fit mine too with Matt dragon shields. A bit snug, but fits fine
Want to play with your Magic cards but stuck at home? No problem! Play with your friends using your paper cards, and 100% for free! Check out my guide to Magic: The Gathering Via Webcam, including where and how to find people to play with, here: th-cam.com/video/CFwRZwqoy3A/w-d-xo.html
Way too late to the party with this review
First of all, great review about these decks. I really enjoy this series of "Is it worth it to buy...".
Your guide on Spelltable is a big contribution to the community in times of corona-quarantine, I tried it and had A LOT of fun playing vs. new decks other than my playgroup.
Keep up the good work!
Greetings from germany :)
So much fun
This is probably one of my favorite videos yet. The amount of laughs I had in this video was huge. Plus I love these decks.
"May I see?"
If WOTC keeps making $20 precon commander decks (of this quality) they're gonna put Commanders Quarters out of business.
Pretty much lol buy one of these for 20. Spend the next 30 to 80 just upgrading it lol. I allready have an extra oracle of mul daya sitting around for the lands wrath one lol
I hope this is the norm, as I would prefer 2 of these at that price per main set rather than 4-5 once a year at twice the price each.
No, they're not. Because it'll bring prices down and Mitch will be able to make better decks in budget. Plus Mitch's decks are super focused.
@@dyciefisk2535 as commander has gotten so popular, they will milk this cow even more and I think that they will release more than one "set" of commander precons per year.. so I assume we will most likely get around 10 precons per year.. and maybe even get some more this year..
No no no, first they gotta reprint Wayfarers Bauble
I just had an argument with a friend, and if I hadn't distracted myself by watching this I probably would've been furious for hours. Thanks for your unique sense of humor Prof. Never stop causing technical difficulties.
That reference to the Simpsons was just... amazing 😂
Had me lmao so good I had to rewind it a couple times... That's how you know it was quite tasteful.
This is a certified hood classic
Exactly
Very Cash Money
Wizards: *printing high value decks at lower costs*
Prof: HALLELUJAH WE GOT AN AMAZING PRODUCT!
Wizards: oh no we made it *TOO* good... Better change that unlike the standard format
Mr. Proffessorson, i would never had bought these decks, if i hadn't seen your video! I just ordered both of them, for 20 euros each one.
The deck boxes actually looked like an improvement, seemed to be more of an actual deck box instead of some super large awkward box
They are good boxes and enough room to fit them sleeved
Yeah. A bit snig, but I fit mine with dragon sleeves.
8:47
Brawl has pretty much become an arena only format and should have historic brawl as a result
I'm a fan of the suggestion that Historic's Brawl-like format should just be Historic Commander with 100 card decks rather than 60.
I love brawl
Brawl sucks
What’s with the hate for brawl? It’s great for new players, and the new player experience in arena is crappy enough as it is, let them have this
@@l4l01234 im not hating on brawl im just saying that they should implememt historic brawl as a normal gamemode
Have just started getting into commander with pre-con decks, waited to pre-order these for your video. Glad to hear they're decent just ordered them from my little LGS.
Dude the clip of Prof going "i hope you didn't spend $77," made me laugh so hard I rewound and played it back twice.
I feel like your videos have become so good over the years. Love the throw-away snide/comedic moments. Your salty-go-lucky attitude is what keeps me always coming back, and has done so for the past 5 years. Thanks, Prof.
XD when u said sneak attack and were talking about reprints I got the wrong idea
I'd be confused too if they so casually reprinted Sneak Attack without mentioning it.
Yeah I got confused as to why sneak attack wasn't listed as a value card before I realized my mistake
Thanks Professor! I preordered sneak attack last week as my first commander deck because the product looks so good!
Great video as always. Just wanna say that you're someone I look up to and respect as human being and not just because you are so wise in the ways of magic, you seem to me so wholesome and true. Keep on keeping on dude.
I appreciate that. Thank you.
@@TolarianCommunityCollege :)
Showed up for the steamed hams.
Wasn't disappointed.
The reprints are solid. That’s why I picked up the pair yesterday at my LGS. They are a good time out of the box unlike past planeswalker decks.
Get the Land‘s Wrath Deck! It‘s super fun and powerful straight out the box and I only changed 12 cards after playing 10 rounds with it and now it‘s perfect. Sneak Attack is kind of meh, but Land‘s Wrath is a must have for the ~10$ it currently costs
You forgot one of the best parts of this, the box that it comes with now is "normal" size AND can hold the entire deck single sleeved. Also the tokens if they are not sleeved.
I didn't have any problem fitting the full sleeved deck with sleeved
Tokens, and the life counter in either of the boxes
I got the Lands wrath for my first Commander deck. And someone bought me a Booster box. So my Saturday night is booked with Coffee and undoing these packs to see what I get. Thank you for another fantastic video. Hope everyone has a great Saturday and an awesome weekend.
The Prof's propensity for pettiness is positively pleasing.
Thank you so much for this video! As a new MTG player, this videos are going to help me a lot!
I wish stores around here did a two-for-one deal. The price for these is truly excellent! Around here they're more the equivalent of 27 dollars, but as the Ikoria decks cost about 55 dollars each, I'm not complaining. I'd love to see Wizards of the Coast make more decks at this quality and above in the future at the same price. I actually have a great proposition for them: cut the way-too-small deck box and the paper life counter, especially the expensive-to-print foil cards, oversized card and heck, the lands, and make sure the rest of the cards are solid, and sell the deck at half the price! Everybody wins!
Okay, they should obviously have key pieces to be able to play out-of-the-box, but if I'm going to have to pay 25 dollars for cardboard, I'd prefer that very cardboard being specific cards that enhance the playing experience. I don't care about foils. I enjoy the game and want to be able to play it.
A solid video, and it's nice to see I'm not the only one pleased to be able to buy two commander decks for the price of one.
Aww, my name comes up on the credits now! ❤️ Thanks for always having our best interest in mind, Prof!
LGS had a sale going on and I picked up both for about 30 bucks. I've always wanted to try out commander but can't afford those precons with nice staples and whatnot. Now I got two for a decent price!
I picked up Sneak Attack last night before even watching this video and I gotta back you up Prof. I was quite impressed and happy about my purchase.
I'm loudly exclaiming "WHAT?!" as he talks about the price......$20 for EACH?! WHAT?!
Justin Rose it’s almost like cardboard cards are dirt cheap to print, and these hyper inflated “market prices” are just the result of artificial scarcity
@@l4l01234 shhh. Keep talking like that and the last thing you will hear is a restricted list card slicing through your windpipe, silencing you forever.
I just realised that they're 10 bucks each in my country by now - and I preordered them for 15 bucks each
Whoopee Cushing, it's almost like one has to pay artists for the work done on each card, marketing, etc
Well if you can find them for 20 a bunch of places are increasing their prices
Bought the sneak attack one, it arrived today in the mail. It’s my first MTG deck. Had my partner who have played MTG a really long time look over the card list before I bought it. This video showed up in my recommendations and watching it made me feel even more pleased with my purchase.
This episode was hilarious Prof, we don't deserve you!
Nurgle, you play Magic as well? Have you ever challenged the other Chaos Gods or the Emperor in Magic, or do they still play that children's card game?
@@RvBnerd618 Tzeentch got me into it actually, but the others don't play yet. I wish they did though, Tzeentch only ever plays counterspells and stax, but he counters his own spells and screams "Just as Planned! You'll See!" every time he does it, it gets very repetitive.
I see, well if I were to ever find myself in the warp and just so happen to find you, we should have a game! Hopefully ours won't be as repetitive as the changer of ways.
I was absolutely blown away with the quality and value of the Zendikar Commander decks. I had a massive amount of store credit from cracking packs and selling singles during Covid so I picked up both of them on launch and had a blast playing them right out of the box. I ended up taking Sneak Attack apart and merged it with my Phenax mill deck and made a very fun and functional Rogue mill deck for Commander. Right now I'm working on making a few changes to Lands Wrath to make a full elemental and land deck. I'm very satisfied with the overall product and recommend it to new Commander and old players alike.
I almost spat out my coffee when the steamed hams joke came along.
A dear friend of mine is starting in this period her journey to commander, very happy these came out!
Prof is on Fire in this one xD love it!
I picked these up cause just from a skim of the deck list I couldn't believe all of these good cards were bundled for a mere $36 for both! Thanks for confirming my purchase wasn't a bad one :D
In WotC's defense, fewer new cards means less time designing them. And with only two decks instead of four, probably also a smaller team and/or less time spent. It's still an absolute steal, but just wanted to undercut the "it's the same cardboard" argument.
only the number of new cards vs old cards should affect that, not the total number of decks. if they made 10 precons all with the same number of new vs old cards, the amount of design effort *per deck* is approximately the same (assuming the decks are each about equal in power level), and therefore the design effort-levels would not vary much between each deck.
that's bullahit excuse, a basic land and a black lotus cost the same to produce... and new cards is what they work for... designing cards is easy tbh
Honestly, I would prefer to have fewer "made specifically for commander" cards running around full stop, so full steam ahead on reprints over new cards in precons!
@@jemolk8945 or both
@@jemolk8945 Yeah I agree with this. I think having one product with a ton of new cards for commander is fine, but if they're going to have several commander products a year, they need to be heavy on reprints imo.
I got halfway through this video before cracking and jumping on TCGplayer to scoop these up. I think that shows pretty strong resolve Tbh in the face of such a glowing review. Nice job professor and WotC.... Keep doing THIS for commander decks!!!!!!
I must state publically that I really enjoy the Prof's puns. There, I said it
Picked up Sneak Attack purely on the fact that its in my favorite decks colors (Ninjas, so Dimir) and its got a similar playstyle. I literally did not care for card value and forgot that Notorious Throng was in there only to be pleasantly surprised! The deck works beautifully out of the box and, while it can obviously be upgraded, its a joy to play. Hardly any counterspells, just graveyard shenanigans (which i havent even had to use any of yet), unblockable spells, and powerful rogue boosting cards to help you mill your opponent out of their most valuable cards :)
The new Zendikar decks probably cost less to produce because they're reprint heavy and WoTc doesn't need to commission new art. I'm happy with the reprints 8n these I really hope WotC makes more of these in thos quality and maybe the "regular" procons can slowly fade away.
I agree with that heavily. The format needs more reprints for accessibility anyway. Print staples like mana rocks into the ground.
That makes little sense when you consider how much new art is commission for standard boosters.
this is an interesting point. especially considering it was 17 unique commander cards in Ikoria vs only 3 in (return to return to return to return to) Zendikar! having to commission 85 new pieces of art for the 5 decks is significantly more than the 6 necessary for this release.
If I thought the artists were PAID better, it would be a more compelling excuse.
Had written the product off, expecting them to suck. Changed my mind because if this video and ordered both. Thanks Prof! Stellar video, as usual.
Don't worry, I'm sure we'll run into resupply issues and these will be double in no time.
Honestly don't think that'll happen. My local lgs couldn't get the set boosters we ordered, but got shipped 6 times the precons he ordered
@@chevysupreme Also, even in Europe (where stores got pretty much screwed over with the whole Jumpstart thing) the stores seem to be pretty much stacked up on both Set Boosters and these decks. Surprisingly, I think WotC (to my knowledge) actually did do pretty well this time. A pleasant surprise.
These look like they're designed to take up Wal Mart shelf space as POP marketing.
@ I was being facetious, just commenting on the state of 2020 mtg releases. I will say though that this being yet another product in 2020 may exacerbate the ongoing production issues for their other products.
@@ajones0916 yeah I'm really curious to see how they're going to juggle the already behind products with commander legends and probably even the first few sets from next year
I bought them, and piloted the Lands Wrath/landfall commander deck with no changes, and won our commander night against my friends hand crafted deck. They are good decks, so good to hear this comparison from Prof!
The Professor needs a custom "technical difficulties, please stand by" card. Also, picked them both up for twelve bucks a piece. No regrets!
PieBandit where did you get them at that price?
We wanna know!
Friendly LGS!
Newish to your channel but blown away by your content. No idea how in the world you have time to bring us all the details. Most of ur videos are over my head as a new casual player, but sub'd after I stumbled upon your depression video.
Will you do a video on the commander legends preconstructed decks or are they too similar with the zendikar rising commander decks? Thanks.
I’m already waiting for my Anowon deck, and I’m pretty excited. I know it’s not gonna be a tier 1 deck but it fits my playstyle perfectly.
Greetings from Colombia!
The mana base seems a little more compromised than "traditional" commander decks (even though those aren't exactly great they usually include at least a couple of untapped duals whereas these just have command tower) but other than that I'm pretty impressed.
IDK why WotC seems to have such a good grasp of how to build a decent out-of-the-box commander deck, but prints bull crap like Planeswalker decks and Intro Packs to introduce players to Standard. Maybe the fact that it's a singleton format helps? A big problem with 60 card introductory decks is that they rarely include play sets of important cards and that problem simply doesn't exist for Commander...
i think that new player want to play with bunch of different cards and try new things. if the decks contain only play sets, there is no room for upgrade or new ideas with the deck. i think that for new players its not about winning and best play possible but about experience.
@@martenyus That is a good point. I agree that there should be a middle ground between giving a new player a deck that has room to grow and giving someone a deck that is competitive out-of-the-box but I think the scale is tipped too far towards the earlier and not the later.
From my experiences at least, new players aren't exactly having fun if they feel that their opponents deck is insurmountable no matter what they do with theirs and it reinforces the stereotype that the game is all about how much money you spend on the deck.
In addition, making the deck a hodge podge of cards with no real direction certainly adds room for growth, but its not exactly a great example of how to build an exciting and functional deck. If you are going to make pre-con decks for players shouldn't they demonstrate a good model for deck-building?
I think some of the key commons/uncommons of the deck should at least be in playsets to give the deck more direction/consistency without making the deck a "finished" product.
Your videos often times make me laugh and smile more than most stand up programmes I have seen =D. Great work, precise analysis and fun!
Queen of the fae IN THIS ECONOMY. WELL YES
My brother just recently bought me the sneak attack version. Brought me back to when we played when we were younger. Can’t wait to play with him. Thanks for the info prof.
I disagree on the price point issue. I can imagine that the "regular" preconstructed commander decks do cost more to produce. Not to print, but to design. All the new cards that were designed needed development time from R&D.
Loved the "steamed hams" reference at the end. Thank you for these videos. Really makes me want to pick up both of these if i can find it for that price. Seems like a good deal and a great way to get friends into the game.
I would be fine if all commander precons down the line were 20 dollars, didn't include the giant pringles card, and didn't have a bunch of exclusive cards (which inevitably hurt the format and make the products get scalped).
I've been watching your channel for 5 years now and you keep putting out great content! Keep it up big dog! Love from Australia
I'm required by divine law to get the Sneak Attack deck due to my screen name being Anowon from 2009 to 2019.
Hey, at least your last name isn't "Linden." I was required by divine law to make a mono-white deck with a shitty commander. >.
My Sneak Attack deck just arrived today. Been looking forward to this since I built Rogues as one of my first decks when I started.
Great vid, Prof :)
*Professor:* "Now we know Commander decks shouldn't cost more than $20"
*WotC:* "Now we know not to ever charge less than $40 or people like the Professor will whine about it"
They changed it back
I don't even play or buy Magic but I love these videos. Card games are so fascinating, hearing about different cardboards and prices for the same thing is crazy
I disagree on the "no reason they should be price different"
Three new cards versus 17 new cards is a difference as there is more time has to go into play testing those 17 new cards on top of who designed those cards and put them in those decks. There is more than just print and the cost of these, there's people's salaries and time.
One could argue that that indeed DONT play test.
To think that they wouldn't play test these cards and make sure they weren't releasing something that players hated is asinine.
Well it doesn't cost that much more and play testing does not cost much
@@markozofarr oh I'm sorry I didn't know you knew the finances of a major corporation. Do some research on how much just the art cost on those new cards and come back with the answer.
I took a "Risk" and ordered the Sneak attack deck yesterday, didn't see this video until now. Professor, you make me feel my theory was a good investment, and always I am grateful for your wisdom, also the remaining $20 I would have spent on an Ikoria will go to what I would have done anyway with one. Upgrades, fixing the mana base a bit and overall performance to operate like a well maintained machine.
Last time I was this early Oko wasn’t op. Oh, so I’ve never been this early
oko the joko broko
I mean there was the before times
I just got both decks today prof, im new to the game and have never played edh, but your reviews helped me a lot, more power and keep on making good videos, love from 🇵🇭
Does anyone's precon smells kinda... Funky? Mine and my friend's precons have this weird smell on em unlike previous precons which smells clean.
Prof!!!!! I see that steamed hams joke and I'm here for it! I love it! Thank you! You are amazing.
Commander legends is out in a month? Pretty sure it got pushed back to December.
I think only the collectors boosters get delayed.
Tobias Lehmann my bad. Must be those I was thinking of then. Kinda bizarre having collectors boosters coming out later than regular ones though.
I preordered the two CL commander decks for the same price! My favorite part of these new decks is the box. It's made to fit sleeved cards!
Yeah saw this two for the box that can fit sleeved cards. Was about time WotC fixed that. I will surely used such box for my decks where the box thay made before have no use for me.
I wish we could "hold" WotC to this price, knowing full well that they can produce a quality product at half the price. But I think we all know what's going to happen. Commander Legends will come out, pricier than anything before it. And by the next round of pre-cons... the player-base will be so wrapped up in some other issue they'll lose sight of this and pay the $40 anyway. They offer a niche product... they have us all by the balls.
Awesome video Prof. The analysis, the questions, the acting, the sass, the "technical problems" bit. 10 out of 10. I'm even happier that WotC released a pretty good product. A+ Video.
From the looks of it they're justifying the extra $20 with the jumbo commander card and more packaging lol
The packaging... is actually comparable. Box size is like maybe 12% less material and it comes with a deck box too. You are paying less for 2/3 less foil cards.
@@machdude3366 The normal packaging is "much" more expensive because both sides of the parting "deck box" imply singular print runs. Of course at grand scale it's cents a piece, but it's cents they need to charge dollars for to get the stockholders another boat or something.
The single piece top loading deck box and no oversize cards are exactly the cost cutting measures they should take to make Commander precons both good and inexpensive.
Hey dude I’m new to MTG (less than 2 weeks) and I was debating getting an Ikoria or Zendikar Commander deck and thanks to this video I got 2 Zendikar decks for the price of one! With me building a Dinosaur commander deck I effectively have 3 decks now! Thank you again for the video!
I do like oversized cards so I do miss that. But then again not that big of a deal.
Thank you for the useful info!
I am a new Magic player, just starting out. I got in to it because of the gorgeous artwork, but then discovered I actually really enjoy the game. :D
"we'll buy anything!" i am deceased
Youre my favourite MtG TH-camr by far!!
You answer all the questionsi might have, and if you read my mind answer them when i ask them.
Ok, the arora borealis bit got me. Bravo.
Edit: Ah, it's a DtR callback. Gotta admit I don't watch the long form content too much.
This has been one of my favorite vids of yours this year professor, just the right amount of spice!
I like prof's rant at the end of how MTG player's are slaves to capitalism.
Buying anything because you're infected by FOMO is consumerism, not capitalism. This is actually bad for capitalism because it's a behavior that risks you losing your financial stability and stop consuming because you're now homeless.
Same reason why the least regulated physiologically addictive drug is the one that doesn't impede your ability to keep making money.
Yeah that’s a stretch, I understood it to be that MTG players just don’t care about the price or quality of the products, they’re gonna buy it anyways lol.
@@Stroggoii It's a behaviour necessary for the maintenance of capitalism so he wasn't off by much,
@@dogehkiindogeborn5339 No, it's not. Capitalism dies if consumers don't have money whether because they're not paid enough to pay for the products and services in supply (Detroit) or because they wasted their capital in overpriced luxury shit and drained the productive industry they depend upon of sustainability (Fifth Avenue).
@@Stroggoii Thing is, capitalism committing suicide and turning into neo-feudalism is something leftists like myself keep warning will happen just due to its incredibly warped and unrealistic ideological structure. Consumerism is an outgrowth of the capitalist mantra of infinite growth, and capitalism funnels all the resources into ever-fewer hands simply by its operation; wealth under capitalism snowballs, and in a finite space with finite (not even scarce -- just finite) resources, that's going to end up taking those resources from those on the bottom to give to those on the top. This will eventually cause the collapse of capitalism and a return to feudalism, but the process is still a function of capitalism, and the things that prevent that from happening are likewise still external to capitalism itself.
Thank you for your thorough and excellent reviews! As a noob, I really need these!! I always watch and appreciate the time and effort that goes into all your videos so thank you!!
TIL the oversized commander card is worth about $20.
There isn't one in here though
@ That's the joke.
@ The only difference in cards is the oversized card. Therefore the oversized card is "worth" $20.
@ And the commander decks are $20 less. Coincidence? I think not.
The quality of this video is amazing! Loving it prof!
Its really wierd how they get stingy on the lands the more colours are added to to the decks. Remember 5C dragons? Wotc were they thinking
Honestly the mana bases of that entire release was scuffed. I was playing the cats and was having mana issues at 2 colors with one of them being green. What the hell was wizards thinking with those?
I played a game with these two decks with my little sister, they were a fun experience and definitely worth the money. I'm glad I preordered these from my LGS.
Open your wallets, close your eyes and Aetherize! I like to think that was on purpose :D
IVE played 5 or 6 games out of the box with the sneak attack deck and i love it! Its got some strong plays and gets started quickly
Wow, I can't believe these are only $20 at the same quality as previous commander decks. It's infuriating that WotC gets away with charging the exorbitant prices they do.
You are absolutely right about these, the only complaint I have about them is that my sneak attack deck came with two heirloom blades and no sygg. However as an established commander player, I enthusiastically agree that these are some of the better precon decks they have ever made, and the price only makes them 10 times better.
I absolutely love how sassy the Prof is getting about prices. Keep yelling at wizards to make their cardboard cheaper please. #UnReserveDualLands
Funny that this video popped up in my feed I saw them at Walmart and saw the price tag my first thought was they have to be total crap but after watching this I think I’m gonna pick them up thanks proffesor