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Magic: The Gathering’s Outlaws of Thunder Junction is arriving, and it’s time to look at the Commander decks. These pre-con decks are always quite interesting, especially when it comes to their themes. In this case, we’re heading to Thunder Junction, a villain-centric story focused on a band of outlaws trying to get one big score. That means the primary characters will all be fan-favorite antagonists from the MTG franchise.
I recently got to preview these decks alongside other members of the press to see what awaits Commander fans in Magic: The Gathering for Outlaws of Thunder Junction. Several of these decks look very interesting to me. Let’s dive in and see what is on offer!
All commander decks for Magic: The Gathering’s Outlaws of Thunder Junction
As is tradition, Magic: The Gathering’s Outlaws of Thunder Junction expansion will feature four Commander decks. Most of these are three-colored, like the Fallout Commander decks, with one Red/Blue deck to round things out. You can see the deck themes below, with a brief description of each of them:
- Desert Bloom (Red/Green/White): Discard lands and grow them back
- Grand Larceny (Black/Green/Blue): Steal cards and generate mana
- Most Wanted (Red/White/Black): Earn Treasure, buy Outlaws
- Quick Draw (Red/Blue): Big turns with multiple spells
Desert Bloom comes with Yuma and Proud Protector, a three-color Human Ranger with a high mana cost. However, for each land in the graveyard, he costs one generic less.
His purpose is to help you flood the board with 4/2 Plant Warriors each time a Desert is put into your graveyard from anywhere. That’s right, Desert lands are back! I’m curious about this deck, but the other ones felt more powerful to me.
Grand Larceny is more my speed - I’m all about taking my opponent's cards and using them myself. This Magic: The Gathering Outlaws of Thunder Junction Commander deck features Gonti - Gonti, Canny Acquisitor. I love “Spells you cast but don’t own cost 1 less to cast” right out of the gate for this 5/5.
This deck promises chaos in multiplayer groups. Whenever one of your creatures deals combat damage to a player, you can peek at their top card and exile it. You can then play it as long as it stays that way and use any mana to cast it. That’s interesting because it says 'play.' I imagine you can also use your opponent's lands that way.
Most Wanted brings back Olivia as Olivia, Opulent Outlaw, a Vampire Assassin in a deck focused on building lots of Treasure Tokens and picking up Outlaws. Outlaws are a new mechanic focused on a specific set of creature types: Assassins, Mercenaries, Pirates, Rogues, and Warlocks.
Whenever one of those creature types deals damage, and she’s in play, you gain a Treasure Token. You can also sacrifice two of them, alongside 3 mana, to give all of your creatures two +1/+1 counters for this Magic: The Gathering Outlaws of Thunder Junction Commander deck.
Sadly, this can only be done as a Sorcery. Nonetheless, I think this will be an incredibly powerful, popular Commander in Magic: The Gathering.
Finally, the two-color deck, Quick Draw. This deck feels like it will require a lot more thought and planning if you want to get the most out of Stella Lee, Wild Card. She is all about getting access to more cards. When you cast your second spell each turn, exile the top card of your deck, and you can play it until the end of your next turn.
She also lets you copy an instant or sorcery - only if you’ve already cast three or more spells this turn. This feels like the more effort and thought you put into your turns, the bigger payoffs you’ll get when it comes to combos. I want to see her in Storm decks right away.
Outlaws of Thunder Junction will be released in Magic: The Gathering on April 19, 2024, alongside these powerful new Commander decks. There are plenty of interesting new mechanics, powerful cards, and more coming for players worldwide.
