After a few quiet months, Magic: The Gathering is bringing back Commander Decks with Lorwyn Eclipsed.
The first set of a packed 2026 schedule, we’re getting the first precons for the EDH format since Edge of Eternities (which, to their credit, were great).
With Wizards of the Coast revealing the full decklists for both, should you pick one up? Or both? Or skip them entirely in favor of the five-color Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles one arriving in March? Let’s dig in.
Dance of the Elements
We don’t tend to get a great number of five-color decks, but as I’ve just mentioned, we’re getting one in consecutive sets.
Despite that, our Commander, Ashling, the Limitless, is a red card that makes it easier to bring an Elemental into play, albeit to be sacrificed if you don’t cough up the required mana.
From a gameplay perspective, I can see it being fun, particularly with Mass of Mysteries giving your Elementals the Myriad keyword, but the reprint value is pretty solid, too – with some caveats.
Omnath, Locus of the Roil is currently going for $12 or so, while Endurance isn’t far behind. The big draw is likely to be Cream of the Crop, which, to my knowledge, hasn’t been reprinted in a long, long time (maybe ever).
It’s going for a decent chunk of change (around $24 and upwards), but therein lies the rub – as soon as these decks hit shelves, that price will plummet. So while you’re getting some value, it’ll be gone as quickly as you can say Timeless Lotus – another card which will likely see the same result.
Expect the deck to offer around $130 in value, but that’ll drop to around $100 within a fortnight it seems.
That’s not to say it won’t be fun to play, but as an investment, I’d only recommend buying it if you need specific cards or just want to play with it (imagine that!).
Blight Curse
From a rainbow of colors to the dreariness of -1/-1 counters, Blight Curse is a little bit spooky in truth.
Auntie Ool is all about Blighting creatures to trigger opponents to lose life or to give you card advantage, but the backup commander, The Reaper, King No More is a 3/3 scarecrow that turns your opponents’ cards into yours if you kill them with -1/-1 counters.
With that in mind, I’d be leaning into the sheer chaos of The Reaper, but one of the biggest draws here is the Necroskitter. It essentially mimics The Reaper’s ability, bringing creatures to your side of the board, and is worth around $30. Will that drop? Yes, for sure, from the moment this deck hits shelves.
Other decent reprints here include Tree of Perdition, Chimil, the Inner Sun, and Midnight Banshee.
Again, the reprint value is likely to be around $130 again, but you’re losing a chunk of that with Necroskitter. And yet, I still think this is the better deck of the two.
Which One Should You Pick?
First up, a caveat: I’ve put links on this page to pick these up, because, well, that’s my job, but if you give it a few weeks, I reckon the pricing will settle down as more decks are printed. You shouldn’t be paying too much over the odds for these decks. Keep an eye on TCGplayer as well, as the market price on these should come down comfortably post release.
With that said, I think each inhabits a unique design space for Magic: The Gathering. I’ve been buying precons to upgrade, take apart, or just play out of the box for a few years, and both of these are pretty unique.
I’m particularly excited about Blight Curse as a way to slowly grind an opponent’s game plan to a halt, potentially flipping cards to your side of the field, while Dance of the Elements, while exciting, is likely to lead to some wild plays.
The choice is yours, of course, but I really don’t think you can go wrong with either.
Lloyd Coombes is an experienced freelancer in tech, gaming and fitness seen at Polygon, Eurogamer, Macworld, TechRadar and many more. He’s a big fan of Magic: The Gathering and other collectible card games, much to his wife’s dismay.
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