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The Fallout franchisefeels like an ideal pairing forMagic: The Gathering’sUniverses Beyondinitiative; Fallout has all the usual bombastic settings, deadly creatures, and eccentric characters you’d expect in a normal Magic set. The crossover feels organic, brought to life through the lens of fourpreconstructed Commander decks.
Hail, Caesar in particular highlights one of the key features of the Fallout universe: the cruelty of some of its bloodthirsty inhabitants and the constant conflict at hand across the wastes. The leader of Caesar’s Legion is all about domination through violence, highlighted by this Commander deck’s very simple theme:Attack to win.
Hail, Caesar Precon Commanders
In case the name of the deck wasn’t abundantly clear, Caesar, Legion’s Emperor is the commander of this precon. He’s a modal commander with a myriad of abilities tied tothe simple act of turning creatures sideways and attacking. If you’re not constantly sending creatures into battle, the deck’s doing something wrong.
Caesar doesn’t need to be the one attacking in order to trigger his ability; it’s possible to get immediate value the turn you play him by attacking with something else that’s not affected by summoning sickness.Doing so nets you one of three abilities: Create some extra combatants, draw a card, or dome an opponent equal to the number of creatures you control.
As is tradition, the deck comes with an alternative commander, in this case, Mr. House, President and CEO. It’s an intriguing card that begs to be built around but misses the entire point of this deck, so if you’re playing straight out of the box,it’s best to keep your allegiances with Caesar.
Mr. House, President and CEO
Overseer of Vault 76
Keeper of the Accord
Captain of the Watch
Windbrisk Heights
Hail, Caesar Commander Deck Key Themes
The main theme of Hail, Caesar is as basic as it gets.This deck is all about combat and declaring attacks, with cards like Fervent Charge and Desdemona, Freedom’s Edge signaling this theme. That makes the deck soft to pillowfort cards like Ghostly Prison, but it also means you’re establishing yourself as the aggressor at the table.
Of course, you can’t attack if you don’t have creatures. This precon is outfitted with plenty of token generators. If nothing else, Caesar can spawn some extra 1/1s every combat.The deck also makes good use of the squad mechanic, which returns from theWarhammer 40,000 precons. These cards represent great mana sinks and token generators all in one.
There is a light sacrifice theme peppered throughout the deck. Not enough to call thisa true ‘aristocrats’ deck, but you’ll see cards like Bastion of Remembrance, Wasteland Raider, and Elder Arthur Maxson reinforcing this sub-theme. Some of these effects already reward you for losing creatures in combat, which should be happening constantly.
Hail, Caesar Commander Deck Analysis
Your strategy is as bare-bones as it gets. Turn your cards 90 degrees to the right and swing away. To that end,you need to establish a healthy boardstate early onand maintain creatures on board at all times. If you have a mana rock on turn two, play it. Otherwise, worry about developing your board.
The sacrifice subtheme is your plan B. There’s no reason to start sacrificing bodies if it means shrinking your board. You’re not playinganthem effectslike Intangible Virtue just to sacrifice the recipients of those bonuses. Once you’ve whittled your opponents' life totals close to single digits,that’swhen it’s time to land a Bastion of Remembrance and sac your board to the greater good.
The precon comes loaded withboard wipes, which are somewhat counterintuitive when you’re the one trying to maintain a boardstate. Some of these are asymmetrical or leave you ahead on board, like Ruinous Ultimatum and Martial Coup, butyou’ll have to be a bit more diligent with the others.
Card advantage shouldn’t be too hard to come by in this deck. On top of Caesar already providing a card draw ability as one of his modes, there’s a smattering of Junk tokens that’ll let you ‘impulse draw’ cards off the top of your library. Those cards are time-sensitive, somake sure you’re using Junk when you have plenty of manato cast the cards you exile.
It’s worth mentioning thatthis deck struggles against floodgate effects that prevent combat from happening. Whether that’s something like Ghostly Prison or a Blazing Archon, you’re pretty much dead in the water if you’re able to’t attack. Hold onto catch-all answers like Wear//Tear and Anguished Unmaking for permanents that hinder your game plan.
The mana base is also functional but not great. It’s full of all the B-tier dual lands we’ve come to expect from Commander precons, with little utility between the cracks. It’ll get you the colors you need consistently enough but at a slow pace that makes it difficult to hit the ground running.This should be your first focus for upgrades when the time comes.
Description
Isshin doubles attack triggers. This deck loves to attack.
It’s a match made in two heavens. It might break the Fallout immersion a little, but that’s a sacrifice you’ll have to decide on. Mr. House is going to do some really awesome things… just in a different deck.
This creature-heavy deck could stand to lose a board wipe, especially one that might randomly favor one of your opponents. Drop The Nipton Lottery for another relevant body. Neyali, Suns' Vanguard reinforces your token theme and adds some extra card advantage to the deck.
Unfortunately, Adeline, Resplendent Cathar is approaching $10 territory, but Anim Pakal, Thousandth Moon mimics the effect well enough. A few extra attackers each combat is exactly what you want.
Yes Man’s doing group hug things this deck’s not built to utilize. People won’t play ball with the deck that’s beating them into the ground. More like No Thanks, Man.
The Bobbleheads are borderline unplayable unless all seven are in a deck together, and this precon only spotlights two. Mardu Ascendancy doubles your attack force and even gives you some occasional board protection.
Nixing one Bobblehead means you’re certainly cutting the other one. Cursed Mirror will maintain a ramp slot for the deck while also contributing to combat the first turn it enters.
Stolen Strategy is fun but ungodly slow. You’re not hurting for card advantage as it is, but the Monarch will capture the effect this slot’s trying to achieve while also adding to
your board.
Survivor’s Med Kit is basically wasting your time, especially once you transport this deck out of precon vs. precon matches, and the rad counters don’t show up anymore. Bring in another mana rock like Fellwar Stone to set your plans in motion earlier.
