previewed MTG's Bedecked Brokers Commander Deck - one of five decks based around New Capenna's five crime families and three of Magic's five colors. These urban gangster-movie-inspired decks release on April 29, alongside the main set.
The first Commander Decks for Magic: The Gathering released over a decade ago, and as Commander has grown in popularity the product has evolved from a yearly release into one that accompanies every Standard-legal set. These decks serve as a gateway into one of Magic's largest formats with pre-constructed lists based on the connected set's themes that are easy to upgrade with powerful cards later. Additionally, Commander Decks are a way to both add new cards into the Commander card pool and provide players with reprints that couldn't be included elsewhere. Occasionally, Commander cards in Magic: The Gathering sell for expensive prices if they become relevant in competitive formats.
Each new Streets of New Capenna Commander Deck includes dozens of reprints, several of which haven't previously been reprinted before. Reprints range from format staples like Sun Titan and Arcane Signet to three-color legendary creatures that haven't previously found a home. Whether players buy these entire decks or seek out singles, the cards from these Commander Decks are sure to excite.
MTG Reprints In Obscura Operation Include Custodi Lich
The Obscura Operation deck is white, blue, and black - a combination of colors that draws lots of cards, plays with graveyards, and destroys a lot of creatures. The highest-profile reprint in this deck may be Wrexial, the Risen Deep - a Kraken that can cast spells out of an opponents' graveyards. Wrexial generally hovers around $8.00 or $9.00, and has only been reprinted a few times, including in a Magic: The Gathering Secret Lair drop in 2021.
Alongside it are a number of cards that have never been reprinted before: Alela, Artful Provocateur is a Legendary Faerie that rewards decks playing flying creatures and numerous artifacts and enchantments; Custodi Lich brings Conspiracy: Take the Crown's political monarch mechanic into games; Thief of Sanity, like Wrexial, steals an opponent's cards; and the undead Fallen Shinobi plays nicely with ninjas from Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty earlier this year. Also exciting is the newest reprint of Austere Command - a flexible boardwipe that can selectively destroy threats and sees significant play in Commander.
Magic: The Gathering - Best Reprints In Maestros Massacre
The blue, black, and red Maestros Massacre deck thrives on sacrificing creatures cards in Magic: The Gathering to augment its instants and sorceries - and as such it contains a mix of powerful spells, token generation, and effects to ensure the plan runs smoothly. Kess, Dissident Mage is a powerful player in this plan, allowing spells to be cast from her controller's graveyard. Before now, she's only been reprinted once since her debut in Commander 2017.
Rekindling Phoenix is a cheap creature that can be sacrificed every turn, Double Vision provides extra copies of instants and sorceries, and Zndrsplt's Judgment is a token-making sorcery with a political twist. Each of these three cards has been reprinted for the first time in Magic's Streets of New Capenna Commander Decks. Maestros Massacre also includes powerful blue card draw spells like Fact or Fiction and Dig Through Time - the latter of which is powerful enough to be banned in multiple Magic: The Gathering competitive formats.
Best Reprints In Magic: The Gathering's Cabaretti Cacophony
The Cabaretti are red, green, and white - colors that are highly creature-focused in Magic: The Gathering. Cabaretti Cacophony focuses specifically on creature tokens by gaining value from wide boards and turning even the smallest creatures into threats. This deck contains the first-ever reprint of Gahiji, Honored One. This legendary creature first debuted in 2013's second wave of Commander Decks, and simultaneously buffs his controller's attacking creatures while encouraging opponents to attack each other.
Several other Magic: The Gathering cards have been reprinted for the first time here: Felidar Retreat plays double-duty, both making tokens and empowering creatures; Sandwurm Convergence creates large tokens while preventing flying creatures from attacking; and Zurzoth, Chaos Rider spawns devil tokens while disrupting opponents' hands. Sylvan Offering, a green sorcery that creates a sizable number of tokens and allows some political plays, gets its second reprint ever. Lastly, Cabaretti Cacophony includes reprints of Aura Mutation and Artifact Mutation, both with new art.
Magic: The Gathering - Best Reprints in Riveteers Rampage
Led by MTG's dragon Ziatora, New Capenna's Riveteers are a family of construction workers and strongarms with little subtlety. The black, red, and green Riveteers Rampage deck thus contains large creatures to beat down the opposition. Treeshaker Chimera, formerly only available through Theros: Beyond Death set boosters, presents a sizable attacker that gains value when destroyed.
Greenwarden of Murasa allows players to recoup value from cards played earlier in the game - a quality key to many Commander Decks' strategies in Magic: The Gathering. Noxious Gearhulk can destroy an opponent's largest threat and gain a sizable chunk of life in addition to providing an evasive attacker, while Avenger of Zendikar is infamous for its ability to create a massive army of creatures out of seemingly nowhere. While this deck has fewer first-time reprints than the others, the cards within are still undoubtedly valuable for Commander players.
Best MTG Reprints In Bedecked Brokers
The Bedecked Brokers deck is green, white, and blue, and has a large focus on counter synergies. +1/+1 counters are abundant in Magic: The Gathering's history, and MTG Streets of New Capenna additionally introduces shield counters. Numerous reprints with the proliferate mechanic, which adds additional counters to permanents that already have them, can be found in this deck; Thrummingbird and Grateful Apparition are uncommons, but highly relevant in counter-strategies (and Apparition has never been reprinted before). Jenara, Asura of War is a flying threat that gets large fast, while Scavenging Ooze pads out life totals while denying opponents graveyard interaction. Numerous counter-related cards have received their first-ever reprints - Roalesk, Apex Hybrid, Wingspan Mentor, and Steelbane Hydra all care about +1/+1 counters, and Steelbane has previously only been available through Throne of Eldraine set boosters.
Like all Magic: The Gathering sets, Streets of New Capenna features exciting cards, themes, and mechanics for all sorts of players. The Commander Decks can be a way to get a taste for a set's flavor and energy through a fun, social format. While more enfranchised players may still seek to buy singles, these decks are a fantastic start for newer players looking to grow their collections or for anyone simply looking to have fun.