Eternal Might is the Esper precon from Aetherdrift. It features Zombies and Discard as the main synergies, and encourages you to draw cards to grow your Zombies, while pitching them away for later reanimation or Eternalize. Find out how to raise the roof (and the dead) with our thirteen in, thirteen out Budget Upgrade Guide – this time for just $30.
Aetherdrift has just two precons this time around: the Esper Zombies themed Eternal Might, and the energy themed Living Energy. Today we’ll check out the Esper (White, Blue and Black) offering, Eternal Might. We’ll figure out how to get the most out of it and get those zombies moving.
ETERNAL MIGHT: TEMMET, NAKTAMUN’S WILL
Temmet is a fan favorite, back from Amonkhet, and sporting a little black in his color identity now. At five mana for a 4/4 with Vigilance and Menace, he is pretty average – at least until you look at the rest of what he has going on. When you attack, you get to loot, which is pretty nice in this deck and these colors. However, what that’s fueling is the other ability: when you draw a card, Zombies you control get +1/+1 until end of turn.
This is a really strong ability. It seems unassuming, but there are plenty of ways to make this pop off. A simple Windfall can buff your team enough to take a game, and the incremental draw in the meantime really boosts your attacking power.
This is the Commander we’ll be looking at today for the Precon Upgrade, but let’s have a look at the other face Commander.
Hashaton, Scarab’s Fist is a Commander that I find altogether quite exciting, but I feel like building out a Hashaton deck would require more expansive changes to the precon, and quite a bit more cash thrown at it. It’s more of a reanimator deck than a Zombie deck, and with a two mana Commander, is suited for more high-level tables. Especially if you pack some shenanigans involving Lion’s Eye Diamond and other combo pieces.
BACK FROM THE DEAD
The Eternal Might precon features a total of 10 new cards, with some shining above the others.
Amonkhet is a treat for Zombies fans, as we get some cool white cards as opposed to primarily Dimir fair. On Wings of Gold and Renewed Solidarity are amazing in the deck, but still amazing when it comes to other tokens decks or other typal decks. I expect both to see plenty of play outside of Temmet decks.
Zombie decks got hooked up though, with Accursed Duneyard offering a new Swarmyard variant for all types that go bump in the night. Prophet of the Scarab, meanwhile, refills your hand whether you’re on Temmet, Varina or even Wilhelt. I do like that it can refill you even if you don’t have a board, and instead, only have a full graveyard.
Lost Monarch of Ifnir has to be my favorite card in the Precon, though; giving your whole team Afflict 3 is amazing, because it means all those chumped zombies you’re attacking with are going to cause damage either way. Oh, and you also get some card advantage with it too!
GORGEOUS REPRINTS
The deck has a number of in-demand zombie reprints, with amazing artwork to boot.
Getting Zombie Master and Gravecrawler is especially nice.
Big ticket reprints include The Scarab God, Rot Hulk, and Unholy Grotto. If you were looking for a good time to get these, it might be worth grabbing the precon.
ETERNAL MIGHT: $30 FOR 13 BUDGET UPGRADES
The upgrade plans for this precon aren’t really reinventing the wheel – but we are adding one!
The deck runs really smoothly out of the box and has plenty of the cards you already want. My main goal was to add:
- More recursion, including mass recursion
- More ways to cycle through cards or refill the hand
- More removal
First up, I added more recursion. This deck throws a lot of pieces in the yard, and makes a lot of token Zombies, so both Living Death and Lich Knights’ Conquest can do a lot of work. A nice little bonus here is that they can trigger a bunch of the drain/gain effects too, which can help you set up for wins.
Speaking of hand refill, Windfall is an obvious choice in a Temmet deck, but I also love running Titan of Littjara here too. You can have it be a zombie, and when it enters or attacks, you get to draw a bunch of cards, which is exactly what this deck wants to be doing.
Mainstay of Varina decks Teferi’s Ageless Insight is an easy pick here too. Getting to draw two cards for every one you’re discarding on many of the decks looting effects can help you not to run out of cards. This is especially true for cards like Raffine.
Noxious Ghoul is a Zombie I always want to be playing, and so running it in this deck is a no-brainer (because he ate the brain already, right?). While you’re pumping the team with Temmet, you’re also shrinking your opponent’s creatures or removing them outright by playing Zombies or making tokens.
One of the priciest upgrades on our list is Warren Soultrader, but it’s a combo card with Gravecrawler, so if you’re wanting some inevitability, then you can jam these two cards for as many EtBs and treasures as you have life. If you pair it with any one of Corpse Knight, Wayward Servant or other cards not in this list (like Bastion of Remembrance) then you’re laughing.
The final list looks a little like the one above. You definitely want to stay at 38+ lands when you’re discarding all the time, and really the deck could go to 40 lands and still run smoothly provided you pack it with cyclers and other tools to see more cards.
The list of cards to remove is in the sideboard on Moxfield. The cuts were mana-intensive sorcery speed plays, cards that lacked synergy with Living Death/Lich Knights’ Conquest, non-Zombies, and cards we’re not too keen on curving out with. There’s an argument to run Commander’s Sphere due to the card draw ability, but on turn 3 I’d much rather be playing a Zombie than a mana rock in this deck, so I don’t want too many rocks.
Thirteen upgrades for only $30? That’s a steal in my book.
FURTHER UPGRADES
As we are utilizing Swampwalk with our Zombies, a hefty upgrade is Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth. Naturally, it can be paired with Cabal Coffers for big mana plays, and a recent tool I really like: Urza’s Cave. Shifting an Expedition Map into the manabase means we can free up space in the main deck, and it can also get our Accursed Duneyard and Unholy Grotto.
If you want a deck for high power, then this is a deck for Smothering Tithe, especially if you’re running Windfall or other Wheel effects. The huge mana gains are brilliant.
Wonder is a good finisher for the deck, and can easily be slotted in and discarded whenever you like.
If you go down the combo route with Gravecrawler and Warren Soultrader, then Phyrexian Altar is a great sac outlet to take advantage of.
A good manabase is really going to help this deck out, so grabbing some Fetches, Shocks and the Esper Triome will always be a good move. Check out the article I wrote last week about how you don’t need Dual Lands in Commander for some tips on the lands you should pick up for fixing.
END STEP
The Eternal Might precon is tons of fun out of the box, and you can happily operate it as an unedited Precon if you’re looking for one to have in your repertoire. It’s a great place to start for those interested in Zombies, as it’s packed with Zombie staples and reprints, and the Amonkhet reprint art is so. frickin. good.
How will you upgrade your deck? What win conditions are you eyeing up? Let us know on Bluesky.
Kristen is Card Kingdom’s Head Writer and a member of the Commander Format Panel. Formerly a competitive Pokémon TCG grinder, she has been playing Magic since Shadows Over Innistrad, which in her opinion, was a great set to start with. When she’s not taking names with Equipment and Aggro strategies in Commander, she loves to play any form of Limited.