One of the best things about Magic is how many ways there are to play. If I find I’m not enjoying a particular format anymore, or I just want a break after grinding the same thing for ages, there’s always another I could switch to.
Just by picking up a different deckbox, I can be playing a totally different style of Magic in a different metagame, sometimes with a different community of players!
Sadly, there is a financial barrier to owning and maintaining a large stable of decks. Even a reasonable Commander or Pauper deck is difficult to build for less than $100, let alone less than $50.
But what if you could get a cool new deck for just $12? That’s the price of Card Kingdom’s range of “Battle Decks”: interesting and thematic 60-card precons built for instant Magic gratification!
A NEW CHALLENGER APPROACHES
As a writer for Card Kingdom, I’ve been curious about the huge list of Battle Decks for sale online – but I didn’t actually know anything about them. So I asked Hunter Smith, who tests and builds these decks with his team, to explain more about what’s in a Battle Deck, and how players are meant to use them.
HUNTER: “Battle Decks are casual, budget decks built for fun that utilize under-loved and over-looked cards. They’re great for quick matches, building your own gauntlet-in-a-box, and teaching friends how to play.
Battle Decks aren’t intended for any existing format, but are brewed and play-tested against each other to ensure they’re fun and interesting in their own environment. I like to think of them existing somewhere between limited and pauper; they’re more focused and themed than a draft deck, but not quite as optimized as decks in a competitive format. Some are consistently very strong, while others are more wacky but do something awesome.”
That description of Battle Decks really touches a nerve with me. I’m personally a big fan of Jumpstart sets, always buying booster boxes to make sure I have some packs on hand. Before Jumpstart was a thing, I tended to buy up new Commander precons and set them aside for a rainy day. Basically, I’ve always wanted to have this option to whip out a completely unknown deck (or two!) and savour the excitement of discovering my cards as I play.
I know I’m not alone in enjoying this kind of gameplay. I’ve seen more and more players enhancing the excitement of commanders like Atla Palani by shuffling a random set of creature cards into their deck before each game. And I’ve never met a Constructed tournament grinder who didn’t love playing Pack Wars or other minigames whenever they lay hands on a random booster.
That’s what makes me excited to look closer at Battle Decks: they’re even cheaper than buying a pair of Jumpstart boosters, and offer a more crafted, balanced (and thus interesting) gameplay experience!
YOU NEVER STEP IN THE SAME BATTLE TWICE
There’s a startling 37 different Battle Decks available at time of writing, enough to have multiple options in most colors and combinations. There’s a mix of more “timeless” strategies that you’d expect for each color, as well as some more unconventional ones, like black artifact aggro or UW Detectives.
But while the themes and titles give a lot of hints, the exact cards you’ll get in each Battle Deck remain mysterious. Hunter explained why there’s no way to see the decklist before you buy: like Jumpstart packs, not every copy of a Battle Deck is exactly the same!
“Coming up with decks starts with looking at our inventory and seeing which build-around cards stand out. They can be something as simple as an uncommon signpost from the latest set to a random rare from an eight year old Commander set. Then I get started scanning through and jotting down other cards that could come together with those to make something fun. Once I have a handful of lists, we play-test them in batches with recent decks and other in-progress decks.
When a deck has proven itself ready, I give it a name (sometimes alliterative, frequently punny) and design an icon to represent the deck. If there’s time, I like to explore some new designs for tokens to include on the other side of the packing; just a little extra fun thing that’s exclusive to these decks!
In addition to coming up with new decks, rebuilds are a big part of the day-to-day for maintaining the library of Battle Decks. We usually release a couple new decks every 1–3 months and restock on older ones when we can. Some of the more evergreen decks that are flexible in their construction stick around for longer, since they’re easier to rebuild. The best part is when there will be newly printed cards releasing that suddenly enable something I’d been wanting to make for months.”
In my case, not knowing the exact list of each deck just plays into how I want to use these Battle Decks. But hearing about the thought that’s put into these designs still leaves me curious to see the end result!
ENTERING THE BATTLEFIELD
HUNTER: “One of our newest Battle Decks is “Exquisite Corps”: a White/Black/Green go-wide deck that uses flashback spells to quickly make tons of creature tokens.
This one was super fun to work on; the deck is built around the somewhat obscure rare Thalia’s Geistcaller, with cards that support the game plan like Lingering Souls and Travel Preparation.”
“Our other new deck is Wize Guys: a tempo-heavy Blue/Red midrange deck that’s all about wizards slinging spells.
Something I love about this deck is that it uses cards from sets years apart that synergize: Zendikar Rising, Dominaria, Kaldheim, Strixhaven, AND Final Fantasy all had cards that care about the wizard creature type.”
I also asked whether Hunter could share information on one of the older Battle Deck designs, to show how they’ve evolved over time.
“If I had to pick a favorite Battle Deck, I’d have to go with Chromatic Aberration, which we first made about a year ago. I’m usually very fond of our three color decks, and this one is also pretty unique as far as they go.
Chromatic Aberration is a “colorless” Temur midrange deck that plays a bunch of Eldrazi from MH3. The deck revolves around using Snapping Voidcraw to ramp into Titans’ Vanguard, buffing colorless creatures played earlier like Searchlight Companion and Myr Convert.”
What I love is how a lot of these designs seem to be souped-up versions of old Draft or Standard decks, but expanded to include synergistic cards from across Magic history!
It’s reminiscent of how I (and I think a lot of people) usually start building new Commander decks. But there are a lot of cards and mechanics which simply aren’t easy to use in a 40-life multiplayer environment. It’s really cool to see these kinds of “forgotten” cards be given a home – and that’s just the kind of surprise I want to see when I’m shuffling up a mysterious new precon for the first time.
THE SPICE OF LIFE
The more I’ve learned about Battle Decks from this article, the more I like the sound of them. They seem to take the best aspects of old Commander precons, Jumpstart boosters, and the random rare repacks you might find at your LGS. For the same price as some set boosters, you instantly have a cool, flavorsome deck to play casual Magic with friends around the kitchen table; just as Richard Garfield intended!
And while the novelty of unboxing new decks is what first drew me in, it’s clear that Battle Decks aren’t just one-use, disposable products. The decks Hunter shared don’t waste any space on dull, vanilla creatures. In fact they’re full of small synergies and interactive spells, enough you’d need multiple matches just to see them all in game.
Each Battle Deck comes with theme-appropriate sideboard cards, which makes the thought of repeating the same matchup significantly more interesting. There’s also a supplementary “Sideboard Starter” pack that you can plug into whatever Battle Decks you’re currently using to fill out their arsenal of post-board options with some more generic tech.
Truly casual kitchen-table Magic is hard to make content or products for, so I feel like it’s sometimes overlooked by our online community. But every time I actually sit down and play with Jumpstart packs or random old decks from my drawer I have a tremendous time, and it reminds me why Magic is so good. To me, the best part of Battle Decks is having an easy way to uncork that fun at a moment’s notice – and a reasonable price point!
Tom’s fate was sealed in 7th grade when his friend lent him a pile of commons to play Magic. He quickly picked up Boros and Orzhov decks in Ravnica block and has remained a staunch white magician ever since. A fan of all Constructed formats, he enjoys studying the history of the tournament meta. He specializes in midrange decks, especially Death & Taxes and Martyr Proc. One day, he swears he will win an MCQ with Evershrike. Ask him how at @AWanderingBard, or watch him stream Magic at twitch.tv/TheWanderingBard.