Eldraine is an enchanted place of fairytale lore, and the upcoming MTG set, Wilds of Eldraine, takes us outside the walls of the noble kingdoms and into the wilds. Being a premiere set means it has a full product line, including two new commander decks. Today’s article is all about the Fae Dominion Precon.
Fae Dominion is a Dimir (blue/black) creature-based deck that releases alongside the main Wilds of Eldraine set on September 8, 2023. It will contain a 100-card deck (10 brand-new cards), a 2-card Collector Booster sample pack, one life tracker, and a deck box.
With the colors, release date, and other general info out of the way, let’s get into the fun stuff. Today, I’ll cover what I think the deck’s strategy will be, what spicy reprints may be included, what won’t make it in, and some good cards to buy now if you’re planning to pick up Fae Dominion when Wilds of Eldraine releases. So, without further ado, let’s jump in.
New Commanders
Here is a look at the face (primary) and alternate commanders for the Fae Dominion precon.
Primary Commander
Seeing Tegwell at the hem of the deck confirms my predictions; the deck is devoted to Faerie Tribal. And what a commander this is! Three mana gives you a 2/3 lord with flying and deathtouch. Not only does she give your other faeries +1/+1, but she also allows you to draw a card whenever they die.
Secondary Commander
Alela is a cool secondary way to play the deck – Most faeries have flash, and she leans into that ability. Whenever you flash a creature in on an opposing end step (or cast an instant, for that matter), you’ll create a 1/1 faerie token with flying. Knowing how this archetype plays, you’ll easily get a ton of triggers off of this throughout the game.
Then, you can goad an opposing creature when you swing and connect with whatever you’re flashing in (or with one of those evasive tokens). I love these alternate playstyles, and while Tegwell may be the stronger choice, Alela is less linear and will be a fun chance of pace from the primary general.
Fae Dominion Precon – Possible Strategies & Cards
Ok, it’s not hard to tell what the strategy for this deck is. Its colors are blue/black, and its name is “Fae Dominion.” So, Faerie Tribal is pretty apparent here. But what does “Faerie Tribal” mean? What does the deck play like, what does it want to achieve, and what cards allow it to do its thing?
Related: Wilds Of Eldraine: Virtue And Valor Precon – Deck List, Predictions, & More
Well, that’s what we’re going to find out. And the tagline in the Amazon product description for the deck is a great start. It says, “Ally with Tegwyll to summon flocks of faeries and play mischievous tricks on your foes.” This is a perfect synopsis of the strategy, as Faeries often have tricksy, disruptive abilities. Here are some good examples and cards I imagine will show up in the deck.
Disruption On A Body
Spellstutter Sprite is a quintessential example of Faeries as a tribe. It’s a cheap, low-to-the-ground creature with flying and disruptive abilities. It’s just pesky… When you cast this, you can counter a spell with CMC equal to or less than the number of faeries you control.
Not only can a well-timed Spellstutter Sprite be very impactful on the stack in denying opponents a critical spell, but you’re advancing your
The more cards we look at, the more you’ll notice that flying and flash are a running theme, which is excellent. Evasion (especially flying) goes a long in making sure your creatures get through for damage. Furthermore, there are a lot of cards for the archetype that trigger on you dealing combat damage, so it helps there too.
And lastly, on defense, if someone has a significant threat in the air, you’ll almost always have a chump blocker for it, and they’ll likely send it elsewhere, if possible. Flash makes it so opponents have to always play around your open mana and allows you to play a very versatile game.
For example, you can hold up countermagic; if you do not need it, you’ll often still have things to flash in. Considering that mana usually goes unused, this is a huge tempo advantage and keeps players always unsure of what you have.
You’ll also find almost everything I said about the previous card here. V-Clique can be flashed in after an opponent draws a card(s) (giving you the maximum amount to choose from) and strips them of the most problematic thing you see. Yes, they get to replace it, but assuming you picked something significant, whatever they draw will likely be less good.
In a pinch, you can also target yourself with this and ditch your worst card to draw something better. Again, versatility! And a 3/1 body with flying can put in some serious work if left unopposed. Even a few attacks (or a key block) put the overall value through the roof when you consider you’ve stolen the best card from someone’s hand as it entered the battlefield.
Rankle is a chaotic card. I played with this Throne of Eldraine Standard, and let me tell you; It’s even better than it looks. It does everything you could want and then some. The combination of flying and haste almost ensures that you’ll be able to get in for combat damage against someone with it.
And when you do, you can choose up to three (Yep. You can select all three) valuable abilities. And while they’re symmetric, you’ll be much more prepared for them than everyone else, most of the time. The first makes everyone discard a card, the second has everyone lose one life and draw a card, and the third is an edict effect.
Brazen Borrower doesn’t just play like a two-in-one spell – It is two spells on a single card. The adventure portion is a bounce spell that can send any non-land permanent back to its owner’s hand. And for only two mana, that’s a pretty clean answer; Especially when you’ve only used half of your card to deal with one of theirs.
The creature portion has flash, flying, and a high enough power to be a good beater if one or more opponents don’t have flying/reach. You can cast the creature portion of the card from your hand like usual or from exile after casting the adventure portion. I’m beginning to sound like a broken record, but again, we see disruption, evasion, and versatility on full display – That’s the name of the game for the archetype, and this is a sign-post example.
Ferocious Fae
You can’t have a tribal deck without some lords and similar effects to make your tribe hit harder. While the cards mentioned above are great for chipping in for damage while you throw a wrench in everyone else’s game plan, they aren’t likely to get three other players to zero in a game of EDH by themselves. That said, the next thing I expect to see in the Fae Dominion precon is some creature buffing.
Three mana lords need to give your creatures something besides a simple +1/+1. And Scion of Oona doesn’t disappoint. It gives all your other faeries a +1/+1 boost and shroud, which makes them unable to be the target of spells or abilities – Even ones you control. This ensures your mischevious, winged attackers stay on
Related: MTG Shroud Vs. Hexproof: Which One Is Better?
Flying and flash show up here as well and can be huge. Flashing this in can give your creatures an unforeseen power and toughness pump in combat or be used in response to targeted removal to save your
A bit higher up on the curve is Glen Elendra Liege, which can give your creatures a +1/+1 if they’re blue or black; And if they happen to be both (like Nymris, Oona’s Trickster) they’ll get +2/+2. I think this is a clear-cut include for the deck, and I’d be shocked if it wasn’t included.
Most Faeries have flying. So, while this doesn’t say, “Other Faeries you control…” boosting your flying creatures will get most, if not all, of them. Unless you tap Sprite Noble, it’ll only boost their defense, but that’s not a big downside with things like Brazen Borrower and Vendilion Clique (which are stated toward power) in the deck.
Faerie Swarm doesn’t make other Faeries bigger, but the more you have in play (that are blue), the bigger it will get. I would say most Faeries are blue, so it’s not hard to get this pretty beefy, in my experience. Especially if the precon includes cards like Oona, Queen of the Fae, or Stolen by the Fae, which can make an obscene amount of tokens later in the game.
Card Advantage & Interaction
In EDH, there are some key things that all decks need, and two of them are card draw and interaction. Most of the creatures in the deck will be some form of interaction (and many draw cards, too), but I wanted to show some more examples of how the precon may set up value engines and handle problems, aside from the staples for the colors.
Card Draw
Removal
- Faerie Trickery
- Pestermite
- Hypnotic Sprite
- Final-Sting Faerie
- Peppersmoke
- Familiar’s Ruse
- Violet Pall
Realted: The Best Blue Removal In MTG & The Best Black Removal In MTG
Cards I Don’t Expect To See
Here are some cards that I think would be good in the Fae Dominion precon, that I don’t think will be included for one reason or another. Some are due to power level, and others are for budget reasons. Regardless, I’m guessing we won’t see the following cards in the stock list.
Coat of Arms
Coat of Arms is perfect for a Faerie Tribal deck. A very high number of Faerie creatures share secondary creature types. So, this particular card will be incredibly strong in the deck. I also like it alongside the creatures with flash since you can buff your
Despite how good it would be in the deck, I think WOTC will leave it out for a few reasons. First, it’s expensive (around $15), and there are similar, albeit less powerful, cards that they can include instead. Some examples include Vanquisher’s Banner, Door of Destinies, and Favorable Winds.
Secondly, as the example text on the card suggests, it’s hard to know exactly what the card does and how much of a buff creatures are getting, Especially for newer players. And the precons are meant to be an on-ramp to EDH for new players.
Dire Undercurrents
Dire Undercurrents should be in the deck and probably could be in the deck, but I don’t think it will. The first half of the card is a powerful card draw engine that can be triggered repeatably. And while it’s super good, I don’t think it’s the problematic half.
The bottom half triggers whenever a black creature enters the battlefield under your control and forces an opponent of your choice to discard a card. Even without being built to optimize this card, it can quickly strip an unlucky opponent of all of their cards. And given that its first half is so playable, it’s incidental value that’s pretty strong for a precon.
Mistbind Clique
To me, Mistbind Clique reads as unfun in a casual setting. If you flash this in on someone after their untap step, this essentially reads, “target opponent can’t cast spells this turn,” and I don’t think WOTC wants that. This is fine if you’re in a more competitive setting or talk land manipulation/destruction with your playgroup. However, I think it is a bit too oppressive and “unfun” for the general player buying precons.
Mill Pieces
There is a ton of overlap between Faeries and Rouges and where there are Rouges, there are Mill syenergies. Some examples include Flitting Guerrilla, Soaring Thought-Thief, Thieves’ Guild Enforcer, and spells like Drown in the Loch.
That said, most home-brewed Faerie builds will include some powerful Mill cards like Traumatize to help fuel the strategy. However, I think a devoted Mill strategy in addition to Faeries would be too resource intensive for a preconstructed deck. It could splash some mill syenergies like Didn’t Say Please + Drown in the Loch but I don’t think we’ll see any of the hard hitting Mill spells.
High-Value Reprints
Most commander precons have a reprint value of around $95. You get to this number but adding up the value of the cards in the list without counting new cards. There should be about $100, give or take, in value. Here are some more valuable cards that could help contribute.
- Scion of Oona – $6
- Mistbind Clique – $4.50
- Faerie Mastermind – $4.50
- Brazen Borrower – $7
- Vanquisher’s Banner – $4
- Kindred Discovery – $12
- Bitterblossom – $18
Cards You Should Pick Up Before Fae Dominion Releases
If you’re certain you’ll be picking up the Fae Dominion precon come September, here are some cards you should consider getting early. They shouldn’t get reprinted in the deck, but they would be good if you want to upgrade it. If my guesses are accurate, you should save money by buying these ahead of time.
First, I strongly suggest picking up the first three cards (Coat of Arms, Dire Undercurrents, and Mistbind Clique) from the Cards I Don’t Expect To See section above. I won’t rehash the details since I already covered why they’re awesome and why I think they’ll get left out. You can jump back to that section by clicking here.
Aside from those, I have one more suggestion.
Raise the Palisade
This is a phenomenal card for a tribal-based blue deck. In most circumstances, this will be a five-mana, one-sided
How come? It’s a brand-new card from Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-Earth. In my experience, WOTC won’t turn around and reprint it in the very next set. There are replacements you could play in place of this. However, it’s a perfect fit and already $7, so I recommend getting it now.
Official Deck List
We don’t have deck lists just yet. However, when they drop, you’ll find them here.
End Step
There you have it, my friends, everything we know about the Wilds of Eldraine Fae Dominion precon. And my educated guesses about everything else. I’m looking forward to the return to Eldraine, and I know many others are as well. That said, I hope you found today’s article helpful. Be sure to check back soon for the complete deck lists.
