The precon includes a few landfall cards like Avenger of Zendikar and Rampaging Baloths, but it is missing a few other powerful cards. These are some of them: The most impressive strategy right out of the box is Landfall. Rampaging Baloths and Avenger of Zendikar are format all-stars, and for good reason: they’re efficient, powerful, and reward you just for playing the game. It would be wise to lean harder into this as your main strategy; Aesi enables far more land drops than most Tatyova builds ever could, so taking advantage of that is key to a successful build.

Leviathan is stylish but overcosted and most of our creatures don't fly or have islandwalk. Kogla is insane value removal plus threat.

Several of the other new cards show up in more niche strategies, though these are the most impactful from Commander 2020. Other than that, you could clean out all of the creatures and fill them with your favorite Serpents from Magic’s history. Conclusion Sphinx of the Second Sun is another high-costed creature that would be fun to spend all of your mana on. Plus, it untaps your lands and draws you an extra card in the second half of your turn, giving you even more resources to use. There are not any Serpents in the precon, so you could potentially take out all of the creatures. I would recommend leaving in Slinn Voda, the Rising Deep, since it has an ability that synergizes with Serpents.

Finally, Sylvan Awakening is perhaps the most literal way to “win with your lands.” It thankfully gives your lands indestructible, which really minimizes the risk in animating your lands. They also gain reach until your next turn, so you could use the card defensively if absolutely necessary. Value Engines Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait from Reap the Tides is a Simic commander following up on Zendikar Rising’s landfall theme. You get to play extra lands and draw extra cards for doing so! Definitely two things we love doing in Magic: getting ahead in mana, and having more cards. Now this commander isn't a totally unique design, and is actually quite similar to another popular commander: Aesi is basically the result of taking Tatyova, Benthic Druid and stapling an Exploration on to her. You lose some lifegain, but honestly this looks like a significant upgrade to me: being able to play an additional land per turn is well worth the one extra mana to cast. Plus, Aesi is a big ol' Serpent, and everyone knows that Serpents are way cooler than Merfolk (sorry, Prof)! So if you're wondering which commander is better, I personally think Aesiis an upgrade. While there is a reasonable difference in power between Commander 2020 and the other products right out of the box, some simple upgrades can help rectify any balance issues. You can see my upgrade article for Reap the Tides here, and Kristen Gregory’s article for Arm for Battle here for some inspiration! Upgradabilitycard draw; Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait, Fathom Mage, Mulldrifter, Nezahal, Primal Tide, Sphinx of Uthuun, Compulsive Research, Fact or Fiction, Harmonize, Urban Evolution, Seer's Sundial, Ior Ruin Expedition As mentioned earlier, these new precons seem to mimic some of the mechanics that we’ve seen with Zendikar Rising. Specifically, landfall and equipment. If you’ve already opened up a bunch of sealed ZNR, you might have some easy upgrades for these precons on hand.

Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait & Wyleth, Soul of Steel | Art by Viktor Titov& Tyler Jacobson) Commander Legends: Precons Justin Likes Big Snakes Ayaya uwu Justin Likes Big Snakes Ayaya uwu Justin Likes Big Snakes Ayaya uwu

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The most expensive part of this upgrade is Roil Elemental, but it’s easily one of the most powerful Landfall payoffs. Just one or two turns of ramping with this on board will completely decimate any advantage your opponents have, making it a must-answer threat. There are also a lot of lands that enter tapped. While this is not a huge problem in lower-level circles, if you can upgrade to dual lands that enter untapped, you should. Some great additions would be: Although the combo can be clunky, it has many interchangeable parts. I will separate it into 4 categories: Play Land Primary goal is to protect our value engine aka Aesi and the difference between 1cmc and 2cmc is huge.