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The planeswalker commander year
What this set is
Commander 2018 is the year every deck is led by a planeswalker. Ordinarily a planeswalker cannot be your commander at all; these four each say so directly on the card, which is what makes the year worth knowing about rather than one more set of precons.
That changes how the decks play more than it sounds like it should. A commander that ticks up every turn and has to be attacked rather than blocked puts a different kind of pressure on a table, and commander tax on a planeswalker you keep losing is a real cost.
It is also the last Commander year before the line started tying itself to expansions. Commander 2019 went back to mechanics, and from Commander 2020 onward the decks belong to a set.
Themes
Every mechanic in Commander 2018
Planeswalker commanders
Each deck's face card says it can be your commander, which is an exception written on the card rather than a change to the format. Any other planeswalker still cannot go in the command zone.
Enchantments, artifacts, lands and blink
One theme per deck rather than one keyword: Estrid on Auras, Saheeli on artifacts, Windgrace on lands and Aminatou on flickering things in and out. All four are built out of existing mechanics rather than new ones.
Where You Can Play It
Format legality
Commander 2018 shipped as precon decks under a single code. Its new cards were printed for Commander and were never Standard- or Pioneer-legal.
Standard was never in play for this set, so no rotation has ever touched it. Nothing here leaves Modern, Legacy, Vintage or Commander either. Commons from any set are Pauper-legal; that isn't listed per set here.
Commander
The four Commander decks
One planeswalker each, and one theme each, with no overlap between them.
Adaptive Enchantment
Estrid, the Masked
Bant Auras and enchantments, and the deck that most rewards leaving permanents on the board.
Exquisite Invention
Saheeli, the Gifted
Izzet artifacts, making tokens of things you have already cast.
Nature's Vengeance
Lord Windgrace
Jund lands, playing extra lands and bringing them back from the graveyard.
Subjective Reality
Aminatou, the Fateshifter
Esper blink and top-of-library manipulation, the fiddliest of the four to pilot.
Building one of these into something of your own? The precon buying guide covers how to judge a deck, and the Commander deck template is the shape to build toward. See how these stack up against every other precon we've rated on the precon directory.
Boosters, precons and singles from Commander 2018 are on TCGplayer.
FAQ
Common questions
Can a planeswalker be your commander?
Only if the card says so. Commander 2018's four face cards each carry that line, which is an exception written on the card rather than a change to the format. Any other planeswalker still cannot go in the command zone.
What are the four Commander 2018 decks?
Adaptive Enchantment, led by Estrid, the Masked; Exquisite Invention, led by Saheeli, the Gifted; Nature's Vengeance, led by Lord Windgrace; and Subjective Reality, led by Aminatou, the Fateshifter.
Is Commander 2018 Standard legal?
No. Its new cards were printed for Commander and are legal in Commander, Legacy and Vintage, never in Standard or Pioneer.
Which Commander 2018 deck is the best?
Nature's Vengeance has held up best, mostly because Lord Windgrace turns extra land drops into a real engine. Subjective Reality is the most demanding to pilot, since Aminatou rewards knowing exactly what is on top of your library.
Is a planeswalker commander harder to play?
Different rather than harder. It has to be attacked rather than blocked, so it draws aggression a creature commander would not, and commander tax on a planeswalker you keep losing adds up quickly.
All card names, art, and mechanics belong to Wizards of the Coast. Commander 2018 released on Aug 10, 2018; details reflect the set as published. Sources: Wizards of the Coast set pages and release notes, Draftsim, Untapped.gg.
Playing Commander 2018 in Commander?
TurnZero HQ keeps deck records, MMR, and moments for every Commander night, so you can see which new cards are actually earning their slot.
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