Was it just two months ago when Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty was released? We missed out on the Commander Deck reviews for that, but we’re back for Streets of New Capenna to cover the original annual Commander event, where 5 pre-constructed (aka precon) decks were the main highlight of the year for the legion of Commander fans around the world. First in the firing line is “Cabaretti Cacophony.”

That world has changed (with Commander decks now accompanying every new Standard format release), and so has our ways of looking at them. The “Accessibility” category has been removed as lately there have been no problems with supply, no matter how popular a deck may be. “Playability” has also been renamed to “Power Level” to provide more clarity on what the category is focused on.

Power Level: How likely the deck is to hold its own against the other recent precon decks?

Value: How good is the deck in terms of financial value of reprints, as well as future potential gain?

Upgradability: How easily can this deck be upgraded and optimised? A high potential for upgrades will lead to better scores.

Beginner Friendliness: How easily can a beginner pick up and learn the mechanics of the deck?

No need to stand on ceremony – let’s get right into the review!

“Cabaretti Cacophony” Precon Deck:

Overview:

The first precon deck up for scrutiny is the red-green-white “Cabaretti Cacophony” deck that features Kitt Kanto, Mayhem Diva as the face Commander. The game strategy is to create an army of tokens that can be subsequently used for different effects, one of which is to Goad an opponent’s Creatures. Goaded Creatures can only attack other players so it becomes a ‘sit-and-wait’ approach. When the time is right, you swing in for the counter attack.

Check out the full deck list.

Power Level:

The deck has 3 high-payoff spells with X in its cost (like March of the Multitudes. But because there aren’t that many Mana ramp spells (7 in total), these high-costing X spells could easily get stuck in your hand, and you might be forced to fire one off with just X=3 or 4.

Doing her duty as an upstanding citizen, Bess, Soul Nourisher is one of the new cards that can help you overrun the opponent if it gets into play early. Alongside Champion of Lambholt, they take advantage of token generation to out value you opponents. With a big enough Bess or Champion, you could have your opponents at your mercy relatively early in the game.

What might help push this deck over the finishing line are actually its Enchantments. As they are often not so easily cleared as Creatures, Enchantments provide more value as the game drags on. Felidar Retreat, Assemble the Legion and Sandwurm Convergence are all excellent token generators and you only have to pay the initial casting cost.

Value:

Cabaretti Cacophony may make a lot of crowd noise, but it’s lacking in the value department. It sits right in the middle of the pack compared to the other pre-constructed decks.

Apart from the Filter Land – Rugged Prairie – that is included in each of the 5 decks, the most valuable reprints are Beastmaster Ascension and Path to Exile at around $5 each. These are Commander staples though, so you don’t have to worry about them losing value over time.

The new cards are closely tied to the deck’s theme and may not be applicable in many other decks. Seize the Spotlight could fit well in Sacrifice decks and if you’re lucky, get to draw 3 cards for just 3 Mana.

Granted, all the pre-constructed decks have been rather underwhelming in the value department, considering these are annual showcase decks that were the main highlight each year before set-focused decks became a regular feature.

Upgradability:

Remember when we said charge in with your massive citizen troops to take the win? That’s going to be a little hard to do with a limited number of 1/1 Creatures. Some nice additions would be the cheap Sorceries or Instants that buff up all your Creatures.

Overrun and Overwhelming Stampede are perfect budget cards for this deck, easily tripling the damage output of your Creatures. Basri’s Solidarity is another fine addition, adding permanent +1/+1 counters instead. Various anthem effects will also significantly up the power level for this deck – think Glorious Anthem or Vanquisher’s Banner.

Another option to punch through defenses is by making one Creature incredibly big, and that’s by using Angelic Exaltation. Once you’ve attained (a very reasonable) 10 tokens on the Battlefield, sending just one attacker would yield a +10/+10 buff. Give that Creature Trample through a never-dying Enchantment Aura such as Rancor, and there’s nothing much that can stop you.

Sigarda’s Summons from the recent Coven counters Commander deck would also be an excellent upgrade for this deck. The Enchantment makes any of your Creatures with +1/+1counters into 4/4 flying Angels, so not only do you get a 300% boost in Power and Toughness, these tokens can now fly over the enemy blockers.

Beginner Friendliness:

The game plan is simple: grow your army of tokens, while letting your opponents duke it out with one another. When they are all battle weary, march in with your Creatures (big and small) to claim victory. It’s as simple as you can get in Magic, so even for new players to the game, this deck should be easy to pilot.

What might become confusing are the triggered abilities that come with some of the cards. For example, even experienced players will get confused with Scute Swarm once you’re putting down your 8th Land. The same goes for Zurzoth, Chaos Rider where you have to keep track of each player drawing cards. In a multiplayer game, these triggered abilities could get exhausting for anyone new to the game.

Final Verdict: