The Gathering Lorwyn Eclipsed Commander Decks (Dance of the Elements & Blight Curse)

Magic: The Gathering Lorwyn Eclipsed Commander Decks Comprehensive Breakdown

What You Get Per Deck: Each preconstructed Commander deck contains 100 cards total: the face commander (one traditional foil legendary creature with borderless art), an alternate commander option (one traditional foil legendary creature with borderless art), 98 non-foil cards representing the deck’s complete strategy, 10 double-sided token cards or punch-out counters (specific to each deck’s mechanics), one reference card summarizing the deck’s strategy, and one deck box for storage and transport. The entire package arrives immediately tournament-ready, requiring no additional purchases to play in casual or friendly competition environments.

Dance of the Elements: Strategic Architecture and Synergies: The Dance of the Elements deck anchors itself around Ashling, the Limitless, a four-mana Red/Green/White/Blue/Black creature representing one of Magic’s newest design innovations: a legendary Elemental that grants non-evoke Elementals the evoke ability while doubling their enter-the-battlefield triggers. This deceptively simple ability generates exponential value through the deck’s elemental-focused architecture. The deck emphasizes creatures with evoke—a mechanic allowing players to pay an alternative mana cost to cast creatures, then sacrifice them immediately upon entering the battlefield, triggering their abilities without traditional creature permanence. Combined with cards like Doubling Season and Parallel Lives (reprints enabling multiple token generation), Ashling transforms modest elemental creatures into exponential value engines.

The deck’s mana base, while supporting five colors, concentrates actual spells heavily toward green: of the deck’s 60 non-land spells, approximately 20 are pure green, enabling more forgiving mana requirements than strict five-color strategies. The creature base emphasizes Elementals across all colors, including important reprints like Fury and Endurance (evoke creatures from Modern Horizons 2), Horde of Notions (a legendary creature that recurs Elementals), and various new Elemental creatures specifically designed for the precon. The deck includes token generators (creating Elemental tokens), sacrifice outlets enabling forced sacrifice mechanics independent of opponent interaction, and card-drawing effects enabling resource replenishment. The secondary commander option, Mass of Mysteries, provides an alternative strategy focusing on creature recursion and Elemental selection rather than pure token generation, offering flexibility for players preferring different angles.

Blight Curse: Thematic Coherence and Competitive Potential: The Blight Curse deck represents a remarkable achievement: making the historically under-explored -1/-1 counter theme genuinely competitive in casual Commander while maintaining accessibility for new players. The face commander, Auntie Ool, Cursewretch, anchors the strategy with a deceptively powerful ability: whenever a creature gets -1/-1 counters, you discard and draw a card, enabling targeted card filtering. The secondary commander, The Reaper, King No More, offers an alternative angle: putting -1/-1 counters on opponents’ creatures, then stealing them permanently—a powerful tempo strategy disguised within the counter framework.

The deck consolidates critical -1/-1 synergies that previously required extensive research across Magic’s 30-year history: Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons (a card from Amonkhet block that generates snake tokens whenever creatures get -1/-1 counters), The Scorpion God (an aristocrats payoff rewarding -1/-1 counter distribution), Archfiend of Ifnir (a card synonymous with -1/-1 strategies), and modern reprints like Necroskitter and Massacre Girl, Known Killer. The inclusion of Flourishing Defenses (a card that generates Saproling tokens as creatures get -1/-1 counters) demonstrates Wizards’ commitment to enabling multiple synergy paths: players can build token-focused variations, reanimator-focused approaches, or pure aristocrat strategies all within the fundamental framework.

The mana base emphasizes the Jund colors (red, green, black), enabling more consistent casting patterns than pure five-color decks. The creature suite combines sources of -1/-1 counters (cards that actively distribute counters) with payoffs rewarding counter distribution (creatures generating value when counters appear). The deck includes numerous cards capable of functioning in pure aristocrat shells: Zulaport Cutthroat (drains opponents when creatures die), Viscera Seer (sacrifice outlet providing scry), and Blood Artist (an older classic that bleeds opponents when creatures die). This multiplicity means the deck functions effectively as-is while offering experienced players multiple upgrade and modification paths.

Individual Card Analysis and Value Assessment: Card-by-card analysis reveals genuine value in both decks. Dance of the Elements includes critical evoke reprints like Fury (a Red/Green creature costing four generic mana that deals three damage to each creature and planeswalker, particularly powerful in multiplayer settings) and Endurance (a Green/White creature providing powerful graveyard interaction). Horde of Notions, reprinted from the original Lorwyn, enables Elemental recursion from the graveyard, creating a resource loop transforming the deck from temporary creature advantages into permanent value generators.

Blight Curse’s reprint selection demonstrates exceptional understanding of -1/-1 counter strategy: Necroskitter (a creature that generates tokens whenever creatures get -1/-1 counters), Massacre Girl (a creature dealing damage to all creatures when it enters the battlefield, distributing -1/-1 counters broadly), and Hapatra represent cards that previously commanded premium prices in secondary markets. The inclusion of Flourishing Defenses represents particular genius: rather than forcing players to choose between different synergy angles, the card provides unified payoff enabling simultaneous token and synergy generation. The Ozolith (a colorless artifact that accumulates -1/-1 counters, preserving them for later distribution) enables strategic counter banking and redistribution, converting temporary advantage into permanent resources.

New-to-Magic Cards and Design Innovation: Each deck includes approximately 10-12 cards new to Magic, representing design space exploration impossible in reprints alone. Dance of the Elements introduces new Elemental creatures specifically designed around evoke synergies, including creatures with encore (a mechanic allowing creatures to be cast from the graveyard multiple times) enabling repeated sacrifice triggers. These new creatures often feature lower mana costs than their historical counterparts, improving consistency and mana efficiency. Blight Curse’s new cards similarly expand the -1/-1 counter space, introducing creatures with new mechanics synergizing with counter strategies while maintaining mechanical simplicity enabling intuitive play patterns.

Mana Base Construction and Consistency: Both decks face the inherent challenge of supporting multiple colors in singleton formats. Dance of the Elements, despite being five-color, mitigates mana inconsistency through deck construction prioritizing green creatures and colorless-castable alternatives. The inclusion of mana acceleration creatures (Faeburrow Elder, which generates mana of any color, and Selvala, Heart of the Wilds, providing both mana and card draw), combined with efficient mana rocks, creates reasonable consistency without requiring expensive dual-land investments. The deck explicitly supports four-color-only variations: players can exclude blue entirely and achieve excellent performance, reducing the required color intensity from five colors to four.

Blight Curse’s three-color (Jund) structure provides inherent advantages: three colors are substantially easier to mana-fix than four or five. The deck includes sufficient mana acceleration and fixing to function reliably in casual environments without additional investment. The inclusion of Evolving Wilds and Terramorphic Expanse (dual-color fetch lands providing basic land tutoring) enables strategic mana base construction. Experienced players will recognize that both decks benefit substantially from lands acquisition—dual lands are Magic’s most purchased Magic products by volume—enabling upgrade paths that meaningfully improve consistency without altering core strategic identity.

Gameplay Patterns and Strategic Expression: Dance of the Elements emphasizes sacrifice-focused gameplay: players deploy creatures, trigger sacrificing effects, exploit those sacrifices through evoke synergies, and ultimately generate exponential value from efficient creature interactions. Games typically progress from early ramp phases (deploying mana acceleration creatures) through mid-game explosive turns (where Ashling’s evoke doubling generates dramatic board presence and value) toward late-game closing turns where accumulated tokens and sacrificed creatures converge into winning positions. The deck rarely generates overwhelming board states immediately; instead, it builds incremental advantages culminating in sudden advantage swings when key cards resolve.

Blight Curse gameplay emphasizes gradual attrition: players distribute -1/-1 counters across opponents’ creatures, creating scenarios where creature viability diminishes across multiple opponents’ boards. The deck generates value from opponents’ creature deaths through token generation, card draw, and direct drain effects. Key gameplay moments include recognizing when counter accumulation reaches critical thresholds, identifying optimal counter distribution sequences, and exploiting creature sacrifices through reanimation or token generation. The deck functions exceptionally well in multiplayer settings (the standard Commander format) because -1/-1 counter distribution scales effectively: a single source distributing counters affects all opponents’ creatures equally, rewarding the player controlling it.

Comparative Format Analysis and Competitive Viability: Both precons function effectively in casual play environments, the format’s standard context. Dance of the Elements generates consistent threatening boards and explosive turns, making it competitive against other preconstructed decks and moderately upgraded amateur collections. Experienced players note that the deck’s reliance on Ashling’s survival creates vulnerability: if opponents focus removal on the command zone, the deck’s value generation diminishes significantly. However, the secondary commander (Mass of Mysteries) provides contingency, and numerous creatures generate value independently of Ashling. The deck appears overcosted in isolated evaluation but functions excellently when understanding elemental synergies: seemingly modest creatures like Spark Elemental (a creature with trample and haste that gets sacrificed at end of turn) become exceptional value engines in context.

Blight Curse demonstrates surprising competitive depth: the inclusion of Devoted Druid creates an infinite mana combo with Quillspike (a creature that can sacrifice -1/-1 counters to become infinitely large). While the combo requires specific setup and interaction resistance, its presence indicates Wizards’ intention to enable serious strategic depth without overpowering casual play. The deck functions effectively as pure control or pure aggression depending on card selections and pilot preferences. Experienced Commander players recognize the deck’s upgrade potential: adding cards like Hapatra (a different card from the one in the precon, demonstrating synergy exploration depth) or Poison specifically targets -1/-1 strategies in the competitive Commander scene, indicating significant strategic depth.

Card Quality and Physical Presentation: Both decks showcase modern Magic printing standards: cards feature clean typography, accurate colors, and excellent cardstock quality. The foil commanders arrive with borderless art, a premium presentation element adding visual appeal. Token cards employ clear, readable designs enabling intuitive gameplay without requiring constant rule reminders. The deck box is functional but modest compared to premium alternatives; many players upgrade to specialty storage solutions. The reference card provides clear strategy summary, helping new players understand core synergies without memorizing complex interactions.

Value Proposition and Long-Term Investment: At USD $39.99 per deck, the Commander precons represent exceptional value against individual card acquisition. Secondary market pricing for contained cards typically exceeds deck cost within months of release: individual foil legendary creatures cost $15-25, key reprints (Fury, Endurance, Hapatra, The Scorpion God) cost $10-40 each, and the accumulated card value typically exceeds deck cost 1.3-1.8x within 12 months. For players valuing strategic depth and collection expansion, the precons represent attractive entry points. For competitive speculative investors, precons offer moderate appreciation potential without dramatic returns. The real value accrues to players who enjoy playing and modifying the decks rather than collecting strictly for investment.

Upgrade Paths and Customization Potential: Both decks benefit from targeted upgrades without requiring comprehensive reconstruction. Dance of the Elements improvements include: additional mana acceleration (creatures like Animar, Soul of Elements enhance the elemental identity while providing powerful value), additional token generation (Doubling Season and Parallel Lives work synergistically with existing Elemental tokens), and optional removal package (Cyclonic Rift and similar effects add flexibility lacking in the base build). Cost-conscious upgrades focus on budget dual lands and free spells (cards like Subtlety and Solitude that can be cast without generic mana investment, improving consistency in multiplayer settings).

Blight Curse upgrades similarly follow focused directions: additional sources of -1/-1 distribution (creatures like Plague Queen or Kaervek, the Spiteful), additional sacrifice synergies (cards like Viscera Seer or Zulaport Cutthroat mentioned above), and mana optimization through affordable dual lands. The infinite combo (Devoted Druid + Quillspike) suggests upgrade paths emphasizing combo protection or alternative win conditions. Notably, the deck’s power level remains bounded: Blight Curse won’t become a “cEDH” (competitive EDH) deck through typical upgrades, but it transforms into a genuinely threatening casual-competitive piece capable of competing with optimized amateur decks.