Commander 2013
Nov 2013
Five tri-colored Commander decks with new legendary commanders and reprints of Commander staples, refining the precon formula established in 2011.
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Commander 2013 Precon Decks — click to analyze
The Precon Formula Refined
Commander 2013 represented the second annual Commander precon release and showed significant refinement over 2011. The five three-color decks retained the tri-color structure but introduced entirely new legendary commanders specifically designed for multiplayer Commander play, rather than reprints from the original Commander release.
The 2013 commanders have become some of the most played and discussed in the format's history — Oloro's passive lifegain, Derevi's command-zone immunity and tap triggers, Prossh's Food Chain combo, Marath's flexible token generation, and Jeleva's spell theft have all spawned entire archetypes of Commander play.
Eternal Bargain — Oloro's Passive Engine
Oloro, Ageless Ascetic gains two life at the beginning of each upkeep while in the command zone — one of the most powerful passive effects ever printed on a Commander. Whenever you gain life while Oloro is in play, you may draw a card by paying mana or drain one life from each opponent, converting the continuous lifegain into a choice between card advantage or damage.
Oloro's passive nature enables an unusual Commander strategy where you derive value without ever casting your commander, hoarding those seven additional mana for more impactful spells. The Esper deck builds around the passive life gain with life-matters payoffs and drain effects, building an insurmountable lead through the slow accumulation of life and cards while deploying an inevitable control package.
Power Hungry — Prossh's Food Chain Engine
Prossh, Skyraider of Kher creates X 0/1 Kobold of the Kher Keep tokens when cast, where X is the mana spent beyond its base six mana cost. Sacrificing any number of creatures gives Prossh +1/+1 for each until end of turn. The interaction with Food Chain — a card that lets you exile a creature to add mana equal to its CMC plus one — creates an infinite mana combo: exile Prossh to Food Chain for seven mana, recast Prossh from the command zone for six, get one Kobold, repeat for infinite mana and tokens.
Even outside the combo, Prossh functions as an aggressive Jund commander whose Kobold tokens provide immediate sacrifice fodder for powerful sacrifice payoffs. The deck is versatile — functional as a fair midrange sacrifice value deck and capable of winning instantly when the right combination of pieces aligns. The duality makes it one of the most celebrated commanders in the format.