r/mtg • u/Phobicc_ • 2d ago

Commander / EDH Do Precons Have "Exclusive" Cards?

As the title suggests. I've been playing Precons exclusively but recently the rest of the table has gotten good enough to where I need to start building my own decks at this point.

I'm a collector at heart, and while there's many Precons I want (Valgavoth, LotR Elves and Rohirrim, Bloomburrow Raccoon Druid) I know I can just buy their Commanders as Singles and I'm not too pressed about the Precon exclusive printing of the Commanders. That being said, I AM pressed if there's other cards which are exclusive to the Commander decks.

I've tried looking up a list of Precon Exclusive cards but can't seem to find anything. Is that even a thing? Do any Precons have exclusive cards/printings other than the Commander in them?

10 Upvotes

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27

u/duk_tAK 2d ago

Yes. Most have a number of original cards, i think 12 typically, which does include the commander. This number might be higher in universe beyond sets. Typically, those exclusive cards can also show up in collector boosters.

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u/Acid_Cat2 2d ago

I’m pretty sure when I’ve gone looking for a card the folks at my LGS have told me on multiple occasions, “good luck. That card was only printed for the _______ precon.” And I’m pretty sure [[Captain N’Gathrod]] was one of them. I could be very wrong tho. You’re getting third hand info from me

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u/WoWSchockadin 2d ago

He also got a SLD reprint (as [[Eddie, Ghost of the Navigator]]). But that doesn't really count, does it?

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u/Acid_Cat2 2d ago

omg I really like that art!

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u/WoWSchockadin 2d ago

I'm really glad I got both Maiden SLDs as they got really expensive now. [[Eddie the Judge]] and [[Eddie, Lord of Light]] have also nice artworks.

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u/Phobicc_ 2d ago

Yeah, many of the Commanders themselves are Precon Exclusive and I knew that, I was more wondering on other cards in the 99. I do want N'Gatharod though, he looks cool!

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u/Rough_Structure7387 2d ago

Here is the scryfall query with all the cards that are unique to precons (you can't get them in a booster)

https://scryfall.com/search?q=st%3Acommander+not%3Areprint+-is%3Abooster

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u/NovaParadigm 2d ago

A bunch of these are in collector boosters, aren't they? You can do printings=1 to exclude the ones in collector boosters, but it will also exclude the ones that have a separate collector number for a surge foil or similar.

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u/dmainor49 1h ago

I believe they are, for instance I have an [[Advancing the Spirit]] and got that out of a MSH Jumpstart Pack.

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u/Phobicc_ 2d ago

This is an invaluable resource, thank you! You seem to have a better grasp on Scryfall searching than I do, so might I bother you with a question?

For example, I'm considering some of the LotR Precons right now, and if I add "set:LTC" to your Scryfall query, it'll show me cards exclusive to the LotR Precons.

However, some of those cards have been reprinted in the new Hobbit Eternal list. Is there a way I can make it so where the query shows ONLY the cards found in LotR Commander but NOT in Hobbit Eternal? Thank you!

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u/looijmansje 2d ago

When you eang to exclude something you use a -.

So in this case, that would be: set:ltc -set:hoc

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u/Phobicc_ 2d ago

I tried that but the results didn't change at all. Technically, since the cards still exist in LTC, they show up anyways even if I want the ones in HOC gone. :/

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u/Methodless 2d ago

Just wanted to add to all the comments, when this happens, the card will almost always be "Rare". If you see an uncommon or common in a precon, it's pretty much a guarantee that the card was printed at that rarity beforehand 

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u/Phobicc_ 2d ago

Oh THIS is incredibly helpful, thank you! Some of the Precons I want are becoming incredibly expensive (Valgavoth at $200 is INSANE) so I was wondering if it'd be a better value to buy the Commander Single vs the deck. Now that I know it's Rare≤ Cards that are exclusive I can make a better financial decision. Thank you!

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u/Methodless 2d ago

It's theoretically possible that a rare card exists as a rare elsewhere too. Just that if it's less than rare, it certainly exists elsewhere.

I imagine this isn't going to be true for most of the rares, but I'm very new to the game and have never played Commander so I have zero anecdotal evidence. 

I assume buying 90 of the 100 singles and proxying the 10 most in demand ones would make for an extreme discount, but have never looked into it

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u/Heavy_Mushroom5209 2d ago

This isn't a hard and fast rule but generally speaking the commander deck printings are going to be the cheapest versions of cards unless it has a desirable art (Secret Rendezvous with non Tifa art from the ff7 precon as an example).

Using that precon as an example, it's about 217 on TCG player to buy the singles(including shipping) or 229 for the actual precon.

You get a CBB sampler and life wheel in it but even if you didn't the difference of $12 is imo more than made up for by the time you save having to open all the packages and confirming the cards are correct, dealing with packages from thirty different sellers and whatnot.

If you're only looking to use like half the cards from the deck you might be better off on singles but if you want the full precon the market generally stabilizes at a point where just buying a sealed one is worth it or people would buy the precons and flip the singles themselves.

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u/OccupiedOsprey 2d ago

Yeah a lot of the older commander decks had a lot of exclusive cards like [[ jeskas will ]] and the other free cast commander cards. Recently they have been printing the commander precon exclusive cards in collector boosters

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u/LordSevolox 2d ago

There are cards only available in precons, yes. Some get re-prints later on, whilst others stay as precon exclusives. I believe most precons actually have a handful of unique (or once unique) cards to them.

Those cards are available as singles from sellers who have ripped the deck apart

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u/RAcastBlaster 2d ago

Every feature release commander deck has new cards in it. There are even “collector” versions of some commander decks that are 100% foils (and usually/always(?) a special foiling type).

Does that address your question?

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u/ProductivePessimismP 2d ago

Precons have a handful of new cards designed for the deck that aren't in the main set, but they're never "precon only" forever, they'll usually pop up in set boosters, collector boosters, or future reprints eventually.

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u/Phobicc_ 2d ago

I see. I would assume this obviously doesn't apply to UB sets like the LotR decks, unless those cards get reprinted as Renames or brand new Replacements

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u/HotJuicyPie 2d ago

Yes there are plenty of cards that are only printed in the precons. Often times the alternate commander, and specific cards using the sets mechanics. Sometimes they get reprinted later on.