Upgrading Commander Precon: Necron Dynasties

Some of the most powerful preconstructed Commander decks from Magic the Gathering, the Universes Beyond set Warhammer 40,000 brought never-before-seen cards, unique legendary creatures, and excellent reprints.

The legends present in Necron Dynasties will undoubtedly be some of the strongest Commanders in black, brought together in a synergistic and functional deck under the leadership of Szarekh, the Silent King, the lord of triarchs.

In this article, continuing the Warhammer 40,000 analysis series. We will discuss the construction of the Mono Black Necron Dynasties deck, its strategies and, finally, we will explore the upgrade options that we have available to enhance its functioning.

The Necrontyr sought to overcome mortality through technology, coming from a planet incredibly hostile to life. They lived a life shortened by diseases and mutations caused by the intense radiation permeated throughout their star system.

Since their star haunted their very existence, the Necrontyr studied them in an attempt to understand more about how they worked and to try to discover something that could save themselves. Eventually, they found something primordial that predated even the Old Ones: The *C'Tan, or Star Gods.

They were victorious in their quest for immortality, they betrayed and were betrayed, and their revenge will expand until all organic life is extinguished.

A faction that represents one of the oldest and greatest forces in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, the Necron Dynasties aim to raise the Infinite Empire.

The Silent King, Szarekh, the Silent King, brings a set of balanced stats for its mana cost and an evasive ability, which added to its synergistic triggered ability with the other cards in the deck make it the best option in the command zone.

My Will Be Done combines a powerful card selection with graveyard interaction, allowing for greater use of the Unearth theme and numerous recursions present in the 99.

Unlike many artifact decks, here we have a strategy that aims for the game in the medium term, that is, with a safe and gradual development, with several control elements and impactful creatures.

Szarekh, the Silent King has a proactive positioning carving the hand and graveyard into a solid board state. His play style consists of a combination of reanimator, Artifacts matter, a novelty in the color identity, except for a few decks of treasures and vehicles, which are plentiful in allied colors , or its antagonist .

Necron Dynasties features a linear strategy that aims to win by combat or commander damage. Its cards have different effects that fulfill most functions satisfactorily.

The self-mill alternatives are light and the self-discard is almost non-existent, making the game with the graveyard more of a toolbox, where the different pieces are gradually placed to be used at some opportune moment.

The use of secondary commanders is unfeasible due to their high dependence on direct interactions with the graveyard, in addition to the lack of an alternative wincondition, but the presence of these legends among the 99 induces several simple combinations that result in an almost certain victory.

The changes proposed here are intended to add solid victory lines without compromising the deck's default functionality.

Manabase

The land package of mono colored decks usually has many basic lands and a few utility lands that can serve different purposes. In this deck, they guarantee additional draws through Cycling lands (Polluted Mire, Desert of the Glorified, Barren Moor), which are a very popular choice. Vault of Whispers was also added, given its synergy with the strategy.

The other lands are Myriad Landscape, which acts as a very efficient ramp in monocolored strategies, and Reliquary Tower. Looking closely at the deck, we don't have a significant number of draw spells, and many times we need to send cards from our hand to the graveyard — so Reliquary Tower, while excellent, doesn't interact with our strategy and can be replaced.

Among the lands that interact directly with artifacts, we have Sequestered Stash, which by milling cards speeds up our game and acts as an efficient selection.

Inventors' Fair serves as an artifact tutor, which allows access to all the main creatures in the deck, and similarly, Buried Ruin restores the vast majority of our permanents. A working sacrifice engine is Phyrexia's Core, triggering abilities of many of our creatures.

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Mana ramps are plentiful among artifacts, some of which generate high amounts of colorless or colored mana. Some of the best staples are present in this precon: Sol Ring, Wayfarer's Bauble, Arcane Signet, Mind Stone, Thought Vessel, Commander's Sphere, Gilded Lotus, Caged Sun...

Other hidden gems are present: Unstable Obelisk is a very underused mana rock that corrects one of the main weaknesses of this color, which is dealing with artifacts and enchantments — undoubtedly a wise choice from the R&D. The same can be said for Canoptek Wraith, an aggro version of Burnished Hart that combines evasion, offense, and ramping!

Anrakyr the Traveller is a powerful accelerator allowing you to play cards by paying life points, which are plentiful in the format, rather than paying mana costs. The card Convergence of Dominion is complete by being a cost reducer for abilities, and an important grinding tool, its synergies and possibilities are numerous.

Sceptre of Eternal Glory is an incredible accelerator, its power is comparable to positive mana generators, without a doubt, this card has its place in all monocolored decks.

The deck's high mana costs require even more accelerators for a dynamic game, and for that, we added to the curve we have Leaden Myr and Pili-Pala, selectable with the Silent King.

For the tier, Basalt Monolith due to its strong interaction with some cards, the main one among them Trazyn the Infinite, allowing you to generate large amounts of mana, in addition to the powerful Blinkmoth Urn which generates a comparable advantage in decks based on artifacts and Network Terminal which adds some asymmetry with artifacts.

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Card Advantage

The Lord of Machines, Szarekh, the Silent King, has as his main ability an efficient card selection, causing great impact, speeding up the game in an offensive way similar to Florian, Voldaren Scion and Tymna the Weaver, given the large amount of recursions and creatures with the ability Unearth ({Cost}: Return this card from your graveyard to play. It gains haste. Remove it from play at the end of the turn or if it would leave play. Use unearth only as a sorceryl.), which can be considered a sub-theme of the deck.

Out of the Tombs is a powerful accelerator that mills the deck, generating tons of value, while preventing defeat by an eventual lack of cards and making it into a wincondition.

To compose the draw package, we added cards that speed up the graveyard and hand — Atrocious Experiment and Funeral Rites. And of course, the most powerful artifact on black, Bolas's Citadel, which has gained a boost among the commanders available in the deck: Szarekh, the Silent King allows you to mill cards that lock the top and Anrakyr the Traveler , which allows you to play cards from the graveyard by recovering milled artifacts.

Not least, Canoptek Spyder draws cards every time a non-token artifact creature is played, a version of Soul of the Harvest for artifact creatures.

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Interactions and Removals

The creatures that form the Necron army have numerous important triggers, being responsible for the majority of removals from the deck.

Canoptek Scarab Swarm acts as a serious hate while populating the battlefield with tokens. Canoptek Tomb Sentinel is brutal, exiling any non-land permanent, and can be looped through the deck's various interactions. A practical example is Illuminor Szeras + Canoptek Tomb Sentinel + Cryptek, exiling one target per turn.

Lokhust Heavy Destroyer is a Fleshbag Marauder with extra synergy, which offsets its higher mana cost. Our addition was Armix, Filigree Thrasher, which acts as a targeted removal and adds cards to our graveyard.

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C'tan

The only creatures that aren't artifacts are the shards of the Star Gods, which were defeated and scattered by the Necrons during the events after the War in Heaven.

Shard of the Void Dragon is a powerful control tool gaining power and toughness counters each time an artifact is destroyed or exiled, even more voracious than Korvold, Fae-Cursed King in terms of power being powered by all players' artifacts.

Its combat triggered ability forces all opponents to sacrifice nonland permanents with each attack, a bomb comparable to the Eldrazi.

Shard of the Nightbringer is a possible fragment of the deceiver, who took life energy from the Necrontyr to strengthen the immortal star gods.

The card that has this flavor takes half of an opponent's life by recovering those of its controller, fantastic in a strategy that uses life points as a resource for different purposes.

This deck is ideal for those who want an artifact-based deck in strong interactions with the graveyard and don't want to play with white, the most famous for the archetype. The flavor of the Necrons generates a nostalgia reminiscent of early films in the series The Terminator, being a good choice for fans of this universe.

Other Commander Possibilities

Anrakyr the Traveller with its ability added to tutors, whether hand or graveyard, generates great possibility of locks and combos with artifacts of great value such as Darksteel Forge, Mycosynth Lattice, Lodestone Golem and perhaps among the 99 one Karn, the Great Creator.

Illuminor Szeras is a powerful command zone ramp, an enhanced version of Soldevi Adnate that can be untapped by cards similar to Dross Scorpion, Voltaic Construct, and Clock of Omens. Combined with Cryptek, Metalwork Colossus, Mycosynth Golem allows for countless mischief generating immense amounts of mana.

Those who desire a true rebellion of the machines have in Imotekh the Stormlord their general for their army. Line possibilities with Nim Deathmantle, Tortured Existence, Phyrexian Altar, Junk Diver and many more make this commander a token factory.

Trazyn the Infinite

The most powerful commander of this deck and a rival to Marneus Calgar as the strongest in the entire Warhammer 40000 set — Trazyn the Infinite is a powerful combo engine, similar to the infamous Necrotic Ooze, Able to activate the abilities of all artifacts in your graveyard, performing quick combos with tutors similar to Entomb and Buried Alive, has the strength to deal heavy damage on casual and high-powered tables. Its high mana cost makes it less likely at competitive tables, however its potential cannot be ignored.

Some lines based on Staff of Domination, Pili-Pala, Phyrexian Devourer and Walking Ballista are just possible examples. In the proposed upgrade, we include the lines:

Cards in Graveyard:

Pili-Pala + Gilded Lotus

Pili-Pala + Sol Ring,

Basalt Monolith + Convergence of Dominion

Thanks for reading and good games!

Any questions, I'm available in the comments!