Magic: The Gathering – Hail, Caesar Fallout Commander Deck Guide

The Fallout franchise feels like an ideal pairing for Magic: The Gathering's Universes Beyond initiative; Fallout has all the usual bombastic settings, deadly creatures, and eccentric characters you'd expect in a normal Magic set. The crossover feels organic, brought to life through the lens of four preconstructed Commander decks.

Every Card In Magic: The Gathering's Fallout Commander Decks

War never changes in Magic: The Gathering's crossover with Fallout.

Hail, Caesar in particular highlights one of the key features of the Fallout universe: the cruelty of some of its bloodthirsty inhabitants and the constant conflict at hand across the wastes. The leader of Caesar's Legion is all about domination through violence, highlighted by this Commander deck's very simple theme: Attack to win.

Hail, Caesar Precon Commanders

In case the name of the deck wasn't abundantly clear, Caesar, Legion's Emperor is the commander of this precon. He's a modal commander with a myriad of abilities tied to the simple act of turning creatures sideways and attacking. If you're not constantly sending creatures into battle, the deck's doing something wrong.

Caesar doesn't need to be the one attacking in order to trigger his ability; it's possible to get immediate value the turn you play him by attacking with something else that's not affected by summoning sickness. Doing so nets you one of three abilities: Create some extra combatants, draw a card, or dome an opponent equal to the number of creatures you control.

As is tradition, the deck comes with an alternative commander, in this case, Mr. House, President and CEO. It's an intriguing card that begs to be built around but misses the entire point of this deck, so if you're playing straight out of the box, it's best to keep your allegiances with Caesar.

Hail, Caesar Commander Decklist

Commander (1)

Caesar, Legion's Emperor

Creatures (31)

Butch Deloria, Tunnel Snake

Gary Clone

General's Enforcer

Impassioned Orator

MacCready, Lamplight Mayof

Securitron Squadron

Aradesh, the Founder

Boomer Scrapper

Colonel Autumn

Craig Boone, Novac Guard

ED-E, Lonesome Eyebot

Elder Arthur Maxson

Kellogg, Dangerous Mind

Morbid Opportunist

Mr. House, President and CEO

Overseer of Vault 76

Paladin Elizabeth Taggerdy

Powder Ganger

Ruthless Radrat

Thrill-Kill Disciple

Yes Man, Personal Securitron

Desdemona, Freedom's Edge

Keeper of the Accord

Legate Lanius, Caesar's Ace

Mysterious Stranger

Pitiless Plunderer

Rose, Cutthroat Raider

Sierra, Nuka's Biggest Fan

Wasteland Raider

White Glove Gourmand

Captain of the Watch

Sorceries (5)

Martial Coup

Heroic Reinforcements

The Nipton Lottery

Hour of Reckoning

Ruinous Ultimatum

Instants (7)

Secure the Wastes

Deadly Dispute

Anguished Unmaking

Wear // Tear

Entrapment Maneuver

Lethal Scheme

V.A.T.S.

Enchantments (11)

Intangible Virtue

Bastion of Remembrance

Wild Wasteland

Battle of Hoover Damn

Fervent Charge

Marshal's Anthem

Vault 11: Voter's Dilemma

Vault 75: Middle School

Assemble the Legion

Black Market

Stolen Strategy

Artifacts (9)

Skullclamp

Sol Ring

Survivor's Med Kit

Arcane Signet

Talisman of Conviction

Talisman of Hierarchy

Talisman of Indulgence

Charisma Bobblehead

Luck Bobblehead

Lands (36)

Ash Barrens

Canyon Slough

Clifftop Retreat

Command Tower

Desolate Mire

Diamond City

Dragonskull Summit

Evolving Wilds

Isolated Chapel

Memorial to Glory

Mountain (5)

Myriad Landscape

Nomad Outpost

Path of Ancestry

Plains (5)

Shadowblood Ridge

Smoldering Marsh

Swamp (4)

Tainted Field

Tainted Peak

Temple of Malice

Temple of Silence

Temple of Triumph

Terramorphic Expanse

Windbrisk Heights

Hail, Caesar Commander Deck Key Themes

The main theme of Hail, Caesar is as basic as it gets. This deck is all about combat and declaring attacks, with cards like Fervent Charge and Desdemona, Freedom's Edge signaling this theme. That makes the deck soft to pillowfort cards like Ghostly Prison, but it also means you're establishing yourself as the aggressor at the table.

Of course, you can't attack if you don't have creatures. This precon is outfitted with plenty of token generators. If nothing else, Caesar can spawn some extra 1/1s every combat. The deck also makes good use of the squad mechanic, which returns from the Warhammer 40,000 precons. These cards represent great mana sinks and token generators all in one.

There is a light sacrifice theme peppered throughout the deck. Not enough to call this a true 'aristocrats' deck, but you'll see cards like Bastion of Remembrance, Wasteland Raider, and Elder Arthur Maxson reinforcing this sub-theme. Some of these effects already reward you for losing creatures in combat, which should be happening constantly.

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Hail, Caesar Commander Deck Analysis

Your strategy is as bare-bones as it gets. Turn your cards 90 degrees to the right and swing away. To that end, you need to establish a healthy boardstate early on and maintain creatures on board at all times. If you have a mana rock on turn two, play it. Otherwise, worry about developing your board.

The sacrifice subtheme is your plan B. There's no reason to start sacrificing bodies if it means shrinking your board. You're not playing anthem effects like Intangible Virtue just to sacrifice the recipients of those bonuses. Once you've whittled your opponents' life totals close to single digits, that's when it's time to land a Bastion of Remembrance and sac your board to the greater good.

The precon comes loaded with board wipes, which are somewhat counterintuitive when you're the one trying to maintain a boardstate. Some of these are asymmetrical or leave you ahead on board, like Ruinous Ultimatum and Martial Coup, but you'll have to be a bit more diligent with the others.

Card advantage shouldn't be too hard to come by in this deck. On top of Caesar already providing a card draw ability as one of his modes, there's a smattering of Junk tokens that'll let you 'impulse draw' cards off the top of your library. Those cards are time-sensitive, so make sure you're using Junk when you have plenty of mana to cast the cards you exile.

It's worth mentioning that this deck struggles against floodgate effects that prevent combat from happening. Whether that's something like Ghostly Prison or a Blazing Archon, you're pretty much dead in the water if you can't attack. Hold onto catch-all answers like Wear//Tear and Anguished Unmaking for permanents that hinder your game plan.

The mana base is also functional but not great. It's full of all the B-tier dual lands we've come to expect from Commander precons, with little utility between the cracks. It'll get you the colors you need consistently enough but at a slow pace that makes it difficult to hit the ground running. This should be your first focus for upgrades when the time comes.

Hail, Caesar Commander Deck Budget Upgrades

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Description

Isshin doubles attack triggers. This deck loves to attack.

It's a match made in two heavens. It might break the Fallout immersion a little, but that's a sacrifice you'll have to decide on. Mr. House is going to do some really awesome things... just in a different deck.

This creature-heavy deck could stand to lose a board wipe, especially one that might randomly favor one of your opponents. Drop The Nipton Lottery for another relevant body. Neyali, Suns' Vanguard reinforces your token theme and adds some extra card advantage to the deck.

Unfortunately, Adeline, Resplendent Cathar is approaching $10 territory, but Anim Pakal, Thousandth Moon mimics the effect well enough. A few extra attackers each combat is exactly what you want.

Yes Man's doing group hug things this deck's not built to utilize. People won't play ball with the deck that's beating them into the ground. More like No Thanks, Man.

The Bobbleheads are borderline unplayable unless all seven are in a deck together, and this precon only spotlights two. Mardu Ascendancy doubles your attack force and even gives you some occasional board protection.

Nixing one Bobblehead means you're certainly cutting the other one. Cursed Mirror will maintain a ramp slot for the deck while also contributing to combat the first turn it enters.

Stolen Strategy is fun but ungodly slow. You're not hurting for card advantage as it is, but the Monarch will capture the effect this slot's trying to achieve while also adding to

your board.

Survivor's Med Kit is basically wasting your time, especially once you transport this deck out of precon vs. precon matches, and the rad counters don't show up anymore. Bring in another mana rock like Fellwar Stone to set your plans in motion earlier.

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