Magic: The Gathering – Science! Fallout Commander Deck Guide

Even after the Great War reduced the United States of America to a nuclear wasteland, mankind never returned to the Dark Ages. Much was lost, of course, but the march of progress continued as new generations of scientists struggled to heal the ravaged wasteland... while others worked dilligently to build even more effective weapons of war. These scientists, and their projects, are the theme of Magic: The Gathering's Science! commander deck.

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

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

Just like the scientists in the Fallout franchise mix ancient technology with new innovations, the Science! deck combines new cards with old mechanics that reward you for taking the time to stockpile resources and trust technology to thrive in the in the wasteland and at the game table.

Science! Commander Deck List

Here's the full deck list, organized by card type.

Science! Commander Deck

Commander (1)

Dr. Madison Li

Creatures (23)

Arcade Gannon

Assaultron Dominator

Behemoth of Vault 0

Brotherhood Scribe

Curie, Emergent Intelligence

Elder Owyn Lyons

James, Wandering Dad

Liberty Prime, Recharged

Loyal Apprentice

Nick Valentine, Private Eye

Paladin Danse, Steel Maverick

Red Death, Shipwrecker

Rex, Cyber-Hound

Robobrain War Mind

Sentinel Sarah Lyons

Sentry Bot

Shaun, Father of Synths

Solemn Simulacrum

Steel Overseer

Synth Eradicator

Synth Infiltrator

The Motherlode, Excavator

Whirler Rogue

Sorceries (4)

Austere Command

One with the Machine

Open the Vaults

Wake the Past

Instants (8)

Bottle-Cap Blast

Crush Contraband

Dispatch

Electrosiphon

Glimmer of Genius

Swords to Plowshares

Thirst for Knowledge

Unexpected Windfall

Artifacts (22)

Arcane Signet

Automated Assembly Line

Brotherhood Vertibird

C.A.M.P.

Endurance Bobblehead

Everflowing Chalice

Expert-Level Safe

Intelligence Bobblehead

Lightning Greaves

Mind Stone

Mystic Forge

Nuka-Cola Vending Machine

Panharmonicon

Plasma Caster

Sol Ring

T-45 Power Armor

Talisman of Conviction

Talisman of Creativity

Talisman of Progress

The Prydwen, Steel Flagship

Thought Vessel

Wayfarer's Bauble

Enchantments (5)

Mechanized Production

Nerd Rage

Overencumbered

Vault 112: Sadistic Simulation

Vault 13: Dweller's Journey

Lands (37)

Ash Barrens

Buried Ruin

Clifftop Retreat

Command Tower

Evolving Wilds

Exotic Orchard

Ferrous Lake

Glacial Fortress

HELIOS One

Irrigated Farmland

Island (4)

Mountain (5)

Myriad Landscape

Mystic Monastery

Path of Ancestry

Plains (4)

Prairie Stream

Razortide Bridge

Rustvale Bridge

Silverbluff Bridge

Skycloud Expanse

Spire of Industry

Sulfur Falls

Temple of Enlightenment

Temple of Epiphany

Terramorphic Expanse

Treasure Vault

Science! Commander Deck Themes

The primary theme of the Science! deck is artifacts. This deck wants to stockpile artifacts and then reward you for your growing collection of advanced technology. With several ways to play artifacts from your graveyard and return them from your hand, plus ways to copy them and the return of Fortifications after a 17-year hiatus, you'll have no problem winning the artifact arms race.

The secondary theme is energy counters, last seen in 2017's Aether Revolt. There are several new ways to create and spend energy counters, and the commander, Dr. Madison Li, provides support for both themes by generating energy every time an artifact enters the battlefield under your control.

The deck contains two potential commanders, but Dr. Madison Li is the only one that supports both the artifact and energy themes. The only other potential commander, Liberty Prime, Recharged, requires energy to both attack and block, and can only generate energy by sacrificing your other artifacts.

While this is useful in a pinch, in an artifacts matter deck you'll get much more value out of Dr. Madison Li's passive energy generation than from Liberty Prime, Recharged's parasitic version.

Science! Commander Deck Analysis

The Science! deck focuses heavily on artifacts, and does an excellent job of making use of them. With an astounding ten mana rocks and two creatures which can generate mana as well, you'll rarely struggle with mana unless you can't draw lands for the first several turns. It also features both active and passive energy generation, including HELIOS One, the first land that can be tapped for energy. And it contains a solid collection of offensive, defensive, and utility creatures for almost any situation.

Perhaps representing the scientists' hesitance to fall back on the same weapons that were used in the Great War, the Science! deck is sorely lacking in mass removal, containing only Austere Command as a mass removal option. While it does contain several spot removal options, such as Swords to Plowshares and Crush Contraband, the deck is likely to be overrun by fast, creature-heavy decks.

The best way to upgrade most preconstructed decks is to narrow the focus to a single theme, and Science! is no exception. The deck as it arrives is split between artifacts and energy, with some overlap.

"Artifacts matter" is a particularly strong archetype, with commanders like Urza, Lord High Artificer at the hounds, but no effective energy commanders exist outside the Science! deck. In order to keep the deck unique, focus on the energy theme and narrow the artifact theme.

Underperforming Cards

Intelligence Bobblehead

Endurance Bobblehead

Everflowing Chalice

Thought Vessel

Path of Ancestry

Wayfarer's Bauble

Terramorphic Expanse

Unexpected Windfall

Nick Valentine, Private Eye

Expert-Level Safe

Curie, Emergent Intelligence

Overencumbered

Brotherhood Vertibird

Red Death, Shipwrecker

C.A.M.P.

Both Bobbleheads, the Overflowing Chalice, and Thought Vessel are solid cards, but there are better mana rocks available, especially in the three-mana range. Path of Ancestry is similarly a good card, but with less than a third of the creatures sharing a type with the commander, it won't have much use except as a mana fixer, but entering the battlefield tapped slows it down.

Wayfarer's Bauble and Terramorphic Expanse, and Evolving Wilds all function to thin the deck and fetch the basic land you need for whatever color you're short on, but they're redundant enough and there are enough other mana options that you can safely cut two, leaving one of the lands in place and replacing the other. One can be directly upgraded, and Unexpected Windfall can similarly be replaced with a direct upgrade.

Nick Valentine, Private Eye, Expert-Level Safe, and Curie, Emergent Intelligence are all decent draw cards, but tend to be clunky and can easily be replaced with better draw options. Overencumbered is thematic to the Fallout setting, but there are multiple recent archetypes that focus on the tokens it provides to your opponent, making it potentially more helpful to your opponent than to you.

Red Death, Shipwrecker doesn't fit the theme of the deck except as a mana producer, and can easily be replaced with an artifact creature with the same basic function which also interacts with your artifact theme. Brotherhood Vertibird can also be replaced as you scale down the artifact theme.

C.A.M.P. is an interesting card, but it takes six mana to play and equip, and the junk tokens become less useful as you focus more on energy.

Science! Commander Deck Budget Upgrades

This deck wants to spread itself thin between two themes, but by trimming the fat and doubling-down on the energy theme, it can get a little power boost and feel more unique at the same time. Since it already has several excellent ways to spend energy, we'll largely focus on generating additional energy. Fortunately, these cards are available to even the most budget-conscious player!

Image

Name

Reason

Lightning Runner

Energy production every time it attacks, and an excellent energy sink to gain extra attack phases. If equipped with a Plasma Caster, this card will earn extra attacks every other turn.

Aethersquall Ancient

This deck contains a lot of triggered and activated energy production, but Aethersquall Ancient adds passive energy production during your upkeep. More importantly, it adds a reusable asymmetric boardwipe, something this deck is sorely lacking.

Decoction Module

You'll be playing a lot of creatures, so this allows you to get extra energy whenever you play a creature or create a creature token. Even better, it adds a layer of protection to your creatures by allowing you to return them to your hand and play them again later.

Deadlock Trap

While this can't counter activated abilities, it can block them on creatures and planeswalkers if you get the timing right. It can also prevent major threats from attacking or remove a blocker from the equation.

Consulate Turret

It's like a mana rock, but for energy. Aside from HELIOS One, this is the only card that can be tapped to generate an energy counter.

Aether Hub

It generates mana when it enters the battlefield, comes into play untapped, and can generate any color mana in a pinch. You'll use it for colorless mana most of the time, so usually it will be a net energy gain.

Counterspell

The deck is a little low on interaction, and having the option to counter your opponent's bit play is always a good idea.

Inspiring Statuary

Most of your artifacts function regardless of whether or not they're tapped, so including Inspiring Sanctuary turns almost every artifact into a mana rock.

Manascape Refractor

This gives you access to a second copy of all of your lands' activated abilities, as well as those of all of your opponents. Usually, this will be a versatile mana rock, but with the right lands in play, it can generate energy, search for other lands, and even create treasure tokens.

Rise and Shine

A quarter of the deck is noncreature artifacts, and there are plenty of ways to generate artifact tokens. This can turn your artifacts into an army. Better yet, with Inspiring Statuary, you can improvise the overload cost!

Crawlspace

Replacing Overburdened with Crawlspace means that all of your opponents are discouraged from attacking you, instead of feeding resources to one and only discouraging that opponent. Plus it's another artifact.

Escape Tunnel

This is a direct upgrade to Terramorphic Expanse and Evolving Wilds, with the added option to make Rex, Cyber-Hound or another low-attack creature unblockable for a turn.

Big Score

This functions identically to Unexpected Windfall, but is easier to cast because it requires less specific colored mana.

Jeskai Ascendancy

With lots of inexpensive noncreature spells, this can buff your creatures pretty quickly. If you include mana-producing creatures to pay for those spells, or use Inspiring Statuary with artifact creatures to improvise them, you can get a lot of value out of this.

Emry, Lurker of the Loch

You already have artifact recursion, but Emry, Lurker of the Loch is a little more reliable than Arcade Gannon, and significantly cheaper.

Welding Jar

Regenerate the artifact or artifact creatures that you want to keep, and then replay for free from your graveyard with either Arcade Gannon or Emry, Lurker of the Loch.

Jeskai Ascendancy, Emry, Lurker of the Loch, and any zero-mana artifact that sacrifices itself form an infinite combo that can buff your creatures for the final swing. This can happen as early as turn two with a Sol Ring and Arcane Signet on turn one, or can be used for unlimited energy with Dr. Madison Li in play.

Other Upgrade Options

• Gonti's Aether Heart and Aetherworks Marvel both net extra energy as permanents enter and leave the battlefield, respectively, with secondary effects of getting an extra turn or cheating a big spell out of your library.
• Additional counter options, such as Negate, Cancel, and Rewind allow you more interaction with your opponents' decks and more protection for you own.
• Academy Manufacturer will create extra food, clue, or treasure tokens whenever you create any. Paired with Nuka-Cola Vending Machine, you'll soon be swimming in tokens. It's an excellent option if you decide to lean into the artifact side of the deck.

Magic: The Gathering – What Are Rad Counters?

Uranium fever has done and got me down.