I'm bored, time to review the precon cards. Grade is power unless I think it's cool enough to give it points for being cool.
Satya, Aetherflux Genius - decent commander but not that big of an energy payoff, more of just another 3c kiki commander. C
Cayth, Famed Mechanist - kinda boring as a commander, D+
Sphinx of the Revelation - decent enabler and payoff for energy, though kinda slow on its own. B
Hourglass of the Lost - 3cmc mana rock with upside, pretty telegraphed but a decent payoff. C- but I doubt I'll play it.
Localized Destruction - sweet for 1 power commanders and decent for energy. Super crowded slot though. B- for energy, otherwise D
Razorfield Ripper - bad outside an energy deck, and just okay inside of it, but it's neat that you don't need to spend energy to do damage with it. C-
Salvation Colossus - eight energy is a pretty insane cost for the unearth, and the front side feels unimpressive too. If you want an anthem there are many better options. D
Silverquill Lecturer - cute, 5 is a lot but there's probably some wild stuff you could do with this. C+ though I don't know where I'd use it.
Aurora Shifter - there are way easier ways to get a clone, so unless you're in energy this is unplayable and even then it's just okay. D-
Blaster Hulk - man you really gotta commit to the whole energy thing to make this work. Seems like too much work for a meh payoff. D
Filigree Racer - pretty sure I remember a 5 mana dragon that gave ALL your spells FLASHBACK instead of jump-start, without the energy requirement. Seems bad F+
Aether Refinery - so hilariously weak compared to
Izzet Generatorium, an uncommon. I guess you play it in an energy deck but 6 really seems excessive. D
Overclocked Electromancer - wtf is this trash. He needs to hit a creature to give you any energy, and his sink for energy is one +1/+1 counter for 3 of them? hard F, wouldn't even play it in an energy deck
Conversion Apparatus - reasonably efficient energy generator and okay sink. Probably not played outside of energy but seems fine within it. C
Stone Idol Generator - seems like an okay payoff, how good a generator it is depends on the deck but could be massive. Most for the energy deck but could see play elsewhere, C+
Overall, I like energy conceptually, but I don't think there's really been an amazing payoff for energy yet printed, and none of the supposedly energy-based commanders focus on it all that much.
Ulalek, Fused Atrocity - Hate eldrazi but seems reasonably strong, B-
Azlask, the Swelling Scourge - Really hate him, seems annoying, B-
Hideous Taskmaster - Seems annoying, damn I hate annihilator. C+
Eldrazi Confluence - pretty flexible tbh, I kinda like it. B
Eldritch Immunity - protection or alpha strike. Pretty decent but not amazing. C+
Inversion Behemoth - ability seems tedious AF to resolve, but a 9/2 for 4 isn't the worst I guess. C-
Selective Obliteration - these sorts of board wipes always suck. D
Spawnbed Protector - kinda pricey and slow but decent impact if it lives. C
Twins of Discord - Seems really mid for a 7 drop. Meh evasion and pseudo +2 power for the board isn't amazing. D
Ulamog's Dreadsire - Might have been amazing a decade ago but seems way too slow in 2024. D+
Angelic Aberration -
Descent of the Dragons never really impressed me. D
Benthic Anomaly - Lot of beef on the field with some abilities. I guess if you want an impactful 7-drop you could do worse. C+
Bismuth Mindrender - For 4 this seems pretty meh. Can't see it getting it much, there are probably a lot of bad hits, and it's a potentially dead topdeck lategame. D+
Mutated Cultist - I don't think there's anything interesting to do with this card in commander. It's a niche hate card with a questionable payoff. F
Chittering Dispatcher - needing to attack is a bummer for a minotaur statline, but it does make a lot of bodies and mana if you can keep it alive and swinging. B-
Omo, Queen of Vesuva - neat idea but I don't think it gets there. D
Jyoti, Moag Ancient - same. D
Aggressive Biomancy - A lot of setup and vulnerability, but a decent payoff. C-
Copy Land - if it didn't become an enchantment it'd be a lot better. As-is, fits into some decks with critical utility lands, otherwise meh. C
March from Velis Vel - definite wincon potential for gates and deserts, if deserts was blue which it isn't. But y'know, gates at least, if it didn't always win with stupid maze's end. C-
Wonderscape Sage - build requirement aside, I don't think I'd usually want to bounce a land to draw a card unless I had good ways to put the land back down again. D
Desert Warfare - I mean, if you're in the deserts deck this looks obscene, to the degree that I'd consider building the whole deck around it. A for deserts.
Rampant Frogantua - ramping 1-2 lands on a hit is pretty strong on its own, and it gets better with buffs or if people died. B
Sage of the Maze - the absurd payoff for the gates deck. If you've got 5 gates in play, you can swing for 30 damage, wtf? And then it just also is a fine mana dork? A for gates, and a C even without gates.
Horizon of Progress - perfect for Phelddagrif, but realistically kinda slow for almost everything else. D+
Lazotep Quarry - the 3rd or 4th free sac outlet land (depending if we're counting
Diamond Valley), and then it also has typing and a pretty sweet additional ability? A-
Planar Nexus - I guess this gets run as a bad desert or maybe a bad gate. I don't think urzatron is worth assembling in any commander decks I'm aware of but maybe it sneaks into colorless manabases. D
Talon Gates of Madara - real weird, but I think it's pretty versatile. B+
Sunken Palace - etb is a real downside, but the payoff looks potentially major. B
Trenchpost - don't think posts are a real thing in commander, F
Disa the Restless - the lhurgoyf payoff is strong but lhurgoyfs are mostly bad so probably not. I'd just use cheap evasive dudes and make 3x tarmos per turn. C+
Coram, the Undertaker - like the value, but attacking seems less exciting, and needing to support it with self-mill is only barely worth the effort. And limited to your own turn is a big bummer. C
Gluttonous Hellkite - decent big mana payoff as a board wipe + big creature, but I feel like I'd rather just have one or the other. D+
Broodmate Tyrant - front side is unexciting but the back half is pretty strong. Has some roles I think. C
Bloodbraid Challenger - it'll go into cascade tribal but otherwise nah, a 4/3 haste isn't a real card in this format. D
Infested Thrinax - if I wanted board wipe protection I'd just play
Heroic Intervention or whatever. D-
Exterminator Magmarch - lame, no double
Stone Rain. Decent card, targeting different opponents won't necessarily be your first choice but it's good value. C+
Barrowgoyf - solid little value creature for a creature-focused deck, especially one with graveyard synergy. B-
Final Act - I actually think this is mid af, none of the modes do anything except creatures and graveyards, and graveyards might hurt you more than your opponents. If this was white it'd be an F, but in black it's a C-
Pyrogoyf - MVP for
Disa the Restless and changeling tribal but otherwise just decent. C- overall (A- in disa)
Sawhorn Nemesis - pretty brutal tbh. Not my cup of tea but it's definitely a major problem for your opponent. C
Siege-Gang Lieutenant - if you're in red and doing a token thing, this seems pretty strong. sac effect is weak but whatever. B
Tempt with Mayhem - I love this choice for a tempt. B
Polygoyf - sick and twisted in
Ghired, Mirror of the Wilds. Otherwise it's probably a C-
Tarmogoyf Nest - pretty slow tbh. Another card that would have looked great 10 years ago maybe, and now looks like a C- at best