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How much does a Commander deck cost to build?

A ready-made deck is usually always the cheapest way in. After that, most cards cost less than a dollar, and the more pricey ones are optional.

By Pyrias Published October 23, 2026

The short answer

You can start playing Commander for the price of one ready-made deck. These premade decks are referred to as "Precons", or preconstructed decks. Building your own can cost about the same amount of money, or a lot more, depending on the cards you pick. Nothing in the rules needs expensive cards and more expensive or rarer cards are not inherently better either.

Every price here is a US price from TCGplayer, as our site had it on 22 October 2026, rounded. Card prices move every day, so treat these as a rough guide and check before you buy.

Start with a precon

A is a ready-to-play deck sold by Wizards of the Coast. There are 100 cards in the box, including your commander(s).

We added up the cards inside 25 Commander precons released between January 2025 and September 2026. This is not including Secret Lair decks and Collector's Editions, which use special printings or run on limited releases. For each card we used the price of the printing that comes in the box.

  • The lowest total was about $50, for Blight Curse.
  • The middle of the 25 was about $70.
  • The highest was about $124, for Sultai Arisen.

That's what the cards would cost if you bought them one at a time online. It isn't the price of the deck on the shelf, and we don't track shelf prices. If possible we always recommend you check your local game store. Be aware though that decks no longer being printed may come at a premium cost due to rarity.

A precon also comes with cards that suit any commander. For example, all 25 of those precons came with Sol Ring, Command Tower and Arcane Signet, which are incredibly popular and widely used cards.

Can I make my own Commander deck?

Yes, of course! Any 100 cards that follow the rules make a legal deck. You need one commander and only one copy of each card, apart from basic lands. Basic lands you can have as many copies as you deem fit for the deck. Every card also has to fit your commander's , which is every color of mana symbol on the commander. This includes abilities and triggers on the card too not just the cost to play the card.

You don't have to buy a precon first, but a precon makes a good base, and you can change it a few cards at a time until it feels like your own deck.

Most cards are cheap

Commander lets you use most cards ever printed, and majority of them are super cheap. On October 22, 2026, 32,115 of the 35,260 different cards in our data were legal in Commander, and 32,032 of those had a US price. For 26,501 of them, about 83%, the cheapest printing cost under $1. For 16,522, it was under 25 cents. However don't be tricked! While many cards are indeed a dollar or less don't forget you need to buy 100 of them unless you are reusing cards you already own.

Many cards you'll want to buy are in that price range. These are the cheapest printings on the same day:

  • Evolving Wilds, a land that finds you a basic land, about 9 cents.
  • Command Tower, a land that makes any of your commander's colors, about 26 cents.
  • Cultivate, a spell that finds two basic lands, about 38 cents.
  • Arcane Signet, a that makes any of your commander's colors, about 41 cents.
  • Sol Ring, the mana rock in every one of those precons, about $1.38.

The expensive cards are optional

A small group of cards cost a lot. Only 498 Commander-legal cards had no printing under $20, and only 90 had none under $100. The cheapest copy of Gaea's Cradle cost about $304, and the cheapest The One Ring about $110.

These are strong cards, but no deck needs them. Both are on the list that Wizards of the Coast keeps for its system. Bracket 1 and 2 decks leave Game Changers out entirely. If your group plays at those brackets, your deck skips them anyway.

Tips for a small budget

  • Start with a precon and swap a few cards at a time.
  • When a card is expensive, look for a cheaper card that does a similar job.
  • Check every printing. The same card can cost very different amounts depending on which set it came from.
  • Talk to your group. A friendly game doesn't need the strongest deck, and the pregame chat helps you find players whose decks match yours.

Check before you buy

Every card named in this article has a panel at the bottom of the page with its cheapest printing. Open any of them, or look up a precon you like and see which cards are inside it.

PreconShort for preconstructed deck: a ready-to-play deck sold in a box by Wizards of the Coast. A Commander precon comes with its commander and all 100 cards, so you can play it straight away and change cards later.Open the full glossaryColor IdentityEvery color of mana symbol on a card, in its cost and in its rules text. Your commander's color identity sets the limit for your whole deck: every other card has to fit inside it. A deck led by a green and white commander cannot play a card with any blue in its color identity.Kenrith, the Returned KingOpen the full glossaryRampCards that permanently increase the amount of mana you have access to each turn.Open the full glossaryMana RockAn artifact that taps to produce mana, such as Sol Ring or Arcane Signet. Called a "rock" to distinguish it from a creature that makes mana, which is a "mana dork".Open the full glossaryGame ChangersCards that warp the game disproportionately around themselves, requiring immediate answers.Open the full glossaryBracketA number from 1 to 5 describing how strong a Commander deck is meant to be, so everyone at the table can agree on a fair game before it starts. Bracket 1 is a deck built purely for fun and Bracket 5 is as competitive as it gets. It is Wizards of the Coast's own system, not ours.Open the full glossary

Every Card in This Article

Open the full card window

printingThe same card can be printed in many sets. Each one is a printing, with its own art and price.CombosTwo or more cards that, put together, do something far bigger than either of them does alone, often ending the game on the spot. Sanguine Bond and Exquisite Blood are a well-known pair: together they drain every opponent to zero.Open the full glossaryBig ManaProduces several mana at once from a single source, rather than the one extra mana most acceleration gives you. That surplus is what lets a deck cast something enormous far ahead of schedule. Compare Ramp, which is a reusable source you build up over time, and Burst Mana, which pays out once and is then gone. Cabal Coffers, Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx, Savage VentmawOpen the Big Mana pageFast ManaA permanent that makes more mana than it cost to play, every turn, so you pull ahead from the very start. Sol Ring costs 1 and makes 2 each turn. Sol Ring Mana Vault Ancient TombOpen the Fast Mana pageRampAn effect that accelerates your mana, giving you a reusable mana source beyond the usual one land per turn. Cultivate Rampant GrowthOpen the Ramp pageVanillaA creature with no abilities at all: just a name, a cost, and a power/toughness box. Grizzly BearsOpen the Vanilla pageLand FetchSearches your deck for a land. That handles color fixing (making sure you can produce the specific colors of mana your cards ask for), and because it puts a real land onto the battlefield, it also switches on landfall. Cultivate, Farseek, Evolving WildsOpen the Land Fetch pageSelf-SacrificeSacrifices itself as part of its own ability, trading the permanent away for what it does. Evolving Wilds, Mind StoneOpen the Self-Sacrifice pageGame ChangersCards that warp the game disproportionately around themselves, requiring immediate answers.What the brackets meanDrawDraws you extra cards. More cards means more choices every turn, and in a 100-card deck it is the main way to find the pieces you need. Rhystic Study, SkullclampOpen the Draw pageETB ValueDoes something useful the moment it arrives: an enter the battlefield ability, which players shorten to ETB. You keep that effect even if the card is removed straight afterwards, which is why these pair so well with flicker cards that make them enter again. Solemn Simulacrum, The One RingOpen the ETB Value pageProtectionA creature with protection from something, like a color, is safe from anything with that quality. It cannot be damaged, enchanted or equipped, blocked, or targeted by it, and players remember the four with the word DEBT. It does not stop effects that neither target nor damage, like a board wipe that destroys every creature. ProgenitusOpen the Protection pageUpkeep CostCosts you something at the start of each of your turns, like life, mana or a card, for as long as you keep it. Strong effects often come with a running bill. The One Ring, Phyrexian ArenaOpen the Upkeep Cost page

Questions Readers Ask

How much does it cost to build a Commander deck?

It can cost about as much as one precon, or far more. On 11 October 2026, the cards inside 25 recent precons added up to between about $50 and $124 at single-card prices. Prices change every day.

Can I make my own Commander deck?

Yes. Any 100 cards that follow the Commander rules make a legal deck: one commander, one copy of each card apart from basic lands, and every card inside your commander's color identity.

Are precons a good way to start?

They are the simplest way. A precon comes with a commander and all 100 cards, ready to play, and you can swap cards later as you learn what you like.

Do I need expensive cards to play Commander?

No. Most Commander-legal cards have a printing under $1. The most expensive cards are strong but optional, and some are on the Game Changers list that relaxed brackets leave out.

Why do card prices change?

Card prices are set by what people pay for them, so they rise and fall over time. Always check the price on the day you buy.

Where This Came From

Portions of Commander Nexus are unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy. Not approved or endorsed by Wizards. Literal and graphical information about Magic: The Gathering, including card images and mana symbols, is copyright Wizards of the Coast, LLC.

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