Magic The Gathering x Warhammer 40k: Necron Dynasties

Wizards of the Coast’s latest Universes Beyond release comes in the form of four commander decks showcasing the incredible world of Warhammer 40k. With a combined 160 brand new cards, these decks are a huge leap for preconstructed decks and have really ramped up the power and the flavour! Up third is Necron Dynasties, ancient beings that long ago transferred their consciousness into mechanical forms. You endlessly rebuild yourself from death, wearing down your opponents’ resistance until your inevitable victory from the grave!

Legends suggest that Szarekh damned his people when he accepted the offer of immortality from ancient star gods, causing the biotransference of an entire race from flesh to machines. As the leader of the Necron Dynasties, Szarekh demonstrates the resilience of undead machines by digging for all the best artifacts. The big returning mechanic of this deck, Unearth, perfectly leans into this theme of immortal beings returning from death to battle once more. And with this ability to get creatures back, you will be ruthlessly attacking your opponents with blatant disregard for your own armies wellbeing!

The Necron armies have a simple yet effective game plan; play all of the artifacts, kill EVERYTHING, play all of the artifacts again and again. And it certainly does this with efficiency. Most creatures in the deck are artifact creatures or vehicles and there are plenty of cards in the deck that provide extra benefits for playing artifacts. A good mixture of these creatures have Unearth and the ones that don’t can gain the ability from the effects of cards such as Ghost Ark. Filling up your graveyard will give your opponents the illusion that you’re being beaten, until you drop a haymaker like Living Death to overrun the battlefield with undead machines.

As the only mono coloured deck in the Warhammer set, it brings with it a lot of interesting new (and returning) cards. Out of the Tombs is a total showstopper in any graveyard deck, filling the yard quickly AND giving you a huge safety net to potentially milling yourself out. Canoptek Scarab Swarm can also take advantage of a stacked graveyard to create a monumental swing in your favour with a swarm of flying artifact insects. A final stand out card to me is Anrakyr the Traveller, facilitating what black decks do best by paying life into spells for extra value.

The Necron Dynasties deck has been the most surprising out of the four. It is so difficult to keep down as the more you destroy it, the more you fuel it. The Necrons put a refreshing spin on the combination of classic black themes with heavy artifact synergy. An incredible flavour win with a swathe of interesting new cards to strengthen even the most niche of mono black decks. This is a deck that I would highly recommend to any commander player, new and old! Head over to /shop/card-games/magic-the-gathering/commander-magic