MTG Fallout decks explained: Commanders, mechanics and more

The MTG Universes Beyond: Fallout Commander decks contain everything from raiders to roaches, and we’ll run you through what they are and how they work.

Universes Beyond: Fallout is all set to continue MTG’s crossover hot streak. With the success of Doctor Who and Tales of Middle Earth to build on and the excitement of MTG x Marvel ahead, Fallout is primed to be the next step in Magic’s Universes Beyond domination.

With such a wide variety of source material to choose from, MTG players and Fallout fans will no doubt be curious as to what the four Fallout Commander decks focus on. We’ll run you through what we know about the decks, what corners of the Fallout universe they draw on, and how they’ll play at launch on March 8, 2024.

MTG Fallout Commander decks

Scrappy Survivors

Featuring the beloved Fallout companion Dogmeat as its Commander, Scrappy Survivors brings a new token mechanic to MTG in the form of Junk tokens.

Scrappy Survivors foregrounds graveyard recursion in a way that befits Fallout’s hardy scavengers. Dogmeat allows for unconventional draws by milling your own deck into the grave, sorting through the trash, and picking out your best plays.

Scrappy Survivors may be the best way to get the pure Fallout experience for those who love the game’s setting and survival aspects. By scavenging and reusing equipment and dredging cards back from the graveyard, this deck will ensure that its players make the best use of what the Wasteland has to offer.

Science!

A blue, red, and white deck, Science! sees Energy tokens make a return to Magic following their initial performance in Kaladesh. Energy tokens are a popular yet controversial element of MTG, as a generic resource that can be used to pay for powerful additional effects.

While they may not be welcomed by all, Energy tokens are sure to feed into some powerful artifact strategies with the help of the Deck’s Commander. Dr. Madison Li boosts your creatures with power and additional keywords, draws cards, and fetches back your best artifacts from the grave, ready to add to your Energy stockpile all over again.

If it lives up to its early promise, the Science! deck has the potential to redeem Energy’s reputation and allow players to mess around with some of the Fallout series’ beloved unethical experiments.

Hail, Caesar

The Hail, Caesar deck utilizes red, black, and white mana, and is an excellent showing for some of Mardu colors’ best features.

The deck’s Commander, surprising no one, is Caesar, Legion’s emperor. This Commander focuses on sacrifice, aggression, and value, and the rest of the deck follows suit. Sacrificing creatures each turn allows you to restock your hand, bring additional creatures to the field, and inflict hefty burn damage based on the size of your board.

By generating creature tokens to replace the ones that were sacrificed, Caesar ensures that the ranks of his followers are always full and ready to charge into battle.

Mutant Menace

With black, green, and blue mana, Mutant Menace is led by The Wise Mothman and will focus on Fallout’s cryptids and irradiated beasties.

Mutant Menace introduces another new mechanic to MTG. Rad counters are a fantastic addition that adds to the danger of mill effects, souping them up into poison-esque threats. Not only do Rad counters accumulate more and more damage and mill over time, The Wise Mothman buffs your own creatures whenever a card is Milled.

In taking a relatively niche MTG strategy and buffing it up into a powerhouse, Mutant Menace is sure to be among the most sought-after Fallout Commander decks.

MTG Universes Beyond: Fallout key mechanics

Universes beyond: Fallout will see the return of Energy counters and the Proliferate ability to MTG, as well as the debut of Radiation. Proliferate will be multi-purpose in this set, doubling up on your own Energy while depleting your opponents’ decks and life reserves through Rad counters.

Sagas will also be making a return appearance, depicting the various vaults of the Fallout franchise and the experiments running inside.

If you’re looking to pick up the Fallout Commander decks, be sure to follow our guide on where to buy them.