Warhammer 40K Commander Decks: All 4 Ranked by Price

The four Warhammer 40K Commander decks sell for $196 to $294 sealed in November 2026, more than the $162 to $235 of cards inside. Which to buy and upgrade.

Shon Atsil17 min readMagic
Warhammer 40K Commander decks: five commanders from the four precons fanned out on a dark background: Inquisitor Greyfax, Szarekh, the Silent King, Abaddon the Despoiler, The Swarmlord and Marneus Calgar

The Short Answer

None of the four Warhammer 40K Commander decks is worth its sealed price in cards today. At TCGplayer market prices of 10 November 2026 they cost $196.00 to $293.95 sealed and hold $161.69 to $235.28 of cards. If you only want to play one, buy the singles.

If you want a sealed deck, The Ruinous Powers is the cheapest at $196.00 and comes closest to paying for itself: $170.54 of cards, 0.87× the price.

Necron Dynasties has the most valuable cards ($235.28) and is the deck EDHREC's Josh Nelson called the best of the four "by far", but it costs $293.95. Forces of the Imperium ($228.35) contains the most-built commander of the set, Marneus Calgar. Tyranid Swarm ($218.30) is the worst value at 0.74×.

  • $235.28Necron Dynasties
  • $293.95Necron Dynasties

This page is the deck-by-deck buyer's guide: what each precon does, which cards in it are worth money, what you pay against what you get, and the cheapest upgrades. The decks came out in 2022, so they are not in our weekly Commander precon price table, which starts in 2023; the numbers here were worked out the same way. For the other licensed sets, see our Universes Beyond guide.

What Are the Four Warhammer 40K Commander Decks?

Wizards released four Commander decks under the name Warhammer 40,000 Commander on 7 October 2022: Forces of the Imperium (white-blue-black), Necron Dynasties (mono-black), The Ruinous Powers (blue-black-red) and Tyranid Swarm (green-blue-red). The set code is 40K. There were no booster packs: the whole set is these four decks. Wizards published the decklists on 17 September 2022.

What's in a Warhammer 40K Commander deck

Each deck is 100 cards. By Scryfall's count the set has 168 new cards, 42 per deck; the rest are reprints with Warhammer art and 20 to 30 basic lands. Two legends in each deck are traditional foil: the face commander and a second legend that can lead the deck instead. Wizards' decklist page also shows a foil-etched display commander for each regular deck.

Warhammer 40K Commander Deck Prices: Sealed vs the Cards Inside

  • The Ruinous Powers

    Commander
    Abaddon the Despoiler
    Colours
    Grixis (U/B/R)
    Theme
    Cascade, Demons
    Cards worth
    $170.54
    Value
    0.87×

    $196.00

    Price (10 Nov 2026)

  • Necron Dynasties

    Commander
    Szarekh, the Silent King
    Colours
    Mono-black
    Theme
    Artifact creatures, graveyard
    Cards worth
    $235.28
    Value
    0.80×

    $293.95

    Price (10 Nov 2026)

  • Forces of the Imperium

    Commander
    Inquisitor Greyfax
    Colours
    Esper (W/U/B)
    Theme
    Tokens, go wide
    Cards worth
    $179.89
    Value
    0.79×

    $228.35

    Price (10 Nov 2026)

  • Tyranid Swarm

    Commander
    The Swarmlord
    Colours
    Temur (G/U/R)
    Theme
    +1/+1 counters, X spells
    Cards worth
    $161.69
    Value
    0.74×

    $218.30

    Price (10 Nov 2026)

Are the Warhammer 40K precons worth more than they cost?

No. Every deck costs more sealed than its cards add up to, from 0.74× (Tyranid Swarm) to 0.87× (The Ruinous Powers). That is the opposite of this year's precons: the four Marvel Commander decks each hold 1.4 to 1.9 times their price.

How to read it. Price is the TCGplayer market price of the sealed regular deck. Cards worth adds up the TCGplayer market price of all 100 cards, using the exact printing in the deck (the two foil legends at their foil price). Value is cards worth divided by price. All 100 cards had a price in every deck.

Market price is not the cheapest listing. Market price follows recent sales. The lowest listing in the same snapshot was $220.00 for Forces of the Imperium, $225.00 for The Ruinous Powers, $240.00 for Tyranid Swarm and $310.00 for Necron Dynasties. On listings alone, Forces of the Imperium is the cheapest deck to buy today.


Forces of the Imperium (Inquisitor Greyfax)

Commander: Inquisitor Greyfax, {1}{W}{U}{B}, 3/3 Second foil legend: Marneus Calgar, {2}{W}{U}{B}, 3/5 Other legends: Celestine, the Living Saint; Belisarius Cawl; Commissar Severina Raine; Inquisitor Eisenhorn; Neyam Shai Murad Colours: Esper (white, blue, black) Price: $228.35 sealed, $179.89 in cards (0.79×)

Strategy. Go wide with tokens. Inquisitor Greyfax gives your other creatures +1/+0 and vigilance, and for {1} and tapping herself, she taps an opposing creature and investigates. Marneus Calgar is the stronger engine: he has double strike, draws a card whenever one or more tokens enter under your control, and makes two 2/2 Astartes Warrior tokens for {6}. Six cards have squad, which lets you pay extra for token copies as they enter.

What's in it. 31 creatures, 14 noncreature artifacts, 8 sorceries, 6 instants, 4 enchantments and 37 lands (20 of them basics). 17 of the creatures are Humans and 13 are Astartes. The cards that do the work:

  • Celestine, the Living Saint: flying, lifelink, and at your end step returns a creature from your graveyard with mana value up to the life you gained that turn.
  • Commissar Severina Raine: when she attacks, each opponent loses life equal to the number of other attackers.
  • Vexilus Praetor: flash, and your commanders have protection from everything.
  • Belisarius Cawl: taps two artifacts to make a 2/2 Astartes Warrior token.
  • Reaver Titan: a 10/10 Vehicle with protection from mana value 3 or less that deals 5 damage to each opponent when it attacks.
  • The Golden Throne: if you would lose the game, exile it and go to 1 life instead.
  • Reprints: Swords to Plowshares, Skullclamp, Martial Coup, Utter End, Sol Ring, Arcane Signet.

Most valuable cards (TCGplayer market, 10 November 2026):

CardPrice
Celestine, the Living Saint (new)$20.38
Reaver Titan (new)$14.69
Commissar Severina Raine (new)$13.15
Sister Hospitaller (new)$11.50
Vexilus Praetor (new)$10.84
Marneus Calgar (new, foil)$8.58
And They Shall Know No Fear (new)$8.15
Skullclamp$8.06
The Golden Throne (new)$7.63
Thunderhawk Gunship (new)$5.70

The top ten add up to $108.68, and nine of them are new cards. The foil Inquisitor Greyfax is a $0.69 card.

Who it's for: players who want a token deck with removal and card draw in the same colours. The demand is for Marneus Calgar, not Greyfax: on EDHREC (11 November 2026) Calgar leads 18,029 decks (rank #100), the most of any commander in the set, against 2,724 for Greyfax (rank #955).

Upgrades. Cards Calgar players often add that aren't in the precon (Scryfall default-printing prices, 11 November 2026):

  • Nadir Kraken ($0.38, in 9,308 of 18,029 decks), Path to Exile ($0.91) and An Offer You Can't Refuse ($2.46): cheap adds
  • Kambal, Profiteering Mayor ($5.54, in 10,502 decks) and Lotho, Corrupt Shirriff ($7.81, in 11,089)
  • Smothering Tithe ($60.05, in 11,183) and Ashnod's Altar ($16.62) if you want to spend more

If you keep Greyfax in front, the clue cards are cheap: Erdwal Illuminator ($0.40, in 1,454 of 2,724 decks), Teysa, Opulent Oligarch ($0.32), Officious Interrogation ($0.27) and Ethereal Investigator ($0.46).

Verdict: buy only if you want Marneus Calgar's deck sealed. At $228.35 for $179.89 of cards it is not a value buy, but it had the cheapest listing of the four ($220.00).

Buy Forces of the Imperium on TCGplayer ($228.35 market, 10 Nov 2026)


Necron Dynasties (Szarekh, the Silent King)

Commander: Szarekh, the Silent King, {1}{B}{B}{B}, 3/4 flier Second foil legend: Imotekh the Stormlord, {2}{B}{B}, 3/3 Other legends: Anrakyr the Traveller; Illuminor Szeras; Trazyn the Infinite Colours: Mono-black Price: $293.95 sealed, $235.28 in cards (0.80×)

Strategy. Artifact creatures that keep coming back. When Szarekh attacks you mill three cards and may put an artifact creature or Vehicle from among them into your hand. Imotekh makes two 2/2 Necron Warrior artifact tokens whenever one or more artifact cards leave your graveyard, and gives another artifact creature +2/+2 and menace at the start of combat on each of your turns. 50 of the 100 cards are artifacts, 23 of the creatures are Necrons, and 8 cards have unearth, which brings a creature back from the graveyard for a turn.

What's in it. 30 creatures, 21 noncreature artifacts, 6 sorceries, 3 instants, 3 enchantments and 37 lands, 30 of them Swamps. Key cards:

  • Cryptothrall: other artifact creatures you control have hexproof.
  • Canoptek Spyder: draw a card whenever another nontoken artifact creature or Vehicle enters under your control.
  • Anrakyr the Traveller: when he attacks, cast an artifact from your hand or graveyard by paying life equal to its mana value.
  • Their Name Is Death: destroy all nonartifact creatures, which leaves most of your board alone.
  • Biotransference: your creatures are all artifacts, and each artifact spell you cast makes a 2/2 Necron Warrior for 1 life.
  • Sceptre of Eternal Glory: taps for three mana of one colour if you control three lands with the same name. With 30 Swamps, you will.
  • Reprints: Living Death, Mystic Forge, Caged Sun, Gilded Lotus, Reliquary Tower, Go for the Throat.

Most valuable cards (TCGplayer market, 10 November 2026):

CardPrice
Cryptothrall (new)$23.14
Darkness$13.37
Resurrection Orb (new)$13.23
Sceptre of Eternal Glory (new)$12.51
Canoptek Spyder (new)$11.74
Canoptek Scarab Swarm (new)$11.38
Their Name Is Death (new)$10.62
Out of the Tombs (new)$10.03
Imotekh the Stormlord (new, foil)$7.76
Biotransference (new)$7.42

Eight cards in this deck are worth $10 or more, and the top ten add up to $121.20. Necron Dynasties has 38 cards worth $1 or more, the most of the four. The foil Szarekh is a $0.55 card.

Who it's for: players who like graveyard decks and want the precon with the best reputation. EDHREC's Josh Nelson, picking one precon per year (30 September 2025), chose it for 2022: "of those four precons, the best one by far was Necron Dynasties". Mono-black also makes it the simplest mana base of the four. On EDHREC, Imotekh leads 8,210 decks (rank #337) and Szarekh 1,663 (rank #1,310).

Upgrades. This is the cheapest deck of the four to improve. Cards Imotekh players often add (Scryfall default-printing prices, 11 November 2026):

  • Foundry Inspector ($0.38, in 6,125 of 8,210 decks), Junk Diver ($0.30, in 4,712), Myr Retriever ($1.93, in 6,038) and Scrap Trawler ($2.62, in 6,309): $5.23 together, or about $2.57 in their cheapest printings ($0.31, $0.30, $0.70 and $1.26)
  • Tortured Existence ($2.96, in 4,949)
  • Reanimate ($10.33) and Ashnod's Altar ($16.62) if you want to spend more

Verdict: the best deck, at the highest price. $293.95 sealed for $235.28 of cards, and the cheapest listing in the snapshot was $310.00. Buy the singles unless you want it sealed.

Buy Necron Dynasties on TCGplayer ($293.95 market, 10 Nov 2026)


The Ruinous Powers (Abaddon the Despoiler)

Commander: Abaddon the Despoiler, {2}{U}{B}{R}, 5/5 trample Second foil legend: Be'lakor, the Dark Master, {3}{U}{B}{R}, 6/5 flier Other legends: Mortarion, Daemon Primarch; Khârn the Betrayer; Lucius the Eternal; Magnus the Red Colours: Grixis (blue, black, red) Price: $196.00 sealed, $170.54 in cards (0.87×)

Strategy. Make opponents lose life, then cast free spells. During your turn, Abaddon gives cascade to spells you cast from your hand with mana value X or less, where X is the life your opponents have lost this turn. Deal damage first, cast your big spell second. Be'lakor is the other build: 17 of the deck's creatures are Demons, when he enters you draw a card and lose 1 life for each Demon you control, and every other Demon that enters deals damage equal to its power to any target.

What's in it. 30 creatures, 10 noncreature artifacts, 10 instants, 7 sorceries, 5 enchantments and 38 lands (24 of them basics). Five cards have cascade printed on them. Key cards:

  • Bloodthirster: a 6/6 flying trampler that untaps and gets another combat phase each time it deals combat damage to a player.
  • Keeper of Secrets: whenever you cast a spell from anywhere other than your hand, as cascade does, it deals damage equal to that spell's mana value to an opponent.
  • Exalted Flamer of Tzeentch: returns a random instant or sorcery from your graveyard each upkeep and deals 1 damage to each opponent whenever you cast one.
  • Herald of Slaanesh: Demon spells cost {2} less and your other Demons have haste.
  • Blood for the Blood God!: discard your hand, draw eight, deal 8 damage to each opponent.
  • Reprints: Dark Ritual, Brainstorm, Blasphemous Act, Chaos Warp, Past in Flames, Chromatic Lantern. There is no Arcane Signet in this deck.

Most valuable cards (TCGplayer market, 10 November 2026):

CardPrice
Bloodthirster (new)$25.41
Exalted Flamer of Tzeentch (new)$17.19
Keeper of Secrets (new)$8.08
Magnus the Red (new)$6.46
Chaos Defiler (new)$5.74
Poxwalkers (new)$5.63
Khârn the Betrayer (new)$5.57
Blood for the Blood God! (new)$5.15
Dark Ritual$4.77
Herald of Slaanesh (new)$4.61

Bloodthirster is the most valuable card in any of the four regular decks. The top ten add up to $88.61, so a quarter of the deck's value is in its top two cards. The foil Abaddon is a $1.63 card and the foil Be'lakor $3.57.

Who it's for: players who want big Demons and free spells, and anyone buying one sealed deck on price. Be'lakor leads 15,760 decks on EDHREC (rank #122, 11 November 2026) and Abaddon 6,801 (rank #445), so both commanders in the box are widely played.

Upgrades. Start with the missing mana rock: Arcane Signet ($0.56) is in 13,529 of 15,760 Be'lakor decks. Then, for the Demon build (Scryfall prices, 11 November 2026):

  • Raphael, Fiendish Savior ($0.50, in 9,451 decks), Rakdos, Lord of Riots ($2.18, in 10,798), Rakdos, the Showstopper ($2.67), Kardur, Doomscourge ($3.14, in 11,057) and Archfiend of Depravity ($3.18)

For Abaddon: Loyal Subordinate ($0.26, in 3,646 of 6,801 decks), Ancestral Vision ($0.26, in 3,382), Stormfist Crusader ($1.06) and Profane Tutor ($4.20).

Verdict: the best sealed buy of the four. Lowest market price ($196.00), best ratio (0.87×) and two popular commanders. Check the listing price before you buy: the cheapest in the snapshot was $225.00.

Buy The Ruinous Powers on TCGplayer ($196.00 market, 10 Nov 2026)


Tyranid Swarm (The Swarmlord)

Commander: The Swarmlord, {3}{G}{U}{R}, 5/5 Second foil legend: Magus Lucea Kane, {1}{G}{U}{R}, 1/1 Other legends: The Red Terror; Old One Eye; Deathleaper, Terror Weapon; Ghyrson Starn, Kelermorph Colours: Temur (green, blue, red) Price: $218.30 sealed, $161.69 in cards (0.74×)

Strategy. Big creatures with +1/+1 counters, paid for with X. The Swarmlord enters with two +1/+1 counters for each time you've cast your commander from the command zone, and draws a card whenever a creature you control with a counter on it dies. Eleven cards have ravenous: they cost X, enter with X +1/+1 counters, and draw a card if X is 5 or more. Magus Lucea Kane taps for {C}{C} and copies the next X spell or X ability you use that turn, She is the more popular commander of the two (15,386 EDHREC decks against 3,159). See our counters guide for how +1/+1 counters work.

What's in it. 37 creatures, all of them Tyranids, 8 enchantments, 6 sorceries, 6 artifacts, 4 instants and 39 lands (22 of them basics). 15 cards have X in a cost. Key cards:

  • Biophagus: taps for any colour, and a creature cast with that mana enters with an extra +1/+1 counter.
  • Nexos: your basic lands can tap for {C}{C} to spend on costs that contain X.
  • Sporocyst, Mawloc and Zoanthrope: ravenous creatures that fetch basic lands, fight a creature, or deal X damage as they enter.
  • Shadow in the Warp: your first creature spell each turn costs {2} less, and opponents take 2 damage for their first noncreature spell each turn.
  • Hierophant Bio-Titan: a 12/12 you can make cheaper by removing +1/+1 counters from your creatures.
  • Reprints: Hardened Scales, Herald's Horn, Cultivate, Farseek, Rampant Growth, Arcane Signet.

Most valuable cards (TCGplayer market, 10 November 2026):

CardPrice
Ghyrson Starn, Kelermorph (new)$24.80
Shadow in the Warp (new)$14.47
Biophagus (new)$12.31
Sporocyst (new)$7.97
Nexos (new)$7.27
Herald's Horn$5.59
The Red Terror (new)$5.20
Aberrant (new)$4.33
Arcane Signet$4.31
Bone Sabres (new)$4.24

The top ten add up to $90.49. Ghyrson Starn, Kelermorph is a blue-red card that adds 2 damage every time another source you control deals exactly 1 damage; it is worth more than any other card here but has little to do with the counters plan. The foil Swarmlord is a $0.53 card and the foil Magus Lucea Kane $2.09.

Who it's for: players who like ramping into large creatures. Magus Lucea Kane leads 15,386 decks on EDHREC (rank #130, 11 November 2026) against 3,159 for The Swarmlord (rank #861).

Upgrades. For Magus Lucea Kane, many of the most-added cards are cheap X spells and payoffs (Scryfall default-printing prices, 11 November 2026):

  • Hydroid Krasis ($0.30, in 10,970 of 15,386 decks), Elementalist's Palette ($0.33, in 6,736), Animist's Awakening ($0.35, in 6,948) and Garruk's Uprising ($0.56, in 8,122)
  • Unbound Flourishing ($2.19, in 11,552), Goldvein Hydra ($3.85, in 8,221) and Temur Ascendancy ($4.17)

For The Swarmlord: Rhythm of the Wild ($4.74, in 1,468 of 3,159 decks) and Branching Evolution ($7.81). The Ozolith ($59.56) is the expensive one.

Verdict: skip it sealed. $218.30 for $161.69 of cards is the worst ratio of the four (0.74×). Buy the singles instead: four of its most-added upgrades cost under a dollar each ($0.30 to $0.56).

Buy Tyranid Swarm on TCGplayer ($218.30 market, 10 Nov 2026)


Which Warhammer 40K Commander Deck Should You Buy?

The picks below are our reading of the 10 November prices and the 11 November EDHREC counts. They are not based on win rates, because we found none (see below).

  • One sealed deck at the lowest market price

    Buy
    The Ruinous Powers
    Why
    $196.00 for $170.54 of cards (0.87×)
  • The most valuable cards

    Buy
    Necron Dynasties
    Why
    $235.28 of cards, $207.04 of it in 38 cards worth $1+
  • The deck with the best reputation

    Buy
    Necron Dynasties
    Why
    EDHREC's Josh Nelson: 'the best one by far'
  • The most popular commander

    Buy
    Forces of the Imperium
    Why
    Marneus Calgar leads 18,029 EDHREC decks (rank #100)
  • The cheapest upgrades

    Buy
    Necron Dynasties or Tyranid Swarm
    Why
    Four of the most-added Imotekh cards cost $5.23; four of Lucea Kane's are $0.30 to $0.56
  • Just to play the deck

    Buy
    The singles
    Why
    Every deck's 100 cards cost less than the sealed box

How strong are the Warhammer 40K precons?

We can't give a win rate. Playgroup.gg ranks 92 precons by the win rate of the unmodified list over 29,326 tracked games (updated 11 November 2026), and none of the four 40K decks is on it. A precon needs at least 20 tracked stock games from 10 pilots to qualify there.

What we can cite is opinion and popularity. EDHREC's Josh Nelson wrote on 30 September 2025 that for 2022 "the best set of precons was the set from Warhammer 40,000", and picked Necron Dynasties as the best of them. And three legends from these decks are among the 130 most-built commanders on EDHREC: Marneus Calgar (#100), Be'lakor, the Dark Master (#122) and Magus Lucea Kane (#130).

Do the Warhammer 40K precons contain Game Changers?

We checked all four decklists against the Game Changers list in our guide and found none of its cards. See that guide for what that means for brackets.

Warhammer 40K Collector's Edition Commander Decks vs Regular Decks

Each deck also came as a Collector's Edition: per Wizards, English only, with surge foil versions of the cards and tokens. Prices on 10 November 2026 (TCGplayer market):

DeckRegularCollector's EditionCE costsCE cards worth
Necron Dynasties$293.95$679.552.3×$683.85
Tyranid Swarm$218.30$475.522.2×$553.41
Forces of the Imperium$228.35$437.501.9×$624.63
The Ruinous Powers$196.00$403.432.1×$563.73

Unlike the regular decks, the Collector's Editions hold more in cards than they cost sealed, by TCGplayer's market price for each surge foil. Forces of the Imperium is the widest gap: $624.63 of cards for $437.50. The most valuable surge foils are Ghyrson Starn, Kelermorph ($109.84), Marneus Calgar ($81.29), Bloodthirster ($59.37) and Celestine, the Living Saint ($53.22).

Treat that with care. Surge foil singles from a 2022 product sell slowly, a market price can rest on a few sales, and selling 100 cards one by one costs fees and time. Buy a Collector's Edition because you want the foil deck, not to break it up. For how foil treatments affect price, see how to value Magic cards.

Should You Buy All Four Warhammer 40K Decks?

A sealed case of all four regular decks was $767.48 on 10 November 2026, against $936.60 for the four bought one by one. The 400 cards inside were worth $747.40 at market price, so the case is the only sealed option that comes close to its card value (0.97×). Its lowest listing was $825.00. The Collector's Edition case was $1,922.57.

The case makes sense for a playgroup that wants four matched decks. If you want one deck, buy that deck or its singles.

Conclusion: Singles First, The Ruinous Powers If Sealed

The Warhammer 40K Commander decks cost $196 to $294 sealed and hold $162 to $235 of cards, at TCGplayer market prices of 10 November 2026. If you want to play one, the singles are cheaper than the box for all four.

If you want one sealed, The Ruinous Powers is the cheapest and the closest to its card value. Necron Dynasties is the best-regarded deck and holds the most value, at the highest price. Skip Tyranid Swarm sealed, and skip the Collector's Editions unless you want the surge foils.


Citations & Resources


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