Exclusive: Wizards of the Coast on Why Reality Fracture Only Has One Commander Deck

Magic: The Gathering’s Reality Fracture set closes a saga in some style, with alternate-reality versions of iconic characters from Magic’s past, and it’s likely to go down as one of the best sets of a very busy 2026 schedule.

Despite the sheer volume of great cards, however, Wizards of the Coast only designed a single preconstructed deck for Commander players, the same as it did for this year’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles set.

We asked Gavin Verhey, Game Designer on Magic: The Gathering, why we only got one precon – and how he feels about its power level.

Magic’s Game Designer On Reality Fracture Precon

“We tend to run into problems when we release two Commander decks, and one is vastly more exciting than the other,” Verhey admitted (this year’s Lorwyn Eclipsed was the last set to introduce a pair of precons).

“For example, stores end up with one on shelves while the other evaporates immediately. So we did talk about this, but it was harder to imagine [a deck] much cooler than the Jace Echoverse deck,” he added, pointing to Multiverse Reforged.

“So, instead, we decided we’d make one deck and give it some extra resources like new cards and a splashy theme with a four-color identity.”

Having played a few games with Multiverse Reforged, splashy might be selling it short. The deck is packed with great cards, both alternate versions of legendary creatures from Magic’s past (The Ur-Sphinx, for example), plus a powerful Planeswalker Commander in Jace himself.

As with Turtle Power, it feels a lot like it can be taken apart and rebuilt in a bunch of different ways, but Verhey confirms that the Wizards of the Coast team sees it as a powerhouse right out of the box.

“I think it’s kind of funny that people see it as a toolkit,” Verhey says, “because many internally believe this precon is among the most powerful we’ve ever released!”

“I do think that the deck theme lends itself well to a high quantity of individually cool legends, which gives it this toolbox feeling, and I could imagine doing more themes in the future that feature a bunch of new legends.”

Have you played with Multiverse Reforged yet, or against it? How did you find it? Let us know in the comments.

For more on Magic: The Gathering’s current set, check out Reality Fracture’s most expensive cards, as well as the most powerful precons of all time.

Robert Anderson is a Senior Commerce Editor for IGN. Based in London, UK, he is a qualified journalist with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism (First Class Degree) and over seven years of professional writing and editing experience.

You can usually find Robert lost in open-world RPG games like Elden Ring and Cyberpunk 2077. Outside of gaming, his passions include reading comics (especially Superman, Batman, and Spider-Man), taking photos, and keeping up with the latest in film and TV.

His primary coverage focuses on tracking down the best gaming deals and diving into the fast-paced world of Trading Card Games (TCGs). He regularly covers everything from the latest releases in Pokémon TCG and the most expensive cards to comprehensive Magic: The Gathering buying guides.