The next set is quickly approaching and ooo boy does it have some spicy picks for Commander. Now before we get to the best picks for your 99, I need to address the Green elephant in the room, and no, I’m not talking about the retro frame Generous Gift. There are some seriously wild new Green cards in Modern Horizons 2, things like: Yawgmoth’s Will, Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth, Eternal Witness, Tireless Tracker, and Serra’s Sanctum. Oh wait, those cards already exist? Well Green got them as functional reprints, so we’ll exclude the following low hanging fruit from the top 10 picks: Gaea’s Will, Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth, Timeless Witness, Tireless Provisioner, and Sanctum Weaver. Obviously you should pick up these pushed cards as snap keeps, but read on to find some spice that may have slipped through in the whirlwind preview season. Of course there are tons of cards not covered in this list that support specific strategies, so you should check out the full set if you can.
As the incremental improvements to White cards start to come to fruition in the recent and coming sets we’re starting to see more support for functional needs in Commander for both ramp and card draw. At it’s floor, you’ll probably draw two cards from Esper Sentinel which is fantastic for one mana, and at it’s ceiling you could have a constant flow of cards. It is very susceptible to removal being both a Creature and an Artifact, but that’s one less removal spell to be used on your bigger threats.
2. Out of Time
While the hype may be focused on Damn, I don’t think you should sleep on Out of Time. As a low mana value wrath, you can cast this and re-establish your board which can help reduce the impact of taking a turn off to slow down your opponent’s shenanigans (no, not those Shenanigans). Even though it sticks around like Banishing Light and will have lots of eyes focused on it, it can still buy some time. Whether you cast it early with a few mana dorks or late when the board is full it can be pretty effective. Of course this could be a blowout when there’s a token deck in the pod if there isn’t adequate removal.
3. Solitude
If you’re playing White your opponents will expect a one mana Path of Exile/Swords to Plowshares, so they may play around it. A free version though? Your opponents may not hesitate about, assuming it will be uncommon, so when Solitude hits it should be pure value. Yes it will cost you two cards, but that’s a small price to pay to stop a killing blow or get rid of a pesky combo piece.
4. Suspend
Another one mana Creature removal spell in Blue? Yup. This one has some significant upside compared to the recent Ravenform by being Instant speed. Sure the creature will come back two turns later, but for one you can’t go wrong with Suspend.
5. Persist
Cheap reanimation spells can be very powerful in Commander letting you cheat mana costs or recurring your best threat. Akin to Animate Dead, Persist will bring back a Creature a little bit weaker for only two mana. It is more limited only being able to target non-Legendary Creatures in your graveyard, but redundancy is a welcome boon for decks that want to hone in on winning.
6. Sudden Edict
An Instant speed edict that an opponent can’t respond to is pretty dang sweet. This can be great against Voltron decks and can even stop a two Creature infinite combo if that player doesn’t have others in play. Or maybe your opponent is just casting their Commander into an empty board. No protection spells like Teferi’s Protection or Heroic Intervention will save your opponents from Sudden Edict.
7. Chef’s Kiss
Chef’s Kiss is excellent protection and removal for Red decks. At the same casting cost as Cancel, this more limited counter also creates a copy with random targets. In Commander single target spells will likely be removal, so protecting your permanents and removing two of your opponents permanents is going to be super sweet. It may even save you from targeted kill spells like a huge Burn From Within.
8. Obsidian Charmaw
There are some very strong Lands in Commander, and having an answer to those Lands can be critical. I’m not proposing mass land destruction here, but having a specific answer for a Field of the Dead, or The World Tree can be handy. Not to mention the powerhouses of old like Gaea’s Cradle or newer Ixalan flip lands. Like Cleansing Wildfire, Obsidian Charmaw gives us an efficient answer for these problem Lands. With the amount of utility lands Commander players run, this flying 4/4 will likely come in for two most of the time.
9. Blessed Respite
Blessed Respite is fantastic: saving you from many game ending plays, whether it’s a big swing from a daunting board or a Thassa’s Oracle resolution, this can buy you the one more turn you need. It also has the added upside of hating on graveyards for those strategies that generate too much value. In a pinch you can even shuffle your own graveyard into your deck to save you from being milled out.
10. Dermotaxi
Speaking of two mana reanimate spells, Dermotaxi is a really interesting take on the effect. Importantly, it's colorless, which opens up some interesting options for decks that don’t include Black or White. It does need you to have two creatures to crew, and won’t trigger additional ETBs so it has some downside. However, it will let you trigger scary attack triggers like Kalonian Hydra or sneak a critical combo piece like Terror of the Peaks into play at just the right moment.
There we have it, ten new cards (well actually, fifteen) from Modern Horizons 2 you should pick up for your Commander decks. Were there any you feel I missed? Feel free to reach out to me on Twitter or hit me up in the #commander channel of the Chimera Discord. If you’re missing in-person play and jonesing for some games, Chimera hosts a Commander night every Tuesday with randomized promo packs as prizing for those who play. We play Commander over SpellTable and organize games through the Discord server. We’ve got a wide variety of players that like different power levels and have different skill levels, and we’re always happy to take the game a bit slower with newer players. If this sounds like your jam you should join us next Tuesday for some games! Hope this one introduced you to some new cards from Modern Horizons 2 and that you enjoy the puzzle of which swaps you should make for your decks. Happy brewing!
#Generous-Gift-mtg
#Yawgmoths-Will-mtg
#Urborg-Tomb-of-Yawgmoth-mtg
#Eternal-Witness-mtg
#Tireless-Tracker-mtg
#Serras-Sanctum-mtg
#Gaeas-Will-mtg
#Yavimaya-Cradle-of-Growth-mtg
#Timeless-Witness-mtg
#Tireless-Provisioner-mtg
#Sanctum-Weaver-mtg
#Esper-Sentinel-mtg
#Out-of-Time-mtg
#Damn-mtg
#Shenanigans-mtg
#Solitude-mtg
#Path-of-Exile-mtg
#Swords-to-Plowshares-mtg
#Suspend-mtg
#Ravenform-mtg
#Persist-mtg
#Sudden-Edict-mtg
#Teferis-Protection-mtg
#Heroic-Intervention-mtg
#Chefs-Kiss-mtg
#Cancel-mtg
#Burn-From-Within-mtg
#Obsidian-Charmaw-mtg
#Field-of-the-Dead-mtg
#The-World-Tree-mtg
#Gaeas-Cradle-mtg
#Legions-Landing-mtg
#Cleansing-Wildfire-mtg
#Blessed-Respite-mtg
#Thassas-Oracle-mtg
#Dermotaxi-mtg
#Kalonian-Hydra-mtg
#Terror-of-the-Peaks-mtg
