Proliferate. Phyrexians. Oil. Teeth? Commander players rejoice, maybe? All Will Be One takes us back to the plane of New Phyrexia (which was once Mirrodin) to show us what a Phyrexian-ized plane looks like. This set (releasing February 10th, but fully available February 3rd) introduces us to 125 new Phyrexian creatures and 127 other potential includes for our Commander decks. Each of the five colors has an associated Phyrexian and corresponding motif expressed through card effects and visually striking (and sometimes unsettling) art.
As with other Top 10 lists, we’ll focus on cards that are best for your 99, but we’ll make an exception for Legendary Creatures that have some broad appeal. Without further ado, let’s slide into the set review to see what new cards will add some kick!
1. Mondrak, Glory Dominus
Token doublers will always have a home in Commander, and another one in White (to join Anointed Procession) is great! The fact that Mondrak, Glory Dominus is a Creature makes it all the sweeter. Yes, it is Legendary, so there are some hoops to make copies of it, but if you can pull it off you’ll be making more tokens than you can count (honestly, you may need a calculator). It also has a built-in sacrifice outlet to assist in those pesky aristocrat decks.
2. Vanish Into Eternity
This little Common makes the list for two key reasons - it’s Instant speed removal of any nonland permanent. Vanish Into Eternity’s casting cost is steep if you’re targeting a Creature, but 3 mana value for an exile effect with no upside to your opponent is still a good rate. With a new card type hinted at (Battle referenced on Atraxa, Grand Unifier), nonland removal may become more important in the future for White.
3. Ichormoon Gauntlet
Superfriends decks have yet another new toy in Ichormoon Gauntlet. This wincon will likely be a target for removal with an amass of Planeswalkers threatening a large amount of extra turns. Beyond the Proliferate and added ultimate, there’s another line of text on this Artifact, adding an additional counter to a permanent when you cast a noncreature spell. This could be another loyalty counter on a Planeswalker, or a +1/+1 counter, or even a tower counter on Helix Pinnacle. The targeted Proliferate and low mana value may make this worth exploring in non-Planeswalker decks as well.
4. Vat of Rebirth
Vat of Rebirth will be an all star in decks that can continuously sacrifice Creatures or Artifacts (and yes, tokens count here so Treasures once again pose problems). Paying four to resurrect a Creature is slightly above the standard rate of five, but the fact that this effect is repeatable has me very excited. It won’t be a game breaking effect by any means, but having a single Creature come back time and time again can be tough to deal with. This could be a big threat or maybe a pet card you just really like playing with. Either way, I think this one is worth trying out.
5. Red Sun's Twilight
Modal/flexible spells are always a welcome addition to Commander, and Red Sun’s Twilight offers some splashy Artifact removal. You can cast this spell on the cheap to get rid of a particularly problematic The Great Henge or you could cast this on the higher end to reap the rewards of your opponent’s hard work. Blowing up mana rocks may offset some of the casting cost, but the real fun will come with hitting Artifact Creatures or a Bolas’ Citadel.
6. Conduit of Worlds
While Conduit of Worlds is no Crucible of Worlds, decks that can run this Green Artifact will get a lot of benefit. Being able to replay Lands from your Graveyard can be critical for multicolor decks, but what really caught my eye on this one was the recasting a nonland permanent. It will be the only spell you can cast that turn, but depending what you’re recasting it could be worthwhile. You may also find yourself in a situation where your hand is full of Lands (or no cards at all). Even if you never use the activated ability, this card will still generate some card advantage.
7. Green Sun’s Twilight
If you've ever cast Selvala's Stampede or See the Unwritten you’ll appreciate what Green Sun’s Twilight can offer. It may not be as punchy as the two mentioned, but getting a free Creature and Land in play for 6 can still be impactful. This also lets you dig super deep if you have enough mana to get the perfect answer for a threat in play. With the modality of casting it lower you can get some good card advantage in the right deck.
8. Monument to Perfection
On the surface, Monument to Perfection doesn’t have too much going on. The rate for getting a Land to hand is pretty high, but it is repeatable. This offers some flexibility for decks that don’t have a lot of access to hitting Land drops. The second effect is unlikely to come up in a Commander game unless you’re specifically building around this (currently there are 16 unique Sphere/Locus Lands). With that being said, if you could animate this and equip it with a Blade of Selves, that would be quite the threat!
9. Staff of Compleation
Wizards has been actively exploring how to make 3 mana value rocks interesting (Relic of Legends, Vexing Puzzlebox, etc.), and this throwback to Staff of Domination fits a broad range of strategies. All of the abilities do have an added life cost, but providing ramp, card advantage or a "sacrifice" outlet (this won't trigger sacrifice effects, but will work for dies or leaves the battlefield triggers) makes the life cost worthwhile. This will be an all star in any deck that cares about losing life and a decent modal card for any other.
10. Sword of Forge and Frontier
The "sword of" cycle is always highly sought after in Commander due to the amount of value that comes stapled on, and Sword of Forge and Frontier is no different. Leveraging impulse draw from Red and additional Land drops from Green, this sword can quickly get you ahead. The protection offered is a little more limited in regards to removal spells, but protection from Red and/or Green Creatures should help you sneak in some combat damage.
There we have it! Ten spicy new cards from All Will Be One. Throughout the set there is also a new mechanic called Toxic, which is an evolution of Infect. This will likely mean you'll see some Infect style decks at your tables, and I'd offer a word of caution: don't make snap judgments about the threat level of poison counters. For a poison strategy to work it is 10 per player, which is quite a bit when usually it's 1-2 poison counters per attack. For the Commander Rules Commitee's take on poison in Commander, this quarterly update is worth a read. There are also another 39 new Legendary Creatures to build decks around, with some new designs as well as some refreshers for past fan favorites like Rat tribal. I'd highly recommend browsing the full set.
Were there any cards you’re excited about that I missed? Let me know in the Chimera Gaming Discord, or you can reach me directly on Twitter. Happy shuffling, and hope to jam a game or two with you in the future!
