Hello! Welcome to my set review of Wilds of Eldraine Commander where I’ll be going over all the new cards in each of the Commander preconstructed decks, as well as touching on what cool reprints are in the decks!
Vitue and Valor is an Aura Enchantress. We did just get an Enchantress precon with the Commander Masters Anikthea, Hand of Erebos deck, but that one specifically excluded Auras while this one is all about them. Let’s take a look at the new cards from this deck and some spicy reprints.
The face commander of this precon is probably the best Aura commander in these colours. A Coastal Piracy for enchanted creatures you control is already really spicy, but the fact that you can probably even play this commander without really packing the deck with too many Auras and still be an Aura commander is really cool.
Much like Titans, Ellivere’s first trigger is on ETB and on attack, and the Virtuous Role is impressive. It’s basically Helm of the Gods but on an Aura token. They can’t stack as per the Role rules, but that’s fine, just keep making them and you can trigger your Femeref Enchantress if you need to!
This is a precon I might just get and have fun with. I think Ellivere seems like a really good time.
Gylwain is also interesting as an Aura commander who doesn’t quite need to be packing so many Auras in the 99. At three mana, you’ll probably play him and give him a Royal Role for protection and then nontoken creatures ETB and you can give them Ward 1, trample, or scry 1 on attack. Of course, every Role comes with a +1/+1 buff.
I think as far as the precon goes, Ellivere might still be the one to keep in the command zone for the card advantage, but Gylwain seems like a really fun commander in his own right. And in the 99 of this deck, he guarantees that each nontoken creature is enchanted so Ellivere will draw from it. I’m really liking this precon so far!
I like this Aura a lot. It gives you a bunch of Auras from just attacking, triggers Constellation, and comes back to your hand when it “dies”.
This is an Aura I would consider putting in my non-Aura specific Enchantress decks. This can be cast a few times, puts some stats onto the battlefield and keeps a train going. This card is really cool!
Knickknack Ouphe is an excellent place to spend all your big mana in an Aura deck for a turn. Just make sure to have a Crashing Drawbridge or a haste enabler out. I see this in this precon or in Chishiro, the Shattered Blade builds as a good way to pump a ton of mana into a card and get like 10 cards’ worth and then some out in one go.
Once again, it’s an Aura card only, so you’ll only see it in Aura decks, that’s for sure.
This card is just plain old fun. Similar to Reef Worm in that you want this card to die to get value out of it. Liberated Livestock lets you fetch Auras from your graveyard or put them into play from your hand attached to tokens it makes upon death. That flexibility is pretty key. Have Teysa Karlov in an Aura deck and you’ll end up with a bunch of modified tokens and 8/12 on the board.
Lots of people will look at this like a worse Eternal Witness and in some cases they’re correct. I think it’s great for when you have a bunch of heaters in your hand that you need in your graveyard and a bunch of stuff you’d like to use again hanging out in there.
I don’t know where I’d put this card, personally, but I know that Satyr Druid is a fun creature type that we don’t see much and feels like a hint of something to come.
Ox Drover is a fun example of what WotC’s been doing with White’s card draw. It’s a group hug card and it’s sneaky good. This card is built like a Titan which is exciting because it’s also four mana instead of six! The downside is you give away 2/4 creatures to your opponents. But you get to draw a card. If you’ve got ways to deter attacks, you’ll be alright, but what about ways to goad? Now that’s a fun direction for this!
Ox Drover is another example of White being just fine! It’s got draw in flavourful ways that are fun and functional. I genuinely think White is no longer the worst colour in Commander these days! It’s got so much going on.
Songbirds’ Blessing is a fantastic Aura for Aura decks that don’t care where the Auras end up. Eriette of the Charmed Apple is my favourite commander of this set and putting this on an opponents’ creature and forcing them to attack means that you’ll get a free Aura every combat. This is a great Aura to copy too.
Whether this is in a Voltron Aura deck or a Curses deck, Songbirds’ Blessing is a fantastic inclusion. That said, out of an Aura deck, this is just not worth a look.
Two mana for an artifact creature that gets better for each Aura is pretty great. That said, this card is basically just going to be in Aura decks. There’s literally nothing else to say about this card. It’s a Knight in non-Knight colours. It’s an artifact creature in green. It’s just not worth including in non-Aura decks.
A reanimate spell in white since Late to Dinner has costed four mana to reanimate a creature from your graveyard without restriction. Unfinished Business is five mana to bring back a creature and two Auras and/or Equipments which of course can be huge in an Aura deck or Equipment deck or a Voltron deck. Is this going to be in a ton of decks that don’t have Auras/Equipment? Not when Late to Dinner is around.
Important Reprints
Destiny Spinner, Eidolon of Blossoms, Kor Spiritdancer, Sanctum Weaver, Setessan Champion, Shalai, Voice of Plenty, Sun Titan, Umbra Mystic, Austere Command, Retether, Rishkar’s Expertise, Arcane Signet, Sol Ring, Angelic Destiny, Bear Umbra, Daybreak Coronet, Enchantress’s Presence, Ethereal Armor, Mantle of the Ancients, Timely Ward, Utopia Sprawl, and Hall of Heliod’s Generosity.
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