Welcome back to yet another installment of The Epic Experiment.
This week, I will go through what I think are the top 10 cards for Commander from Modern Horizons 2. MH2 is a sweet set with loads of powerful cards, so selecting a mere 10 was tricky. Of course if you don’t agree with any of my choices, I’m all ears to hear about what I missed.
So, let’s get down to it!
Did you ever wonder what would happen if Tireless Tracker and Lotus Cobra got married and had a family? They would give us this card.
C’mon… like Green needed more goodies like this! Landfall decks of every stripe are going to love this card. It makes Treasure! It makes Food! It slices! It dices! It’s an Elf! The card is awesome and at uncommon should be a reasonably affordable inclusion in most decks. There is very little not to like about this card and will very soon be everywhere, so look out for it coming to play group near you.
Did someone say they wanted a reanimator spell? Well, we got a hot one here for you if you wanted it. The fact that this is so inexpensive to play is a game changer because now you can get back your expensive creature at bargain basement prices. Yes, it is limited by not being able to grab a legendary creature, but there are plenty of great targets out there. Who wouldn’t like to reanimate a Craterhoof Behemoth? Consecrated Sphinx? Rune-Scarred Demon? Any of the Titans? You get the idea, there are still lots of sweet targets and for a mere 2 mana this is a tremendous tool. Don’t sleep on it, or your deck will be missing out on newest reanimator option.
This is card is dumb. Dumb good and I’m pretty sure it is going to see play absolutely everywhere.
Let’s just establish that lands that have spell like effects are very powerful and see lots of inclusion in decks. This is no different. The first chapter is less exciting, but that’s ok… it still taps for a colourless mana to play that Sol Ring you have in hand. Chapter 2 means now your land is making you a creature… sure… why not… lands that make tokens are good and these Constructs are even better. Chapter 3, why not do it again and then go tutor another powerful artifact? Why not go and get that Amulet of Vigor, or a Sensei’s Divining Top or…you get the idea. Gross stuff.
Modern and Legacy players have figured this out and it won’t take Commander players long to do likewise. The only issue is affording it since it is already very expensive, but if you can get your hands on a copy, do so!
I really liked the pair of Swords from MH1 and I feel like this one is even better. In Commander, every deck wants to do the following: a) play additional lands in order to get ahead of the opposition, and b) extract maximum value from each and every card in your deck.
It is point b) that is so crucial. We already saw it in play with Urza’s Saga at #8 where our land can be used to drive additional value. Well, let’s extend that principle to maximizing the value out of every single Enter the Battlefield trigger by blinking things in and out of play. Suddenly, you have a recipe that is cooking with gas. This is excellent, and while powerful, seems very fair, which I would argue is something that cannot be said for all the swords.
If anyone caught the latest Game Knights where Josh Lee Kwai and Jimmy Wong hosted Post Malone, then you saw the power of this card on full display. This innocuous little card enabled Josh Lee Kwai to draw many, many cards, and I expect that it will not disappoint in most pods.
The truth of the matter is, since this doesn’t draw you a card every spell they play (like Rhystic Study does), it feel like it is not nearly as oppressive and thus may not be deemed to be a threat. In the course of a turn of the table, that could mean up to 3 cards and that’s big game! Also, as a human and an artifact it has good synergy with a whole host of existing decks.
Now, some may argue that since it is a creature, it can be removed easily. But I would also argue that since it is a creature, there are a plethora of ways to recur it, meaning you can keep the value train rolling along. This card is now flashy, but it is going to put in work and make every deck that runs it a little bit better.
Every Commander player loves it when their cards are flexible and Damn is like the ultimate in flexible problem solvers. For a mere 2 black mana you get a very solid piece of targeted removal, but the piece de resistance you get an Overloaded, one sided wrath! Yes yes… you need to be running a Black and White deck, but that seems like a trivial matter. Every B/W deck will grab a copy of this and run in. There is really very little else to say on the matter other than… DAMN!
Squirrel tribal support you say? A token doubler on legs? Sweet! Built in removal? Even better.
Chatterfang looks like another fun, goofy squirrel but it can be taken in a real mean direction. When someone pointed out that Chatterfang while Pitiless Plunderer is on the battlefield is an infinite combo where you going to wipe out the board of all creatures, I realized that there was far more to this card than just some cute furry woodland critters. This thing is a token doubler in a tribe that really only wants to play tokens…and it is going to get gross. I could imagine this being too good for casual Commander tables, but could be built in a tribal direction that could be entirely fair. The flexibility here is appealing and makes Chatterfang an intriguing commander with lots of options.
Ummmm… what do I need to say? This is Yawgmoth’s Will but it has been colour shifted to Green. The power in this card is very high and could enable a hugely explosive turn. The difference here is the Suspend 4 that Yawgmoth’s Will doesn’t have, but I feel like long term players can find a way to make this work. Some will just play on its face as a tool to lure out your opponents and force them to commit. Others will cheat it into play for ridiculous value. No matter which way you slice it, this is going to be something that is very scary.
Oh my. This is Serra’s Sanctum on a creature. Oh… and it means you can make mana of any colour. Seems really good. Like REALLY good.
Considering the Estrid pre-con is still very prevalent and enchantment decks are most certainly a thing (see the new Sythis decks), this is a sizeable upgrade and powerful mana generating engine that will be a must kill target. Love to see it when I’m playing my enchantment deck, but I will hate to see this on the opposite side of the battlefield.
This card is getting lots of hype for the food decks that it can spawn and with good cause. This looks like a very easy card to set up to abuse, not to mention you can play it for an absurdly cheap mana value making it very difficult for your opponents to keep it off the table. I suspect that the lack of Green creatures that make Food tokens may be a slight impediment, but this deck gets Cauldron Familiar, Witch’s Oven, The Underworld Cookbook and other food enablers. Add in the fact that this also looks like it could want to be a Madness deck and now you’re cooking with some very combustible elements.
Well, there we are folks. If you want to hear more about my thoughts on Modern Horizons 2 or any other Commander related topic, please check out our weekly podcast on iTunes, Google Podcast, Spotify, Amazon, and anywhere else you find better podcasts. Just look for the name The Epic Experiment Podcast! We’d love to have you join us!
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Modern Horizons is returning in June! Modern Horizons 2 will be bringing some brand new cards to the Modern and Eternal format, skipping right over Standard entirely.
If it’s skipping Standard, what should you expect? None of these cards will be legal Standard games but it will have some very interesting cards. With a much more liberal power level in the Modern and Eternal formats, these cards are going to do a lot.
What should we expect? While we don’t have spoilers as of yet, we do have the cards from the past Modern Horizons set to consider.
Based on Modern Horizons, we saw a lot of cards with Protection. These Protection cards can really clinch game depending on what your opponents are playing. This is especially true for red and black. Without spot removal, red and black decks become nearly useless.
There was also a lot of toughness/power buffs or banes. This could be a great help removal or a great power gain over time. Add all the boost artifact cards in the set like Sword of Sinew and Steel, you never know what you will be facing.
Over all, Modern Horizons showed how heavy the Modern format could swing. You are going to get even bigger creatures on the field who can hit harder, take bigger hits – a no-holds barred, all out fight to the end. Modern Horizons 2 is sure to do this again, hopefully with some new mechanics to introduce.
Who knows – if there is a Protection mechanic, maybe a Critical mechanic?
Modern Horizons 2 comes out June 11th!
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