Hello! Welcome to my set review of Commander Masters, where I will pick five cards of each colour and discuss my favourite cards from them. Yes, there will be and artifact and lands review as well as a multicoloured review.
Given that the set also comes out with a set of preconstructed Commander decks, I’ll also be covering my favourite cards from there in another article.
This is also a reprint set which means that this is mostly going to be picking cards for what they’ve already shown they can do. The monetary value of the cards is nice, but will not likely be the biggest factor in my selections. Because they’re reprints, we know that the cost might course correct and some cards will only be lower for a little, bit so be sure to snap up singles at threekingsloot.com
Without further ado, here are my favourite White cards!
Flawless Maneuver is part of a cycle of cards that I would most definitely call a mistake. The free if you control a commander cards are wild. You don’t even need to control your own commander! You can even get the discount if you control an opponent’s commander.
I digress. The point of this is that the cards were all deemed great upon release (except the green one which is also great) and they remain solid inclusions in any list that makes use of their commander.
Flawless Maneuver is basically a free Unbreakable Formation if you have a commander under your control and that’s pretty solid. Formation also grants a bonus if cast in your main phase, but Maneuver keeps your stuff safe from a board wipe while potentially telegraphing that you don’t have the mana to pay to save your board (which is the problem with these cards by the way). Every one of these in the cycle is worth having at least once of. Enjoy!
It’s weird to say Avacyn’s been overdue for a reprint when we just saw her in Double Masters in 2020, but if you see how much she costs you would be surprised to hear she’s been reprinted at all.
Currently at approximately $50 USD, this card has never been printed at lower than mythic rarity and for good reason: a draft environment with more than one Avacyn? I’d flip a table.
Avacyn is an incredible card that sees play in decks that need their stuff protected. While she doesn’t help against the Farewells of the world, she does still get around damage-based board wipes and destruction wipes. For all of your permanents, no less! I run Avacyn in one deck at the moment and it is absolutely busted because of the price tag. The deck? Sevinne, the Chronoclasm’s Brash Taunter theme deck where everything takes damage to deal damage. Make a Spiteful Sliver indestructible and copy a Star of Extinction out of the graveyard – why yes, I think I will!
Grand Abolisher has not been reprinted in a meaningful way ever. It was in the Commander 2014 monowhite deck, then in 2017 it was in the Archenemy box set, then finally a Secret Lair. Not once has Grand Abolisher returned to being cracked in boosters since its release in Magic 2012… until now!
Grand Abolisher is a lightning rod for a potent removal spell and is ultimately a cone of safety for your turn. You get to do your shenanigans problem-free. This sees cEDH play and should probably see play in your decks if you’re up against instant speed players or opponents who want to react on your turn. I know when I see a Grand Abolisher come down, I need to think about whether I want to sacrifice creatures to an Ashnod’s Altar on this turn or not. Excellent pick up that I expect to see come down to $15 at least.
Am I salty for picking up a copy of this literally two weeks before this was announced with such gorgeous art? Yes. Especially because this is a Portal Three Kingdoms card that has only been reprinted twice and – get this – the reprints barely count. Previously to Commander Masters, Loyal Retainers were in Commander’s Arsenal from 2012 and they were also in Amonkhet Invocations.
With so many legendary cards in Commander and lots of them loving the graveyard, Loyal Retainers will finally get a chance to be tested in a ton of decks. It’s timing is restricted, but that won’t stop a combo player looking to make a loop. This will drop in price considerably but is worth keeping an eye on.
This card warps games. It has been upshifted to mythic from rare. It was once included in a preconstructed deck from the set it debuted in.
Smothering Tithe is a card I love to play but hate to play against. It is insanely powerful and will continue to be so until it is banned (which maybe it should be). If you don’t have one for your collection, pick one or two up because thanks to this set it might go down a couple of bucks, but don’t get too hopeful… the mythic rarity will prevent it from meaningful reduction.
Honourable Mentions
- Alms Collector – Great in the face of lots of burst draw, but not so much against incremental draw (Rhystic Study). It’s worth it in Cat or Cleric decks or depending on your meta.
- Angelic Field Marshal – This card is pretty great in go wide decks that want their commander in play. Just in general. But it is an Angel, making this a pretty penny.
- Cartographer’s Hawk – This design has always felt like an uncommon to me and it feels right to see it downshifted.
- Darksteel Mutation – With a new enchantress commander coming, I think the sis a solid inclusion in enchantment based lists. Put it on a creature your opponents need. Maybe that Muldrotha player doesn’t have a sacrifice outlet, why don’t you hose ‘em!
- Heliod, Sun-Crowned – Heliod, Sun-Crowned is part of an infinite combo with Walking Ballista and if you’ve got life gain or +1/+1 counter synergies, I beg you to give Heliod a try in your deck, it’ll be so good.
- Land Tax – Land Tax isn’t nearly as good as it used to be. It’s alright and when you play it on turn one in a pod against a green player and you have ways to bounce lands back to hand to keep going under the threshold required, you can draw lands like crazy. But I’ve personally started removing it from decks.
- Mangara, the Diplomat – White has become one of the most powerful colours in Commander and cards like this are why. Yes, the card draw is out of your control, but players do things anyway. Either you get a card or they don’t do something that’ll hurt you, it’s win-win.
- Nahiri, the Lithomancer – This seems like a fun commander! I was surprised to see it’s $10, but will be surprised if it ever gets there again.
- Puresteel Paladin – Equipment deck all-star. An absolute unit in those decks. Draws cards and bypasses equip costs. A must-play in Equipment decks that can afford to.
- Sevinne’s Reclamation – This is one of white’s more recent staple cards. It’s ramp and recursion. Cosmic Intervention and Brought Back are great, but that window is a tougher requirement. Sevinne’s Reclamation’s utility makes this an easy pick up and include in any white and permanent based decks.
- Steelshaper’s Gift – The upshift from uncommon to rare makes sense in draft environment, but this is a tutor for Equipment. So you know where to put it.
- Sublime Exhalation – In “regular” pods, this will be 3W most of the time. If you have a habit of playing in like five or eight player games (WHY!), then this is pretty bonkers. Blasphemous Act is also great for it but hey this is interesting design. The problem is it gets worse if a player is eliminated.
- Wrath of God – Wrath of God aka Wrath aka the basis for that style of card. A classic. It’s got gorgeous art and will always cost four mana unlike some cards (see above).
- Zetalpa, Primal Dawn – I am so fed up of seeing this damn Dinosaur over and over again in my Commander products. We get it, it’s good and closes games out. But this could have been something else!
Tune in next time for Blue!
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