Hello! Welcome back to A Seat at the Table, where I tell you all about the best commander cards to add to your next commander deck!
This week, I wanted to dive into my favourite commander cards coming out with Dominaria United! This set has a lot of fun to it, but it’s pretty difficult to pick for each colour because so many of them are multicoloured. Let’s take a look at my favourite cards divided by colour as best as I can.
WHITE
Danitha gets a new card and while she keeps the same keyword abilities, she doubled her power and toughness. Danitha can be fun in the command zone, but Akiri, Fearless Voyager is going to appreciate the ability to be able to throw down a creature to get that Sword of Feast and Famine not only back into play, but attached to a creature who can slap on a pair of boots and swing. You can also put Eldrazi Conscription from your hand onto Danitha right off the bat. This is a fun card that gets people swinging. Equipment are popular and I expect new Danitha to have some fans.
I don’t know if people understand just how absurd this card is yet. It becomes pretty clear that being able to play Serra Paragon, then play a fetch land from your graveyard is pretty busted. Sacrificing the fetch does exile it, but you gain two life out of the deal. Maybe somebody destroyed your Field of the Dead, so get it back. That’s just the lands!
If you get Rhystic Study destroyed or milled, you can still play it again and be the most annoying person at the table. With creatures, you can cast them, blink them, and because they are objects, they no longer get exiled (or give you 2 life) when they die. Aminatou, the Fateshifter is going to love this!
Temporary Lockdown
There are a lot of Treasures in Commander these days. I mean, a lot. A loooooot. Dockside Extortionist and Smothering Tithe are two of the most broken and ubiquitous cards in the format. Force those players to bust those Treasures right now (unless they still have dockside, then be careful). This wrecks token decks. Flicker the Lockdown in your (my) Aminatou decks to control the board and ruin some days.
Are you running Dockside? Can you flicker Temporary Lockdown repeatedly? It’s time for some infinite mana.
Honourable Mentions: Anointed Peacekeeper, Defiler of Faith, Guardian of New Benalia, Leyline Binding, Resolute Reinforcements, Urza Assembles the Titans
BLUE
Vesuvan Duplimancy
Vesuvan Duplimancy is unsurprisingly one of the coolest cards to come out of the set. A trend that’s been happening is copy a thing, and if it’s legendary, “don’t worry about it, this one’s not legendary.” Am I fan of this trend? No. But will I take advantage of it? Absolutely. I love this enchantment. I have a Sakashima of a Thousand Faces / Livio, Oathsworn Sentinel clones deck that uses a ton of instants and sorceries that copy creatures and artifacts like Echo Storm and Quasiduplicate. I’ll end up with two extra copies of a creature I like and it can be legendary, no problem!
Aether Channeler
Is this a cycle with Callous Bloodmage? Bring the rest on! These are dope. Removal, stability, and card draw all on one body. Panharmonicon doubles the effect you choose. Play this in your Inalla, Archmage Ritualist deck and get two for an extra one mana. All around, just a solid role player you can put in any deck and watch it do a thing.
Founding the Third Path
I almost picked Defiler of Dreams because the cycle is just so powerful, but this little saga is a bit more subtle. With Read Ahead, you can play this like a sorcery speed Snapcaster Mage. You need to fill your yard? The second chapter has you covered. Otherwise, chapter one can be nice if you’ve got a Brainstorm or Serum Visions handy. Maybe you’ve got a Path to Exile you want to snap off, but need to mill next turn. I don’t know, something about this card feels sneaky powerful and I want you to know.
Honourable Mentions: Combat Research, Defiler of Dreams, Shore Up, Sphinx of Clear Skies, Tolarian Terror, Vodalian Hexcatcher
BLACK
Sheoldred, the Apocalypse
People complained about Sheoldred not feeling like a Praetor. “Her name is the Apocalypse, she should be world shattering.” I’m sorry, but what part about drawing cards into life loss for your opponents and life gain for you doesn’t feel like a topsy turvy world? A four mana deathtouching 4/5 that will end up doing six damage at least one turn cycle (in a standard pod). That’s incredible! Temple Bell is now an 8 life swing. Kami of the Crescent Moon hurts more than it helps! Vesuvan Duplimancy and make a ton of copies of the Praetor and hurt! Your! Opponents!
Braids, Arisen Nightmare
Easily one of the coolest legends in the set. At the beginning of your end step, you can sacrifice a permanent, and then it goes around the bend – each opponent gets to sacrifice a permanent that shares a type with it, or they lose 2 and you draw a card. For each of them. People hate losing their lands, but if you’re ready to ramp or cool with losing a land, your opponents will likely not sacrifice their lands and you’ve just sacrificed a land for a build-an Ancestral Recall. Sacrifice a Clue and either watch the boards shrink or fill your hand. Braids is really strong.
The Raven Man
This is a reminder that this series is about me picking my favourite cards from the set. The Raven Man is a legend we’ve been waiting on for a while. It is basically only worth a slot in a discard deck (like my Anje Falkenrath deck) or anywhere Anvil of Bogardan fits. Forcing a discard to build a board of pecking birds in the air is nice and fine, but we have resources in black decks and then some that make use of a surplus of creatures. Not to mention that activated ability is pretty nice to have on a cheap body.
Honorary Mentions: Braids’s Frightful Return, The Cruelty of Gix, Cut Down, Evolved Sleeper, Knight of Dusk’s Shadow, Shadow Prophecy, Shadow-Rite Priest, Stronghold Arena (…stupid Abzan…), Cult Conscript
And that’s it for Part I of this little series! Make sure to keep your eyes open over the next few days for Parts II and III!
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