We love a good equipment Commander deck, and choosing the right gear for it is one thing — but what about the right support options? What are the best cards that synergize with equipment? Kristen has some suggestions that’ll really whet your stones.
Equipment is great. It buffs your creatures, it’s flavorful and it sticks around for another creature to take up the mantle once its original owner is gone. I’ve played Voltron decks, go-wide equipment decks and even equipment combo decks. They’re all a lot of fun, and if you haven’t tried one yet, I recommend it.
Deck lists, though, can vary. My Syr Gwyn deck, for example, differs quite a bit from my Nahiri, Forged in Fury one. And when you consider a Commander like Sram, Senior Edificer? The equipment suites will rarely look exactly the same.
But while the equipment you choose might vary between builds, the support cards you run are generally solid no matter what the strategy.
We’ve already covered The Best Equipment for Commander, and the Best Budget Equipment, and even ranked the Sword cycle. Today I’m going to cover what I consider to be the most universally useful and powerful equipment support cards. Every Knight needs a squire; every sword a sheath; every blacksmith a forge.
I debated splitting these into categories of what they do; recursion, tutors, free equips and so on. But because there are now a bunch of multipurpose, all-star support cards, plenty of these would be straddling different categories. So let’s just dive in.
AKIRI, FEARLESS VOYAGER
First on the list is Akiri, Fearless Voyager. While she can make an excellent Commander for a RW Equipment deck (especially one that wants to use damage-reflection win conditions involving Brash Taunter and Gideon’s Sacrifice), she is also the kind of smoothing you want in your 99.
Card draw for “playing the game” is the dream, and Akiri gives you this. She also has a handy added ability of granting some survivability in the face of wraths. As a 3/3 for three, she also wears equipment well in the early game.
A similar card to consider is Wyleth, Soul of Steel — but he’s invariably better in the CZ than in the 99 most of the time (and even then, much better when you build around Equipment and Auras). Still solid and nothing to sniff at, but I’m taking Akiri first.
ARDENN, INTREPID ARCHAEOLOGIST
Kor, another Zendikar resident already?! You bet.
Ardenn is infamous as an equipment Commander. He is most often used with Rograkh, Son of Rogahh, but I’ve seen much more threatening builds partnered with Esior, Wardwing Familiar. Azorious Equipment kinda slaps — not gonna lie.
Much like Akiri, he is an all-star in the 99, too. The decks that win games are the ones that make mana, draw cards and cheat mana. Ardenn has you covered for the latter and also lets you do some cute stuff with particular equipment like Captain’s Hook.
ASTOR, BEARER OF BLADES
Are there better Commanders? Sure. Would I be more interested in repeatable draw, like Jor Kadeen, First Goldwarden, in the CZ? You bet. But you can’t deny how phenomenal Astor is when supporting your deck.
Most of the time he immediately replaces himself with an equipment (and you even have the choice of which one from the top seven). He gives all of your equipment Equip {1}, which is an additional ability on top of Reconfigure or other costs.
The crew 1 bit is largely irrelevant, so concentrate on how close to free this makes all your equips — and how free it makes them with cost reducers.
Bruenor Battlehammer
Speaking of free equips, Bruenor is an uncommon that feels like a mythic bomb. He’ll cheat your first equip cost but also buff your creatures a considerable amount. This little “blacksmith bonus” that keens your blades is so impactful that it means you might not even need to play both Colossus Hammer and Blackblade Reforged.
Buffs like this, with double strike, are all you need. Spreading them into different baskets feels even better.
DANITHA, NEW BENALIA’S LIGHT
Danitha, New Benalia’s Light is a lot of card for three mana. Like most Legendary Creatures on this list, she makes a strong Commander in addition to her support capabilities. That said, she is a real quarter-back when it comes to that support role.
She has three of the best keywords for combat and she lets you cast equipment from out of the yard every turn. That’s serious value, letting you bounce back from removal or set up plays with Mask of Memory.
ENLIGHTENED TUTOR
Equipment decks are spoiled for choices of tutors. If you’re in black, for example, you can just play Demonic Tutor.
So, why Enlightened Tutor? Well, because it can be cast at Instant speed, letting you also hold up interaction. It’s also a great T1 play to put a key equipment on top of your library.
More than that, though, it lets you find Forge Anew, Fighter Class or the next card on our list.
ESPER SENTINEL
Esper Sentinel is one of the better options for repeatable, white card draw, and he excels in two kinds of decks: +1/+1 counters and equipment. Getting as little as one more power on this guy makes it that much harder for opponents to pay the tax, and it’s always a blast to ask an opponent if they want to pay the ten.
FERVENT CHAMPION
Free equips are always great, but what makes Fervent Champion so strong is its ability to come down early, scoop up a value equipment like Sword of the Animist, Sword of Hearth and Home or Beamtown Beatstick, and get in to generate value immediately.
You can start ramping as early as turn two with this guy, and the First Strike means you’re less likely to have to trade him off to do so.
FIGHTER CLASS
Fighter Class is a mainstay of equipment builds because it both finds equipment and reduces equip costs. Multitasker cards are the kinds you should be looking at when building a Commander deck, as you really wanna squeeze as much value from each card slot as you can.
I rarely use Level 3, but it can help in a pinch. The tutors on this list exclude Godo, Bandit Warlord. If you want him, you want him, and it’s probably for combos. Outside of that (or the Command Zone) he’s quite mana intensive for a tutor.
FORGE ANEW
Forge Anew is perhaps my favorite card from Tales of Middle-earth when it comes to cards I want to upgrade my decks with, and you know I loved a lot of that set. Surprise surprise, it’s a multitasker.
It does three things we love: recursion, free equips and instant speed equips. It’s always been hard to justify Leonin Shikari, but Forge Anew is way easier to include.
The way I read the card is that on the floor, you’re paying three mana for one free equip each turn, and the ability to move around equipment during combat. This is especially useful when it comes to swords that offer protection, first strike or indestructible, as it can make blocking a nightmare for the opponent.
The recursion part? It’s gravy. And when it happens, it’s nice.
GOLDWARDENS’ GAMBIT
This year has given us some badass equipment cards. Goldwardens’ Gambit is one I’ve enjoyed a lot. You will rarely pay more than two or three mana for this, and what it gives you is the ability to “turn the corner” — something I’m always harping on about.
Even if — no, especially if — you’re playing Voltron, the ability to produce a hasty swing of, on average, 20 or so damage, with eggs spread around multiple baskets, is clutch. Deploying this after a board wipe or after your expensive, taxed-out Commander is removed again can spell doom.
HALVAR, GOD OF BATTLE // SWORD OF THE REALMS
We all love Reyav, Master Smith, but he eats removal like there’s no tomorrow if you play him on-curve. If you have one spot to fill, I’d instead advocate for Halvar.
He gives static double strike, not just on attacks, and he gives you a cheeky free equip at the beginning of each combat (provided it’s moving something already attached elsewhere).
If that’s not enough, he can be cast as an equipment instead. Sword of the Realms is a powerful if unexciting equipment that always overperforms for me.
KAZUUL’S FURY // KAZUUL’S CLIFFS
While we’re on the topic of MDFC cards, I want to talk about winning the game with equipment decks. The general play pattern is to take players out one at a time with one large creature, prioritizing offing the players in order of who appears to threaten your board state/is most likely to win if left to untap.
But sometimes you gotta close multiple windows at once, and for moments like that, Kazuul’s Fury in your mana base is what you need. You can off one player with damage/Commander damage and fling your creature at another player for lethal too.
This is the most common use case, but it’s also a nice reactionary play in response to a choice removal spell. Make them pay for it!
THE MYCOSYNTH GARDENS
You might not immediately reach for The Mycosynth Gardens when building an Equipment deck, but let me sell it to you real quick.
You want to get set up quickly? Copy your mana generating equipment. You want to end a player? Copy Argentum Armor. You need to have some redundancy for a lightning-rod equipment in play? Do what you would with Masterwork of Ingenuity and have a second copy.
It’s not limited to sorcery speed, either, so you can do this in response to removal to change it into a copy of a Legendary Equipment, sending the original to the yard.
Some might argue that Urza’s Saga should be on the list, and while it can be a nice way to grab Colossus Hammer, Sol Ring or the aforementioned Masterwork of Ingenuity, it’s also a lot pricier than The Mycosynth Gardens.
It falls into the category of “final tweaks” where I’m concerned. Sure, it’s powerful and will give you a lot of extra value, but I’d much rather get five, six or even ten cards from this list before buying just it alone.
PURESTEEL PALADIN
If this list had a number one spot, I think it go to Puresteel Paladin. It’s incredible. If you don’t have one, you should fix that.
This card lets you draw off of equipment entering play (whether cast, recurred, or cheated in), and grants equip 0 to all of your equipment for jumping through the kindergarten level hoop jump of achieving metalcraft.
While Sram, Senior Edificer is also good draw, it’s only off of cast, and so should always be second choice to Puresteel.
SEVINNE’S RECLAMATION
You have a whole host of ways to recur artifacts depending what colors your deck is. White, red and blue are all great at this. So how do you pick which ones to run?
Well, most good equipment costs three mana or less to start with. And a lot of equipment decks are both using Mask of Memory and also capable of exceeding hand size plus having to discard at the end of turn.
Discarding Sevinne’s Reclamation is free, and so is discarding smaller permanents while you have this in hand or the bin. It can ramp you too (bringing back fetch lands or other lands) and it can hit many of the great utility creatures you’ll be running.
Remember the Fallen is another option I feel is criminally underplayed. It grabs back the likes of Puresteel Paladin and Sword of Feast and Famine. Maybe one day we’ll get an Instant speed version, like green’s Enchantment version Season of Renewal. But until then? Remember the Fallen is still deece.
Sigarda’s Aid
No list of equipment support cards would be complete without Sigarda’s Aid. It’s one measly mana and it does a heck of a lot.
It turns Equipment into combat tricks, it lets you wait until the last possible moment in order to avoid counterspells or shield your creature from removal and it cheats mana. What more could you want?
STONEFORGE MYSTIC
Ah, yes. She’s beautiful, isn’t she? Stoneforge Mystic has to be one of my favorite magic cards.
It’s a two mana tutor, sure, but what makes it so great is the ability to cheat mana costs while protecting your splashy equipment from a counterspell, at instant speed. Tutoring for Kaldra Compleat and dropping it in as a blocker is definitely a line I have taken.
What takes Stoneforge up a notch is she can be flickered and/or recurred for value. Repeatable tutors can be backbreaking.
STEELSHAPER’S GIFT
You might turn your nose up at another tutor, and hey — more power to ya if they’re not your bag. Equipment tutors have a place in that they are most often used to grab consistency pieces to help a deck get set up, and in the late game, they grab something to try and end the game.
With most equipment decks winning in an ostensibly “fair” way (through creature combat), I don’t see these being as egregious as tutoring for a combo. That said, they can certainly do that.
And if that’s your goal? Well, Steelshaper’s Gift should be in your build. It’s one mana, straight to hand.
UGIN, THE INEFFABLE
“New-gin,” as I like to call him, is akin to a “ritual” in equipment builds. You put six mana in and, in theory, you save at least six mana when casting your equipment.
If that’s all he did, he’d be pretty uninteresting. Thankfully, he can also make a body to equip stuff to (while potentially giving you that card back), and he can destroy a permanent. Given his multiple applications, I pick him very highly in my equipment builds.
UTILITY LANDS
You gotta give me credit for writing an alphabetical list and wedging Utility Lands in at the end there, come on. The truth is, picking just one to go on this list of twenty cards is impossible, so let me break it down for you.
- Rogue’s Passage should be an auto include for you, as it’s a win condition, especially if you’re going for Commander damage kills.
- Likewise, Witch’s Clinic puts lifelink into your mana base for a super-reasonable investment. Lifelink can buy you extra turns.
- Inventors’ Fair is a historic tutor in your mana base that also gains you some incidental life.
These are the three I’d look to first, but have a think. You should be packing a mana base with cards like Slayers’ Stronghold, Hanweir Battlements and Flamekin Village, which all grant haste, one of the key tools at your disposal to convert damage on board into wins.
END STEP
Between this who’s-who of stunning support cards and our lists of The Best Equipment for Commander and the Best Budget Equipment, you should now have the tools at your disposal to construct an equipment deck worthy of legend.
Let us know who your equipment Commander is, and what cards you love to play, on Twitter. And if you need to grab a few choice upgrades? Well, we have you covered.
Kristen is Card Kingdom’s Head Writer, and member of the Commander Advisory Group. Formerly a competitive Pokémon TCG grinder, she has been playing Magic since Shadows Over Innistrad, which in her opinion, was a great set to start with. When she’s not taking names with Equipment and Aggro strategies in Commander, she loves to play any form of Limited.