Jumpstart 2025 is a supplement booster set that releases alongside Magic: the Gathering Foundations on November 15th. As with past Jumpstart products, you and your opponent simply buy two booster packs and shuffle them together to make 40-card decks. And then you’re ready to play. These boosters all have themes, so you end up with what feel like very synergistic Limited decks.
The main purpose of Jumpstart 2025 is to serve as one of Foundations’ many introductory products, so the set largely consists of reprints. However, the set does feature several new cards including 27 brand new legendary creatures. In this article I’m going to take a look at the 5 that I’m the most excited about, and discuss how best to build a Commander deck around them. I even chose one of each color, so there’s something here for everyone.
THURID, MARE OF DESTINY
Wizards of the Coast has been really into typal coupling lately, and I think this is a great way to use it. There really aren’t enough white Pegasi, Unicorns, or Horses to build a real Commander deck around them individually. However, there are more than enough of them when you put them all together.
And they didn’t skimp on the power level here. Thurid not only offers the standard +1/+1 buff, but it also copies every creature spell you cast with one of those types. That of course pairs quite nicely with the buff effect too, since your deck will inherently be geared towards going wide. While creatures with these types may not be all that powerful on their own, Thurid’s abilities will make it feel great to cast just about any pegasus, unicorn, or horse.
While you can jam just about any creature with these types into your deck, there are a few of them that will be particularly spicy. For example, Regal Bunnicorn is going to love that you have so many creatures in play, Vryn Wingmare’s tax effect will be doubled, and you’ll get to get two cards back from your graveyard when you cast Shepherd of the Clouds.
NEERDIV, DEVIOUS DIVER
Generally, you’re going to want to mill yourself with Neerdiv. This is because she is an amazing payoff for casting cards or activating abilities from your graveyard. Most of the time, when you cast something with Flashback you already feel like you’re getting a free card, but she goes one better – because she grows and draws you another card. This makes it even easier for you to continue to go off with her.
If you’re playing a good graveyard deck, her mill effect will also almost feel like it’s drawing you cards, since you’ll probably be able to cast some of those cards from your graveyard. Basically, Neerdiv is an insane graveyard value engine that can give you insurmountable card advantage with her two effects.
You’ll want to combine Neerdiv with the plethora of cards in Blue that inherently let you cast them from the graveyard. This can include cards with Flashback, like Deep Analysis – but it’s far from the only mechanic that lets you do that. There are also cards with Jump-Start, Disturb, and Aftermath – just to name a few.
Neerdiv also isn’t the only payoff for casting things from your graveyard, either. Cards like Ominous Roost and Secrets of the Dead can generate even more value for doing it.
There’s also one last card that you have to include in a Neerdiv deck – Quiet Speculation. Tutors are really strong in Limited, and if you’re playing Neerdiv, casting Quiet Speculation is going to feel like you’re tutoring up three cards.
EVERETH, VICEROY OF PLUNDER
Evereth looks like a really great Commander if you’re looking to go the Sacrifice route. Any time a creature has a sacrifice effect that isn’t limited to once per turn and doesn’t cost any mana, it makes alarm bells go off in my head, because that type of creature is very easy to combo off with.
She even comes with a built-in way to end the game, since once she’s big enough from your combo, you can just sacrifice her and kill all of your opponents. Her ability is limited to sorcery speed, but that’s okay – she can still go off.
There are lots of different routes you can take, but one of the simplest is Pitiless Plunderer + Gravecrawler. You do need to have another Zombie in play, but once you do, you can just sacrifice Gravecrawler to Evereth as many times as you want, because you can keep casting it from your graveyard using the treasure from the Plunderer.
One of the great things about Evereth is that she’s pretty powerful even when you aren’t comboing off, but your deck is also likely to be packing a few ways to win the game with an infinite sacrifice loop like this one.
GORNOG, THE RED REAPER
They finally did it! They gave us a “Cowards can’t block Warriors” commander. It’s one of the funniest lines of rules text in the game and I know many players will be excited about being able to build a Commander deck around that ability. It’s only been 17 years since that sentence first appeared on a card, but better late than never, I guess?
They did a good job of designing a creature that can take advantage of it too, since Gornog can permanently turn creatures into Cowards. And because he has Haste, he’ll likely turn something into a coward right away. That already makes it easy for your army of Warriors to attack, but he also offers what can be a massive buff to your whole team.
You’ll want to populate your deck with as many Warriors as possible, and Warrior payoffs are especially welcome. Brighthearth Banneret can help you get your Warriors out more quickly, Goma Fada Vanguard can make it even harder for your opponents to block, and Kargan Intimidator can give you another way to take advantage of all those Cowards.
SUTINA, SPEAKER OF THE TAJURU
Sutina does exactly what you want a mono-green Commander to do – she ramps your mana and lets you get extra value out lands. That first part is more powerful than you might think. Especially because she can help off-set the Commander tax, since she’ll be grabbing you a land every time she enters.
She’s at her best in a landfall deck, since she comes with the ability to trigger it repeatedly – both when she enters and when she attacks. Cards like Bristly Bill, Scute Swarm, and Springheart Nantuko can really go off with her as an enabler.
Sutina is also good at rebuying Modal Double-Faced lands or lands that have “enters” abilities. Bouncing your Turntimber in the late game and casting it as Turntimber Symbiosis is very strong, and getting additional 0/1 plant tokens out of Khalni Garden is nice too.
END STEP
Those are some of the many exciting new Commanders in Jumpstart 2025. What new Commander are you the most excited for? Let me know over on X.
Jacob has been playing Magic for the better part of 24 years, and he especially loves playing Magic’s Limited formats. He also holds a PhD in history from the University of Oklahoma. In 2015, he started his YouTube channel, “Nizzahon Magic,” where he combines his interests with many videos covering Magic’s competitive history. When he’s not playing Magic or making Magic content, he can be found teaching college-level history courses or caring for a menagerie of pets with his wife.