5 Five-Drops I Can’t Stop Playing in Commander

Five-drops are the new Seven-drops. There, I said it. If you want a high impact card in Commander now, and you’re not prepared to cheat it out via reanimation, rituals, treasure, mana dorks or… blitzing? Well, you’re going to have to look at cards that are a little less mana than the seven and eight mana creatures of yore.

Five-drops have seen a big push in power over the years, and now some of them are outpacing some of the historic six and seven mana creatures that ruled the roost. Where they can excel is in modality, flexibility, and above all else impact on-curve. They often do a lot when they come down on turn four or five, but still do a lot later on when you can double spell much more easily than when your haymaker costs six or seven or even eight mana.

5 FIVE-DROPS I CAN’T STOP PLAYING

Today, I want to talk about a selection of five-drop creatures that I can’t stop playing in Commander. They really bring me joy, not only because they’re powerful, but because they’re a lot of fun to play too. 

PRIMARIS ELIMINATOR

First up, it’s some hella flexible removal. Primaris Eliminator either comes out to put down a creature with one fell snipe, or he can also utilize AoE damage to nuke a bunch of small creatures or tokens.

What makes this so strong is that the Hyperfrag Round mode doesn’t affect your own small creatures and tokens… but also that it doesn’t catch any other opponents in splash damage either. Playing an Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite affects all opponents, and will earn you the ire of all of them too. By concentrating your frag to just the problem player, you can win some brownie points with the rest of the table.

KARAZIKAR, THE EYE TYRANT

If I want a fun game, I play a deck with Karazikar in. In fact, it’s such a potent card that it’s probably ended up contributing to killing me when playing Isshin a few times now. That damage really adds up fast. But that’s the fun of it, right? Karazikar pushes the game forward, and does so in a way that pressures life totals and helps keep hands topped up.

Attacking opponents gets easier as it’ll tap down a blocker, which helps the entire table get in. What’s not to love?

CAVALIER OF FLAME

Cavalier of Flame is a card I have to stop myself building around every time I build a deck with red in. I love playing in the graveyard, and I love wheeling my hand away, and I love burn. Cavalier does all of these things, and also gives some hearty devotion to red. 

Recursion is a powerful tool, but it needs you to be actively filling your graveyard today more than ever – as you’re not playing long drawn-out games with wrath after wrath nearly as often. Cavalier is a tool that lets you pitch cards to reanimate or recur later.

Provided you’re on a looting kinda plan – or just a self mill one – you can set up the other trigger to finish players off in the late game.

TWINFLAME TYRANT

Damage amplification effects are quite plentiful in Commander, but they tend to be on the pricier side. Enchantments that can cost six or more mana, or instants that only last a turn. I’ve been very impressed with Twinflame Tyrant, though, as it has been a game-winner for me many a time. 

Though it’s a little more fragile than an enchantment, being a creature, it’s also more impactful in some ways because it can get in for damage itself. It can help trigger Wrathful Red Dragon, while boosting the damage output. It can join extra combats to allow for more damage. 

While the immediate home for it is in Big Red, or Dragons, I find myself wanting to slot it into plenty more places.

ELSPETH, STORM SLAYER

I said it when she was printed, and I’ll say it again – this Elspeth is  the real deal. She’s a swiss army knife, and she can do a lot for you whatever Quadrant you’re in (Developing, Behind, Parity, Ahead). I’ve won a game off of dropping Forth Eorlingas with this Elspeth in play – double the tokens, and then buffed them using her {0}. It’s a play I want to do again, to be honest – and that’s only the tip of the iceberg. 

She synergizes with non-creature token decks too, so if you’re doing stuff with Clues or Food she can help you double those loaves and fishes. More relevant, perhaps, is double dipping on treasures.

I’ve not mentioned her {-3} ability, and while it’s good, I’m just so zoned in on that {0}, which is the kind of ability you jump through hoops to get on a Dion, Bahamut’s Dominant. 

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There are the 5 five-drops I’m obsessed with casting right now. Which five-drops are you hot on these days? I’m excited to play with Unagi of Kyoshi Island, I’ll tell you that.