Legends is one of Magic’s oldest sets. It was only the game’s third expansion, and it was released way back on June 10th, 1994. It is infamous for having some of the worst cards of all time in it. The most notable of these are Wood Elemental and the vanilla multicolored legendary creatures like Jedit Ojanen.
While I think the set’s reputation is partially deserved, it isn’t quite as awful as it’s often made out to be. Legends is one of the most important Magic sets of all time, something I don’t think it is often given credit for. In my MTG Top 10 on the game’s most important sets, I had it ranked behind only Limited Edition Alpha. That’s right, Legends is the most important set in the history of the game, apart from the set that introduced Magic to the world.
This is because Legends introduced legendary permanents and multicolored cards, two incredibly important aspects of today’s game, especially if you play Commander.
In addition to often being overlooked in terms of its contributions to Magic, Legends also features many individual cards that are underrated as a result of the set’s reputation. In this article, I’m going to take a look at five cards from the set that should be played at a higher rate than they currently are.
Underrated Commander: Rasputin Dreamweaver
The Commander of 0.013% of Azorius Decks on EDHRec
Like playing ramp decks in Commander but tired of always having to play Green? Rasputin Dreamweaver is the Commander for you! He enters with seven counters, and you can remove those counters to add colorless mana to your mana pool. This means that if you get to untap with Rasputin in play on your next turn, he ramps you from 6 mana to 14.
There are no shortage of insane things you can do with that much mana. Using him to power out scary Eldrazi or Ugin is particularly potent.
You can also use those counters to prevent 1 damage dealt to Rasputin. While that’s not nearly as powerful, it does give Rasputin a little bit of built-in protection.
Rasputin’s mana boost is supposed to only be a temporary one, but you can get around that in Blue-White with ease. Just combine him with blink and flicker effects like Soulherder and Deadeye Navigator, and Rasputin will always be available to crank out colorless mana.
Eldrazi Displacer is the best way to reset Rasputin’s counters, though. This is because it gives you an infinite mana combo. The Displacer’s ability costs two generic and a colorless mana, and Rasputin can pay for that all on his own. Then, each time Rasputin returns, his counters get reset and he can do it again. You can net 4 mana per activation with the Displacer in play.
Kismet
Played in 0.034% of White Decks on EDHRec
In the early days of Magic, most prison effects were symmetrical, and this makes it a little challenging to abuse them effectively. Not so with Kismet! It makes life more difficult for all of your opponents. Most notably, it really slows down their mana, but making creatures enter tapped also tends to leave your opponents fairly defenseless.
Kismet definitely isn’t a card that would be welcome in all play groups, so don’t play it if you might lose your friends. But in all other cases, this powerful White Enchantment deserves some more consideration when you’re building a White Commander deck.
Arena of the Ancients
Played in 0.0026% of Decks on EDHRec
Arena of the Ancients is in the same category as Kismet, in that it might really frustrate some players, but it is undoubtedly powerful in Commander. This is because it can really shut down Commanders, since it forces all legendary creatures to enter tapped and then keeps them from untapping.
This prison effect is symmetrical, so keep that in mind. But there are some ways to break the symmetry. The best way to do this is to use a Commander who already enters the battlefield tapped and comes with a built-in way to untap. Traxos and Grimgrin are two of the more notable ways to pull this off.
Urborg
Played in 0.024% of Black Decks on EDHRec
There is a cycle of legendary lands in Legends, all of which enter the battlefield untapped and can tap for mana of any color, and they also all come with an activated ability. This makes them all effectively basic lands with upside.
One of these lands (Karakas) is banned in Commander, another (Pendelhaven) is properly rated, and two others (Hammerheim and Tolaria) have upside so narrow they aren’t really worth the effort. This leaves us with Urborg.
While the ability to shut off swampwalk isn’t going to come up very often, the other half of the ability will be relevant every few games. After all, there are almost 700 cards with First Strike, including incredibly popular Commanders like Edgar Markov and Thalia and the Gitrog Monster.
It’s certainly a narrow effect, but running Urborg is effectively free, since it always enters untapped. In fact, if your deck has a legendary theme, it may give you more upside than downside.
Hellfire
Played in 0.0015% of Black Decks on EDHRec
If you’re playing a black Commander deck, Hellfire can end up being a one-sided board wipe. It does come with some significant downsides. If you have any opponents who are also playing Black, they might not be affected by issst as much. Additionally, if your opponents had well-developed boards, you might end up losing a massive chunk of life.
However, there are several Commanders who can turn that life loss into big upside. For example, Rowan, Scion of War can make your spells incredibly cheap, and Greven is likely going to be able to one-shot an opponent once the dust settles from Hellfire.
End Step
Those are my picks for five super underrated Commander cards from Legends. I hope I introduced you to a few obscure cards that will upgrade your deck! Do you think I left out any overlooked cards from Legends? Let me know 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.