Lorwyn Eclipsed releases early next year, and it’ll be our first full-scale return to the plane since the original Lorwyn-Shadowmoor block which was released from 2007 to 2008. Lorwyn is a unique plane, because it transforms into Shadowmoor every several hundred years and vice versa. While Lorwyn is an idyllic world where it’s always daytime, Shadowmoor is the exact opposite – it’s a horror plane that is always steeped in darkness.
Between the return to Lorwyn in the near future, as well as the imminent arrival of spooky season, I thought it would be a good time to write about Shadowmoor. The set does have several well-known cards that you’ve undoubtedly seen played during a game of Commander – like the filter land cycle and Devoted Druid, but there are also many cards from the set that are being overlooked.
UNDERRATED COMMANDER: ROSHEEN MEANDERER
(The 1,493rd Most Popular Commander on EDHRec)
Rosheen is Magic’s original X-cost Commander, and she’s powerful too. Having a single permanent that can tap for four mana is incredible, even with a restriction. X-Spells tend to get markedly more powerful when you can produce that much mana. She lets you go off with super powerful cards way ahead of schedule, like Finale of Devastation and Crackle With Power.
She also happens to be in the two colors where Hydras are the most concentrated, and most Hydras have X in their casting cost. While you could always go with a Hydra Commander that is a Hydra itself – like Zaxara or Gargos – they don’t have access to Red Hydras because they don’t have a Red/Green color identity.
For example, Rosheen can use the powerful Shivan Devastator and Apocalypse Hydra and no other Hydra Commander can do that.
Basically, she works great as a typal Commander, while also working incredibly well with any X spell, and Red and Green do have a plethora of those.
WORLDPURGE
Played in .05% of Azorius Decks on EDHRec
Of all the cards I’m discussing in this article, I was the most surprised at how little play Worldpurge sees in Commander. It’s expensive to be sure, but it’s also one of the most effective reset buttons in the entire game. It literally takes every permanent off the board and makes every player choose 7 of them as a starting hand of sorts, while shuffling away everything else.
There are some downsides here of course, apart from the exorbitant mana cost. For example, your opponent gets to rebuild their board before you do – but I don’t see that as a huge deal since they just have to start the game completely over.
Worldpurge is likely to make your opponents pretty salty, especially for whichever player was in the lead, but if you’re spending 8 mana like this you deserve something that has a massive impact on the game, and Worldpurge certainly does. It should definitely be showing up in more decks, especially because it’s the kind of card that is useful in virtually any deck that can play it.
PUCA’S MISCHIEF
In .28% of all Blue Decks on EDHRec
Worldpurge may have surprised me, but Puca’s Mischief really doesn’t because it’s such a weird card. It lets you trade permanents with your opponent at the beginning of your upkeep every turn, and that’s not always something that it’s easy to abuse. However, if you’re using a Commander who can generate extra value by donating permanents to your opponent – like Zedruu or Jon Irenicus – you can turn Puca’s Mischief into a legitimate value engine, especially when you give your opponent something that has a massive downside.
It can also be pretty interesting in a deck that likes using Auras. This is because for 99% of them, it doesn’t matter who controls them. They’ll still buff your creature while you get to steal something of theirs and they basically get no return on the exchange.
For example, if your Commander is Lynde, Cheerful Tormentor, donating your Curses to your opponent is meaningless most of the time.
FIRESPOUT
Played in .07% of Gruul Decks on EDHRec
While there are several of 3 mana cards that can do 3 damage to the whole board, not to mention several cards that damage all fliers, Firespout is really unique because it’s so easy to customize. Depending on how you pay for it, you can choose to only go after fliers, only after ground creatures, or you can just have it damage everything. This can help you break the symmetry on a powerful sweeper, and that’s just not something that Anger of the Gods or Brotherhood’s End can offer you.
If you’re in Red/Green there’s a good chance your creatures are largely ground-based, meaning spending green to cast Firespout is likely to hurt your opponents more than it hurts you.
DIRE UNDERCURRENTS
Played in .29% of Dimir Decks on EDHRec
The turn you cast Dire Undercurrents can be a little bit scary sometimes, since it usually won’t do anything on it’s own. But if you get to untap with this in play it starts generating a big advantage since all of your creatures will effectively gain an “enters” trigger. Dire Undercurrents is certainly a little strange, in that it’s a Blue/Black card that is all about creatures, but there are enough Dimir creature decks out there to make Dire Undercurrents a viable inclusion in your deck.
This is especially true alongside Commanders who can generate lots of creature tokens, and things get especially nasty when you have a card that generates creature tokens that are both Blue and Black, as every single one of them becomes a 3-for-1.
Oona, Queen of the Fae’s activated ability becomes completely absurd because of it’s ability to generate multiple blue/black tokens at a time. While she’s the only Commander with a Dimir identity that makes tokens of both colors, there are lots of other powerful cards that can do it – like Ashiok, NIghtmare Muse and Gisa, the Hellraiser.
Even when you can’t make tokens of both colors, any Dimir deck that plays lots of creatures and/or has the ability to generate tokens in either Black or Blue is a great fit alongside Dire Undercurrents.
END STEP
Those are my picks for the most underrated Commander cards in Shadowmoor. What cards in the set do you think are being overlooked? Let me know over on X or Bluesky.
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.