Trying to find space for so many wild and wicked cards is always a challenge in Commander. Kristen means to make up for lost time this year by getting her mileage out of these great cards.
For as much as Commander is 100-card format, it sure feels like trying to fit all the cool cards you wanna be playing into decks can be a challenge. And, what’s more, there will always be those decisive cards that overperform for you that it feels criminal not to be playing.
Here are 10 cards I’ve either loved casting this year and want to keep casting, or that I’ve not had a chance to play yet and I can’t wait to resolve. And this list truly is cards I can’t wait to play with this year for another reason… I’m about to move house, so no Magic for me for a little while!
10 CARDS I LOOK FORWARD TO CASTING IN 2025
10. HORN OF THE MARK
Horn of the Mark has been fantastic for me in every deck I’ve played it in. Typal decks always love to be drawing cards, but even more than that, they want to be able to access whatever tool they need for a situation. Not every typal deck is a toolbox deck, but they all benefit from a choice.
In my Aurelia, the Law Above deck, I am always attacking with multiple creatures. This helps me dig for whatever I need, from Boromir to Winota.
In Giada, you often want to be hitting Angels at all, being in mono white, so it’s more valuable than just drawing a card (which could be literally anything else). This lets you dig for the halves of Brisela, or get Linvala to stop shenanigans, or get Lyra for lifelink.
I just slammed it into my rebuild of Edgar Markov, as hitting the card draw or removal vampires is clutch.
9. ASSASSIN GAUNTLET
Any way to push through damage in blue that isn’t Cyclonic Rift has me interested. Assassin Gauntlet comes down and taps all creatures one of your opponent’s controls. It also attaches to one of your guys and helps you dig for cards.
It’s a flexible game piece, allowing for some early game pokes for smoothing your draws, and some politicking in the mid to late game. Even if you yourself aren’t taking out the archenemy, you can contribute to their demise by tapping their board and allowing your fellow players to finish the job.
8. BLOODLINE CULLING
We all love a good Sudden Spoiling to mess with things, and though Bloodline Culling isn’t the same card, it has helped me engineer many a situation to my advantage. Getting your choice of removing one creature or debuffing all creature tokens in play is a modal spell worth taking. Most tokens in Commander that swarm the board can be nuked with this spell, with the only things saving them being large buffs from cards like Elesh Norn or +1/+1 counters.
It’s most interesting to deploy mid combat, and though I’ve only cast it a handful of times, I am really high on it.
7. VALKYRIE’S CALL
I haven’t drawn into this one yet since adding it to my deck, but Valkyrie’s Call is one of the better card advantage engines printed in white for some time. It doesn’t draw you cards, but it replaces all of your creatures by having them come back as bigger flyers. If you make sure to jam plenty of EtB creatures in your deck, this will accumulate a great deal of value. Pair with a sacrifice outlet and now you’re talking.
6. DESCENT INTO AVERNUS
Descent into Avernus has been out for a few years now, but it’s always such a good time that I just want to jam with it over and over again. Whether I’m casting it myself or enjoying someone else’s copy, it makes games wild and exciting. If you haven’t played with Descent yet, it’s time to get down.
5. GIX, YAWGMOTH PRAETOR
Two of the most important things in casual Commander these days are drawing plenty of cards, and surviving until the late game. Lifelink helps, but a surefire way to survive longer is to point aggro elsewhere. Gix is a great example of black getting in on the action with a highly playable card that doesn’t just push into black’s tendency to punish opponent’s resources. Instead, you’re pushing people, gently, to attack elsewhere, while also getting to draw cards yourself.
I’ve enjoyed playing this card in fits and starts in 2024, but I want to see more of it in my games in 2025.
4. FINAL SHOWDOWN
What makes Final Showdown so strong isn’t just the ability to wrath at flash speed. I think more than anything, it’s the ability to negate any varieties of Heroic Intervention that get thrown out in response. When you’re playing against green, it’s the last thing you want to see when wrathing. This one was quite expensive when it came out but has bottomed out a bit now, so I’m hoping to add it to more decks.
3. PSYCHIC POSSESSION
Oh hey, it’s the “fair” Rhystic Study. The uWu Rhystic Study. The “just a little guy, just a smol bean” Rhystic Study.
Okay, sure, it’s not going to draw you as many cards as Rhystic, but if you stick it on the right player, and utilize some wheels like Windfall or a Teferi’s Ageless Insight? You’re quids-in, as they say where I hail from.
Don’t underestimate not having to ask everyone if they pay at the table, for every spell. I can’t wait to jam this a bit more this year in decks that Rhystic is too strong for.
2. TISHANA’S TIDEBINDER
Tishana’s Tidebinder has some scary-good rules text. It pops in to ruin someone’s day, and then continues to ruin someone’s day. It’s one of the best stifle effects in the format, and I’m not sure it’s seeing as much play as it should, I’ll be honest.
I’m looking forward to jamming this in the blue decks I am vowing to play more of this year. It’ll fit perfectly into Alela, Cunning Conqueror… hahaha.
- APEX DEVASTATOR
We all have a little Timmy (or Tammy) inside us. There’s something alluring about doing big stupid plays in green, and I think you should be playing more Apex Devastator in your decks. It’s always a hoot to resolve, and I’m a big proponent of injecting more randomness into your games of Commander.
It’s also incredibly potent; a game I had the other day playing Henzie had me casting this for free off of an early Evercoat Ursine, and getting heaters like Old Gnawbone and Terror of the Peaks off of the cascade triggers! Wild.
You need Apex Devastator in your life.
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So, that’s 10 cards I want to keep casting this year. They’re powerful, fun, and offer a lot of replayability and utility. What about you? What are you looking forward to casting in 2025?
Kristen is Card Kingdom’s Head Writer and a member of the Commander Format Panel. 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.