The Best Commander Reprints in Ravnica Remastered

Ravnica Remastered releases Friday, January 12, and with it comes what’s shaping up to be a draft date to put in the Calendar. Maybe you’re more interested in the reprints, though – so let’s run through some of the highlights. 

RAVNICA REMASTERED REPRINTS A LOT OF CARDS

Much like Bruvac’s extensive scroll, the list of reprints in this set is long – and that’s because it’s a remastered set. These sets seek to combine the best parts of multiple sets from a setting, offering a semi-flashback, semi-cube experience for fans of limited. Not all reprints are created equal when designing a draft product, and the vast majority are cards that were pretty cheap to acquire in the first place.

So, let’s look at the heaters.

The aforementioned Bruvac is back in RVR, and is a welcome sight. For anyone playing a mill strategy, this card is borderline essential, whether as a Commander or in the 99. Only seeing a limited print in original Jumpstart and a smattering of The List action, Bruvac the Grandiloquent is one of the most in-demand cards in the set.

Like a lot of other cards, he receives an anime-art treatment, and a retro-frame treatment. Whatever floats your boat. 

Cyclonic Rift feels synonymous with Commander, and though a reprint at Rare might have  been better for availability, it’s potentially a better draft environment with it at Mythic. I know this “excuse” gets bandied about quite frequently by Wizards when it arguably shouldn’t, but Ravnican draft environments can be quite midrange-y, and it’s probable that this card at rare was just too much of an instant-win. 

The farm animal in the art of the anime version is just *chef’s kiss*. 

Spark Double is one of the best clones in Commander, and so I’m happy to see a reprint keep the price down for those on a budget. Card availability isn’t just about cards like Mana Crypt or Vampiric Tutor; it’s also about making tried and tested format stars available for people to play with. A perfect card for this that I’ve talked about before is Skullclamp; keeping that thing around $5 is ideal.  

For those of us that would be Spark Pentupling, there’s a really sweet alternate art treatment available that I can tell will look awesome in foil. Yes please.

Copy Enchantment wasn’t in desperate need of a reprint – especially with Court of Vantress and Mirrormade being pretty good cards in and of themselves – but I’m happy to see it nonetheless. Enchantress remains a popular archetype, and having more cards like this available for budget decks is great. Budget Commander has become really popular in the last few years. 

PROFESSOR ONYX KILLED THE CAT

In the library, with the strange humanoid statue.

Oh wait, that’s not this Ravnica set. My apologies.

Curiosity can kill cats, but usually on Ravnica it’s when it’s attached to Niv-Mizzet. Cloudstone Curio, on the other hand, kills in a more insidious way. It’s kind of adjacent to Recurring Nightmare in a way, without having to go through the graveyard. There are around 440 combos available with it, so take your pick. As an extensively used combo piece (and value piece, apparently, though I wouldn’t trust whoever says that), it’s a good reprint.

I love me some Illusionist’s Bracers, and it has a nice amount of combo potential. Personally, I get more excited about doubling up on things like Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim activations, but most people will love trying to thread these onto Slimefoot’s… appendages. It’s a cool card, and one that, at a cheaper buy-in, again enables the budget deck to do more cool stuff.

Professor Onyx Liliana, Dreadhorde General is one of my favorite card draw engines in black, and it turns out I’m not alone. She’s a pricey card to get hold of, and it’s because she has that card draw static, combined with a double edict to every player. I find myself wanting a copy in more than one deck, and whenever a card is that fun and/or powerful, reprints are welcomed.

Speaking of mono-black, Crypt Ghast is one mana doubling tool in a toolbox of effects that help black decks to compete with the aggressive ramping of green and the impulsive, treasure and ritual-based mana of red. If you’re playing mono-black or within the Esper sphere, then this spirit should be on your radar. Extort comes up clutch more often than you’d think, actually – especially as you’re going to end up with floating mana at least some of the time that you otherwise can’t spend. 

SHOCKLANDS

A break from the rest of the scheduled reprint discussion to acknowledge that shocklands are being reprinted in this set. Whether you want standard frame, extended art borderless, or for the first time, retro frame shocklands? There’s plenty to choose from. 

Shockland availability matters, especially with original Duals largely inaccessible for most of the playerbase. There’s nothing you can’t accomplish with a good manabase, and even though we’ve had dual-type tapped and snow tapped lands, and Triomes, having shocklands is super helpful for playing on curve. 

Honestly, I’d have been worried if we didn’t see them here.

LEARN TO FLY

If there’s one thing the Simic could stand to bake into their experiments, it’s wings. Or maybe Psionic abilities. Either way, Flying is good

Guardian Project is one of green’s staple card draw engines which feels tailor-made for Commander. A singleton format means anything short of tokens or clones with the same name will replace itself. Most green decks want a steady amount of this effect, and you can’t go wrong with Guardian Project.

As we gaze up to the skies, it’s Birds of Paradise that catches our eye. Much like Skullclamp, BoP is a card in constant demand. It’s a cube favorite, sure, but it’s also excellent in Commander. A turn one play other than Sol Ring has to be impactful, and getting your three drop Commander or Rhystic Study out on turn 2 fits the bill. The anime art version is also stunning, so if you’d rather use Ravnican Moltres as your mana dork, then go get it. 

They say that there’s always a bigger fish, but on Ravnica, I’d be more concerned about a bigger aerial predator. Utvara Hellkite is one of many excellent dragons native to Ravnica, and it’s probably the scariest. Even outside of a Miirym or Sarkhan, Soul Aflame deck (where it’s doing double duty), Utvara Hellkite can be a worthy finisher. If you have a Terror of the Peaks or Warstorm Surge in play, you’re laughing. Dragon Tempest? Talk dirty to me. 

THE “NOBODY ASKED FOR THIS” PRIZE 

Is this section personal, you ask? I mean, it could be, if you like. But I don’t think I’m alone in asking: who asked for this?

I’m not sure what kind of decision was made to give the Aurelia that nobody plays this anime art treatment. We could have had Aurelia, the Warleader in this set instead. I’m not sure how she would have warped the draft format at mythic, either. Is it because there’s already an extra combat spell? Perhaps. But giving Aurelia, Exemplar of Justice this frame treatment just feels odd. 

At least the majority of the other cards are playable, and if not, cards like Tomik are representation, and Fblthp is cute and not unplayable in U/x decks that do Pod things. Aurelia feels like the odd one out here, as her card is decidedly low-impact in Commander – and she has another card that is high impact and a fan favorite.

END STEP

Aurelia aside, I think a lot of the choices for the extended anime treatments look great, and there’s a little something for everyone. Retro frames have a die-hard fanbase, too, and for those with old-border cubes, this remastered set is sure to be a treasure trove of upgrades.

What are you excited to pick up for Commander? Let us know on X.