Throne of Eldraine has given us several new toys to play with in Commander – and not all of them are legendary creatures. A few of the cards fit seamlessly into established decks, while others may help you develop a new strategy. Here are the top 10 cards from Throne of Eldraine (not countering the Brawl decks) that you’ll want to sleeve up.
10 – Hushbringer
Hushbringer is a small creature that can help give white some much needed help at the table (though Giant Killer gets an honorable mention). Commander games are always filled with creatures that generate value just by entering and leaving the battlefield; this “hate bear” puts a stop to that. It can hit the board early enough to stop decks, but its small size keeps it from being too oppressive. Give the Faerie some Lightning Greaves and you can shut players out of the game.
9 – Mystic Sanctuary
A land with a basic land type and an “enters the battlefield” trigger makes you pay attention. Blue decks especially love the effect of recasting a key spell from their graveyards, and this land allows for such trickery if you jump through a few small hoops. It’s also a common, which is great for budget decks, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this becomes a staple in blue decks in general.
8 – Embercleave
Equipment tutor cards have a new favorite target. Instant double strike on your attacking Commander is a beautiful sight to Voltron decks. If you sneak it onto the battlefield with Stoneforge Mystic or Godo, Bandit Warlord (and you should), the free equip is what makes this card an over-the-top combat trick. While its cost reduction does matter for attacking creatures, it can be equipped to any creature when it enters the battlefield, so it can even make a great blocking surprise.
7 – Revenge of Ravens
While it’s not on the same level as Propaganda, Revenge of Ravens does give black another card for a “pillow fort” strategy. Koskun Falls (paired with King Macar, the Gold-Cursed) and this new enchantment will make opponents look elsewhere when attacking. The life loss might not seem like much in a format where you start out at 40, but the amount of life you’ll gain as the defending player is staggering. Combine with Epicure of Blood and Sanguine Bond to just stop players from attacking you.
6 – Fabled Passage
Fabled Passage may not be the most exciting card, but that doesn’t mean it’s not good. In Commander decks, having four total lands is going to be pretty easy, and it’s (mostly) okay to have a basic land enter the battlefield tapped. I play with Terramorphic Expanse in my mono-color and two-color decks, so this should be an easy fit. While it may not be as flexible as Prismatic Vista, sometimes that one life matters at the end of a game. You’ll most likely have four lands on the battlefield, but that one life may put you in trouble.
5 – The Cauldron of Eternity
What we have here is one of the best engine cards in the set. Now, this clearly won’t fit into every black-based deck, but when it does fit, it will work out nicely. You can reanimate creature cards cheaply, but if they die, they go on the bottom of your library. The obvious fit is Grenzo here, and this is an auto-include.
The Cauldron also doesn’t care if creatures are discarded or milled into the graveyard. Cards like Greater Good (which puts the sacrificed creature on the bottom of the library) allow you to dump creatures into the graveyard in order to cheaply reanimate them. Seeing this card outside of a Grenzo build changes the whole way the deck worked before.
4 – Faeburrow Elder
Ignore the meme-tastic Goose: Faeburrow Elder is the best mana dork in the set. At one mana more, it does a great Bloom Tender impression, but it allows you to tap for GW from the outset. This should see play in most multicolor decks that run green/white, as tapping a single creature for WUBRG is a great deal. The vigilance and the growth in size (instead of Bloom Tender’s 1/1 body) may make Faeburrow Elder a better Commander card. Chase these down instead.
3 – Wishclaw Talisman
If Wishclaw Talisman were colorless, it might be #1 on this list. But the effect makes sense in black and gives you the Monkey’s Paw of tutoring for cards. Tutors are great, but this card’s greatest strength lies in the political power it affords you. You don’t have to use it when it enters the battlefield, and anyone who might want to use it (if it’s not going to tutor for your game-winning card right there) won’t want to destroy it. What are you going to get in return for giving them a tutor? Anything you want.
2 – Mirrormade
If your deck wants to play Copy Artifact or Copy Enchantment, it probably wants Mirrormade, too. At 1UU, about $1 and still in boosters, this card is a bargain. I’m hoping to see a resurgence of blue-based Enchantment decks (I’m talking Paradox Haze, not Stasis).
1 – The Great Henge
It could be part of an engine like the Cauldron, but unlike that colored artifact, The Great Henge is fantastic all on its own. It taps for mana, gains life, draws cards and puts +1/+1 counters on creatures. Sure, it’s not a first turn play, but if you’re going for power, endurance and attrition, there is nothing else like this card. It’s in green, so of course you’re going to have the creatures to help reduce its cost, and you can create massive loops with +1/+1 counters and persist effects. Mirrormade is a solid card, but there is nothing else in the set like The Great Henge. It’s unlikely to be banned in Commander (it doesn’t create a loop all on its own), but it completely changes the game when it enters the battlefield.
Those are my picks for the Top 10 Commander Cards of Throne of Eldraine! What are your thoughts? Was your favorite not on the list? Let me know on Twitter at @mtgcolorpie. Until next time.
Robby Rothe, Jr., also known as MTG Color Pie, has played Magic since Revised and written about Magic design for more than 10 years. As a Melvin, he was one of the final 101 finalists for the Great Designer Search 2. Robby is also an unabashed Commander enthusiast and embraces the casual side of the game.