Magic: the Gathering

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Commander Review: Best Cards from Outlaws of Thunder Junction

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In today's article, we'll analyze the best cards from the newest Magic: The Gathering set, Outlaws of Thunder Junction, for Commander!

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translated by Joey Sticks

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revised by Tabata Marques

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Introduction

The latest Magic: The Gathering set, Outlaws of Thunder Junctionlink outside website, is almost here! Of course, we wanted to review all these cards and see which of them are the best in Commander!

We classified these cards, as usual, first according to their colors, and then, in their colors, we classified them according to their rarities. This set also brought us a "sub-set" of cards called The Big Scorelink outside website, which we've also included in our review. Without further ado, let's go!

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White

Uncommons

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We'll start with a card that features a new mechanic: Spree. Spree spells are modal spells that let us pick one or more additional effects. Rustler Rampage is versatile both for plays that involve creating mana to untap our creatures and for aggressive plays, when we'll give double strike to a creature. Convoke decks can also use it well.

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Spree cards are relatively versatile in general, and Requisition Raid is a great example of this. It works like a Disenchant, despite the fact its first two modes work at sorcery speed, and it is an efficient buffer if we pick its third mode.

For its first two modes alone, it is already incredibly reasonable - after all, destroying an artifact and an enchantment for three mana is already a good deal, but its third mode makes it stand out too.

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A mini Generous Gift, Bovine Intervention is a great 2-cost removal with a tiny drawback. Even though it isn't as broad as Generous Gift, it is still efficient and plays its role well, considering it destroys a problematic creature or artifact on the board for just two mana.

Rares

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While we're still discussing Spree cards, we have One Last Job. This card can play in a wide variety of deck archetypes because it can return to your battlefield a creature, vehicle, and aura or equipment. The fact it equips a card directly onto one of your creatures makes it even more interesting and also makes it stand out among white cards.

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Nothing is more frustrating than losing a land drop against decks that ramp. Not that Claim Jumper can make this better, but it will help us catch up after this happens, particularly considering its triggered ability triggers twice.

It can see a lot of play in Commander, and even in decks with green.

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I can't see a world in which Another Round isn't popular in Commander. Blink is far too common, and this card can become a finisher in several of these decks.

Any creature that adds mana when they enter the battlefield and an Eternal Witness, for instance, can cause a lot of trouble with Another Round. You can expect to see this card on many tables.

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Stax decks weren't forgotten - High Noon is in the category of cards that are similar to Deafening Silence. Decks like Winota, Joiner of Forces and similar Stax decks can easily use this card. Not to mention, we can sacrifice it to deal 5 damage to any target, which means we can lock down our opponent's boards and, on our turn, play several spells after we sacrifice High Noon.

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Aven Interrupter will catch our opponents off guard, considering it is "almost" a counter. Additionally, one of its effects, the one that taxes spells played from the graveyard and exile, is quite powerful, particularly because of the many decks that use these zones to cast spells. If we can avoid a Cyclonic Rift, for instance, and make it harder for our opponent's to get it back, we can already justify using Aven Interrupter and consider it a great card.

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Mythics

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Oltec Matterweaver can play in several types of decks, be it because it creates several Gnome tokens, or because it creates a copy of an artifact token. This token can be a powerful artifact, which we'll probably create with other cards; this way, we can extract as much value out of this effect as we can.

Decks like Urza, Chief Artificer will likely be interested in Oltec Matterweaver.

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Collector's Cage is clearly one of the easiest cards when the matter is fulfilling a Hideaway condition. Even though its effect is almost simple (just putting a +1/+1 counter on a creature), what is critical is how easy it is to fulfill its Hideaway condition, and like so cast something for free for just 3 mana. it is simple and direct.

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This is one of the strongest cards in this set. Spree resolves according to its modes - this means all creature abilities will be disabled first, then one of your creatures will become indestructible, and then all creatures will be destroyed. The fact it is an instant spell makes it incredibly strong, after all, a six-mana global removal at instant speed is already notable; it is even better if for seven mana we can deal with a board made of Avacyn, Angel of Hope and Archetype of Endurance, for instance, guaranteed.

Blue

Uncommon

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Visage Bandit is a clone that, for its Plot cost, we can play for 3 mana and only use later on when it's convenient. It has potential in Commander because it gives us several options to play it with its Plot cost.

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Those who can't play with Snapcaster Mage do what they can with Slickshot Lockpicker. Obviously, there's a great gap between these two cards, but, for its Plot cost, we can extract more from its potential on a later turn, be it on an extra turn with Time Warp or with another spell like Rude Awakening in decks with two or more colors.

Rares

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Another Spree spell that has potential in Commander is Three Steps Ahead, considering the fact all its modes are useful and efficient, in a certain way. Being able to use more than one of its modes will often make Spree cards quite strong in this format. With this card, its three modes are strong, particularly because it offers you the ability to counter a spell and/or draw more cards, besides its third effect.

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The Key to the Vault costs very little mana for what it does. Decks like Intet, the Dreamer or decks that use big creatures will really like this card - after all, casting another spell for free will always be welcome in any deck. It is a viable equipment card that does what it wants to do well.

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The most popular Homunculus in MTG has returned, and this time it returned with a cowboy hat: Fblthp, Lost on the Range. Its effect is incredibly strong because it gives Plot to any other non-land card.

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The fact we can cast these cards "bit by bit" later only makes Fblthp, Lost on the Range interesting in Storm lists, or even interesting to "clear" the top of our deck and execute our game plan earlier. Bolas's Citadel also seems to work with this Homunculus.

Mythics

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Double Down brings even more support to Assassins, Mercenaries, Pirates, Rogues, and Warlocks, but mostly Pirates. Just by imagining not one, but two Dockside Extortionist, this card already scares me considerably. Typal Outlaw decks will extract a lot of value from Double Down.

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Geralf, the Fleshwright works really well with Fblthp, Lost on the Range. This card can play in Storm decks and also in Zombie decks, particularly with cards like Endless Ranks of the Dead or Army of the Damned to boost the power and toughness of our Zombies with +1/+1 counters.

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Just like Oltec Matterweaver, Worldwalker Helm will see play in decks with the aforementioned Urza, Chief Artificer, and maybe even with its other versions, like Urza, Lord High Artificer, and Urza, Prince of Kroog. Decks with Fomori Vault may use Worldwalker Helm because it increases your total number of artifacts.

Only time will tell in which decks Worldwalker Helm will actually be efficient.

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An extremely strong addition to artifact decks was clearly Simulacrum Synthesizer. These Construct tokens are almost always an issue because they grow quite considerably, and creating one any time we cast an artifact that costs 3 or more is a way to build an army of blockers that can even defeat a player if they're strong enough. It works with Worldwalker Helm because this card copies your Construct token and boosts its power even more.

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Esoteric Duplicator has potential if we can think of an interesting play line with it. It will probably be played with Krark-Clan Ironworks, considering we can use the mana this card creates to pay for the cost of Esoteric Duplicator. Maybe transforming our artifacts into tokens lets us use them better, with cards like the aforementioned Worldwalker Helm or Oltec Matterweaver.

Black

Uncommons

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Forsaken Miner will make a combo that is already quite popular easier. Thanks to "Committing a Crime", a Forsaken Miner with Phyrexian Altar and Blood Artist results in a loop. I expect to see this Skeleton in Aristocrat decks.

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It's impossible to add too many removals to black, and Shoot the Sheriff is the perfect example of this idea. This card can target a wide array of creatures, and its mana cost earned it its mention in this section of black cards because it is excellent for Commander.

Rares

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Rush of Dread can be problematic with all its three modes: by forcing an opponent to sacrifice half their creatures, forcing them to discard half their cards, or forcing them to lose half their life. Some cards will work really well with Rush of Dread, like Astarion, the Decadent, or Bloodletter of Aclazotz, which will guarantee you'll defeat an opponent.

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It can show up, eventually, in several decks.

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Pitiless Carnage will go in a wide variety of decks, be them based on creatures, creature tokens, artifacts, artifact tokens, lands that come back later with Splendid Reclamation, and many other cards. Many decks can play this card as a way to draw other cards, and it works really well both for its usual cost and with Plot. We'll be able to extract a lot of value from Pitiless Carnage in Commander.

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Having one more tutor is also something you can't refuse in Commander, and this one also draws us three cards as a bonus. For three mana, this card is already a good tutor for our topdeck, and it is even better for 5 mana with its full effect.

We've already mentioned several Spree cards so far. It is not at all surprising that they impact Commander so heavily if we consider their efficiency and modality.

Mythics

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Massacre Wurm called its cousin to play MTG: welcome, Harvester of Misery. It isn't as strong as its cousin, but it does its job well, even more so because it costs one less mana. Both do different things, but they are, both, useful.

It is a good removal for Commander, even more so because we can discard it to remove a unit, and then reanimate it to remove several units at once.

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The iconic Gisa, the Hellraiser has left her mark in this set, and brought us several interesting effects. She protects herself well with her ward 2 and 2 extra life, buffs Zombies and Skeletons, and creates Zombie tokens that take advantage of her buff. It is really easy to trigger her effect, the one that creates tokens, if we consider it is a black card - in this color we practically Commit Crimes all the time.

She might be a great commander, but will also shine in several Zombie decks, just liker her brother, Geralf.

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Tinybones, the Pickpocket is an honorable mention in this list. He might be a fun commander, but I particularly don't believe he will be very popular in this format. To really make him work, we need to force our opponents to mill, discard, or even destroy their cards to extract as much value out of his ability as possible.

Red

Uncommons

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Return the Favor has several modes that copy spells, but what makes it stand out is the effect that copies triggered or activated abilities. An answer against an enemy planeswalker's Ult (which could change the game) can now also be yours, for instance.

Its other mode, which changes the target of a spell, is also quite efficient, particularly for extra turns like Time Warp, which target players. Return the Favor will make your opponents confused very soon.

Rares

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Calamity, Galloping Inferno may see play both as one of the 99 cards and as a commander. The wide variety of creatures it can copy not once, but twice when we Saddle it is broad enough to let us execute absurd play lines.

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Dockside Extortionist, Peregrine Drake, Eternal Witness, Stoneforge Mystic... the sky is the limit. This horse will be galloping through our boards really soon.

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In her newest version, Magda, the Hoardmaster now wanders around the wild west. Even though she isn't as powerful as her previous version, creating Treasures when we Commit Crimes and creating a 4/4 Dragon Scorpion with flying and haste is notable enough to make it stand out among the other cards. She might show up in decks with her previous version, both as a commander and as one of the other 99 cards.

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Great Train Heist is excellent in swarm decks. It gives you an additional combat phase, a buff through first strike, or Treasures to use later. It might even be a finisher at some point in the game, and its mana cost isn't that expensive for what it does. We only need to be careful because, if we choose to have an extra combat phase, we won't have an additional main phase later.

Mythics

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Molten Duplication will be another alternative for the combo involving Dualcaster Mage, like an additional Twinflame. The fact that the token it creates is an artifact makes it even more interesting, considering it will be able to interact with cards that create copies of artifact tokens, for instance. Only time will tell what kind of creative plays we'll execute with Molten Duplication.

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Generous Plunderer gives you a good advantage with the Treasures it creates in your upkeep, even if this does give your opponent a Treasure too. It can deal a lot of damage with its triggered ability if we consider the several artifact decks that exist nowadays. This card might even show up in several decks around, but not a lot of them, as we have better alternatives to create Treasures in Commander, like the iconic Dockside Extortionist.

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Decks that interact directly with exiling cards, like Faldorn, Dread Wolf Herald and Pia Nalaar, Consul of Revival and the like, will love this card. It gives us a good advantage as it lets us cast cards from exile and locks our opponents' hands at the same time. Additionally, the cards exiled will be visible to everyone - so, we'll know what's to come and, therefore, we'll be able to answer our opponents' plays better.

Green

Commons

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Hardbristle Bandit is an honorable mention amidst common cards because it is a mana dork that can easily create more than one mana if we Commit a Crime. It might play in several archetypes, like Golgari or Simic decks, for instance.

Uncommons

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Map the Frontier supports decks that use a desert mana base, or even decks that use budget mana bases from decks with three or more colors, to fix their mana colors when they use this ramp. Considering we got many new deserts (which we'll mention later on), this ramp is quite efficient.

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Rares

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This is another Spree card for our list. It works almost like a Heroic Intervention combined with Tooth and Nail. Incredibly versatile and strong, it might see a lot of play in an infinite number of decks with big creatures, both as a defensive resource and as an offensive resource.

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Spending 4 mana on a 6/5 with trample that can have flash is already excellent. The fact that it is a ramp while it is in the graveyard makes it even better, particularly because it looks for deserts that create colored mana, or the bounce land desert we'll show later on. It will be excellent for Hazezon, Shaper of Sand, and Yuma, Proud Protector as a desert ramp.

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We already may have a combo lying around with Outcaster Trailblazer, considering its ETB creates a mana of any color. It is an excellent creature that will draw us many cards in big creature decks for a cheap cost: only 3 mana. We can also Plot this creature to save our mana for other plays and leave it safe and sound in exile.

Mythics

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Land decks, like Azusa, Lost but Seeking, Kura, the Boundless Sky, Tatyova, Benthic Druid, and similar Landfall decks can all easily use Omenpath Journey. The fact its text specifies "five lands" lets us look for only two or three essential lands, if we don't want to risk losing this enchantment to removals.

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Railway Brawler is quite a buffer, particularly because we can play it with Plot for just 4 mana. Spending 4 mana on a 5/5 creature with reach, trample, and that also buffs other creatures is, at the very least, incredible. It is an incredibly strong card that will easily play in Stompy decks, +1/+1 counter decks, and big creature decks.

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Bristly Bill, Spine Sower is another interesting buffer in decks with +1/+1 counters, like Shalai and Hallar. It also works really well with All Will Be One, and basically any other deck with +1/+1 counters. The fact we don't need to tap it to use its ability makes it even more special.

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Vaultborn Tyrant is basically a The Great Henge that attacks and also tramples. If it is destroyed, it returns as an artifact creature. We'll probably copy it with other cards we've already mentioned.

It can easily play in decks like Dinosaurs, Stompy, big creatures, swarm - there are several archetypes that will extract a lot of value from this card.

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Goldvein Hydra is the definition of "powercreep" in Magic: the Gathering. It has vigilance, trample, haste, and when it dies it creates a number of tapped Treasures that is equal to its power. It is an absurd card that may play in almost any deck with green, particularly with Gargos, Vicious Watcher.

Multicolored

Uncommons

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In graveyard decks, like Muldrotha, the Gravetide, or newer exile decks, like Loot, the Key to Everything, Doc Aurlock, Grizzled Genius will stand out quite a lot. The fact it lowers the cost of the spells in our graveyard or exile by 2 generic mana makes it quite useful in several lists and can even inspire us to build a deck with this card as our commander. Its mana cost is also a bonus.

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Cactusfolk Sureshot seems like a mediocre creature, but giving haste and trample to all our other creatures with power 4 or higher with a 4/4 creature with the bonus of ward 2 is notable. It is a reasonable creature that works in several decks, so it deserves a bit of the spotlight.

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Ruthless Lawbringer works in typal decks, like Edgar Markov, or reanimate decks, like Karador, Ghost Chieftain. For a very easy condition to meet and very little mana, it destroys a non-land target permanent.

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Honest Rutstein reduces the cost of our creature spells and also returns a creature from our graveyard into our hand. It may see play in any Golgari deck, or any deck that uses the graveyard as a resource, because of its versatility.

Rares

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Pillage the Bog surprised me, considering it isn't as common to find, in the Golgari color combination, this effect, which lets you look at the top X cards in your deck and doesn't specify which type of card, like land or creature. The fact that X is double the number of lands we control potentially makes it strong - with 5 lands, for just 2 mana, we'll select one card among 10, which is a lot. Its Plot cost is a bit more expensive, but only because we'll have more lands later on, and so we'll extract more from this card.

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Rakdos Joins Up is a reanimate with a fair cost and strong effect, and it may become a finisher in some lists. There are several types of decks that can even originate from this card, and others that already exist, like Dihada, Binder of Wills or Shanid, Sleepers' Scourge, for instance.

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Annie Joins Up is the Roaming Throne that Jodah, the Unifier was looking for. It is useful as a removal and potentially will trigger legendary creatures an extra time, like Rocco, Cabaretti Caterer, Rocco, Street Chef, Faldorn, Dread Wolf Herald, and several other legendary creatures in lists with 3 or more colors. It will be an incredibly problematic card!

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Akul the Unrepentant already stands out a lot because it is a 5/5 creature that costs 4 mana and has flying and trample. Its effect transforms 3 small creature tokens into a big, problematic creature for your opponents to deal with. We might see a list with this card as our commander, but it appears to be more effective as one of the other 99 cards.

We can use it in some Jund deck to put a Ghalta, Stampede Tyrant on the board and cause a lot of havoc on our tables.

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Nowadays, it is normal for every deck to create tokens, so what's better than just copying these tokens? This is what Kambal, Profiteering Mayor does. Finally, that opponent that creates several tokens with Smothering Tithe or Academy Manufactor will really see the problem these cards can create on the board.

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Its effect only forces your opponent to lose 1 life, regardless of the number of tokens it creates. Still, it has an incredible defensive potential, and may be a different commander who creates tokens and drains your opponents through its ability.

Possible Rare Commanders

We listed all the commanders from this set that may show up from now on, considering every one of these has different mechanics that are attractive enough to encourage someone to build their very own list with new, innovative features and strategies.

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Eriette, the Beguiler shows up again with a mechanic that focuses on enchantments, just like her previous version. This new version enchants and steals your opponent's permanents, which can be quite fun for whoever is piloting her, and quite problematic for whoever is facing her. Other than this, she has a 4/4 body with lifelink - this means she is a blocker that'll guarantee you more resilience throughout the game.

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Obeka, Splitter of Seconds brought a fun strategy that will give us extra upkeep steps according to the damage she deals. Cards like Eldraine's Monarch Courts fit really well into a list with Obeka, just like Palace Siege, Mechanized Production and similar.

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Taii Wakeen, Perfect Shot can be a different, but fun, Burn commander in some list with spells that cost very little mana, and can even play in a spellslinger list. It may also play in lists with Firesong and Sunspeaker, for instance.

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Lilah, Undefeated Slickshot can be the commander of an unusual Izzet deck with multicolored spells, or complement decks like Niv-Mizzet, Supreme or Niv-Mizzet, Reborn, and really scare her opponents.

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Roxanne, Starfall Savant seems quite fun in a deck with artifact tokens, even more so with the colors that let us use Parallel lives and Svella, Ice Shaper. Extra combat phases are also interesting to create even more Meteorites, mana, and deal damage.

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Marchesa, Dealer of Death is almost like a Nymris, Oona's Trickster. It will let you control the game significantly when you Commit Crimes, and has the advantage that you'll also be able to select cards. We can take advantage of the cards in our graveyard in some way, be it with reanimates, Delve cards, or similar: the sky is the limit in a deck with Marchesa, Dealer of Death.

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Bonny Pall, Clearcutter does what he wants to do really well: be a Simic commander. He draws you cards and interacts with lands, which is quite typical of this color combination. If you have 6 lands when you cast this card, you'll use 6 mana to put 12 power on the board, which makes him quite powerful on its own.

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Riku of Many Paths has changed a lot since his previous version. With the great number of Spree spells in this set (which, by the way, are modal spells) plus the vast number of spells like that already in the game, a deck with this card seems, at the very least, interesting.

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When we choose to exile the top cards in our deck, this card lets us cast the cards we exiled and use other cards that interact with this. This can be a sub-theme for a list with it, considering the Temur color combination has many cards that support this mechanic.

Mythics

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The iconic Oko, the Ringleader has returned after years, and his new version has several effects. One of them lets you turn Oko into a copy of any creature you control, which is excellent, and he'll also draw you cards.

His ultimate makes him viable in several decks: Simic decks in general, or planeswalker decks - even though the "legendary rule" is still valid, we can sacrifice the legendary cards we already used to simply use Oko again, and like so use it in several archetypes that fill the board with permanents. Oko can show up in these decks and potentially cause a lot of trouble with his abilities.

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Vraska, the Silencer can be a viable commander, but she seems to be, particularly, better as one of the other 99 cards in your deck. For each enemy creature we remove, we'll be able to steal it for one mana, and this creature will become a tapped Treasure in our board. We can even use Vraska's ability with global removals, and like so prevent our opponents from getting their own creatures back with cards that interact with their graveyard.

Vraska is also a great blocker because of her deathtouch, and being able to access all of this for 3 mana (and have a 3/3 body) gives us some security. In the worst-case scenario, we'll only use these creatures as Treasures to ramp.

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Rakdos, the Muscle interacts really well with creatures like Butcher of Malakir, Merciless Executioner, and Fleshbag Marauder. The ability that gives it indestructible also triggers its first line of text, considering it forces you to sacrifice a card, and this "pseudo-mill" effect removes your opponent's resources while it lets you play any card you exiled this way.

He might be a good commander, but I consider him to be better as one of the other 99 cards in a sacrifice deck like Jund, Mardu, or even Rakdos itself.

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Selvala, Eager Trailblazer got a third version. She creates Mercenary tokens when you cast creatures, and creates a lot of mana with her ability. The Mercenaries she creates grant +1/+0 to any other creature, which will let us create mana with her ability, but even without these counters we can create a lot of value with a well-established board.

Additionally, she is a 4/5 creature with vigilance - she can deal a lot of damage and block well. Selvata might see play in several archetypes that focus on creatures because of her versatility and because she creates tokens, which is critical in swarm token decks, for instance.

Possible Mythic Commanders

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The Gitrog, Ravenous Ride also got a third version, this time as an "official" Mount. If we Saddle it, it will potentially draw us many cards, and also create a lot of mana. We'll definitely use cards like Yargle and Multani, Yargle, Glutton of Urborg, and Zopandrel, Hunger Dominus in this deck to really draw a lot of cards and create a lot of mana. It might be quite popular because it is strong and simple.

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This is one of the strongest, if not the strongest, commander in this set. Ghired, Mirror of the Wilds was released with a color combination that stands out if we consider what this card wants to do. Cards like Twinflame, Molten Duplication, and similar lets us use Ghired's ability to copy creatures like Etali, Primal Conqueror, or Terror of the Peaks, or even combo with cards like Village Bell-Ringer or Midnight Guard. It is definitely an incredibly strong, high-level commander.

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The charismatic Loot, the Key to Everything just had to be in this list. The Temur color combination has many cards that interact with exiled cards, and many of them are in this set. It might not be a memorable deck, but it can create a significant amount of value as time goes on. It is worth testing some build that focuses on exiling cards and playing extra lands to extract as much value as we can from this cute creature.

Colorless

Uncommons

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Lavaspur Boots are another piece of footwear we have in Commander, alongside Lightning Greaves and Swiftfoot Boots. Its ward 1 might not be as efficient as cloak or hexproof respectively, but, considering it costs one mana, and its equip cost is cheap, it is quite viable in this format.

Decks that normally already use the other boots might as well use Lavaspur Boots because of its haste and protection.

Mythics

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We got another combo-centric card: Transmutation Font. Its effect, which searches for an artifact in particular if we sacrifice 3 artifact tokens with different names, is easy to use in Commander, particularly with Academy Manufactor.

It can tutor a finisher or finish the game just with itself, Academy Manufactor, and Clock of Omens. As this is a colorless combo, this card can also play in any artifact deck. You can expect to see this card quite frequently on your tables.

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The newest addition to our collection of cards related to Lotus cards is Lotus Ring. We decided to include it here more because of how nostalgic Lotuses are, considering it doesn't seem as extraordinary as you'd think. +3/+3, vigilance, and creating 3 mana of a color for the cost of sacrificing the creature it is equipped to seems good, but we don't know exactly in which deck it is good. Only time will tell which deck Lotus Ring will play in.

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We thought the cycle of 3 mana swords was complete now because we already had all 10 color combinations, but then Sword of Wealth and Power came along. It gives us protection against instants and sorceries.

This is a viable sword that ramps with Treasure tokens and copies the next instant spell or sorcery you play that turn - this means it lets us play another turn with some Time Warp or Nexus of Fate, or even copy a finisher like Torment of Hailfire or Exsanguinate with a reasonably sized X.

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Sword of Wealth and Power earned its honorable mention here because it is another sword in this cycle, considering we don't know exactly in which deck it will create value.

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Lost Jitte caught many players by surprise. I believe no one expected to get a new Jitte, even more one that only costs 1 mana to cast and 1 mana to equip. Its modes are quite distinct, and the two first modes stand out, in a certain way. After all, in a format in which lands like Cabal Coffers, Baldur's Gate, and Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx are popular, untapping them to create even more value definitely stands out.

I can see this Jitte in proliferate decks, to extract even more value from its abilities, considering we can activate them as many times as we want. Decks that need evasion will really enjoy Jitte too.

Lands

Commons

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All two-color deserts are interesting additions in Commander, particularly for the Hazezon, Shaper of Sand deck. For a deck with one of the new commanders, like Yuma, Proud Protector, they'll also be quite relevant to fix your mana curve and play relatively stress-free in this sense.

We might find, in the future, some deck that uses these deserts that isn't a Naya deck, considering cards like Map the Frontier look for two deserts, and we'll be able to search for these lands with this spell as well.

Uncommons

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Another viable addition to this variety of deserts is Arid Archway, a desert bounce land that we can also look for with Map the Frontier. One of the features that makes it stand out is precisely because we can look for it with other spells, considering that, for 4 mana, with Map the Frontier we can look for Arid Archway and another desert to fix our mana curve and ramp efficiently. We can even then surveil 1 if we return another desert to our hand.

Mythics

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Fomori Vault is the newest staple for artifact decks. Decks with Treasure, Food, Blood, and Clue tokens that create dozens of these tokens can access a wide selection of cards with Fomori Vault, and like so look for answers or even finishers that cost 3 colorless mana and discard any other card.

The fact that the card we'll discard doesn't need to be of a specific type makes Fomori Vault even better.

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This is a peculiar land, to be honest, but it will probably see a bit of play. Alone, it can virtually create up to 4 mana (if we have the mana we need to activate it) in 5-color decks, for instance. In decks with three colors or more, it's worth testing. Mirari's Wake can create an extra mana with Tarnation Vista - so it extracts even more value from this card.

Final Words

This set as a whole was quite cool! I even thought it was better than Murders at Karlov Manor, particularly in terms of how varied our commanders can be. The previous set brought creatures that are even viable, but Outlaws of Thunder Junction really surprised me with their diverse creatures, and incredible, different mechanics.

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See you next time!