Evaluating cards from new sets for Commander is different than evaluating them for Limited and other Constructed formats. Primarily it’s because new releases create new archetypes and new necessities based on the smaller number of cards available. In Eternal formats, new cards don’t often define new decks; they simply fit into existing ones. Occasionally there’s a new build-around General (like Olivia Voldaren or Geist of Saint Traft from Innistrad), but for the most part, we’re just figuring out where we’re going to find space for some new cards. I’m going to talk about cards that I’m definitely finding space for, some that I’m going to try to work in somewhere, and some ideas on how to make good use of a few others.
Flavor-wise, Dark Ascension is a fitting follow-up to Innistrad. I think it’s going to make less of a splash on Commander than Innistrad did. There are some great cards for the format, but the density of them in this set is far lower than its predecessor.
WHITE
Archangel’s Light: This is one I want to find space for but I’m not quite sure where. If you’re in Green as well as White, you just play Praetor’s Counsel for the same CMC. You obviously don’t want in your opening grip, but in a late game situation, 30-50 life can make a huge difference.
Curse of Exhaustion: At first blush, it seems like a card to keep combo guy from going off, but I imagine it’s more of a tool for control players. It means they only have to counter one thing per turn, since you can’t cast something in response to their response.
Increasing Devotion: There are already a great number of token decks, and what Dark Ascension will likely bring us is more White/Black token decks. I initially considered this for Rith, but that’s a Soldier token deck and these are definitely Humans. I will say that I like the “if this was cast from a graveyard” mechanic, and in EDH, there are numerous ways besides Flashback to cast things from the yard.
Requiem Angel: Since I have an Angel Tribal deck (Karador, Ghost Chieftain), this is going right in, most likely replacing Shattered Angel. It’s a fat Flying Angel that gives you some protection from board sweepers, perhaps even taking some of the sting out of having to use one yourself.
Sudden Disappearance: In addition to the obvious use of just clearing the path of blockers, I can see this getting played in any kind of deck that makes use of Vedalken Orrery/Leyline of Anticipation so that you’re the only person that recovers from a Wrath effect. It’s obviously a token-killer, which may increase its value in the near term as people jump to take advantage of some of the token strategies that this set offers. Don’t underestimate its use in decks that have a large number of creatures with “enters the battlefield triggers.” You can also use it to attack, blink your guys, and have them available to play defense. This is an excellent card which I’m going to try to fit into either Karador or Phelddagrif.
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben: She’s a Soldier, and she’s going into Rith in exchange for Essence of the Wild, which ended up being jankier than I wanted it to be. I suspect she’s going to see a good deal more play in Standard, but I’m going to give her the chance here as well.
Thraben Doomsayer: Ghost Council of Orzhova just wet itself. Fateful Hour is far less likely to be a factor in this format than it will be in others.
BLUE
Beguiler of Wills: This is a Mythic Rare? That complaint aside, I can see it in a dedicated Layer 1/Layer 2 deck, but it seems a little fragile.
Bone to Ash: This card got me thinking about replacing Overwhelming Intellect, but then I realized that would be underwhelming, intellectually speaking.
Call to the Kindred: I like cards that let you put permanents onto the battlefield at no cost, but Auras are notoriously fragile since the creature can get killed. Obviously, this needs to be in some kind of Tribal deck, and it can’t be Merfolk since the creatures are so cheap anyway, you’d rather just have some kind of consistent card draw. Maybe Zombies? Seems iffy.
Counterlash: Six mana counterspells have to stand up to the scrutiny of Spelljack or the aforementioned Overwhelming Intellect, and this one seems like it might be able to. When you counter a fatty to get a fatty, you’re basically paying six for something that probably costs more than six, so there’s value. Counterlash to dump Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre onto the table seems like a pretty good beating.
Curse of Echoes: Seems like Hive Mind that you can’t force people into bad situations with. I can see this getting special play in local groups where there is an unpopular player. With each player being able to blow back something on the Cursed guy, this might be a great “social control” card.
Dungeon Geists: I imagine the Spirit decks are going to be White/Black, although I imagine there’s an Esper version in the making somewhere. I might try to fit this into Ruhan, although Frost Titan is just better at what it does.
Geralf’s Mindcrusher: It’s a Zombie and it’s Undying, which is a recipe for success in Lord of Tresserhorn, since I can sacrifice it to the enters-the-battlefield trigger and it’ll come back! (By the way, I just found out that at some time in the past, I set up an AutoCorrect to type out enters-the-battlefield when I type “etb” although I have no memory of actually doing it.) It will likely replace Filth, which is a decent card, just not a Zombie.
Havengul Runebinder: This card is a good example of the difference between EDH and Standard. In this format, we’re not much willing to exile our own stuff to do anything. We might need it later.
Increasing Confusion: Obviously a blowout in Limited, and I imagine there will be some effort to work it into Standard. About the only Commander decks I can see this getting played in are those that feature The Mimeoplasm. I don’t think it’ll end up in mine because I see more effective uses of resources. I suppose it could go into an infinite mana combo that empties someone’s library, but if you’re going to do that there are better cards.
Mystic Retrieval: Zedruu the Greathearted decks are going to play this for sure. If I were to put this into Ruhan, I’d probably take out Captain’s Maneuver, which has been a little disappointing so far.
Saving Grasp: OK, here’s the thing. People will try to touch your stuff. Here’s a way to tell them to keep their meat hooks off. Probably going into Phelddagrif for Bear Umbra, which is a card that engenders a fair amount of panic when you resolve it.
Tower Geist: A strictly less good Sea Gate Oracle. Sure, it flies and has one more on the power end, but that’s hardly (in this format) worth the extra mana.
BLACK
Deadly Allure: I was excited about the Deathtouch for one mana (the must be blocked is mostly meh) until I saw it was a Sorcery. Super-meh.
Fiend of the Shadows: I haven’t heard much chatter about this card, but it’s one of my favorites. The worst-case scenario is you exile a dangerous spell or get to drop a land. I also love the “Vampires sacrifice Humans to do stuff” mechanic. I wonder if there’s an R&D code name for that.
Geralf’s Messenger: Zombies don’t block anyway, so why do you care if he comes in tapped? With the undying ability, I’m sure there’s a combo somewhere involving this, Hex Parasite, and a sac outlet. If I were to put him into the Lord of Tresserhorn deck, he’d probably replace Yixlid Jailer, which has been a pretty consistent letdown.
Gravecrawler: The Bloodghast of this Standard environment, I can imagine Gravecrawler getting a little play as part of some crazy Bog Initiate/Ashnod’s Altar combo. Otherwise, I doubt we’ll see it in EDH.
Harrowing Journey: Ambition’s Cost is one mana cheaper, and you can pick it up right here on Starcitygames.com for a dollar.
Increasing Ambition: I really like the Increasing idea, but as Tutors go, this is really pricey.
Mikaeus, the Unhallowed: This card is insane!!! There is no downside to this guy. He’s definitely going into Lord of Tresserhorn (he’s a Zombie for crying out loud!) and into Kresh, probably taking out Creakwood Liege. “Um, I’ll sacrifice Lord of Extinction…and he comes back.” Obscene. This card is absolutely obscene.
Tragic Slip: In this format, I’m not much for one-for-one cards, but for one black mana to be able to kill every targetable creature in the format (I’m looking at you, Ulamog) is serious value. I’ll try to wedge it into Thraximundar somewhere since creatures are always dying when that deck gets played.
Zombie Apocalypse: Of course it’s going into Lord of Tresserhorn, likely for Rise from the Grave since it’s so much better for only one more mana—although Stroke of Genius might come out. That card always seems to just sit in my hand in that deck. Remember that if you’re playing any Changelings, they’re going to come back and then get immediately destroyed.
RED
Alpha Brawl: I’m totally playing this in Ruhan, dreaming of the day I can cast it while Repercussion is in play. The downside is that it only targets one player despite being only one cheaper than Plague Wind.
Blood Feud: I like the fight mechanic and I like the idea of using this to make creatures of two different opponents battle each other, but the card is a tad pricey.
Faithless Looting: During the GP Orlando coverage, we had a bunch of different pros in the booth looking over and commenting on the existing spoiler. Every time we got to this card, each of them gushed. Discarding giant thing and drawing Reanimate isn’t awful.
Flayer of the Hatebound: He’s a Devil so less likely to find a spot in Lord of Tresserhorn, but Kresh is all over this spicy meatball. Even a modest Living Death is likely lethal.
Hellrider: Any Red deck that plays Avenger of Zendikar loves this guy. And he’s hasty!
Increasing Vengeance: My first thought was that there is some Pyromancer Ascension combo with this in Modern. It certainly has a place in EDH. I’d consider it in Ruhan, but Reiterate seems superior.
Mondronen Shaman/Tovolar’s Magehunter: I love the Magehunter side, but I think there’s virtually no way that this gets transformed.
Moonveil Dragon: Firebreathing my whole team? I’m in! Now it’s just a matter of finding the right deck for it. Makes me think that I really do need to change Karrthus off of the Beast deck, replace it with Adun Oakenshield, and then build some kind of Karrthus Dragon deck (that will look nothing like a Scion deck).
Shattered Perception: I haven’t seen a Niv-Mizzet/Mindmoil deck in a while, but this card seems like it could resurrect them. Alternately, it could lead to some recursion strategies, not to mention its value with Madness (although Big Game Hunter is the only Madness card I recall seeing in EDH).
Clinging Mists: If for some reason you can’t find a Spore Cloud (there are 88 of them in stock as I’m writing this), then Clinging Mists might be okay. Again, I think that the Fateful Hour mechanic isn’t going to see much action in EDH, although maybe someone with a crazy Lich deck could take advantage of it.
Crushing Vines: Spells that have Modes and give you good choices are always interesting. In nearly every game I’ve ever played, this would not be a dead card. Decree of Silence is coming out of Phelddagrif, so this card has at least that spot.
Dawntreader Elk: It’s tough to consider this an upgrade to Sakura-Tribe Elder (which you can get in foil for less than four dollars here), since the higher power doesn’t mean much and having to pay the mana to activate it slows you down another turn.
Feed the Pack: Oh yeah! Kresh is drooling over this one. It means even more opportunity for all-out offense, then sacrifice the creature to create some defense, trigger Stalking Vengeance and/or Butcher of Malakir, buff up Kresh, and have extras to sacrifice to Goblin Bombardment. Hot sauce. This card will replace Darksteel Plate. I would love to see someone build a Naya Wolf/Werewolf deck that uses this to transform Humans (the kind that can’t already transform) into Wolves. That would be flavor.
Ghoultree: I really want to try to get this guy into Karador, but his lack of evasion or trample makes me sad.
Grim Flowering: This is the kind of card you have to think about the math of before putting it into a deck. It’s true that EDH decks often have pretty big graveyards, but I wonder if the surer result of Harmonize is worthwhile. I’d give Grim Flowering a chance, but I’d be consciously aware of the graveyard hate.
Increasing Savagery: I’m giving this some thought in Animar, although it might be a “win more” card.
Lost in the Woods: One of the best flavor cards ever, I want this to be better than it actually is. It might be some good defense in a mono-Green deck, but when do they ever actually play defense? I looked at my Intet deck, which has some “top of library control,” and with only eleven Forests the value seems kind of low. I guess with enough mana you could activate Sensei’s Divining Top a sufficient number of times, but in the end, it’s a little pricey without giving major value. I’d consider playing it at 2G or 1GG, and would without a doubt play it at 1G or GG. Considering the creatures come back into play untapped and triggering any abilities, you might actually be doing your opponents a favor.
Predator Ooze: I like this creature so much for Animar (+1/+1 counters matter) that I’m taking out Myojin of Seeing Winds to make room for it.
OTHER
Diregraf Captain: Lord of Tresserhorn and his Zombies gets another great weapon. He combos with Tombstone Stairwell like a boss. Ashen Ghoul has probably seen his last days in the deck, his non-foilyness being part of it.
Drogskol Captain: There’s a Spirit deck coming, and this guy will be a major part of it. I’m just waiting for someone to get blown out by Aether Shockwave.
Drogskol Reaver: If this card sees much play, it’ll be in EDH. His 3/5 body isn’t all that great for seven mana, but his other abilities put him right over the top. I’m not sure at the moment where he’d go (probably Phelddagrif), but I’d like to find him a home. He might be worthwhile enough to make me think about putting Merieke back together.
Falkenrath Aristocrat: In a dedicated Vampire deck, especially one that runs Butcher of Malakir and/or Grave Pact, the Aristocrat gets play.
Havengul Lich: He’s a Lich—but he’s a Zombie too! It was interesting talking to the pros about this guy. About half of them focused on the first part of his ability—actually getting to cast stuff out of other people’s graveyards, while the other half focused on the second part. The Zombie deck is getting crowded with new creatures, so I think I’ll have to take out Phthisis to make room. Don’t get me wrong, I love Phthisis, but I have it in a few other decks and Zombies gotta be Zombies. One of the reasons I really love this card is that you have to play it. You can’t just drop it on the table and have it do something. You have to make choices, and especially when there are significant variables, you have the opportunity for both great success and great failure.
Immerwolf: There’s the Tribal deck starter. I’d love to see someone raw dog a Wolf-only, or at least non-Werewolf Wolf deck, but I doubt it’ll happen.
Sorin, Lord of Innistrad: I really hate to be a bandwagon-jumper, but this is clearly one of the best cards in the set for multiple formats, including Commander. His big ability is the splashy, obvious game-changing one, but the emblem ability may be the best since you can pop it off right away and it stays around the whole game. If you have a way to recur him several times, watch out. He’ll go into Karador for the very janky Quicksilver Amulet, but I also think I’m finding enough reasons to rebuild Merieke.
Stromkirk Captain: The Vampire tribal deck keeps getting better.
Elbrus, the Binding Blade: Elbrus is not playable as a Commander, and its color identity is Black. The reason is the same as Genju of the Realm—it’s not a Legendary Creature in its normal form. Your local group is welcome to make an exception if you like, but officially Elbrus is a no-go. That said, getting him transformed seems like a pretty good beating, especially since he has the Blood Tyrant clause.
Grafdigger’s Cage: I’ve already heard the complaints of woe and doom that this card will bring to the format, and I have to disagree. For sure, it shuts down some decks—Karador just cries—but it doesn’t seem like it shuts them down any worse than Tormod’s Crypt does. I like stylish decks that do “a thing,” but I think it can’t be the only thing the deck does. The more one-dimensional your strategy is, the more protection you need. I actually like the fact that this card underscores the idea that you need to pack artifact removal. Something else the card does is level the playing field. Cards have a mana cost, which generally represents a fair balance of resource allocation vs. power. The thing is that we have many ways of getting around those mana costs. Grafdigger’s Cage keeps us from cheating out things. I think it’s a fine card that will actually be good for the format.
Helvault: This card is a better Synod’s Sanctum. I’m a fan of saving something that’s about to get blown up. Use this in response to Akroma’s Vengeance, and you’ll end up with a guy when no one else has one. I like its mana cost and its activation cost. I doubt I’d use its seven mana activation unless I was in serious trouble, or something like Kresh had a big pile of counters I wanted to get rid of.
Grim Backwoods: Going straight into Kresh, replacing the now-redundant Skarrg, the Rage Pits (because of Kessig Wolf Run). Â
Vault of the Archangel: YOW!!! Karador lives on creatures. The Vault makes them kind of absurd.
My personal Top 5 from the set for the format are:
The big changes in the major decks look like this:
Kresh: In—Grim Backwoods; Mikaeus, the Unhallowed; Flayer of the Hatebound; Feed the Pack. Out—Darksteel Plate, Skargg, the Rage Pits, Creakwood Liege, Scrabbling Claws.
Lord of Tresserhorn: In— Geralf’s Mindcrusher; Geralf’s Messenger; Mikaeus, the Unhallowed; Zombie Apocalypse; Diregraf Captain; Havengul Lich. Out—Filth; Yixlid Jailer; Jhessian Zombies; Rise from the Grave; Ashen Ghoul; Phthisis.
Karador: In—Requiem Angel; Sorin, Lord of Innistrad; Vault of the Archangel. Out—Shattered Angel; Quicksilver Amulet; Plains.
Phelddagrif: In—Saving Grasp; Crushing Vines. Out—Bear Umbra; Decree of Silence
Animar: In—Predator Ooze. Out—Myojin of Seeing Winds.
I’m going to work with some of the other decks to see what can come and go.
Dark Ascension has a number of cards that are pretty awesome for Commander. It clearly helps a few existing tribes, most notably Zombies and Vampires, while at least planting the seeds of new ones, namely Spirits and possibly Werewolves. We’ll see what new ways to Embrace the Chaos shake out of it.