As we await card preview season to officially kick off for the upcoming set, Phyrexia: All Will Be One, Commander fans get a treat in the shape of an all-reprint set released just this weekend, Dominaria Remastered! An all-reprint set brings us an opportunity to get more affordable versions of cards for our Commander decks. In that spirit, I’ve gone through the entire list and pulled together all the cards that look like ones you might consider picking up.
Keep in mind that I am not a Magic finance guru, and my advice is purely as a Commander fan who wants everyone to be able to pick up the cards they want for their decks! These cards’ Dominaria Remastered prices already seem to be significantly cheaper than previous versions’ price points. They may even drop further as more and more packs are opened and singles are put up for sale. If you’ve held off picking up copies of these cards due to prices, check out what they’re going for now and stock up if the price is right for you! Let’s check them out.
Swords to Plowshares
Swords to Plowshares has been printed an astonishingly large number of times, somewhere north of 50 I believe, and even as a non-rare it’s been hard to find it for less than two dollars until now. Swords to Plowshares has been the gold standard creature removal spell since the very beginning of Magic: one mana, instant speed, and exile the creature, for the very negligible drawback of its controller gaining life equal to its power.
Its tournament-level pedigree is indisputable, but it’s also an incredible card in Commander, where sometimes you need a cheap and flexible answer to a problem creature that might otherwise cause you pain. Will the price remain this cheap as time passes? History suggests the price of such a quality spell will eventually rebound, so if you’ve got any decks that need one, snag them now!
Nature’s Lore
There are two green ramp spells that cost two green mana and can (sometimes) recoup you half the mana you spend right away: Three Visits and Nature’s Lore. Both of them have the bonus of being able to search up any Forest card, not just a basic land, so you can get an Overgrown Tomb, a Ketria Triome, a Spara’s Headquarters, a Highland Forest, or a Tropical Island if you roll that way. That’s not just ramp, but it’s also incredible color fixing.
Nature’s Lore has had a few more reprints than Three Visits, but it still cost a few dollars before showing up in Dominaria Remastered. Your multicolored green decks are going to want one of these in the 99.
Sylvan Library
While Sylvan Library still isn’t cheap, the Dominaria Remastered printings are as cheap as they’ve been in a while, so if you’ve got some store credit burning a hole in your pocket or some trade stock on hand, now is a decent time to snag a copy for your green Commander deck. Combining this with ways to shuffle your library can make you feel like you’re casting a free Brainstorm each turn.
Paying four or eight life per turn to draw extra cards can add up to a lot of pain over the turns, but the first few times you do it in Commander with a starting life total of 40 feel amazing. There are also plenty of ways to recoup your life loss in green decks, and since Sylvan Library is cheap to cast and easily splashable, it’s easy to include in all sorts of strategies.
Enemy Checklands
The enemy checklands have had a few reprints, but their value as incredible color-fixing in Commander has kept their price robust until Dominaria Remastered, where you can pick these up for two dollars or under. If you’ve held off snagging some of these because of the cost, now is a great time to scoop them up. I use these in any two- or three-color deck to help assemble a solid Commander manabase.
Wrath of God
Wrath of God is another amazing white removal spell that’s a staple for most white Commander decks, and demand has kept this north of five dollars for a long while. I love seeing them available for less than that now so more people can afford to grab a copy or two for their decks.
Exploration
Exploration is a fantastic card for any Commander deck that draws a fair number of cards over multiple turns, letting you convert raw card drawing into more land drops, which in turn let you cast more of those spells. It’s particularly nice in enchantment-themed decks that can steamroll card advantage, since it’s an enchantment itself. The original Urza’s Saga version has been quite expensive for a long while, and despite being reprinted a few times before, only the new versions from Dominaria Remastered have the cost much more reasonable for those who are budget-conscious.
Maze of Ith
I’ve been playing with and against Maze of Ith in casual decks since The Dark came out in 1994, and I’ve watched the price inch up constantly over the years despite reprints in a few Masters sets. While it’s a little slow for powered Commander decks since it costs you a land drop and doesn’t (usually) tap for mana, it’s still a fun card in more casual Commander pods.
You can use it to persuade someone’s large creature to attack someone else, or you can play politics by saving another player from a big attacker. You can even use it to untap one of your attacking creatures after damage has been dealt but you’re still in your attack step if you need a blocker. The copies from Dominaria Remastered are much more affordable than they’ve been of late, so if you’ve been waiting to grab one, check out the prices now.
Mesa Enchantress
A great card-drawing piece in white-based enchantments decks, Mesa Enchantress had jumped up in price to a few dollars in recent years, so it’s awesome to see the Dominaria Remastered versions available for cheaper. Enchantment decks are constantly getting good cards every year, so it’s probably worth snagging a copy now even if you don’t currently have an enchantment deck. A hot new enchantment-oriented legend printed in the future might ignite your interest!
Sneak Attack
Sneak Attack has tournament pedigree as a powerful card, and there are tons of potent things you can do with it in Commander. I run a copy in my Feldon of the Third Path deck, since I’ve got some large creatures I’d love to copy with Feldon and Sneak Attack is a great way to get those creatures into my graveyard for cheap.
Beyond large creatures with enters-the-battlefield or dies triggers, it’s a nice way to make use of a powerful attack trigger right away from something like Etali, Primal Storm. It’s also bonkers with something like Miirym, Sentinel Wyrm which will trigger from using Sneak Attack to put a Dragon card onto the battlefield. The card has been $20-$30 for a while, so I’m glad that the new copies entering the market will be much cheaper for those who’ve been wanting ones for their decks.
Dark Depths
Dark Depths is another card with tournament pedigree that probably doesn’t see as much Commander play due to its previous price point. Granted, a 20/20 indestructible flyer isn’t nearly as game-ending in a four-player game where everyone starts at 40 life as it is in a tournament game, but it still feels pretty good to have a Marit Lage token on your side of the battlefield. Erinis, Gloom Stalker is one of the cool new cards from 2022 and it’s the perfect commander for Dark Depths shenanigans.
Lyra Dawnbringer
Angel decks got a lot of love over the past few years, culminating with Giada, Font of Hope from Streets of New Capenna. But any Angel deck is going to want to have a copy of Lyra Dawnbringer either as the commander or in the 99 and it has been a bit of a pricey hole to fill until Dominaria Remastered.
Pashalik Mons
Pashalik Mons is a great card for any Goblin deck, so since its printing in Modern Horizons, it has been creeping up north of $2 for most of last year. Not exactly a budget-buster, but it’s nice to be able to scoop it up so cheap now, sacrificing and making Goblins to your heart’s content!
Stroke of Genius
I’d like to give a shout-out to Stroke of Genius, an old-school card draw spell that doesn’t seem to see much play in Commander decks these days. Though eminently splashable, according to EDHREC, it only appears in 1% of potential decks and that’s a shame. If your blue deck has a bunch of mana ramp or the ability to generate a bunch of temporary mana, consider sliding a Stroke of Genius into your decklist. It can even be an instant-speed way to kill an opponent who might have gotten a little too cute with the self-mill!
Kamahl, Fist of Krosa
With only one reprint since Onslaught, Kamahl, Fist of Krosa was definitely overdue for another reprint. I don’t see it played too often in Commander these days, but maybe now players might reconsider, especially in budget builds. The Overrun ability gets a lot of attention, but it’s worth remembering that the first ability can animate anyone’s land; I’ve used this to punish control players who rely too heavily on battlefield sweepers, forcing them to lose a handful of their own lands in the exchange.
Test of Endurance
This alternate win condition card hasn’t had a reprint since its debut in Judgment, and since the price crept north of ten dollars a few years back, a reprint is most welcome. Enchantment synergies are quite potent these days, and those decks often have ways to gain life, such as Sythis, Harvest’s Hand and Archon of Sun’s Grace, so Test of Endurance can be a real angle of attack for such a deck.
Cryptic Gateway
Another card that hadn’t had a reprint before, this Onslaught gem does a lot of work in tribal decks that have a higher mana curve than Elves or Goblins. Big monsters like Dragons, Dinosaurs, or Angels spring to mind, but more mid-range tribes like Vampires, Cats or even Humans can make use of a mana-free activation to put a creature card from your hand onto the battlefield. Keep in mind the Cryptic Gateway is doing the tapping, so the creatures on the battlefield can have summoning sickness and still contribute to the activation!
Nut Collector
Ever since Chatterfang, Squirrel General was printed in Modern Horizons 2, any sort of Squirrel card printed in Magic’s history has become red-hot. While Nut Collector is clunky and slow, it still creates Squirrel tokens during your upkeep and potentially pumps your Squirrel army if you’ve got threshold. If you’ve got a Squirrel deck, you probably want Nut Collector for it, and thanks to Dominaria Remastered it’s much, much cheaper to scoop up.
Last Chance
While this is a worse version of Final Fortune, if you’re in the market for cheap ways to take an extra turn and have some way to mitigate the drawback (for instance, just winning on your extra turn), then having another copy to add to redundancy to your deck might be just the ticket. Prior to Dominaria Remastered there weren’t all that many copies out there, having only been printed in Starter 1999, Portal, and in a Secret Lair, so thanks, Wizards of the Coast (WotC)!
Xira Arien
Lastly, I’d like to shout-out Xira Arien, a cool legend from the original Legends that had only been reprinted in Chronicles. And while the Chronicles version has long been dirt-cheap, if white-bordered cards bother you, you can now rejoice in dirt-cheap black-border copies from Dominaria Remastered. There’s even an old-bordered-style frame that’s pretty close to the original Legends version.
I hope you’ve found this information useful. I know I myself was pleasantly surprised to see how many great Commander staples were reprinted in this set and are now much more affordable to add to your collection. Which cards will you be picking up for your Commander decks?
Talk to Me
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And lastly, I just want to say: let us love each other and stay healthy and happy.
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