The second new set in 2020, the year of Commander, will soon be stomping its way to your tables. Full of the kind of giant monsters and epic-level spells that the format is known for, Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths is exactly the kind of not-necessarily-made-for-Commander set that fans of the 100-card decks are going to love.
I’ll break down the whole set, one color at a time, highlighting cards that will be particularly impactful for the format or might suggest interesting builds and synergies. Each color will get a grade and a set of Top 3 picks. Remember that this is a review for Commander only. Some of these cards will be very good in other formats but might not get a mention here. Since we covered the Commander 2020 decks last week, I’ll only mention any of those new cards should they happen to appear in the main set as well.
We won’t go into too many mechanics and rules details on the set here. The addition of keyword counters is new to the set and will take some getting used to. Mutate isn’t nearly as difficult as it seems, and soon it’ll be old hat. I’ll save the administrative stuff for Monday, April 20, as we’ll go to press earlier next week to coincide with our quarterly rules update. We’ll discuss in more detail the Commander Rules Committee’s decisions and motivations based on this set.
White
The mutate cost is reasonable for a 3/5 that brings two 1/1 friends with it. I suspect you’ll most likely be playing it in a tribal deck.
A card that caused quite an uproar when it was previewed, it definitely prevents opponents from casting their commanders from the command zone. It will be a strong STAX card that dies relatively easily. It will keep some strategies in check, but it isn’t anywhere near the threat to the format that some commenters have claimed it will be.
A neat idea for your Soldier deck, but you’ll have to be careful that you don’t also hurt yourself by choosing the odd or even value which will prevent you from equipping, enchanting, or otherwise doing something that you want to do.
A solid creature to begin with, and the triggered ability makes it very strong. Your non-flying creatures getting a second chance at life and their enters-the-battlefield triggered abilities provide you strong opportunity to recover from sweepers. The fact that they have counters instead of a static ability—which can be removed—makes the ability even better.
The Mythos cards would fit better in the multicolored section, since they have their wedge’s color identity due to the mana symbols in the text box. We’ll list them under their primary color so that they don’t get lost. If you’re casting Mythos of Snapdax in a non-emergency situation (meaning you have the right mana), you’ll be putting yourself in the driver’s seat. The things you keep are going to be much better than the things everyone else. The card is strong without being busted.
The Anthem for your Humans is by itself okay, although there are less narrow choices. Tapping two of your creatures to tap down one of your opponents’ is expensive, so Sanctuary Lockdown will be at best a situational card.
Just like me, I suspect the first card you thought of was Blasphemous Act. You can clear the battlefield and then have an enormous flying Bird Goat to do some serious damage with.
A cool variant on exiling a creature inexpensively. I predict Swallow Whole is the first new sorcery I try to cast as an instant while I’m on someone’s stream.
Top 3:
Grade: C. Top 3 are good, not great, and the density is low.
Blue
A new tool for your sea monster decks. I’m a fan of tapping down dangerous things and keeping there. Getting a 7/7 with a good ability plus whatever you mutate it with for only six mana is a solid rate.
I worry a little bit about going too far all in on a mutate stack, but Dreamtail Heron mitigates some of the risk by replacing itself.
Astral Slide-light in blue makes an appearance. Unlike its cousin, this one is more about the blinking shenanigans than saving anything from sweepers—plus you have to pay for it instead of getting a free trigger. It’s not a straight-up swap for Astral Slide, but there’s no reason you can’t have both.
It’s Commander and you’re playing blue. You’ll have that flying creature, and even if you don’t, there are plenty of things that need to get bounced. You can’t use it to protect your own stuff, so it’s more of an offensive weapon than a defensive one. The simple truth is the card draw makes the difference between the card being playable and not.
The jury is still out on Keep Safe. There’s certainly targeted removal in the format, so when this is important it’s really important—then there’s that card draw again. Whether or not you play the card is likely dependent on the type of environment you’re in. If you frequently need spells that will counter a bunch of different kinds of things, then the slot is better dedicated to a hard counter. Remember that if a spell has multiple targets and only one of them is yours, Keep Safe still applies. I’m giving it a whirl simply due to the fact that it replaces itself.
I was scrolling right past the card until I saw “and loses all abilities.” Now it becomes worth exploring.
Boom goes the dynamite! There are so many great creatures in the format to copy, and then you have the power to level even more destruction by using the appropriate colors of mana. Obvious targets include Acidic Slime or anything with deathtouch, but you’re not limited to copying just creatures. If someone has a saucy permanent of any kind, you can have a copy too. A four-mana Akroma’s Memorial sounds nice.
A nice story-driven card suggested by the “partner with” pairs in the Commander decks. You’ll be able to set up the card to work especially based on your choice of commander. Drawing two for one mana is quite strong.
One of the criticisms of sea monster decks is that they’re all so expensive to cast. Ominous Seas gets you there for lots less mana with just an investment in time. With so many proliferate tricks running around, like Roalesk, Apex Hybrid, you can cut that time down quite a bit. Note that unlike the Zendikar Quests, you don’t have to sacrifice Ominous Seas. It stays around to make more.
Making a creature unblockable is potentially lethal for someone, especially when it’s your commander. An excellent common for Limited, certainly a playable one in a Commander deck.
The best part of this Frog is it doesn’t matter whether or not you’re mutating, just that the creature has it. The downside is that the trigger isn’t optional, so the card is likely going into a deck with the specific purpose of looting for value.
Flash, alongside the easily splashable cost, is what makes Pouncing Shoreshark playable. It becomes a great combat trick, especially if you’re mutating something small. You can easily get two-for-one value here.
I don’t need to tell you that drawing cards is good. Reconnaissance Mission is a strict upgrade to Coastal Piracy, but in a way that doesn’t break things. Power creep happens; it’s the only way the game survives. Very slow power creep like this is better in the long run.
More combat tricks for very low cost. The mutate cost of 1U is so cheap here you can probably play this in your Ninja deck to get extra advantage from the creature that will keep battling instead of returning to your hand.
Yeah, yeah. It’s a little expensive, but if you’re in a heavy noncreature deck, it’s full of value and doesn’t die to a Wrath of God like Talrand, Sky Summoner does. In a pinch, the cycling ability can give you a relatively big flying creature.
The adorableness factor is high. Maybe too high. Maybe it’ll help people forget Lutri.
Flashing in a 5/4 to counter a big creature or artifact spell is a huge turn of the tables. For the same amount of mana, I might consider Desertion an alternative choice—if the thing is larger, you get better value. You’ll want this in your blink deck or those with Deadeye Navigator for the repeatability.
Top 3:
- Mythos of Illuna
- Pouncing Shoreshark
- Voracious Greatshark
Grade: B. The density is outstanding, but the top cards aren’t what we’re used to in blue (which maybe even isn’t a complaint).
Black
The enchantment version of Zulaport Cuthroat will hang around when someone sweeps away your army to keep on giving (or taking, as the case may be). I find the mana cost especially tight.
I want this one to be playable because of the counter removal, but it’s probably too pricey. If you’re going to hate on counters, play Thief of Blood.
Drawing a card is what really gets me excited about Bushmeat Poacher. I generally like my sacrifice outlets to not cost mana (or tapping), but I think that particular ship has sailed design-wise. I’ll pay one mana for a card any day.
At first I thought it was an expensive Fleshbag Marauder, but a second reading, which included finding the words “each opponent,” made things much better.
The mutate cost is a little high (although it needs to be because of flash), so you’re probably better off adding some other creature with a lower mutate onto Dirge Bat in order to get the trigger.
Now we’re talking! The first thing that came to mind was playing Extinction Event in a Yennett, Cryptic Sovereign deck. Sure, you can’t cast it for free off the Yennett trigger, but you can draw it and then wipe out a pile of stuff that doesn’t belong to you.
A clever throwback to other Hunted creatures from days long past, Hunted Nightmare is strongest when your opponents don’t have creatures in the first place—or they already have creatures with deathtouch. Note that the target of the ability is the player, not the creature.
A sweet, sweet design. The wording feels a little awkward, but you get the point. If you spend WBG, you can destroy any nonland permanent. If you don’t, you can destroy a creature. The fact that it’s an instant just next-levels it.
Top 3:
Grade: B. Low density, but the Top 3 are thoroughly exciting.
Red
Phoenix Tribal can be a thing now. There are 24 of them, and you can do quite a number of graveyard tricks. We’ve come a long way since the days of Counter Phoenix. A long way.
For one mana, this looks worthwhile. Trample and haste don’t usually come all that cheaply, and both are killers.
Lukka is all about getting to that ultimate ability. He comes onto the battlefield with five counters already, so it’s not a stretch to get to seven on the first turn with some decent proliferate abilities. Excepting that, the other two abilities seem like nice build-arounds as well. The first one gives the ability to the cards themselves, so if you lose Lukka and recast him, you can still cast them. The -2 ability turns tokens into something better. With a little top of the library control, you can get exactly what you want or need. All of them together make this a compelling choice of any number of creature-heavy decks.
The weakest of the Mythos cards, it’s still decent for the four mana. Locking down up to five things for those four mana could be the difference between winning and losing. You have less flexibility since it’s a sorcery, but this juice is definitely worth the squeeze.
The Cyclone turns a card draw into a card plus mana to cast it. Seems reasonable. It’s a relatively narrow thing to build around, but I look forward to seeing what clever uses folks can make of it.
The whole cycling thing is a fun hoop to try to jump through, and if it’s in your opening or early hand probably the right call. Later, you could just hard-cast this 8/8 haste trampler for seven mana and swing a very big beatstick.
Top 3:
Grade: F. The color looks fine for other formats. It’s a big fail for us — and it needs to be repeated that that’s okay. Not every card needs to be made for Commander. Plus, we all know there are more than enough things in this set for us, some of them even with red in them.
Green
An Elk people won’t hate on! Even if you’re just playing Auspicious Starrix in your non-mutate deck, turning something small into a 6/6 plus another permanent is well worth the six mana.
This will go down as one of the most impactful cards in the set, and it’s a three-mana uncommon. There are reasons Return to Dust gets played, and one of those reasons is powerful enchantments. Because it’s up to three, you have the flexibility in case you need to punch out of a really dangerous situation. Love this card.
The Timmiest card in the set. I expect that we’ll see loads of this card at the most casual of tables and maybe even a few others. There are plenty of ways to untap creatures for no mana, like with Kiora’s Follower. Perhaps Sovereigns of Lost Alara has something to search up instead of just Eldrazi Conscription.
Slotting right into dredge and other graveyard decks, Excavation Mole gets the motors running early.
The card is okay, but the name and imagery are top-shelf.
As we’ve discussed there are always plenty of artifact and enchantment targets in need of being destroyed. Then there’s adding reach and trample to another creature for just 1GG. It’s a Beast, so it goes straight into your Contested Cliffs deck.
The straightforward combo with Hornbash Mentor is Nylea, God of the Hunt, or Surrak Dragonclaw if you’re being really cheeky. Sure, it renders the trample counter redundant, but then you get to spread counters everywhere. That trample counter will also help out your otherwise non-tramply commander in dealing out some serious beatings.
A great design that captures King Kong thematically well, Kogla is just strong. Being able to destroy artifacts and enchantments every time you attack with a beefy creature is already powerful. Being able to get indestructible by returning a Human (like Eternal Witness) to your hand makes it even moreso.
Another strict upgrade, this time from Explosive Vegetation. Again, it’s a nice buff without just giving in to power creep. I’d rather see the card have cycling or scry than to cost one less.
In this story, you get to decide what the past was (the Entomb effect) and then decide what the future will be. Making what you return a permanent prevents the kind of brokenness that recurring instants and sorceries can lead to.
Excess damage is one of the best ideas to come along in a while. I came across it when I was working in R&D last year and had some great conversations about its implementation with Ikoria lead designer Dave Humpherys. When you have Lord of Extinction on the battlefield and want to kill one player and another’s creature, accept no substitute.
For most of the history of Magic, Fogs have been symmetrical. I’m okay with the direction we’re taking with cards like Arachnogenesis and now Thwart the Enemy, one-sided combat tricks that can end up as huge blowouts.
Like Krosan Tusker, this is a creature you rarely hard-cast; you just cycle and wait for the reanimation spell later. This one is even better because, well, it’s huge and has trample.
That -2 ability is so sweet. It’s a good thing Mike and Trike (Mikaeus, the Unhallowed and Triskelion) both cost six. Ashen Rider into Angel of Despair is more my speed, but there are quite a few game-ending combos here. Assuming you have a sacrifice outlet, Woodfall Primus into Melira, Sylvok Outcast (or anything else that lets Primus come back while eliminating the -1/-1 counter) will dominate a battlefield. You might even have the creature you want to cast to start the pair off on top of your library.
Top 3:
Grade: A. The top cards are nice, and the density is good.
Multicolored
At first, Back for More might seem expensive. Reconsidering what it does and when (it’s an instant), the cost is justified. You return any creature from your graveyard to the battlefield and then if you want it to, it’ll fight something. As a combat trick or simple end-step value play, you’re getting back something really good while taking out a creature that needs to go. In my mind, I already see tricks with this card that trigger other tricks, such as returning Sepulchral Primordial or Puppeteer Clique to the battlefield.
Clearly meant as one of the 99 instead of commanding the deck, Brokkos slots right into your Muldrotha decks, meaning you can cast a creature via Muldrotha and then Brokkos using its own ability. Even in other Sultai or Sultai-plus decks, a 6/6 trampler for five is a comfy ride on the value train.
Sometimes the cards in your hand aren’t the ones you want or need. Channeled Force gives you opportunity for some big rummaging while also taking care of a problematic creature or planeswalker.
Starting the work begun by Bounty Hunter way back in Tempest times and continued by Mathas, Fiend Seeker, Chevill is a neat build-around that’ll get you figuring out how to spread bounty counters around. Equip Chevill with Pathway Arrows and you have repeatable creature removal, since it natively has deathtouch, making that one damage lethal. Your mini-machine gun also serves as a lifegain and card draw engine.
There’s so much going on in this inexpensive package. It fuels your self-mill strategy while protecting you from all-out graveyard hate by creating some small recursion loop. Then, if someone tries to get rid of it for doing exactly what you want it to do, at least you can gain some life. Very cool design.
Holy Living Death on steroids! Sure, seven-mana, all-specific-color spells should be strong, but this shifting into a whole new gear. This is certainly my favorite card from Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths. It’s going to lead to some huge, epic finishes, and hopefully in unexpected ways. The question I’m going to keep asking myself is where the knee in the value curve is. Do I want another turn or two to get more stuff in the graveyard and risk getting blown out by Bojuka Bog? Unlike some of the other Ultimatums in Ikoria, this one doesn’t exile itself. This is one of the great Commander cards of all time.
Casting stuff for free tends to make broken stuff happen. There are likely numerous game-ending three-card piles to search up here, putting whoever chooses into a bind. It’s also a political card. You might need two different spells to get yourself and the rest of the table out of a tight spot, so you have an opponent who is at least a temporary ally do the choosing.
Human tribal that takes care of graveyards and hunts big monsters? General Kudro is Big Game Hunter all grown up. He’s a build-around commander that gives you loads of flexibility in how you want to approach your problems. Strong design.
More like General’s protector, but this is a certain addition to that General Kudro deck. In just Orzhov, you have Ravos, Soultender; Aryel, Knight of Windgrace; the Teysas; and Tymna the Weaver. Expanding out to the shards and wedges, you’re going to find plenty of places to include the Enforcer. Favorite choice: Queen Marchesa.
There are going to be times that you kind of whiff with Genesis Ultimatum, but since you’ve put it into a deck with loads of permanents, those will be few and far between. And it’s not really a whiff when you get to put the cards that didn’t go onto the battlefield into your hand.
I swear my Temur problem is going to get worse. Illuna slots into any number of decks as well as providing value from out of the command zone. With other decks from Ikoria to build, I’ll probably choose the former with no regrets.
It’s simple, but it’s strong. It feels like something each of the colors do individually, not something that’s particularly Jeskai. The three red might be onerous for some decks, so pay attention to your color fixing.
I frequently defend designers pushing power levels as necessary for the game to move into the future, but this one sets off alarm bells. It’s not Prophet of Kruphix good, and it’s certainly not bannable, but it’s going to get lots of attention. Kinnan is going to play well in Standard and Modern. It’s going to become one of those kill-on-sight cards in Commander.
Finally a Narset card that’s not just straight-up broken. The first two abilities are quite useful and the ultimate is good without being a game-ender. The art is pretty saucy, too.
In most cases, when you mutate, you might be getting a cool ability but the cost is setting yourself up to get two-for-one’d with targeted removal. In Orzhov and W/B/x, the risk is more acceptable since you’re likely to be playing recursion anyway.
I’d play a lifelink, deathtouch 5/5 for five in my favorite color combination without too much thought. The somewhat expensive mutate ability will be worth everything you pay for it. Once again, I’m thinking of a chain of events that happen—black Primordal, power six; Puppeteer Clique, power three. That still leaves room for a utility creature—or anything with zero power, like Phantom Nishoba.
It’s the Coiling Oracle trigger in an activated ability! If you want some real fun, mutate this onto King Macar, the Gold-Cursed.
Good free upside, with a downside that’s not down at all. Well worth the small mana investment.
You only get one new Dino per combat, but you know it’s happening most of the time because that’s what the Dino deck does. You’re also in colors that make Warstorm Surge a real possibility. You certainly don’t need a Dinosaur deck to make use of Quartzwood Crasher. You can use it with creatures that have the native ability or cards that give all your creatures trample, like Nylea, God of the Hunt or Crowned Ceratok. Sometimes that Dinosaur is going to be immense.
Obviously slotting right into your cycling decks, Rielle also provides strong value in your looting and rummaging decks. She’s going to end up strong offensively as well. Will we see the emergence of Runechanter’s Pike in Commander?
No, it’s not getting banned. Yes, it’s winning some games for people. Seven mana seems like a pretty good point for powerful cards, and it’s only powerful if your opponents actually have lots of stuff that needs to get blown up. Mardu also needs the help.
I’m telling you, speculation on Kangee, Aerie Keeper is going to happen. Bird tribal is going to be a thing.
Be careful about the ability to cast things as though they have flash, like with Leyline of Anticipation and Vedalken Orrery. Don’t confuse it for things actually having flash. Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir is an example of an ability that gives cards flash. The former won’t trigger Slitherwisp; the latter will.
The danger point when you see Snapdax as a commander is when they mutate it onto something larger. Double strike can make commanders deadly in very short order.
Everyone’s experience reading this card is similar. They read the first two abilities and can’t help but scream about how busted it is. Then they get to the third, and breathe a huge sigh of relief. It still has possibilities, but you’re going to have to work harder to make them realities.
We love Dinosaur Cats and all, but other than Vadrok being on rate, I don’t see much that compels me to want to play it.
The old-schooler in me automatically thinks “Great. The control player casts a counterspell and then replaces it.” It’s even better than that these days.
More of the great “person and their animal sidekick” story interwoven throughout Ikoria, what limits Winota from being busted in half is the fact that you have to include both Humans and non-Humans in your build. The possibilities are robust.
Again, actually having flash is important here. While costing one less is fine, the can’t be countered clause is what’s most important on this card.
The X cost is a nice self-limiter to keep the card from being Birthing Pod bonkers. Still, I like it a great deal, since it’s most always going to be way bigger for me than the two mana would suggest.
Viable as a commander, companion, or just in the deck. My first instinct is to run it as part of the team in a Lazav, Dimir Mastermind or The Mimeoplasm deck. You could run it as companion in the former, not the latter.
Self-limiting in both the companion construction and inability to use the WUBRG mana to pay generic costs, I’m extremely curious to see how other folks would build a deck with Jegantha as a companion and thoroughly uninterested in doing it myself.
One of the easier companions to build a coherent deck around, since all of those tribes save Nightmare are already popular. You have to really commit to the theme (so no Solemn Simulacrum, for example), but that’s not all that much of a downside. Might be the companion that I make a run at building a new deck for.
Another one that fits in with any of the three angles. I think building a coherent deck with the companion restriction won’t be as easy as some folks are making it out to be. I don’t need this one to be a companion; its triggered ability fits the kinds of decks I play anyway.
Only playable as a companion in a deck led by Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim or Karlov of the Ghost Council. I think we’ll see plenty of Lurrus as one of the 99.
Another compelling build-around companion, I’m still more likely to run it without the restriction. I mean, Malignus alone is worth it, right?
Make no mistake, this card will end games. Proud Wildbonder is the Gruul equivalent of Sun Quan, Lord of Wu in that potential blockers simply don’t matter.
Making a creature deck for this to companion could be okay, but even for someone like me who loves creatures, it could be a bit much. Absolutely playable as a commander, and building a card type-heavy deck isn’t out of bounds. I might include it as one of 99 in my Glissa, the Traitor deck just to make casting artifacts cheaper.
Yorion isn’t banned in Commander, but is unplayable as a companion due to the deck size rule. It’s a great card otherwise, either to be in a deck or lead one. It doesn’t have flash, but you can use cards like Vedalken Orrery or Quicksilver Amulet to get around that if you need to. There will be shenanigans with this card.
You definitely don’t need Zirda to be your companion for it to be strong. There are plenty of activated abilities in Boros colors that you’ll want to reduce the cost of.
Top 3:
- Eerie Ultimatum
- Kinnan, Bonder Prodigy
- Nethroi, Apex of Death
Grade: A+. More than makes up for some of the issues with individual colors.
Artifact, Colorless, and Land
There aren’t enough in this category to grade and pick tops for. The story is all about the Triomes: Indatha Triome, Ketria Triome, Raugarin Triome, Savai Triome, and Zagoth Triome. They’re lands with three land types, so they’re fetchable and searchable. Even better, they have cycling, so if you really don’t need them in the late game, they’re not a dead draw.
Giving every color access to smoothing out their land situation is a good move in my book. We need more cards like this, Wayfarer’s Bauble, and Mycosynth Wellspring. Every color getting ramp might not be great, but every color making sure they hit all their land drops is.
You’ll end up with the slightly unusual situation of having multiple types of counters on The Ozolith, but that’s not so difficult to deal with. The Ozolith is inexpensive protection for your +1/+1 counters decks. If someone plays a board sweeper, the creatures might go away, but the counters move over to The Ozolith, which can mean a considerable amount of power. Combine with a hasty creature, especially a commander, and you could be dealing out some one-shot kills.
Overall Set Grade: A
While there are some missteps with some of the individual colors, the set as a whole hits high marks for Commander players. Between these and the Ikoria Commander / Commander 2020 cards, you’ll have loads of new choices. The number of potential commanders is high and offers an number of compelling frontiers to explore. I have a feeling they’ll keep you busy brewing for quite a while.
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