I am a simple person. I see a Magic: The Gathering set, I enjoy it. You show me cowboy hats, horsies, and people going yeehaw? I’m all in. So as you can imagine, Outlaws of Thunder Junction was a match made in heaven! Since I am bucking excited (get it, like a bucking bronco?), I thought it would be fun to share with you city folk some of my favorite cards from the rootinest, tootinest set this side of the multiverse.
Let’s start with the love of my life, the fruit of my loom: Gisa. I absolutely love the design of this card. In fact, I love this card so much, not only did I create a deck around it, but I wrote an article about it last week.
This design takes a color identity that I found to be quite boring and transformed it into something fun and interesting for me. I really enjoy the fact that this commander really encourages interaction in a format that often tends to ignore it in favor of other fun synergies that align more with their deck theme. Gisa encourages you to commit crimes on other people’s turns, and in doing so, you get to create zombie tokens. These tokens enter the battlefield tapped and have menace, but they also get a buff off of our commander, since she is a lord. It’s also worth mentioning that I love this commander because she has probably the most insane ward cost I’ve seen. Paying two mana is one thing, but also having to pay two life alongside it is another thing that I think takes his commander to an insane level. It makes her incredibly annoying and powerful, which is definitely a reason I enjoy her so much.
Next on the list, we have Riku. Words cannot even begin to describe how much I enjoy this creature. I’ve never been one to seek out Temur cards, as I never found the color combination to be enticing (I think Animar was the nail in the coffin for me), but I think Riku’s design is incredibly refreshing and makes me want to take another stab at it. What has me so enamored with this particular card, is that it feels like the legendary creature designs we used to see 10 years ago. They were jank, unique, and weird. They took a very interesting subtype of card, mechanic, or creature type, and turned it into something that could be possible given enough time, dedication, and elbow grease while deck building. The concept of making a synergistic commander around modal spells really inspires me. This commander gives value to both expensive spells and bulk jank alike. From Cryptic Command to the handful of charms that you keep in the back of your trade binder, there’s an exciting elegance about this commander that makes me want to expand my color palette.
I opened Rush of Dread in my sealed pool during prerelease weekend. Upon seeing that it was my rare, I felt a set of mixed emotions. I was incredibly excited, because I thought this card was absolutely insane, and the value only increased the further I read the card. I was incredibly enamored with each and every spree cost. I was disappointed however, because I knew that this card was not going to work for me in Limited. The cost was just too high and I knew that I wanted to be greedy and do it all. Thankfully, I got to experience this card’s power at its fullest after sliding it in my Gisa, the Hellraiser Commander deck. I really enjoy the fact that you can choose your own adventure with this card. It is everything a black deck wants to do whether that be sacrifice, life loss, or discard. What really baffles me, is how cheap those incremental costs are in a game of Commander. For just six mana, you can make your opponent lose half their life (rounded up), and have them sacrifice half their creatures. That can be a death sentence in the right deck, and I would know since I run it in the right deck. This card is so incredibly fun to play and if you have a black Commander deck, I highly suggest tossing it in, even if just for a game. After resolving it once, you’ll see why I enjoy this spell so much.
I’ll admit it – this one did surprise me. Why you may ask? Well, it’s no surprise to anybody that I really dislike kindred synergies. I find them to be incredibly linear and more often than not, they play pretty much the same no matter what pod you’re in. I don’t find that to be a fault of the theme, it’s just my personal preference. Despite this linearity, it cannot be denied that there is an intense amount of power within kindred synergies. So color me surprised when I find myself being enticed by a kindred commander.
Full disclosure, I genuinely think the reason why I love this card so much is because of the art and plane-specific creature. Kirri is a tiny sentient cactus baby and I would die for him. The moment I saw the art for this card, I knew I was going to be obsessed with it. This of course was an issue, because I knew that I wanted to build around this card. Normally that would be an incredibly exciting thing to hear, but due to my distain for kindred decks, I knew for a fact that if I built it in paper it would see maybe one or two games before I inevitably took it apart. Kirri focuses on Plants and Treefolk and allows you to return either of those creatures or a land from your graveyard to your hand. While this is an incredibly cool ability, I find it to be not particularly powerful, especially when compared to the face commander from the deck this card comes from. Still, I find myself really enjoying Kirri, and if I’m being honest, this article is about my favorite cards from Outlaws of Thunder Junction, not the most powerful or optimal cards. I’m allowed to like bad things just like I’m allowed to enjoy Nickelback and Hinder. Kindred style decks are the dad rock of Commander, and that’s ok.
I personally consider it a crime that I have yet to pull this card from a booster pack. Memory Vessel is such an interesting and weird piece that I find myself being drawn back to every time I look at cards from The Big Score. When looking at The Big Score, I feel as though people are more drawn to cards like Sword of Wealth and Power, Loot, the Key to Everything, or Vaultborn Tyrant. Truthfully, I don’t judge them for that. Those cards are powerful and eye-catching, but there’s something so interesting about Memory Vessel. Maybe it’s because it reminds me of Wheel of Fortune. I do have a wheels deck, although I don’t think I would run this card in there.
While it doesn’t exactly draw you cards, it does allow you to almost get a new hand in a roundabout sort of way, thanks to the fact that this card exiles those cards from the top of your library (and your opponents’ libraries). I think it’s the fact that there’s a restriction on this card, particularly the restriction that you and your opponents cannot play cards from your hands until your next turn. It harkens back to a time in card design when there were weird, quirky drawbacks to powerful pieces. It just reminds me of cards we used to see 10 years ago and I love that. Don’t get me wrong, the cost of this spell is high: you have to exile it, it can only be activated as a sorcery, and it makes it so that your hand is limited for a turn. All of these qualities make it seem like such an unattractive card, but to me, it’s what draws me in – what makes it so exciting and special. This is probably one of the cheapest cards from The Big Score, but I love it so much. Like I said earlier, a card doesn’t have to be good for me to enjoy it. I like to view cards like this as one of those hidden object posters – If I stare at it long enough, I just know things are going to fall in place and I’ll be able to crack the code and make this card the powerhouse it truly deserves to be.
Like What You Like
After reading this, I guarantee that a lot of you will not find these cards to be the most powerful or the most optimal cards from the set. And I like that. Everyone has different archetypes and strategies that spark joy within them. Storm players might dislike the kindred Kirri card, while the optimal players might dislike Riku as an option for a Temur commander. Zombie players might prefer a different commander than Gisa, and black players might prefer Death Cloud over Rush of Dread. What I love the most, is that we have so many options and so many new and exciting takes and twists on designs. While I may have my gripes about the set here and there, I find myself really enjoying it, because certain aspects of it take me back to a time when I first started playing. I find it hard to capture nostalgia like that, which is why I wanted to share with y’all my favorite cards from the set.
Let me know what you think of my selections and let me know what your favorite cards from the set are. Happy high-nooning, deckbuilders!
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