Magic players have many times to celebrate. Every set release provides a host of new toys to try. With Kaldesh available now, we have a lot of changes for Commander. Many formats only pay attention to a small card pool, but not our format. Commander has every door open, and any card has potential for decks. The obvious fun aspect of this time of the year is the new legendary creatures.
However, talking about Kaladesh commanders now is pretty much just beating a Ghoulsteed. It’s a dead horse. Reddit, forums, Twitter, and other writers at nearly every site for Magic have discussed the new commanders. You don’t need me adding to that cacophony. Instead, I want to discuss the how Kaladesh can breathe new life into different Commander decks.
New Themes and New Toys
The easiest way to take advantage of the new cards available is with the themes they present. For example, we have Vehicles. We had a couple of ships with Predator, Flagship and Skeleton Ship, but nothing that really conveyed the feeling of a Vehicle. Until now, that is. The Fast and the Furious is a franchise built on showing off tuned-up cars. We can now create decks based around The Fast and the Furious movies!
If you want to use the new Vehicles with a different theme, Mad Max provides many options for Commander too. Just imagine what you can create with the four Mad Max movies inspiring decks. Weapons, fuel, scraping by in survival, mercenary work, and more are prevalent in the films. Vengeance is always a good option for themes.
We also have the themes of rebellion in Kaladesh if you mix this with the coalition themes from Invasion block and have a really cool deck that pays homage to Star Wars. The Consulate-based cards could provide an interesting backbone for an Imperial decklist. Skysovereign, Consul Flagship serving as a flagship Star Destroyer amuses me to no end.
Should you dislike Star Wars (how can you?), then you can always build a deck where giant robots battle alien horrors. Pacific Rim for a theme would let a player use Constructs, specifically the Gearhulk cycle, as Jaegers, and Eldrazi creatures as Kaiju.
The Gearhulks provide an enormous opportunity for Commander players. They are still affordable, are Inventions for people who want a deck so shiny it can be seen from space, and they provide great return for Commander decks. (Technically foils are reflective, as they don’t produce light, but shiny is the colloquial phrase to use.)
Oh, and the cards are giant robots too. Beyond all the value and the strategy is the emotional high of windmill-slamming one of these creatures onto the table. The jaded player may grumble about a bad flip off a Combustible Gearhulk, but the newer players will leap out of their seats to drop the Noxious Gearhulk for a key creature kill or the Combustible Gearhulk with a hope to hit the right mana cost to remove a player from the game.
Don’t downplay others’ joy. It is really easy to fixate on getting blown out by the Torrential Gearhulk, but remember how amazing this story is for your opponent. We all want those moments of triumph, so let them have it and do your best to be a good sport about a crushing defeat.
New Takes on Older Cards
Another use for the new cards is to find new options for older commanders. Every new set offers a chance to change up decks. Perhaps a commander that was boring to you is now more intriguing. King Macar, the Gold-Cursed is a commander with an interesting ability, but I never felt a real desire to build anything around him. Kaladesh offers some juicy ways to make use of King Macar without building a deck aiming to machine-gun every creature off the table. Plus, this allows a King Macar, the Gold-Cursed deck to provide more pressure while enabling his effect. A Macar racing deck just sounds fun. You don’t need to let everyone know how often you plan to exile their creatures.
Daretti, Scrap Savant players are jumping for joy with a new artifact block. Solemn Simulacrum is a great creature to sacrifice or bring back with Daretti, Scrap Savant. Filigree Familiar may not do as much as its older sibling, but recurring two life and an extra card with Goblin Welder is a sure way to gain a lead. Truth be told, every player running an artifact-heavy deck is hyped for all the new toys. Even decks with a smaller focus on artifacts like the Filigree Familiar; a Sun Titan can bring it back for a second round of value. The little Fox that could may be one of the biggest impacts for Commander and most people will pass right by it.
The newest Junk Diver variant is Workshop Assistant. This little common is a ticket to Value Town aboard the Card Advantage Express.
Did anyone miss Aetherflux Reservoir during the set’s preview season? I hope not. This card generated a lot of excitement for artifact decks, lifegain decks, and storm decks. I personally think the card isn’t great for a storm deck when the storm cards are a win condition, but you can use your cards however you want. Aetherflux Reservoir enables lifegain decks to blast a player out of the game; Karlov of the Ghost Council decks in particular are sure to be excited. The deck can get aggressive with Karlov and then take down two players at once to end the game with Aetherflux Reservoir.
Oloro decks may use this, but they already have oodles of extort options. Sydri, Galvanic Genius seems a more viable choice to bet on. If a Sydri deck can get above 50 life with Aetherflux Reservoir out and WUB open, an animated Aetherflux Reservoir will loop damage to win the game. Pay 50 life, deal 50 damage, lifelink gains you 50 life, repeat. This is not a creative method of winning, but it is easy enough to pull this off quickly with mana rocks and tutors. The first time this happens, it will be fun; if an opponent does it every single time, start running hate. Stigma Lasher; Leyline of Punishment; Erebos, God of the Dead; and Sulfuric Vortex can all help curb the Sydri decks from firing this off with extreme regularity.
Other decks found new toys in this set. Several cards get +1/+1 counters, and every commander deck that cares about them got more options. Marath, Will of the Wild and Ghave, Guru of Spores have two new friends with Armorcraft Judge and Durable Handicraft. Drawing cards is welcomed at all points of a game; drawing cards for doing things the deck wanted to do naturally is living the easy life. Add Cathars’ Crusade for tons of fun and the most irritating triggers possible in real-life Magic. You will run out of dice.
Durable Handicraft is a little bit like Hardened Scales or Juniper Order Ranger; you get more value for just playing. Aside from the obvious counter-based commanders, decks that have the option of going wide but also like attacking with huge creatures get double duty out of the new Fabricate mechanic. The creatures get beefy or bring friends, all based on whatever you need at the time. Versatility should not be underestimated! This mechanic is great for Commander.
Uncommon Quality
Many players gravitate to rare and mythic rare cards. These are almost always the biggest and splashiest effects for a set: new planeswalkers, new legendary creatures, new tournament quality cards. But for Commander decks, synergy and redundancy are often more useful than raw power. Uncommon cards are a boon for this. Functional reprints are extremely rare or nonexistent at higher rarities. Uncommons bring redundancy.
Uncommons also bring workhorse cards. Shriekmaw is a great card, but rarely is it the linchpin for a successful deck. Yet how often has Shriekmaw been a card that helps you get into a better position to win the game?
Aerial Responder is a good example of the workhorse cards available in Kaladesh. The new Vampire Nighthawk may not be as good defensively, but the card will provide plenty of beats if cast early. The lifelink effect is the reason to run this card; vigilance is just gravy. Further, white decks are typically loaded with spare Equipment or Auras to help turn this Dwarf Soldier into Gimli, Son of Gloin. (Ignore the film versions; in the books, Gimli was a definitive badass.)
There are plenty of uncommons that will help your deck rise above the competition. Take a gander at Cloudblazer in any deck that cares about enters-the-battlefield effects. Ceremonious Rejection is handy against artifacts and Eldrazi that may be plaguing your tables. Fairgrounds Warden is another Fiend Hunter effect, always welcome. Foundry Inspector is a great Cloud Key effect for artifact-based decks.
Refurbish and Restoration Gearsmith can provide a little extra recursion or, for the Gearsmith, lead a new Pauper deck to victory. While bringing back artifacts, Underhanded Designs can keep draining opponents and giving you a bit of a life buffer for an artifact deck. If that deck also uses Aetherflux Reservoir, the life boost ensures that you can activate the Reservoir immediately.
Underhanded Designs is going to do a lot more than people expect with mana rocks, Equipment, artifact creatures, and big payoff artifacts like Caged Sun or Darksteel Colossus. Morbid Curiosity is great card advantage for trading in a late-game mana rock or a big creature that no longer is pulling the weight needed. I’d sacrifice a Tombstalker to Morbid Curiosity for seven cards.
If you like tokens, then I suggest you look at Whirlermaker and Whirler Virtuoso. Whirler Virtuoso may take little bit of work, but with some bounce or blink shenanigans, you can easily create a 1/1 Thopter token regularly. Cards that aid in getting Energy will be of more use for the Virtuoso.
Whirlermaker is a bit inefficient, but few cards create flying tokens. Many decks that are heavy on counterspells will spend turns with mana open but not use it to counter a single spell. Whirlermaker provides an outlet to do something productive on those unproductive turns. Flying critters can attack and block, and they are artifacts for any cards that care about how many artifacts you have out.
If you have a deck using both of these, Quicksmith Genius can keep cards flowing and help you ditch cards that are stuck in your hand. Bonus points for madness or Flashback cards letting you get even more value from all the artifacts entering the battlefield.
Sometimes uncommons give us tools like Unlicensed Disintegration. Kill a creature, no drawback, instant speed. The card will often have a built in Lightning Bolt. If commander players are passing on this card, I’m not sure what I can say to help you. Does your deck like answers? Do you like value? Run this card!
Departing Thoughts
Each new set gives us an extra holiday in a way. How are you celebrating the release of Kaladesh? Do the rares let your creative thoughts flow, or do some of the uncommons and commons have you hyped?