Commander Review: Kaladesh Part 2 (Red, Green, Colorless, Multi-Color, Lands)
Magic's newest expansion set, Kaladesh, has now been fully spoiled. You can check out the full card list here and part 1 of my Commander review here. Now to continue where we left off!
RED
Cathartic Reunion
Red has a lot of "looter" cards, most notably Faithless Looting and Tormenting Voice. These are alright cards if you're playing it just for card filtering. I've run them in some Mono Red and Boros decks to pitch excess lands for more action. I prefer Looting over Voice in most cases, because it cycles through more cards and has flashback, but both are reasonable inclusions.
Things get a lot more interesting if you're taking advantage of their discard abilities, using it as a madness enabler (e.g. Asylum Visitor) and/or fueling graveyard strategies (e.g. Reanimate). That's when looter cards get really sweet.
Cathartic Reunion joins our arsenal of looter cards, and personally I think it's one of the best looters available. It cycles more than Tormenting Voice, and while it doesn't have flashback like Faithless Looting, seeing 3(!) new cards for only 2 mana is amazing. For this reason I expect Cathartic Reunion to be the best of the three, a strong option for card filtering, and a serious enabler for Madness/Reanimator decks.
Chandra, Pyrogenius
Chandra, Pyrogenius is pretty much Chandra Nalaar 2.0, the same abilities with some minor tweaks. Her +2 now scales in multiplayer settings and her -3 is less flexible but more cost-efficient (a worthy trade). Her ultimate is weaker, dealing less damage and taking an extra turn to be ready, but her other two abilities are stronger and will usually be more relevant.
As I always say about planeswalkers in Commander, they are inherently weaker in a multiplayer because they are slow threats that all your opponents will want removed at the first opportunity. Planeswalkers need a few turns to be worth casting, but it's harder to defend planeswalkers in Commander than it is in 1v1 situations.
Chandra, Pyrogenius doesn't really help you defend her, nor does she have any great immediate payoff. She's great if left alone, which she won't be, but I doubt you'll get enough value out of her in most games to be worth running.
In most Red decks, I wouldn't recommend running her. In Superfriends decks that are designed to protect your planeswalkers, she's an okay inclusion, but there's other Chandras that I still prefer over her, like Chandra, Flamecaller, Chandra, Pyromaster, and the next card I'm going to talk about...
Chandra, Torch of Defiance
When Chandra, Torch of Defiance was first previewed, I was firmly in the "Red Jace, the Mind Sculptor" camp. She does everything I'd ever want a Red planeswalker to do and she's clearly one of the most pushed planeswalkers ever printed. However, I've since mellowed out on her, and while I think she's clearly a good card, I have no idea how she will play out in Standard / Modern.
In Commander, Chandra, Torch of Defiance is most comparable to Outpost Siege: both are going to be used primarily to draw you cards. Chandra has more flexibility, being able to also ping opponents / planeswalkers, ramp, kill creatures, and sometimes even pull off her devastating ultimate, but that all comes with the inherent drawback of being a planeswalker in a multiplayer format; she's going to be removed from the board generally a lot quicker than Outpost Siege will be.
In Mono Red and Boros decks that hurt for good card draw, I think Chandra, Torch of Defiance is a solid inclusion alongside Outpost Siege. Her extra flexibility makes up for her extra fragility.
In Superfriends decks that are built around protecting planeswalkers, Chandra is a superb inclusion, and my pick for the very best Chandra available to the archetype. With Doubling Season out, she can immediately ultimate (and survive), which doesn't immediately win the game, but pretty much seals it if your opponent's can't deal with you within a turn or two.
Combustible Gearhulk
Browbeat is a bad card in Commander: drawing 3 cards for 3 mana (in Red!) is amazing, but the problem is that any opponent can agree to take 5 damage instead, and someone sitting pretty at 30+ life will deny you the card draw. And obviously Lava Axe is a terrible card in Commander, even a 3-cmc version.
Combustible Gearhulk, on the other hand, is very good. First off, it's a 6/6 first strike artifact creature for 6-cmc. That's a serious threat in Commander. You can also cheat around its casting cost with stuff like Reanimate and Goblin Welder for shenanigans.
Then we come to its "Browbeat" ability, which instead of saying "any player," the gearhulk says "target opponent," and that makes all the difference in making sure we draw 3 cards. Either we find someone who will let us draw 3 cards by saying something like, "if you let me draw three then I will take care of a mutual threat," or we can choose an opponent at a low life total that wouldn't be too keen on taking 10+ damage to the face if they don't let us draw.
So essentially, Combustible Gearhulk is a 6/6 first strike artifact creature with an ETB that draws you 3 cards, for 6-cmc. That's amazing in any Red deck. Add some shenanigans like Goblin Welder and you've got an all-star. This is my favorite gearhulk of the entire cycle.
Fateful Showdown
Fateful Showdown is a removal / win con + wheel, which isn't good in any random Red deck, but absolutely amazing in Wheel and Madness decks. Decks like Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind are hungry for ways to draw tons of cards, and killing a creature in the process is a great deal. In a deck like Mizzix of the Izmagnus, you can casually draw 30+ cards off a Blue Sun's Zenith and use Fateful Showdown to finish off an opponent.
Fateful Showdown is a niche card, but is very potent in the few decks that take advantage of everything the card does.
Madcap Experiment
Madcap Experiment is just begging to be built around. I expect to see some sweet jank decks abusing this card, not because it's good, but because they can. What sweet synergies work with Madcap Experiment? I'm not sure. Obviously putting a Blightsteel Colossus on top of your library with Enlightened Tutor is amazing, especially if you give it haste with Anger or something else. Or you make sure your artifact(s) are at the bottom of your library and somehow redirect all the damage you take. I don't know. If you have some sweet ideas, let me know in the comments!
Pia Nalaar
The first thing that came to mind when I saw Pia Nalaar is the good ol' Nim Deathmantle + Ashnod's Altar combo. She pulls off the loop just like Beetleback Chief and others, but instead of producing infinite mana or infinite token creatures, she's 3-cmc which is about as mana-light as you can get for the loop, if that's important to you.
Combo aside, Pia Nalaar is an okay inclusion in aggressive Artifact decks, which currently don't exist. Jor Kadeen, the Prevailer, maybe?
Reckless Fireweaver
Reckless Fireweaver is another low-cmc combo piece looking for a home. If you have some way to have an artifact enter the battlefield an infinite number of times, this is how you turn that loop into an actual win condition.
Off the top of my head, one deck that fits this description perfectly is Animar, Soul of Elements. One of the most popular win conditions for this deck is abusing Ancestral Statue. Animar can easily cast the Statue for free, bouncing itself and re-casting it an infinite number of times. From there, you'll use something like Purphoros, God of the Forge to turn burn out your opponents. In this situation, Reckless Fireweaver performs the same function as Purphoros, but it has some extra bonuses such as being able to be tutored up by Imperial Recruiter.
There are probably other decks that can turn Reckless Fireweaver into a win condition as well. Since it's draft junk, grab a copy for nothing just in case you can ever put it to good use.
GREEN
Architect of the Untamed
Another amazing energy generator—the best one I've reviewed so far, actually. Architect of the Untamed is generating one energy counter each turn you make a land drop, two if that land was a fetchland, and more if you are running Green ramp staples such as Rampant Growth and Skyshroud Claim. Spending 8 energy counters to make a 6/6 artifact creature is pretty neat, but I expect the druid to be more valuable fueling other Energy cards.
If Energy decks become a thing, Architect of the Untamed will be a key component to making it function. Easily in the Top 3 most important cards for an Energy deck.
Armorcraft Judge
+1/+1 counters have been popping up in pretty much every single modern expansion that I can think of. It's a heavily supported archetype with a deep card pool to work with. Armorcraft Judge is another amazing support card for the archetype.
Like Inspiring Call, another staple of the +1/+1 Counter archetype, Armorcraft Judge draws you cards. While Inspiring Call also functions as board protection against removal, Armorcraft Judge's card draw is stapled on to a creature, which means it's easier to tutor up in Green, can get +1/+1 counters added to itself, can be Reanimate'd in Black, and so many other creature synergies that Inspiring Call simply doesn't have access to. Inspiring Call is certainly a staple for this deck, and now so is Armorcraft Judge. Enjoy it!
Cultivator of Blades
Cultivator of Blades functions similar to Pathbreaker Ibex and Wild Beastmaster in that she can pump your army when it attacks. There are some key differences, however: 1) different cmc 2) she either starts as a 3/3 or brings along two servo buddies 3) she's an elf artificer.
All three of these options look equally good to me in a vacuum. Which one is best for you depends on the deck that you're playing. If you have a deck that cares about the elf subtype, +1/+1 counters, or tokens / artifacts, Cultivator of Blades is your woman. If you're just looking for the buff effect and have ways of raising its power with stuff like Become Immense, Wild Beastmaster gets the job done most efficiently. If you're running giant beaters in your deck, then Pathbreaker Ibex is your goat.
Durable Handicraft
Durable Handicraft is a cheap, repeatable way of getting +1/+1 counters on to your creatures. I think this is a worthy inclusion in the +1/+1 Counter deck. Simple and efficient.
Fairground Trumpeter
I don't usually care for vanilla fatties in Commander. However, Fairgrounds Trumpeter is pretty neat in the +1/+1 Counter deck if you can put all those counters it will amass to good use. It's no Forgotten Ancient, but I can imagine that it will at least get a +1/+1 counter on each of your turns.
Nissa, Nature's Guardian
Blech. Pay 6 mana to double Explore and then start gaining piddly life if she sticks around. You can gain life for 4 turns and hopefully Overrun with her ultimate, but if you wanted that, just play Overrun instead. The developers were very deliberate in making these duel deck planeswalkers suck.
Nissa, Vital Force
And then we have the very good Nissa, Nissa, Vital Force. It's crazy how much better this and Chandra, Torch of Defiance are compared to their duel deck versions. I guess they predict that duel deck sales aren't sold based on the strength of the cards, while Kaladesh needs pushed planeswalkers to sell packs.
Back to the planeswalker. The main reason you're running her is for that sweet ultimate which is ready after just one turn! That's crazy! Her emblem supplies you with a steady stream of card draw that'll last you the rest of the game. Fetchlands draw you 2 cards. Your Skyshroud Claim now has a Divination stapled to it. It's insane. All you need to do is protect Nissa for one turn.
Her other abilities are alright: ramp or hit someone for 5, or Nature's Spiral. It's not amazing for a 5-cmc walker, but clearly the card's power is skewed heavily towards her super accessible ultimate.
If your deck can reliably protect Nissa, Vital Force for one turn and you love card draw (who doesn't?), then I would strongly consider running her. Obviously she's an auto-include in Superfriends as well.
Oviya Pashiri, Sage Lifecrafter
1-cmc legendary creatures are always interesting in Commander. As your commander, they're always available on turn 1, and you can reliably recast them multiple times before the command tax gets too high. So Oviya Pashiri, Sage Lifecrafter immediately has that going for her.
Is she any good as your commander? My gut instinct is "No." Her abilities cost too much mana for what they do. She's clearly based off Rhys the Redeemed, which is a superior version for a couple reasons: 1) he gives you access to White 2) elf is a more supported creature type 3) his second ability is far more potent in a Tokens deck.
Could Oviya Pashiri, Sage Lifecrafter be decent in the 99 of some decks? Possibly. I still don't like her abilities for the mana cost, but she makes artifact creature tokens and there's a lot of synergies to play with there.
Verdurous Gearhulk
I have loved every single gearhulk reviewed so far, and Verdurous Gearhulk is no exception. The gearhulk is like a hardcast Blessings of Nature stapled on to a 4/4 trample artifact creature, which is absurd. All the artifact creature synergies that I mentioned when analyzing the other gearhulks applies here: tutor it with Green Sun's Zenith, Reanimate it, Sneak Attack it, Goblin Welder it, etc.
Verdurous Gearhulk is an obvious staple for the +1/+1 Counter deck, which adds it to the pile of goodies handed to it from Kaladesh. I liked running Blessings of Nature and the gearhulk is pretty much Blessings++. Worst case, Verdurous Gearhulk is only an 8/8 trampler for 5cmc, which is sufficient to dominate most board situations.
COLORLESS
Aetherflux Reservoir
As if we didn't have enough reasons to attack the Lifegain deck!
Simply put, Aetherflux Reservoir is one of the best cards ever printed for the Lifegain deck. It functions as a cheap, repeatable source of lifegain triggers to support cards like Well of Lost Dreams and Karlov of the Ghost Council. Then if you're over 50 life, you can also drop this down and immediately doom cannon someone out of nowhere. Amazing lifegain engine, plus win condition, for only 4-cmc. Insane!
If you're playing a Lifegain deck, no doubt you're already making room for this card.
Aetherworks Marvel
Aetherworks Marvel is probably the best payoff card for the Energy deck. Not only does it generate a ton of energy counters easily (your fetchlands all produce one energy counter), digging 6 cards deep and casting the best one for free is an amazing deal for just 6 energy.
If Energy decks become a thing, Aetherworks Marvel is a given, and something you probably want to tutor up as well.
Animation Module
Animation Module brings a lot of value to the +1/+1 Counter deck, essentially giving you more creatures to add counters to. When you have a bit more excess mana to spend, its mini-proliferate ability ain't bad either. I can see this artifact doing work in decks like Vorel of the Hull Clade and maybe even Marchesa, the Black Rose.
Speaking of infect: Wizards of the Coast has specifically pointed out to us that energy counters work with proliferate, a mechanic last seen in New Phyrexia. Animation Module has similarities to proliferate, and specifically can add counters on players, including infect counters, a mechanic tied to Phyrexia. Tezzeret is the big bad of Kaladesh, and he was last seen in New Phyrexia. Phyrexia's entire schtick is feeding on artifact-heavy worlds and fusing flesh with metal. Kaladesh is all about artifacts. I am 99% sure that Phyrexia is going to invade Kaladesh, with it either happening in the next set, or very clearly setting up the invasion for our return to Kaladesh the next time around. I am so certain about it that if that doesn't happen I'll bet . . . actually, you guys can come up with a bet for me in the comments section. How about that?
Cultivator's Caravan
Manalith isn't great, aside from its sweet name. However, I happily run Manaliths with an upside, specifically Chromatic Lantern, Coalition Relic, Darksteel Ingot ,and Commander's Sphere.
Cultivator's Caravan joins the ranks of Manalith+ options, letting you upgrade your attacks and blocks in a pinch. While I still prefer the other options that I listed, in 4+ color decks, particularly budget decks, I can see running the Caravan too.
Decoction Module
Decoction Module is another sweet energy generator. Being able to bounce creatures is a sweet bonus, letting you save them from targeted removal, re-use ETB triggers, or simply generate energy if you have a ton of excess mana.
Dynavolt Tower
Aaaaand another efficient energy generator. The activated ability is good for picking off small utility creatures like Oracle of Mul Daya. It could be good if Energy decks become a thing.
Foundry Inspector
In Commander, this is a more expensive Etherium Sculptor that can be used in non-Blue decks, like Daretti, Scrap Savant. Paying 1 more for Etherium Sculptor is fine with me. Foundry Inspector is a solid ramp card for Artifact decks.
Ghirapur Orrery
Ghirapur Orrery isn't just for Group Hug! I'm sure it will be nice there too, but I'm most excited to try this out in Lands decks. When you're dumping your land-filled hands onto the battlefield in a hurry with cards like Summer Bloom and Manabond, you'll quickly run out of cards. Ghirapur Orrery helps you dump your hand and then refills it for you. Yes, it helps out your opponents, but it helps you out far, far more.
Key to the City
Key to the City helps your big creatures avoid getting chump blocked and your small utility creatures with combat triggers (e.g. Daxos of Meletis) avoid blockers as well. It also serves as a great discard outlet for madness cards (e.g. Asylum Visitor), and as an expensive looter to draw into better things. If your deck can take advantage of all three aspects, then Key to the City is a great card for you. Otherwise, you can probably do better.
Metalwork Colossus
Vanilla creatures don't usually interest me in Commander, even big ones. I was actually excited about this one because I thought I could cheat it out for free in my Clue deck, which poops out clue tokens like nobody's business, but then I noticed the mana cost reduction is the converted mana cost of the artifacts. Oh well. Pass.
Panharmonicon
Holy sweet fun machine, Panharmonicon! This sweet little artifact doubles down on so many popular synergies in Commander. Get two cards back with Eternal Witness? Draw all the cards with Prime Speaker Zegana? Make 6 goblin tokens off Siege-Gang Commander, dealing 28 damage with Purphoros, God of the Forge? Yikes!
For decks built around ETB triggers, Panharmonicon is a auto-include. The value is through the roof.
Skysovereign, Consul Flagship
Okay, this isn't Inferno Titan. But! It's Colorless, so it can go into non-Red decks, and it's an artifact, so Artifact decks might take note. If you're looking for a way to kill small creatures and finish off opponents, Skysovereign, Consul Flagship is a decent choice.
Workshop Assistant
Is your Artifact deck already running Myr Retriever and Junk Diver, but you're looking for another copy? Workshop Assistant could be for you. It's worse than the other two options, but it might be good enough in Mono-Red Artifacts looking to get value out of Goblin Welder.
MULTI-COLOR
Depala, Pilot Exemplar
Depala, Pilot Exemplar is a FANTASTIC Boros commander! She's insane card advantage, letting you sink mana to dig deep into your deck and refuel your hand. It's everything I've ever wanted from Boros, except for one thing.. dwarves and vehicles only. Ugh. So close! We simply do not have enough decent dwarf and vehicle cards to fill up a 99-card singleton deck. Maybe we will in the future, which would make Depala amazing, but as of right now it ain't happening. Sigh.
Dovin Baan
Dovin Baan is a solid planeswalker. He protects himself with his +1, his -1 draws cards, and his ultimate will make your opponents want to flip the table. I think I'd like him a lot more if I didn't already review Chandra, Torch of Defiance, which is just way better for the same card. "Dovin, you -1 to draw a card? That's cute."
If you jam Dovin into a random deck, you'll probably be using his -1 ability as much as possible for value. His +1 is okay protection, but not great, and it's unlikely the table will let you slowly tick up and get off his ultimate. If you're using him this way, then Jace Beleren, aka Party Jace, is a better option, since he's better set up to draw yourself cards.
Doven Baan will shine most in two specific decks: Superfriends and (possibly) Stax. In Superfriends, he helps protects your walkers and draws you cards as usual, but he's not named Jace so he doesn't conflict with the annoying legend rule. In Stax, he's part of an engine to lock down your opponents. I can imagine +1'ing your opponent's mana dorks so they can't tap for mana, then using his ultimate as one-sided, unremovable Static Orb. Brutal!
Kambal, Consul of Allocation
If you want to make it hard for your opponents to cast noncreature spells, you're better off messing with their mana (e.g. Thalia, Guardian of Thraben) or hitting them hard (e.g. Ruric Thar, the Unbowed). Kambal, Consul of Allocation isn't as strong of a deterrant as some other options, but his tax notably affects only your opponents, not you. That's great.
I think where Kambal will be most used, however, is not in taxing decks at all, but rather Lifegain decks. There he'll be a cheap, efficient source of drain on your opponents, not heavy enough to deter them from casting noncreature spells, but enough to get your own lifegain cards up and running. Karlov of the Ghost Council, Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim, and other Lifegain decks will love him.
Rashmi, Eternities Crafter
Rashmi, Eternities Crafter is a fun card, first and foremost. When she gets going, you'll be casting a crapload of spells every turn and it will be glorious. She's a good candidate for a commander to build around.
Rashmi wants a couple things to really work:
- Flash. Pair her up with Leyline of Anticipation, Vedalken Orrery, and other flash-enablers so you can cast her on your opponent's turns to maximize her triggered ability.
- Library Manipulation. You can always opt to spin the wheel on what the top card of your library will be, but for best results you should stack the deck. Use Scroll Rack, Sensei's Divining Top, Worldly Tutor, Mystical Tutor, and others to make sure you always hit something you can cast.
- Mana! To get the most out of Rashmi, you'll want to cast a spell every turn, including your opponent's. That's a lot of spells being cast before your next untap step! You need lots of mana to back it up, which thankfully Green provides in spades. Seedborn Muse is exceptionally good here (RIP Prophet of Kruphix).
She's fun. Expect to see me play her soonish!
Saheeli Rai
Saheeli Rai does neat things. Scrying is always useful. Her -2 is incredibly versatile, copying your Sol Ring if you need ramp, or Blightsteel Colossus if you manage to live the dream. Her ultimate wins games if you can get there.
I don't think she's good enough to warrant a spot in most decks, but I think she's a pretty good inclusion in Superfriends where she can be protected.
LANDS
Fastlands
In a 99-card singleton deck, fastlands are almost always going to be coming into play tapped. Inspiring Vantage is going to most often be Stone Quarry. They're still better than 2-color taplands since they sometimes will enter the battlefield untapped, but we have plenty of better options if you're willing to shell out a couple bucks.
Inventor's Fair
Inventors' Fair is an easy include in Artifact decks, which tend to be 1-3 colors (or colorless, like Karn, Silver Golem) and don't mind running a few lands that don't produce colored mana. The lifegain is nice, but the true power lies in the ability to sacrifice it lategame to tutor up any artifact card, which is very powerful.
Tomer's Top 10:
This is a quick list of the Kaladesh cards that I'm personally most excited to play with in Commander. This isn't necessarily a "most powerful" list, and the placements have wiggle room. It's just to give you an idea of what cards I like the most:
- Aetherflux Reservoir. Because it's a DOOM CANNON!
- The Gearhulk Cycle. All of them, because they're all great and have tons of synergies to abuse. My favorite of the bunch is Combustible Gearhulk.
- Nissa, Vital Force. Because look at that ultimate!
- Panharmonicon. So many shenanigans. My Purphoros, God of the Forge just got even more ridiculous.
- Rashmi, Eternities Crafter. She requires a lot of work to set up but man does she look fun to play!
- Marionette Master. A nod to combo; Nim Deathmantle + Ashnod's Altar never looked better.
- Armorcraft Judge. Because card draw is awesome.
- Ghirapur Orrery. Land decks are going to have a wild time with this!
- Metallurgic Summonings. Spellslinger is one of my favorite archetypes and this is a fun inclusion!
- Chandra, Torch of Defiance. She's everything I could hope for in a Red planeswalker: card draw, ramp, card draw, removal, oh and card draw...
Of course, those are just some of the cards I'm interested in trying out. As you can see from my review, there's a lot of things I will be tinkering with in the upcoming weeks! Stay tuned for new Commander Clash and Budget Commander featuring the new cards from Kaladesh as soon as they are available on Magic Online. Also, let me know what you think about the new cards either in the comments section below or on Twitter @BudgetCommander.
Thanks for reading and keep your eyes out for the Phyrexian Invasion!
