Commander Review: Midnight Hunt | Part 3 | Green, Multicolor, Colorless, Lands
Midnight Hunt has just been fully previewed so now it's time for me to go over the entire set and highlight the cards that I think are most noteworthy for us Commander players! Part 1 covered White and Blue, Part 2 had Black and Red, and now in Part 3 we wrap up the rest of the set!
GREEN
Augur of Autumn
Worst case, Augur of Autumn is a Courser of Kruphix that doesn't gain you life when you play lands, which isn't bad at all. Best case, it's both a Courser AND a cheaper Vizier of the Menagerie rolled up in one card, letting you play lands and creatures off the top of your library. In creature-heavy Green decks (aka most of them) this might as well be a 3 mana Magus of the Future, which is totally bananas in Green.
Activating coven won't be an issue for creature-heavy decks. It'll happen naturally. Sometimes you won't have it active when you wish you did, but at the end of the day I'm pretty confident in saying that Augur is better than both Courser and Vizier, and both those cards are still incredibly solid. I'll jam this in any creature-heavy deck.
Consuming Blob
Consuming Blob is a decently sized Ooze that doubles itself each end step. It's a very Ooze card with a very Ooze mechanic, though notably it doesn't have +1/+1 counters which is the other Ooze-related thing. It's not a great card but it's good enough for Ooze Tribal under The Mimeoplasm or whatever.
Slight tangent: will we ever get cards that give us an extra end step? Basically I want Paradox Haze but for end steps. Would be sweet!
Contortionist Troupe
I was going to skip over Contortionist Troupe but after thinking about it, it's actually quite good! A 2-drop that can add a +1/+1 counter each turn for no mana is actually a pretty good rate. It's a Human too and it can help trigger Coven, all useful things. It's nothing crazy busted, but it fulfills its roles well. I'd consider it a solid inclusion in Coven decks like Leinore, Autumn Sovereign or +1/+1 Counter decks like Hamza, Guardian of Arashin.
Defend the Celestus
Defend the Celestus is decent budget filler in a +1/+1 Counter deck. Three counters for four mana is a fine rate at instant speed. It's not exciting but it's functional. If I was going for a budget +1/+1 Counter deck like Hamza, Guardian of Arashin, I could see this making the cut until I have more expensive replacements.
Hound Tamer // Untamed Pup
Relatively cheap and offering some nice utility for the tribe, Hound Tamer is one of the better additions for Werewolf Tribal. Trample is great for getting around chump blockers and drawing more cards off Tovolar, Dire Overlord.
Outland Liberator
The absolute best Werewolves for Tovolar, Dire Overlord are the ones with low mana values and high utility. Outland Liberator is both, being a 2-drop that curves into Tovolar and starts wrecking artifacts/enchantments, of which there will usually be plenty. This is one of the best Werewolves in the archetype.
Primal Adversary
Primal Adversary is a powerful and flexible finisher in the Werewolf / Wolf Tribal deck. The "kicker" cost is a fair rate here, turning a whole bunch of lands into hastey 3/3 Wolves. Even if that's not enough for an alpha strike, you're still going to draw a ton of extra cards off Tovolar, Dire Overlord! Animating lands is always a gamble since a board wipe can leave you very sad, but the risk is worth the bone, in this case.
Saryth, the Viper's Fang
Someone in WOTC really likes the idea of Deathtouch Tribal and has managed to keep sneaking in a single Deathtouch support card in every standard set lately! Saryth is a solid upgrade for Deathtouch decks, most notably Fynn, the Fangbearer, which lets you turn your random utility creatures like Llanowar Elves and Reclamation Sage into poisonous deathdealers. Or you can add her to Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons so you can run the other Deathtouch support cards, Hooded Blightfang and Vraska, Swarm's Eminence.
However, there's another synergy that I had overlooked until it was pointed out to me and it's arguably even better for Saryth: trample! Trample and deathtouch synergize very well together as a creature with both only needs to assign 1 damage to a blocking creature. So if you attack with an 8/8 that has trample + deathtouch and its blocked by a 7/7, you only need to assign 1 damage to the blocker (lethal) and then deal 7 to the defending player, which is sweet! Could be really strong in Trample decks, like Ghalta, Primal Hunger.
Storm the Festival
"We have Genesis Wave at home."
Turns out a nerfed Wave is still a fine card. In a deck heavy on permanents, Storm the Festival is a strong tempo play to surge ahead with value. The flashback is a great lategame spell to have in your back pocket when you've got tons of mana but need more action.
Tovolar's Huntmaster
Grave Titan just got a glowup! Tovolar's Huntmaster packs a ridiculous amount of value for the Werewolf deck, putting tons of pressure all by itself as a 6 mana 6/6 that pumps out 2/2 wolf tokens and repeatedly remove smaller opposing creatures. This card is just insane, easily top 3 best Werewolves for the tribe and a worthy top-end.
Unnatural Growth
This card is so GREEN and I love it! Green-heavy Stompy decks are gonna have a field day with this one! Things get even more fun if you're in Red and you pair it with extra combat spells like Seize the Day, letting you quadruple the size of your creatures for the second swing. Also this triggers each combat, including your opponents, so your creatures will be beefy blockers as well.
This is an absolute monstrosity in decks like Xenagos, God of Revels, Ghalta, Primal Hunger, and yeah pretty much any Green Stompy list!
Wrenn and Seven
Wrenn and Seven does everything your typical Landfall deck wants to do: put lots of lands into play and self-mill to setup graveyard recursion. It can even defend itself which is a nice perk. But it also suffers the same issues of any planeswalker deck in multiplayer: it's slow, your opponents are incentivized to kill it, and you have to defend it from 3 opponents instead of just 1. It's still a great cards in Land decks but with the caveat that you need board wipes and other protection to back it up. Worth trying out.
MULTICOLORED
Angelfire Ignition
Angelfire Ignition is packing an impressive amount of keywords! This is a great combination of both offense and defense, letting you dish out extra damage while gaining a nice chunk of life and giving you a beefier blocker.
Ignition definitely has potential to help Feather, the Redeemed decks close out games quicker. I also really like it in Rem Karolus, Stalwart Slayer as a way to protect Rem from a big burn spell like Rolling Earthquake. The flashback has tasty potential in Sevinne, the Chronoclasm too! Nice card all around.
Arcane Infusion
Arcane Infusion is a fine budget filler card in any Spellslinger deck. It gets better in a Draw-Go Spellslinger deck like Jori En, Ruin Diver. But it's best in Sevinne, the Chronoclasm, where you can double the value of its flashback.
Arlinn, the Pack's Hope // Arlinn, the Moon's Fury
Arlinn is a solid support for Werewolf Tribal, doing everything the tribe needs: she makes Wolf tokens which synergize with the tribe like Tovolar, Dire Overlord, and she helps you transform to nightbound by giving your creature spells flash so you can skip casting spells on your turn. Her nightbound side is great too, making lots of mana and ticking up with a meaty +2, or getting in for damage and also probably drawing a card with Tovvy. It's great! Run the card in Werewolf Tribal.
Bladestitched Skaab
Zombie Tribal likes to Go Wide, and Bladestitched Skaab is an efficient way of promoting that. It's a solid inclusion to the tribe.
Can't Stay Away
Can't Stay Away is eerily similar to another recent card, Priest of Fell Rites. For most decks, Priest is going to be stronger since can reanimate bigger creatures and it's a creature itself so has more synergy potential in the decks that want it, aka creature-focused Graveyard decks. That said, Can't Stay Away is still a strong card in any of those decks that focus on smaller creatures. Basically any deck with a Lurrus of the Dream-Den companion will want this, and also random Graveyard / Aristocrat decks like Teysa, Orzhov Scion too. There are fewer homes for it, but the decks that can run it will love it.
Corpse Cobble
The best sacrifice outlets in Commander are 1) repeatable 2) cost no mana to activate. Corpse Cobble doesn't really fit either criterion, and might not even make the cut in some of my better budget Zombie Tribal brews, but it's at least flavorful and kinda neat.
Croaking Counterpart
A 3 mana Clone that also comes with flashback is a great rate! The copy is usually smaller but that's pretty minor; you still get all the delicious abilities from the copied target. I would toadally make 1/1 Frog Avacyn, Angel of Hope, 3 mana to make my board indestructible sounds good! This makes Croaking Counterpart a solid pickup in just about any Simic deck and cheeky good in specific ones like Ezuri, Claw of Progress, where the low power is a benefit.
Dennick, Pious Apprentice // Dennick, Pious Apparition
Dennick is an interesting card for an Aristocrats deck. The front side is situationally good if someone at the table is threatening your graveyard with a Scavenging Ooze or Deathrite Shaman, buying you some time to find an answer to them. The backside is the real engine though, turning all your sacrifice or milling into delicious Clue tokens. The question is: what Azorius deck deals with Sacrifice and/or self-Mill that wants this?
I first thought maybe Varina, Lich Queen, but this isn't a Zombie and probably isn't worth it. Maybe Niambi, Esteemed Speaker, since it's a legendary? That could work I guess but not exciting. Let me know what you think!
Dire-Strain Rampage
I'm not sure whether or not I like Dire-Strain Rampage. It's flexible removal with flashback, which is cool, but I'm not a fan of ramping my opponents unless the removal is super undercosted and/or instant speed like Path to Exile. You can target your own stuff for an overpriced Rampant Growth or turning a treasure token into a land or whatever, and I appreciate that too, but ... I dunno? Maybe it's like Cleansing Wildfire where in theory it's really sweet with indestructible lands but in reality, I've never ended up playing it? Probably that, yeah.
Diregraf Rebirth
The Golgari version of Unburial Rites is a bit weaker but still quite good in Aristocrat decks. Casting this after sacrificing a bunch of creatures or after a board wipe makes Rebirth super mana-efficient, though it is an extra hoop to jump through. It's a solid new addition to decks like Meren of Clan Nel Toth, Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest, and Chatterfang, Squirrel General.
If you're interested in checking out a deck that would want Rebirth, take a look at my Chatterfang Abridged Gameplay video.
Faithful Mending
A slightly worse Faithless Looting is still really interesting when it's an instant and colorshifted to Azorius. Now Azorius doesn't have the same level support for looting spells like Red does, which is all about that stuff to fuel commanders like Feldon of the Third Path, Rielle, the Everwise, and Osgir, the Reconstructor. But it does have some oddball commanders that would love this! My first thought was immediately Sevinne, the Chronoclasm of course since flashback, but also Vega, the Watcher for the same reason. But my all-time favorite has to be the terribly underrated Niambi, Esteemed Speaker Azorius Reanimator deck, one of my favorite budget brews! This is the perfect gift for Niambi, pitching legendaries and then reanimating them!
If you're like to see Niambi Azorius Reanimator in action then check out my Abridged Gameplay with her.
Fleshtaker
Fleshtaker looks like the perfect budget inclusion to any Orzhov Aristocrats deck. The trigger doesn't look like much, but passively gaining life and scrying for just doing your thing will add up quickly on this 2-drop. It can even serve as an emergency sac outlet when needed. It's sweet in any Orzhov Aristocrats budget brew, but the lifegain makes it just a bit sweeter in Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim.
Also A+ art it's so creepy and evokes that folk horror vibe perfectly!
Florian, Voldaren Scion
Florian is super efficient card selection + draw in any deck able to consistently damage opponents each turn. He's a 3-drop Vampire so he's obviously perfect in Vampire Tribal like Edgar Markov. I also love him in Group Slug decks, particularly Rakdos, Lord of Riots, as that deck is fond of group ping effects like Lobber Crew to guarantee Florian triggers without needing combat.
I think Florian is stronger in the 99 of decks, but I also envision him as a powered down version of Rakdos if you're in a more casual group setting. Low-power decks can find Rakdos quickly cheating out Eldrazi Titans too overwhelming, so an easy solution is just swapping Florian as your commander and putting Rakdos in the 99; you don't need any other changes and you're good to go!
Galvanic Iteration
New Increasing Vengeance isn't strictly better but it's about as good and that's a great spot to be in. Being Izzet means it slots into fewer decks but there's still plenty of homes for it: I'm a broken record but Sevinne, the Chronoclasm is an obvious one, but also other copy-matters decks like Kalamax, the Stormsire, and Melek, Izzet Paragon. Toss in a Twinning Staff and you've got a Spellslinger Strew, baby!
Ghoulcaller's Harvest
Ghoulcaller's Harvest is a super-efficient token producer in Self-Mill and Sacrifice decks. It's not unreasonable for the right deck to have 10+ creatures in the 'yard by the mid/lategame consistently and making 5+ zombies with this flashback spell is great. Being decayed is sometimes even an upside like in Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest and Meren of Clan Nel Toth, or any other common death trigger cards like Blood Artist and Dark Prophecy. Sidisi, Brood Tyrant decks that focus on Zombie Tribal will absolutely love this card since they're all about Self-Mill and getting a juicy graveyard to Harvest!
Ooooh, what about Iname, Death Aspect to fill the yard of 20+ spirits and then cast this??? YUM!
Hallowed Respite
Hallowed Respite is a new twist on Momentary Blink: you can't blink legendary creatures (a big deal in a legendary-dominated format), it's sorcery-speed so no saving creatures from targeted removal, but you can blink opposing creatures. In most decks this is just a bad Blink and you'll skip over it.
HOWEVER!
There's at least one deck I'm excited to run this in, and that's Zedruu the Greathearted. There it functions like a bad Venser, the Sojourner, blinking creatures you've donated or exchanged via Role Reversal and whatnot and returning them back to your side of the battlefield. It's still restricted to nonlegendary creatures, not any permanent like Venser, but hey it's still pretty neat!
If you want to see my Zedruu deck then check out my chill deck tour.
Join the Dance
Join the Dance is a solid budget filler card in most Human Tribal decks and really good in one of them. It makes Human tokens at a decent rate. It's not a Human creature itself so it whiffs on some synergies like Sigarda, Champion of Light and all the generic creature synergy stuff, hence why I call it usually filler, but it's good filler.
However, there's one Human Tribal deck where it's a staple, and that's Katilda, Dawnhart Prime. That's a lot of Birds of Paradise for a great rate!
Katilda, Dawnhart Prime
Katilda, Dawnhart Prime transforms your Human deck into Elfball. Humanball? This is a huge boon to any Human deck, turning all your random humans into Birds of Paradise to power out explosive turns and ramp into your haymakers, making Katilda perhaps the best Human support card in the 99.
But you can also go all-in on Katilda as your commander, combining a Token theme fueled by cards like Adeline, Resplendent Cathar and mass untappers like Village Bell-Ringer to generate obscene amounts of mana and (hopefully) win the game. Basically Human Elfball, the deck. Just like regular Elball, going all-in like this is probably the most powerful version of Human Tribal you could make and will win super fast if not shut down, but if you eat one too many board wipes your deck is pretty much done for the game. Very powerful, but very risky!
Kessig Naturalist // Lord of the Ulvenwald
Low mana cost? Check. Good utility? Check. Yep, this is one of the best Werewolves you can run in Tovolar, Dire Overlord. It pumps your team, it gives you mana that you can spend whenever you'd like, that's basically all you can ask for in a Werewolf slot. Great card.
Liesa, Forgotten Archangel
Liesa, Forgotten Archangel combines a powerful boon for your Aristocrats deck while simultaneously dumpstering any opponent trying to play a similar game. Her creature recursion/board wipe protection is solid, letting you sacrifice and recast fodder like Plaguecrafter and Priest of Fell Rites all day long. And her Leyline of the Void for opposing creatures is super effective at shutting down any similar effect, denying death triggers and any potential for creature recursion. Having abilities on the same card is undeniable value when stapled to a 4/5 flying lifelink for 5 mana.
People are buzzing about Liesa as a commander, and I agree that she's great, but just a word of caution: she's gonna die a lot. Her graveyard hate is going to be a double-edged sword, as any opposing graveyard deck must get rid of her in order to advance their own game plan, so Liesa will often be the first creature targeted by removal. That's not the worst since Orzhov has plenty of ways to protect her or reanimate her of course, but it's something to keep in mind. Alternatively just run her in the 99 of a less killable commander like Athreos, God of Passage and tutor her up as needed. Either way, you should run her in Orzhov Aristocrats, she's really good!
Ludevic, Necrogenius // Olag, Ludevic's Hubris
Ludevic's hubris was thinking he could end up getting a good card: Ludevic, Necro-Alchemist was a complete miss, accurately depicting him in the art but not mechanically (stitchers make Frankenstein monsters and are Dimir, fail on all counts). Then WOTC decides to bring him back in Midnight Hunt and gets the colors right this time but mechanically whiff yet again, filling the poor card with a truckload of text just to end up being ... a bad The Mimeoplasm. Yup, two sides worth of text for a terrible version of a commander made a decade ago. Okay then.
Old Stickfingers
I keep reading it as "Old Stinkfingers" and it makes this card even more unsettling.
Anyhoo, Old Stickfingers is a powerhouse of a commander, one of the strongest of the set. Basically run only a handful of game-winning creature in your library, like just Mikaeus, the Unhallowed + Triskelion, for example. Cast the commander for 4, put both Mike n' Trike in the yard, then cast Victimize or whatver to win. It's all-in and definitely beatable if your opponents know what's up, but it's also really easy and consistent to steal games.
You don't have to build that way of course. You could just take any old Meren of Clan Nel Toth style deck and stick Stinkfingers as the commander and it'll function much the same. It's a great way to fill your yard and doubles as an impressive beater. Or just put it in the 99 of Meren or whatever. You can't go wrong with it. It's really good and performs its role well. Nice to meet you, Fiddlesticks.
Rem Karolus, Stalwart Slayer
I have an unhealthy obsession for Boros Burn. I've been simping for asymmetrical Earthquakes ever since Archangel Avacyn came out five years ago and I wrote about the then-unknown archetype around her. Then we got even more direct options for Boros Burn with Firesong and Sunspeaker and Tajic, Legion's Edge. Both were fine but lacked a certain je ne sais quoi.
But now the beautiful bastards at WOTC have really done it: they not only printed my boy Rem, the badass slayer of Werewolves / Angels / Eldrazi referenced since original Innistrad a decade prior, but they made him the best boy he could be: the best Boros Burn commander to date!
Rem is basically Tajic if Tajic was actually good. He not only protects your other creatures, but also your pretty little face from Earthquake burn damage. And very importantly he flies, so Earthquakes don't hit him! TAKE NOTES, TAJIC! And on top of that, oh yes, he adds a little spice to your burn spells, that extra oomph that makes it feel so so right. All for just 3 mana! 3! I love him. I LOVE HIM!
So stock up on your Magmaquakes burn spells, your burn amplifiers like Gisela, Blade of Goldnight, and your Toralf, God of Fury. Protect your board further with The Wanderer. Turn all that burn into lifegain with Radiant Scrollwielder, heck yes! And then doom cannon with Aetherflux Reservoir as a finisher! BOROS BURN IS BACK, BABY!
Rite of Harmony
Rite of Harmony is Glimpse of Nature on steroids: costs 1 more but it triggers on both creature and enchantments, and most importantly you don't need to cast them, so it works with tokens like March of the Multitudes which is bananas, AND it has flashback AND it's instant. Insanity.
This card is a powerhouse in any deck that can dump a ton of creatures and/or enchantments on the battlefield quickly and consistently. It's top tier in any Token deck like Rhys the Redeemed, any Elfball deck like Selvala, Explorer Returned, and any Humanball deck like Katilda, Dawnhart Prime.
Rite of Oblivion
Angelic Purge wasn't too great, but lower its mana cost, let it hit planeswalkers, and give it a relatively cheap flashback cost and you've got a fantastic removal option for Orzhov Aristocrat decks! The only bad thing I can say about it is it's not instant, which is definitely relevant at high-power tables, but for regular tables this is absolutely great value. Jam it into your Orzhov Sac decks like Teysa Karlov and have fun.
Rootcoil Creeper
Rootcoil Creeper is a fantastic mana dork in Simic Graveyard decks. Right now the only one that pops into my head is Muldrotha, the Gravetide, which should enable the Creeper to regularly be tapping for two mana to cast spells which is super efficient. Let me know if there's other good homes for it! The card is sweet if you can find the right deck.
Sigarda, Champion of Light
Whereas Katilda, Dawnhart Prime is an explosive all-in Humanball deck, Sigarda, Champion of Light offers a slower yet more resilient Human Tribal option for you: she pumps, she has a strong form of incremental card draw, she's got flample, all at a solid rate. Nothing fancy, just solid and dependable. You'll be running both either way, but if you want solid and dependable then Sigarda is your commander, if you want explosive all-in then go Katilda.
Siphon Insight
Crim is going to exile my Kaldra pieces face-down with this nonsense card and I hate it already 0/10
Slogurk, the Overslime
The dozens of Ooze tribal fans out there can rejoice because now you have yet another option as an Ooze Tribal leader. Slogurk likes counters and lands, doesn't do much for Ooze Tribal cause he's more of a self-mill / fetchlands kinda slime, and that's fine I guess. Real nice with Walk the Aeons. I kinda see Slogurk as a nerfed replacement of Tatyova, Benthic Druid for low-power tables that can't handle the Merfolk; literally just swap Tatyova into the 99 for Slogurk and you can play the same deck without immediately drowning your opponents in obscene card draw. I like low-power subs, so two slimes up for this.
That is, until I realized that you can 1-shot people pretty easy with Slogurk! Those +1/+1 counters add up fast, so if you, say, run nonbasic lands and Hermit Druid you can dump a huge chunk of them into your graveyard with one activation, then 1-shot someone with a huge trampling ooze. That's pretty strong, actually!
Teferi, Who Slows the Sunset
Teferi, Who Slows the Sunset is low-key kinda great in Commander? His +1 is basically untap a mana rock like Sol Ring, untap a land, gain 2 life? That's like a better Garruk Wildspeaker in Azorius colors, kinda great if you can protect him. His -2 is card advantage with selection, his ult doesn't win by itself but it's very good. Uhhh yeah. I'd actually run this in Azorius decks with lots of mana rocks and board wipes to back him up. Card is sweet!
Oh and he can combo with The Chain Veil with a bit of work so that's cool too. Very strong in Superfriends!
Tovolar, Dire Overlord // Tovolar, the Midnight Scourge
So a decade ago right as Commander was becoming an official thing, the original Innistrad set was released and made Werewolf Tribal a thing. Unfortunately for Mark Rosewater, he didn't think of making a legendary Werewolf commander, so the players complained to him endlessly.
Five years later we return with Shadows over Innistrad and we get our legendary Werewolf: Ulrich of the Krallenhorde. Unfortunately for Mark Rosewater, while Ulrich is actually very good, he doesn't specifically care about Werewolves, which is what commander players wanted out of a Werewolf commander. So the (much larger now) playerbase continued complaining to him.
Now, a decade after the original Innistrad set released, we get Tovolar, Dire Overlord, which is essentially Mark Rosewater's way of shutting us the hell up already. Tovolar is an obscenely strong commander WHO CARES ABOUT WEREWOLVES! Gosh does he LOVES WEREWOLVES SO MUCH! He's a 3 mana Toski, Bearer of Secrets, which is already absurd all by itself; literally you could choose not to add any more text to Tovolar and he'd already be the best Werewolf ever printed. But wait, there's more: when you have 3 or more wolves and/or werewolves -- so just Tovolar plus 2 more, basically a freebie -- he transforms your team to make them way stronger, he keeps his Toski-esque card draw AND he gains Kessig Wolf Run mana sink for good measure. All for 3 mana. All his abilities care about Werewolves.
I literally couldn't come up with a better Werewolf commander if I tried. The power level of his fellow is pushed to such an extreme he'd make Edgar Markov blush. So now finally, FINALLY, Werewolf players are going to be happy. This card is great. He's going to make the tribe viable.
The overall quality of Werewolf Tribal is still on the casual end, but Tovolar will do the heavy lifting for you (if he isn't hated out). Now leave poor Mark Rosewater alone!
Unnatural Moonrise
Unnatural Moonrise is basically your backup Tovolar, Dire Overlord in Werewolf Tribal: it does the exact same thing Tovvy does but as a sorcery. This is great because any playgroup wising up to Tovolar knows that taking out the commander neuters the deck, and Moonrise lets you get back into the game. Or double up with Tovolar on the battlefield for insane value, that works too.
Vadrik, Astral Archmage
Izzet Spellslinger feels like the biggest cliche in MTG these days. Literally, everyone complains about Boros being about attacking but it feels like every single set has Izzet doing the exact same thing over and over. Which is why I'm glad that Vadrik exists: yeah, it's Spellslinger, again, but this brings a unique twist: Power Matters! Suddenly your Giant Growths turn into massive spell discounts, like if Mizzix of the Izmagnus suddenly got really into power lifting. I can imagine using Magnetic Theft to equip Colossus Hammer to Vadrik and start casting Finale of Promise / Finale of Revelation / Epic Experiment type spells while cackling like a madman. I love it.
Vampire Socialite
Look, Edgar Markov got yet another sweet addition! Low mana cost and high utlity are the two things Edgar looks for, and Vampire Socialite does both splendidly, coming out on 2 and immediately giving itself and all your other Vampires bloodthirst. It's simple but super effective!
Wake to Slaughter
Wake to Slaughter is a weird one. I feel like this is kinda bad? I like recursion and unearth, but it does cost quite a bit of mana and your opponent gets to choose what goes back to hand. Is this better than, say, Cauldron Dance? Not sure.
ARTIFACT
The Celestus
WOTC understands that 2-drop mana rocks are the standard these days and 3-drops better come with some serious utility to be worth considering. The Celestus definitely is that, able to manipulate day/night which is especially powerful in Werewolf Tribal. Even without that, randomly being able to loot and gain life is really good and can be extra spicy in a Flashback / Disturb / Loot deck. What a cool design.
Moonsilver Key
Moonsilver Key is a great way for Combo decks to assemble their pieces, since the Key can snag staples like Phyrexian Altar, Ashnod's Altar, and Basalt Monolith. It can also grab your missing land drop or utility mana rocks like Strixhaven Stadium in a pinch too which is great. Flexible and a decent tutor rate.
LANDS
Hostile Hostel // Creeping Inn
The floor of this card is it's a land that enters untapped and taps for colorless. That's not a huge risk here. In return you get a decent backup sac outlet for your Aristocrats deck that eventually transforms into a serious threat that can protect itself by phasing out, which I absolutely adore.
Keep in mind the back side has a Black color identity so you can only run it in Black decks (look at the black dot marker on the back side). I'd jam this in basically any Black Aristocrats deck, as the risk is low and the reward is either sac outlet or cool threat.
Love the flavor on this card too by the way. One of my favorites in the entire set.
Whatever This Cycle Is Called Lands
We got a new cycle of allied lands and they're pretty good. In a singleton format odds are they won't be our first two lands so they'll come in untapped most times. This makes them significantly better than any tapped duals, but not as good as the better duals like shocklands and whatnot. I assume they'll be budget-friendly like the Snarls are, so if you have a couple extra bucks to upgrade your tapped duals this is a great stepping stone to the more expensive manabases.
Oh God We're Finally Done!
My Midnight Hunt review is complete, which is perfect timing since it's midnight as I write this. I've got so much more MID content coming up: precon upgrades, budget werewolves primer, stuff about the new commander rules changes, and so on. Soon, friends, soon! But for now, tell me: what are your favorite cards from the set? What are you hyped for? I want to know, so tell me about it in the comments section below! Thanks for reading!
