Commander Review: Modern Horizons 2 | Part 3 | Green, Multicolor, Colorless, Lands
Modern Horizons 2 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! We started with White and Blue; then moved on to Black and Red, and finally finish the review with Green, Multicolor, Colorless, and Lands!
GREEN
Abundant Harvest
Abundant Harvest is a deceptively powerful cantrip, not quite on the level of Ponder or Preordain but still solid selection for 1 mana. It's also a cheap sorcery, and while Mono Green isn't known for its Spellslinger support, some multicolor options like Wort, the Raidmother could appreciate another cheap cantrip trigger.
Also the callback to Abundance is neat!
Aeve, Progenitor Ooze
I didn't expect to see a green creature with storm, so this is a welcome surprise! Aeve, Progenitor Ooze is a really unique card that I find interesting without being super powerful. Green isn't known for chaining tons of spells together like Red (e.g. Jeska's Will) and other colors are via rituals; usually Green is only chaining tons of spells after dropping a mana doubler like Zendikar Resurgent. So I think Aeve decks will probably cast the commander with a storm count of like 3 or 4, which is still pretty solid: storm count 4 Aeve gives you 4 Aeves that ETB with with 1, 2, or 3 +1/+1 counters, which is pretty solid.
I think the big draw to Aeve is that it cares directly about Oozes, making it a perfect "official" leader for janky Ooze Tribal decks. Oozes don't traditionally have anything to do with Storm, but they do care about +1/+1 Counters (Predator Ooze) and often Go Wide (Biowaste Blob), so building upon that theme with cards like Hardened Scales and Inspiring Call could be a fun direction.
Also if you're looking to inject power into the deck and money isn't an issue (or you're cool with proxies) then pair Aeve with Food Chain and you can cast Aeve infinite times, make infinite tokens and infinite mana.
Chatterfang, Squirrel General
Squirrels have a long history in the game (e.g. Deranged Hermit) and though they have some very enthusiastic fans (Mark Rosewater is a notable one in WOTC) they've never seen much representation on cards up until now. MH2 has made big strides to turn a beloved but underdeveloped tribe into something that can hang at your low-mid power Commander tables, adding a bunch of Squirrel Tribal cards into the set, most notably the first "official" leader with Chatterfang, Squirrel General!
The main problem with Squirrels is that they have a very small card pool to work with, which is something Chatterfang addresses perfectly: any time you make any token, Chatterfang also makes that many squirrel tokens! This allows you to fill out your deck with other token generator cards -- stuff like Avenger of Zendikar and Pitiless Plunderer -- and still reliably generate big Squirrel armies on the battlefield, making you feel like a complete Squirrel deck despite not having enough cards to fill out an entire deck with "squirrel" cards. It's a clever design that accomplishes its goal really well.
Adding Black is nice I guess. I think this was mostly because it needed to be a 2C draft archetype, so they added a bunch of Black Squirrel cards as well. But regardless, it's a nice power boost, allowing Squirrel Tribal to not only dip into strong token cards in Black but also gain access to the Sacrifice theme with cards like Zulaport Cutthroat and Mazirek, Kraul Death Priest to diversify and strengthen the deck's game plan.
Overall, Chatterfang is one of my favorite cards from this year. I'm personally not a big Squirrel fan, but I'm happy for the people who are. I think it's the perfect leader for the tribe and cleverly fixes a lot of the tribe's problems in Commander.
Chatterstorm
Chatterstorm is a neat riff on Empty the Warrens, half the price for half the tokens. This is one of the better squirrel token generators so it's an obvious staple in Squirrel Tribal but I'm not sure if any other decks want it.
Chitterspitter
Chitterspitter is a slow but solid anthem for Squirrel Tribal, requiring you to wait a full turn cycle before giving your squirrels just +1/+1, and you still need to sacrifice a token to do so. The squirrel token generation is nice though. It gets much better if you can add extra counters, notably proliferate (Evolution Sage). Honestly who cares how strong this card is though, this is a Squirrel Tribal staple!
Crack Open
Younger me would skip over Crack Open as a terrible Naturalize. And in most cases this is still true, but if your deck is focused entirely on getting extra value out of Treasure tokens or tokens in general (Chatterfang, Squirrel General), this goes from terrible to playable.
Endurance
Endurance might not be the most exciting Incarnation of the cycle but it's still a very strong card in Commander, doubling as both graveyard hate and protection in the same card: use this to hose an opposing Graveyard deck at instant speed, perhaps in response to a reanimation spell, or use it to protect your own graveyard from Bojuka Bogs and whatnot. Doing this at instant speed and for zero or three mana is absolutely amazing. You could even ambush smaller creatures that attack you!
I think Endurance is a contender for one of the best GY hate cards in Green, right up there with Scavenging Ooze. The Ooze exiles cards repeatedly on demand and grows into a threat while doing so, but it requires a significant mana investment, especially if you're nomnom'ing multiple cards. Meanwhile Endurance can get rid of an entire graveyard in one shot for zero mana; you just can't beat that mana efficiency! I think they're pretty close in power and it depends on your meta and what your deck is looking for. Endurance looks clearly superior in Graveyard decks though, since having the option to protect your graveyard is really sweet. It's an Elemental as well so any Elemental Tribal deck, from Omnath, Locus of Rage all the way to Horde of Notions will love it!
Fae Offering
Oh how I love this little enchantment! Fae Offering is a card with a low power floor but decently high power ceiling, either doing nothing for you or generating 3 tokens each turn, 12 per turn cycle! It's definitely not easy to reach the card's ceiling, but just triggering this once on each of your own turns makes this enchantment worth it in specific decks, namely Clue, Food, and Treasure decks, though all these have significant overlap. It also makes 3 squirrels in Chatterfang, Squirrel General.
Personally I'm most excited to jam this in Lonis, Cryptozoologist!
Foundation Breaker
Foundation Breaker is a sweet variant of Reclamation Sage, either being cheaper (but immediately dies) if evoked, or more expensive if you want it to stick around. Which one is better really depends on the rest of the deck: Sage is better if you want the body to stick around (Skullclamp) or if you're an Elf deck, but Breaker is better if you don't care about the body, sacrificing itself is a plus (Fecundity), or you're an Elemental deck (Omnath, Locus of the Roil).
Honestly both these cards are really good in creature-heavy decks, especially if you have any creature synergies like Blink or Sacrifice. Breaker is real sweet in a whole bunch of decks!
Gaea's Will
Gaea's Will is a colorshifted suspend version of the iconic card Black card, Yawgmoth's Will. There's a bit of controversy with this card as some have complained that it's yet another example of Green breaking the color pie, this time to steal an iconic card from Black. Personally I see this as not a color break but maybe a bend: Black's reanimation has historically stuck to just creatures (Reanimate) and almost never other card types; the only notable exceptions I can think of are Toshiro Umezawa and Yawgmoth's Will. So it doesn't feel like this is really in Black's color pie, though it happens to have an iconic exception. That said, I don't think this fits cleanly into Green either? Green has historically been able to recur any card type, with one of its most iconic cards being Regrowth, but these go to your hand, not the battlefield; the only card types I can think of Green putting directly on the battlefield are lands (e.g. Splendid Reclamation), though I could be wrong.
So Gaea's Will feels more Green to me than Black at least in terms of traditional color pie fits. It seems fine to me. Though just because I think a card can fit in Green doesn't mean it should get that card. I think that's a valid concern.
As for the card itself, it's pretty meh in a generic Green deck: low cost, but you gotta wait four whole turn cycles which is an eternity and you give your opponents tons of time to prepare for it. I'd only consider it in decks that can get around waiting like Cascade decks (Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder).
Glimmer Bairn
Glimmer Bairn is a pretty meh card in Commander though it'd be funny to cast Brass's Bounty and 1-shot someone with this innocent looking 1-drop. The card's mechanics aren't that important to me though. Why I mention this card is because of its callback to Gilder Bairn, a card that holds a lot of nostalgia for me: many years ago I built a Superfriends deck for my then-boyfriend, and I picked up a foil Gilder Bairn for the deck. It was one of my favorite artworks and the foil looks absolutely stunning in person.
Seeing Glimmer Bairn brought all those fond memories back. The artwork here, again by Nils Hamm, is absolutely fantastic. I doubt I'll play the card much, but I intend to pick up a foil copy to keep in my collection. It will be nice to look at.
I didn't expect to add some self-indulgent reminiscing into my Commander review so sorry for the ramble, but yeah, I really like this card.
Herd Baloth
Played fairly, Herd Baloth is a sweet beef token generator in just about any +1/+1 Counter deck. It also makes infinite tokens with Ivy Lane Denizen, which is neat! Solid card!
Ignoble Hierarch
As the Commander format powers up, metas are cutting down on board wipes and adding more fast mana options since mana dorks are living longer than before. If that's true in your playgroup then Ignoble Hierarch is a sweet pickup for any Jund deck, mana-fixing and giving a little boost to attacks. Personally I'd recommend it for most Jund decks if you can reliably cast it on turn 1.
Sanctum Weaver
Sanctum Weaver is a color-shifted Serra's Sanctum on a 2-drop on a stick. In some regards it's even better than the iconic land, as it's an enchantment so it has far more synergies in the archetype like being tutored by Idyllic Tutor and triggering Argothian Enchantress, and it taps for any color. This makes Weaver a really big deal, one of the best cards in Enchantress ever printed and a significant boost to the archetype. The amount of mana it can tap for in Enchantress is disgusting, allowing for huge turns, and it can even make infinite mana pretty easy with other enchantments like Pemmin's Aura. Instant staple.
Scurry Oak
Like Herd Baloth, Scurry Oak is a fantastic token generator in +1/+1 Counter decks that also goes infinite with Ivy Lane Denizen. The tokens are squirrels too, making it an easy inclusion in Chatterfang, Squirrel General.
Smell Fear
While not amazing, paying 1 extra mana to proliferate on top of Prey Upon is fine as a budget filler for +1/+1 Counter decks.
Squirrel Sanctuary
Not great, but it's a squirrel token generator, so it's good for Chatterfang, Squirrel General.
Squirrel Sovereign
Chatterfang.
Sylvan Anthem
Sylvan Anthem is a superior Gaea's Anthem, which itself is a colorshifted Honor of the Pure. Again, minor controversy here as some people feel it's Green stealing from White's slice of the color pie. And again, Green is the color of creatures mattering, so you can easily argue that it makes sense here, so it's not a color pie break per se, it's something shared between Green and White. But on the other hand, just because Green could get something doesn't mean it should get it, which I think WOTC fails to realize. If Green does everything White does but better, then White simply doesn't have anything left in its own slice.
Card itself is great though. It's fantastic in Green Go Wide decks of any kind, scaling wonderfully with Tokens.
Thrasta, Tempest's Roar
Thrasta, Tempest's Roar is a big bad dino that can be cast for as low as 2 mana if you've cast four other spells this turn. That's no easy feat, but certainly doable in decks looking to run this big chonker. It's a solid inclusion in Dinosaur Tribal decks like Gishath, Sun's Avatar, it's an undercosted 7/7 so it's great in Ghalta, Primal Hunger, and it has a whopping 12 mana cost so it's great in CMC Matters decks that run stuff like Nissa's Revelation. Oh, and it also combos with Food Chain, obviously.
Timeless Witness
Timeless Witness is a cool homage to Eternal Witness, both in the artwork and in the clever use of Eternalize. Is it better than the original in a vacuum? I'd say no; I think paying 4 mana instead of 3 is a big difference and the whopping 7 mana eternalize ability doesn't make up for it. However, in decks that can really take advantage of eternalize then it gets much better: Self-Mill decks like Sidisi, Brood Tyrant should consider this, but best of all Populate decks like Ghired, Conclave Exile are going to love it, as it's one of the best populate targets! Copy it getting another 4/4 and ETB recur something sounds sweet and worth 7 mana eternalizing.
Tireless Provisioner
Tireless Provisioner aka Tireless Snacker is the other side of Tireless Tracker, providing Food or Treasure instead of Clues. Honestly this might be even better than the Tracker: while I love Clue Tribal and card draw, cracking clues for 2 mana a pop adds up real fast, and often times I don't crack any Clues until mid/late game. Meanwhile the Provisioner is going to be making Treasure tokens most of the time like a Lotus Cobra that can pool Treasures for big explosive turns. The Provisioner also gives you access to the same artifact token synergies as the Tracker, feeding Kuldotha Forgemaster, untapping things with Clock of Omens, and whatever other Artifact synergies your deck runs.
I expect Provisioner to show up in all decks that the Tracker shows up in, which is primarily Landfall decks and also Artifact decks, but upgrading from Clues to Treasures means it's also more likely to show up in other Green decks as well. Don't sleep on this uncommon!
Urban Daggertooth
Enrage Dinosaur Tribal is one of my favorite small archetype so I'm thrilled to see another staple with Urban Daggertooth! A lot of Dinosaur decks already fill out with a +1/+1 Counter theme so this Dino works great at strengthening it. Other +1/+1 Counter decks will enjoy it, if you can consistently trigger its enrage. There's also combo potential with cards like Triskelion: if you can first get a +1/+1 counter on Daggertooth then you can ping it with Trisk, proliferate both the Daggertooth and Trisk to add another +1/+1 counter to each, then repeat infinite times for infinite proliferate and an infinitely large Dino!
Verdant Command
Verdant Command offers some neat flexibility but it's too low impact for me to recommend it anywhere other than Squirrel Tribal, where making 2 squirrels at instant speed plus getting some other value is worth it.
MULTICOLOR
Arcbound Shikari
For Go Wide +1/+1 Counter decks like Hamza, Guardian of Arashin, having efficient ways to put counters on all your creatures at once is important to get the game plan rolling: cards like Ridgescale Tusker and Loyal Guardian is often followed up by stuff like Evolution Sage to start piling on the counters.
When I think Go Wide Counters though, the only decks that come to mind are Green ones. Does Boros have a Go Wide +1/+1 Counter Artifact theme? It's certainly possible but I've never come across it yet. For that hypothetical deck though, Arcbound Shikari will be an allstar.
Arcus Acolyte
Speaking of Go Wide Counters: Arcus Acolyte is a great way to get the ball rolling on your gameplan, even if it's a bit slow and mana-intensive. Really sweet pickup in Hamza, Guardian of Arashin!
Asmoranomardicadaistinaculdacar
And I thought my last name was tough for people to pronounce.
Asmora is a sweet new Commander oozing with flavor and unique design and I absolutely love it. I love weird restrictions on cards, unique payoffs, and Commanders that don't immediately scream "if you don't have instant speed removal when I enter the battlefield then I win the game." Asmora checks all those boxes AND supports Food Tribal, a pet archetype that I adore! How could I not love this?
Honestly, I don't know how to "break" Asmora or what the craziest interactions will be. I assume it will be Rakdos Discard / Madness with a Food theme though there might also be some sweet combos that I'm missing. Between this and Gyome, Master Chef, we've got two distinct Food tribal decks to play with! Very cool!
Breathless Knight
Breathless Knight + Haakon, Stromgald Scourge + Universal Automaton or other 1 mana Knight + Ashnod's Altar / Phyrexian Altar = infinitely large Knight for a 1-shot? Lots of variants here, not good, just popped into my head. Kinda neat to run as a win con for Knight Tribal.
Carth the Lion
Carth the Lion is a super cool Planeswalker support card, doubling as both a repeatable Impulse effect plus a unique way to add loyalty counters to planeswalkers that we've never seen before. He's also a 3/5, which isn't the most impressive attacker but does an okay job blocking for your walkers. Carth isn't utterly busted like Doubling Season but is still one of the best support cards for Superfriends, especially at just four mana.
I think Carth is a really sweet leader for Golgari Superfriends, a variant that you don't often see. But more likely he'll slot into the 99 of Superfriend decks with access to more colors, like Atraxa, Praetors' Voice.
Chrome Courier
Chrome Courier is a decent budget filler card in Artifact decks: it's not impressive, but it's an artifact that works like a Sea Gate Oracle, and it's a great Skullclamp target. If you're going full Thopter Tribal though then it's a staple.
Dakkon, Shadow Slayer
Dakkon, Shadow Slayer is a great callback to one of the most iconic oldschool cards, Dakkon Blackblade, fittingly drawn again by the legendary RKF. In the lore Dakkon was a planeswalker, so it's cool to see him finally represented as such.
As for the card itself, he's pretty darn sweet! His +1 and -3 are highly relevant and powerful for a 3-drop. His -6 is dependent on what artifacts you're running, but if this is an Atraxa Superfriends deck then this is a cool way to grab The Chain Veil or Rings of Brighthearth from the graveyard. Great pickup in Superfriends!
Damn
MH2 is just jam-packed with clever designs, isn't it? Damn is one of my favorite cards in the set, cheekily referencing both Damnation and Wrath of God. The overload is literally WoG which is still the gold standard for wraths in Commander, so having the added flexibility of being used sometimes as targeted removal makes Damn one of the best board wipes in the format. A fitting upgrade for Orzhov! God Damn!
Dihada's Ploy
I love Radical Idea and Chemister's Insight in budget Spellslinger decks as instant-speed ways to draw cards and trigger "magecraft" twice with the same card (e.g. Talrand, Sky Summoner). Dihada's Ploy fits perfectly alongside the other two in Dimir Spellslinger decks and gets a bonus of lifegain when paired with mass discard like Windfall. I'm definitely jamming it into budget versions of Dralnu, Lich Lord and Kess, Dissident Mage!
Drey Keeper
Drey Keeper is a common, non-RL version of Deranged Hermit, and while the anthem is temporary and requires lots of mana, the addition of menace makes this an even better finisher for Squirrel Tribal to push lethal damage through. Sweet pickup!
Ethersworn Sphinx
Now this is a cool card! Ethersworn Sphinx is a 9-drop that can be reliably cast for 2 mana in an Artifact deck, making it exceptional with cards like One with the Machine. It can cascade into pretty much anything as well. While it's not going to cut it in the highest power Artifact decks, this is a fantastic budget inclusion and just super fun in my opinion.
Garth One-Eye
First off, I'm very pleased that Garth One-Eye is a 5C Commander that actually costs WUBRG, which is honestly a rarity these days. I feel like there's actually a correlation with how many colors a 5C commander actually requires to cast it and how busted the commander is.
That's not to say Garth is weak, but he's definitely fair: this card's schtick is that it's a powerful wizard that can cast iconic Alpha spells, and the card nails that flavor, letting you cast six of the most iconic spells from the original Magic set, with the biggest draw being the ability to cast a friggin' Black Lotus in Commander! All the spells are useful in certain situations, making Garth a sweet toolbox, but his single-use restriction and the fact that you still need to pay the mana cost makes him incredibly fair.
Garth does enable some combo potential though: Garth + a haste enabler like Fervor + a repeatable blink like Deadeye Navigator = you can activate Garth to make a Black Lotus, crack the Lotus to make mana, spend 2 of that mana to activate Deadeye Navigator to blink Garth, and repeat the process for infinite mana to then win with infinite Braingeysers to deck opponents or infinite damage Shivan Dragons. It's still a 3-card combo though so it's hardly oppressive.
Overall Garth is a cool, fair 5C commander with a unique oldschool vibe that I respect.
General Ferrous Rokiric
Hero of Precinct One got one helluva glow-up! General Ferrous Rokiric costs one more R mana but is well worth it: not only are the tokens upgraded from 1/1's to 4/4's, but he also comes with built-in protection from monocolored spells, dodging common targeted removal like Swords to Plowshares. Pooping out an army of 4/4's is ridiculous and can quickly reach a critical mass to kill opponents without really needing anthems to buff them.
I think Ferrous makes for a fine commander as a unique take on Boros, though you'll be limited in your multicolor card pool. Ferrous is even more powerful in the 99 of Multicolor Matters commanders that have access to more colors like Rienne, Angel of Rebirth, Niv-Mizzet Reborn, and my personal favorite, Ramos, Dragon Engine, which I love building as Lucky Charms. The tokens are also artifact creatures, making them appealing in Alibou, Ancient Witness. Easy token staple in all those decks!
Geyadrone Dihada
Here's another one for Steal Your Stuff Tribal: Geyadrone Dihada specializes in yoinking creatures and planeswalkers, either temporarily with her -3 or permanently with her -7. The corruption counter is a cool mechanic to protect her from attacks without necessarily needing creatures to block. Still, it's going to be tough protecting Geyadrone in a multiplayer environment, making her solid but not amazing outside of Threaten decks.
Goblin Anarchomancer
A lot of folks have difficulty evaluating mana discount cards but it's actually pretty simple: if a card like Goblin Anarchomancer's discount applies to a single card per turn cycle, then it's about as good as a Mind Stone. If you're applying the discount to 2 spells per turn cycle consistently, then it's more like a Worn Powerstone except 1 mana cheaper. If it's consistently applying to 3+ cards per turn cycle then it's absolutely busted.
In a Gruul deck I expect Goblin Anarchomancer to be at least on the same level of Mind Stone and more like an undercosted Worn Powerstone, which is very good. It gets even better if your deck cares that this is a creature, like Nikya of the Old Ways. Very solid.
Graceful Restoration
This is a really solid reanimation spell, especially in budget decks. The versatility here is great, though I like the second option of getting two creatures back a bit more. Not flashy or anything but solid.
Grist, the Hunger Tide
I really like the unique design of this planeswalker. It's a cool leader for Insect Tribal and may have some sweet combos that I'm not aware of, but even a bit of topdeck manipulation like Sylvan Library can go a long way to make that +1 more consistently awesome. It's got self-mill, Insect token generation, removal, and a finisher, what else could you want in Insect Tribal? A really cool and unique commander for an underrepresented tribe without being overpowered and just a treat in terms of card design. I approve!
Lonis, Cryptozoologist
One of my favorite underrepresented tribes (right up there with Moonfolk) is definitely Clue tribal: I adore the flavor of investigating to find clues, then "cracking" the clues to learn something represented by card draw. I also love the mechanic of artifact tokens and all their inherent synergies and, of course, drawing cards. I fell in love with the mechanic when it was introduced in Shadows over Innistrad block and have been pining for a Clue commander ever since!
Now with MH2 Clues have finally returned and we even got the commander: Lonis, Cryptozoologist is pretty much exactly what I wanted from a Clue leader. She is cheap and adds a significant power boost to the weak tribe, generating a silly amount of Clues passively with her triggered ability, kinda like a severely nerfed Chulane, Teller of Tales, which I mean in the best way. Her activated ability is pretty terrible though: you can only hit nonland permanents with it, so you really need to sacrifice 5+ Clues to have any decent shot at getting anything at all. That's a horrible payoff, as I'd much rather use my Clues to fuel things like Kuldotha Forgemaster, Inspiring Statuary, or, you know, draw cards. I'll probably only use the activated ability to mess with an opponents' Vampiric Tutor or in response to mass artifact removal like Bane of Progress. A bit disappointing in that regard, but honestly if Lonis didn't have an activated ability at all she'd still be amazing due to the triggered ability.
Is Clue Tribal a powerful archetype now? Gosh no, and I think that's a good thing! Clue Tribal is one of my favorite jank tribes and I'd like it to stay jank. But Lonis makes it much more viable, which I'm thankful for.
HOWEVER! My biggest want now is for Clues to comes back in the fall set, Return to Return to Innistrad, and we get a Bant Clue commander from that plane. Sorry, I want me a Sherlock Holmes knockoff Clue leader, not a random Simic one! And Bant would let us play notable Clue cards like Bygone Bishop and Thraben Inspector! WOTC PLZ!
Moderation
I like drawing cards, but this is ridiculous! Being restricted to a single spell per turn means you get to cast less card draw spells and draw less cards overall. This might be good enough in dedicated Draw Go like Ephara, God of the Polis, but probably not.
Piru, the Volatile
Piru, the Volatile is another card with a really cool design that I love. It's a great callback to the original Elder Dragon cycle (e.g. Arcades Sabboth), which is fitting since the character comes from that time. But this time you can actually use the upkeep cost as a benefit, letting you sacrifice Piru to dish out insane damage! Well, conditional damage -- Piru doesn't hit legendary creatures, which is a serious drawback considering how Commander is absolutely full of them. Still, Piru should wipe out a good chunk of creatures, gaining you a crazy amount of life in the process thanks to lifelink!
There's very few board wipes attached to creatures, so this is a tasty effect, especially when stapled to a legendary. It pairs nicely with stuff like Repercussion and Toralf, God of Fury.
While Piru is a fine choice as a commander, her whopping 8 mana cost makes her more appealing as part of the 99 that you can Sneak Attack out or Animate Dead. Definitely a staple in Kaalia of the Vast!
Priest of the Fell Rites
Priest of Fell Rites is a sweet callback to Unburial Rites, a card I still occasionally jam in my Orzhov Reanimator decks. This variant being a creature makes it more appealing in certain decks though, triggering death abilities (e.g. Midnight Reaper) and being easier to recur (e.g. Sun Titan). Nothing absurd but really solid and interesting.
Prophetic Titan
I can't think of the last time I've seen Prophetic Bolt played in Commander, but coming attached to a 4/4 Giant Wizard makes it really sweet in exactly one deck: Aegar, the Freezing Flame, where it can draw you an extra card right off the bat!
Ravenous Squirrel
Not amazing but a staple in Squirrel Tribal aka Chatterfang.
Road // Ruin
This is my called shot of most underrated budget card from the set. Road // Ruin does two things every deck wants -- ramp and removal -- in a single card for a reasonable cost. I get that nobody is going crazy over Natural Connection and Ground Assault, but attaching them both into the same card is awesome. Road // Ruin is defacto going into all my budget Gruul decks and ignoring budget is also a fantastic new inclusion in decks particularly keen on what this card does, like Kalamax, the Stormsire for that instant goodness or Omnath, Locus of Creation for the landfall fun.
Sythis, Harvest's Hand
Sythis, Harvest's Hand isn't going to win any awards for originality: it is the ninth Enchantress card that essentially says "play enchantment, draw card." It's also either the best or second best of the Enchantresses depending on how you rank it compared to the previous champ, Argothian Enchantress: Sythis trades out shroud for extra enchantment synergy due to being an enchantment and gains 1 life on top of drawing a card. Either way, it's a powerful new staple in any Enchantress deck.
So it shouldn't come as a surprise that Sythis is one of the best commanders for Enchantress as well: having a 2-drop top-tier draw engine in your command zone that is also the card type your deck is built around is kinda, uh, amazing? But thankfully Sythis isn't so good that she invalidates the other Enchantress options like Tuvasa the Sunlit, Daxos the Returned, or even the other Selesnya powerhouse, Siona, Captain of the Pyleas. It really depends what colors you want to be in and what you're looking for. Also while Sythis is pretty bland and most decks are just going to be generic Enchantress around her, the fact that she gains life does mean you could add a Lifegain subtheme for a bit of spice.
I apologize if I'm sounding a bit negative with this review. The initial reaction of Sythis has been overwhelmingly positive and I know a lot of people are eager to finally build Enchantress around her, and I think that's great! I hope they enjoy one of my favorite archetypes. I plan on playing her too, but I do find her aggressively boring, and I hope we don't see a 10th Enchantress card any time soon unless it actually does something different and isn't just like "Satyr Enchanter but strictly better in all ways," ya know?
Terminal Agony
Terminal Agony is a solid pickup in Madness / Discard decks like Anje Falkenrath and Chainer, Nightmare Adept.
Wavesifter
Mulldrifter this is not, but personally I like it better! Into Clue Tribal you go!
Yusri, Fortune's Flame
Yusri, Fortune's Flame is a lot weaker than the other Coin Flip options we've got, namely the partners Okaun, Eye of Chaos & Zndrsplt, Eye of Wisdom and Krark, the Thumbless & Sakashima of a Thousand Faces. And personally, I really like that.
Back in the day, Coin Flips was a meme archetype, and honestly I liked it that way. But then O&Z came around and basically made the archetype far more legit than I cared for. I don't think I've ever seen an Okaun not 1-shot opponents if they were allowed to attack a single time. And now K&S is legit a tier 2 CEDH decks. Coin Flips are just too easy now, too good. It sucked any enjoyment that I had from the archetype personally. And I know that's a personal taste thing and if you like powerful Coin Flip then I'm happy for you, but it's not for me.
Yusri is more for me. While winning five coin flips sounds absurd, in reality it's incredibly hard to pull off, even with Krark's Thumb (it's only a 25% chance with a Thumb out). So you'll just draw a couple cards for the most part. It's clearly less powerful than the other Coin Flip commanders, and that's good! The other options are literally CEDH level; having a lower power level option is exactly what the archetype needs.
So yeah, I'm pretty excited for Yusri. I don't know if the other commanders already poisoned the well in attempting to make Coin Flips "jank" again, but I'm hoping to have some fun with this. Add lifelink to make that damage less of an issue.
COLORLESS
Academy Manufactor
Academy Manufactor is absurdly good token producing, reinforcing the overlap between the artifact tokens Clue, Food, and Treasure. Tripling your token production is absolutely bananas and it's a new staple in all three of those archetypes.
You also won't be surprised that Manufactor enables some combos: Cauldron Familiar + Witch's Oven + Academy Manufactor + Clock of Omens is a new infinite combo for Food Tribal for infinite drain. Yeah, it takes 4 cards, but you'd be running all of them in Food Tribal anyway so it's not that janky!
Dermotaxi
Dermotaxi is absolutely ridiculous both in flavor and mechanics. It's kind of like a Mimic Vat, but a Vehicle, so weird! I'm not sure how good it is, but it's definitely need, and at the very least I'm gonna jam it in Depala, Pilot Exemplar!
Diamond Lion
Can Lion's Eye Diamond still be broken if costs 2 mana and is now attached to a creature? I mean, probably. The good news is that it's going to be way cheaper than the original!
Kaldra Compleat
FINALLY! I've been waiting for a new Phyrexian Kaldra for years now, and we finally got it!
Is Kaldra Compleat a good card? In most decks, no, 7 mana to cast and 7 to equip is ridiculously expensive. In Equipment decks that can consistently cheat it into play for cheap (Stoneforge Mystic) and get around equip costs (Puresteel Paladin) then yes, it's good since it gives a bunch of highly desirable keywords all in one card.
But the card's power is irrelevant. This is a new Kaldra card. The goal is clear: I will assemble Kaldra and equip the Kaldra token with Kaldra Compleat! It must be done!
Liquimetal Torque
Liquimetal Torque is Liquimetal Coating that can tap for mana, which is really sweet. I already run Prismatic Lens in a good amount of extreme budget decks as a okay mana rock, and I'll do the same with Torque. The added benefit here is you can turn your artifact removal into nonland permanent removal too. And obviously it gets much better in decks that want to run Coating, since it does the exact same thing.
Nettlecyst
All That Glitters in an equipment form is pretty sweet. Enchantress decks can do better usually with stuff like Ancestral Mask or even Helm of the Gods, but this is a sweet beater in Artifact decks for sure.
Scion of Draco
Despite being a better card when cast, Scion of Draco is inferior to its papa Draco in commander since its cmc is far lower, making it less potent in decks that actually care about these cards like Volrath the Fallen and Yuriko, the Tiger's Shadow. It's a respectable 12 mana though so it'll see play in the same decks as the original.
Sol Talisman
Sol Talisman is the greatest gift to Osgir, the Reconstructor, as you can loot the Talisman away and then activate Osgir to make two copies of it, ramping 4 mana for 0, utterly insane. It's also decent in cascade decks like Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder. Heck, it's kinda alright in generic decks too!
Sword of Hearth and Home
This card is sweet! I see this mostly as a Sword of the Animist that gives protection from green and white, while sometimes getting extra blink value as well. I love the Sword and I'll love this too, especially in Equipment decks.
Zabaz, the Glimmerwasp
I respect that they made a legendary wasp, and that it's the first official commander for Boros Modular decks, which is very cool. It helps Modular be a bit more viable, which is good because that archetype is hardly ever played and could use a boost. It's neat! Not really for me, but I respect it.
Artifact Duals
We got an entire cycle of dual artifact lands that enter tapped and are indestructible, and I love them. In generic decks they're a bit better on a budget than your typical tapland options like guildgates and such since they're indestructible, saving you from potential land removal cards. However they get a lot better with synergies: they're artifacts so they fuel metalcraft (Dispatch) or can be sac'd for value, and they're indestructible so they survive your own MLD like Armageddon. I think they'll be powerful new additions in both those archetypes.
Power Depot
A mana-fixing artifact land is really sweet in Artifact decks! Modular 1 is a nice touch, extra value when paired with Goblin Welder and especially useful in [Zabaz, the Glimmerwasp]].
Urza's Saga
Urza's Saga caused quite a commotion when it was one of the first cards previewed from the set, a potentially overpowered land with way too much text. Now that the hype has died down a little, I look at it again and ... feel the same way? It's ridiculously good in decks that run both Sol Ring and Mana Crypt, and while most run the former not a lot run the latter due to price (presumably). The fact that it can snag Ring, Crypt, and also other utility like Skullclamp or Soul-Guide Lantern makes it ridiculous. It's not even a dead draw lategame since the second chapter can knock out some dummy thicc tokens! A new staple in Artifact decks for sure, any deck that reeeeally wants to tutor up the Clamp, and basically any deck that has 3+ good targets for it.
Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth
I defended Gaea's Will. I defended Sanctum Weaver. And I at least understood Sylvan Anthem. But I got nothing for Yavimaya, Cradle of Growth. I heard different WOTC employees imply that this is actually a Green effect all along and Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth was a color break which I strongly disagree with (tainting land is Black / Blue thing), and another WOTC employee say that yeah, it's originally Black's thing but we want to complete the cycle and we're just starting with Green is all. Either way, I don't like it. I think Urborg is an iconic Black card and tainting all lands into Swamps is a very Black-feeling thing. I wish it was kept that way instead of all colors continue to merge together into an indistinct mess, where Green always has an excuse to absorb the rest of the colors. If we had to see a color-shifted version it should've been Blue, since Blue has a long history of flooding lands (Stormtide Leviathan).
Design gripes aside, this card is sweet. Finally, Nissa, Who Shakes the World is a good card!
WHEW!
We finally covered all the cards! Why do I keep making Part 3 so long, I don't know. We got there though.
Overall, I think Modern Horizons 2 is one of my favorite Magic sets ever. That's high praise and the set isn't even out yet, but it's true. My main criteria for new sets from a Commander perspective is:
- unique designs that put a twist on the normal design templates
- cards that lift up underdeveloped archetypes
- avoiding making already strong archetypes even strong
And for the most part, MH2 does this more than most sets I can think of. Sure, there's still power creep, there always will be in products designed (at least in part) around Commander. And since every product is now a Commander product and they're pumping out products at a faster rate than ever before, power creep is a serious concern for me. But I'm happy that the vast majority of cards here are super sweet, daring and original.
Now that the review is done, it's time to brew! I'll be working on the best new commander brews and combos that incorporate MH2. I can't wait to show you what I've got! Thanks for reading!
