When it comes to celebrating Magic’s 25th anniversary, Wizards of the Coast has appeared to pull out all the stops in 2018, with a litany of celebrations, events, convention appearances, and tournaments.
They’ve also been churning out a ton of Magic product the last year or two, to a point where it’s difficult for entrenched fans with deep wallets to keep up with the pace, let alone new players.
Consider this: for a good chunk of Magic’s lifespan, the game averaged four releases a year. This typically included a small set in January or February, another small set in May, and a new large set in September. Buttressed between the two was a core set, generally released in July. Until Magic 2010, the core sets were entirely reprinted cards designed to help newer player get into the game, while making for a nice place to reprint occasionally sought after cards.
Lost yet?
For the last decade, Wizards also historically released two different planeswalker Duel Decks, a From the Vault set, a Deckbuilder’s Toolkit for novices, and a multiplayer focused product (be it Planechase, Archenemy, Conspiracy, or Commander). Each year.
Then add in the fact that for the last five years (excepting 2014), they’ve added a Constructed-focused supplemental set to the rotation.
Then take into account that after Magic Origins in 2015, they did away with core sets entirely.
And, finally, as of this year, there are no more small sets.
That’s…a lot.
Magic may be riding an all-time interest high, with copious product to cater to the numerous formats and preferences of its existing fan base, but the volume and pace of these releases has not been favorable to newcomers of the game. Over the last two years, it has been increasingly difficult for people looking to dip their toes into the shallow end of the mana pool. Just staring at all the options on a store wall alone can be daunting.
For the uninitiated, the question of where to start has been bewildering and challenging in ways that even Wizards was unable to find answers for. Despite several attempts to guide novice players towards tools that could be used as viable teaching vehicles, in the end they realized that while core sets aren’t necessarily the most profitable sets going, they have proven invaluable as a way to start playing the game without being overwhelmed to a point where you may decide to stop playing before you even start.
(Of course, the idea of buying into a CCG in 2018 is an interesting conversation to have, but that’s another topic for another day.)
It’s back!
So, recognizing just how much of a potential bottleneck they had with on the new player side, this year they brought the core sets back. Wizards realized that they made made a mistake, and it was something they had no choice but to fix if they wanted to keep the steady stream of inquisitive newcomers interested in their cardboard crack. They publicly acknowledged that they underestimated the impact of core sets for up-and-comers, and so, as of this summer Core Set 2019 made a triumphant return.
The 25th anniversary of Magic certainly has brought about some changes in the game, and after some thought, I’ve decided to follow suit with respect to this series and the frequency of non-standard weekly pieces. Namely, championing new multiplayer and Commander centric cards in sets as they come out.
In years past I’ve only decided to do these articles for Commander sets themselves or for multiplayer-focused sets like Conspiracy, as most of the time this series doesn’t even consider spotlighting cards unless they’ve been out for a least a year (helping illuminate older and easily forgotten cards, in the spirit of the EDH format). New set rundowns sort of run contrary to that, but they made for meaningful exceptions to my own series structure. So, in the spirit of celebrating the game’s 25 years and the return of core sets, it seems like an opportune time to start doing such pieces for each major set as it comes out. The only major difference between these rundown pieces going forward from those in the past is that they will be two-parters, broken down over two weeks as to better digest the cards discussed.
Speaking of which, on to Core 2019!
The core sets returned after a several year absence to a lot of attention, both because of the timing (being the 25th anniversary year), and because of what they decided to do with it. Much like previous core sets, this year’s iteration is an amalgamation of cards that pull their flavor from across the multiverse. For some this can create a thematic disconnect, but for many players, especially those that don’t know the decades of backstories, having a wide cross-section of card locales is a good way to introduce the game’s deep and long-running mythos.
THE Dragon with an attitude
Core 2019 is a bit of a deviation from many previous core sets though in that there actually is a small coherent theme running throughout the set, as quite a few cards reference the current Big Bad of the game: Nicol Bolas. These cards stretch the entire timeline of his storied career, from his current plans to reclaim power back to his roots in Dominarian history. The most notable cards reflecting this are new iterations of the other four original Elder Dragon Legends, as well as Nicol Bolas himself as he ascends to becoming a planeswalker – as demonstrated in the set’s only double-sided card.
That said, core sets by their nature are designed to be less complex and have a less cohesive theme compared to other sets. After all, this is a set whose focus is on the person who’s been playing for weeks or months, not decades.
However, when it comes to determining the worthiness of their EDH potential, neither of those facts actually matter. So while some may lament core sets for being a bit on the boring side, don’t let that make you think there aren’t plenty of excellent multiplayer cards worthy of your attention. In fact, this set proved quite the opposite: there are copious new EDH-worthy cards to consider adding to your decks.
So let’s dive into the top ten most versatile Commander cards of Core 2019. As always, the goal of this list is to focus is on which cards can be utilized in the most situations and deck styles more so than those that are simply the most powerful or most valuable. I’m also focusing on new cards only – no reprints. Even taking those restrictions into account, it wasn’t easy to narrow them down. But here we go!
Honorable Mention #1: Fraying Omnipotence
Of course, flavor is nice and all, but that’s not what gets it the first honorable mention here. That honor is due to its exceedingly Black effect of delivering mutual pain to everyone involved. The card itself is a more modern iteration of the classic card Pox, with two notable exceptions.
First, Fraying Omnipotence in many ways is more powerful than Pox, as players must sacrifice half their life, cards in hand, and creatures on the battlefield, rather than just a third. This card simultaneously can cripple players with high life totals, massive creature armies, or who may be sitting on a large array of cards in their hand. Or, you know, all of the above. True, just like Pox it hurts you too, but with such cards you’re usually casting them when you’re behind in some fashion anyway, so it’s likely to be considered acceptable losses.
Second, while Fraying Omnipotence costs two additional mana than Pox, it’s much easier to splash into multicolor decks, making it more useful to a larger percentage of players. Fraying Omnipotent also forgoes Pox’s most negative effect: land destruction. With this style of card you can instill illness upon your opponent without also losing your mana base in the process. Insult without as much of an injury, as it were.
Honorable Mention #2: Transmogrifying Wand
Transmogrifying Wand is one such answer to those situations. For a mere three mana, this Harry Potter-esque wand allows any deck the ability to create Pongify-style spot removal. This is especially helpful to any color that isn’t, well, Black. Each other color has the ability to remove a creature from the battlefield (bounce, fight, O-Ring effects, or burning it if it’s small enough), but unadulterated one-sided spot removal is difficult for nonblack colors outside of cards with blatant color pie breaks. The vast majority of the time, giving an opponent a 2/4 creature in exchange for taking out their most potent or important creature in the process is worth the tradeoff.
Yes, you can only use its effect three times, and it must be done at sorcery speed, but don’t let that dissuade you from considering an artifact with repeatable destruction options. For many monocolor decks in particular, this magic wand will be easily worth considering.
Honorable Mention #3: Sarkhan’s Unsealing
However, for Red, barring some flickering or reanimation shenanigans, the outcome is largely identical to this card’s first ability for any creature of power 6 or less.
What makes Sarkhan’s Unsealing so advantageous by contrast though is its second ability. It states that whenever you cast a creature of power 7 or higher, you generate a one-sided Flame Wave that cooks all of your opponent’s creatures and planeswalkers for 4 damage. It’s true that Red itself doesn’t have a ton of base creatures that fits this criteria (only two dozen in fact), the single Red mana cost makes it wayyyyyyy easy to mix with other color (or colorless) options.
It does require a little finesse, but the payoff is more than worth it for a color that is perennially in need of repeatable mass damage.
Number Ten: Detection Tower
Heck, even the artwork is similar.
In both instances, this land allows its user to get through the protections of its opponents’ creatures so as to be able to target them. The main difference between the two cards is that Arcane Lighthouse removes both Hexproof and Shroud protections for the turn. Yet given that standard sets haven’t seen a card with Shroud printed since 2011, it wouldn’t make sense for it to be seen reprinted here, especially for a core set. Hence the new version.
In exchange, Detection Tower provides something unique of its own: stripping away Hexproof of players as well. And this can be just as, if not more useful to slot in a deck, depending on whom you play regularly. Plus, the fact that Detection Tower is in a core set means it’ll be far easier to get your hands on a copy fairly easily.
Number Nine: Poison-Tip Archer
After all, one of the most appealing aspects to Commander decks is how easily it can be sometimes to simply throw many of your best cards together in a pile and make a deck around them. Commander is the epitome of multiplayer casual’s reputation as ‘Battlecruiser Magic’, where everyone is playing with big, splashy cards. And most of the time, those cards tend to be rares and mythics.
Multiplayer potential is not based on rarity, however, for what may be a lackluster ability in a duel may be an absolute beast with multiple opponents. Poison-Tip Archer is that kind of card. It may be an uncommon, but don’t let the silver icon fool you: this card can be down right devastating in the right hands. It won’t singlehandedly swing the board in your favor, but its synergy potential makes it something to sit up and take notice about all the same.
As a 2/3 Reach, Deathtouch creature for four mana, PT Archer here seems to merely be a multicolored Kessig Recluse. Not that such a comparison is bad; Kessig Recluse is a decent defensive creature on its own. Reach and and Deathtouch are a potent combination that helps protect the creature itself – and you – from haphazard attacks. In reality, though, its base abilities are more of a bonus, and not the reason it winds up being discussed here today.
The real potential to the card is its death-related trigger. It states that whenever another creature dies, each opponent loses 1 life, which can be scary to contend with in the right Commander settings – particularly those where you have a lot of sacrifice outlets at the ready or against players who love to run token armies. With this card you’re essentially trading the life syphon potential of Blood Artist (often a potent creature in its own right) for the one-sided ability to hit everyone but yourself with life loss instead. This is effective both as a massive series of triggers all at once or as a slow poison-related life drip over the course of the game.
All of a sudden things like casual board wipes have the potential to become a lot more painful.
Number Eight: Vivien Reid
In any given set, the average number of planeswalkers has traditionally sat at around five. In the last two years, with the advent of replacing Duel Decks with introductory-level Planeswalker Decks, that number has nevertheless climbed to seven.
Between six in the base set and a whopping five unique Planeswalker Decks, Core Set 2019 has 11.
Eleven.
That’s abnormally high in general, let alone for a core set. Yet here we are. So it was statistically improbable that we not make it through a top ten set list without at least one of them bearing real Commander potential. Which brings us to the new face of Green planeswalkers, Vivien Reid.
While it’s true that most planeswalkers increase the potency of an EDH deck to varying degrees, the best planeswalkers for consideration on this list are those that have the most widespread application to the most styles of decks. These are the ones that strike the right balance between abilities, mana cost, and attainability. Sure Nicol Bolas, the Ravager is a more powerful planeswalker, but a) he’s bonkers pricey at the time of this article, and b) he requires 11 mana to be fully actualized. (Plus if you’re spending 11 mana, you sure as hell better be getting something explosive out of it.)
Versatility is the key factor here, and Vivien fits that bill easily. Five mana for a 5 loyalty planeswalker is a nice start, ensuring she doesn’t get picked off easily. (That is, unless you’re in my play group where planeswalkers often have a Kill On Sight directive.) Her first ability is a helpful topdeck tutoring, letting you grab a land or creature from the top four cards, and is more or less guaranteed card draw in Green. (If you don’t find at least one of those in your top four in Green, something has probably gone horribly wrong.)
Her second ability is very reminiscent of Freyalise, Llanowar’s Fury, who itself was on a similar list for C14. Vivien’s actually provides even more target potential in this case, letting you pick off an artifact, enchantment, or a flying creature – a nice addition both in ability and befitting her archer-based character.
And her ultimate, should you be able to pull it off, is both incredibly Green and incredibly advantageous. At its worst it provides a permanent mini-Overrun by giving your creatures +2/+2 and Trample. That alone would be enough to earn her a spot in many decks. Adding Vigilance to the mix makes that even more potent. But the real kicker to her ultimate is the bestowing of Indestructibility. Forever. As anyone who has ever stared down an indestructible board before, that is not something to be taken lightly.
What makes these combination of effects so worthwhile though is that Vivien doesn’t fit solely into one deck archetype. Her abilities are pure Green-based utility and can be beneficial whether you’re trying for combat with impunity, protection and control, or card acceleration, and she can effortlessly slide into almost any Green EDH deck without much thought.
Number Seven: Resplendent Angel
One of the hallmark traits to any modern Magic set, core or otherwise, is that the designers painstakingly include cards that cater to the plethora of different formats and play styles in circulation. Once upon a time the primary concern was simply whether it was a neat card that coherently fit into a set, but over time more an more considerations have been added. Nowadays, any standard set release – in addition to maintaining power levels, storyline concerns, and relative balance – will contain cards for Limited, Standard, Commander, and even occasional cards explicitly made with Modern in mind. It’s a lot to juggle, certainly.
Thing is, while there are many cards that are added with a specific group in mind, there is also the occasional Omnicard – a card that just about everyone can benefit from. Resplendent Angel is an Omnicard.
It doesn’t take much effort to see why. Resplendent Angel is well above curve as a 3/3 flyer for three mana, making it useful in drafts and plenty of White aggro decks. Its activated ability then ensures it won’t only be seen as an early game card, as for an admittedly expensive six mana activation, it becomes a 5/5 Flying, Lifelink creature for the turn, putting it close to Baneslayer Angel territory in terms of usefulness.
But wait, there’s more! Because Resplendent Angel also states that if you gain 5 life in a single turn, you get to create a free Serra Angel. Her activation ensures that will happen by itself, but if you have other means of gaining life then you may also be able to benefit from it without the risk of attacking…
Resplendent Angel has ubiquitous appeal, but its potential in Commander is notable because reaching a point in gameplay where a six mana activation isn’t a huge deal is far more common here than other settings. At the same time, whereas in other formats a single bonus token may be enough to swing the game, in EDH you likely may have the time and means to assemble a small army.
At its absolute worst, Resplendent Angel is a complete package unto itself, but there is a lot of synergy potential to explore with here. Its triggered effect is just begging to be built around in a manner that is hard to resist. The biggest obstacle to its use for the majority of Commander players unfortunately will be its cost, as most Omnicards tend to be pricey due to demand on multiple fronts.
Number Six: Runic Armasaur
To many Standard players, the most obvious attribute about this card is that it’s an aggressively costed dinosaur, which will fit in nicely for the current Ixalan-heavy meta. Here, three mana nets you a 2/5 creature, making it a great enabler for a variety of different dino-centric strategies.
In the context of multiplayer gaming, however, all eyes are on the Runic’s ability, which states that if an opponent uses a non-mana ability of a creature or land, you can draw a card.
In the realm of EDH, this happens a lot. A real lot. Think about it: this means nearly every creature’s tap ability or static activation and nearly every utility land you can name – all of which Commander is perennially flush with – will allow you to draw a card. The sheer number of situations where you can benefit from having this simply sit on the battlefield is impressive, and there will be no shortage of decks where it will call home based on that fact alone.
You will draw cards with this creature. The real question is how long your opponents will let it sit on the battlefield letting you do so. Make no mistake, Runic Armasaur has the potential for some extensive free card advantage if left unchecked, making its only real down side the fact it’s a magnet creature for removal. Luckily its 5 toughness gives it a little extra defense to help keep it alive to that end.
It’ll probably need it.
That’s it for now! Check back in two weeks for Numbers 1-5!
Would these cards have been on your own top ten? Tell us over on our social media!
Do you have a particular Commander card to suggest for us to shine a future Spotlight on? You can send suggestions to ryan@cardboardrepublic.com