End the Festivities 2021 - PlayEDH favorites - 1/5
In 2021 we saw a lot of cards printed into the format - 3649 to be exact, going by the Scryfall filter
’year=2021 f:commander’. If we take reprints out of that search syntax (year=2021 f:commander not:reprint) we’re still left with 1811 cards. Narrowing that down to cards that can be your Commander (year=2021 f:commander not:reprint is:commander) leaves us with 185 possible new Commanders you could brew around.
I thought we’d start 2022 by polling PlayEDH mentors, mods, admins and everyone involved about their favourite cards from 2021. I’ll regularly publish some of these small articles as the year progresses while we centimeter inch closer towards Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty’s release date.
-Exxaxl
The other articles in this mini-series can be found here:
https://www.playedh.com/articles/etf-02 - Necro, beard umbra, Cryptic
https://www.playedh.com/articles/etf-03 - Rahvin, Mormonator(Josh), Alchmyst
https://www.playedh.com/articles/etf-04 - Chief, Senatorious, Reyemile
https://www.playedh.com/articles/etf-05 - Thehealbus, Sydelio, Exxaxl
onceisonce, Markus, Dukeblock
onceisonce
Favorite non instant, non ‘can be your commander’ card:
Hullbreaker Horror. It does so much, even with the high mana cost. I personally love it because my pet card is Jeskai Ascendency which combined with Retraction Helix, a non-summoning sick creature, and two mana rocks, you can create infinite storm, Prowess buffs to your board, and loot through your deck to find exactly what you need. If you have 2 mana positive mana rocks or even a Sol Ring and and 0 drop, you then make infinite mana. I have used this loop many times to cast a giant Crackle with Power, Comet Storm, etc.
Hullbreaker Horror enables the same type of play, just without the prowess and looting effect. The other ability of being able to bounce spells on the stack is just icing on the cake of this wonderful sea monster. It can be used to police the table while you set up your win - the fact that it was our preview card only makes it more special to me.
Favorite ‘in response…’ card:
Mystic reflection. My favorite play I did this year with this card was in response to my own board wipe. Cast the board wipe, hold priority, cast Mystic Reflection targeting my Gray Merchant of Asphodel. The board wipe resolved and after that I cast my foretold Rise of the Dread Marn. I made 15 copies of Gray Merchant and drained the table for lethal. It was awesome! The flexibility of this card can also turn a huge threat into a tiny token. I saw an Ulamog turn into a 0/1 goat once. Mystic Reflection is hilarious.
2/5/2021 If Mystic Reflection resolves, but the target creature leaves the battlefield before the next time one or more creatures or planeswalkers enter the battlefield, use the copiable values of the target creature as it last existed on the battlefield to determine what the entering permanents copy - https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?name=mystic%20reflection
What commander caught your eye the most:
Orcus, Prince of Undeath. I love D&D lore and seeing Orcus printed in AFR was so cool. The first full D&D campaign I did with a close group of friends was “Out of the Abyss” and we got to fight Orcus.
The battle was really fun and seeing this demon in a Magic set with all his abilities is just so cool. You can run him as a threatening board wipe or reanimation spell. The flexibility of this commander along with the intense lore behind him just got me super excited.
Markus
Favorite non instant, non ‘can be your commander’ card:
Expressive Iteration is extraordinarily versatile and can be played in so many deck shells in multiple different power levels. It’s a multi-format all star, always feels very good to cast whether early or late into a game.
Favorite ‘in response…’ card:
Solitude can be used in many different ways other than just being a free Swords to Plowshares. Use it in a blink shell to capitalize on the enter the battlefield effect, use it in decks that end the turn early to work around the Evoke trigger or use it as a blocker by flashing it in for full retail cost and 2 for 1'ing an opponent attack against you. This card is absurdly good.
What commander caught your eye the most:
Lathril, Blade of the Elves - Golgari elves got a massive upgrade when Lathril was printed. The innate value she gets just by attacking and generating more elves that can be used in multiple different ways with other elves-matter cards all just from one card in the command zone is what the tribe needed.
Dukeblock
Favorite non instant, non ‘can be your commander’ card:
I think my answer may be a bit of a cheat to the question, but my favorite card is less about the card itself and more about it and the subset of cards being added. When Arcbound Shikari was announced, I was ecstatic, as I had just finished making a Osgir Modular deck with the original Mirrordin block Arcbound cards.
The deck felt ok to play at that early stage, but the Modular creatures very much felt like a subtheme to the Boros artifact theme. Once Modern Horizons 2 rolled up with a brand new wave of Arcbound creatures however, it allowed the small subtheme to become the main theme of the deck and since then it's become one of my favorites to play, so much so that I've begun to foil out the deck.
Favorite ‘in response…’ card:
There's been quite a lot of strong interaction released this year. From Resculpt to Cosmic Intervention, Infernal Grasp to You Find Some Prisoners - almost every set has had at least one notable card. My favorite though is another card from MH2 though with Blacksmith's Skill.
I believe this can go into any deck with White due to just how versatile the card is. Being able to give both Hexproof and Indestructible means you can protect through both single target removal and board wipes. It can target any permanent, not just creatures, it can protect one of your artifacts, enchantments, or even lands -it can even be used as a pump spell if you happen to be running artifact creatures.
What commander caught your eye the most:
Once again I find my pick for this question is coming from Modern Horizons 2. While that set brought quite a few interesting commanders that got people talking. Ragavan, Grist, Lonis, even Garth, but there's one that I didn't see anyone really talk about during her reveal, which honestly surprised me.
Piru, the Volatile allows for an interesting gameplay strategy of wanting to get Piru's death trigger as often as possible, and Mardu certainly has the tools to take advantage of that with various reanimaton effects. Combined with cards to give your opponents tokens to gain life from or other synergies like Vito or Repercussion to turn that lifegain into damage, I think Piru is one of the more interesting commanders released this year that seems underplayed compared to some of the others that released.
Next time: Necro, beard umbra, Cryptic
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