Chief: Drop of Honey was actually reprinted as a white card in Planar Chaos. Check out Porphyry Nodes if you want a more affordable equivalent.

Exxaxl: Shhh no white article spoilers, I still have the colorless one to write first.

Have you ever been in a situation where beating a board wipe and then having just one more turn would allow you to win a close game of Commander?

While 3 mana and 2 life for an Esper Sentinel or a Skullclamp isn’t exactly the best rate, it can be argued that these cards are worth more than 1 mana in the first place!

Now that 2022 has had some time to settle and we’ve had enough time to play with the cards from the final releases of the year, we’re ready to share our favorite cards from 2022. We (Chief, Who Endures and Exxaxl, Progress Tyrant) will recap our selections for each major set released last year.

With cards like Jeska’s Will, Professional Face-Breaker, and Prosper, Tome-Bound seeing a ton of play in Commander, this card is in a prime position to have a big impact on the table every time that it hits the battlefield.

The groans of the graveyard player when you cast this are usually preferable to those of their freshly raised undead legions.

Exxaxl: We’ve yet to see our first ever mono-white goblin appear in the game, so I was quite surprised you chose this one.

Chief: It’s only a matter of time! We even have mono-white orcs now!

Too many people abuse this silent agreement that lands should be left alone and go overboard by stapling strong effects and interactions in their land base, knowing people likely aren’t running the correct targeted removal to deal with it. Prevent that Villainous Wealth or Torment of Hailfire of reaching X = 15, don’t allow the voltron player to keep their Rogue’s Passage and get rid of that Urza’s Saga before it can tutor up an artifact.

Even without a voltron player at the table, when’s the last time you had a game without Lightning Greaves, Swiftfoot Boots, Shadowspear or any of the ‘Sword of’ cards getting played? Sure, their commander can have hexproof or shroud, but chances are high the equipment will not!

Exxaxl: It’s not like I’m trying to limit everyone to one spell a turn because I like them or anything…

Chief: Don’t.

I also noticed that Commander fan favorite Azusa, Lost but Seeking was conspicuously absent from the Kamigawa Ink Secret Lair. I guess she’s still lost out there somewhere.

Energy Tap turns into quite a strong ritual in a color that’s not really known for playing this type of effect. Tapping your Torrential Gearhulk to help you overload a Cyclonic Rift feels amazing to pull off.

Exxaxl: Can I interest you into this old border Metalwork Colossus as a participation prize ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)?

Chief: There’s no need to bully me.

The perception that mono-white is the weakest color identity in Commander can make playing it feel inaccessible for new players or those accustomed to playing other colors. This sentiment is one that I’d like to change.

You must be prepared to do a little bit of extra math during your combat step, but this likely won’t be a long-term problem when you can swiftly crush your enemies with a magnificent parade of formidable attackers.

Have you ever had the oddly specific desire to turn every single creature spell that you cast into either a Knight of Autumn or an Elvish Rejuvenator? Well, now you can!

Exxaxl: ‘Now that I flashed in my Embercleave in response to Tetsuo’s attack trigger, I will cast Surge to Victory for free from hand, targeting Invoke Calamity in my graveyard!’

Chief: Please stop. This is why more people are starting to play stax.

Notably, you as a player do not phase out and neither do the cards in your hand, library, graveyard, or any other game zone aside from the battlefield. The same is true of any spells or abilities that you control on the stack.

Chief: *Achoo!* Worldslayer.
Exxaxl: Bless you… what?
Chief: Oh, nothing.

This card is a competitive staple. Yes, it’s a worse Vampiric Tutor that needs to be cast at sorcery speed, but it’s still 1 mana to tutor any card to the top of your library. It usually isn’t that hard to crack the top of your library to get that combo piece or whatever else. People also aren’t above tutoring for Mana Crypt on turn 1 even with the near omnipresent threat of Ragavan, Nimble Pilferer stealing their topdecks.