Secure the right cards in foundation with the best pauper commanders available. Sadly, it looks as if you completely ignored my other comment and just took offense to me calling Altar of Shadows niche. Which is a shame, because I did find the article helpful. Also worth noting, even though you have it under Targeted Removal, Council’s Judgment doesn’t actually target. The voting part can make it rough in multiplayer, but usually people can figure out to exile the Avacyn, Angel of Hope or whatever other problematic thing is on the table. Pointing out that cards are bad is not a personal attack on the writer.
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Teferi’s Veil – Protects all aggressive creatures from Boardwipes. Insane with the new Token Ruling in Talrand, Sky Summoner decks. I just picked up a foil Gideon’s Intervention for my Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis deck. Also, on the same note is Nevermore, which sees a little play, and Declaration of Naught, which is super strong actually. Bubbling Muck – Sorcery speed High Tide for mono- decks or decks that can get Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth on the board reliably. And sure, you have a Yisan-like curve, but by T2 you’re getting solid value from various ETB abilities and the toolbox nature of the card.
Pre-War Formalwear is a staple of Legacy Death and Taxes decks as a way to keep your creatures around since the majority of the deck are creatures with a mana value of three or less. I think a lot of folks overlook that Burning of Xinye is not functionally identical to Wildfire. Burning is usually pretty bad because it only causes you and one opponent to each sacrifice four lands, leaving the other player’s/players’ mana unharmed. If your goal is simply to have a hard-to-interact sacrifice outlet, I suggest Martyr’s Cause and Fanatical Devotion. Both of these are three-mana enchantments, notably harder to destroy than the Altars while providing some unique boons in the form of regeneration and damage prevention. If you simply want to kill your own creatures give these two a try.
Since commander deck it’s designed for a Standard power-level, the cards are on the weaker side, but Kiora, the Rising Tide is far from weak. Nadu was responsible for Nadu Summer, a competitive season where Nadu was dominating every Modern event. It only lasted a few months before being banned from both Modern and Commander. There are a ton of cards in Outlaws of Thunder Junction to choose from, especially with the inclusion of The Big Score cards.
Vein Ripper was the star of one of the best decks in Pioneer before the banning of Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord (which was used to cheat it out without paying Vein Ripper’s mana cost). The static effect and ward led to quick burn damage, and a 6/5 on turn three was nothing to scoff at. Each set had a card that stood above the rest that was included in it. Not every card is a heavy hitter, and some fall by the wayside while others become meta-defining staples that see play for months or even years to come. I just put 7 new cards in my tcg cart for $1.50.on Morgue Toad, unless you’re playing grixis i’d rather have Basal Thrull.
Non-Creature Ramp
Alternatively, I want to give a shout-out to one of my favorite multi-functional sacrifice outlets; Dimir House Guard. Sacrificing a creature to regenerate Dimir House Guard is nothing to write home about, especially for four mana and being attached to a creature. Thankfully for blue mages out there, Heroic Intervention has a budget alternative, Lazotep Plating is two mana to grant you and permanents you control Hexproof until the end of the turn. While the Indestructible will be dearly missed, you might be able to stomach it when you realize Lazotep Plating is only $0.40! Additionally, it comes with a free Zombie Army just in case you need an extra blocker. If a card has not been included that you think deserves consideration, please state why you think that card should be on the list.
The Tens of EDH
These are instantly recognizable, sometimes feared, and often hated. Now, there are two things to be aware of when I made my decisions. First, I chose cards that are more or less good in a vacuum. For example, Palinchron is extremely powerful but relies heavily on [card mana reflection]other cards[/card] to be good. Second, I avoided stupid cards like Armageddon because I don’t play with or against such cards.
Perhaps the best addition this deck gets at this slot is Glissa Sunslayer, a cheap card that really had no home during the dominance of Fable of the Mirror-Breaker. Glissa is a super powerful card that is difficult to deal with without removal. As a Creature with First Strike and Deathtouch, this card dominates combat, killing anything in its path. Slickshot Show-Off is a staple of many red decks in Standard, Pioneer, and Modern. It can deal an explosive amount of damage, and under the right circumstances, win the game in just one attack while your opponent is at full life. And that’s not even considering the plethora of spot removal spells that you can just fire once.
The best cards outside of Commander usually don’t measure up in the world of 99 cards. Our powerful tools, breaking-news analysis, and exclusive Discord channel will make sure you stay up to date and ahead of the curve. Oblivion Ring or Banishing Light is another great budget removal option. Sire of Seven Deaths has popped up here and there in Modern and Legacy as a solid creature to ramp to. There are plenty of cool and amusing additions like Hare Apparent that are better than they appear. Ezio Auditore da Firenze did warrant consideration for the best Assassin’s Creed card for its role in Duel Commander.
Foundations Jumpstart is unlike other Jumpstarts attached to sets, with it being a full release rather than just a small handful of themes (similar to Jumpstart and Jumpstart 2022). The best card in Foundations Jumpstart has to go to Dionus, Elvish Archdruid (though Rev, Tithe Extractor and Scythecat Cub are strong contenders). Foundations is a set designed to be the backbone of Standard, with the cards having a five-year legality as opposed to the normal three.
Tons of extremely strong cards were printed that completely shook up a variety of formats. Obviously, Modern Horizons 3 takes the cake when it comes to overall power level, but this was far from the only set to have a major impact on Constructed and Commander. Time Stretch, on the other hand, ranks above all of these. In most formats ten mana is pretty unreasonable, but not in Commander. While ten is steep, most Commander games will go long enough for a spell like this to be hardcast.
The possibility of casting cards like this (fairly) is what makes Commander such an interesting, dynamic and unique format. The biggest cost to adding green, unsurprisingly, lies with the manabase. For example, being able to cast Cut Down turn one and Deeproot Wayfinder turn two is easier said than done. A lot of the mana fixing available for the deck, like Riveteer’s Overlook and Deathcap Glade, do not enable you to cast Cut Down turn one. The deck still plays almost a dozen basic Lands, but that means that drawing a hand of only one color and having to mulligan will happen more than you might expect. So far, most of the green cards that have been utilized are simply potential minor upgrades over the midrange threats available for black only.