8. Bow of Nylea
Four nifty abilities guide Bow of Nylea to our Top 8 list. The spring season of growth provides +1/+1 counters to protect our utility creatures from Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite or a cycled Decree of Pain (or make our heavy hitters even HEAVIER). The harsh winds of summer shoot down light fliers like Mulldrifter and Kaalia of the Vast. The fall harvest gains us 3 life, which adds up over time. Finally, winter storage protects our creatures from opposing reanimation while re-buying useful creatures with tutor engines like Birthing Pod or Momir Vig, Simic Visionary. Shout outs to John Wyly for pointing out the cool seasonal themes and 1, 2, 3, 4 pattern on this card.
All I want is to give this guy Double Strike. But in all seriousness, I was looking through the list of U/W generals for a control deck and was pretty unimpressed by the results. Ith, High Arcanist requires more creatures to work, both Isperia, Supreme Judge and Isperia the Inscrutable don't feel powerful enough, and Grand Arbiter Augustin IV just feels griefy. Medomai provides a relevant ability that doesn't make the whole table upset (as his ability only triggers on combat damage to players and cannot be reused during extra turns). Medomai's effect is especially effective with Planeswalkers like Ajani, Caller of the Pride and Venser, the Sojourner for their second abilities and Planeswalkers' inherent ability to make good use of extra turns.
Mono-Black Lifelink, hell it's about time. With Grisel-banned, Mono-Black decks had to rely on Equipment cards, Wurmcoil Engine, and Drain Life effects stem the Greed-bleed of additional card draw that the color offers. Now decks have a passive Lifelink source that allows them to feed life-hungry Enchantments like Phyrexian Arena and Necropotence, which couples well with their large creatures holding a Lashwrithe or Nightmare Lash. The Reanimate effect attached to the Whip is a powerful source of card advantage as well, giving creatures one last charge into the red zone before being dragged to the Underworld for all time. Or, with cards like Conjurer's Closet or Faceless Butcher, even that downside can be circumvented.
Purphoros may have a bit of trouble remaining a creature in red decks, but his other two abilities impact the board in a big way. Running creatures onto the battlefield is something most red decks like to do anyway; having those creatures Shock EACH of your opponents increases their damage output tremendously. Purphoros pairs exceptionally well with token generators like Siege-Gang Commander or even the new Prossh, Skyraider of Kher and will probably end the game on the spot with a big Krenko, Mob Boss activation. Giving your team Firebreathing also increases the threat level of each of your creatures; even a battalion of 0/1 Kobolds becomes scary after a couple pumps.
Affectionately dubbed "Bacon Within" or "Hamnation," Curse of the Swine is a Blue, mana-hungry Wrath of God with conviction. I talked about this card a little bit in Into the Deck Box: Arcum Dagsson, but that was a bit of a narrow context. Curse of the Swine has strong synergy with not only Upheaval effects like Dromar, the Banisher and Kederekt Leviathan, but also has effectively no downside if its controller has an Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite on board. A far cry from Blue's usual role in the color pie, Curse of the Swine provides a powerful effect for a color that has trouble dealing with resolved threats.
I'm never disappointed to draw Elspeth in Standard and I feel this sentiment would persist in Commander. Both her first AND second abilities protect her (from small creatures and large ones respectively) and her ultimate is game-ending. On top of her three strong abilities, Elspeth's loyalty numbers are worth taking a closer look at. She starts with 4 and ultimates at 7, which means she can ultimate off of a Doubling Season AND SURVIVE, or just needs to be protected for three Untap Phases to turn any and all of your creatures (present or future) into relevant threats. And if you manage to get an emblem and use her first ability again... let's just say your opponents will hate seeing you get 9 more power in flying every turn.
2. Ashen Rider
Move over, Angel of Despair, there's a new Vindicate-stick in town! And it's better in every which way... For a low upgrade fee of 1 mana, Ashen Rider exiles instead of destroys, and repeats the effect upon death. This card is pretty much an auto-include in any B/W/x Reanimator strategies and works well enough as a curve-topper in other decks. Ashen Rider also works well with sacrifice effects (including the new Rescue from the Underworld). The only reason I'm still playing Angel of Despair is its synergistic subtype. Oh well, Kaalia, we have other friends anyway!
Cabal Coffers for everybody! Well, not quite... This land ACTUALLY rewards you for playing one color (instead of however many colors you want and a copy of Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth). That's not to say Nykthos only belongs in Mono-Colored decks - lands with the potential to tap for more than one mana are a boon to any deck - it is simply easier to get online in a Mono-Colored deck. Nykthos also has the advantage of tapping for colorless mana, which keeps it from ever feeling like a missed land-drop. Much easier to keep in check than Coffers, Nykthos feels similarly powerful, yet more balanced. Nykthos is also a great addition to any Elf-ball decks out there (maybe I'll stop raving and actually BUILD one of those soon.)
Honorable Mentions:
Burnished Hart - Mana fixing for non-Green decks. Tying up your turns 3 and 4 is a little harsh, but you can't really ask for better colorless ramp. Also Sun Titan recurrable; not the worst.
Gift of Immortality - awesome with cards like Ashen Rider and Ashnod's Altar, but doesn't really do anything on its own. Pretty good Voltron-esque card, though; protects your Uril, the Miststalker from forced sacrifices.
I hope you're as excited to play with these cards as I am and can't wait to experience all the WTF moments they create. Good luck on the battlefield, fellow Commanders!
-Javier Remy
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