M21 New Cards for Commander

Honorable Mention: Sanctums

Before we start the list in earnest, an honorable mention has to go to the new cycle of shrines, with Sanctum of All being the centrepiece.

The sanctum can tutor for any shrine once per turn. This allows it to play really well  if coupled with the previous cycle of Hondens from Kamigawa, since each and every shrine will see and count the others to multiply their effects. A janky prospect in EDH to be sure, but with enough tutor effects the deck can work in theory, and is guaranteed to be great fun when it comes together.

If you do decide to run a shrines deck, just be  sure to watch out for cards like Planar Cleansing that can wreck your carefully assembled critical mass of shrines. 

10. Elder Gargaroth

You need a put lot of value on a creature to make it viable in a format with as much card quality as Commander, and with Elder Garagaroth, Wizards certainly went all-in. This card honestly reads like someone in the design team just wanted to see how many keywords and abilities they could physically fit into a single textbox.

Elder Garagoroth is already above rate 6/6 for 5. Not content with that, it also has Vigilance, Reach and Trample. But of course that still wasn’t enough. So Elder Gargaroth also has three separate modes in combat, triggering on both attacks and blocks to take advantage of its vigilance. You can create a beast token, gain three life or draw a card, choosing the best mode every combat depending on the situation at hand.

If your opponents can somehow attack comfortably into a 6/6 creature with reach, they still give you value on blocks. If they let you swing with the Gargaroth, you get yet more value, and the vigilance means you’ll be ready to get yet more triggers on blocks from any counterattack.

In Commander, the Gargaroth offers card advantage to green decks alongside a beefy above-rate body that can attack for value, while importantly not leaving you open to counterattack from the rest of the table. It’s a really solid option for any creature deck with access to green.

9. Terror of the Peaks

Another mythic creature, this time in red, Terror of the Peaks can really live up to its name if you give it the right support.

The dragon has a respectable body as a 5/4 flier, and it will inflict a minor tax in life on any player that dares target it. But its real power lies in its second ability. With Terror of the Peaks in play, every creature you put onto the battlefield essentially comes with a Volcanic Geyser attached, with Terror of the Peaks dealing damage equal to that creature’s power to any target. In a deck with good ramp and a decent number of high-power creatures, this will work flexibly as creature or planeswalker removal, and most importantly can simply be targeted at your opponents’ faces. This card threatens to kill opponents no matter their board state, while constantly improving yours.

The Terror is particularly devastating with dedicated dragon commanders. With Lathliss, Dragon Queen in play, casting the Terror creates a 5/5 dragon token which can immediately direct 5 damage anywhere, assuring you get serious value right away. With the Ur-Dragon in play, Terror of the Peaks costs only four mana, draws you 5 cards on attacking and you may place another creature into play to trigger the Terror’s damage ability for free.

8. Sublime Epiphany

Do you love Cryptic Command, but always resented having to choose just two effects? Then Sublime Epiphany is the card for you! Like its illustrious cousin, Sublime Epiphany answers the card disadvantage inherent to countermagic in Commander by drawing a card, whilst at the same time allowing an insane number of additional interactions on top of the basic counterspell. You can bounce any permanent to its owner’s hand, copy your best creature and even counter an activated or triggered ability if there is one of those on the stack, perhaps from the cast trigger of an Eldrazi Titan like Kozilek, The Great Distortion. That last effect is quite rare even in EDH, and can save you in some otherwise unwinnable situations.

Yes, the epiphany is expensive. Yes, it can be a little clunky compared to some of the hyper-efficient countermagic in Commander like Counterspell. But if you are able to generate a lot of mana in your blue deck and hold it open, this card is guaranteed to perform. And if you're extra greedy and want all those modes again, it’s one of the best spells to generate advantage from instant-copying effects like the ability of Kalamax, the Stormsire.

7. Fiery Emancipation

Playing against this card can be downright terrifying. Red decks can already dish out serious damage both in combat and via targeted damage to creatures, planeswalkers and players. Tripling that damage can be game-breaking, even with the doubled life totals in Commander. And by the way, that damage-tripling effect applies to commander damage too, making this card especially strong for decks trying to beat down with a Voltron commander. Coupled with a commander with seven or more power like Ruhan of the Fomori, a single successful connection with an opponent will instantly kill them.

To best abuse the damage-tripling effects, try Fiery Emancipation with a commander like Klothys, God of Destiny, who with this card in play can do 6 damage each turn to every opponent while exiling cards from graveyards. Or go all-in with mono red and a direct damage dealer like Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh – with Fiery Emancipation in play she can ping for 3 and will instantly transform into her planeswalker form, who can them immediately do another six damage to any creature or player. With the Emancipation out, her ultimate will do 18 damage to the entire table and give every opponent an emblem that deals another 9 damage to them every upkeep. Who said burn wasn’t viable in Commander?

6. Vito, Thorn of the Dusk Rose

Vito is the first card on our M21 list that can function as a commander himself. His main ability works really well with any lifegain or lifelink card - of which mono black has plenty - and his activated ability can be devastating in conjunction with an all-out attack. Best of all in Commander, you don’t even have to direct the life loss at the same opponent you attacked. This makes him one of few combat-based commanders who have the potential to kill multiple opponents in a single attack. And who doesn’t want to do that?

In mono black, he forms a two card combo with Exquisite Blood, which offers an infinite loop with the potential to kill any opponent, or even all your opponents at once if you can cause them all to lose life simultaneously with a card like Ayara, First of Locthwain. Given the wealth of tutors available in EDH, and the ability to have permanent access to Vito as a commander, this isn’t even a particularly difficult combo to pull off if your opponents lack answers.

Vito can work as a payoff creature with other commanders too, particularly those that offer access to Orzhov colours and have a major lifegain theme, like Karlov of the Ghost Council or Vito's faction-mate Elenda the Dusk Rose.

5. Mangara, the Diplomat

Another card with potential as a commander if you can stomach the mono-white restriction, Mangara can be exceptionally frustrating for your opponents. EDH very often involves explosive turns with multiple spells being cast and mana efficiency at a premium, and Mangara taxes your opponents by drawing you a card every time they dare cast more than one spell a turn. This offers them a choice to play into the effect and grant you enormous card advantage, or to seriously stifle their own play by casting only a single spell each turn. Either way, Mangara wins and your opponents are left with a sour taste in the mouth. Come to think of it, the politician theming here really is on point.

With his second ability, Mangara creates all sorts of dilemmas for players attacking you, generating you yet more card advantage if they swing out against you with multiple creatures. In multiplayer, both abilities apply to every opponent, and the overall effect is likely to be that they tend to leave you alone altogether to avoid gifting you advantage.

To really go all-in on the politics theme, try Mangara in a deck with Queen Marchesa and make yourself the monarch. You’ll generate even more card advantage every turn, and any serious attempt to depose you by dealing you combat damage will only net you more cards from Mangara’s combat ability. And if you really want to run a full-on cardboard government, why not throw a Smothering Tithe in there too and add some taxes to the mix!

4. Radha, Heart of Keld

Our final potential commander on the list, Radha is a cheap Gruul legendary creature who attacks well in the early game. Much more importantly, she offers you the powerful ability to play lands from the top of your library in a way similar to Oracle of Mul Daya, but without revealing your next draw to your opponents like the Oracle does. This offers both card advantage and mana advantage, particularly if you can find ways to play more than one land a turn with cards like Azusa, Lost but Seeking, Exploration or the Oracle itself. You can also pair her with powerful landfall creatures like Rampaging Baloths to benefit even more from the consistent steam of lands she offers.

On top of this game-long advantage, Radha can end games too.She can pump herself to enormous proportions once you have large numbers of lands in play, synergising with her first ability and offering the potential for her to deal tremendous amounts of commander damage in the late game. This will be even more difficult for your opponents to block effectively given that she comes with first strike attached.

3. Teferi, Master of Time

Another Teferi is printed. The community holds its breath. But relax! This Teferi doesn’t yet seem to be quite as oppressive as Teferi, Time Raveler, recently banned in both historic and standard. Which is not of course to say that this new Teferi isn’t good, because being good is what Teferis do.

Teferi, Master of Time has a unique ability among planeswalkers in that he can activate his loyalty abilities on any player’s turn. This, needless to say, is ridiculously strong in Commander. Unanswered, Teferi will generate four loyalty every single turn cycle in a full four player game, threatening to ultimate and grant his controller a monster two additional turns at the end of the second turn cycle. All this while having allowed you to loot a whopping seven times in the process for some excellent card selection and graveyard fuelling.

Rielle the Everwise is an excellent commander with Teferi, turning every one of his loots into loot plus card draw. He also works exceptionally well with Oath of Teferi, which unanswered can let him ultimate in a single turn cycle!

2. Teferi’s Ageless Insight

We have an extra does of Teferi at number three, this time in enchantment form. This enchantment can look relatively unassuming on first reading, but take note – its extra card draw ability does not say “when you draw your second card each turn” like many similar additional card-draw effects. It applies to every card you draw except the one drawn in your draw step. That means, for example, if you cast a Recurring Insight that would normally draw six cards, you would instead draw twelve. Or for any incidental single card draw, including from popular cards like Rhystic Study, each instance of their card draw will be doubled to two cards.

This enchantment is capable of turbocharging your card draw if you can keep it in play for a few turns, which blue certainly has the countermagic to do. It has the potential to work particularly well in cycling decks like those commanded by Gavi, Nest Warden, or in any deck with commanders that generate card draw or get value from it – or, in the case of The Locust God, both.

1. Garruk’s Uprising

The single most popular new M21 card in Commander, Garruk’s Uprising offers two powerful effects. Firstly, it draws a card whenever a creature with power 4 or greater enters play under your control. This includes triggering when you put this enchantment into play if you already control a creature with power four or greater, which helps to guarantee card draw even if the enchantment is immediately removed. Then, it gives all of your creatures trample, which given that you’ll be playing this in decks with lots of big beaters has the potential to be a serious problem for your opponents.

Pair Garruk’s uprising with stompy green commanders that care about big creatures, like Gargos, Vicious Watcher. Garruk’s uprising gives Gargos much-needed trample, and causes the other huge, cheap hydras in the deck to function as cantrips. It’s great with Xenagos, God of Revels too, giving Xenagos himself trample and giving trample and card draw to all of the enormous, hasty creatures Xenagos provides.