MTGs first-ever commander-specific masters set, “Commander Masters,” contains EDH reprints and four new precons. Being a “masters set,” the main set is entirely reprints of existing cards. The precons, however, have all-new cards, and some are pretty incredible. Today, I’ll review the best new cards from the commander masters precons.
Aside from the cards themselves, I’ll also cover which Commander Masters precons they come from and what makes them good. Some are powerhouse in their deck, and others will shine in many other EDH decks too. So, let’s jump right into the cards.
Top New Cards From Commander Masters Precons
The four precons releasing with CMM, each with 10 new cards, including the face commanders. So, there are a total of 40 new cards for the set. That said, I’ll cover the best of these new cards, not all 40. But you can find a complete list here if you’re interested.
For the Ancestors
For the Ancestors is going to become a staple of any tribe capable of playing green. Three mana lets you get to dig six cards deep and add any number of cards of the chosen type to your hand. If you have a critical mass of a certain creature type (for this deck Slivers) this will be a reliable source of card advantage. It can even grab non-creature tribal spells (which is somewhat few), but still cool.
There are also the added benefits of being instant speed and having flashback as well. Being able to cast something at instant speed is always a plus, and you using this to refill your hand on an opponent’s end step will help make good use of your mana. And flashback (for only one extra mana) means this could easily net you six or seven cards by itself.
Slivers, Dragons, Merfolk, and especially Elves will love this. This will be played until the end of time in EDH tribal decks, making any deck that runs it much better against
- Included In: Sliver Swarm
Sliver Gravemother
There are a ton of slivers that can get very out of hand in multiples. Copying things with abilities that stack like Sinew Sliver, Tempered Sliver, Spined Sliver), or the next card on the list, can create massive. For example, encoding out three copies of Sinew Sliver will give your entire
Related: All MTG Commander Precons – The Complete Guide
Numerous effects like this can be game-winning if brought back. And obviously, encore can be used to reanimate the gravemother since she circumvents the legend rule. This also allows you to make copies of all the classic sliver legends.
- Included In: Sliver Swarm
Lazotep Sliver
This might be my favorite new card from the commander masters precons. It gives two abilities, whereas most only give one. First, is afflict 2, which means the defending player loses two life anytime one of your slivers is blocked. Next, when a non-token sliver dies, you’ll amass slivers 2. And both of these stack!
This means if you make three copies of this with Sliver Gravemother, opponents will lose six life for each sliver they blocked, and when you sac them at the end of the turn, you’ll amass six! This is one of the better new cards and synergizes perfectly with the commander.
- Included In: Sliver Swarm
Hatchery Sliver
Speaking of making tokens of slivers, let’s talk Hatchery Sliver. We discussed making copies of certain slivers for a turn above but this lets you keep them permanently, which is phenomenal. This produces replicates of your most powerful cards and ensures you always have something worthwhile to do with your mana.
- Included In: Sliver Swarm
Titan of Littjara
Titan of Littjara is a six-mana 6/6 that draws you cards when it enters the battlefield or attacks. The more creatures you control of the chosen type, the more you’ll draw. The ETB trigger goes a long way in ensuring you get your money’s worth for your six-mana investment.
This will be good in any tribal deck that plays blue – Merfolk, Elves, Horrors, Pirates, Spirits, Rouges/Ninjas, you name it. In my experience, cards like this are also good in decks that produce a ton of tokens of the same name, even if the deck isn’t particularly built around the creature type. Overall, the effect is solid and versatile enough to see play in various builds.
- Included In: Sliver Swarm
Daksteel Monolith
Talk about a top-end card! Darksteel Monolith comes in the Eldrazi tribal deck, Eldrazi Unbound. Once per turn, you can play a colorless spell from your hand for free. So, the most frightening thing in your hand can be put onto the stack for no mana. And you’ll likely be casting two giants per turn with this in play since you’ll have at least eight mana in play as well.
The commander of the deck, Zhulodok, Void Gorger, gives colorless spells with seven cmc or higher, double cascade. This means if you cast something big with your mana, then something big for free with Darksteel Monolith, you could cascade into four more spells that turn as well. Oh, and it’s indestructible too!
Outside of the precon, this will also be a powerhouse, especially in artifact-based red decks. Anything playing Goblin Welder will love this as a new wincon power level, indestructible reanimation target. Overall, I think this is the single strongest card in terms of raw power and one of the best new cards from commander masters.
- Included In: Eldrazi Unbound
Zhulodok, Void Gorger
Zhulodok, Void Gorger is the face commander of Eldrazi Unbound and is one of only two new cards with the Eldrazi creature type. Given that colorless decks are pretty limited on many things, it’s a powerhouse. As mentioned above, it gives any colorless spells with a cmc of seven or higher cascade, cascade. No, that isn’t a typo, and yes, you cascade twice.
If you’ve ever played with or against Maelstrom Wanderer, you’ll know that it doesn’t take many triggers of an effect like this to get out of hand. Your biggest challenge will be getting up to seven mana to start triggering this, but things will spiral quickly once you do. Seven mana is high, but you’ll have plenty of things to hit with the triggers.
- Included In: Eldrazi Unbound
Desecrate Reality
Desecrate Reality is spicy! In my experience, seven mana is the sweet spot for big mana colorless decks. For example, many of the archetype’s key removal spells like All is Dust, Scour from Existence, and Not of this World all require seven mana. Furthermore, with an Urza’s Powerplant, Urza’s Mine, and Urza’s Tower, you can quickly make exactly that.
Well, now there’s a new removal spell on the block at seven mana, and it’s a beast! When you cast this, you’ll exile up to one target permanent with an even mana cost from each opponent. Then, if you spent three colorless mana on the spell, you return any permanent with an odd mana value from your graveyard to the battlefield.
Related: Best Colorless Removal In Magic: The Gathering
So, you will exile up to three opposing permanents and get the best card from your graveyard that fits the “odd cmc” requirement and put it straight into play. In most cases where four players are in the game, this will generate a four-for-one in your favor. This one is going in a ton of decks!
- Included In: Eldrazi Unbound
Calamity of the Titans
We’re not done talking about powerful new colorless removal just yet. Calamity of the Titans is a six-mana sorcery that is going to wipe the
It’s similar to Titan’s Presence in that you have to reveal a colorless creature card from your hand as you cast it, and how big (in this case, cmc-wise) dictates how well the card works. You can count on having the most creatures in a big mana Eldrazi deck. So, this is precisely what you want to be doing, and this is another new commander card we’ll see a lot of in the future.
- Included In: Eldrazi Unbound
Anikthea, Hand of Erebos
Anikthea, Hand of Erebos, is the face commander for the Enduring Enchantments precon and she does just about everything a player could ask of an Abzan (black, white, green) enchantment general. First, she has evasion in the form of menace and a respectable 4/4 body.
Next, she gives all your other enchantments menace as well; Which, if you’ve not spent much time playing with or against the mechanic, let me tell you, it’s pretty hard to deal with. Then, when she enters the battlefield or attacks, you can reanimate (or actually, make a token copy of) any non-aura enchantment in your graveyard. And it will be a 3/3 zombie (which will have menace) in addition to being an enchantment.
That’s so much value on a single card, and there are some extremely powerful enchantments in this color combination. Some that come to mind very quickly are Sylvan Library, Smothering Tithe, Black Market Connections, andNecropotence. Plus, Parallel Lives, Doubling Season & Anointed Procession which all double the zombies you get!
- Included In: Enduring Enchantments
Composer of Spring
There is much support for the enchantress archetype in EDH, and Composer of Spring will become a staple. While it’s not flashy, it’s one of the best new cards from commander masters because it can go in so many decks! Any time you cast an enchantment (including an enchantment creature), you’ll be accelerated by a land.
And if you have six or more enchantments in play at the time this triggers, you can put a land or a creature into play. This is, generally speaking, very powerful, and I love the versatility this gives – In the early game, it helps ramp you… In the late game, it adds bodies to the
- Included In: Enduring Enchantments
Demon of Fate’s Design
Any effect that lets you pay life instead of mana to cast spells is powerful – Especially in a format like Commander, where you have a high life total. CardsLike Treasonous Ogre and K’rrik, Son of Yawgmoth are perfect examples of how powerful this can be. Demon of Fate’s Design gives you that same powerful option once per turn when casting enchantments.
So, if you cast this on turn five or six you get a 6/6 body with flying and trample. And can immediately cast another big spell by paying life. You may have to pay a lot of life but throwing out a Legion Loyalty, True Conviction, or Sandwurm Convergence for zero mana is what I call a good turn.
- Included In: Enduring Enchantments
Guff Rewrites History
I regret to inform you that this is the only card from the Planeswalker Party deck that made my list. That said, I like it quite a bit, and to be fair, there are some good cards in the deck; they’re just narrow. But back to Guff Rewrites History. It’s sorta like Chaos Warp, but for all players, and it can’t hit enchantments or lands.
While that is unfortunate, you’ll still generate crazy value with this. This boils down to removing the best non-enchantment, non-land permanent for each opponent and replacing your worst permanent. For example, you could target a goblin token or even a treasure or clue token and get something better.
- Included In: Planeswaker Party
End Step
There you have it, my friends, the best new cards from commander masters. The set has been quite hyped, and many players were a bit disappointed by the main set’s reprints. That said, the new cards from the precons certainly didn’t disappoint. Until next time, get out there and play some Magic: The Gathering.
