To me, commander is a format all about personality. From the way we play to the way we build our decks, the format is an extension of our personalities and a form of self expression. The inherent nature of a singleton multiplayer format, mixed with a culture that encourages Rule-0 discussions, allows for a format with high variance and an eclectic assortment of cards. That leaves plenty of room for self-expression in the deck building process. For me, that self-expression comes through the worst cards in my deck. The title of “Worst Card” is a prestigious honor in my eyes. Where in other formats the “worst card” in a deck is the card that would be first to get cut when a new addition arrives. The worst cards in these commander decks are more often than not pet cards, favorite arts, or humorous additions that are as unlikely to get cut as some of the best cards in the deck. The presence of these cards is one of the ways in which my decks set themselves apart and feel uniquely mine. For this post, I wanted to walk through the worst cards in my decks and discuss two questions: Why is it in the deck? And Why is it the Worst Card? I have quite a few commander decks and apparently a lot to say about these cards so I broke this into two parts. There’s no particular order these cards are presented, but I wanted the focus to be on the cards. There’s no decklist and the only description of the deck is what I give when discussing the card. I hope that leaves your mind to wonder what could make up these decks' contents. Lavinia, Azorius Renegade Why is it in the Deck? - Hallowed Ground is one of my favorite magic cards. Artistically, the iconography of the card and the setting of Ice Age Block are two aspects of pre-2000s magic I enjoy. Historically, the card was in the deck that won the first ever Pro Tour. Mechanically, the effect is extremely unique within the white color pie. Those factors have led me to always be on the lookout for a home to give this card. I did not expect it to be in one of my more “unfun” decks. This Lavinia deck has several locks including the well known Knowledge Pool Combo alongside an above average amount of land destruction. Hallowed Ground is a mediocre way to break the parody of this land destruction by letting you protect some lands by putting them in your hand. Why is it the Worst Card? - This is a really inefficient way to break the parody of land destruction. In addition, it doesn’t really do anything else in the deck. There’s no landfall or extra land drop cards to try and take advantage of the ability. That said, ways to enhance this card do exits. This deck has not been updated since the addition of Modal Dual Faced Lands. The MDFCs will work nicely into this build and work well with Hallowed Ground as a way to get the spell effect after you’ve played them as a land already. With Crucible of Worlds, you can even recur the spell half. Honorable Mention: Armistice Nezumi Graverobber / Nighteyes the DesecratorWhy is it in the Deck? - This Nezumi deck is a “Graveyard” deck, and by graveyard I mean that all the cards in the deck depict a literal graveyard. The art in this deck features crypts, tombs, cemeteries, and other depictions of our inevitable final resting place. So Wall of Tombstones is not only one of the stranger creatures in the deck but also one one the stranger arts. I’m not sure what inspired the designers of this card to make it, but somehow it’s found a home in this specific deck. Why is it the Worst Card? - This deck has a lot of mediocre cards in it, but none of them are as frequently irrelevant as Wall of Tombstones. The deck itself actually cares a lot about manipulating the number of cards in graveyards and that can mean the power of Wall of Tombstones stays pretty low. When the power does get out of hand, it’s pretty meaningless because there’s no way to make this wall attack. The extremely low floor of this card means that it beats out Cemetary Gate for the title of worst card. Alela, Artful Provocateur Why is it in the Deck? - I can’t remember the exact reason I even own an Icy Prison, but I didn’t buy it for this deck. I do know that I love the art and the effect though. The design itself is reminiscent of Serra’s Bestiary, but the upkeep cost functions differently. Instead of requiring the control to pay the upkeep, any player can play the upkeep cost. That makes for a unique political tool. If you exile a mean enough creature, you might be able to get your opponents to help with the cost. That unique effect on an enchantment not a lot of people have seen, meant it found a home in this Alela deck. Why is it the Worst Card? - This card becomes inefficient very quickly. Three mana is a big ask for most opponents and yourself early, and late game that mana is still quite the tax. On top of that, this deck, like most of my decks, doesn’t win fast, so I can expect to pay that tax a lot. In practice, opponents are less willing to pay for my card than I’d like, and I’m not vindictive enough to let the enchantment go as punishment. Torbran, Than of Red Fell Why is it in the Deck? - While the card being mechanically horrible and inefficient is something I enjoy more than I should, the reason the card is in the deck comes down to flavor text. [Flavor Text] I love playing under supported, weird, and old tribes. Dwarves have been in magic since 1993 and were traditionally mono red. So instead of Depala, I built Balthor, which became Torbran, and will likely change again with Kaldheim. Why is it the Worst Card? - Like I said before, this card is horribly inefficient. Lightning Bolt is a great card. Lightning Bolt is completely playable in commander. If Lightning Bolt were to cantrip, people would lose their minds, but what people won’t lose their minds for is a cantriping lightning bolt at seven mana. You just can’t beat that flavor text though. Skeleton ShipWhy is it in the Deck? - This is probably one of my favorite decks because of its dedication to the theme. The cards in this deck essentially fall into three categories: Nautical Puns, Piracy, and Skeletons. Skull Storm falls into the Skeleton category. The unique ability of commander storm plus the distinctive art work make it an iconic addition to the deck. Why is it the Worst Card? - I seriously considered putting Skeleton as the worst card in this deck, but in actuality it isn’t even the second worst card in this list. That said, when your 9 mana card requires you to cast your 5 mana commander that you briefly considered as the worst card in your deck — that’s not a good sign. Most of the time, Skull Storm has been a 9 mana Liliana’s Triumph, but the personality it adds to my deck is worth it. RagnarWhy is it in the Deck? - When most people think about clerics, I doubt that blue is the color that comes to mind. With recent printings, the colors most associated with clerics are probably black and white, but Ragnar is not a recent printing. The legend from Legends is bant and as such I wanted to use some of the few blue clerics that do exist. Noble Benefactor is possibly the most unique cleric in any color and as such got a slot in this deck. Why is it the Worst Card? - Noble Benefactor is kind of a card you want to build around similar to Scheming Symmetry, and this deck is not built around it. The combos that do exist are multi card combos that require a bit of set up, and the overall power level of the deck is lower because of its thematic restrictions. As such, this card is quite a liability and when it dies you have to think of a contingency plan for what your opponents are finding. VIlis, Broker of Blood Why is it in the Deck? - Demons have gotten a lot better since the early days of magic, but I still love my old bordered cards. Vilis gives some of these demon creatures new life. In this deck, their downsides can actually become an upside by turning it into card draw. Additionally, I knew I wanted the opportunity to win via Liliana’s Contract and Minion of Tevesh Szat is one of the five demons in the deck that can let that happen. Why is it the Worst Card? - Just because Vilis makes the card better than it was before, doesn’t mean it makes the card good. This card is still an overcosted creature on a mediocre body. On top of that, without Vilis it’s back to just being a bad card. A really bad card. Tevesh Szat should be disappointed. Hazezon TamarWhy is it in the Deck? - This deck was built around the idea of deserts and is full of cards that depict deserts of all kinds. When you’re working on such a specific theme it becomes important to find key pieces to help enable the deck to function. Things like removal and card draw are all things that are important for any deck to have. And sometimes, when you’re working with a specific theme you have to make pretty dramatic concessions. Why is it the Worst Card? It’s hard to imagine a card that could be much worse than this. It’s a conditional 3 for 1 against yourself that requires you to give up one of the most important resources in the game, lands. No other card really came close to contending even despite the fact that Swirling Sandstorm can potentially be four mana to do nothing. Sram, Senior Artificer Why is it in the Deck? - This deck started as an attempt to build an Aura based Sram deck and slowly morphed into a Cleric Wizard Tribal Auras deck. Quite a few wizards and clerics in white care about auras, unfortunately, Sunseed Nurturer is not one of them. However, there aren’t many white wizards and making sure I had enough wizards was important for the tribal elements of the deck. As such, the three cost mana creature made the cut. It helps that the art is fantastic too. Why is it the Worst Card? - Three cmc mana creatures are not necessarily where you want to be in commander, and Sunseed Nurturer doesn’t do much of anything else. The ability that cares about a five power creatures is rarely going to trigger and when it does the two life is basically meaningless. On top of all of that, the body on this creature isn’t even up to par with its converted mana cost. If that art wasn’t so fantastic, I’d probably be looking to see if some new white wizards had been printed recently. If you enjoyed this and are excited for Part 2 you can rest assured that it is under work and nearing completion. Thanks for reading!
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AuthorMonoWhiteBorder -- A man who loves MtG and his small dog. Archives
June 2021
Categories"MonoWhiteBorder" and corresponding content is unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC.
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