Upon first hearing of Battlebond the Two-Headed Giant focused set, I admit I was unsure how good or impactful the cards may be. But as spoilers began my expectations were thrown out the window. Battlebond or Commander Masters, as the internet has begun to refer to it, not only brings great reprints of expensive cards but amazing new cards for Commander. Battlebond brings back the mechanic first intruded in Commander 2017, (with some slight variation) “Partners”. With some fun and unique tag team legends this set promises to deliver for Commander players. So let’s look at what I think are the top ten cards for EDH from this set.
- Archon of Valor’s Reach
I generally find cards similar to Iona, Shield of Emeria to be incredibly oppressive for a fun format like EDH. Restricting your friends’ ability to play Magic ensures they never play with you again. Archon of Valor’s Reach attempts to do a similar effect but in a less oppressive way. The Archon only allows you to switch off one card type and cannot choose creatures. It also affects yourself as well as your opponents. What makes this card worthy of this list is the flexibility it presents in dealing with different types of decks. Breya Combo? Atraxa Superfriends? This card has got you covered. Not only that but it boasts an impressive body with some powerful keyword abilities. Incredibly flexible and a powerful beater, a very strong card that will see play in a number of decks.
- Thrilling Encore
One should always expect a board-wipe to happen eventually. For many decks, it’s often a huge setback to the point where your position becomes unrecoverable. Thrilling Encore not only helps to recover your board state but can also increase it by returning your opponents creatures that died that turn as well. Similar to Grave Betrayal but being an instant allows you to surprise your opponents who think they’re safe now. Of course, it can also be used in combination with a board-wipe of your own.
- Play of the Game
What makes this card great is the addition of assist. There are a number of times when one person gets off to a very quick start, turn one Sol Ring into more mana ramp and soon the game turns into Archenemy. Play of the Game allows players to slow down that one person who played Sol Ring in turn one, exiling anything that is not a land. Even paying full retail for an effect of this magnitude is still very good.
- Najeela, the Blade-Blossom
It seems Wizards had finally answered the call of many Commander players. Finally, we have the Warrior tribe leader people have been demanding (probably the same people who demanded Sphinx tribal)! Najeela is an aggressive five-colour swarm Commander who rewards us with Warrior tokens for attacking with Warriors. Add in a coalition alpha strike ability and you have a unique and fun five-colour Commander. There’s a lot to cover with Najeela (likely needing her own deck tech) but if one is to look on Gatherer they will see quite a lot of cards are warriors. Ezrui, Claw of Progress, Grimgrin Corpse-Born, Sosuke, Son of Seshiro, just to name a few.
- Stunning Reversal
We don’t like losing the game! So why not stop that and get seven new cards? A fun, flavourful card that can save you by the skin of your teeth. And yes it does exile itself but being able to return it and cast it over and over again seems a bit too powerful. There’s not too much to delve into with this card. Just a very good card.
- Arena Rector
Veterans of the format will know of the horror of Academy Rector. That sweet old lady who grabs Omniscience. Arena Rector while not as powerful is still a very good card. Putting Ugin, the Spirit Dragon into play from your library is nothing to scoff at. Like her older cousin, she does have to die but in a format of constant board wiping it’s going to happen. The main issue with the card is, unlike Enchantments, Planewalkers generally don’t do anything unless it’s your turn. Baring the case of a Teferi, Temporal Archmage emblem, this can give your opponents a window to take out your Planeswalker before you can use it.
- Stolen Strategy
Red is often mocked for its lack of any real card advantage. It has looting effects but they are not true card advantage and are usually more for graveyard strategies. Recently however Red has been getting cards that steal other players cards. Conspiracy Two gave us Grenzo, Havoc Raiser and Rivals of Ixalan gave us Etali, Primal Storm. Stolen Strategy comes to us as Enchantment making it more difficult to remove than a creature. It targets all your opponents giving you plenty of options to choose from. Definitely a great include for Red decks who need some Green ramp and Black tutors.
- Krav, the Unredeemed
Sacrificing your creatures is bad right? Wrong! Krav is a fantastic card for any sacrifice based strategy that needs more card advantage. For one Black mana, you can sacrifice any number of creatures to draw that many cards, gain that much life and put that many counters on him. That’s a lot for one card. Teysa, Orzhov Scion and Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim decks will definitely want this demon. One of the strongest sacrifice outlets we have seen in years.
- Bramble Soverign
What’s better than one Craterhoof Behemoth? How about two? Two Avengers of Zendikar? Double Rune-Scar Demon? If you’re still not impressed, I don’t know what will! Bramble Sovereign is going to become a staple of any creature-based deck. Even just copying Managorger Hydra is good, it doesn’t need an enter-the-battlefield effect to be good (but they certainly push this card over the edge). The Sovereign also says any creature so it also enables some politics by allowing you to make copies of your opponents creatures.
1.Spellseeker
This card is certainly something. It does have restrictions in that it can only find instants and sorceress with CMC two or less, but what can it tutor? Well, we have Cyclonic Rift, Counterspell, Mana Drain, Demonic Tutor, Worldly Tutor, the list goes on and on. Tutoring for one of these cards for three mana to the top of the library would be great but it goes straight to our hand. It’s also a Wizard a very relevant creature type in EDH, particularly for Inalla decks.
Battlebond is a great set for Commander with so many more awesome cards that I didn’t cover. Next time will be the start of a new series looking at the new partner commanders and their potential to lead your armies to victory. So join me next time to hear the tale of a young boy and his big toothy friend!
Author: Iain McEwan
By day a student of drama and performance, by night a servant to the glory that is Lord Bolas! Suspending Eldrazi, sacrificing horses, casting his opponents cards and playing 30/30’s with horsemanship, Iain has a wide knowledge of EDH decks and strategies.
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