10 Cards You Should Be Putting In Your Commander Decks

Here we go again. Episode 1
Patreon
/ edhdeckbuilding
The T-shirt I'm wearing
intotheam.com/EDHDeck
promo code: EDHDeck

[@Thessik73]

These videos always end up costing me a few dollars. Perils of listening while working in a card shop.

[@PhilButcher]

This series is what got me into the channel and I'm thrilled to see it back.

[@mattboots5453]

Ditto

[@AidanJacobs-jc7tp]

One miss with Act of Authority is just deploying it and never swapping it. Your opponents will likely play suboptimally out of fear of removal.

[@draco4569]

Or flicker it over and over.

[@markbehiter523]

or liquimetal torque politics

[@deeterful]

I remember this series. As a person who owns a f*** ton of older cards I find it interesting to see some of them spotlit.

[@casketbase7750]

Regarding Ana Sanctuary, it's a part of a cycle. Each of the Wedges have one. My favorite of them is Ceta Sanctuary, which let's you draw 2 and discard 1 every turn you have Temur colors out.

[@asdf-pd1uj]

That sounds incredible, definitely picking that up

[@Terrabyte13]

I checked jeskai (rwu) and yeah 3 damage to any creature is a bit less impressive...😞

[@JushakF]

For full cycle: Ana Sanctuary (Sultai): Seen in the video, +1/+1 or +5/+5 Ceta Sanctuary (Temur): Draw/discard 1 or draw 2, discard 1 Dega Sanctuary (Mardu): Gain 2 or 4 life Necra Sanctuary (Abzan): Target player loses 1 or 3 life Raka Sanctuary (Jeskai): Deal 1 or 3 damage to target creature The Sultai and Temur ones seem the only really playable ones to me, with Mardu being weak maybe if life gain is important theme.

[@joedominguez8064]

Man did not know about abjure, that’s definitely going in my Watcher In the Water deck. Or in any of the spellslinger decks that make blue tokens, pretty sweet card

[@joedominguez8064]

Act of authority would be great in Aminatou

[@thatzombifiedpotato4925]

It's also a good tech option in muldrotha the gravetide decks (I love using it to get a tapped blue creature into the graveyard, just to cast it from said graveyard)

[@kaiseremotion854]

theres a buffed version in MH3 that costs 0 if you sac a blue creature

[@Victorinya_Valentine]

Interesting note about Fervent Charge at 18:00 - it got reprinted in fallout, so it’s $0.19 at current time.

[@davwad2]

I'm not sure about others, but if I see a price in a video, I factor in the date of the video and the date when I'm watching the video.

[@crawdaddy2004]

4:23 Lol -Abduction taking Blightsteel Colossus - it would still get shuffled back into the library, because it never touches the graveyard. 😂

[@sonofdysonsphere969]

Your videos have turned me into the guy known at the LGS that "looks for weird cards". Thanks for that and for adding flavour to my commander games!

[@reinierdonga1748]

As a tip on the Abduction effect of protecting your commander. You also have False Demise and Fool's demise.

[@JushakF]

Also a ton of instant versions of the same effect. The major downside of the enchantment versions is that your opponent knows it's there and exiling the creature negates the effect entirely. That being said, False Demise has one of the funnier card arts to me, so it gets points for that.

[@reinierdonga1748]

Totally agree, they do telegraph what's happening. But that's also funny, because it adds to the information they need to track (brain load). I run these cards in my Ivy, gleefully spellthief. Which is an aura deck. So I get a free copy to defend my commander with.

[@cole10002002]

i am happy you have brought this back. I missed it

[@Myrddyn66]

So glad you decided to do these again! Watched every single one of them before and loved them. I have a high school games club and because of your suggestions I was often able to dig into my old pile of cards and give my students budget key cards that made all of their decks better. They were so appreciative. I strongly believe this is your best series. Keep up the great work!

[@davwad2]

Thanks for suggestions Demo! Great as always!

[@oxpolitik]

Love this series!

[@mr.nakamura9088]

Altar of Bone is within 10% of it's 6 year lows and it is reserved list. The card is in accumulation so if can snag a copy for around $4 it would be a fairly low risk pick-up.

[@stuartjackson7834]

Hey Demo - I loved this series the first time around - glad to see it back - regards Stu

[@MegatronTarantulas]

Missed this series. Glad it's back!

[@zachariahpoltergeist4516]

Yes! So glad the series is back! I always pick up at least one from each list.

[@SebastianCova]

So glad this see this series back. Thank you, I understand you wanted to do different kinds of content, but I liiive for your curation.

[@kupothegreat4570]

Let's go! I have definitely missed these videos!

[@mtggodzilla7308]

I really enjoy this serie. Its great to see it back. 😊

[@jsstefanski]

Love the series! You always find cool niche cards!

[@mfitkin]

Alright you win this round, I hadn’t seen half these cards before

[@michaelpohl9077]

I have been recently building some of your tanks and consider them some of the best on KZbin. Really looking forward to the upcoming ones.

[@ImWithSmeghead]

Love these. Even if I don’t use them, I always feel like I learn so much.

[@alexandermoreland7221]

Woohoo 🎉 happy to see it’s back!

[@benlaggins8977]

I'm so glad that this series is back. I can't tell you how many edh decks where made better thru your suggestions. WOO

[@LexAnarchy]

Glad the series returns! Aftershock is great, I've been running it in quite a few decks and I'm always happy to draw it.

[@robusterbrown1291]

Love to see this series!

[@GallantLee]

I started watching your videos... over 2 years ago because of the A-Z videos! love these and thanks for these

[@Snipfragueur]

Ooooh, Act of Authority is very interesting

[@draco4569]

I use it in my Brago blink deck as an easy way to get rid of artifacts and enchantments.

[@muhlor]

@@draco4569 wanted to type the exact same answer, then saw yours. It's the ultimate abuse in blink decks :D

[@ChrisMortJr.]

Omnispell adept and elvish piper are bangers that fit in a lot of decks

[@andrewamann2821]

If you're playing green, and you're playing creatures, I would argue that Elvish Piper and Vivien's Arcbow are both cards that you should have active justifications for not running them, if you're not.

[@ChrisMortJr.]

@@andrewamann2821 doubly so in gruul or golgari

[@michaelcamburako]

This made my day.

[@Justrex01]

Mostly budget fuckery. I like it. Only been playing since 2020 so most of the cards you talk about are new to me. Thanks, Demo!

[@davidcardoso3525]

Love Aether Flash - it makes Mogis happy!

[@johncrossley6945]

Ana sanctuary was actually part of one of my favorite cycles in magic. I built my first 5 color deck when they came out. They were clunky and it wasn't commander, but still fun. Might revisit them for another 5 color.

[@marcoottina654]

15:15 Trostani Diacordat will get it back at the end of turn My picks: - "Gilraen, Dunedain Protector" + "Professor of Symbology": the latter is awesome in a Orzhov / Abzan sacrifice+reanimator deck, especially with blinkers/flickers like Gilraen amd Serra Paragon, Rodolf, Guardian Scalelord, angel of indemnity, etc. PoS is awesome to draw cards, discard, having a chrap sacrifice and a cleric as well . - Ertha: a bit niche, but works goddamnly well Earned a new subscriber!

[@ryanfohrman7911]

Abjure is my new favorite counterspell 💙 upside on top of unrestricted target…for 1 mana!! Thanks Demo!!

[@h0ly208]

My old stax derevi would love Aether Barrier. It also plays Words of Wind, Fatespinner, Rule of Law, Stasis and Winter Orb. No win conditions, only cards that add rules to the game. There's a reason it lives in a shoebox now.

[@bradleywelsh7723]

It's back!!

[@JushakF]

Ana Sanctuary is a fun throwback. That era of magic has a TON of more or less janky three color cards, like the XYZscape cycles from design times before WotC stopped thinking card being multiple colors meant it needed to cost more for some reason and were starting to experiment with making more than handful of multi-color cards that weren't utter trash per set. An-Zerrin Ruins is something I'll likely never bring to a table. I've never liked targeted hosing cards in general, even less so in a casual format and throwing something like that to screw ONE player in multiplayer format just isn't my idea of fun, personally. Act of Authority seems interesting card. Political removal cards are very rare in my experience and I kind of wish there was more of them.

[@JaimeAGB-pt4xl]

Big LOLs and still amazed on all the stax pieces Red gets 😂😂😂

[@soulpower6317]

Act of Authority is by far the best suggestion here. Consulate Crackdown, Paradoxical Outcome, Riftsweeper, Impending Disaster, Stifle (this one's gotten pricey), Crush of Tentacles, Sire of Insanity, Thrull Parasite, Sunder, and Profane Memento (a must in mill decks) would be my 10 recommendations.

[@RagingPoo]

Something Altar of Bone can do that Eladamri's Call cannot: 1. Sacrifice Academy Rector 2. Get Omniscience 3. Get your favorite creature and cast it for free :)

[@stinkyratman]

Great video, made me want to try my hand at a izzet, jeskai, or maybe grixis stax deck with one of my favourite cards of all time: "Vile Consumption". I think you'd like it if you don't already know about it : {1}{u}{b}, enchantment, All creatures have “At the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice this creature unless you pay 1 life.” Please make more !

[@willwoll3138]

I LOVE Aether Flash in my Sorrow's Path Deck. Nearly Everything in the deck is designed to survive a 2 damage hit (because of the Path), so it doesn't really hurt me at all, but can severely hamper my opponent.

[@SamuraiSam]

figures this video drops the day after I place a big order on TCGplayer lol. Great stuff!

[@davwad2]

ANA SANCTUARY!!! I was hoping to see this at some point on the channel. I literally built a sultai deck just to play this card.

[@brandonlopina7733]

Abduction and abjure are both long staying staples in my Talrand deck which was my 2nd ever commander deck. If you have a drake out its pretty easy to cast and you get the drake back. Abduction is also a great modal card. Untapping the creature means you can usually use its activated ability or swing and giving Talrand an extra life is almost always worth it.

[@BisyBackson365]

I love it!!

[@JimboBango]

I love Act of Authority in my Sigarda, Font of Blessings deck. An absolute powerhouse when all your own permanents have hexproof

[@cyslim007]

Cards I love (and know) from this list - Abjure in Talrand decks, Aether Flash in Atla Palani to kill the Eggs, Altar of Bone especially in Abzan. Fairly certain I can use Act of Authority in Ghen Arcanum Weaver 🧠

[@chrisgebben2043]

awesome it was this series to why i subscribed in the first place im wondering if you should post the play list for the older versions though blood clock does fit for the underrated series that's great for stuff that you want to bounce back to do cast triggers again infact the eldrazi are back in MH3 and one of the commanders decks and most of the time eldrazis care about themselves being cast for triggers. and also somestuff can be reloaded when you run out like Garth one-eye for example

[@pnelllott7300]

Thank for this, trying to get Aminatou and Kinnan decks better, that Abduction card will help.👍👍

[@MetFreak42]

As a side to Ana Santuary, note that the ability specifies "if/or" terminology, and does not include the actual Mana pip for Blue in the description box. Therefore, it is legal to use in Golgari (B/G) decks. However, obviously you would gain the most benefit in Sultai (U/B/G).

[@crawdaddy2004]

11:12 Exactly! The “strictly better” doesn’t hold water. If that were the case, I’d never run Path to Exile, because I have Swords to Plowshares. Yes, I realize you can Path to Exile your own creature, but that happens so infrequently that it may as well never happen - you had enough mana to put a creature in play, but you are still somehow so desperate for that one more mana.

[@Jrizzle7426]

You would generally target a Small utility creature, tokens or a creature that Is already dying. I have only once ever used a path on my own creature and it did not feel good.

[@franslair2199]

I pathed a creature on my side of the board several times, and that creature was Slicer

[@Cerebrosum]

It's ramp and mana fixing. Can be really good in a pinch

[@crawdaddy2004]

@@Cerebrosum Yes, but it’s super rare. I used to play Legacy, and my favorite deck was Abzan Loam. I have used Swords to Plowshares more times on my Knights of the Reliquary against RDW or Burn than I have used PtE in any format on any creature.

[@bryceduyvewaardt8136]

Ana Sanctuary is so strong in an Ukkima and Cazur deck. Great recommendations in general!

[@AEstud77]

Thanks. I forgot I had abduction. I played it once long time ago, and the table was saying "what is that!?" I love those little reactions during a game. Gonna throw it in my mono blue, and see what happens.

[@89qwyg9yqa34t]

Act of Authority with Eon Hub seems like a really good combo.

[@CoolWhip125698]

Aether flash looks like a perfect piece for my Toralf deck, managed to get it for $1.20 at my LGS, should be quite fun.

[@burningpapersun1]

I love altar of bone. It's useful in white and green where your options are low.

[@anthonydelfino6171]

when you talk about aftershock, it’s not as versatile but you can get a similar effect without the life loss by playing fissure it costs 1 more mana and can’t destroy artifacts, but also doesn’t lightning bolt you

[@niknaheartatak]

Alligned aligned hedron network is a board wipe/big boy protection at instant speed in the face of board wipes like cyc rift with the flash thopter deck

[@darkmalakan9004]

Thanks

[@ARonsoInEorzea]

Aether flash seems like a great ability to double the damage. With effects like whenever a source of your choice deals damage, it deals double that damage . I was doing it for a while with beasts. I forget the red card but basically the enchantment deals 4 damage to any player whenever a beast etbs for me

[@micahhonig1575]

Act of authority is an all star in my Ghen deck! You can use ghen to sacrifice Act of authority in response to the second trigger so you exile the targeted card but don’t give act of authority away

[@keithwynn8390]

Can't decide whether to steal an opposing creature or protect your own with Abduction? Do what I do: choose both! I run it in Ivy, Gleeful Spellthief!

[@RJP1910]

Wow, abjure is an actual good card I've never seen played. That's kinda wild. That's gotta be a better defensive option for low CMC blue commanders than force of negation

[@O_violet]

Have you covered Fools Demise? It's a lot like Abduction, but you don't untap the creature and it returns to your hand when it's put into a graveyard.

[@dariocampanella7992]

I was looking for some nonbasic land hate and I found some interesting stuff. -mercadia downfall: i put it in my naya stompy, seems really brutal against someone that uses a lot of non basic. -bramblecrush. Destroy anything except creature, and that seems very useful even for 4 mana. -creeping mold is similar and I had it in my collection, definely not ideal but still versatile, I put it in a simic deck because im not afraid of spending 4 mana. -primal order. Amazing in a monogreen deck or if you run a ton of basics . -desert twister, expensive, but hits anything

[@erc4375]

Hadnt seen 7 out of the 10, this vid got a subscribe out of me

[@michaeleaton3695]

Need to discuss one of my recent faves: Mask of the Mimic.

[@jayf6206]

Act of Authority may need to go in my kid's War Doctor deck. It can be an alternative use of clue tokens.

[@sipoffinewine5798]

Altar of bone has won me games in my Golfenor, the last yew deck. More times than I can count.

[@obadijahparks]

The abduction creature can simply be exiled to avoid giving it back.

[@XJBG1001X]

Man, act of authority could get rid of every players One Ring... that's pretty good value

[@dapperghastmeowregard]

Just picked up Ana Sanctuary for Vorosh. Don't remember if I got one or not since at one point it was 10 bucks, but been eyeing Altar of Bone for Drizz't.

[@shrimpboatgames8002]

Aligned Hedron Network is a powerhouse in my mono-red control deck. It doesn't hit any of my creatures, and, as Demo says, it doesn't target and exiles the creatures so gets around hexproof and indestructible. So many aggressive strategies that my deck is weak against want to lay down some big creatures, and if it's a one sided board wipe, some of my opponents might want to work too keep it in play. It's also efficiently costed, so there's no reason not to run it in decks that don't have good board wipes against big creatures (like mono-red).

[@Bargadiel]

Abduction is a fantastic card for this series.

[@EidoEndy]

Abduction. One of my favorite combos is this card with Iridescent Drake. Immortal drake that can be sacrificed infinitely.

[@Zakading]

Holy shit it has been TWO years?!

[@NerdsofWisdom]

I use Abjure in my Talrand and Locus god deck, it's perfect.

[@Keksoe666]

This was interesting. Have you ever played/heard of the red card "Custody Battle"? If you haven't: check it out! It's cheap and is much more powerful than it might seem at first.

[@stigmaoftherose]

One awesome old card that I think should see more play is teferi's veil. It's obviously situational but putting it in your blue agro decks as a really good protection piece for your voltron commander or agro board as a way to dodge all sorcery speed board whipes every turn for just 2 mana is amazing.

[@bartoffer]

It's an auto-include in any "until end-of-turn" decks, which either use effects like Unearth or create tokens vis-a-vis Splinter Twin effects, but even there you'll often find that people don't know the card exists.

[@OverlyCriticalAnime]

I ran it in my rouge's deck. It's not as good as I thought. Attacking then board wiping felt amazing but most times it left me open since it's not a may trigger

[@stigmaoftherose]

@OverlyCriticalAnime unless you have vigilance or an untap theme how does it leave you open? And if you are in those themes obviously it's not a card you want in your deck.

[@OverlyCriticalAnime]

@@stigmaoftherose Phasing last until your next untap step. Yeah it leaves you open regardless of vigilance unless I'm missing something

[@stigmaoftherose]

@OverlyCriticalAnime if your creature is tapped it can't block anyway, so how are you left more open with it phased out?

[@GunbladeKnight]

One Blue card I add to all decks is Behold the Multiverse.

[@Mischievous_Moth]

An-Zerrin Ruins is hilarious, it's a red card, with a blue effect, and a black flavor text.

[@yaza862]

act of authority would be really really cool in Ghen arcanum weaver

[@moedark4390]

grabbing ana sanctuary for my indominous rex deck. turns him into a 2 hit commander damage kill

[@demonicgoblinz8850]

Abjure is soooo good. I have it in my cedh urza

[@Ruby-zl1sp]

abjure, the original flare of denial

[@longdangley]

aether barrier in codie is really good

[@bradyinman6588]

I use abduction to untap my dude then protect my commander all the time.

[@zefiend]

Hey Demo you might want to double check Act of Authority and Blood Clock interaction. Ruling says you choose the permanent to return as the trigger resolves. Meaning if you stack it under AoA's trigger, you won't control AoA when you are asked to choose a permanent you control.

[@edhdeckbuilding]

yeah i don't see the issue. you choose targets when abilities go on the stack. so AoA goes on the stack choosing a target, then you put the bloodclock on there. bounce your AoA to hand, then it's ability resolves exiling the permanent but since it's in your hand the rest doesn't happen.

[@zefiend]

@@edhdeckbuilding yes, AoA under Blood Clock makes sense. I was thinking you were saying the opposite in the video. My fault

[@NoTengoIdeaGuey]

I dont know if Ana Sanctuary would actually work in a Tasigur deck. Tasigur is Sultai according to commander color identity ruies, but the card itself is just a Black card. I had this same issue with an Alesha, Who Smiles At Death deck with a card i had in there, Aurelia, exemplar of justice. Aurelias ability gives target attacking creature +2/0 and trample if it's red, +2/0 and vigilance if it's white. Alesha only gets the red one, because she's a red creature card, but with an hybrid orzhov activated ability. So its Mardu according to EDH color id rules, but not actually a Mardu card in terms of color. Just red. It *could* work in Tasigur, but not with only your commander out. Im def putting Ana Danctuary in my Nine-fingers Keene deck tho. 🙏

[@longdangley]

ITS BACK BBY

[@mizzlchieizzl]

Have you ever done a video on Ertai's Meddling? I can't believe it's a bargain bin card

[@stikkbomb3781]

Aether flash could actually be pretty good in a Dinos to trigger enrage.

[@jessespeers5357]

Mandate of peace is underplayed

[@MatthiasCorvinu]

I used to run hedron archive in my Brago deck. It was funny but I ended up dropping it cuz I didn't like the 4 mana part of it. And also so many good creatures nowadays are so small and it doesn't get rid of them anymore.

[@bosslychampion]

WE'RE SO BACK