The Top 10 Auras in Commander

[@zotmaster]

An honorable mention should go to the Alpha/Beta/Unlimited Weakness: "Target creature loses -2/-1; if this drops the creature's toughness below 1, it is dead."

[@GRat9717]

DEAD

[@jajahatman8842]

Lmfaoooo I really want to get that card now

[@crawdaddy1234]

If you’re just putting their to drop an opponent’s creature, you can just play Mogis’ Favor from Theros: Beyond Death. 1 black mana to give a creature +2/-1, and it has Escape for two cards and (2)(B).

[@devineyre5545]

@@crawdaddy1234 think it's a meme bro

[@crawdaddy1234]

@@devineyre5545 I’m so out of the loop when it comes to memes.

[@lukeoutbelow]

A bit disappointed there was no honorable mention for Mantle of the Ancients. Arguably the best Aura-tribal card in existence. Recursion for all of your auras AND equipments + huge stat bonus. The value!!

[@Rogierhimself]

Agreed!

[@mibbzx1493]

Its kinda specific to Equipment decks tho, all the cards they listed are just all around good in any deck

[@michaelrenn228]

Oh wow, that's crazy value!

[@blindsamhare5954]

As a rogue deckbuilder the warning about not being able to stop brewing on midfield would have been helpful like a month ago but to quote Jim Jefferies "I guess this is me now"

[@NitpickingNerds]

At least you are doing it on the best site ever

[@Andreasws24]

Kaya's Ghost form really needs to be on this list.

[@crawdaddy1234]

My buddy has a Zaxara deck. Every turn he untaps with Zaxara, I go, “Am I dead?”

[@darylmcnaughton748]

ive had a zaxara deck since that commander deck came out and only recently realized that freed from the real and pemmins aura make infinite mana with it.... and i own a pemmins aura, im so ashamed.

[@sirkelendor5429]

I actually have zaxara but no deck for him, how much did your buddy roughly spend?

[@crawdaddy1234]

@@sirkelendor5429 Not exactly sure, but the deck can be built pretty cheaply. It’s basically: Get Zaxara out on turn 3, find Pemmin’s Aura or Freed from the Real using X-Spells (e.g., Genesis Hydra or Blue Sun’s Zenith) or just beating face with Voracious Hydra or Mistcutter Hydra. You don’t need Walking Ballista or Hydroid Krasis to be effective.

[@golgariguy]

Fun fact: Pemmin's Aura is an anagram of I am Superman, since it's an aura that gives the same powers of Morphling, which had the nickname Superman at the time because of all its different, powerful abilities :)

[@casketbase7750]

Killian Ink Duelist approves of this list.

[@Rogierhimself]

Killian disapproves this list. Not a single Aura in there that is beneficial to him.

[@LouisKing995]

Killian aura tribal is so good but I got bored of how quickly it can win. It takes no time at all for him to become unkillable and he already has menace and lifelink haha. Aura/removal tribal with Killian is just nuts

[@watchingchannelyeah9680]

Auras generally aren’t great but I can’t help but love them lol. I made Light-Paws as soon as she came out because they’re so fun

[@MayorMerculies]

Bro, my Light-Paw EDH deck is undefeated at my LGS, and my Arena Historic Brawl deck is also undefeated. Stupid fast, I found as many Auras with Flash and named the deck "Faster Than Light-Paws". Both versions are stacked with "Players can not cast more than one spell each turn." because each Aura cast counts as a 2 for 1, and you can Flash out 2 for 1 Auras on other player's turns to get more value than your opponents.

[@patrickflynn1481]

Just bought some cards and used your TCG link! Keep the videos coming guys!!

[@animefreak151000]

I love that you guys have your cat chillin with yall😆so precious

[@andrewrockwell1282]

I think it is awesome that you show off a feature of Moxfield each day! Some of them I want others to see and some I didn't know existed!

[@michaelmceachran6329]

Im a new arrival to the channel and I love the content. Ive been on a nitpicking nerds binge these last few days and this video was very welcome because im working on an aura deck right now!

[@FinalBosco]

Honorable mention to Gift of Immortality - goes great in my Elenda, the Dusk Rose aristocrats deck! It's automatic graveyard recursion in white, so it's a great combo piece.

[@eveljkov]

Gift is awesome. Gift+Sun Titan+Ayli looping is always good for a laugh.

[@reeces.8777]

I love this list so much! Thank you for your excellent commentary! 😃

[@blakem000]

No love for Oubliette?? One of the best, most cruel aura's invented. Auto in any black deck, and can totally destroy 1 player's gameplan.

[@NitpickingNerds]

We don't think it's bad but we also don't have it in our top 10

[@TheVladeha]

I would like you to read Oubliette again

[@TheVladeha]

@@NitpickingNerds most likely because it is not an aura

[@blakem000]

@@TheVladeha Ahh, decent thought, good technicality. That said, it is BASICALLY one.

[@patrickwoodlands4086]

@@blakem000 so is banishing light, touch the spirit realm, thopter arrest, prison realm, conclave tribunal, seal away type cards all "BASICALLY" auras? lmao that doesn't make any sense.

[@vibes_3080]

Came for the cards, stayed for the cat... what a fluffy cutie!

[@johnnyd1988]

turning 34 today! Thanks so much for birthday wishes! ^^

[@MasonSheffield]

My heart does the disappointed Arab dude meme with his hands on his hips every Moxfield ad. You get me every time 🤣.

[@NitpickingNerds]

A-HA! Don't worry, we get EVERYONE every time!

[@TinyLegs15243]

I enjoy robe of stars in certain decks like my reaper king deck where keeping him alive is paramount at all times.

[@stanielb2005]

Robe of Stars is an automatic add to any deck with white. Even if phasing out bonks my commander's effect, the ability to dodge almost everything is worth it.

[@charliemarlow647]

One more good thing about Pattern of Rebirth: if you already have your best creature out, you can stick it on that and it acts as a form of protection because nobody wants to remove it. "Better the devil you know." Main thing you have to consider is when to play the aura because if your creature gets removed in response then it's a bummer.

[@haingis]

when I started playing magic again back between 2017-18 I remember going through all my old cards from when I first started playing back when I was like 11 or 12(?). I didn't know much about what cards existed or which cards were good, but finding pattern of rebirth and sylvan library in that pile made me go "wooah!". I added both to my shitty homemade muldrotha commander deck. Pattern of rebirth was a beast

[@NitpickingNerds]

That deck might still have both

[@haingis]

@@NitpickingNerds maybe if I rebuild it sometime. I've dismantled it to build new stuff long ago

[@kollinguffey5057]

What about the one drop in white that gives a creature +1 +1 for each enchantment you own and first strike

[@HomeCookinMTG]

I think the issue with it for this particular list is that it's too niche and not really generically good, because it only really goes in one deck

[@danielchirashnya94]

Always a good day when the Nerds post. And that’s every day😁

[@esrohm6460]

pattern of rebirth is this mind blowing card where you ask how was that ever ok to print until you realize that it was printed when the best you could get was a 10 mana 2/2 with upkeep cost of sacing 5 lands is how something like that didn't completely break "standard" of that time

[@keiharris332]

I'm sure everyone knows this, but when you cast an aura it targets. But if it enters the battlefield without casting, for example with sun titans effect, it does not target. Meaning you can sneak an aura on a creature with shroud/hexproof

[@sc100ott]

I would put Song of the Dryads, Darksteel Mutation, and Imprisoned in the Moon all together as about equal. They all hose a single player’s commander (which is very often a real feel-bad move, so I’m playing them less lately). You pretty much need enchantment removal to free your commander from them. Yes, with darksteel you could bounce or exile your commander and get it back that way. I do like Diplomatic Immunity, Kaya’s Ghostform, and Aspect of Mongoose to protect your commander, the first two being very budget-friendly. They can be better than Swiftfoot Boots and Lightning Greaves in the right deck.

[@fosterdawson7339]

The new witness protection could be included in that first 3 as well

[@kingofrunescapepking]

Mystic Subdual is also in a class with Song of the Dryads

[@sc100ott]

Witness Protection and Mystic Subdual aren’t really the same, IMHO. If either one of those are slapped on your commander, you can just chump block and send your commander back to the command zone. Or just play a boardwipe. Yes, you’ll have to pay to re-cast, but at least you get your commander back, and the enchantment is gone. With Darksteel Mutation, you can flicker your creature, or even use a Swords To Plowshares or Path To Exile to get your commander back, so it’s not quite as effective as Song of the Dryads or Imprisoned in the Moon, but it’s still not the easiest thing to remove.

[@danielgoldberg2129]

Just used the affiliate link to buy some cards I was going to buy anyway. 😎 BTW, Darksteel Mutation is great because if you put it on your opponents Commander they can’t just chump block with it so it dies and comes back. Indestructible matters! Lol

[@vincentplag]

Good call on pattern of rebirth, its basically just tinker for creatures.

[@mattdeters8306]

I picked up a Beta Animate Dead a couple of weeks ago for my K'rrik cEDH deck. So pretty.

[@RefaTheGreat]

Shoutouts to Ophidian Eye/Snake Umbra, they basically do the same thing as the #10 for slightly more mana with slight upsides. Surprised you didn't mention Niv-Mizzet though because that's the quintessential Curiosity combomander. I definitely forgot about Necromancy not being an aura, so I'm glad you mentioned it. Pattern of Rebirth is so nuts with Boonweaver Giant, either one works to find the other one (actually a fringe CEDH combo). What other auras were close to making the list but didn't make the cut? I'll shout out Vanishing, which I wouldn't put on the list but is basically the aura version of Robe of Stars.

[@fosterdawson7339]

They did mention the Niv-Mizzets actually when talking about infinites with curiosity

[@RefaTheGreat]

@@fosterdawson7339 My bad, I totally missed that.

[@eveljkov]

+3 cool points for using Pemmin's Aura to take out an indestructible creature.

[@mr.mammuthusafricanavus8299]

Great choices. When it comes to Urza block aura's besides Rancor, honorable mention to: Launch, Cessation, Sleepers Guile, Slow motion. All of these auras return to your hand and can be pretty useful, Rancor is still the best of these designs :P

[@magicmarc1966]

Great list! Curiosity is one of my favorite auras of all time so glad it showed in the NN top 10! I am curious you would rate Journey to Eternity // Atzal, Cave of Eternity? This card is almost a 1 card combo that can enable a lot of shenanigans. Cast it on anything with a powerful ETB like Sun Titan/Ravenous Chupacabra or whatever and then it's nothing but win if it flips.

[@SvviftDeath]

#9 Curse of Opulence is a great choice. I had one played on me recently in an Isshin deck and it gave the player a lot of Gold tokens to accelerate their deck. I finally answered it several turns later but the damage was done. What I didn't like was that I was able to get a Smothering Tithe turn 7-8 and they tried arguing that it wasn't fair even though the rest of the table was getting Gold for 4-5 turns and I wasn't getting anything. #5 Imprisioned in the Moon is a slightly worse color shifted version of Lignify, should've been given a mention. Also #2 in addition to Animate Dead and Necromancy is Dance of the Dead, works the same way for combo loops. Edit: #5 It has been corrected to me that it should've been Song of the Dryads not Lignify. #2 This was said I just completely missed it somehow. Also I apparently missed them stating that Necromancy is not technically an Aura. I'm really off my game today. Great list, I would like to know more of what didn't make the top 10 but were close picks like Darksteel Mutation.

[@pizzapm]

they mentioned dance of the dead. Also I agree i would be curious to know what else didnt quite make the top 10

[@SvviftDeath]

@@pizzapm I must've been distracted with something cause I don't know how I missed that, it was blatantly obvious.

[@greatbrandini3967]

You also called Imprisoned in the moon a color shifted Lignify, think you meant Song of the Dryads

[@SvviftDeath]

@@greatbrandini3967 That is what I meant, thank you.

[@crawdaddy1234]

When Rancor is only at number 8, you know the list is stacked. I like putting it on Marwyn, because it makes it mana-positive.

[@JustRightPinedo]

soon enough you'll get me on the moxfield train.

[@blackmountain1983]

Dudes! Have you seen the brand new red aura Sticky Fingers?! 1 red for an aura that gives the creature menace, when it deals combat damage you make a treasure AND when it dies you draw a card. Not bad for a common.

[@lysander3262]

Everything makes Treasure and draws cards now, it all just fades into background noise XD

[@addisonyoungblood4501]

Song of the dryad haters: it’s broken, I can’t play the game. Awaken the Blood Avatar Giga Chads: thanks for the ramp bro

[@pc-98k83]

I was a little surprised not to see Flickering Ward/Spidersilk Net. I know they’re specifically enchantress cards but they’re outlandishly strong engines in that archetype

[@pizzapm]

I think you mean whip silk not spidersilk net, I completely agree they are very strong in my sythis deck

[@stanielb2005]

Shielded by faith is one of my favorites. 3 mana indestructible and I can move it around? Bet. Great combo with flash.

[@aidankeyes5526]

I don't know what it is but Joe you were looking fly today

[@lisliaer7999]

Heyyyyyy! I like that moxfield ad😏😏😏

[@redzone4412]

I love your 2/2 cat token

[@rileyselman1312]

Reality acid in blink decks is SWEET.

[@soulassassin0g]

June: **exist** Companies: "Time to bring out the rainbow logo. Yass, queen!"

[@kris4876]

At the end they said that there's no deck that plays all of these, and well... They are technically right but I do have all of them but Curse of Opulence and Treachery in my Tatsunari, Toad Rider deck. Totally could put Treachery in there, but yeah it's kind of spendy!

[@willstebbins5338]

Auras have always been risky but they’re so fun. Like yeah you almost always get at least two for one’d but if you have *any* way to recur enchantments they’re just nothing but value town

[@pizzad1005]

Isn't it interesting how every aura on this list is an enchantment that enchants a creature? crazy how that works.

[@NitpickingNerds]

Not all though

[@thepopeofchilitown9143]

@@NitpickingNerds also, curse of opulence doesn't

[@SeanThomas1992]

Hey Nerds! Can you do tier lists of commanders with static abilities, commander with triggered abilities, and commander with activated abilities, please!

[@KilvinTheOdd]

Do you think Hydra’s growth works well with counters and voltron decks? I’ve always loved it but haven’t seen anyone talk about it before

[@lanibentz9976]

Remember, becoming a patron only costs you one mana. And you can do it at instant speed. Honestly an auto include.

[@zukaras1]

You guys should add crab umbra 1 blue aura with activate ability for 2U to untapped enchanted creature with totem armor

[@Mattthecricketbat1]

No Aqueous Form?

[@bye1551]

A little sad we haven't been getting tidbits lately, though I get the videos have been increasing on length so maybe it's to save time? Idk was just fun to get random snippets every video, thought it was fun dynamic of the channel

[@RandomInternetUser999]

Kenrith's transformation over darksteel mutation is absurd. Can't get your commander back by chump blocking with darksteel mutation. I think darksteel mutation is one of the best answers for troublesome commanders.

[@ericzettl1563]

Imprisoned in the moon is also decent imo

[@RandomInternetUser999]

@@ericzettl1563 yeah imprisoned in the moon is also great. Versatile too.

[@marc4008]

Is there a reason I'm missing that Fertile Ground isn't included with wild growth and utopia sprawl? They seem like the same effect, and I have a ton of spare copies of fertile ground laying around

[@timmaitcheson8821]

Costs green and 1 mana as opposed to just green mana. To expensive to mention

[@marc4008]

@@timmaitcheson8821 Thanks, I don't know how I missed that. Whoops

[@punkypinko2965]

I don't get why Wild Growth is better than just a forest land. If you have one forest, then enchant it with Wild Growth, now you have a forest that you can tap for two green. Or ... if you have a forest, then just play a second forest, now you have two cards you can tap for two green. Is Wild Growth only worth it if you can untap a target card (so you could untap and the enchanted land card and tap it again for two more green?)

[@justynwclark]

You didn’t mention that gross infinite combo between Niv-Mizzet and curiosity.

[@ethanwilliams8936]

I missed the video on my Birthday in February, can I get a retroactive happy birthday??

[@sirrzoidberg3771]

So I’m a voltron player. Most of these are generically good auras. In a voltron deck these are better auras. Phyresis Bear umbra Hydra’s growth (in a +1 counter deck) All that glitters Sage’s Reverie Mantle of the Ancients

[@kingofrunescapepking]

Bear Umbra should definitely be in your top 3 somewhere

[@InGovWeMistrust]

Freed from the real or Pemmins aura in a Phenax deck with King Macar the gold cursed. Exile all opponents creatures and make everyone mill a ton.

[@jollyanchorking3831]

I love Keen Sense in my Blanka Deck

[@MissMayhem720]

I need a cat that loves me as much as Amber loves Beezy

[@hudjahulos]

put curiosity on your guttersnipe or other pingers. 3 cards for every spell - you're welcome

[@jamesharrigan2244]

with the rise in popularity of bounce lands I personally wouldn't rank song of dryad so far up there.

[@barelyahuman5293]

Once again here before discord notification

[@RazgrizAce67]

It's not very good but Eldrazi Conscription is still my favorite aura. Love to combine with Sovereigns of Alara and just kill someone outta nowhere.

[@OmegaMTG]

Would Curiosity work with Queza?

[@jasonliang2932]

I'm surprised Bear Umbra didn't top 10.

[@jacktupp4358]

You guys missed Flickering Ward.

[@mathiesklerck46]

This video is sponsored by Enlightened Tutor©

[@NitpickingNerds]

And Heliod's Pilgrim lol

[@nzephier]

I still use peregrine Drake and deadeye navigator in my momir deck cause I can tutor those, freed from the real while a cheaper combo is Harder to tutor

[@matthewbell4897]

Day 2 of blindly guessing where the moxfield ad is: 9:21

[@Munchie3777]

*Amber living the dream*

[@puddleduck745]

Bring back the "Gravy!"

[@Ryan-so3il]

My Favorite aura is Fallen Ideal.

[@sebastianmarkow6822]

LMAO at this point I really think you guys hate white as color. How can you make a video about Auras and not mention a single white Aura? Light-Paws is one of the recent most powerful commanders and there so many high powered Auras in white that are just insane.

[@NitpickingNerds]

Which white Auras do you think make this list?

[@sebastianmarkow6822]

Darksteel, Gift of Immortality, Spirit Mantle & Unquestioned Authority

[@DerMitWieWoOhneNamen]

Spirit Mantle is the only white Aura that would belong in the Top 10. Just because Auras are a big part of White's identity doesn't mean that it's good at it. As always, green does just everything better that white wants to do

[@sebastianmarkow6822]

Show me the green Aura that’s better than Gift in a format that cares about one creature being on the board mist of the time.

[@JessBritvec]

@@sebastianmarkow6822 Yeah, I would have chosen Darksteel Mutation instead of Kenrith’s Transformation. To me an 0/1 indestructible vanilla Insect is better than a 3/3 Elk that cantrips, its not good for attacking or blocking, and its more likely the enchanted card is stuck on the board and not able to be recast. I also agree on Gift of Immortality, its a combo piece that works great when you aren’t comboing.

[@leowheeler8320]

So song of the dryads is on here but imprisoned in the moon isn’t?! Huh?!

[@meatrace]

I got confused for a moment when you called for #9 since I'm Brandon. Still weird to me that Beezy is a Brandon too.

[@mth4456]

Nerds-Becoming Immortal is a nice bonus Depressed People-michael scott screaming no

[@Fighting_irish493]

I’m sorry nerds but I have to challenge for at lest one spot on this list and the aura that I support so much is really cheap mana wise and money wise it’s like 1 $ and the aura is alpha’s authority this spell is 2 mana I green and 1 generic for a protection spell that gives the enchanted creature hexproof and makes that creature only blockable by one creature so no one can double block your creature sure you could run lightning greaves or swift foot boots but having another protection spell can be really good in many different strategies I once put this on a koma the cosmos serpent and koma just took over the game no one could stop it but you don’t need a strong creature like koma to make this spell effective wanna protect your commander from removal well this can be a great way playing a enchantress deck well this could protect something important this spell is so under estimated

[@ADudeWhoExperiences1393]

Why isn't there a top 10 nitpicking nerds?

[@stevenfairhaven6388]

What does Voltron a creature mean

[@ben903]

Wow these nerds sure are nitpicky

[@Pigotti94]

Amber looks just like my cat Akasha, only my cat is much smaller

[@MegaMan4141]

Beezyhit’emwithit!!

[@markdowy1]

Ah good kitty

[@NitpickingNerds]

She was so nice this video!

[@lucasodom7280]

Burden of Guilt. Better tapping aura.

[@KSE828]

I actually disagree with your logic on treachery. It costs far too much to kickstart, and if it gets countered, it’s awful. With Control Magic, it’s only 4 mana, and doesn’t feel as bad if it’s countered.

[@N0madic]

Animate Dead, but no Dance of the Dead?!?

[@acollectorslifeforme4201]

They combined those two for the same spot.

[@acollectorslifeforme4201]

PoR shouldn’t be #1, I’ve built a lot of commander decks and I end up cutting it for mana curve, required targets, and how bad it is against removal. Pretty sure the only deck I have it in is Kruphix/eldrazi. I also play multiple enchantress builds and it doesn’t make the cut. Very specific combo card but not great in non sac decks.

[@mastershake42019]

Played pemmin's aura and freed room the real in my zaxara deck for about 2 games. Having a 1 card infinite combo with your commander turns out to be too powerful lol. Plus it wasn't fun to just win cause you have that card and a X spell in your hand. Plus if your buddies know about that combo then they just hate mob on zaxara and you just lose.

[@ANeonGenesis]

oh hey Brandon

[@FelipeLundgreen]

Not even a white aura in the video? Wut! Light-Paws is shaking...

[@kjellegilhustad2095]

Almost all of the auras is from the Urzas sycle or older. They dont make good auras any more.

[@Munchie3777]

Beezys name is Brandon!?!??? @.@!!! *secrets out xd*

[@Arsenjohn]

Is it just me, or does dragon shield suck for 100 card decks?

[@nzephier]

It's just you. My sleeves last at least a year, and the ones I ordered from their site are still slippery like I just got them (came 5 months ago)

[@Munchie3777]

If I'm an immortal deck builder can I still eat ham sandwiches or am i stuck at computer xd what happens is computer dies?? 🤔😉

[@SamuraiGodGaming]

#catbutt