Commander Masters Spoilers: First Impressions

Welcome back! It's an exciting time with Commander Masters spoiler season upon us and already we've seen some good, bad, ugly and the much needed as far as reprints are concerned. In this article I'm going to go over some of the already spoiled cards you should pick up for your own collection.

Something I also want to cover is that this is a limited print set so the supply may not go up in a way that lessens a card's value by too much, but we can all hope right?

Limited Interlude

Likewise if you want to participate in the limited environment, there is a special rule for the mono-colored legendary creatures in this set: they will have “partner”. That means you can slap Krenko Mob Boss and Omnath Locus of Mana together for a deck if you want. Any creature with two or more colors cannot have partner.

Alright, let's get going!

The Medallions

A long awaited reprint, only having one other in Commander 2014, this cycle of cards let you take a generic mana off the cost of a spell if it matches the color it says in the text box. Ruby takes 1 off a Red spell, Pearl 1 off White, and so on.

Why these are good is that unlike mana rocks, these can be used multiple times, getting you more value up front than a mana rock ever could outside of powerful ones like Mana Crypt. Even running one of these in a two color deck that is heavier in one color can be a boon, but where they really shine of course are in mono-colored decks.

The Free Commander Spells

This cycle returns to us in Commander Masters to much fanfare. I'm not a fan of free counter magic, or free spells in general myself, but those that want these or need them for cEDH will welcome the reprints. I don't think the prices will come down too much off of the prices now, but we can all hope for a Flawless Maneuver.

Grand Abolisher

This “hate bear” is very good at keeping bad things from happening to you on your turn. While it can be an annoying card, it is certainly good and the effect isn't so broken that it won't be used. It's fantastic for protecting your combo going off or your attack, among other things.

Spellseeker

A badly needed reprint here with Spellseeker. Easily abusable with blink and recursion, fetching instants or sorcery repeatedly to hand that costs 2 or less, be that Cyclonic Rift or Assassin's Trophy.

Finale of Devastation

Another badly needed reprint that hasn't seen a break on price in a while, this card allows you to tutor for a creature from your deck OR bring one back from the dead and put it onto the battlefield. It then buffs your critters and gives haste. A finishing card if I ever saw one, and it isn't a Craterhoof Behemoth, so extra style points.

Cyclonic Rift

One of the boogieman cards of the format gets a reprint. No matter your feelings on this card, its price is still up and it is going to be good in the future as well. This card gets around a lot of things like ward, it's one sided, and you don't have to overload it to make it impact the game. Flexibility is nice though.

Champion's Helm

Here is an interesting pick. With all the support equipment decks have gotten in recent years, I'm not sure this card is as buyable as it used to be outside of legendary matters decks. This is its first reprinting outside of Masterpieces however. If the price comes down enough, I'd still buy one for the collection since its cost to equip is very low and Hexproof is still a great ability, plus all those new "legendaries matter" decks basically just get a free bonus in protecting their pieces.

Kindred Dominance

A very good card in typal decks, this is a one-sided board wipe where you just clean up afterward. Not much to say about it other than that. Just keep your slivers away from me.

Morophon, the Boundless

Speaking of typal cards, here comes the king of “typal typal” decks. No matter what creature type you're running, Morophon here can support it, and is five colors to boot. Not only that, if you're playing something scary like the new sliver deck coming out with Commander Masters, then put him in front to alleviate a little bit of stress from the table (for a few turns, anyway).

Ohran Frostfang

Another welcome reprint. While it's not as expensive as some other cards on my list, this card is great in combat, and gives card draw and in high toughness or toughness matters decks. With the other printings of this card being lower than most here, I'd definitely pick this up if you get the chance to cheaply.

Insurrection

The last time I saw this card played was more than a decade ago. Know what though? It made an impression and this card will still take a game out from under a table especially with all those treasures flying around. 8 mana is nothing when you want to play the big spells and this is one of the biggest. Watch out for counter magic, and you'll be fine.

Urza, Lord High Artificer

This man right here is responsible for many crimes in the lore and possibly in the game itself. Extremely good to the point of getting side-eyed and groaned about, if you haven't faced off against this card or used it yourself then prepare. This card is an absolute buy if you can get it and like artifacts. Just be nice to your friends.

Regal Behemoth

A card I think is largely overlooked, it gives you extra mana of any color as long as you are the Monarch (given to you by its effect). It adds politics to a game and gives you immediate advantage. A solid card if you like political intrigue.

Land Tax

This enchantment is the OG when it comes to catchup and White's mana problems. Or at least, the problems it used to have. Still, it doesn't get more efficient than this card and has the added benefit of being good in more than just White. The card allows you to get any basic land, so if you're running anything besides Green, I'd give this serious consideration.

This Is Only The Beginning

I could go on and on about more cards, but I'm going to stop here before I start rambling about Nekusar or the Confluence cycle. The whole set isn't even spoiled yet so we have more goodies to look forward to! If you are newer to commander or just need a few extra copies of something, this set looks to be shaping up.

Keep an eye on the spoilers and don't forget about those commander decks coming out too! They contain the only new cards in the set!.

Until next (always) time, I freakin' love commander.