Today's article travels back to the first set from everyone's favorite Shinto-inspired block that we're almost certainly never going to visit ever again: Champions of Kamigawa. This set introduced some much-beloved creature types like monk, samurai, and advisor. The set also introduced some legendarily bad mechanics: Arcane and Splice onto Arcane, Spirits and Soulshift. While those mechanics are widely regarded as bad, we did get Bushido and flip cards out of Kamigawa. Despite having a controversial frame, flip cards played in a design space that paved the way for the double-faced cards we all enjoy today. Perhaps the number one reason Kamigawa is so popular with EDH players is its theme legends. If it was a rare (or sometimes even uncommon) it was legendary, and so a lot of mono-colored commanders were born. Azusa, Lost but SeekingAzusa, Lost but Seeking, Boseiju, Who Shelters AllBoseiju, Who Shelters All, Ghostly PrisonGhostly Prison, Sakura-Tribe ElderSakura-Tribe Elder, the Spirit Dragon cycle, and other staple cards were all introduced in Champions of Kamigawa. Cards like these are famously good, but did other useful cards fall through the cracks? Oh, my goodness, yes! Let's take a look.

Pale Ailing

Samurai of the Pale CurtainSamurai of the Pale Curtain is an excellent piece of graveyard hate that sees play in 204 decks. It's so good that I was surprised that I had never heard of it before. Like Rest in PeaceRest in Peace, Samurai of the Pale Curtain completely turns off reanimator commanders and shuts down graveyard combo decks like Sharuum the HegemonSharuum the Hegemon or Athreos, God of PassageAthreos, God of Passage. If you run it under a commander with green in its color identity, like Sidar Kondo of JamuraaSidar Kondo of Jamuraa, you can add Dryad MilitantDryad Militant to remove anything that touches the graveyard.

Sensei Golden-TailSensei Golden-Tail plays Samurai of the Pale Curtain the most at 23 decks. In fact, most of the top commanders for this card are from Kamigawa block, including Takeno, Samurai GeneralTakeno, Samurai General, Eight-and-a-Half-TailsEight-and-a-Half-Tails, Patron of the KitsunePatron of the Kitsune, Isamaru, Hound of KondaIsamaru, Hound of Konda, Opal-Eye, Konda's YojimboOpal-Eye, Konda's Yojimbo and Nagao, Bound by HonorNagao, Bound by Honor. That's fine, but this card is so much more than a gimmick, tribal, or theme card. It's legitimately strong. If you'd rather not spend $8 on Rest in Peace, why not pick up a copy of Samurai for less than 50 cents?

Hey! I'm Squelching Here!

SquelchSquelch sees play in 167 decks, and is a useful and fun trick. It counters a fetchland or, after allowing a planeswalker to tick up to its ultimate, counter the walker's activation, likely killing it. Is it quite as good as DisallowDisallow? No, but aside from VoidslimeVoidslime, what is? The fact that it draws you a card and only costs two to cast makes it a potentially worthwhile inclusion in a control or chaos slot.

Talrand, Sky SummonerTalrand, Sky Summoner runs Squelch in 36 decks, which is more than any other commander. The next top commander, Baral, Chief of ComplianceBaral, Chief of Compliance, only has six decks that include Squelch. This card can just be goodstuff in the 99, or part of a dedicated control package. Either way, it's not something your opponents will expect, and it's fun to resolve. If you liked trying ReroutRerout from my Ravnica article, give Squelch a go in your next brew.

Fear the Weaver

ReweaveReweave sees play in 139 decks, and is a pretty interesting spot-removal spell. If you're not in white or green, it removes problem enchantments, just be careful that you don't cheat something worse out. If you're not in white or black it can permanently deal with a difficult creature, which is nice. Reweave even gets rid of problem lands at instant speed. It's very unlikely that your opponent is going to polymorph out something scarier than the Cabal CoffersCabal Coffers you force them to sacrifice. It has the potential to help or hurt whoever it targets, so be careful what you do with it.

Talrand, Sky SummonerTalrand, Sky Summoner, again, plays Reweave the most at a whopping 13 decks. If you want to run more than one Chaos WarpChaos Warp, or you're just not playing red, give this a home in your next Jalira, Master PolymorphistJalira, Master Polymorphist, Riku of Two ReflectionsRiku of Two Reflections, or Yidris, Maelstrom WielderYidris, Maelstrom Wielder build.

Bone Daddy Warbucks

Nezumi Bone-ReaderNezumi Bone-Reader is a great little sacrifice outlet that sees play in just 278 decks. Perfect for when you want to take control of your opponent's hands, this card lets you expend your tokens or low-value chumps for either card parity or advantage. It doesn't give you the same pinpoint effect as Corpse TradersCorpse Traders, but it also costs significantly less mana to cast and to activate. If you're running Sheoldred, Whispering OneSheoldred, Whispering One, Balthor the DefiledBalthor the Defiled, Meren of Clan Nel TothMeren of Clan Nel Toth, or some other reanimator-themed commander, it might even be better to target yourself with Nezumi Bone-Reader's ability.

Marrow-GnawerMarrow-Gnawer plays this card the most at 121 decks. Since making lots of tokens to sac to the Bone-Reader is very strong, putting this in Ghoulcaller GisaGhoulcaller Gisa, Nath of the Gilt-LeafNath of the Gilt-Leaf, and Prossh, Skyraider of KherProssh, Skyraider of Kher offers several activation opportunities. If you really hate your friends, run this with a Bottomless PitBottomless Pit package, and no one gets to have cards.

The Night Stalker

Night DealingsNight Dealings is an excellent repeatable tutor that sees play in 265 decks. This is another card that I'm really surprised doesn't see more play. I suppose it does make itself a big target, and it's a big mana sink if you hope to activate it the turn it gets cast, but if can protect it, this card gets you anything you need from your deck again and again.

Mogis, God of SlaughterMogis, God of Slaughter plays Night Dealings the most at 18 decks, but can you think of a black deck where this isn't useful? Put it in Nekusar, the MindrazerNekusar, the Mindrazer, Saskia the UnyieldingSaskia the Unyielding, or Vela the Night-CladVela the Night-Clad. Go crazy and put it in Phenax, God of DeceptionPhenax, God of Deception! Okay, maybe not really in that last one, but you see my point. Consider dropping that Increasing AmbitionIncreasing Ambition (or maybe dropping that Demonic TutorDemonic Tutor, Mr. Sean Whatson) in favor of Night Dealings.

Soul Glad to Blast You

SoulblastSoulblast is a finisher for decks that go tall or wide, and sees play in 169 decks. Blowing up your board isn't a big deal if it ends the game by FlingFlinging all of your creatures at one player's face. Let me point out that it's instant speed, so it doesn't have to be a finisher. You can use it in response to a wrath effect to make the person wiping the board pay for their actions. Play it in a desperate ploy to kill the person resolving Craterhoof BehemothCraterhoof Behemoth or Triumph of the HordesTriumph of the Hordes. Your other opponents will thank you for it. Really! This also gets around those pesky PropagandaPropaganda and Dueling GroundsDueling Grounds effects, for when you're stalled out on combat and have nothing better to do.

Omnath, Locus of RageOmnath, Locus of Rage plays this card the most at 39 decks. It must feel really good to Soulblast a board full of Omnath's elementals for all those extra three-damage triggers. Some other top recommendations from EDHREC include Krenko, Mob BossKrenko, Mob Boss, Thromok the InsatiableThromok the Insatiable, and Xenagos, God of RevelsXenagos, God of Revels. If you often find yourself sitting on a hefty amount of creature power and want additional ways to weaponize that power, why not throw in a Soulblast?

Ride the Snake!

Kashi-Tribe ReaverKashi-Tribe Reaver sees play in 119 decks, and, like Voracious CobraVoracious Cobra, is a rattlesnake card that happens to have "snake" as a creature type. Leaving it up as a blocker makes your opponents rethink whether they want to have their best attacker frozen out for the next turn. Not even creatures with vigilance get around the Reaver's ability, since it taps them down; though ReconnaissanceReconnaissance will still allow them to untap their creature after damage has been dealt.

Kashi-Tribe Reaver doesn't see much play outside of snake tribal decks. Seshiro the AnointedSeshiro the Anointed plays this card the most at 45 decks, and the other top commanders are all snakes, as well. I think Reaver is potentially better than that. If your political game is on point, it's like a green Ghostly PrisonGhostly Prison that survives most boardwipes. I would think about trying this in Freyalise, Llanowar's FuryFreyalise, Llanowar's Fury, Surrak, the Hunt CallerSurrak, the Hunt Caller, or Multani, Maro-SorcererMultani, Maro-Sorcerer. Definitely consider it for any mono-green deck's defensive slots.

Behind the Green Door

Glimpse of NatureGlimpse of Nature is a little bit more played at 427 decks. Green has a couple of big draw spells like Rishkar's ExpertiseRishkar's Expertise and Shamanic RevelationShamanic Revelation, but those cost four or more mana. This little sorcery turns all of your mana dorks into cantrips for a single green. If you're playing a Gruul commander, and have a haste enabler online, you can chain Llanowar ElvesLlanowar Elves into Fyndhorn ElvesFyndhorn Elves into Elvish MysticElvish Mystic into Birds of ParadiseBirds of Paradise, etc. You can also run Cryptolith RiteCryptolith Rite to turn all of your one-drops into mana dorks.

Since it's used as part of the combo to draw your whole deck out in Animar, Soul of ElementsAnimar, Soul of Elements (Cloudstone CurioCloudstone Curio + any colorless creature) it's no surprise that Animar plays this card the most at 121 decks. Really, though, it's not bad in any deck that runs lots of cheap creatures and/or generates loads of mana. Try it in Marath, Will of the WildMarath, Will of the Wild, Karametra, God of HarvestsKarametra, God of Harvests, or Sidar Kondo of JamuraaSidar Kondo of Jamuraa.

Get Some Junkyo in the Trunk

Junkyo BellJunkyo Bell sees play in 63 decks, and is a great way to take your strategy from wide to tall. Diversifying your strategy in terms of number of small creatures versus size of a single creature's power can be a key component of closing out the game. I like running white-weenie swarm as much as the next guy, but sometimes your friend Paul is locking your Grenzo goblin tribal deck out of combat with a Silent ArbiterSilent Arbiter, and you just need to teach him a lesson with one really big goblin.

At nine decks, Ghoulcaller GisaGhoulcaller Gisa plays Junkyo Bell the most. Other decks that make lots of little tokens like Jazal GoldmaneJazal Goldmane, Krenko, Mob BossKrenko, Mob Boss and Talrand, Sky SummonerTalrand, Sky Summoner are good candidates for Junkyo Bell. Also, this would be an absolute beast in a Rhys the RedeemedRhys the Redeemed deck with a little bit of trample enabling, or even Predatory FocusPredatory Focus. Pick one up, I'm sure you'll find something to put it in.

Taxing Statuary

Imi StatueImi Statue is a slightly more meta-dependent hate card that sees play in 36 decks. Obviously, it combos well with Mycosynth LatticeMycosynth Lattice and Unwinding ClockUnwinding Clock. Apart from that, it is some good tech against Daretti, Scrap SavantDaretti, Scrap Savant, Breya, Etherium ShaperBreya, Etherium Shaper, and other artifact-heavy decks.

Imi Statue sees the most play in Brago, King EternalBrago, King Eternal at 4 decks. It's not so much specifically good in any builds, as much as it's generally good at gluing up an artifact combo-heavy meta. If you're running into lots of artifact shenanigans, but don't feel like picking up a Stony SilenceStony Silence consider trying this out.

The Action

This week, I thought I'd give Kresh the BloodbraidedKresh the Bloodbraided a chance to highlight some of our tall/wide shenanigan cards. I built in a great deal of token support that comes together to throw out one or two very big punches to close out the game. I hope you found something you like today, and please check back again in a few weeks where we'll dig through the dusty attic of another plane for forgotten treasures.