(Dack Fayden | Art by Eric Deschamps)

Izzet, Searching for Love in all the Most Explosive of Places.

The question of planeswalkers as commanders has been brought up in Magic discourse an infinite number of times. People say it would kill EDH as a format, and others say it will do nothing but give more options to a perpetually endless pool of commanders. I believe the truth is somewhere in the middle. My name is Nick, and the fourteenth installment of Myth Realized will cover Izzet (blue, red) cards. Let's look at how they would each ruin (or not ruin) your favorite 100-card Singleton format.

If you've stuck around with me until this article, you know what cards to look for in this color combination. If not, check out the articles I did in blue and red to see the cards I've previously shouted out in these colors.

Dack Fayden - 1BR

The greatest thief in the multiverse, possibly the greatest Planeswalker in vintage cube history, and my all-time favorite Izzet Planeswalker. It's cheap to cast and has two abilities that can be instantly impactful right when it hits the board. The two big things against Dack leading a deck are low loyalty and a somewhat irrelevant ultimate. Most patterns involve immediately using the -2 to take someone's artifact and a +1 on the next turn before someone gets rid of him. But if you're stealing mana rocks, the number of times you can recast Dack becomes less and less of an issue. It's fun for only the person casting them and a significant threat to the rest of the table.

Ral, Caller of Storms - 4BR

One of the best things about the Izzet colors is that we only have to deal with one instance of a Planeswalker deck walker. And here is the one and only representative. Just like most who came before him, another card that costs too much mana and does far too little. You only draw one card when you have to spend six mana to cast this. I don't know what storms Ral is calling with this card, but I don't think anyone needs to bring an umbrella. The ultimate is nice in that you get to draw seven cards, and the damage will get rid of most of your opponents' boards, but it will take so long to get there that you might as well use other options for card draw and board wipes.

Ral, Izzet Viceroy - 3BR

They look like they talk a big game but will utter no more than a whisper. In a 1v1 format, this card is nothing to scoff at and has the potential to win a variety of games due to card selection and creature removal. This card also has an ultimate that gives you a game-winning emblem. But you will have to do some work to get there. I think the other version, Ral, Caller of Storms, would be more fun for you to lead a deck with. But if this is what gets you charged up, then I hope he brings you, as the emperor would say, "Unlimited Power."

Ral, Storm Conduit - 2BR

He is one of the most back-breaking Planeswalkers I've ever had the pleasure of piloting. As I may have told readers of this series before, I am not very good at drafting and sealing, regardless of format. But no matter if I win or lose, one of my all-time favorite ways to enjoy a prerelease event is to grind my opponent into the dust during War of the Spark with a deck containing the Storm Conduit themselves. This card is hard to eliminate and will take an opponent out of a match faster than anyone saw coming. So many cards in that format give you tokens to block and apply pressure to the +2 to scry and -2 to copy the next instant or sorcery that this card provides, making managing the loyalty on Ral an afterthought. This version of Ral would be a kill-on-sight commander, as anyone running it would pair it with the likes of Guttersnipe and Baral, Chief of Compliance alongside spells such as High Tide and possibly even Grapeshot.

Ral Zarek - 2BR

S0, this card is not good. But this card is, without a doubt, fun. To be fair to the original Ral Zarek, you can find ways to make the +1 work for you thanks to untapping something like a Gilded Lotus for a fair bit of colored mana. Having a Lightning Bolt for a -2 might have been ok during Return to Ravnica Standard, but this is commander, and in commander, we need to think much, much bigger. Luckily, there is a bit of a built-in home for the card already, the much beloved and often bemoaned for how long some turns can take the coin flip archetype. Often led by Zndrsplt, Eye of Wisdom, and Okaun, Eye of Chaos, your one goal will be to get this card to ultimate so that you can collectively draw all the cards, make Okaun the biggest boy on the board, and most importantly take all the turns.

Saheeli, Filigree Master - 2BR

This card should see more play. According to EDHREC, this card is only in 1% of eligible decks. It has a fair bit of competition, being in two of the best colors for artifact decks. I don't think a Planeswalker that can reach an ultimate this powerful after only one uptick should be seeing this little play. Tapping an untapped artifact to draw a card hurts, and taking almost all the loyalty for two thopters will make people shy away from this card. As the commander of a deck, or with a bit more exploration by the player base, I think this is a diamond in the rough just waiting for a chance to shine.

Saheeli Rai - 1BR

Who remembers when Wizards of the Coast just missed a two-card infinite combo printed into the standard format? I do like it was yesterday. You wouldn't be able to do it with Saheeli Rai at the head of a deck, since using Felidar Guardian would result in an uphill battle rule zero conversation. What can be done with the Izzet colors? A few combo lines that involve turning Miss Rai into an artifact and removing the legend rule like so:

Saheeli, Sublime Artificer - 1(B/R B/R)

Uncommon War of the Spark Planeswalkers can be terrifying. If this card had a way to add loyalty, it might be one of the most used Planeswalkers out there. At first glance, this looks like one of the most useless Planeswalkers. You only get a servo for casting a noncreature spell, what good will that do? This card is only limited by your imagination and the limits of Magic: The Gathering. Turning the token you just made or any random artifact lying around into something better when the time is right can lead to some explosive turns. If you need more mana, why not make something a copy of Silverbluff Bridge? Want some more cost reduction? How about a Jhoira's Familiar? Maybe you need to take out two people simultaneously; there might be nothing better than another copy of Nettlecyst. Not only would Saheeli be on my shortlist of decks to build, but the deck that would come forth would be nothing short of sublime.

The Royal Scions 1BR

One of the more divergent Planeswalkers for the Izzet color combination on the list features brother and sister Will and Rowan Kenrith. A slight mainstay of past 1v1 formats, this card can be a solid role player for tempo strategies, featuring cards like Delver of Secrets. This card screams, "Put me in the command zone" and not for the reason you might think. In the 99, I think this card is relatively weak. Drawing this will often be met with the wish of it being almost any other card. But being a commander means this card can be deployed at the perfect spot while not taking up space in your hand. The benefit of this card always being available far outweighs the potential it has inside the 99.

Wrap Up

What Izzet lacks in the sheer number of Planeswalkers, it more than makes up for in their quality. Top to bottom, this is one of the strongest color combinations if this rule change were to go through, but one of the most beatable. These walkers might be strong, but they are not bringing anything to a table that a seasoned commander player has not gone up against. The two main strategies found across these walkers are spell-slinging and artifact matters. No deck, when piloted and constructed well, will be easy to beat. Looking at it from a purely strategic standpoint though, this is child's play for the other pod members.

If your commander pod allowed these, my eyes would carefully watch the likes of Dack Fayden, Saheeli Rai and Saheeli, Sublime Artificer. Dack for the possible outcry from other players and the two Saheelis for the latent and in-your-face combo potential that could improve with every new card printed. It is a delight to bring a joyful article filled with strong potential commanders to my 14th article. If you like this, look at my other articles on the site, and join me next time as we travel from the thunder and lightning-filled sky to the deep underground as we look at everyone's rotten love, the Golgari!

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