Sol RingSol Ring | Art by Steven Belledin

There are so many cards in Magic: The Gathering released each year, it's often hard to nail down which ones are actually worth playing.

In Commander, especially, this is true. One player's trash is another player's potpourri. A commander like Hylda of the Icy CrownHylda of the Icy Crown can make a card like Verity CircleVerity Circle insane, but it's basically unplayable most of the time.

However, today I want to talk about cards that are the opposite: powerful cards no matter what the strategy. Cards that are so ubiquitous and so powerful that you'd be crazy not to play them. We'll look at what makes them so powerful, and how we take that power for granted.

For the sake of this article, I want to talk about cards that aren't Game Changers. Instead we'll look at cards that are powerful that often don't get the recognition for their power. These will also frequently be cards that don't crack $10, either because of their widespread use or because of their accessibility. This contributes to them being taken for granted.

Removal:

Swords/Path

Creature removal is so essential to the fabric of Commander. That's why creature sacrifice strategy decks are so oppressive. Creatures are the bread and butter of the game.

I've written an article about how creature removal and creature-based effects are some of the best ways to get abilities off because they're hard to counter (You can read it here). Most counterspells, even some of the best ones like Fierce GuardianshipFierce Guardianship only hit non-creature spells.

However, Magic is a well designed game and makes creature removal plentiful. We've got a ton of effects that "destroy" a creature. Some of the best destroy effects are PongifyPongify/Rapid HybridizationRapid Hybridization or Snuff OutSnuff Out. These are good rates for removal, however recursion or even graveyard decks get a little annoying because they often get around these effects.

You want that card gone forever. If you see an Avacyn, Angel of HopeAvacyn, Angel of Hope, you want an easy way to remove her from the game.

Path to ExilePath to Exile and Swords to PlowsharesSwords to Plowshares are some of the best removal in the game and they'll each cost you less than $2 to buy. I know some of you are going to point to Deadly RollickDeadly Rollick, saying that it's better removal, but you might be a little cooked. It's only free if you control you commander. Otherwise it's and it'll cost you over $20 dollars to buy.

Swords and Path are always one white. That's an aimless Treasure creation effect. That's leftover mana after a big turn.

It's not hard to hold up mana to interact with and very effective. And they're in every precon in those colors. They're everywhere, and yet we don't talk about how insane these cards are. People just use them without understanding how broken these cards are.

Beast WithinBeast Within, Generous GiftGenerous Gift

What do you play for removal after you've already included a Path and a Swords in your deck? It's got to be a Generous GiftGenerous Gift. Why? Because this house can hit anything. It can hit a pesky Oko, Thief of CrownsOko, Thief of Crowns, a Bolas's CitadelBolas's Citadel, a Nykthos, Shrine to NyxNykthos, Shrine to Nyx, or Cabal CoffersCabal Coffers. It's removal for most things and it'll cost you less than a dollar to buy.

Beast WithinBeast Within is basically the same except in green.

Yeah it'll cost you or to cast but, that's usually not too difficult to hold up as interaction. They're very versatile. In many different situations, they're applicable. And everyone is playing these cards. We don't realize how lucky we are that this piece of removal is so accessible and available to us.

Chaos WarpChaos Warp

This card is the version of Generous GiftGenerous Gift. It's in some ways better than Generous GiftGenerous Gift, and some worse. It gets around things with indestructible, but you shuffle it into the owner's library and they flip the top card and they get it to the battlefield if it's a permanent. You have to be strategic with this card, because the problem you're getting rid of needs to be worth risking anything else coming out of their deck for free.

It hits any target like Beast WithinBeast Within, but gives something in return. Either way it'll cost you less than a dollar to do that effect, which is insane.

Blasphemous ActBlasphemous Act

This card is so taken for granted. It's usually a to deal 13 damage to every creature. That's one of the best rates for a likely, though not foolproof, board wipe. Yeah if things have indestructible or protection then they'll be fine, but for it can't do everything. And you can get this card for under $2.

I'm not kidding with how insane this card is. Wrath of GodWrath of God and DamnationDamnation are each four mana total and two colored pip to make happen. That's like the next best board wipe that does essentially the same thing. Most creatures aren't getting more than 13 toughness. It's the best rate for a board wipe in the game and it's in nearly every precon and everyone plays it.

VandalblastVandalblast

This is one of the best artifact destruction effects on a little or card. It hits any artifact for , and for its overload cost, it hits every artifact you don't control. It hits Treasure players and traditional artifact combo decks. Even with the recursion that's typical in traditionally in an artifact combo deck, losing all of your artifacts is such a blowout.

This card is such a staple piece that people don't realize how good the rate is. Something that hits everything you don't control, just doesn't really exist. Maybe a Cyclonic RiftCyclonic Rift comes close, but that card will cost you $25 to play.

Counterspells

An Offer You Can't RefuseAn Offer You Can't Refuse

In the grand scheme of counterspells, there are a lot of free ones. Fierce GuardianshipFierce Guardianship and Force of WillForce of Will, to name a few. However, those spells will cost you $40 and $50 dollars, respectively. An Offer You Can't RefuseAn Offer You Can't Refuse will cost you a measly $2. It's basically a version of Fierce GuardianshipFierce Guardianship which needs your commander out to make work for cheaper.

Yes, Offer gives the other player two Treasures, but to counter any noncreature spell is powerful. It's always available to hold up.

Ramp

Nature's LoreNature's Lore, Three VisitsThree Visits, Skyshroud ClaimSkyshroud Claim

Say it with me: Forests are cracked! If you can search for a Forest, you can get a Triome or a shock land or surveil land. It's such a good way to secure your colors.

Nature's LoreNature's Lore and Three VisitsThree Visits have such a good conversion-to-mana rate. They cost and you get a Forest untapped to use immediately. And either of them will cost you maybe three to five dollars. Skyshroud ClaimSkyshroud Claim is and gets two untapped Forests. It'll cost you less than a dollar for that as well. It's so insane how few cards are at this rate and this versatile.

Dark RitualDark Ritual

This card being an instant makes it so cracked. It's one of the biggest and most popular black rituals. It makes one black mana into three. That's an instant speed Opposition AgentOpposition Agent with only one Swamp untapped. It's scary. It's a turn-one Ayara, First of LocthwainAyara, First of Locthwain. Such good acceleration and it's a two dollar card.

Though it's a burst in mana, most cards have a bad rate or an additional hoop to jump through to make that kind of mana. The best ritual spells in a generic strategy are Mana GeyserMana Geyser or Jeska's WillJeska's Will. The former is and the latter cost around $25 dollars to buy. Dark RitualDark Ritual is so versatile and just a crazy boost when needed.

Mana Production

Command TowerCommand Tower

A land that taps for any color you would need in your Commander deck that comes in untapped with no loss of life or other downside is basically unheard of. It's the unicorn of lands. The only weakness it has is that it's not fetchable with mortal means (I'm kidding, but it's hard to fetch a Command TowerCommand Tower). And this land is worth a quarter and printed in every Commander deck. It's a staple of staples.

Arcane SignetArcane Signet

This is the best artifact ramp in the Commander format and it's not close. It taps for any color your commander needs and it's . Nothing does this. For three mana, yeah, lots of stuff do that, but two is hard to come by.

The Talismans give you two color options for and ping you for each use of color, and don't get me started on how insane I think those cards are for artifact ramp. And they aren't as good as Arcane Signet.

I legitimately had a section here just about the Talismans and in talking about Arcane SignetArcane Signet found it irrelevant because Arcane SignetArcane Signet just moggs them so hard.

Sol RingSol Ring

You know we had to talk about this baddie. It costs and produces two mana. Insane card. People don't realize how much this can accelerate you. It's a low cost card for storm count and for getting a non-creature spell trigger. It's an insane card.

I just have to say it in power, and effectiveness, Sol RingSol Ring is a Game Changer. It's up there with Mana CryptMana Crypt and Jeweled LotusJeweled Lotus in terms of ability to warp the game in your advantage when you see it.

That said, I don't think it should be on the Game Changers list and I don't think we should ban it. It's not for the frankly insulting reason that it's a part of the culture of Commander.

Because of how ubiquitous that card is in precons, it's not exactly helpful to mention it as a Game Changer. Everyone at their basic level of understanding of the game - precon players - will have access to this card, so it's not worth explaining that your deck runs it. Everyone runs it, so it's not something worth disclosing about your deck, hence it doesn't need to be on the Game Changer list.

I don't think we should ban it for a personal reason. Every game should have some level of acceleration and explosive ability to use RNG to get to a fun win. This isn't universally a desire in everyone, hence why understand why some people do want to ban it. It functions like other fast mana.

It would make every precon illegal if we ban it and will create a bigger problem in terms of logistics and practicality with teaching new players with precons. This is a good enough a reason not to ban it, but I can see how it could seem hypocritical considering the other bans.

This doesn't mean I want unbans of the cards that are banned. I like the bans and I will name that before people get a bit carried away.

Conclusion

I just want to say that some of the most powerful cards in the format aren't expensive and are accessible. Don't forget that. Not all of them, obviously, but we should still appreciate the power of the stuff we have access to. That's just my two cents.

Let me know how you feel about Sol RingSol Ring on Blue Sky. I'm @strixhavendropout.

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