<h6 style="text-align: right;">(<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Maelstrom Nexus" href="#" target="_blank">Maelstrom Nexus</a> | Art by <a href="http://www.stevenbelledin.com/">Steven Belledin</a>)</h6>
<h1>After the Gold Rush</h1>
Greetings, everyone, and welcome back to Grapple With the Past, a series in which we look back at the set pages for old releases to discuss the cards that made it and the cards that fell into obscurity in EDH. Once a set releases, Commander players write and read reviews, test out the new cards, and incorporate winners into their EDH repertoire. But with the constant stream of new products, it’s easy for cards to slip through the cracks. I’ve found that by exploring set pages on EDHREC, I frequently stumble upon cards that could easily find a spot in one of my decks. In this series we look for irregularities in the data, try to identify sleeper cards from formats past, and discuss the legacy of particular sets in Commander.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Unscythe, Killer of Kings"></div></div>
Today we're looking back to Alara Reborn, a set that I return to every few years. This set pitched itself as the definitive multicolor release. Every single card in this set is gold. No lands. No colorless artifacts. While this was and remains a gimmick, it led to intriguing design. Just look at <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Unscythe, Killer of Kings" href="#" target="_blank">Unscythe, Killer of Kings</a>, for example. This Equipment is indicative of the bizarre nature of the set as a whole: it's an artifact with four colored pips in its casting cost, split up across three colors. In EDH, this means that <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Unscythe, Killer of Kings" href="#" target="_blank">Unscythe, Killer of Kings</a> can only be played in Grixis decks with good mana-fixing. Beyond that, what Grixis deck wants this Equipment, or any Equipment beyond <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Lightning Greaves" href="#" target="_blank">Lightning Greaves</a>?
Alara Reborn is alluring exactly for the questions that it raises and refuses answer. To me, this set has the same elusive flavor as Future Sight. There are powerful and interesting cards that suggest a world to come that is still unimagined. Even eleven years later, I'm unsure where <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Unscythe, Killer of Kings" href="#" target="_blank">Unscythe, Killer of Kings</a> fits, or whether it could ever find a home in our format. I feel the same about <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Fight to the Death" href="#" target="_blank">Fight to the Death</a> and several other cards here. Let's dive in.
<hr />
<h2>The Commander Class</h2>
As far as commanders go, this set is actually fairly tame. The most salient common factor here is that the most popular among them are annoying to play against. Even if the commander options presented in this set aren't overpowered, some of them do affect the table in abrasive ways. Who really likes playing against <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sen Triplets" href="#" target="_blank">Sen Triplets</a>?
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sen Triplets"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Uril, the Miststalker"></div></div>
<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sen Triplets" href="#" target="_blank">Sen Triplets</a> can be frustrating both for its ability to strip opponents' hands as well as its pseudo-<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Telepathy" href="#" target="_blank">Telepathy</a> effect. Then we get to <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Uril, the Miststalker" href="#" target="_blank">Uril, the Miststalker</a>, Bogle incarnate. Voltron as a strategy may not win games very often, but Uril decks can fairly efficiently remove at least one player on a whim. The other commanders present here are a bit underwhelming: high-costed and not particularly worth it. <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund" href="#" target="_blank">Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund</a> might make it big one day, but it needs a new <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Conspiracy" href="#" target="_blank">Conspiracy</a> effect that turns all of your opponents' creatures into Dragons as well. Until then, it'll do as a conventional Dragon tribal commander.
<hr />
<h2>The Top 10</h2>
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Maelstrom Pulse"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Qasali Pridemage"></div></div>
I am not a fan of <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Maelstrom Pulse" href="#" target="_blank">Maelstrom Pulse</a>, and I was slightly surprised to see that it's so highly played. It has never been included in a Commander product and is not frequently reprinted. When I first started playing EDH, I arrived with the preconception that versatile, sorcery-speed removal would be the best in the format. I bought a couple copies of <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Vindicate" href="#" target="_blank">Vindicate</a> and traded for <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Maelstrom Pulse" href="#" target="_blank">Maelstrom Pulse</a>, neither of which were cheap at the time. Now, years later, I've found that I vastly prefer the versatility of instant-speed to the versatility of hitting more permanent types. Yes, I like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mortify" href="#" target="_blank">Mortify</a> better than <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Vindicate" href="#" target="_blank">Vindicate</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Putrefy" href="#" target="_blank">Putrefy</a> better than <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Maelstrom Pulse" href="#" target="_blank">Maelstrom Pulse</a>.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Maelstrom Nexus"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Wargate"></div></div>
Also in the top ten, we find cards that illustrate the skew toward cards of three or more colors that exists on EDHREC. By percentage, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Maelstrom Nexus" href="#" target="_blank">Maelstrom Nexus</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Wargate" href="#" target="_blank">Wargate</a> see play in 7% and 6% of possible decks, respectively, and they're the first and third most-played cards from Alara Reborn, respectively. In total number of decks, however, they only see play in 2,146 and 3,208 decks, respeectively. In between them, the second most-played card from the set is <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Qasali Pridemage" href="#" target="_blank">Qasali Pridemage</a>, which sees play in 6,102 decks, or 7% of possible decks. Although it sees play in nearly three times as many decks as <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Maelstrom Nexus" href="#" target="_blank">Maelstrom Nexus</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Qasali Pridemage" href="#" target="_blank">Qasali Pridemage</a> it is less represented on EDHREC This isn't a mistake, and is a better way to present this data, but it is a skew to keep in mind when using EDHREC as a resource.
As cards, these are three stellar options in their colors. <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Maelstrom Nexus" href="#" target="_blank">Maelstrom Nexus</a> is obviously highly restricted by its identity, but it provides an enormously powerful effect. The first spell you play on each turn, including your opponents', you draw and play a spell for free. All for five mana. I would play this in nearly every five-color deck I make. <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Qasali Pridemage" href="#" target="_blank">Qasali Pridemage</a> is a good role-player in creature-based decks, and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Wargate" href="#" target="_blank">Wargate</a> is an extremely powerful tutor that could probably find a home in any Bant deck.
<hr />
<h2>Think Twice</h2>
As I alluded to earlier, Alara Reborn is speckled with hidden gems waiting to be found. I feel like every time I visit the set's page, I find more cards that I want to pick up and jam into a deck.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Soul Manipulation"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Tainted Sigil"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sigil Captain"></div></div>
Three such cards can be found above. <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Soul Manipulation" href="#" target="_blank">Soul Manipulation</a> is one of the better counterspells that nobody plays. Sure, it costs three mana, and it only counters creatures, but it exists almost in its own category. This is a value spell that trips an opponent while replacing itself in your hand. This card is like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Exclude" href="#" target="_blank">Exclude</a>, another underrated counterspell, but better in the right decks, because you can be selective about the card you return to your hand. Nobody likes a three-mana counterspell, but sometimes they aren't bad.
<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tainted Sigil" href="#" target="_blank">Tainted Sigil</a>, on the other hand, is one of the best lifegain cards that has ever been printed. Lump sum lifegain can be underwhelming in our format because it doesn't scale as well to four-player games. <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Tainted Sigil" href="#" target="_blank">Tainted Sigil</a>, however, is the exception. This card can be used to deter and negate a big attack on your life total, capitalize on another player being hit hard, or cap off your own drain strategy. I play this card alongside <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Blood Artist" href="#" target="_blank">Blood Artist</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Zulaport Cutthroat" href="#" target="_blank">Zulaport Cutthroat</a>, and it does not disappoint, often gaining twenty or more life.
Finally, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sigil Captain" href="#" target="_blank">Sigil Captain</a> has been a powerhouse in my Selesnya tokens decks, and it often reminds me of <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cathars&#039; Crusade" href="#" target="_blank">Cathars&#039; Crusade</a>. The Crusade has a higher ceiling and can spiral your board out of control, but <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sigil Captain" href="#" target="_blank">Sigil Captain</a> has a higher floor and is no slouch in its own right. It can give token strategies a significant kickstart or bolster +1/+1 decks that focus heavily on 1/1 creatures.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Flurry of Wings"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sigil of the Nayan Gods"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Necromancer&#039;s Covenant"></div></div>
Mitch from the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-w5MNByr4SNy3z2232sj0g">Commander's Quarters</a> mentioned <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Flurry of Wings" href="#" target="_blank">Flurry of Wings</a> in a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qy_oS_7e4GI">video</a> last year, but the extra exposure hasn't yet translated into increased popularity on EDHREC. It only sees play in 479 decks, 1% of the possible. This card is the real deal, though, and is one of the better armies in a can in the format. <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Flurry of Wings" href="#" target="_blank">Flurry of Wings</a> is just so versatile: you can use it to produce a squad of chump blockers, or make a board from nothing. You can use it when you attack with your own creatures, or wait for your opponents to attack either you or each other. Combine this with <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sigil Captain" href="#" target="_blank">Sigil Captain</a> for maximum effect.
<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sigil of the Nayan Gods" href="#" target="_blank">Sigil of the Nayan Gods</a> is a confusing card that lacks a clear direction. Do you want to go wide or tall? <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Overrun" href="#" target="_blank">Overrun</a> your opponents, or knock them out one by one with a single creature? That's part of the beauty of this card, you can do either. And if you don't want to, cycle it for just one mana! Try this out with <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Shanna, Sisay&#039;s Legacy" href="#" target="_blank">Shanna, Sisay&#039;s Legacy</a>.
Finally, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Necromancer&#039;s Covenant" href="#" target="_blank">Necromancer&#039;s Covenant</a> is a garishly expensive form of graveyard hate, and it only exiles creature cards. The true power of this card, though, is what it can do in Zombie decks. Yet another army in a can, this card can build an imposing board without much effort. <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Varina, Lich Queen" href="#" target="_blank">Varina, Lich Queen</a>, in particular, reaps huge benefits from giving your Zombies lifelink, which almost earns the card its slot by itself.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Identity Crisis"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Sages of the Anima"></div></div>
I imagine people have two aversions to playing <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Identity Crisis" href="#" target="_blank">Identity Crisis</a>. First, this card only targets one opponent. Second, it is an undeniably mean card. I had these reservations when I first found a copy in my collection. But, after playing with <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Identity Crisis" href="#" target="_blank">Identity Crisis</a> for several years, I think it has an often misunderstood purpose in our format. This is a punishment card. This is the vinegar to Group Hug's honey. Verbal threats can be a powerful tool in EDH, but they need to be substantive. <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Identity Crisis" href="#" target="_blank">Identity Crisis</a> is one of the best cards available to back up your threats. Think of it like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="River&#039;s Rebuke" href="#" target="_blank">River&#039;s Rebuke</a>. Rebuke has less sheer power in EDH than <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cyclonic Rift" href="#" target="_blank">Cyclonic Rift</a> or even <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Crush of Tentacles" href="#" target="_blank">Crush of Tentacles</a>, but these comparisons are slightly facetious because <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="River&#039;s Rebuke" href="#" target="_blank">River&#039;s Rebuke</a> should be used more as punishment than removal. If somebody crosses you, it is valuable to punish them specifically.
Switching gears, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sages of the Anima" href="#" target="_blank">Sages of the Anima</a> seems like it should be very good. I've picked up several copies over the years without any particular deck in mind. I still haven't found the right home for it, but I have faith that one day, I will play it, I will draw three cards two turns in a row, and it will all have been worth it.
<hr />
<h2>Up Next</h2>
That was Alara Reborn, one of the most perplexing and compelling sets to contemplate as a whole. What do you all make of this set? Did I miss any good one? Let me know in the comments below! Next time, we'll be digging into Planar Chaos, a set that broke the barriers of the color pie. In Commander, a format of color identity, how does this expansion of effects available to each color impact our decks? Tune in next week to read my take and chime in. Remember to EDHREC responsibly: always dig a little beyond the statistics. I’ll see you all on down the road.

Grapple With the Past - Alara Reborn

<h2 id="lyric-body-text" class="lyric-body wselect-cnt" style="text-align: center;">100 Days, 100 Nights, to Know a Man's Heart</h2>
Welcome to Superior Numbers, where I conduct numerical analysis on cards and deckbuilding trends using just a little bit of math. Moving forward, I'm going to be doing this weekly. Yes, weekly. If you'll allow me a little bragging, I'm pretty in touch with youth culture, and I know the kids today are into Fortnite, TikTok, and bar graphs. I don't know what those first two are, but I can provide the last in spades, and the EDHREC powers-that-be wanted some of that cutting-edge action on a weekly basis.
I've used this column as a clearing house for stat-adjacent ideas that didn't really fit with my original In the Margins series, and that's exactly what we're up to today. This time I'm sating some personal curiosity by putting a bunch of numbers into a spreadsheet, which is a perfectly normal thing that normal people like myself do for fun. We're going to look at the top 100 most popular cards in the last two years, but I'm going to take that data and look at it in a way you can't break down on the website, and see if we can draw any conclusions from any of it.
To start, why don't we look at the chronological origin of cards showing up in the top 100:
<a href="https://articles.edhrec.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/ChartGo.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-41699 aligncenter" src="https://articles.edhrec.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/ChartGo.png" alt="" width="900" height="450" /></a>
Some interesting observations on this data:
<ul>
<li>Three years have no representatives:
<ul>
<li>1999, containing the sets Mercadian Masques, Sixth Edition, Starter 1999, Urza's Legacy, and Urza's Destiny</li>
<li>2008, with Eventide, Morningtide, Shadowmoor, and Shards of Alara</li>
<li>2015, featuring the releases Battle for Zendikar, Commander 2015, Dragons of Tarkir, Fate Reforged, and Magic Orgins</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Urza's block, often considered one of the most broken blocks of all time, only has a single card in the top 100: <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Windfall" href="#" target="_blank">Windfall</a></li>
<li>Only 1 card in the top 100 comes from a Commander precon: <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Chaos Warp" href="#" target="_blank">Chaos Warp</a>.</li>
<li>Most expensive card in the top 100? <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Sylvan Library" href="#" target="_blank">Sylvan Library</a>, at about $40.</li>
<li>There are 0 cards from the Reserved List in the top 100.</li>
</ul>
So do we have any takeaways here?
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Cyclonic Rift"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Heroic Intervention"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Teferi&#039;s Protection"></div></div>
&nbsp;
First, cost of cards is a factor when it comes to deckbuilding. The fact that the most expensive card is just $40, the lack of Reserved List cardboard, and the absence of cards from the powerful Urza's block, where a lot of the best cards are both expensive and on the Reserved List (<a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Gaea&#039;s Cradle" href="#" target="_blank">Gaea&#039;s Cradle</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Grim Monolith" href="#" target="_blank">Grim Monolith</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Yawgmoth&#039;s Will" href="#" target="_blank">Yawgmoth&#039;s Will</a>), seem to back this up to a degree. That's not to say Commander players won't drop a lot of money on cards, but the format certainly isn't predicated on player willingness to spend big.
Second, strong cards from Magic's recent power creep era aren't necessarily getting jammed into decks upon release. For example, there are only 7 cards in the top 100 from the last 5 years: <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Anguished Unmaking" href="#" target="_blank">Anguished Unmaking</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Assassin&#039;s Trophy" href="#" target="_blank">Assassin&#039;s Trophy</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Heroic Intervention" href="#" target="_blank">Heroic Intervention</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rhythm of the Wild" href="#" target="_blank">Rhythm of the Wild</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Shalai, Voice of Plenty" href="#" target="_blank">Shalai, Voice of Plenty</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Smothering Tithe" href="#" target="_blank">Smothering Tithe</a>, and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Zendikar Resurgent" href="#" target="_blank">Zendikar Resurgent</a>. <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Teferi&#039;s Protection" href="#" target="_blank">Teferi&#039;s Protection</a> is maybe one of the strongest EDH cards printed in the last decade, and it's not showing up in the top 100, probably because a) it costs $40+, and b) it's difficult to find since it was only printed in a precon and as a Judge foil.
Third, the first two Ravnica blocks are responsible for the big spikes we see in 2006 and 2012. There are a couple of reasons for that:
<ul>
<li>They each consist of just generally strong sets, each featuring cycles of broadly useful cards designed to help standard color pairs work well together. This shows up in the form of Signets and Charms, as well as with mana fixing like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Chromatic Lantern" href="#" target="_blank">Chromatic Lantern</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Farseek" href="#" target="_blank">Farseek</a>.</li>
<li>The strong color pair focus of guilds gives us strong cards whose power level in Standard is tempered by the aforementioned color pair focus, which is less of a speed bump in Commander. Namely, we get things like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Coiling Oracle" href="#" target="_blank">Coiling Oracle</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Mortify" href="#" target="_blank">Mortify</a>, and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Putrefy" href="#" target="_blank">Putrefy</a>. These aren't my personal favorite cards, but they're certainly ubiquitous and budget-friendly.</li>
<li>The sets feature generally powerful cards with game-changing abilities in multiplayer because they were designed before WotC gave thought to how the mechanics would affect games with more than two people (e.g. <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cyclonic Rift" href="#" target="_blank">Cyclonic Rift</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Vandalblast" href="#" target="_blank">Vandalblast</a>).</li>
</ul>
Lastly, while we may have seen some power creep in the game overall, we've also seen a decrease in the printing of cards and mechanics that are accidentally overpowered in multiplayer, like Buyback or Overload. As power has crept up, aspects of the game that are unintentionally strong in Commander have decreased in power level, and this has possibly served to somewhat balance things out when we look back at popular cards and the the spread of old and new cards that show up in decks today.
<hr />
<h2 id="lyric-body-text" class="lyric-body wselect-cnt" style="text-align: center;">100 Days in Desert Sand, a Drifter in No-Man's Land</h2>
Next, I'd like to take a look at the color distribution of the top 100 cards.
<a href="https://articles.edhrec.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/ChartGo-2.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-41710 aligncenter" src="https://articles.edhrec.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/ChartGo-2.png" alt="" width="900" height="450" /></a>
&nbsp;
Less black cards than white? Black barely beating red for representation? Pineapple on pizza? Madness!
Or is it?
Mono-black is a strong color, but it can't deal with artifacts or enchantments. It has decent targeted creature removal, but if I have access to white, I'm running <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Path to Exile" href="#" target="_blank">Path to Exile</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Swords to Plowshares" href="#" target="_blank">Swords to Plowshares</a> before any of mono-black's options, and that's not even considering W/B choices like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Anguished Unmaking" href="#" target="_blank">Anguished Unmaking</a>. If I have access to blue, I'm probably running <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Pongify" href="#" target="_blank">Pongify</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Rapid Hybridization" href="#" target="_blank">Rapid Hybridization</a>, and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Reality Shift" href="#" target="_blank">Reality Shift</a> first, too. Pair black with red and we now add Rakdos options like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Bedevil" href="#" target="_blank">Bedevil</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Terminate" href="#" target="_blank">Terminate</a>. Paired with green, you add <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Assassin&#039;s Trophy" href="#" target="_blank">Assassin&#039;s Trophy</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Maelstrom Pulse" href="#" target="_blank">Maelstrom Pulse</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Putrefy" href="#" target="_blank">Putrefy</a> to the discussion.
Similarly, black's strong board wipe suite isn't nearly as good as what white offers, and if paired with red, things like <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Blasphemous Act" href="#" target="_blank">Blasphemous Act</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Chandra&#039;s Ignition" href="#" target="_blank">Chandra&#039;s Ignition</a> are competing for deck slots. In short, for all black's power, that power may lie in the aggregate instead of in the extremes.
<div class="edhrecp__cards"><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Anguished Unmaking"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Pongify"></div><div class="edhrecp__card-container" name="Terminate"></div></div>
The high showing from colorless cards isn't really a shock either, but a large portion of that showing is comprised of Signets and Talismans, along with other mana rocks, which are colorless cards, but obviously serve multicolored decks.
Green's strong representation also isn't really surprising. The top 100 features a heavy dose of ramp, in the form of both mana dorks and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Cultivate" href="#" target="_blank">Cultivate</a>-style spells, and blue's bracket is filled with counterspells and ways to draw lots of cards.
Despite only placing four cards in the top 100, I do think red's contributions are worth noting, namely <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Blasphemous Act" href="#" target="_blank">Blasphemous Act</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Chaos Warp" href="#" target="_blank">Chaos Warp</a>, <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Faithless Looting" href="#" target="_blank">Faithless Looting</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Vandalblast" href="#" target="_blank">Vandalblast</a>. <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Blasphemous Act" href="#" target="_blank">Blasphemous Act</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Vandalblast" href="#" target="_blank">Vandalblast</a> are cards whose mechanics scale better in multiplayer than were intended, as they were designed in a time before multiplayer was a significant design consideration. <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Faithless Looting" href="#" target="_blank">Faithless Looting</a> is so strong it's now banned in Modern, and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Chaos Warp" href="#" target="_blank">Chaos Warp</a> is a clear color pie break. The takeaway here? If a red card is going to place in the top ranks, it better be busted in some way.
<hr />
<h2 style="text-align: center;">You Gave Me 100 Ways to Hate</h2>
Finally, let's break the multicolored cards down a little further:
<a href="https://articles.edhrec.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/ChartGo-1.png"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-41967 aligncenter" src="https://articles.edhrec.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/ChartGo-1.png" alt="" width="900" height="450" /></a>
So what jumps out here?
<ul>
<li>No four-color sets, though that shouldn't be particularly surprising given there's only ever been ten four-color cards printed (the five C16 commanders and the five Nephilim).</li>
<li>Only one five-color card, though again, statistically speaking, that makes sense because there are only 24 EDH-legal WUBRG cards in Magic's history. If anything, having one five-color card show up is a dramatic over-representation.</li>
<li>There're only two three-color cards in the lot. That fits statistically, as there's both less of those cards in print and less decks for them to go into.</li>
<li>A surprisingly poor showing from Simic, especially given the high numbers from mono-blue and mono-green on the previous chart, with <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Coiling Oracle" href="#" target="_blank">Coiling Oracle</a> as the sole blue-green representative here.</li>
<li>There are five Orzhov cards, all of which are either targeted removal or board wipes, further strengthening my theory that the lack of black's representation in the second chart is due to there being so many good black removal spells that are tied to other colors.</li>
<li>That becomes even further supported when you see that two of the three Golgari cards here are also removal spells: <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Assassin&#039;s Trophy" href="#" target="_blank">Assassin&#039;s Trophy</a> and <a class="edhrecp__link-a" content="Putrefy" href="#" target="_blank">Putrefy</a>.</li>
</ul>
<hr />
<h2 class="lyric-body" style="text-align: center;">And it Won't Mean a Thing in a Hundred Years</h2>
That's enough with the top 100 cards of all time for this article. There're a lot of different ways to dig into this data, and I'm going to utilize a lot of those ways to dig on in the future. Fingers crossed that none of it involves Fortnight or Tictoc. If there's anything specific you'd like me to look at, let me know in the comments below, or reach out to me on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/danaroach">@danaroach</a>. Thanks for reading!

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