Mystic RemoraMystic Remora | Art by Kelogsloops

Blue is pretty much the cEDH color nowadays. From flash enablers and interaction, top-class card draw engines and compact combo pieces, throwing blue into a deck's color identity is a handy way to give a buff to just about every aspect of your strategy.

So, what's the best of the best? Let's dig in.

#5 - Thassa's OracleThassa's Oracle

Starting us off at number five on our list is a bit of a contentious pick. That's because - at face value - this card does nothing relevant in cEDH, outside of being a combo piece. Paying for a 1/3 that gives you a slightly-worse version of "scry X, where X is your devotion to blue" isn't exactly game breaking.

However, if Thassa's Oracle's enters trigger resolves while you have an empty library (or a number of cards in it less than or equal to your devotion to blue), then the game is yours.

Emptying out a library is trivial in cEDH. Both Demonic ConsultationDemonic Consultation and Tainted PactTainted Pact are instants that can do so for one or two mana, and that's just the cream of the crop.

It's exactly this combo-ease that has made Thassa's Oracle ubiquitous in cEDH. Being a creature means its more difficult to counter (there are far more playable noncreature counterspells in cEDH), the mana cost is readily achievable in the early turns, and the bevy of complementary options extends across the color pie.

Simply put, Thassa's Oracle may not do much on its own, but it does so much with so many other cards that it has more than earned a mention.

#4 - Gifts UngivenGifts Ungiven

Speaking of assembling combos, our next pick is made possible due to its recent unbanning in Commander, and that is Gifts Ungiven.

For , this instant allows you to pick up to four cards with different names from cards in your library, reveal them to target opponent, then have that player choose two. Those cards are put into your graveyard and the rest are put into your hand.

When it comes to assembling piles of cards, Gifts Ungiven is blue's best-in-class. At worst, it serves the role as a double-EntombEntomb, providing plenty of fuel for cEDH's burgeoning field of graveyard-based strategies. Once you go up a notch and pick a third card, then Gifts Ungiven becomes a second copy of IntuitionIntuition, the previous best pile assembler that blue has access to.

At the four-card mark, Gifts Ungiven gets access to all the combos that Intuition could assemble (usually involving Sevinne's ReclamationSevinne's Reclamation), a laundry list of more convoluted packages, and the option to add interaction on top of the rest.)

#3 - Borne Upon a WindBorne Upon a Wind

So far, we've talked about the cards that go into combo piles, and the cards that find them. Next up, it's time to talk about how these wins get forced through.

Borne Upon a Wind is cEDH's premier flash enabler. An instant for , this spell draws a card and gives all your spells flash for the rest of the turn. It may not be a terribly complicated or text-filled card, but it has come to define cEDH just about as much as Thassa's OracleThassa's Oracle.

Competitive Commander is a game all about timing. If you attempt to win first, then your risk the combined forces of each of your opponents. Going second makes the odds more in your favor, but this requires you actually surviving the first win attempt.

With Borne Upon a Wind, survival becomes a whole lot easier, as a well-timed cast of this spell in response to an unanswered opposing win-attempt will put you atop the stack, winning the game before opposing threats ever have a chance to resolve.

On top of forcing windows, Borne Upon a Wind is also a bit of a combo piece, too, as resolving one in the end step post-NecropotenceNecropotence activations will provide you access to all the power of an instant-speed, pre-discard hand.

It's one thing to have all the resources in the world, but it's another to have the opportunity to use them. Borne Upon a Wind is that opportunity.

#2 - Mystic RemoraMystic Remora

Our penultimate pick is cEDH's second-best card draw engine, an enchantment from way back in Ice Age that costs just ...well, on the first turn, that is.

Outside of its mana cost, Mystic Remora also has a cumulative upkeep cost for . This means that, at the beginning of your upkeep, you'll put an age counter on Mystic Remora, then sacrifice it unless you pay its cumulative upkeep cost X times, where X is the number of age counters on it.

Once you've paid all of Mystic Remora's taxes and costs, what your left with is an enchantment that allows you to draw a card whenever an opponent casts a noncreature spell, unless that player pays .

If Mystic Remora didn't have cumulative upkeep, then without a doubt it would be higher on our list (no surprise there), but - fortunately for all of cEDH - that cumulative upkeep is both small enough to keep the card playable while also being significant enough to keep it away from needing an emergency ban.

Noncreature spells make up the bulk of cEDH casts, so a one-mana engine that triggers off of each of them is invaluable.

#1 - Rhystic StudyRhystic Study

What else could it be but Rhystic Study? You know it, you hate it, it's the strongest card in cEDH, and it is very, very, blue. 

For , this enchantment presents your opponents with one simple question: do you pay the (when you cast a spell, that is)? If you don't, then the Rhystic Study player gets to draw a card.

It may not be as immediately cheap as Mystic Remora, but it also works when creatures get cast and it doesn't have cumulative upkeep - two incredibly real boons. Couple that with the fact that noncreature permanent interaction is highly limited in cEDH, and a resolved Rhystic Study will stick around as the game goes on, drawing a game-winning amount of cards in the process.

Mana is simply too tight in cEDH for players to pay Rhystic Study's tax (most of the time), effectively errata-ing Rhystic Study to "whenever an opponent casts a spell, draw a card."

Wrap Up

There we go, the top five most powerful cards in blue - and five of the most powerful cards in cEDH, come to think of it. The best engines, an excellent combo-compiler, a potent combo piece, and the best flash enabler on the market, all wrapped up in a single color.

When you see blue out in the wild, odds are it will be these cards, so keep your interaction ready.

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