Extinguisher BattleshipExtinguisher Battleship | Art by Danny Schwartz

It is a strange timeline where spaceships and aliens are the floating “normal” in a Universes Beyond sea, but the Magic design team reliably bring quality of design and depth of flavor no matter the setting.

Edge of Eternities presents a huge set of planets, lasers and space travel, and, as always, amongst the powerful and expensive cards, the weird and wonderful cards are waiting to shake up your Commander games.

As always, I approach this list with the aim of selecting cards that make for interesting and memorable games – where you leave your evening with the warm feeling of having had good and interactive games where things happened.

These cards aren't necessarily going to help you win games, and they aren't selected to introduce chaos or randomness, but I hope that they'll help to inject some interest and interactivity, keeping players engaged with games and perhaps generating new and interesting situations.

Whether or not a card is interesting is subjective, so this is an inescapably biased list, but I hope that it will make for an interesting read - perhaps make you think about a card that has passed you by in the maelstrom of new sets and products. And maybe generate a discussion or two.

Honorable Mention

I don’t normally include precon cards in these lists, largely because of course cards designed directly for Commander play are relevant and interesting for Commander play.

However, Patrolling PeacemakerPatrolling Peacemaker is such an interesting card that I wanted to talk about it briefly. Crimes were a contained mechanic within Outlaws of Thunder Junction, and was limited to benefiting the committer of the crimes. Patrolling PeacemakerPatrolling Peacemaker demonstrates the wider potential of crimes, punishing criminals for their misdoings and benefitting “innocent” players.

I’m sure this is a precedent being set, and I’m excited to see the design space of crimes – by definition an interactive mechanic in its own right – evolve.

#10 – Extinguisher BattleshipExtinguisher Battleship

Extinguisher BattleshipExtinguisher Battleship is just a five-power creature away from being an eight-mana 10/10 flying, trampling Meteor GolemMeteor Golem with an almost-board wipe stapled to it.

It’s not cheap, but in terms of interacting with your opponents’ board states it delivers a lot for the cost, as well as being unburdened by a color identity.

#9 – Hardlight ContainmentHardlight Containment

One-mana white removal is king in commander. And while Hardlight ContainmentHardlight Containment is hampered by its sorcery speed, it has some intriguing upsides that will stand it in good stead against the competition in certain decks.

I like Chained to the RocksChained to the Rocks effects for the very reason that they're weaker than exile-based removal, in that they aren’t permanent. The opportunity to bring the removed resource back into play keeps interaction rolling and games moving. Yes, you might not win a game because you put an Eldrazi Titan under Hardlight ContainmentHardlight Containment rather than exiling it, but if your opponent manages to bring it back into the play the game will end faster and be all the more memorable for it.

Depending on the artifact that you choose to use for the containment, your opponents will be deeply not thrilled to have to remove it to get their creature back, particularly with the extra slap in the face of ward .

If you put this on a Clue, Treasure, or similar, not only will it be nearly untargetable because of how bad spending artifact removal on it would feel, but you have the additional ability to take your own Hardlight ContainmentHardlight Containment out of play at instant speed. You control the timing of re-introducing the exiled creature, and dropping it back into play to throw off blocking maths could swing the game in your favor.

#8 – Adagia, Windswept BastionAdagia, Windswept Bastion

Going forward, I've decided to try to not choose entire cycles of cards as entries on this list. Writing a top 10 that's secretly a top 25 feels like cheating. So of all the Planet lands introduced in Edge of Eternities, I've picked out Adagia, Windswept BastionAdagia, Windswept Bastion as the most interesting.

The flavor of stationing your creatures on the Planet until it's populated enough to gets its abilities online is very clean, and in the case of Adagia it gives you the remarkable ability to repeatedly generate token copies of your artifacts and enchantments. This means doubling up your value engines, your pillowfort pieces, and your mana generation, but notably only once per target.

The fact that it makes a legendary copy is a clever safety valve to stop a player from ending up with seventeen Smothering TitheSmothering Tithes (not that you can’t do this in plenty of other ways), and I expect that we'll see more of this going forward to keep a lid on powerful copy abilities.

Nevertheless, this ability (and the ones on the other Planets) are on lands, which is another example of incredible power and flexibility built into your manabase, and overall the intersection of mechanics and flavor make these cards very interesting indeed.

#7 – Terrapact IntimidatorTerrapact Intimidator

At the top of this section I should note that in most cases I suspect this card will not be very good in Commander. Realistically, in the soupy melee of four-player battlecruiser, a two-mana 4/3 is only marginally better than a two mana 2/1.

However, of all the cards in the set this one wormed its way into my head the most aggressively, and I want to talk about it. In the first place, Terrapact IntimidatorTerrapact Intimidator gives an opponent a choice. This is good; it could hinge on whether a 4/3 is for some reason more intimidating to your opponent than a 2/1, but in a multiplayer game we're also looking at politics.

Getting two Lander tokens is a relatively small boost, but two free Rampant GrowthRampant Growths isn't to be sniffed at, particularly in non-green decks. But what this card therefore represents is an opportunity to engage with another player, which is one of the most important things for your deck to do, and perhaps form a brief or lasting alliance.

If you give me the Lander tokens, I'll owe you in some form or another. This is a strong bargain, and the sort of multiplayer shenanigan that makes Commander exciting and variable.

One of my favorite commanders is Jaxis, the TroublemakerJaxis, the Troublemaker. At a certain point in some games I could see myself putting out multiple copies of Terrapact IntimidatorTerrapact Intimidator in a turn, and there's definitely a point after which your opponent would much rather be staring down 2/1s rather than 4/3s, but once they start giving you Lander tokens they’ll simply be providing you with the fuel to make more copies on future turns.

Whether alone or in multiples, this card will generate interesting situations, and I hope to see it hitting the table in many games!

#6 – Faller's FaithfulFaller's Faithful

Faller's FaithfulFaller's Faithful has some obvious applications. Where an opponent’s creature has been dealt damage, fantastic, off it goes. And where you need to turn a creature into cards, also great, off it goes.

However, this card also falls into the category of cards that deal with threats while moving games forwards, which I think are hugely valuable to a fun and dynamic experience. By removing a problem creature and gifting your opponent two cards in its place, you potentially soften the swing back coming your way, but also you reduce the risk of that awful point in a game where a player is run out of resources and things just slow down.

More cards means more options and more things happening. I’m sure you’ve gathered by now that I think that games feeling good is more important than me winning games, though many would disagree, and I respect that. But I do think that for many playgroups the “downside” of Faller’s Faithful has the potential to actually improve everyone’s gameplay experience, so don’t discount it because it isn’t Ravenous ChupacabraRavenous Chupacabra.

#5 – Pain for AllPain for All

When a bite spell and Stuffy DollStuffy Doll love each other very much… Pain for AllPain for All is a strange combination of targeted removal and rattlesnake card, and both of its halves are powerful.

In the first instance, it turns your having a large creature into direct damage, and from that point on it sits on the board daring your opponents to attack or block. Under the right circumstances, your opponents won’t want to attack you with anything bigger than a certain size because of the damage that it might represent coming back on them, and they may not want to throw sizeable blockers in the way of your enchanted creature for the same reason.

Beyond this, Pain for AllPain for All can allow you to play your opponents off against each other. To some extent it’s a build-your-own Hydra OmnivoreHydra Omnivore, and you can agree to block something from one opponent if it benefits you both in damaging somebody else. This is one of the many combinations of effects that I didn’t expect to have landing in Magic any time soon, but I’m glad it has.

#4 – Sunset SaboteurSunset Saboteur

This card is fairly simple. It's under-costed because of the material downside of putting a +1/+1 counter on a creature your opponent controls in a 1v1 game. But where you have multiple opponents this downside can be turned into – from some angles – an upside.

Now you have the opportunity to start swinging with an evasive 4/1 in the extreme early game while leveraging the gift of a +1/+1 counter for political favors. It won’t find its home in every black deck by any means, but the flexibility of its “downside” will mean that if it does fit your strategy, it will simultaneously hit hard and generate interesting opportunities for deals.

#3 – Chorale of the VoidChorale of the Void

There's something very satisfying about “stop hitting yourself” effects in Magic. Entire archetypes exist to simply react to whatever your opponents bring to the table. If they make the mistake of playing good cards, then they’re going to be hit with good cards right back, and they can’t be mad because they made the choice to include said good cards in their deck in the first place.

Chorale of the VoidChorale of the Void is a perfect example of this, pulling a creature out of an opponent’s graveyard tapped and attacking every time your enchanted creature swings. The fact that it sacrifices itself unless you have void online will be essentially flavor text in most situations, given how easy it is to have a permanent leave the battlefield on each of your turns.

So you’re left with a repeatable and aggressive reanimation effect that can never be more powerful than the cards that your opponents choose to run. Perfectly balanced.

#2 – WeftwalkingWeftwalking

Once upon a time, there was a Hearthstone card called Aviana, and it was bad. It said “on each player’s turn, the first card played costs (0).” Now, in Hearthstone there’s nothing to do except win, and also no meaningful level of social interaction. So where this effect was decidedly counterproductive there, I think that we'll find it significantly more welcome in EDH.

In the first place, it goes a long way towards making itself more likely to benefit you than your opponents by reloading your hand to seven on entry. However, it's in the symmetry of its effect that I think we'll find the most entertaining gameplay.

It joins the ranks of cards like Braids, Conjurer AdeptBraids, Conjurer Adept, Gate to the AetherGate to the Aether, and Wild EvocationWild Evocation in the group hug archetype, with the added advantages of the spells being cast rather than put into play and the choice of free spell being entirely non-random.

In this way, WeftwalkingWeftwalking will allow players to accelerate their games in the way that best suits them, charging up turns without being random and generating moments of extreme value. There will inevitably be times where one player disproportionately benefits from this hitting the table, but a lot of the time it will fire things up and get players clashing hard and fast, and I think that will be welcome far more often than it isn’t.

#1 – Requiem MonolithRequiem Monolith

A weird one to finish us off, once again in black. Requiem MonolithRequiem Monolith offers a strange mix of evasion, card draw, and politics in a deceptively simple package.

Once it’s on the field, you may tap it to turn any damage dealt to a creature this turn into life loss and card draw. If you put this on your own creature, your opponents will immediately be less willing to block it, since that would now give you cards back. And if they have no choice, then the cards will come rolling in.

However, you can also point this at an opposing creature to make them more inclined to block with it. Let’s say you have a 4/4, and your opponent has a 4/4 and a 2/2. If you activate Requiem MonolithRequiem Monolith targeting their 2/2 and then attack, which are they going to block with? My money’s on the 2/2; the card draw is too good to pass up.

Your targets can also be chosen politically rather than tactically. You can offer a huge boost in resources by targeting a chump blocker before attacking it with something big, and likely leverage this for something significant in return.

The interactions that this card will generate will mix things up a lot whenever it’s in play, and I think it's going to end up in many more of my decks than I thought it would when it was first previewed.

2025 has been a wild year for Magic, but it doesn’t matter whether we’re in space, a death race, or the depths of a dragonstorm, we reliably get weird and wonderful things to play with.

I hope that this list provides some food for thought, and let me know if you think anything else should have made it into the top 10. As always, thanks for reading!

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