Esika, God of the TreeEsika, God of the Tree | Art by Johannes Voss

Hello everyone! I’m Levi from The Thought Vessel, and this is Hidden Gems, the series on EDHREC that looks at commanders from around the format and the cards that are flying under the radar for their decks.

For a card to qualify as a hidden gem, it has to appear in 15% or fewer decks for a commander. This week, we're in WUBRG land with a commander that is just full of surprises: Esika, God of the TreeEsika, God of the Tree. Before we get to our list and the cards that make it up, let’s take a moment to see what this commander is all about.

Esika… or Is It?

For our first surprise, this isn’t an article about Esika, God of the Tree, at all. The commander we're actually talking about, and what deck lists really monopolize her page, is the backside of the card, The Prismatic Bridge.

The Prismatic Bridge is a legendary enchantment that says, “At the beginning of your upkeep, reveal cards from the top of your library until you reveal a creature or planeswalker card. Put that card onto the battlefield and the rest on the bottom of your library in a random order.”

The complexity of this commander isn’t really in the command zone, but rather in what a player decides to put into the 99. This is an incredibly powerful ability that is ripe for exploiting; cheating out a random creature or enchantment every single turn can really break a game.

Lists for this commander can range from putting one particular creature or planeswalker into the deck as the only hit, with cards like Hullbreaker HorrorHullbreaker Horror or Brash TaunterBrash Taunter, to using a wide variety of options in the deck to flip into over the course of the game.

Most decks that have a reported theme are focusing on planeswalkers (also known as "Superfriends"), giant creatures, or a combination of the two. Getting a massive threat into play turn after turn has proven to be a formula for success for Prismatic Bridge players, as the steady flood of massive threats can quickly become too much to handle for the rest of the table, especially when combined with a suite of removal, protection, and board wipes.

There is a bit of art and science with this deck, though, since we want to find the sweet spot between having enough cards to flip into while also having few enough that we can consistently get cards that we actually want. Since the planeswalker theme was far and away the most popular direction for this commander to be built, that's where we're going to be pulling our data from.

Before we get into our list, we have an honorable mention.

Honorable Mention

HumilityHumility (6.6%)

As both a Game Changer and an $80 Magic: The Gathering card, this is not typically the kind of card I would put on a Hidden Gems list. With that said, there are a lot of interactions and benefits to this card that should be noted.

HumilityHumility tends to be played in three types of decks. It shows up in go wide decks that are totally fine if every creature is a 1/1 with no abilities, Stax decks, and decks that don’t use creatures, like Shorikai, Genesis EngineShorikai, Genesis Engine. Since our commander isn’t a creature and this effect doesn’t impact planeswalkers, this card is a great way to mitigate the risk of our planeswalkers being attacked and removed in combat.

Typically, this enchantment is frowned upon in more casual tables, but it is something to keep an eye on if your playgroup tends to play with a bit more spice.

With our honorable mention out of the way, we start our list with number ten.

10 Underplayed Cards for The Prismatic Bridge

10. Liliana VessLiliana Vess (14%)

Starting off our list is Liliana VessLiliana Vess. One of the "Lorwyn Five" (the first five planeswalkers cards created), Liliana isn't as powerful as planeswalkers printed today, but still has a lot of utility.

The reason she's so great in a Prismatic Bridge deck is that -2 ability that lets us put any card from our deck on top. We can either draw into that card that turn or wait until our next upkeep to trigger The Prismatic Bridge and put it right into play.

With the planeswalkers that can be played in this deck, there are a lot of cards that can simply end the game if they come out at the right time. This is a way to add a little consistency to the chaos without needing to rely on a Game Changer like Vampiric TutorVampiric Tutor.

9. Aetheric AmplifierAetheric Amplifier (11%)

Next on our list is Aetheric AmplifierAetheric Amplifier, from Aetherdrift. This artifact is a bit slept on, likely because it came from an unpopular set.

As a three-mana value mana rock, it's perfectly fine for a place in our ramp package, but we're mostly interested in its second ability. For four mana, we can double the number of each kind of counter on target permanent. This includes loyalty counters, so we can drop a planeswalker into play and immediately threaten, or even use, its ultimate ability.

If we can do this on a value engine like Ugin, the Spirit DragonUgin, the Spirit Dragon, or put an emblem into play right away from something like Teferi, Hero of DominariaTeferi, Hero of Dominaria, this can easily be game-winning.

Not too shabby for a mana rock that we can pick up for just a couple of dollars.

8. BrainstormBrainstorm (10%)

This isn’t exactly a slept-on card across Magic as a whole, but it's still only showing up in ten percent of Prismatic Bridge planeswalker decks.

The possibilities with it are pretty wide open. We can play it and then crack a fetch land to shuffle away two cards we don’t want. We can play it before a Prismatic Bridge trigger to put a powerful planeswalker from our hand on top of our deck.

Worst-case scenario, we cast BrainstormBrainstorm to draw three cards and put two cards back on top of our library for The Prismatic Bridge to effectively skip over. It’s not a flashy card on the surface, but it can lead to some very flashy plays.

7. Expansion AlgorithmExpansion Algorithm (7.5%)

First off, the art for this card is absolutely incredible, so shout out to Serena Malyon for their work here. In a Superfriends deck, players tend to look at loyalty abilities as a clock for how many turns they have to find an answer. Because of this, Expansion AlgorithmExpansion Algorithm lets us completely throw those expectations out the window, allowing us to use one or even several ultimate loyalty abilities on the same turn ahead of schedule.

These kinds of surprise plays can catch opponents off guard and help our planeswalkers activate what we want them to activate before opponents have the chance to remove them.

6. Shadow of the Second SunShadow of the Second Sun (6.4%)

The Prismatic Bridge triggers on our upkeep, so if we have access to an enchantment that gives us a second upkeep, we want to take advantage of that. While we wouldn't have a chance to activate any planeswalkers that come into play from that extra trigger right away, it still may attract attention away from the rest of our board or force opponents to react.

Since we also get an additional draw and untap step from this, there's a good chance we'll still have the ability to protect ourselves anyway.

5. Lithoform EngineLithoform Engine (6.2%)

Of any card on this list, this one might be the most obvious inclusion for a Prismatic Bridge deck. This artifact can do so many things, and we're happy to take advantage of any of them.

For two mana, we can copy a triggered or activated ability we control. The Prismatic Bridge is a triggered ability, so doubling that up is already strong, but loyalty abilities are activated abilities, which opens up even more options.

For three mana, we can copy an instant or sorcery spell, which could mean extra removal or even copying an extra-turn spell.

Finally, for four mana, we can copy a permanent spell we control. Granted, most of our permanents are legendary, so we may not use this mode as often, but having the option to double up on something like Ichormoon GauntletIchormoon Gauntlet is still a nice effect to have.

4. ComeuppanceComeuppance (5.9%)

This is where a bit of Commander game theory comes into play. One of the biggest issues planeswalkers have to deal with is facing three opponents who can attack them directly. It isn't uncommon for a Prismatic Bridge deck to turn into a game of planeswalker whack-a-mole, with each player swinging at whatever planeswalker shows up. Comeuppance is a very clean solution to that problem.

For four mana, all combat damage that would be dealt to us or our planeswalkers is prevented, and that damage is instead dealt back to the attacking creatures. This can function as a one-sided board wipe and is especially punishing to players who decide to swing with everything. On top of that, just the possibility of a card like this existing in our deck can influence how opponents choose to attack, which can buy us valuable time. We will typically reveal this information to our opponents through a Prismatic Bridge trigger as we would flip past it on our way to a creature or planeswalker.

This one card can affect how opponents treat our deck for the game and potentially future games as well, as they might associate us as a player that would put a card like Deflecting PalmDeflecting Palm in their deck.

3. Rowan's TalentRowan's Talent (5.8%)

I think this is flying under the radar for a couple of reasons. First, it's an Aura that only enchants planeswalkers, so it has a limited range of homes. It also has an additional activated ability that doesn't really matter for our strategy.

What we really care about here is the ability to copy loyalty abilities. That's the part of the card that really matters. Imagine putting this on Nicol Bolas, God-PharaohNicol Bolas, God-Pharaoh, and doubling up on those effects every turn. That kind of value can take over a game very quickly.

2. Toxrill, the CorrosiveToxrill, the Corrosive (2.6% of all themes)

Just like a SpongeBob SquarePants Secret Lair, some of you are probably wondering why Toxrill is making an appearance. Since we don't want to run too many creatures in a planeswalker-focused deck, each creature slot needs to have a huge impact on our plan or the board. Toxrill absolutely does that.

Each end step, not just ours, every creature our opponents control gets a slime counter that gives it -1/-1. Over time, that effect adds up quickly, and many creatures won't survive even a single rotation. This makes it much harder for opponents to keep attackers on the battlefield, which protects our planeswalkers.

On top of that, we get 1/1 Slug tokens whenever opposing creatures die, which we can use as blockers or sacrifice to draw cards.

Just be aware that once Toxrill hits the battlefield, we're absolutely going to become the table’s biggest threat. So, if our deck or playstyle isn't equipped to handle all of that attention, this may be a good one to avoid. 

1. Savor the MomentSavor the Moment (1.3% of all themes)

To wrap up our list, we have one of the "fairest" extra-turn spells in all of Magic. For only three mana, we get to take an extra turn, which is an incredible rate. The downside is that we skip our untap step during that extra turn. But in this deck, that's hardly a drawback at all.

The Prismatic Bridge still triggers, we still draw a card, and we still get to activate all of our planeswalkers. In practice, this often feels like paying three mana to double up on everything that matters in our deck, which is a trade we're more than happy to make for three mana.

Wrapping Up

Like most commanders, there are a lot of different ways to build this deck. From different themes to different power levels, The Prismatic Bridge is capable of creating some very interesting and unique games.

Of course, this is by no means the bottom of the mine, as there are plenty of hidden gems that weren't mentioned in this article. If you have a Prismatic Bridge deck and have found some hidden gems of your own, let us know what your favorites are in the comments below. We're here for good vibes and to celebrate neat cards.

Until next time, happy brewing!