Syr Gwyn, Hero of AshvaleSyr Gwyn, Hero of Ashvale | Art by Lie Setiawan

Hello and welcome back to The Refresh, the series where I'll talk about how some of EDH's most popular decks have changed over time. There's a lot of commanders out there, and the format's most popular decks have changed a lot with some recent printings.

In this article, I'll take a look at what new cards work well with an older commander, and why players may want to open up slots in their lists for those cards.

Our second commander, much like the first one we covered in this series, comes to us from Throne of Eldraine. As the most popular Equipment commander in all of EDH, Syr Gwyn, Hero of AshvaleSyr Gwyn, Hero of Ashvale is a super strong card. She's at the helm of 7,877 decks as of the time of writing, and has been an appealing option for deckbuilders since 2019.

Let's see what this Knight can do, and what sorts of recently printed cards we might want to add to a list built around her.

What Does Syr Gwyn, Hero of AshvaleSyr Gwyn, Hero of Ashvale Do?

For , our commander is a 5/5 Human Knight with vigilance and menace. She also allows us to attach our Equipment to our Knight creatures for free, and lets us draw a card when we attack with an equipped creature.

That's a really strong set of abilities, so it's no surprise that Syr Gwyn's become so popular. She wants us to fill our deck with Equipment, some Knights to attach them to, and closes out games quickly if she can stay on the board.

The most popular cards for this commander slot cleanly into that game plan. Knights like Puresteel PaladinPuresteel Paladin and Danitha Capashen, ParagonDanitha Capashen, Paragon synergize with our main plan and can even be suited up with our best Equipment for free, while cards like Colossus HammerColossus Hammer have their drawbacks wiped away by our commander's abilities.

This deck is straightforward, but quite powerful. Once Syr Gwyn hits the battlefield, all of our Equipment suddenly represent extra combat damage and extra card advantage, which can be very difficult for our opponents to overcome.

I'm excited to talk about the new cards that work well in this deck, but first I'd like to chat about a new creature that I won't be making use of. In theory, Assassin's Creed's Templar KnightTemplar Knight does everything we'd want a creature to do in a Syr Gwyn list. It's a Knight, it works well with our commander's abilities, and it's got some solid stats for just . But, I won't be making a Templar Knight-focused list for two main reasons:

1. The best Equipment aren't legendary - While there are good legendary artifacts that fit into our color identity, some of the best cards available to us (like the aforementioned Colossus Hammer) can't be fetched by these guys.
2. I wouldn't be able to showcase as many new cards - While a Templar Knight-focused list would be cool, I wouldn't be able to talk about the 25+ new cards that I included in my final list.

But, here's a one-sentence summary of how I'd build this hypothetical list: I'd include lots of cards from this Scryfall search, and have a mana base centered around to cast and activate our Knights.

So, with all that out of the way, let's talk about the recently released cards that made the cut for my Syr Gwyn list. Spoiler alert: there's a lot of really strong newcomers!

What’s New for This Brew?

There's been a ton of sets with a Equipment theme, so it's no surprise that there's a rich card pool to draw from here. In fact, I included a full 28 nonland cards printed since 2024 in this Syr Gwyn list!

Interestingly, Universes Beyond sets like Final Fantasy, Assassin's Creed, and Fallout feature heavily in this list, as I really liked the new designs they provided to Commander players.

Let's start with the most recent of the bunch: Final Fantasy. Of course, Buster SwordBuster Sword caught my eye. This new card is one of the strongest Equipment that we've ever seen, and it works perfectly in this deck. Whether we're slapping it on our commander or on some other big creature, this sword will put in a ton of work for us.

Genji GloveGenji Glove is great too, providing a well-costed extra combat step with double strike to boot. Plus, with even a small power boost, this new card can let our commander one-shot an opponent in a single turn!

Speaking of stat boosts, there's Ultima WeaponUltima Weapon. This legendary artifact may be expensive, but it's another copy of EDH staple Argentum ArmorArgentum Armor. It may just be recency bias, but I like Ultima Weapon as a straight-up replacement for Argentum Armor in a lot of Commander decks.

There's also a whole bunch of creatures from Final Fantasy that caught my eye. First among them is Freya CrescentFreya Crescent, a one-drop mana dork with flying. This Rat is the ideal way to start a game: It's an evasive Knight that we can equip later, and it helps ramp us into more impactful cards in the early game.

For even more Knight synergy, there's Dion, Bahamut's DominantDion, Bahamut's Dominant. This creature doesn't work directly with Equipment, but it provides some nice evasion, removal, and even gives us disposable creature tokens. That's a lot of value packed on to one card.

But, for cards that synergize with our main plan, I turned to Firion, Wild Rose WarriorFirion, Wild Rose Warrior. He grants haste to our most important creatures, and can even make temporary copies of our Equipment.

All of these Final Fantasy cards are great, and it's super cool to find a home for them in this deck.

Edge of Eternities, Magic's most recent release, had some great cards too. My favorite among them is Honored Knight-CaptainHonored Knight-Captain, another creature that fits this list's needs perfectly. It's a Knight that can come down early in the game as a target for our Equipment, and it even makes a body we can block with if necessary. And, it's not a dead draw in the late game. is admittedly a lot for a tutor, but this two-drop's got some utility at all stages of the game.

We've even got a one-mana version of Oblivion RingOblivion Ring with Hardlight ContainmentHardlight Containment. We're running a full 30 artifacts in this deck, so we shouldn't have a problem using this removal spell at any given moment.

Last but certainly not least is Tezzeret, Cruel CaptainTezzeret, Cruel Captain, who can fetch some of the best artifacts in this deck: Bloodforged Battle-AxeBloodforged Battle-Axe, Colossus HammerColossus Hammer, and Dragonfire BladeDragonfire Blade (among others). For just , it's hard to ask for more out of a planeswalker.

I can't talk about every new card that made its way into this decklist, so I'll go rapid fire through a few of my favorites now:

• Adaptive OmnitoolAdaptive Omnitool - This is like a better version of NettlecystNettlecyst. It trades Nettlecyst's 0/0 body for some consistent card advantage, and that's a swap I'm more than willing to make.
• Celestial ArmorCelestial Armor - This is a rare piece of protection that has extra utility. I'd compare this Foundations rare to Mithril CoatMithril Coat, but I prefer the new version here for the evasion it provides.
• What Must Be DoneWhat Must Be Done - I love modal spells! This sorcery can either be an on-rate board wipe or an on-rate reanimation spell. While it doesn't do either of its modes spectacularly well, I value its flexibility highly.
• Blacksmith's TalentBlacksmith's Talent - This enchantment can do a lot for the deck, whether its commander is on board or not. If the commander is on board, we've suddenly got a much scarier Voltron threat. If not, then its Level 2 ability can serve as a cute way to cheat equip costs in a pinch.
• Cid, Freeflier PilotCid, Freeflier Pilot. Coming from the Final Fantasy Commander decks, this card also does a little bit of everything that this deck wants. He reduces the cost of our Equipment and can recur them from the graveyard for a pretty reasonable cost. All that for just !

A Modern Syr Gwyn Commander List

So, with all that said, let's take a look at a modernized Syr Gwyn, Hero of Ashvale Commander deck:

This deck plays a lot like a typical Boros Equipment deck, because there's only one black card in the whole list. Demonic JunkerDemonic Junker made the cut as a one-mana spell that can remove up to three creatures. It's hard to beat that rate! But, in all seriousness, Syr Gwyn is extremely powerful and absolutely justifies adding to the deck.

While it's easiest to win by throwing a bunch of buffs on our commander and going to combat, there are a few other creatures that do well when equipped. Paladin Elizabeth TaggerdyPaladin Elizabeth Taggerdy, for example, wants to have her power boosted to maximize the effectiveness of an attack trigger.

Balan, Wandering KnightBalan, Wandering Knight is another great target, as double strike is one of the strongest combat abilities in the game. Balan can even move Equipment onto herself at instant speed, which is a nice bonus.

That's all for this week, folks! I'll see you all again soon for another version of The Refresh!