Last Friday, out of absolutely nowhere, three new Sonic the Hedgehog Secret Lair drops were announced. While not the most bizarre crossover we’ve ever seen, this is certainly up there. Two of the drops are entirely made up of reprints and tokens. The third, however, contains seven brand-new, mechanically unique Magic: The Gathering legends. All of these cards are interesting in their own ways, but there’s one clear standout: Sonic’s edgelord nemesis, Shadow the Hedgehog, makes one hell of an MTG card.
Though his mana cost is intense, Shadow more than makes up for it. Not only is he a reasonably powerful draw engine for four mana, but he’s also a way to protect your key plays by granting them the rarely-seen Split Second. Being a legendary creature, you can have all of that in the command zone to boot. Shadow clearly has a ton of potential, and I think it goes beyond regular, casual Commander. This is the kind of card that could take cEDH, and even older formats like Legacy and Vintage, by storm.
Shadow The Hedgehog In MTG Commander
- Mana Value: BBRR
- Rarity: Mythic Rare
- Type: Legendary Creature – Hedgehog Mercenary
- Stats: 4/2
- Card Text: Haste.
Whenever Shadow the Hedgehog or another creature you control with Flash or Haste dies, draw a card.
Chaos Control — Each spell you cast has split second if mana from an artifact was spent to cast it. (As long as it’s on the stack, players can’t cast spells or activate abilities that aren’t mana abilities.)
Shadow the Hedgehog’s second ability, which grants your spells Split Second if cast using artifact mana, has generated a lot of buzz in the MTG community already. This makes a ton of sense, since it’s an extremely rare mechanic, sitting at an eight on the Storm Scale right now. That said, Shadow’s first ability, which draws you cards when your Flash or Haste creatures die, may be even more relevant in day-to-day Magic.
For starters, any creature that replaces itself on death is pretty solid. Solemn Simulacrum saw Commander play for years based mainly on this premise. Shadow also draws when your other creatures die, however, and without the expected ‘once per turn’ limit you see on many cards like this. In the right deck, it’s easy to turn Shadow into a powerful draw engine in the command zone.
The obvious approach is to run mainly creatures with Flash and/or Haste, to nab draws naturally over the course of a game. There are plenty of good options in Rakdos colors for both of these abilities, from Loyal Apprentice to Nether Traitor, from Ragavan (with Dash) to Opposition Agent. Alternatively, you can go deep on cards that grant Haste to all of your creatures instead. Mass Hysteria, Anger, and Enduring Courage all let you play the creatures you want while still enjoying Shadow’s card draw.
In any case, a few good sacrifice outlets will let you trigger Shadow’s draw on demand. Being in red gives you access to the inimitable Goblin Bombardment, and the classics like Ashnod’s Altar and Phyrexian Altar are always fantastic. The latter two are particularly good with Shadow, since they also provide artifact mana that can grant your spells Split Second when needed.
Slingin’ Spikes In cEDH
With that draw ability alone, Shadow the Hedgehog makes a great Commander of, or addition to, Rakdos Aristocrats decks in MTG. Every Commander deck wants more draw, and Shadow offers it in a fairly efficient package, with the Split Second potential thrown in as a nice bonus.
Once you move beyond regular Commander and into the realms of cEDH, however, that Split Second ability really starts to shine. cEDH is a format defined by its fast combos and, in turn, by the interaction players can use to stop said combos. Split Second removes the ability for your opponents to interact, thus making it possible to sneak in combo wins that would’ve been impossible otherwise.
The only requirement here is that you use mana from an artifact to cast your spells. In cEDH, that’s not a problem at all. The format is stuffed with fast artifact mana, whether it’s Lotus Petal, Mox Diamond, Mana Vault, or the classic Sol Ring. Pretty much every cEDH deck is playing these cards anyway, so it shouldn’t be hard to protect your critical spells in a Shadow deck. You can also run artifact lands like Great Furnace for extra redundancy.
“Ok as a Doomsday enjoyer I’m gonna be a little pissed if the best Doomsday commander ends up being Shadow the fucking Hedgehog.”
MrMeltJr, via r/magicTCG
Once you’ve got your artifact mana set up, you can start firing off some combos. There are some great on-color options for Shadow right out of the box. Underworld Breach lines are popular in the format anyway, and extra good when opponents can’t interact. You can also dabble in Doomsday, a black combo enabler that’s fallen out of favor somewhat, but can still win games if played right.
If you move Shadow to the 99, he can also support some other powerful combo lines. In Tymna/Kraum, for example, he can help you land your Thassa’s Oracle/Demonic Consultation finisher.
An Eternal Contender
Whether it’s casual or competitive, it’s clear that Shadow the Hedgehog will be making moves in MTG Commander soon. Beyond that, I think it has a real chance at breaking into Magic’s older formats, too.
Both Legacy and Vintage are fairly similar to cEDH in terms of structure. Both support a ton of fast artifact mana, and both allow for some truly degenerate combo lines. Obviously, both, by extension, can benefit from a card like Shadow. The main problem is that mana cost. Four is steep in Legacy and Vintage, and doubly so when it’s four specific mana pips. That said, fast mana tends to offer fixing as well, so it’s not unreasonable to try him out.
In terms of where Shadow could shine in Legacy, Rakdos Painter seems like a natural fit. It’s a deck in Shadow’s colors, for one thing, and it’s a combo deck to boot. As long as you can hold up mana from a Lotus Petal or Mox Opal, you can push through your Painter’s Servant/Grindstone win.
In Vintage, a deck like Lurrus Breach could be a good home for Shadow. As with Painter, this is an established combo deck in Rakdos colors. Combo-wise, the Breach lines this deck attempts are identical to those seen in cEDH, so Shadow should be just as relevant here. Lurrus could be getting the ban hammer later today, mind you, so don’t go buying into this deck just yet.
While all of this speculation could be wildly optimistic, I think it’s likely that Shadow will make a mark somewhere in the near future.
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