As much as it is a casual format, shutting down your opponent’s deck in Commander is a fairly routine experience. Whether you’re running counterspells, removal, or interaction, it’s incredibly rare that any player is just left alone. While these forms of counterplay are tried, tested, and effective, there are some other, more unique, options.
Jester’s Cap, for instance, is an artifact from way back in Ice Age that can exile MTG cards from an opponent’s deck. Unsurprisingly, this can be absolutely devastating, especially when built around even slightly. That being said, this alluring artifact may actually be a massive trap.
MTG Jester’s Cap
At its absolute worst, Jester’s Cap can be a brutal MTG card. It might be rather expensive, and only hit one opponent, but that opponent is in for a very bad time. If they’re running a combo deck or even just have key cards in their library, you can easily remove them.
Ideally, doing this can turn a potentially lethal combo deck into a complete non-threat. On its own, this isn’t bad at all for six mana, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. If you have a way to recur or reanimate this artifact, then things can get especially spicy.
One of the best ways to break Jester’s Cap is with Toph, the First Metalbender. Since Toph can Earthbend Jester’s Cap to reanimate it after being sacrificed, you can easily crack it once per turn cycle. This, in turn, lets you share the love, or rather hate, around, or completely decimate an opponent’s deck.
Similarly, Commanders like Mishra, Eminent One and Muldrotha, the Gravetide can also easily bring back Jester’s Cap. Realistically, any card that can reanimate artifacts can extend this card’s utility, making it a reliable exile engine. That said, to get the most out of this card, you do have to build around it, as otherwise, there are better options.
A Bunch of Better Options
It might not hit as many cards, but Extract seems to be a better Jester’s Cap by most metrics. While you can’t recur it as easily, playing it earlier gives your opponent no time to draw their win condition. Realistically, the only downside is that this card is in blue, as that limits where it can be played.
Technically, the same is true for Sadistic Sacrament, which does a similar thing in black. Like Jester’s Cap, this MTG sorcery can hit three cards, or 15 if you pay the hefty Kicker cost. Naturally, doing this will completely drain an opponent’s deck of its key threats, leaving them incredibly vulnerable.
If you only want to play artifacts, arguably Grinning Totem is also a better option, since you can steal the card you exile. This gives the card a lot more utility, as you’re not just stuck removing a combo piece or alternative win condition. Unfortunately, while any of the cards might seem rather exciting, actually playing them in Commander usually isn’t ideal.
Ruined by Redundancy
Unfortunately, unless you’re kicking Sadistic Sacrement or popping off with Bitter Ordeal, there’s a good chance you won’t exile enough. In Commander, it’s incredibly rare that a deck will only have one win condition that they’re gunning for. Even combo decks have tons of redundancy, or separate combos entirely within the 99.
Thanks to this, exile between one and three cards often won’t do enough to actually eliminate an opponent. You can disrupt their game plan, of course, but you’ll have to spend a lot of mana doing it. Sadly, this can make cards like Jester’s Cap six mana do nothing machines, which is never good in MTG.
If there is one upside to all this, it’s that Jester’s Cap doesn’t see a ton of play in Commander. According to EDHREC, fewer than 5,000 decks are running this decades-old artifact, and it’s remarkably cheap, too. Selling for just $0.39, thanks to its Dominaria Remastered reprint, this budget card can be a real surprise, if nothing else.
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