It may not seem like it, but Universes Beyond has been around in MTG for six years. Ever since The Walking Dead hit the scene in 2020, Universes Beyond has slowly integrated more into Magic. Now, MTG’s various crossovers take up half of its release calendar, making it easy to forget some of the earlier crossovers.
Thanks to this, older crossovers, like MTG Transformers, have a few powerful cards that are seriously underplayed. Optimus Prime, Hero is a great example of this, combining a surprisingly powerful ability and some insane recursion loops.
MTG Optimus Prime, Hero
Paying homage to his upright character, Optimus Prime, Hero works well when bringing out the potential of other creatures. Bolster 1 may not seem like a massive upside, but this occurs on each end step, stacking up quickly. Thanks to this, cards like Esper Sentinel can quickly become massive threats, imposing huge taxes on opponents.
While Sentinel is hard to rival, there are a fair few different +1/+1 counter payoffs that Optimus Prime’s Bolster can break. Secrets of Strixhaven’s Pensive Professor, for example, provides a steady stream of card draw even without its Increment getting triggered. Otherwise, Modular creatures like Arcbound Ravager and Arcbound Mouser can grow via Optimus’s Bolster effects and can grant Optimus himself the buffs if they die.
Of course, since you’re throwing around so many +1/+1 counters, you’ll want some more generic payoffs in the 99, as well. Danny Pink is particularly powerful, drawing four cards per turn cycle with Optimus Prime’s Bolster effects. If you’ve spread your counters across a wide board, on-theme Proliferate effects like Patrolling Peacemaker and Kilo, Apogee Mind can overrun your opponents quickly. When you’re ready to swing out, Damning Verdict can clear the way of opposing blockers.
Notably, if Optimus Prime is your lowest toughness creature in play, he can even Bolster himself, making a Voltron approach a reasonable strategy. Since your Commander will essentially get +4/+4 each turn, equipment like Embercleave and Excalibur, Sword of Eden will relentlessly pressure your opponents. Once set up, Herald of Secret Streams can make Optimus, and your other Bolstered creatures, unblockable.
Infinitely Transforming
As appealing as Optimus Prime’s Bolster triggers are, the recursive nature of this card is even stronger when abused. With Luminous Broodmoth and Altar of Dementia, for example, Optimus Prime, Hero can create infinite mill.
To start, with all three cards in play, sacrifice Optimus Prime, milling your opponent. While both Optimus and Broodmoth will trigger, use Optimus’s effect to bring him back into play Converted. Now, you can sacrifice Optimus Prime, Autobot Leader to the Altar of Dementia, bringing it back into play with Luminous Broodmoth as Optimus Prime, Hero. This will reset the Conversion death trigger, creating an infinite loop.
While all of the Optimus Prime combos are essentially the same, there are dozens of different variations. Luminous Broodmoth can be replaced with Valkyrie’s Call or Antler Skulkin, while any number of different sacrifice outlets can act as win conditions. Even if you don’t have the infinite assembled, these recursion pieces just make your Commander extremely frustrating to kill.
Autobots, Roll Out!
Whether you want to go wide, tall, or just transform Optimus over and over, this Commander can be a surprisingly powerful adversary. Considering this, it’s rather surprising that a character this iconic only has 4,531 decks according to EDHREC. Your pod likely won’t have experience playing against Optimus, allowing you to sneak in some wins before they catch up to your strategy.
Sadly, while Optimus Prime, Hero has a good chance of catching players off guard, he isn’t the cheapest MTG card to pick up. If you don’t mind a moderately played card, you can find Optimus starting at around $4.91 after shipping on TCGplayer, but near mint copies will cost you $5.60 at the cheapest. This will hardly break the bank, but it does mean that Optimus Prime isn’t the best budget Commander option. Despite this, however, the Commander can more than pull its weight at that price point.
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