Yesterday, Gen Con attendees had first dibs at experiencing the Mystery Booster Commander Edition product via a draft. Now, just one day later, it appears every new Mystery Booster legend has been spoiled.
While we were certainly expecting some of the new Commanders to be quite revolutionary, Whtz, the Bibliophile still managed to exceed our expectations. By altering a major rule of the format, Whtz enables some funky fan-favorite designs that haven’t seen the light of day.
MTG Whtz, the Bibliophile
Offering an extremely powerful draw ability so long as you take advantage of its Rulebreaker ability, Whtz, the Bibliophile can easily create tons of value. Cards like Lightning Greaves and Thousand-Year Elixir can get Whtz started fast, drawing cards with ease. Pair this with ability doublers like Rings of Brighthearth and Echo, Perceptive Prodigy, and your card draw can get out of hand quickly.
Once your Commander is set up, you can get tons of value out of Whtz by pairing it with untap effects like Freed from the Real and Unstoppable Plan. Since you’re drawing tons of cards, you should have no problem triggering Alandra, Sky Dreamer or getting lots of mana from Immortus, Master of Eternity.
All the while, Whtz provides a lot of life gain, opening the door for payoffs like Archangel of Thune and Heliod, Sun-Crowned. Add Drogskol Reaver into the mix, and you’ll be drowning in card advantage.
Even with all this synergy, however, the main attraction for Whtz is its Rulebreaker ability, granting access to unique payoffs like Battle of Wits. With the help of tutors like Academy Rector and Enlightened Tutor, getting this enchantment into play in a reasonable time frame shouldn’t be difficult. From there, all you need to do is protect the enchantment with cards like Clever Concealment until your upkeep.
If these benefits weren’t enough, Whtz’s Rulebreaker ability even gives you the chance to Companion Yorion, Sky Nomad. This gives you the opportunity to maximize elite blink targets like Agent of Treachery and Cloudblazer. When combined with creatures that can blink Yorion itself, including Restoration Angel and Felidar Guardian, you’ll get repeatable value out of the Bird Serpent every turn.
Infinite Card Draw in More Ways Than One
While most of Whtz’s appeal just comes from its novelty, its combo potential shouldn’t be ignored. So long as you have 200+ cards in your starting deck, for example, Mind Over Matter helps Whtz loot through your whole deck. In a similar vein, the combination of Intruder Alarm and The Watcher in the Water lets you draw your whole deck and flood the board with tokens. Both lines make Thassa’s Oracle an easy game winner.
Given how much bigger your starting deck is than your opponents’, you should also have no problem winning with infinite Faerie Mastermind activations. Landing Smothering Tithe and Anointed Procession alongside the Faerie makes this very realistic, since you can create six mana for every Mastermind activation.
Ultimately, the combination of its uniqueness and combo potential makes Whtz a really sweet Commander option. It wouldn’t be shocking to see this Homunculus emerge as one of the most popular Commanders Mystery Booster has to offer.
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