For the most part, the best cards in Magic: The Gathering rise to the top quickly. Players tend to be fully aware of which cards in a new set are likely to make an impact, due to advancements in card evaluation over the years. Things weren’t always this way, however, which means there are a ton of old-school Magic cards that have managed to fly under the radar. One such card is Attunement, a unique MTG enchantment with applications in all manner of Commander decks.
Attunement MTG
Attunement is essentially a repeatable ‘draw three, discard four’ effect for three mana a pop. Since it goes back to your hand each time, you can just cast it again next time you have the mana. This puts the card in a really interesting spot. As a one-off, it would be horribly overcosted and unplayable. As things stand, however, the card is pretty much one-of-a-kind. If you want this effect in your deck, you won’t find another card that provides the same long-term potential.
There are plenty of strategies that very much enjoy looting effects like this, too. Any kind of deck that leverages its graveyard, whether through spells like Reanimate or Flashback cards like Faithless Looting, will love putting four cards in the ‘yard over and over. The extra draws also help you find your value pieces to leverage all the discard that you’re doing. This aspect of Attunement is particularly good with Dredge cards like Stinkweed Imp, since it can both trigger Dredge and throw your Dredge cards from your hand into the bin.
Combos, Assemble!
As with most repeatable effects in MTG, Attunement is also a nasty combo enabler in the right shell. For example, the card creates a powerful infinite loop alongside Norman Osborn//Green Goblin, one of the year’s hottest new Grixis Commanders.
Without any other pieces, Attunement can be cast repeatedly for just one blue with Green Goblin out, thanks to its passive ability. Throw in Surly Badgersaur, which makes a Treasure whenever you discard a land, and you have a way to (most likely) dig through your entire deck. To remove the luck element here, you can add Library of Leng and simply put your discarded land back on top of your deck to guarantee another Treasure next time. From here, you can win instantly with a pinger like Glinthorn Buccaneer, or deck yourself out and go with Thassa’s Oracle instead.
Speaking of Thassa’s Oracle wins, you can also land them with Attunement and Sanctum Weaver. Enchant Weaver with Freed from the Real or Pemmin’s Aura, and you can generate infinite mana by untapping it repeatedly. You can then cast Attunement as many times as your hand size allows. With an enchantress creature like Argothian Enchantress in the mix, you can just keep going infinitely, emptying your deck before dropping Oracle or Laboratory Maniac.
If you’re feeling really old-school, you can also pair Attunement with Replenish. While not an infinite combo, this is a potent interaction nonetheless. Attunement can set up your graveyard then discard itself, coming back via Replenish to reanimate a long string of enchantments. In Premodern, this is a viable strategy thanks to Parallax Wave et al, but in Commander, you’ll do better to just run a bunch of big enchantments like Omniscience instead.
Perfect Commander Pairings
Combo potential aside, Attunement is just a really solid addition to a number of MTG Commander decks. Green Goblin is the big recent example of a deck where the card shines, but there are plenty of others waiting in the archives.
Take Rielle, the Everwise, for instance. This is a legend that turns discard into draw once per turn, which essentially makes Attunement a repeatable three-mana draw three in that deck. Dumping four cards into the ‘yard each turn helps build Rielle’s power, too, if you’re gunning for a Commander damage win. Despite this incredible synergy, only 14% of Rielle decks currently run Attunement, which feels strangely low.
It’s a similar story with the other Commander decks where Attunement shines. Muldrotha, the Gravetide essentially draws seven cards with Attunement, since it can easily play the discarded cards from the graveyard. Despite this, only 0.7% of Muldrotha decks play the card. Enchantress decks like Tuvasa the Sunlit really appreciate the card too, as a repeatable way to trigger all their “whenever you cast an enchantment” effects. The inclusion here is even lower, however, sitting at around 0.6% right now.
The exact reasoning behind this lack of popularity is unclear. Attunement is fairly pricey, with copies going for around $15 since Green Goblin raised its profile. It’s also quite old and obscure, with just a single Urza’s Saga printing to its name. Whatever the case, this card deserves more love. Give it a look next time you’re sleeving up Islands in Commander.
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