Since its introduction back in 1994, the Legend rule has, in one way or another, kept Magic’s legendary creatures in check. A few sneaky MTG cards, like Cadric, Soul Kindler, let you circumvent this rule, however, to devastating effect. With a ton of potential for value plays and terrifying combos, this Dwarf Wizard is a fantastic underrated Commander option.
Cadric, Soul Kindler MTG
The bulk of Cadric’s power comes from its ability to copy your legendary permanents, for a cheap rate, whenever they enter play. This is ideal for getting extra use out of utility creatures like Loran of the Third Path, or big beaters like Gisela, Blade of Goldnight. Since it works with all legendary permanents, bangers like The One Ring and Elspeth, Storm Slayer are on the table here too.
Cadric’s passive ability will keep the tokens it creates safe from the Legend rule, but this also applies to tokens you create through red copy effects like Molten Duplication. Token copying effects, like Determined Iteration and Rootborn Defenses, can then create even more copies of your best legends to swarm the board.
With no limit on your legends in play, Cadric also works very nicely indeed with Myriad granters like Blade of Selves, and token doublers like Anointed Procession. These effects make a straightforward beatdown win very possible for Cadric, especially if you rope in creatures that stack damage well like Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite.
Sadly, Cadric’s tokens only last until the end of turn, but you can bring in Sundial of the Infinite to end it prematurely and keep them around for good. You can also cash the tokens in yourself before they’re sacrificed, with outlets like Goblin Bombardment and Skullclamp, for some nice extra value.
A Cavalcade Of Copy Combos
In addition to its various fair uses, Cadric, Soul Kindler also offers a solid suite of infinite combo lines to boot. Alongside Gerrard, Weatherlight Hero and Ashnod’s Altar, for example, Cadric can net you infinite mana and enters/dies triggers. Simply copy Gerrard when it enters, then sacrifice the original to Altar, followed by the copy. Exile the copy to its ability, bringing the original back, then rinse and repeat.
Cadric can also deal near-guaranteed lethal damage to the whole table when paired with Dragonhawk, Fate’s Tempest and Orthion, Hero of Lavabrink. For nine mana, Orthion can create five copies of Dragonhawk, which will stick around due to Cadric’s ability. These copies will exile six cards from your library each on entry, then deal 12 damage to each opponent, or 70 damage in total, at end of turn if you don’t play them.
For a particularly funky combo, you can give yourself permanent protection from everything by using Cadric with The Stasis Coffin and Cogwork Assembler. Assembler can create a token copy of Coffin each turn, which you can sacrifice to use its ability, keeping the original. While this isn’t a total lock, as the combo pieces can still be removed, it’s still a very potent line, especially with protection spells as backup.
Undervalued, Yet Valuable
Cadric is a unique, powerful Boros Commander option that leans into what makes the color pair great while establishing its own identity. Despite this power and the card’s ample combo options, it’s only played as the Commander in 1,375 decks according to EDHREC numbers. It fares better in the 99, appearing on around 28,700 lists, but that still feels low for a card of this caliber.
Unfortunately for those who like the cut of Cadric’s jib, these low play rates don’t translate into low prices. Thanks to The Hobbit increasing interest in Cadric, near-mint copies of this legend cost around $13.50 on the low end, or $11.70 if you don’t mind the extended-art version. At these prices, Cadric isn’t exactly a budget card, but it’s still worth picking up if you want a spicy new Boros option to build around.
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