Commander Masters Cards To Create Massive Innovation in Popular Format!

Every time a set comes out that is largely focused on reprints, many cards see a shift in rarity from their previous editions. In some cases, like with Smothering Tithe Smothering Tithe Whenever an opponent draws a card, that player may pay {2}. If the player doesn't, you create a Treasure token. (It's an artifact with "{T}, Sacrifice this token: Add one mana of any color.") , the rarity of the card will be shifted up. This often happens with cards that were printed at rare that are powerful and expensive enough to warrant being reprinted as a mythic rare. More often than not, though, cards are downshifted in rarity. Sometimes we will even see cards that were once rares be downshifted all the way to common! This has happened with cards like Mortician Beetle Mortician Beetle Whenever a player sacrifices a creature, you may put a +1/+1 counter on this creature. as well as Goliath Sphinx Goliath Sphinx Flying from Commander Masters itself.

While rarity shifts primarily affect the overall supply and price of the cards in question, when cards become downshifted to common for the first time, they also become legal in Pauper. Pauper, despite being focused around commons, is a strong format with lots of powerful cards. As such, many downshifted cards don’t make a ton of impact. Commander Masters in particular, though, has so many cards seeing their first common printings, and some of these cards seem like slam dunks in the format. Let’s start by looking at the best of the best additions to Pauper and where they best fit.

Top Tier Additions

All That Glitters is perhaps the most obvious potential inclusion in multiple different Pauper decks. Right off the bat, this card works super well in a deck like Bogles that is focused on loading up powerful Auras on small Creatures with Hexproof. The deck already plays four copies of both Ethereal Armor Ethereal Armor Enchant creature
Enchanted creature gets +1/+1 for each enchantment you control and has first strike. and Ancestral Mask Ancestral Mask Enchant creature
Enchanted creature gets +2/+2 for each other enchantment on the battlefield. , so it would make sense that All That Glitters would find a spot in the deck as well. This deck does not have a ton of flex slots and given that All That Glitters is ultimately a worse version of Ethereal Armor for this deck, it may not be an immediate four-of. Still, redundancy is super important for a deck like this, so All that Glitters is definitely worth consideration.

Notably, All That Glitters doesn’t only count Enchantments. Given the prevalence of Artifact Lands in Pauper, this card definitely has potential in Affinity and beyond. The opportunity cost of putting Artifact Lands in your deck isn’t super high, and this is especially true of the Indestructible Artifact Lands from Modern Horizons Two that aren’t vulnerable to cards like Gorilla Shaman Gorilla Shaman {X}{X}{1}: Destroy target noncreature artifact with mana value X. . With this in mind, All That Glitters can provide an enormous buff to one of your Creatures. Pair that with a card like Wedding Invitation Wedding Invitation When this artifact enters, draw a card.
{T}, Sacrifice this artifact: Target creature can't be blocked this turn. If it's a Vampire, it also gains lifelink until end of turn. and you’ve got a gameplan.

Another card that could shine in Affinity is Filigree Attendant Filigree Attendant Flying
Filigree Attendant's power is equal to the number of artifacts you control. , which becomes an enormous Flier very quickly. One small weakness of Affinity is its ability to close the game quickly without Myr Enforcer Myr Enforcer Affinity for artifacts (This spell costs {1} less to cast for each artifact you control.) , and both Filigree Attendant and All that Glitters help solve this issue. Beyond Affinity, another card that could add redundancy to a top tier deck is Cryptic Serpent Cryptic Serpent This spell costs {1} less to cast for each instant and sorcery card in your graveyard. . Again, this card is definitely worse than Tolarian Terror, but for decks like Dimir Control or even mono-blue Terror that are built around casting lots of cheap Instants and Sorceries, playing both is certainly on the table.

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Cards that Take Some Work

The next group of cards all have very high upside, but require some effort in deckbuilding to make work. One of the cards that fits this bill is absolutely Dread Return. This card is outrageously powerful, but without Narcomoeba Narcomoeba Flying
When this card is put into your graveyard from your library, you may put it onto the battlefield. or the modal double-faced cards that could be played as lands (to pair with Balustrade Spy Balustrade Spy Flying
When this creature enters, target player reveals cards from the top of their library until they reveal a land card, then puts those cards into their graveyard. and mill your entire deck), maximizing this card may be tricky. Importantly, Lotleth Giant Lotleth Giant Undergrowth — When this creature enters, it deals 1 damage to target opponent for each creature card in your graveyard. has also been downshifted.

As a result, if there is a good way to mill yourself for a ton, using Dread Return to bring back Lotleth Giant can end the game. Even still, this requires filling your deck with Creatures. We’ve seen decks like Cycle Storm succeed, however, with lots of Creatures alongside Songs of the Damned Songs of the Damned Add {B} for each creature card in your graveyard. , so there could definitely be a home for Dread Return and Lotleth Giant somewhere.

Another card that could be quite strong is Murmuring Mystic Murmuring Mystic Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell, create a 1/1 blue Bird Illusion creature token with flying. , but it does have a lot of competition. As a five-toughness Creature, it’s not easy to kill, and it’s ability to create tons of Fliers can run away with the game. Four mana is a lot, however, and if you are filling your deck with cheap Instants and Sorceries already, it may be better to just focus on Tolarian Terror and Gurmag Angler Gurmag Angler Delve (Each card you exile from your graveyard while casting this spell pays for {1}.) . One nice thing about the card, though, is that you can pair it with Snuff Out Snuff Out If you control a Swamp, you may pay 4 life rather than pay this spell's mana cost.
Destroy target nonblack creature. It can't be regenerated. to immediately get value out of the card and not fall too far behind.

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Unique Options

There are a few more cards that are worth mentioning, especially for those that like to brew or play wacky decks. The first card is Vizier of Tumbling Sands Vizier of Tumbling Sands {T}: Untap another target permanent.
Cycling {1}{U} ({1}{U}, Discard this card: Draw a card.)
When you cycle this card, untap target permanent. . Vizier is well known in Pioneer for its ability to untap Lotus Field Lotus Field Hexproof
This land enters tapped.
When this land enters, sacrifice two lands.
{T}: Add three mana of any one color. and generate mana. While Lotus Field is not in Pauper, there may be some funny things you can do with Vizier alongside Market Festival Market Festival Enchant land
Whenever enchanted land is tapped for mana, its controller adds an additional two mana in any combination of colors. and other effects that cause your Lands to generate additional mana when they become tapped.

Another interesting addition to Pauper is Blood Aspirant Blood Aspirant Whenever you sacrifice a permanent, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature.
{1}{R}, {T}, Sacrifice a creature or enchantment: This creature deals 1 damage to target creature. That creature can't block this turn. . This card functions similar to Gixian Infiltrator Gixian Infiltrator Whenever you sacrifice another permanent, put a +1/+1 counter on this creature. in that it grows each time you sacrifice a permanent. The combination of Infiltrator and cards like Makeshift Munitions Makeshift Munitions {1}, Sacrifice an artifact or creature: This enchantment deals 1 damage to any target. and Krark-Clan Shaman Krark-Clan Shaman Sacrifice an artifact: This creature deals 1 damage to each creature without flying. popped up here and there when the Brother’s War first came out. Blood Aspirant has similar upside to Infiltrator, except it also has the ability to act as a sacrifice outlet itself and ping opposing Creatures, which might make it more appealing.

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Sideboard Cards

Finally, we have a couple sideboard options that are quite strong in certain circumstances. Drown in Sorrow is a great addition to decks that don’t have lots of Creatures to deal with decks that go wide with small Creatures. While cards like End the Festivities End the Festivities End the Festivities deals 1 damage to each opponent and each creature and planeswalker they control. and Suffocating Fumes Suffocating Fumes Creatures your opponents control get -1/-1 until end of turn.
Cycling {2} ({2}, Discard this card: Draw a card.) are decent one-sided effects, Drown in Sorrow helps get around Prismatic Strands Prismatic Strands Prevent all damage that sources of the color of your choice would deal this turn.
Flashback—Tap an untapped white creature you control. (You may cast this card from your graveyard for its flashback cost. Then exile it.) and ways your opponents can buff their team, such as Ramosian Rally Ramosian Rally If you control a Plains, you may tap an untapped creature you control rather than pay this spell's mana cost.
Creatures you control get +1/+1 until end of turn. . Sulfurous Blast Sulfurous Blast Sulfurous Blast deals 2 damage to each creature and each player. If you cast this spell during your main phase, Sulfurous Blast deals 3 damage to each creature and each player instead. is another card that’s great against wide boardstates, and the ability to deal three damage to everything can be a big deal.

Pauper is getting tons of new additions, and while these seem like the highlights, over 40 cards have been downshifted to common! Keep your eyes open for any cool, new deckbuilding ideas and unique interactions that come up.

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