One of the many cool aspects of Duskmourn is the emphasis on graveyard synergies. Delirium is making a comeback, and there are plenty of cards that pay you off for having four or more card types in your graveyard. From there, mechanics like Manifest Dread help you fill your graveyard at very little cost. If you’re lucky, you’ll even get to put a big creature into the graveyard to reanimate later.
If resurrecting big monsters is something that interests you, one new tool in particular acts as an elite enabler. This card is none other than Cynical Loner. It’s no secret that Entomb is an insanely powerful instant, and while Cynical Loner requires a bit more setup, the effect can still be quite strong. There are a handful of Commanders that should be able to make great use of Cynical Loner. The key is making sure Cynical Loner survives combat to get your potent trigger.
Enabling Cynical Loner
- Mana Value: 1B
- Rarity: Uncommon
- Stats: 3/1
- MTG Set: Duskmourn
- Card Text: Cynical Loner can’t be blocked by Glimmers. Survival- At the beginning of your second main phase, if Cynical Loner is tapped, you may search your library for a card, put it into your graveyard, then shuffle.
In an EDH setting, there’s a good chance that you’ll be able to attack someone once or twice unscathed with Cynical Loner if you slam it turn two. However, your best bet to make sure you get to repeatedly put whatever you want into your graveyard is to find another way to tap Cynical Loner before your second main phase.
One of the easiest ways to do this is by crewing a vehicle. In fact, Cynical Loner is an awesome card to pair with Hedge Shredder. Even if you don’t have a window to attack profitably with Hedge Shredder, once you get to your second main phase, you can use Cynical Loner’s ability to tutor up any land to graveyard and put it into play thanks to Hedge Shredder. From Gaea’s Cradle to Dark Depths, there is a plethora of great utility lands to search for.
In a similar manner, pairing Cynical Loner with creatures with Saddle is another reliable way to tap Cynical Loner. As a three-power creature, Cynical Loner can Saddle up Caustic Bronco just fine. Cynical Loner works really well in conjunction with Archmage’s Newt. You can use Cynical Loner to tutor up an incredible instant or sorcery. Then, if you can connect in combat on a future turn with Archmage’s Newt, you can cast it for free.
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Commanders That Want Cynical Loner
- Mana Value: 1WB
- Rarity: Rare
- Stats: 4/3
- MTG Set: Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty
- Card Text: At the beginning of combat on your turn, return target Vehicle card from your graveyard to the battlefield. It gains haste. Return it to its owner’s hand at the beginning of your next end step.
All of these little synergies with Cynical Loner add up, and depending on what Commander you have at the helm, being able to put any card into your graveyard can be a very effective strategy. Undoubtedly, one of the best Commanders to pair with Cynical Loner is Greasefang, Okiba Boss. First of all, you get access to a bunch of Vehicles to help maximize Cynical Loner’s ability. On top of that, you can keep putting incredible vehicles like Parhelion II into the graveyard to return to play with Greasefang.
Another awesome legend that synergizes nicely with Cynical Loner is Disa the Restless. Lhurgoyfs aren’t overly abundant in the world of MTG, so having a card like Cynical Loner to put your best Lhurgoyfs like Barrowgoyf directly into your graveyard is a big deal. Then, Disa gets to put the creatures you grab directly into play, with no mana input needed.
Beyond Greasefang and Disa, there are tons of other Commanders that utilize the graveyard that would be happy to utilize Cynical Loner. From The Mimeoplasm to Meren of Clan Nel Toth, Cynical Loner should be an awesome tool to build around.
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