Despite being allowed to include 100 cards in a Commander deck, it can still be incredibly hard to fit in everything you want. Whether you’re just going for a mix of your best cards in a collection of colors, a specific theme, or the tribe of your dreams, it’s still hard to get everything in there.
Because of this, there are a lot of good cards, and even specific genres of cards, that may well never see play, at least not in your hands. Sometimes that means you’ll go light on interaction or counterspells, but it can also influence basically anything that isn’t strictly part of your game plan.
Surprise!
Combat tricks are something that are often reserved for drafts, or only incredibly specific aggro decks. It’s not because they’re not powerful, not at all, but because they’re often easy to interrupt because either the creature or the spell targeting them can be disrupted. In Commander, however, their is generally a noticeable lack of interaction for a lot of players. Unless someone is going all-in on counterspells or kill spells, there’s also just a lower chance of them having an answer to your trick.
We think it’s worth splashing a few truly mighty combat tricks into your deck because of this. There are so many in Commander that can swing the entire game in your favor if used at the right time. There’s also far more ways to use the same combat trick multiple times if you want to.
That’s not even including potential commanders like
Mavinda, Students’ Advocate
Mavinda, Students’ Advocate
Flying
{0}: You may cast target instant or sorcery card from your graveyard this turn. If that spell doesn't target a creature you control, it costs {8} more to cast this way. If that spell would be put into your graveyard, exile it instead. Activate only once each turn. (You still pay the spell's costs. Timing rules for the spell still apply.)
,
Feather, the Redeemed
Feather, the Redeemed
Flying
Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell that targets a creature you control, exile that card instead of putting it into your graveyard as it resolves. If you do, return it to your hand at the beginning of the next end step.
, or
Zada, Hedron Grinder
Zada, Hedron Grinder
Whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell that targets only Zada, copy that spell for each other creature you control that the spell could target. Each copy targets a different one of those creatures.
. If you’re using any of those as your commander then your deck is likely filled to the brim with combat tricks anyway, but we genuinely believe that you should probably try and free up a spot or two for your favorite combat tricks, because you never know when they’ll be the difference between victory and defeat.
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